The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1859-06-16

Mr.. Taunton further says: "The Apostle
never commanded obedience on the grounds
that slavery was in harmony with the Cos
pel." He here, as usual, differs with the
Apostle of divine truth. Let us see what
the Apostle does say: Servants be obedient
unto them that are your masters according
to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sin
leness of your heart as unto Christ; not with
eye service, as man pleasers, but as servants
of Christ doing the will of God from the
heart. ",-Eph. VI. 5, 8. How clear, how
forcible the teachings of St. Paul. "Serve
in singleness of heart as unto Christi
Serce the master III the flesh, just as you
should Christ IN the spirit, with all fidelity
! not as though you were watched, and only
worked to please man, toayoid their chastise-
ment. But serve in the light, in the dark, in
all places, with "earneStness of heart as un-
to Christ" "doing the willie of Cod" Waat
the Stare oIeyiag and serring tie master
taityuUy, tu.flling the hoc Of slarery, THE
WILL OF GoD would exclaim Mr.. Taunton;
"cant be po @ble." Yes, says St. Paul =
"Obey and serve them that are your masters
according to the fiesh," or that are your mas
ters in accordance with the civil law of the
land, as granted in the eternal principle of
divine law proclaimed by God unto Moses in
Mount Sinai. Thus we behold the striking
difference in the teachings of the inspired
st. Paul, in the early days of Christianity,
and those Of the learned "On the Fence yet,"
of the present day.
Now to continue, if we have found the
obedience to, and service of the slave to the
master, to be the twill of God" that will of
God must be in accordance with the gospel,
for the gospel eminated from the will of God
Therefore, slavery is in harmony with, and
not contrary to the gospel, is the logical de-
ducton we are irresiStably led to- Mr. Taun-
ton to the contrary, Notwithstanding
Again, he assigns as a reason why the
Apostle taught servants to obey their m ,s-
terS, was that it adorned the doctrine of the
Savior, and quotes Titus H., 10: THAT they
may adorn the doctrine of the Savior" This
is correct doctrine. and we give it a notice
here, because it is truth He so seldom lights
upon the truth in his letters "On the Fence
yet" that it does us good to find even one
truth: and was it not for the almost univer-
sal darkness that overshadowS his bewild red
I'm, haH <hn IL.
mering of a faint ray of light that might vet
light up his moral nature and lead him to
truth. So much, so good. The obedience
of the SLAVE, his pleasing his master in all
things, being the will of God, or that which
adorns the doctrine of the Savior, is quite
an admission for Mr. Taunton. Nearly equal
to the one made during the discussion, that
!S'arery, IN tie United States, is politically
right .. s... .-.... ..
Again, Mr.. Taunton, during the discus
sion, denied that Onesimus was slave; in
his letters ''On the Fence yet" he calls him
save. Therefore, at this port, we need
not undertake to prove that, seeing it is ad-
mitted. But we shall directly proceed to in
vestigate, briefly, the position taken by "On
the Fence yet" that he was sent back bv
st. Paul, to his master, Philemon, a free
man, not slave. We find in the text, that
St Paul sent the fugitive slave, Onesimus,
back to his master. Philemon, after convert
ing him to the christian religion, not merely
I slave, but, in addition to that, christian
brother, now begotten and born of the spirit.
with admonitions to Philemon to receive him
as such; that now he would not be an un-
profitable servant, or slave, as he had hereto
fore been but now, being a christian, in ad-
dition, and as such had received the teach
ings of st. Paul, servants obey your mas
terS," would now be profitable to his master
How futile and inconsistent the arguments
of Mr.. Taunton in his letter ''On the Fence
yet" While in one breath he tells us that
christian slaves are taught to serve and obey
their masters for the purpose of adorning
the doctrire of the savior, and in the next
turns round and tells that when Onesirnus
and his master were converted to the chris
tan religion, slavery was practically at an
end that Onesi,nus was sent back free
man in consequence thereofJ
NO Consistency, thou art a Jewel y
coNcLuDED NEXT WEEK.
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FTObaccO Smoking.
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