Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-03-14

Extracts from Sermon Preached BY REV.
Henry J. Van Dyke.
[cozCLuDED.

TURE.
Passing by the records Of the petriarchal age,
sud waving the question as to those servants II
Abraham's family, who, in the simple but express
sive language Of Scripture, sWere bought with his
money" let come ct once 10 the tribunal Of that
Law which God promulgated amid the solemnities Of
Sinai. What aaid the law and the testimony to
that peculiar people over whom God raed, and for
whose institutions he has assumed the responsible
iyf The answer is in the 18th chapter OF Lesiti-
sus, in these words:
.'Aad if Thy brother that dselleth BY thee be
wsxen poor. and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not
compel him to serve as bond servant; but as q
hired servant end sojourner he shall be WITH
thee, aud serve thee unto the year of Jubilee ana
then he shall depart from thes, both he and ms
children with him." -,
So far, you will observe, ths law refers to the
children OF Israel Who by resson Of poverty were
reduced to seryitude. Il their right TO De lrse
at the year Of jubilee, unless they choose 70 reHn
in perpetual bondage, for which case Prosas'oa =
made il other and distinct enactments. buS HOT ~
with slaves Of foreign birth There is no year ..
l jubilee with then For what says the HAVE nea"
the A 46 verses Of the same chapter;
a. Roth Inv bondmen and thy bondmaids which
thou shalt have shah be OF the heathen shss are
round about you OF then sasn - Gay AZ ~
ard hopdmaids Moreover, OF the chiiortn Of the
sf-ansers that do sojourn among yon-of them shall
- - - NJ their families that are with you,
s.b;cb ,bev beect in your land; and they shall be
4 vonr possession. And ye shall take tnem as nher-
itaucs for pour children sitter you, 10 inherit them
IS possession; they shall be your oondmen for
ever" %
There tits, plainly writ en- in the divine law. No
lac;slatire enactment no statute framed by legal
nm was ever more explicit and incapable Of per
version When the aboltionist tells me that slave
holding is sin, il the simplicity of my faith in the
HOLY Scriptures point to him to this sacred record
and tell him in all candor, my text does that his
teaching blasphemes the name Of God and His doc
trine. When he begins TO doat about questions and
strifes of words, appealing to the Declaration of
independence, and asserting that the idea Of proper
ty in men is an ensrmity and a crime, still hold
him to the record saying Eye shall take him as an
inheritance for your children after you to inherit
| them for possession" When he wakes warm
as he always does if his opponent quote Scripture
(which is the great test to try the sprits whether
they be of God-the very spear of lthuriel. to re-
veal their true character)-when he gets angry, and
/ begins to pour cut his evil surmismgs and abuse
upon slaveholders-I obey the prece2t which says,
/ 'frOm such withdraw myself" comforting mysei.
with this thought: that the wisdom of God is wiser
than men, and the kindness of God kinder than men.
| Philosophers may reason and reformers may rave
till donmsday they never can convince me that God
in the Levitica law, N any other law, sanctioned
| sin: and. as know from the plain passage have
quoted and many more ike il, that He did sanction
/ slayeholdng among His ancient people. know,
also by the logic of that faith which believes the
Bible to be His Word, that saveholding is not sim
1
and not few ministers of the Gospel, who answer
this argument from the Old Testament Scriptures
| by simple denial of their authority. They
! do not tell as how God could ever or
| anywhere eountenance that which is morally
| wrong, but they content themselves with saying
that the Leyitical law is no rule of action for u.s.
| and they appeal from its decisions to what they
consider the higher tribunal of the Gospel Let US
therefore, join issue with them before the bar ofthe
New Testament Scriptures. 1t is historic truth
acknowledged on all hands, that at the advent of
/ Jesus Christ slavery existed all over the civilized
world and was intimately interviewer with its social
and civil institutions. In Judea, in Asia Minor, In
Greece in all the countries where the Saviour or his
Apostles preached the Gospel, slaveholdng was just
as common as it is to-day IN South Carolina 1t is
not alleged by any one at least by any one hav-
ing any pretensons TO scholarship or csndor, that
the Roman law regulating slavery were even as mild
as the very worst statutes which have been passed
| upon the subject in modern times. 1t will not be
| denied by any honest and well-informed man, that
modern civilization AID the restraining influences of
the Gospel have shed ameliorating influences upon
| the relation between master and slave, which was
utterly unknown at the advent of christianity And
how did Jesus and his Apostles treat this subject?
Masters and slaves met them at every step in their
missionary work and were even present in every
| audience to which they preached. The Roman law,
| which gave the full power of life and death into
the masters hand, was familiar to them, and all
| the evils connected with the system surrounded
them every day obviously as the light of
heaven; and yet il is remarkable fact.
which the Abolitionists does not because
he cannot deny that the New Testament is
utterly silent In regsrd to the alleged siufulsess Of
slaveholding, Ia al she Instructions of the Savior
in all the reported Of the inspired Apostles
in all the episllts they were moved by the Holy
Spirit 10 write for the instruction Of coming gene.
rations, there is not one distinct and explicit de-
nunciatiou of slaveholding, nor one precept requi
ring the master TO emancipate his slaves Every
| acknowledged sin is openly and repeatedly con-
demned, snd in unmeasured terms. Drunkenness
and adultery, theft and murder, sl the moral wrong
which ever had been known 10 aiRict society, are
forbiddsA by name; and yet, according to the
teaching Of Aboitionsm this greatest Of all sins
this sum Of all ysinies-is never spoken Of except
in respectful terms. How this be accounted for?
Let DIR. Wayland, whose work neral science
is taught in many of our schools answer this ques
ton, and let parents, whose children are studying
that book diligently consider his answer. / quote
| from WaylsDd's Moral Science, page 2ls;
The Gospel was designed not for one race or
for one time but for all races and for all times. It
looked not to the eboliton Of slavery for that age
alone, but for its universal sbolitioD. Hence the
important object of its author TO gain for il
lcdgmeut in every part Of the knit world, that
by It's universal diffusion among sll classes of soci
ETY. it might quietly and peacefully modify and
subdue the evil passions Of men, In this manner
alone could its object-s universal moral revolution
have been sccomplishsd for il it had forbidden
the evil Instead Of subverting the principle if II had
proclaimed the uplawfulness of slavery and taught
slaves to resist the oppression of their masters, it
woBld instantly have errayed the two parties in
deadly hostility throughout the civilized world; its
announcement would have been the signal for SCR
vile war and the very name of the Christian relig-
ion would have been forgotten AMIDST the agitation
of universal bloodshed."
We pause not now to comment upon the admitted
fact that Jesus Christ and his Apostles pursued
course entirely different from that adopted by the
aboltionists, including the learned author himself
nor TO inquire whether the teaching of abolItonism
is not as likely to produce strife and bloodshed in
these days as in the first ages Of the church What
we now call attention to and protest against Is the
imputation here cast upon Christ and his Apostles
Do you believe the Saviour sought to insinuate his
religion into the earth by conceaitng its real design
and preserving profound silence in regard of one
of the very worst sins IL came TO destroy Do you
believe that when he healed the oenturion's servant
(whom every honest commentator admits to have /
been q slaye), and pronounced that precious eulogy
upon the master. 81 have not seen great faith |
in Israel" de you believe that Jesus suffered that |
man 10 lire on in sin bee use he deprecated the |
consequences of preaching abollhonism? When |
Paul stood upon Mars Hill, surrounded by ten |
thousand times as many shareholders as there we're |
idols in the city, do you believe he kept back 1
any part of the requirements of the gospel, be- |
cause he was afraid of q tumult among the people /
We ask these abolition philosophers whether, |
IS a matter Of fact, idOlatry and the vices con- /
woven with the social and civil life Of the Roman
empire than slavery was' Did the Apostles abstain
from preaching against idolatryf Nay, who does
not know that by denouneing this sin, they brought
down upon themselves the whole power of the RO-
man empire! Nero covered the bodies of the |
Christian martyrs with pitch, and lighted UP the
city with their burning bodies, just because they
would not withhold or compromise the truth in re-
gard TO the worship of idols. In the light of that
herce persecution. it is profane trihing for DR..
sa5snd or any other man, to tell US that Jesus or
raul held back their honest opinions of slavery for
tear Of "a servile wax, in which the very name of
the Christian religion would have been forgotten
Inc name OF the Christian religion e not GO easily
forgotten nor are Gods great purposes of redemp-
uon capable OF being defeated by an honest decla-
TsUon o. ms truth everywhere and at all times.
ana yet this philosophy, 80 dishonoring to Christ
ana ms Aposues, is moulding the character of our
young men Snd women. 1t comes into our schools,
anu nlusles win the very lifebood of future gen
eratons the sentiment that Christ and his Anostles
held back the truth, and suffered sin 10 90 rnrebuk