Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-02-12

Z RELIGION. ft .H
The difference between religions is the
difference between symbols. Mankind ex-
perienee the same sensations, but quarrel
over the terms by which they are described.
Religion has been substantially the same
in all ages of the world. 1t is Ignorance
which afhrms that the religion of the an
clients was cold and mechanical, in compari-
SON with that of the moderns. Purely re-
lgious Neutrality-suspicious. and prayers-do
not, in general, survive the changes which
take place in long periods otherwise we
should hnd throughout remote antiquity,
religious phenomena precisely like those
that occur at the present day, and upon
which so much reliance is placed, as proofs
of doctrinal truth. The Greeks and Romans
had the same emotional exercises that occur
at camp. meeting or conventicle, in the
United States Of America. They sang, they
pray ed, they had contrition for sin, obtained
hope of salvation through dead and risen
mediator; the women shrieked and, went
into convulsions, and the men groaned OF
shouted as they were moved by the domi-
nant impulse. They even used the sign of
the Cross; and if we could gain minute in-
formation of their theology and sacraments,
we should probably find that the religions of
the present time have an equivalent for
every one of their doctrines and ceremonies.
Religion is purely natural endowment.
A man is born with all the religion he ever
has. Hence it is that he is no better man
after he has what is called experienced re-
ligion, than he was before. The profession
does not change the man. The emotions of
passing, as the phrase is, from darkness to
light, are transitory but the character is
permanent, and the revolutions it undergoes
are slowly and imperceptibly evolved out of
itself, not superiAduced by any extraneous
agent OF influence. This is, in fact, the
rationale of the Calvinistic doctrines of Elec-
ton and Saints Perseverance.
Men change morally that is to say they
form resolutions to abandon practices OF per-
sonal Representations very sad
denly-snd carry them out. A man may
thus, from very disreputable, become
very respectable character. This is some
| times called conversion, and credit for it is
| given 10 religion but this is an error. Men
| leave bad practices because they hurt them
| threaten TO shorten their lives or destroy
| their energies-not because they are sins
/ against God. From a tendency TO dishsn-
esty and double'dealing, men do not become
converted either by religious influences or
moral considerations, because these things
come from natural 0bliquity of character
which religion can not cure, and against
which, through such obliquity, moral mo-
| tiVes are nearly or quite poWerless.
All we know Of Conscience is its phe-
nomena. These are the apprehension of i'm
mediate i'll consequences from some act or
omission. Some writers have confounded
conscience with judgment; most palpable
error. Others, while denying its identity
with Judgment have made It operative a:
well before as after the act; and others have
considered it efficient as much in respect Il
the conduct Of others as our own. These arr
mistakes into which men are led by theo
logical exigencies-which not infrequently
require the acceptance OF conflicting theOris
upon the same point, at the same time. Con
science has reference to the here, and not y
the hereafter. Its twinges pass away O.
payment of the social penalty, and fade rr,
cisely in proportion as the prospect impeoy,
Of escaping the appreheRded PapIShmen