Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-01-10
Pagan Christianity and Christ's Christi
CCntrRsted.


Paqall CHrisjia72iy represents the Maker
OF heaven and earth as infinitely selfish,
malicious and powerful as having created
the world either whimsically or wickedly,
and as preserving the world and the race
OF intelligent creatures Inhabltlng 1t, to
carry forward certain irOn-hard designs
He has cherished maiignity from all eter-
nitv-or being alone in his infinite auto
cracy, as floundering glgantlcalIy through
q despotism which Is u hOrrld failure, and
which he cannot make complete success,
or even decent imitation of a success.
ACCORDING 10 tlIis, God hates the world he
made has created intelligent beings and
Gwen them laws which they not only can
not keep, but canDot wholly apprehend,
not to say comprehend ; and that when
moor lnOrtuls ~, 4tG these laws God loves
to catch the sinner in the act and punish
him therefor and, that he may cover his
horrible character with some veil that shall
hide it, he has taken his only Son and
cruelty slaughtered him, the innocent for
the guilty, that he might say to the world,
"There, now, you see that [ love you, my
creatures, more than [ do my Son, whom
[ have killed for your sakes - and thus
presenting himself as a monster, according
to all those laws of thoughts and intuitions
of the human soul he himself had previ-
ousIv established, does effectually drive his
creatures still fHrther from him.
CH1IS{'S ChJiStitt1itV stands IN most direct
contrast to all this. Substantially it teaches
that God is essentially good, the very
goodness of the universe, the author Of all
good thoughts in men, the maker of the
very conceptions of tenderness, love, good
ness. kindness towards others that the
creation OF the world was not SO much the
stretching out Of his powerful arm as the
overflow of his transcendant lO7lngness
that he loves all the creatures he has made,
and takes no pleasure in their sin and suf-
feriDg: that all his law is righteous, true
and good, framed not as edicts of a selfish
and tyrannical ruler, but as provisions in
behalf of the welfare Of all those who are
TO live and act under those laws, SO that
the law is their life that his goodness Is
over all his works, his infinite wisdom and
power uniting with his infinite love IN the
sustention, the vivihcation, the perpetual
repairing, reinforcing, relnvlgOratlng OF al
things, so that the minutes atom atiOat IN
the darkness Is as indestructlDle as an arch
angel, and every hair on every human head
hath number and weight in the census o.
God that it is utterly impossible to make
God hate anything he hath made, es
pecially man, but that he loves him will
an everlasting love; that when maj
wrung from the benedictiOn Of the freedom
of his will that only thing which the soal O.
God hateth, to wit sin, which is the male
diction of the universe, God did not ALLOW
his holy hatred of sin to beget IN Inn an,
unholy hatred Of the sinner that the con
troversy as between God and man is alto
gether on the side of man, God resting IL
his purity, goodness and lovingness tha
the evil and injury of sin is nOtagainst God
but the evil doer that God always forgives
pities, loves and strives to save the sinner
that he brings to bear every practicable ap
pEance of salvation-going all practicable
lengths-doing all things that do not in
wade the domain of that right regal free
dom of the will, the destruction of whlcl
by any process and tor any motive woult
be the most thorough and total damnatiol
Of man to destruction that God is recon
ciled to the world that the supreme
thought in the mind of God now is th
reconciliation of the world unto himself
and that the supreme act of the infinite
Father. is the embodiment of himselfin sucl
way that God might be the Son of Goo
and the Son of Man at once, and thus COM
30 near to man as to draw him into a re
conciliation that Gods IN Christ, not tha
Christ stands between an irate God and
crouchlng, shlverlng creature, Christ th
only good one, man bad and God worse
but that the God is Christ and Christ i
God, and all the good on the part of Co
Is as voluntary as all the evil on the part o
man ; that God is the Father of all mel
and could not forbear when he saw his chill
dren SHINING and suffering, but came in tn
Hesh, that IL the flesh, with arms of fiesl
and heart of flesh he might wrap the worl
10 his bosom and warm mans heart into
generous willingness to be ct one with tn,
most ppOprOOc Cod R IL. T0ooooc