The New York herald., 1869-04-19
The Religious Teachius. of the Day,

the metropolis and its vicinity. Nothing ex-
hibits in more forcible point of view the
catholic character of New York than the va
riety of the religious teachings which are con-
stantly pouring their streams silently and with
out conflict into the ocean of metropolitan
thought. Here the Roman Church stands
side by side with all the modern Sec
tarians, from the strictest Calvinist to
the broad church of DR.. Bellows, while Spir-
itualism and Mormonism contribute at the
same time undisturbed, their petty rills to the
general flow. 1t is striking incident of the
religious exercises of the day that music which
has been so long cultivated as an important
element in the service of the Roman Church
is beginning to invade that of the sectarians,
as the reader will perceive by the frequent
mention and prominence given to the execu-
tion of the choir, and even to the performance
of sacred concert in the churches, as occurred
in two instances last evening, one in the city
and another in neighboring town.
The most remarkable indication of the
present condition of religious thought, as pre-
sented In these faithful reports of actual SER
mons, will be found in the contrast between
what may be called the modern and the ancient
school of religious instruction. While Beecher,
Bellows and other Boanerges of the modern
school, enforcing their teachings with illustra-
tions drawn from actual daily life, lay aside
the older style of sustaining dogma by dogma,
as will be seen in the sermon by the first
whit Nh~:s :sk;o orsk
former Of the abolition and temperance school,
and that Of the latter, which gives
a new view Of the doctrine Of the last judg-
ment, CHASING it as an ancient superstition,
the Rev. DR.. Seward, an old-fashioned Con-
| gregatonalist Of Middletown, deprecates
what he calls sensational preaching, and
insists that preaching for the ediication of
the audience is not preaching the gospel"
On the other hand, DR.. Carter, at the Church
of the Holy Saviour, maintains that the
church is not on voyage of scientific dis
covery to find faith, and therefore the spirit
of modern progress does no injury, inasmuch
as the ordinances, creeds and sacraments
remain immutable, and the liturgies, articles
and offices only could be changed.
| We have space only to refer cursorily to a
few other points made in the teachings of yes
terday. The coming General Council at Rome
was the subject of learned lecture by the
Jesuit Father OConnor, at the hall of st.
Francis Xavier's College. He has great faith
in the beneficial effect Of this council upon
society throughout Christendom, and believes
shOuld ahrny fho
the Pope, the Church in its poverty will only
| be stronger to perform its high mission,
| in which idea, we doubt not, many
RomanisLs and Protestants will agree
with him. Mrs. G. Fannie Allyn, who
discoursed to the Spiritualsts assembled at
the Everett Rooms, had little in the shape of
doctrine to Offer, but made fair hit in the
! modern style, by insisting that the audiences
| who 60 to the theatres to see the show of the
ballet girls were no better in morals and re-
| ligion than the girls who sought their living
by making the show. In the whole field the
Mormon teaching, as given forth in Williams
burg, makes the most insignificant exhibition
of thought and argument, not even coming up
10 the low standard of the Spiritualists.
Those who will peruse in the right spirit
| field will find much to interest them and to
awaken thought II is noted fact that the
largest concourse attends those teachers who
| preach the Sublime truths Of Christianity with
| accessories adequate to the culture and
intelligence of modern times. In this prac-
/ tha of \
and the Apostles to sustain and encourage
them. The discourses of the Saviour were
illustrated with parallels drawn from the
every day life Of his hearers, aud the
most touching teachings Of tie Apostles
are those illustrated with bomely
things. In this respect we incline To
believe that those who are falsely styled SEN
sational preachers, because they adapt their
discourse TO the forms of modern thought, are
the most successful laborers in the harvest of
the Church. That they are sensational in the
sense that they awaken the attention of their
hearers and carry them with them through the
whole course OF their argument, il perhaps
true; but in this very fact they attain
the true object of religious labor. To
those who insist upon clinging to the
old-fashioned turning and churnng of dogma
and doctrine we would say, ''Go thou and Ia
likewise" The generation that is excavatine
the foundations of the temple at Jerusalem 70
verify the words of Holy Writ, and sending
surveying parties TO Mount Sinai, with photo
graphers, geologists archnologists and trans
lators of ancient inscriptions, will not be salts
fed with anything short of the latest intelli.
gence in sacred aud historical associations.
THE PoPEs PROSPECT. Already the Pope
committees in preparing the programme fol
the Ecumenical Council have quarrelled abou