The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-06-24
THE CHURCH OF ALL SOULS,

Rev. William Adamson on oFaith Over
coming the World"-A New Unitarian
Light.
At the Boston anniversaries held two or three
weeks ago, Rev. William Adamson, a young Con-
gregational preacher of this city, united himself
with the Unitarian Society, and yesterday delivered
his first sermon in the new faith at DR.. Bellows
church. in Fourth avenue. He chose as his text the
fourth OF the fifth chapter Of the First Epste
of John :-'This is the victory that overcometh the
world, faith" No subject, said the preach
err, is more frequently recommended and insisted
upon in all the Bible than that of faith, which is
here said to conquer the world. The writer of the
epistle to the Hebrews ascribes almost all the
markable events in Jewish history to faith working
In the hearts of few men and leading
them to great exploits. In speaking of the power
of Christian faith let us observe the influence which
this feeling always exerts. In history the men of
faith always carry the victory against the men of
doubt. BY this faith is meant that confidence which
a man has that what he believes is true, and that
what he does is right, and which acts upon him
inspiration, impelllng him to carry them out, to
contend for them, to give them If possible a local
habitation and name This faith drove Abraham
forth from the house OF his fathers to build up
great nation in the land which God showed him. 1t
was this faith that inspired Martin Luther when he
nailed his theses to the door OF the church in Wit
tenberg. Such a faith, though In a some
what different sphere, Columbus must have
had New when World he n these on in sss Do%
important part this feeling has played in the his
tory OF mankind. Many of our greatest inventors
have lived upon it for years. Christian faith is a
natural endowment, as universal to humanity as
electricity Is to matter. Most persons have faith in
honesty, and 1t keeps them honest in spite of them
selves. But 1t Is clear that men do not act up to
the light that they have. The opium eater in his
sober moment knows the terrible retrbuton he
is bringing upon himself and may form the strong
est resolutions never again to partake of the drugs
but where are all these resolutions when the hour
comes for reindugence2 They are like a
straw in the rush Of the mountain
torrent. The reverend gentleman then
touched upon the placement Of old supelstitOns of
past ages by the wiser developments OF rational
thought. Even Satan, who has neld an important
point in all religions, Is now refined away 10 the
personifed evil lusts OF humanity and his dark
abode, which shows SO terribly in Dante, Is now
nothing more than the uneasy conscience of the
un!orgivcn soul 1t Is true that when Il person
comes into possession OF new truth and feels in
his soul the freedom which that truth gives it acts
upon him as new lie. He cannot rest without
communicating 1t to Others. Mr.. Adamson closed
his sermon with Illustration of the theory in the
story OF a traveller, long captive in a foreign
land, who bought and set free the Gagged birds he
found on his return nome. | have been captive
once, said he and am now free. and know the JOY
OF liberty,