The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-01-22
Plain Talk from tho PulpIts.

Plain Talk from tho Pulpits.
Sensationalsm having for the time being
exhausted itself in the Fisk Juror, we had
yesterday return to the old, but ever safe,
path of Gospel truth where Christ alone holds
the central place and His name is the great
attraction. The Rev. Mr.. Willis treated his
large and attentive congregation to some prac-
tical thoughts and suggestions on the power
which that name possesses. It Is the symbol
of love and mercy, Of justice and of triumph,
and through this name God can be just and
nancy, in st. Patrick's Cathedral, held up the
same great name, and illustrated the results
of faith in Christ and also the substitution of
reason for faith. In the latter case we have
the Church, which should be unit in Christ
split up into fragments, so that she who was
constituted guardian of the truth lie warning
against sh- 4rnth But the blessings of faith
enable us to escape the j~-rings and conten-
tions of this life and the terrors of the Judgment
and bring us to rich reward in heaven. In
contrast with the leading thought of this
minister of Christ was the discourse of Rev.
Mr.. Hale, of Boston, in the Church of the
Messiah. The liberal and the orthodox
theologies were portrayed and held up for the
admiration or approval of mankind. Under
the latter the priest and the Church are
everything, but under the former God
has made of us all kings and priests
10 Lat oh 10
his work. The best preparation we
can have for the functions Of this royal
priesthood is recognition of our self-con-
seriousness and individuality before God. This
thought was elaborated by Mr.. Pullman in
the Church of Our Saviour. Men have been
kept down, he said, by their religious oreeds;
but the world is now outgfowing this blind
adherence to creeds and ceremonies, though
the shell still clings to 1t. Mans superiority
over the lower animals consists in this con-
seriousness which should never be lost sight Of.
But will this consciousness always continue?
Is there life everlasting beyond the grave?
Let any doubter take up Rev. Mr.. behring's
able argument in the Greek church yesterday,
and he will probably begin to doubt the sound
ness of his own theories on the subject of the
souls Immortality. This doctrine is treated,
not from a purely religious standpoint
because, of course, sceptcs scout the Bible,
which reveals it-but rather from q scientific
and philosophical standpoint where they are
met on their own ground.
Old Trinity church was aroused last even
ing by the Rev. DR.. Dix taking those three
words so intimately connected with mans pre-
sent and eternal welfare-home, marriage and
divorce-and stripping off the gaudy attire
from the latter while he beautified the former.
Without welded life home is impossible.
Marriage is natural, civil and religious
contract; but the Doctor has no faith in
polygamy or plural marriage. Reckless mar
riages give the Courts all they can do in the
to step in for the benefit of licentious men.
He did not endorse divorce. 1t was never de-
signed by God, and he considered it nothing
more than naked heathenism in modern dress.
Mr.. Hepworth is rapidly forming his new
Congregational church, and this evening the
initial steps will be taken toward organizing
corporate society and gathering in a Sunday
school. And as in all such laborious mis-
siouary undertakings divine strength and
grace is needed, and these come only by
prayer, Mr.. Hepworth very simply and
touchingly yesterday discoursed on this SUBJ
ject, illustrating from scenes in the life of
Christ the necessity for 1t and the nearness Of
access to God which it gives US.
In Brooklyn the pulpits were also COM
paratively free from sensational topics
Yesterday. Mr.. Beecher for the time being
forgot his favorite topic-God's love to the
race-aud INDUCED in little plain talk about
money and Its uses, recommending therein
greater simplicity and economy in living. 1t
was thorough going home sermon, and
should be read at the tea table
or the Preside this evening, when
every member of our readers families
might and should be present. The
Rev. DR.. Osborn preached to the Tabernacle
Baptist church on the Atonement, and DR..
Chapman gave his Methodist flock some ex-
celent reflections and suggestions on the duty
and the beauty Of witnessing church. The
Rev. Mr.. O'Callahan In st. Mary's Church Of
the Sea stripped the veil from that modern
fiction, "scieuce falsely so called" and pre-
scented 1t naked to his audience as rebel
lion against God and as generating and
giving power to sins for which there
may be no forgiveness neither in this
life nor in that which Is to come. In
Grace church protestant EpiscopaL, Jer-
sey City, very touching and eloquent DIS
course was delivered by the Rev. Mr.. kioe,
on the men brought to the surface by sociai
aud religious and political upheavals. aud 10