The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-03-04

Gleaninxs from the Puipifs.
This is the season peculiarly assigned to
religious REVEALS, and in most of our city
churches sermons are preached to advance the
revival interest, and, the first thing neces-
sary on the part of the sinner toward CONVEX
sion being repentance and then faith, or both
combined, Mr.. Hepworth thought good yester-
day to point his congregation to ''the lamb Of
God, which taketh away the sins of the
world" The whole race, he said, is in the
bondage Of sin-not alone sins which we have
committed, but sins also which we have inher-
tied, and in whose consequences we are
involved. Our religious nature is dis
torted and twisted, and we find it hard
to do right, even with all the incentives Of the
Christian religion in our hearts, The disease
is in our Wills and it is well nigh mortal, but
the lamb of God can take away all our sins,
and that lamb is to be found in the person of
Christ, whose atOnement can do all for us
that we need, both for this life and the next.
The manifestation of Christ's love in giving
Himself for the life of the world, and the de-
mand which that manifestation makes upon
our love in return, and the efficacy of prayer
to God, through Jesus Christ, was the theme
of discourse by Rev. Mr.. McNamee in st.
Patrick's Cathedral. The danger Of delaying
| repentance and resting in a nominal profession
of Christianity was also pointed out, and the
reverend father wished it to be well under
stood that ga close attention to affairs which
concern the soul never interfered in any way
with the routine business of the world" This
is stumbling stone and rock of offence to
thousands of men. They think that religion
will interfere with their business or
| their pleasure; whereas it purifes both
| and enlvens and beauties life in all
its forms and phases The Rev. Mr.. Birkins
pictured the solicitude of Paul for the souls
of his people, and showed that this solicitude
is 'not only produced by Christianity, but is de-
veloped to its most effective forms by the same
power. Religion not only kindles a glowing
the soul. And Napoleon recognized this self.
perpetuating power of religion when he said
the religion of Christ subsists by it's own
force" The motives which inspire the
solicitude for the souls of the impenitent
were also clearly depicted, and in his closing
appeal to this class the reverend gentleman
very pointedly and eloquentiy said, There
will be no Calvary crowned with the cross and
sprinkled with atoning blood in eternity" and
| hence here and now is the time and the place
| to seek salvation.
| s'Say not in thine heart that the former days
were better than these" said the preacher.
Yet this is just what DR.. Hitchcock has told
the Broadway Tabernacle congregation. The
age is degenerate, he says. Our profoundest
thinkers, our greatest essayists, our most
erudite men, come from Germany. To that
land we are indebted for the best calculations
of our scrptural lore, and the best Hebrew
and Latin TRANSACTIONS of evangelical archives
we owe to Teutonic scholars And yet, despite
all their eruditon and teachings, the world at
large is getting to be more sceptical. Ritual
ism is Astounding, and ''many are caught
| within the silken meshes Of the net OF Romansm
| and are drawn into the vortex of the papacy."
| Pantbeism is also gaining sway, and in our
| atheism we try to deny our sins or to convince
| ourselves that sin is right. We are happy to
know and free to believe that there is silver
| lining to this dark cloud, bright side to this
| black picture. We believe that much of atheism
| and infidelity which exists and prevails in
nomnally Christian countries is on the lip and
not in the heart. People think too much and
TOO deeply now to be persuaded by others or
| to persuade themselves that there is no God
| or that He is one with matter. We can trust
| 'the world at large" for more common sense
| and more faith than DR.. Hitchcock seems in-
| clued to credit it with. According 70 the
liberal Christian or Unitarian view OF the
| Lords Supper, as expressed yesterday IN the
| Church of the Messiah by Mr.. Schermerhorn,
| that sacrament is simply commemorative
| foo at in honor of the noblest and dlvinest OF
human beiprs. The Romanists, he said,
believed in a mystical transubstantiation
the Rtualist In some miraculous and
supernatural influence pervading the
institution and constituting it sacra-
mcut, and the various evangelical denomina-
lions believe that by this means they individ-
ually appropriate the merits Of vicarious
| atonement. Reason, as well as the
obvious meaning of the Bible, rciutes
these views. The 1eat argument
against them, however, Il that they i'm
implied an abnormal and supernatural agency
in mans spiritual development and it was
against this theory that the liberal Christian
/ contended most strongly. The Illustrations