Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-04-23
Corruption of all Kinds vigorously
Denounced,
Abstracts of Sermons by Rev. Dr.. d. C.
Kelley.

Rev. D. C. Kelley,of McKendree Church
preached Sunday morning from the text:
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.'
First ThessalOnians, 9th chapter, 2lst verse.
After saying that his primary object was
the adjustment Of proper relations between
professional men aud the church, he incl
dentally remarked: ain consequence OF
an investigation which made during the
past week, l wish to correct myself as to
what l said two or three weeks ago in con-
nection with the inquiry: Why profession
al men were not church-goers. have
found that out of the fifty-eight actual prac-
titioners of medicine in the city,
thirty are members of the church
and regular church-goers. l believe there
are ninety doctors in the city including
those who have only the title Of doctor"
Continuing: "ThoSe who are not church
members and do not attend, perhaps, but
once in six months, excuse themselves on
the ground that they are more liable to be
called upon professionally on Sunday than
at any other time. 1t is the same in this
respect in the city as it is in the country.
But do not the doctors attach too much i'm
portance to this fact, in connection with
their spiritual interests? Ought not their
scalr upon the church be as impera-
tive as any in the exercise of their
profession? If patients devote Sunday par
ticularly to contemplating their ills and
sending for the doctor, ought they to be
INDUCED? He who steals for this purpose
from Sunday, and influences the doctor
not to attend church, but to attend to him,
is setting bad example in his household
and remiss in his duty to God, Take time
to doctor your ills between Sunday and Sat
urday night A circumstance presented as
an Offset to the conduct Of those who
do not attend church is that large proper
ton Of their labor is Christian work;
Christ's works was largely healing. They
argue that as a large proportion Of their la
Dor is Christian work and much of it gratis
for the benefit of the poor-in this respect
that they are always doing gOod-that the
healing of mems bodies, under these cir
cumstances, is an acceptable excuse for
their not performing their regular duties in
the church. There are no men in the land
who do so much unpaid work as doctors
(and next comes preaChers,) l am free to
admit: and for this and other reasons theirs
has come to be regarded as a very honOra-
VIC pIOiSSolOus lucy SJallu ulSL6I III GIio
esteem of men and in the esteem Of God.
The practice Of medicine leads to the dis
covery of expedients. This requires con-
centration of thought on that particular
subject developing materialistic ideas. The
doctor cannot always dIaguOsJicate a cure.
He then does the best he can, under the
circumstances. Some &C .ent themselves
with believing they are doing the best they
can in not attending church regularly, the
character of their secular duties entered
into the consideration. They are apt to be
specializing about religion, too; that it is an
evolution Of physical rather than spiritual
causes. 1t is charged that ministers stand
first in the order of narrOWmindedness; doc
tors next. But it is evident that the minis
Iers are deeply in earnest in what they do.
This can be said to their credit, then. Some
men are so exceedingly catholic that there
is not enough soil ahoJ, them to sprout
a mustard seed of thought. While it may
be said ministers and doctors are pre-
JUDGED men, it mu-+ be remembered that
are they deeply in earnest. You say, Doc
tors, you CanUCt find time for theological re-
l grant it. You write prescrip-
ton. The patient don't know what it is
you have administered, probably because
be cannot decipher your latin. BE, hOwey-
sT, takes the medicine, and perhaps he is
cured. He knows you have devoted
years to accumulating knowledge on the
subject of curing diseases. Therefore
be takes what you have ad-
Now, because you have not
time for theological researches, why don't
you attend church and be instructed by
those who have studied theological qUes-
tons; and in addition to this, the minister
deals frankly with you, he tells you what
your disease is, and points out the remedy,
and all the time you see what you are doing.
Do you tell me you don't want to be priest
ridden? All the works | have read about
priests riding, represent them on a donkey.
Are you so stupid, you fear in regularly at
tending church, and in being guided by
what you hear there, that the ministers will
ride as priests, are represented when
mounted? This fear of being priest-ridden
is not confined to professional men. 1t is
popular bug-bear, paraded before the peO
pie generally. There is nothing in it. The
church cannot enforce its doctrines in this
country at least. When mind meets mind
there is counterthOUght. Preached error
cannot be enforced here. 1t falls. Right
triumphs of itself. Do you tell me that
the pulpit is not what it ought to
be? You are tired Of listening to plati-
tudes. Why don't you hiss those out Of
the pulpit who are incompetent to be there?
You ought to make your preachers think
more than they do. Think. Hiss those
men out who are incompetent, and in their
stead have active and Jealous preachers
whose labOrs will never faIl Of effectiveness.
There is no dearth Of material. You can
have the right sort Of men in the pulpit if
you viii; you can have them if you desire
it. In the past history Of the world, 1872
theolOgians and GO doctors became cele-
brated, combining the research but to the
letters a and b. The practice Of medicine
is as old as preaching. But see the cele-
brated doctors stand out G6 TO lg2 theOlOg-
ians who became celebrated. Now, of the
two collectively how many became authors?
l25; physicians, IS. Of those
who wrote, how many evolved ideas that
very materially affected their calling? The
Y; doctors, SO. l wish it was
customary in this country for any Of the
to get up and say, 81 don't
believe that and assign a reason
for saying so. Again, put a
man by himself and he is nobody. Tom
Scott is nobody. lie Is OF no more account
than thousands and thousands other men.
Tom Scott simply means railroad combina-
tons. There was time when an editor
was the center Of an immense power, indi-
yidually. He could decapitate those whom
he did not like. But that time is past. All
Of the great journals in this country and in
Europe are so conducted that the names Of |
the managing editors are not known. Doc !
tors, rs well as all other professional men,
must put their shoulders to the wheels of
the church. What is true Of combination,
in the advancement of raj I'D interests, is
equally true in the adyanc 1T of church
interests. Doctors must I-a.lue active par
ticipants in the full development of all those
and l claim that the church is an
organization and that in that organization
is the Qujckening Of mankind to a sense of
their Obligations TO God"
The sermon was preceded by a hymn
significantly;
s'Another SIR days work is done"
The concluding hymn was artellect:
"The good Physician"
The Evening Sermon.
After the other customary exercises and
the singing OF hymn commencing
Uphold me, Savior, OF fall"
a sermon on "The Politicians" was deliver