Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1873-06-26
The liberty of Protestan;s.,,.

"
One reason for the opposition of or
thodoxy to liberty is the danger of its
abuse. This danger equally besets all
liberty. The right use of personal
freedom is probably the. most difficult
of all things TO learn. 1t is not merely
that men are liable to abuse it, but that
multitudes are certain to do so. But
we do not therefore oppose civil liberty
and advocate despotism, as the only
means of preventing abuse. We be-
lieve it is better to have liberty not
withstanding the great perils attend
ing it. 49,. .s..
So, in religious matters, there is great
danger of an extreme use Of the right
of private judgment. But it does not
follow that men should be deprived of
religious liberty for fear they will abuse
it. They must rather be taught that 1t
is theirs of right, as a gift of God, that
they are accountable to him for the use
they make of II, and ana! not there
fore abuse it with impunity. Admit
ted that many will ruin themselves by
abusing their liberty, yet there can be
no doubt that more would be ruined by
an intolerance that drives them out of
the church into hatred of all religious
truth. .-t.-.- g.. .
Orthodoxy cannot keep men from
thinking, nor can it keep the thinker
within the prescribed limits. Mind is
inherently free. 1t cannpt be chained,
nor kept in ignorance of its liberty
Sooner or later men will find out that
they have an inalienable right to free,
dom. The question is, shall orthodoxy
recognize their freedom and encourage
it by making them feel that Christi
anity, The great liberator of mankind,
is nol the enemy, but the friend and
soster-mother of freedom, and thereby
hold them under Its influence, where it
can teach them how to use their liber-
ty tenperately, reverently, in the fear
and service of God?
Or shall orthodoxy continue to teach
men that free thought and investiga-
ton are wicked and lead to he'll, and
that if they persist in the exercise of
their liberty they must be turned out
of the church, and deprived of its
sympathy and help; and thus force
them into opposition to Christianity,
and hatred of the very name of orr
thpdoxy as synonym f0r bonlageg If
so, the result will be impious defiance
instead of reverence, contempt instead
Of investigation, license instead Of Ii
berty. and utter recklessness instead of
the fruits of a holyiife.
The church has no right to drive men
from its altars by intolerance, for in so
doing it loses its powerto beneft them.
The church was not established to de-
prive 'nen of their liberty, but to teach
them how TO use 1t. But in order that
men may know bow to use it rightly,
they must have it. 1t is only by the
possession and exercise of liberty that
men can learn its proper use, 1t is
therefore the duty of Protestaptism TO
win men ta lts affairs and keep them
there, by guaranteeing perfect freedom
of thought and conscience, that it may
beable to benefit them, and guide them
out of their doubts intOa higher faith
bepOnd.-[By AN Orthodox Minister
in Scribner's for July. 2.raH -"t
A staid citizen of indianapolis, while
recently on u business visit to New
York, was asked to escort a charming
young widow hence to her home in
Western New York. He complied, of
course, but when, on reaching the
place of her residence, all her friends
began TO congratulatlng her and him
on what they supposed TO be her new
alliance it became aggravating and
embarrassing, and he was compelled to
explain that he had wife at home, to
whom he had been married for sixteen
years. u..
When yOur tenptatIOns LEI Won alone