The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1873-04-28
NJ Packs Sermon.

I:,',s oninion to listen to a sermon from the
- Rev. Mr., Buck, evoked by the attack
Itch had been made upon his Easter sermon
in the Second Parish Fast Day meeting, and
clsewhere-tke accusation of infidelity and
heresy having been freely made, and very
general public attention having been directed to
the matter, which afforded an opportunity for
the pastor to speak on the subject of
CHRISTIANITY AND FIDELITY.
Inc sermon was from the following text:
Dut tnls confess unto thee, that after the man
ner Whicn they call heresy, so worship l the God OF
my fathers-Acts. 2f, IA.
The preacher opened with statement that ne
had no war to wage with persons but only VIII
ideas; for, although he was to speak Oh iniuei-
ity, and the term "infidel'' is in common "'o
an epithet of arrogant offenslveness' oe"i
CHARGE of wickedness and a flavor OF INSULT
oa o :. convenient missile for wordy war
&c - IS NOT at all in that bad sense that 1t
concerns us to-day
He said. could the better class OF my tne0iog-
Iio nnents but see with what heavy reluct-
once disagree with them IN matters so import
ont how unwilling l am to stand publicly in
onnosition to the views of men whose personal
worth so much respect, they would see also
the power of the conviction which compels me-
I desire to be at peace with them and with men
Of every class; and while l am ready always
cheerfuly to tske such part as may be able in
an earnest and honorable conflict of opinions, 1
am convinced that nothing is gained to Chris
tan edification by brawling with the brawler,
or striking with the striker.
Our principal subject is Christianity; for In
fidelity is simply rejection of Christianity. If
we would know then what specific negatives
constitute 1nfdelity, we must ask what mega
tives amount to rejection of Christianity and at
once we meet the question, What is Christan-
ty?
from Chunder See, the Hindoo reforner, and
Richard Baxter, what varieties of doctrine are
included under the term Christianity. Prior to
entering upon the main question, he discussed
what he called Protestant Infallibilty,' and
in this connection adduced sharp criticisms of
Bishop Watson, All Episcopalian, S. 7. Coler-
idge, and the following from Bishop Hoadly of
the Episcopal church in q satirical address to
the Pope: "We have all sufficiently felt the load
have been prosecuted, hanged, burned, massa-
cred las your holiness well knows) for heTettcs
and Schisnaatics. But all this hath not made us
sick of those two words We can still throw
as plentifully and as fercely as they are dispen-
sed to us from your quarter. You thunder out
the sentence against us. We think it ill man
ners to give it you back again; but we throw it
out upon the next brethren that come in our
way; and they upon others; and SO it goes round
till some perhaps have sense and courage enough
to throw it back upon those who first begun the
disturbance by pretending to authority where
there can be none"
He said he was sorely tempted to multiply
these quotations from authorities at hand in
order that be might show more conclusively
than by his own speech, what ludcrously
weak and foolish thing those are afraid of, who,
almost yielding toa noble and enlightening
| doubt, turn pale with apprehension lest some
man, or some church, or some churches or all
churches should call them as the paganS called
the early Christians, infidel and atheist.
He admitted the presumption in favor of the
correctness of the opinions held by the major-
ty, and proceeded to show. by what considera-
tiOns that presumption is annulled. He added,
will introduce, in this connection, but one 9TH
er quotation with which may fifty close this
branch of the subject And if there is any one
who, by reason of longing for sympathy, that
''gregarious instinct of which have spoken, is
exposed to being wounded, aggrieved or intimi-
dated by epithet or accommodation from any
who deal in those matters, let him attend to these
words of Bishop Hare of the Episcopal church,
and take courage: Every mean person who has
nothing to recommend him but his orthodoxy,
and owes that perhaps wholly to his ignorance
will think ut you venture to publish an unfash-
ionable opinion) he has right to trample upon
you with contempt, to asperse your character
with virulent reflections, to run down your writ
ings as mean and pitiable performances, and
give hard names to opinions which he does not
understand. "]-Sparks' Collection, v. 2, p 17S.
Resuming the question "What is Christiani-
typ he defined it in the most general terms as
'sthe religion which was revealed to man in
Jesus" which was has oacn religion since it
could not be reyealed in him unless it existed in
him. Jesus religion was ''devotedness to the
will of God, as revealed to his own spiritual
discernment." If then, that was his religion,
that is Christianity; and it follows that w6oev-
err cherishes devotedness to the will Of God, as
that will is in any way revealed to his discern
ment, he is a Christian.
In that sense of the word, Matthew Tindal
we'll might claim that christianity [isl as old
as the creation;'' and Augustine said well that
"what is now called the Christian religion, has
existed among the ancients, and was not alb
sent from the beginning of the human race I'M
til Christ came in the flesh, from which time the
true religion which existed already began to be
called Christian" And with similar under
standing of Christianity, Justin Martyr, one of
the earliest fathers of the church, said that
''those who live according to the Word GLogos],
are Christians, notwithstanding they may pass
with you for atheists. Such among the Greeks
were Socrates and Herakleitos and the like.
The speaker at this point made a depression
to say that all dogma, as such. is put out of
court by this definition. There Is no occasion,
if this view of Christianity prove to be tenable
to dispute with any one concerning doctrines of
Trinity. Atonement, Depravity, Original Sin, In
finite Guilt or Apostolic Succession--no occasion
for the hatred, prosecutions and cruelties which
| other interpretations OF Christianity have in
| spired; no occasion when doubt of accepted
doctrine is declared for the petty wrath that
sputters frothy in the public walks, or for the
heroic venture where one rushes, all undisnlay-
ed, to assume the mission OF defender Of the
faith. One may hesitate to affirm that there
was physical resurrection of Jesus, nay, one
may even unequivocally reject that narrative,
and may still. according to Augustine and JUS
tin Martyr, be Christian.
Proceeding to define more particularly, he
confirmed from Jesus words the general
definition already given and quoted further
corroborative testimonies from George Eliot in
Middlemarch, Henry Ward Beecher, Rev. Dr.
Thompson, rector of Christ Church, New York,
Rev. Mr.. Martineau and Dean Stanley, the
celebrated English divine.
He continued: "And now, my friends, I
show you marvel. Christianity as here de-
fined, proved and confirmed by ilustrious tes-
timonies is intolerantly rejected by men who
ian name! To them Christianity is something
other than that or it is nothing.
If any one shall venture, before them. to
declare his belief in only this Christianity, there
pect; he will not be surprised when the words
''heretic" and ''infideT' are flung towards him
with pious malice and impotent zeal.
After brief exnortation to independence of
thought and action in religious matters, he pro-
ceeded to quote from Abraham Lincoln and
Dean Stanley, description of the probable
church of the future, founded on the two COM
mandments of Jesus, and closed as follows:
Such undoubtedly will be the church of the
future; ami the triumphs of Christianity are de-
layed until that day shall rise; the day when
differences of theological opinion may be ami
cably considered. When Theological hate
shall have become an extinct volcano, when
every branch of the Christian vine shall confess
its nurture from the common soil of humanity,
when creeds shall have lost their sanctity as
Christian tests, and the truth shall be acknowl-
edged that
"Religion pure
Unchanged in spirit, though It's forms and codes
Wear myriad modes,
Contains all creeds within its mighty span,-
The love of God dieraYed in love TO man."