, 1873-03-16

evil and the good, md eendeth rain On the just
r and on the unjust" We deny that the early
lnedln7al and modern dog1nas OF election, repro
baton, aud endless misery are any fair and losi.
cal Interpretation OF Christianity either in lette.
Or splI1t And this denial has been maintained
oy many OF the best scholars of Christendom.
brotherhood OF man in the hebrotherhood OF Chris
LIARS ana Winks at the injustice and cruelty in
uac1ed on those who reject the Christian creed ''
ls not only unsupported by the letter and spirit
OF Chuseanity, but is unsupported by the his
Church IN all it's ages. Tho Jcsuits alone have
practIEed upon Nr. Abbot's asserted pripciples !.
and to impute their bgotry end conduct to the
itself, is on par With that shallow. Clerical In,
putation, that all the crimes of Red Republican.
ism in the french Revolution were the out
growth Of Free Thought and Free Religion.
''As We hare therefore opportunity, let us do
good unto all men, especially to those OF the
household OF faith Universal philan-
thropy instead Of restricted philanthropy
| las been tho burden Of the Christian relirion.
Instead of "winking at injustice and cruelty
inflicted npon those who reject the Christian
creed" Christianity has alvays held a ehieId
| over the weak, the low. md Door. and q 3word
over the proud and oppressive.
! Finally. Mr. Abbot charges that a aChr;st3.nitv
slave IN his yery soul: that It hns a,1rors alIad
| itself with dcspo:ism in civil poranment-
'Aa Catholicism and as protcstautism II has been
unmitgated tyranny ";-is the true heir Ct
Roman Imperialism, seeking universal don,in-
ion, political as well as religious "-"that it
stands in tie way OF n11 procress md tearhes
despair Of human nature. es ruinad iost h.
p1ayed incapable Of all salvation but thaL Which
This despotic authority, and these smhitiors
and universal pretensons to dominion. char
| ished by the man whose who1e lira ami ,eacI.
inga vera q rebuke to protsnaions, M priae. s and
worldly greatness; who would not be King OF
J -
| shall bo exalted and be that cvaltsth h;Tosa'1
shall be abased !" who told tI,a be1ora5 dsc;n,o
''Forbid him not, he that is not against us Il
for us;" who 1ebuked Pharisaical prayer aud
| public alms-giving: who never natronized the
rich, and the proud, and the worldly groat: Who
'sborn in O manger," and diving upon tho cross.
for hunlanity's sake, not God's. filed in tie
short public life md ministry With tho moEt
wonderful meekness and disinterested human
service that the world ever saw. saving, he
" came not to be minis.c~ed INTO hut to rims
ter;" and whosooyer will be great. shall bo
the servant OF ALL"
Mr. Abbot's Impeachmentof ChristianiAv cnn-
not be made good, a. against Christ or bis leach
ings, without doing violence to ali tho laws Of
thought, and ali the canons OF rational criticism.
Ho eeems to be identified with class ct critics
by the saue methods Of thought which they ap-
ply to any OF the other Oriental religions When
treating of Brahminism q Or Parseeisn they apply
nnrs1 na-anectisa I4,s1. ~ ~, .Ia H. -" g1
tiona1 And fennnra1 ;n+o ~ hae1. ~. ~ -.
manant thev aeek n .es :. ~ nn;~;+ 4Iu 20 Ipoa5
in thinps erii'" Even faw oTains ~ rbas5 5Ni ~
Epictetus. or Marcus Aurelius. or Plato' Or soma
nnknnwn seeT nr s;hv1 Inv s;ft n,,t y, - So the
ahonndino char and nnT,ifv as tha .aad.co.,,
nf hnmanitv V;thont wRicb the souia ~ ~
race would perish for want Of nntr;ment'
mi when thav annroach chr;.t;.n;t.
tho scientjsc rnstbod ia droonad Thagy
look for ohafY instead of wheat fhera ;s M
lavv ~ moral naranact;va awor5o3 =, Tssre rrhs
nermanent md 1nivarrs1 n1e 1ured " :, tne the
fransiont and traditional The divine 10 arn1 IN
nv the Evange1;ats WIN ware +nsra ror,orts-s -
tIa h.at nEarr 9,aisi, nnt;a-, - pni a1ae ~
fIarv onstberna ~ pata- .1d Iohn aar e,,.ds
ami imnarfact thino IN tIa thonrhtt sn5' M -
tern1at fhrist}snit,v someuat th1ngoi III H. Inata
and orpie. of aonnisrn or The ritnaj ~ 1naa;e7o
ali he cn1rant nn;n;ons and ~ .nna~.t;.;oaa that
dropped their shadovs into the trrnrnaTant nsr.
,af;Te - ~ losns1. 49, f,ste,a ~ T,a 49, t; -
seif aa thon1f' hs 49, raanansihe r. ~
biontv of his se,a tha i1noranca and atnn;d;.g
of hia foiioTers tba idess ha hsd onioroC1 mo nnd
The arrnra ha asaa;led ~ '''>A 04'N
Admit that religion is absolute and eternal
fhe oeni,1s of Giacnvary' sc;ance "a nn1-e ~. S
dscoyered method of nstre r. ia 20 si,oriy uny th
cIassihcation of the known fnotnT;nta ~ +ba r-a
ator. Take he names Of Consrnicre. as-s. s1o
science Of astronomy, and while the stars would
hold On their COURSES, what would tho world
know about celestial dynamies ? Without the
omy would drop from it's place as an exact SCI :
ence, and the stars again fall into the keeping Of
sooth-saye1s and astrologists. Jesus created
no truth he added no new attribute to Deity,
no new faculty to the human soul. no new ele-,
ment to religion But he discovered the true
character Of God, tho native grandeur OF the hu-
man soul, the spiritual and eternal element OF
religion.
In fab1e, in tradition, the statement Of d pro-
found md universal truth and painful and dis.
exist! In tho living, human conscionsness, no.
such contradiction can" "coexist Tho knowledge
Of thu universal and absolute swallows up the
partial and imperfect. And whenever We inter-
pret human intelligence by the limitations OF
an ignorance which its own illumination diss;-
pates forever, we do injustice to the laws OF tho
mind, and tho intnitions Of reason aud soul, and
criticism.
It is in harmony with tl1s order Of nature, with
order and that life. But, divine all truth isx