New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-10-18
A Free.spoken Clersym.p.

Ffee.SDOken clergyman.
Tho Rev. William H. II. Murray. a..
Boston. sometimes called Adirondack
Murray, is q preacher of decidedly Gbera,
sentiment. In his first sermon after 0 his
return from vacation, preached last SUNDAY
he uttered the following vigorous protes.
against dOgmatic restriction:
Let your thought 70 forth; let it question
| the heavens; let it interrogate the earth:
let it examine every record; let it welcome
every suggestion; let it fly forth at will, the
curve and circuit Of its explorations limited
by nothing save the Limitation of its cana,
city, and the boundary circumscribed bv
the spirit of reverence and devotion. 4
reverent soul needs no master. 1t will
neither harm itself nor others. A pray.
erfu! spirit requires no guardianship save
such as will be perpetually born from the
conservatism of its devOut lnoOd and its
! submissive temper. l have taught you this
| in word: have striven to teach you this by
! example,. The great cardinal truths o;
Christianity ! have never doubted. I
have never limited that among reyeren.
people they could ba doubted. Standing
in this spot. two years ago. when
many eo,called Christian people in
our evangelical churches. and some
members in this church. were watch.
ing my words, not IN order to be prOtited.
but in order to find something by which to
justify their opposition. and on which to
hand in their charges. used the followina
language as statement Of my positions
''The great doctrines Of the Bible are what
they have always been. The wickedness Of
man, the love OF Got in Christ. the powss
OF the spirit. the immortality Of the soul,
the atonement made for sin OH Calvary.
through which alone may come salvation to
the lost. These, my friends. are noun
tains. and the passage of 70 thundes
through the air can move them an inch.
Clouds may settle around them. tempests
search their sides. lightning scar their surs
face and fires girdle their slopes. but nelthes
cloud nor storm. neither lightning nor tho
fierceness of many fires can ever remove
them from the landscape Of divine truth,
For ages they have stood. and for all ages
they will stand outlined in grandeur. the.
vast proportions brought into bold relic:
against the back ground Of the eternal
world"
These are what ought to be called the
cardinal truths Of the Christian religion.
Holding to these you will be safe. Beyond
these. beware how you allow men to mul.
tiply points upon you. The modern style
OF doctrine. the Protestant form of Roman
Catholicism is to present pamphlet full OF
doctrines and ask you to sign it, with the
understanding. that unless you do you can
not come to the communion table nor b0
known as q Christian follower. This is
the pistol that our evangelical ecclesias-
ticism holds at the ear Of every candidate
tor church membership, and it says to him.
"Swear you believe that or we'll shoot"
My friends, let them shoot. Force them to
put definition to Christianity. Let us
see what these unr0bed and unmarked ia.
quisitors on our church candidates cal.
salvation. Wave aside their pamphlet and
take your New Testament, and bring them
down to that. What you find in Gods word.
stand by. Believe it. What you find in
books Of theology. in sermons, in church
creeds. that is not the language of the
Scriptures. word for word. and. syllable for
syllable, believe or not. just as You please.
l started out in my ministration believing
everything that is found in Backus and
Bellamy. in Dwight and Edwards. IN
Woods and Tyler. stand to day believing
nothing. and caring for nothing, that can
not find In the Bible. If desire to know
the terms of salvation. turn to the blessed
pages and read, ''Repent and believe, and
you shall be saved" It does hot say. re.
pent and believe the doctrine OF total dc.
pravity. and yOu shall be saved. That is no
fling at total depravity. 1 am an old school
Calyinist. believe in It, root and branch.
Not the total depravity that you find in
your catechisms. on the printed page mere.
ly. but the desravity that walks on two
legs. and lies about people, and lays plo.s
tor you, and ISLANDERS you in love, which
takes every vile rumor like sweetness to its
mouth, and rolls it under its tongue-that
is the depravity believe in. And when
the great day of election and appointment
shall come. and tue wicked and the good
shall etand before Him. these men and
women will he there, some Of them covered
all over with religious professions. and.
when they are singled out by the Eye thas
looked down into mems hearts, and are
summoned up for Judgment, there they will
stand in that hour of doom. some of them
with Bibles in their hands. and the WINS Of
the Blessed Sacrament red on their lips
and the Almighty will say. "Depart frOn
me. We workers Of inlquity. ! never knew
you" never knew . man of this type. il
the Church, that was not terribly orthodox.
who was not always worrying about the
spirituality of the minister. tho scarcity Of
additions to the Church. and the dreadfu!
fate of the unregenerate. These are tho
men who produce alterations and divisions
among Christians. They are good only in
tech:caiities. Petty differences of interpres
tation and definition they magnify into the
rank of essentials. They will allow no one
to differ from their idea of truth. They
want no union. They dislike harmony am:
peace. for Only by debate and dispute ~as
they become prominent.