The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-01-19
An English Clergyman on
Conversion.
Beecher and Modern Concep-
tons Of God.
Sermons by Father Quinn, DR.. Duryea,
Father Nicholas Bjerring and
0. B. rockingham.
REFORMED EPISCOPAL oHUROH.

ktgnL Rev. BISHOP CutumlUS pIedSIcu yesteiuoy
morning to a large congregation at Steinway Hall.
Quite a number of those VINO attended were Metho'
dists or Presbyterians or belonged TO other non
Episcopal churches. Some Of them came from
Brooklyn Jersey City and other suburban towns
The reverend Bishop took his text from st. John,
w., 24-sGod is q spirit, and they who worship Inn
must worship him in spirit and truth" In mar
row valley, the preacher began with his sonorOus,
ringing voice, among the highlands oil Samarta
lies the Moslem town Of Nablus. Degraded as 1t
nov Is by the sway OF the false prophet 1t was
once the resting place OF the ark Of God and the
centre OF union to tribes OF Israel. 1t was the
spot where Abraham nrst pitched his tent III the
land OF Canaan, where the bones Of Joseph were
buried alter their long journey OF forty years in the
wilderness and where Joshua gathered all Israel
TO HEAR HIS LAST WORDS
OF counsel and Of warning But that little town had
higher distinction SILL Jesus Himself going up TO
jerusalem rested b. the side Of Jacobs well,
wearled with His journey and seeking refresament
rom its waters A tnougntess woman, coming to
draw water, found ner whole past life unveiled by
the stranger sitting by the well, recognized Him
as a prophet and at once introduced the great
contr oversy between Jew and Samaritan. Point
ing to the mount on whose summit once stood the
Samaritan temple, she slid:-"Our fathers wor-
shipped this mountain, and We say that in Jerrl-
salem is the place where men ought to worship
Instantly the Jew was lost to sight and the Re-
deemer or mankind spoke Mot alone on the
mount is the Father to be w0rshipped but the
whole earth IS a temple and every spot h3ll0wed
ground God is spirit, and they tnat worship
Him must worship Him IN spirit and In truth. .
TRUTH StiI the great controversy was waging,
Jerusalem or Samaria Where and how was the
Father to be wOrshipped Jesus answered =
Only by worship IL spirit and in truth spiritual
and not Wechancal
A MATTER OF THE SOUL
and not OF forms or external rites rational wor-
ship, whose only basis was truth, unchanglng and
eternal. No element or propensity In the human
constitution was more pronounced than was its
righteousness. Man was eminently religious
being; and by that he did not mean q good and
holy Oelng, put one VINO instnctively chung to
ton. It was the mightiest testimony to the
original grandeur of the human soul that now in
from its Creator. Dreading and Tearing it yet
chung to Him and sought to proptiate Him.
Wherever man existed. unoer whatever varieties
OF civilization and culture, he must nave religion.
There never yet had been found the nation or the
tribe the lowest and most degraded, without
worship OF some order without God whose favor
was to be sought and whose wrath was TO be ap-
peased by some rites, however hldeous and revolt
ing. Religion had ever been the mightIest force
or factor in human history. The most widespread
ana lasting systems had been religious systems,
the most powerful Tears were religious Tears, the
destructive wars
HAD BEEN RELIGIOUS WARS,
the most cruel ana SdngulQdry Prosecutions
always were religious prosecutions, the most Bit
ter prejudices were religious preJudces. Where
one man had died for his country hundred had
died for their latin. Man must have religion;
everywhere IN all ages and countr es, they found
some kind OF worship, however degraded II might
be. To the Romans and Greeks there were gods
without number; there were divinitIes that
Gwelt IN the woods; there were divlnites in the
forests AMI the sea. Mars was the popular concep-
ton the spirit oil war. and Venus the elDb0dl-
ment OF the popular conception OF love. But the
most sublime incarnation OF the divine human
the Hebrew ceremonies became more important
than the living truths, and it was in such
an age when Jesus Christ came and said, "wor.
snip me in the heart, not In the
body" Had this maxim always been kept
IN view No: the religion Of Christ had been
perverted and corrupted, and the great fort thus
lar had been TO bring down the faith 10 the level OF
man. Queen Elizabeth went TO church every sun.
gay and md was Mashed y the but s
with light, incense must exhale delicious ira
GRANGE,
and this was religion, was it' No, IL was an nycn-
ton of the human senses, and 1t already began in
p Ie mat IS IN we're re Already sa M
Paul's words. Here was this stupeadous power,
toweru1, colossal temple forever. and super:
stition was It's name-superstitlon, instead OF
r1flonal faith, religion OF austere ritual and easy
morality, religion oil sensual ceremones-iD a
word, Christianity adapted TO the human heart
a count erlet presentm mt OF Jesus Christ. 1t
was the migEtlest imposture, because IL was such
clever counterfeit preseniment Amidst ali the
progress OF the are evii-hearted man always re-
NAMED the same, and refu ed TO worship Goa in
the true spirit. Sentimentll.sm, the outgrowth
Of sensual temperament and highly wrought
Imagination, was also oil the worst evils oil this
superstition. IL surrendered Itself to the effects
wrought by sculptured stone. 1t was rapt to the
third heaven OF ecstasy by the soft cadences OF
music. How beautiful was this ritual, but was 1t
also true This was the main question which
they must always keep in view. Truth was not
what delighted their senses. In Oberammergau
they would see Calvary turned into theatre and
the Cross into bau0,e. He
WANT
nor did he want to see affairs in churches the
exact counterparts OF those In pagan temples.
they beheld men bowling with reverence before
Idols they must refuse to join these men, pictures
being set up now by so-called Protestant
churches) II paintings OF Christ and HIS disciples
were presented 10 the eycDe they painted Se eS ,ns
people 10 the church as they would to the opera
rather pray with some congregation on the hillside
taan see the paid chor,sters N wn's toDe ne.
prng Soa by prox was s"i Th,s ws
question that must be asked. lOvelier than all
glories Of marble and canvas was the soul reject
grateful TO God tnan the most renned strains Of
music was the broken cry from contrite ana SIN
Sere neart Whatever ritual lett the heart Of the
was superstition and not worship Of Coo SIN
spirit ana truth" There was o medieval legend OF
an old Knight who, In his CELL prayed to Cod, hen
all OF a sudden appeared to HIM
A VISION CLAD IN CELESTIAL LIGHr
"Wh0 art thoufn the knight asked. s'WOrship
men the vision said. lie was about to ra at the
feet OF the appariton when he noticed that the
hands were without marks OF the terrible nails
and he refused to worship MIN. The vision then
vanished, Tor 1t was only satan clad IN sanity
robes For such tokens they must always ask.
"rne temple OF the L0rd' had always been the
estantism must be the Lord OF the
temple" Be this the work OF this
Reformed Episcopal Church. Be this, beloved
their blessed work. After the sermon the rev.
erend Bishop addressed q few words to the con-
gregattOn. He said that henccfOrth there would
Be regular worship every Sunday, IN the morning
ct Steinwsy Hall and IN the evening At Lyric Hail.
N Sixth avenue. near Forty street. II was