, 1874-03-29

in very exceptional cases, fcd time for the study
which good sermons demand; aud Prof. Swings
health has fairly given away under the doubls
strain.
Another notable fact which the proposed
change would ,exemplify is that written creed,
even when it is fully believed, may prove fat-
ter to clerical student. Tho same form Of
words means such different things to different
men that they can belong to the same sect aud
ret hold widely different views. This does not
matter 80 long as they lot each other alone.
When one of them, howoyer, happens to DO a
busybody, he ca1t drag the other before PEesby-
terry, and Synod, aud General Assembly
quite at his good will and pleasure.
The proccgs may result in disruptipg
the accused's congregation, although it is more
likely to disrupt the denomination. Ecclesiasti-
cal martyrs do not hayo to bleed bodily to
plant the seed Of new church. A Bishop tries
to dspose 3 Clergyman. aud 10, the Reformed
Episcopal Church springs into being. tbs gist
OF the creed-business is this A minister ought
to be responsible only to God and his Own con-
science for what lie breaches. he is, however,
responsible to the congregation that has called
him, and to various ecclesiastical gatherings be-
sides. His acceptance Of call implies an
obligation t. conform strictly to the
religious ideas Of the particular church, and
his entering denomination imples tacit
bargain that he will preach only what tho major
ity Of that denominations highest court con-
siders trne doctrine. No man can know, when
he enters or leaves Theological seminary, what
his views will be in score Of years. He can,
Of course, by keeping an Index E1purgatorius
Of all books which in any way contradict his
creed, keep himself pious,y ignorant, and so
insure his having the samo yieTs at As that he
had at 25. To be sure, here are twenty years
with 10 result Of progress but what is the loss
OF fragment Of time compared to that eternity
Of happiness which awaits those who deyoutly
stop learning anything new after their boyhood7
If minister should, on the contrary, gather
congregation around him in virtue of the
truth he teaches. instead Of the form Of words
be WAS baptized in, his responsibility is limited
to it's proper sphere. God aud his own con-
science are his only judges. The crowds which
listened to Prot. Swing in McVicker's Theatre
did not care whether the speaker believed in the
ssEabel1ian doctrine OF modal Trinity" or not,
or whether he was guilty Of that frightful
archaeological heresy, "the morai-indueuce
theory Of the Atonement," OF not, or whether
he was of this sect, or that, or t'other.
They did not even shudder when Prof.
Patton launched at him the awful charge
that he did not preach enough about
hell. His is the true position Of a minis
ter who wishes to do as Christ did,-resch the
pubicans and sinners. He must preach the
spirit that gveth life. not the letter that kileth.
Hs raust be free to speak the truth that is in
him. He must speak It from a platform rather
than from apulpit. II Prof. Swing takes tho step
proposed he will reach thousands Of people who
never so inside church. Chicago needs
n,o-e Independent ministers preaching in the
heart Of the city.