, 1874-10-05
tuclvc. looking for momont away from Christ,
Lard % saytng, H uupposa tioy forsako Him, what

speculative hltIcultlcH Wc oh!y lueienee suo4'
whom, III tto warmth Of our zoa OF in tho M ssoad
our follow me mon thst thoro aro none.
that everything is plain, md eaay to to
understand. It Ia far better to ALLOW wllat mum
mind what posor afterwards acknowledged, that
thoro arc somo things hard to ho undoratond,
things ,s,pohonn. not only by Paul, but " tno
ho5d so Ind By al The AGs's1 % nr
toxt. tho vorso prccoedingl " No man Tan come
to mo excopt It wore glvou him Of my Fathor.'
Aogreat insoluablo prohtom-tho point Of con.
sftor lifa moota lis hore. Wo may 40 we'll bow
before tho myntery, and 90 on. Tho doctrine OF
eternal retrbution, taught first plainly by our
Lord IIimnel' and tsi1Eht by mono Of THO
emphasis which elnraoforizo tho words Of Joaus
on this painful ttcmo. Wo can explain array
mitch Which has boon current In the Christian
uorld,-.tho literal eternal ilro and brimestono
torms In which it is most plainly sct forth do
not, in themselves alone. Indicate tho literal the
illogical eternity, that ID to aAy that punishment
y %ossan P 9ng T., w hvso. san 'so soo9 rob % S
S3sna %ssh %o 81 eonsom.o s IL % Of
ieft to themselves, and being reduced,
and pierced moro and moro with tho
nsS md hat It, 9Was N so pa%e sss
related to Tie worth OF bolng. and a. related to
the tustice anti goodness Of God, remains.
T. S s5xo y 1n6 6,s # t, ot me.s Ih' o.
well ae1ts dofects. and rho has spoken much ss
I Ilaye on this matter romarks with pcrttnonce
on tho loyalty to Joaua on tho part Of Unlver-
salsts, notwithstanding. tho aoyore , term' ~; ~
ungodly. "suppoao now that sprlnkle my
writings aud ny sermons (ho boing, tho first to
utter tho doctrine) al! through. Us tho four Cos
polls arc nprinklod, With those fiery denunc'as'ons
whole world, II moro to lead OF in auoh doc-
trine, would hear mo for moment with pa
tionco7 Thay would not atop to find whether
| by some elaborate and casoful practice Gil my
Nords ttcy gould sft tho oifonHivo doctrine ont
| say, is tho due of sl,ch proaolpr. Aud
ret what rovercuco tlcro is to Jesua In tho pro-
| mitigation Of tho doctrino!' II anybody might
| stumble At tho teaching Of jesus. It might he
| tho debt Of Tho Justice Of God. Thinking
that way, as I do not, thoao to
| whom hnvo rcfe1rcd arc wao in holding atil1 to
tho Lord Jesus, hoping for solution; John
| tender roverence. he doubtB tho doctrine, but
uil not allow hinsolf to deny tho record. illus
trates tue struggle Of faith, That has sometimes
| boon oallot "tGe agony OF faith" So in msny
othor directions, Il is not necessary to 20 oTor
| tho whole ground. or ovcn any considerable part
of il. Wherovor wo turn TO stumble oil sotno-
thing Which ia deopor than no aro,-somcthjug
VIC must accept without knowing much about u,
only that 1t is from the good God. who will bronx
tho universe into atoms rnthor than wrong, or
| hurt, or without his own fault suilor to DO
wrougod or hurt boyonl 1oparation even tho
mnaneat and nlost .ill-dooervlng Of men.
easily forgotten, that difficulties aro not all on
| the aido OF Christianity. II We turn away from
Christ, il Is not to find avon tolcrably welljusti-
fad theories, tho difficulties OF Which are
Ter n t. number or ay oaasr oe q soaon ao
| and from MY standpoint tho difficulties multiply
| Ut ID not enough to ssy thoy are as gfoat)-
| thoY multiply as you loae this golden clow-tho
loya OF God In Chrlat Jesus, God lu Christ roc
onciling tho world to Hi1nseli thcy multiply
until QUO III utterly lost, knowing neither SUI
| nor polc-atar, and having no path for bis foot
Indeed, this is not falling tho whole truth.
Tho difcultios Of Christianity aro. for tho most
part, tho diltcultos Of Nature, Of all thought.
| and belong to ChriBtianity bocauao Christianity
conoh into nature aud into oil thought with ita
proTer Of d solution. For example. tho opora-
! tion Of God md man Ia tho mind and heart Of
man is difficulty of avery theory bus Atheism,
Reject Christianity, and you arc no wisor, no
| uearef tho solution.
Tho doctrine Of retributon, viewed apart from
tho Bible, or anything Christ has said, deter
| a!l about lis, determined by tho Aou-tlro which
burns r evory city, mud in oyory human lifo that
is SWING 1oosa from righteousness, whether you
consider tho evil inheritanco and immoasursba
| exposures Of mau or the weight Of calamity en-
suing, ia no moro within tho scope Of human l1u-
t2orstauding. Christianity. IsaY, did not origl-
nato any OF these dl1icultios no, not ono oi
Them. 1t takes them Us 1t flnds thon, II, tha
world, explains them more Or less satisfactorily,
seta them In their place in tho Divine govern
mont, and offors, on simple terms, resting
| place for Tho hoari, and tho strength OF God Ia
battle with all diilicultioa, and wisdom to find
and keep in the WAY Of life.
Lot un tako our Presbyterian aystau, which
tho dinlculios Of theological opinion, I am not
about 10 Affirm its perfection or to tliBclaim any
fault ui,ich may attach to it. we'll as to Other
systoms of faith. 1t in M attempt to realizo in
sor,es of articles tho Pauline view Of tho world,
and OF tho redemption by jesuit Christ: Strip
our croed form Of iss yorblago, anl consdor its
ossonti.l routures, and you tind tint they aro
either derived from, or arc iu closo analogy
with, Nature. You touch tho ribs Of the
earth; you fluid yourself in tho quarry Of tho
great builders Of all tlmo. Paul was ono Of
thaae builders. In Tho theological world he ID
no dreamer. no wo.tl-1nakor, but an explorer
into tho DiYino goywnmsnt. He ia not such a
man aB Swedonborg, or Theodore Parker, or sla
novelist Auerbach, but such . man AZ La Place,