The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1875-12-22
The Progress of the Human Race.

Extract from discourse Dy heV. IGomas
II. Skinner, of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Christianity never before occupied such 9
vantage ground asit does to day. Twas never
so.free, never so ready for conflicts and con
quests. 1t has made its way in the past
shackled and hampered by its professed and
| its real devotees. 1t has been confined and
fettered by ecclesiastical politics and State
alliances, and it has been abused and per-
verted to ends and purposes utterly foreign
to it's nature; so that oppression and wrong
and crime and fearful bloodshed have been
wrought in its sacred name, till the world
began to think that it was the cause of the
darkness and woes which human sefshness
and depravity inflicted under cover Of its
ssncity. Now, as never before, it is seen
that the priest is not Christ, that mighty
ecclesiasticism is not Christianity, that the
civil arm is not its best defender. The boast
that our religion is disintegrating and going
to pieces, that the faith of Christ when free
impulse of the heart, is weaker than when it
was enforced by Church authority, His love
and service less sincere and earnest when an
individual duty, than when cherished by as
cetics and mystics-this boast, even if true,
would amount to little or nothing as an ar
gument in the case, but in fact it is SLAM
dor, bruted and blazoned abroad for effect.
| feel with gifted writer who says: "For
myself am unable to discover any signs
that its power is decaying, much less that
its glory is destined to early extinction
The very bitterness and vehemence, the an
ger and the scorn, the infinite variety of ar
gument, and the inexhaustible energy of hos
tility with which Christianity ia assailed,
demonstrate now strongly it is eutrenched
in the common faith and common traditions
of Christian nations, and demonstrates, too,
the intensity of the devotion and the depth
of the reverence with which it is cherished
in the hearts of innumerable Christian men.
But if Christianity is emancipated and pre-
pared in the spirit and strength of God to
meet it's foes, so are irreligion and unbelief
they are mightier and more formidable by
reason Of the very freedom and energy of
that which they assail. Compared with the
physical power Of Imperial Rome striking at
the life and being of the early Church; com.
pared with the sullen and secret resistance
which muttered its enmity when Papal Rome
held Europe under its iron heels; compared
with the crude Deism and philosophical in
fidelity of the last century, the forces now
combined against the very citadel of Chris
tian life and hope, are vastly superior to any
which the religion of the Cross of Christ has
ever confronted. We fear not the encount.
er. We welcome the struggle, be it long or
short. We can match our foes in science, in
learning, in eloquence, in dialectics, and in
criticism. The history of former conflicts in
by-gone centuries, and the marvellous victo-
ries achieved, inspire courage and conf
dence, in6delity can never feel. The sword
of the Spirit is mightier than all the wea-
pons in the armory of our enemies, and the
promises of God are surer than the prognos-
tcations of most gifted mortals, and the hu
man conscience, with the hopes and fears,
and the terrors of death that agtate the
breasts Of all men, which no sophistry can
eradicate, lend aid to our endeavors. But
above and beyond all, the secret and super
natural grace of God; the subtle and ire
sistible power of His Spirit; the uplifted
cross of Jesus Christ, drawing by celestial
magnetism, the hearts of men the surpass.
ing compassion and tenderness of Him who
lives forever to save the perishing-these,
these are presages of an undoubted and over
whelmiDg triumph. We as individuals and
as churches may yield and succumb, but the
cause, the religion of Christ, the interests Of
righteousness, the progress of the race will
survive and be sure. Righteousness and sin,
truth and error, mercy and judgment 60 side
by side throughout the course of history, and
when the forces of evil have tried their ut
most, and the mystery of iniquity has spent
itself in the tremendous struggle, and the
judgments of God have visited the hopelessly
rebellious and guilty, then will the forces o.
goodness establish their triumph in the over
fowings of Divine mercy and the earth b'
full of the knowledge of the glory of God 81
the waters ill the sea. And if We do oul
duty, and dare our utmost, and venture oul
all, we will share in the spoils and rewards
of the contest, and with the heroes of th'
past and the heroes of the future will cele
brate the final consummation in the neV
, heavens and the new earth"
t Mr.. MooDY said, in preaching on Chris
as deiverer, l remember preaching o
this subject, and walking away, said to
Scotchman. 81 didn't finish the subject.
"Ah, man you didn't expect to finish, d
We? It'll take all eternity to finish tellin
8 what Christ has done for man"
. The oak trees boughs once touched The grass
= But every year they grew
i A little farther from the ground,
And nearer toward the blue.
L So live that you each year may be,
n While time glides swiftly by,
It A little farther from the earth,