, 1875-04-25
Reply to MIR. Reeds letter on the
Divinity Of Christ.
How the Christian Churches
Treated the AdYentists,
The Debt Of the Chicago Univer-
sity---Female Evangelists.
Notes and Personals at
Home and Abroad.

AAV1AA% &&AA<A AADA ~&&tA*
Church Services To-Day =
THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST.
TnUTH VERSUS FA1sEHooD.
CHICAGO April 22--To Charles r. Reed Esq.
Firstly. our mutual and hearty thanks are due t
TIE CHICAGO TRIBUNE for having opened
school Of philosophy where men may come te
gether a. in ths o1den times, and tc>dispute wit
each o.her :. to 's Whist la Trnth )" and thes
@Lctters from the People" will increase an
grow In importance, inc1easing the power Of tn
press and stimulating in the highest degree re
Bsarch and investigation in every branch OF Rci
ence and knowledge, till the fame Of Chicago a
q centre of culture and enlightenment shall riva
that Of ancestral Athens and Alexandria, and it
influence DO felt In all parts Of the civilized
world.
You have proved from the New Testament tha
Christ is God, but can you build structure
,thAt will stand against the storms Of controversy
uplese yen have placed the foundation upon ths
rock Of Eternal Truth? Have you not first te
prove that the sacred writings OF The Christians
are strictly truthful and authoritative, and that
whatever statements they make are incontrnvert-
lille and can be implicitly be4ieved2 Is 1t not
first 10 be shown, for instance that tho stories
In tho New Testament concerning the Angels "
that appeared to Joseph, Mary, and the Shep
herds, and held familiar conversation with them
soucefuing the birth Of Christ strictly truth
Tul Aud not tha tn 1it1ons and superBtitions OF
In ignorant and Legendary age? for, if these
things ere not truthful, then is the New Teska-
mert convicted Of crrozs almost in its opening
pages, and whatevek follows is no more trust
worthy than the Koran. Zend Avesta, OF 9TH
er so-called sacred writings IS the diymely-in-
Epired, and therefore truthful, Word of God.
Have you ever looked into the origin Of the
be1iefs in such creations Of the mind as Angela,
devils, genii. fairies, witches, ETC., and. 60,
have you not traced them back to ignorant aud
unenlightered races that asctibed to them and
their influences all the then unexplained phe-
uonnena Of nature? But haye we NO more ra-
houal methods Of accounting for tbs seasons, for
the dry md Eight, changes Of weather, tides,
eclipses, thunder and Lightning, fire and smoke,
heat, yaporB, etc., Or must we still believe in
angels, witches. ETC., in the present or past
Aees. being in intimate whiting relations Tith
mankind?
Fave you ever examined the sacred writings
Of the Paruees, the moras Of the, to them,
aivinsls-inspired Zoroastei, in the truth Of
which the wise men who cau1e from the East
10 Bethlehem, following a traditional star, we're
probably firm believers Il go, has it not oc- |
curted to rou that the frequent mention in them
pf familiar interviews between gods angels, de-
mons,. ETC., and human beings is partly the I
rause Of such supersttions beiog embodied so J
largely il the 1nered writings OF the Jews and |
Christians But does the fact that people Of |
Ill races and in all age4 hare believed in such |
things make them either possible or truthful |
Does it not on ths contrary, convict ths propa-
AAf 3aFN
pf tho WAYS in which God reveals Himself to |!
c1aakind2
Le. us hear from sou again after you have
looked into the sacred writings which preceded
the times Of the Jews and Christians in search
of infosmston Rs to whether tbs l2tter writings
were not merely the natural growth OF the |
former, for no man either ia paBs or present
times can write better than he knows, nor un-
influenced by the doctrines that havs been i'm
pressed upon hla mind in bis youth, or that are |
the current beliefs aud opinions Of the times in
which he lives. And xhen you have learned, Us |
yon Burely will, that the sacred writings OF ali
nations are equally OF human origin, you will |
see that the profound mystery, ~ ypu term'it, |
cept in the sense that ancient Paganiena. in any |
form, could 80 long have existed snd been car
rie1 forward Ia this age OF enlightenment and
overturned supetntitions-
more, let 11s know II the truth ia not forced
home upon you thAt those who first pronounced |
tho truth-ioying aud geuHe Uhr1st to be one dfthe
Gods we're merely fa!libIe men, and as liable to er
Tor ~ others Hho have, IN our own times, author |
iiatively pronounced the Pope to ho also one of
the Gods,-an infallibls judge Of good and evil,
ct right and wrong, aud Of truth and fhleehood.
But will It not be 4 most monstrouB and uu-
it may be, by wotyes In sheeps' clothing, i'm
pressed upon tho minds Of innocent children,
md carried forward in that way for hundreds OF |
ercn thousands Of years?
Finally, as concerns the dfsgracefnl record |
which, IN our own times, tho churches of Chi
cago have been adding to the bloody and shame
ful histories Of the past, namely the Whitehouse-
Cheney barbarity, the PAttou-Swiug Wiokedneas, |
and thu last and latest exhibition Of Ignorance,
pride, and ali uncha1itableness, tie DeKovcn
RitnAlistc controversy, will not the words Of the
GteAt Philosopher OF the New Testament apply
with as crushing force to these priests who
claim to sit 10 the seats Of the Apostles as to
those rho in His day claimed to sit In the seat
Of Moaes7 Listen 10 His words in the twenty
third chapter Of Matthew:
Then spake Jesus to the multitude and to His dis
ctples saying The scrbes and the Pharisees sit in
obsel7e thst observe and Do, but do not 70 .fer tier
work., for they say and do not. For they bind heavy
mems shoulders, hut they themselves will not move
them with on4 Of their fingers: But i'll their works
5 for to b Of tR: s make e their
nens and ieAve the prernoss rooIas ut feasts and
he chief sests n ths ssnsgogues; sud greetngs IN
4
But unto you, Ecribes and Pharsses, hypocrites
Lor shut up thu kingdom Of heaven ag.inst men:
lor neither 60 in yourselves. neither suer ye them
bat Ars entering 10 60 in Wos INTO you, serbes and
Eharseea, hsToc1es! for Sc deyour widows houses,
nd d for psetenas mals long pra5e7 therefore se
se1tbes and Pha1tsee h5pocEtesl for Je compass
md hnd to ake ana rrose1yte, and when he made,
Inake him twofod the child OF he'll than your
selves Voc unto you, scrbcs md pharisees, hypo-
rites for Se pay tho Of mint, and anise aud Gin
aamon. and navs omitted the weighter mat :
tes1 of the law, Judgment, mercy, and faith
he4s ought ye 10 have done and not |
10 sesre ths other undans. Ye bind guides, which
train ut gnAt aud swallow Camel VICE unto ypu. |
bs, I'D Rh;,.ees hypoeEtes fer m.ta essa
hey Ire fn1l cf eztorton anu excess. Toe unto YOU
scroes and Pharsees hypoeri;.x for - HE unto
Ttited sepuchreA which indeed Appeas beautiful ont
III unclaannese- Even F. also appear righteous a
,nto men but within ye full Of hypocrisy ind n
1utty- Nos unto you, Scribes and Phar1secs hypo-
tes because built the toraha Of the rropheA ana
,sTssh the sepulehres Of the rsgheous md say II W.
nd bean IN the days OF fathers would not have
patakerH with them in th6 blood Of the rrophets
Wherefore ye be Witnesses unto yourselves that Re are
hs children Of them which Killed this rrppnets
Is it any wonder that Christ WA executed by il