Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1875-01-09
Life and Docisine.


During these times Of public deganer'ry q,
il is hopeful sign to see such able defenders
of Christianity as the Ciwcimaa-ona Of tbs
ablest and most siealf,st religious papers On
the Countrywide hold Of this evil Of III, age,
and deal with it asst deserves. We copy from
late number Of this paper an editorial that
meets the case exactly:
"Surely his is a time when the hypoc''ic-
of its prolessed votaries fearfully hin'ler tho
Christian religion in laying hold Of mankind
It suffers not one-tenth as much from the at-
iacks Of its open enemies It's most srevioni
wounds are those given it in the house Of it'
fiends. The air is sally full Of rnmors-and
the secular journals are greedy To give them
shape and e-manance--of the misd 'ns' OF
the professed ministers Of Christ. Perhaps
not all. nor nearly all are true Bai there
is sensibly weakeni, Of couiieace and a
lowering Of the moral tone Of tie community
partly from the discussing and contemplating
Of the sins, aud especially because 1t Is at th'
door Of the ministers that these sins are lai
! 'All that vast class who are uneasy at tlD
/ restraints which religion places, or shoal4
place. on their desires, eagerly seizs upon these
/ things in order to believe that religion Is "A
! sham, because those who, from the pulpit
enforce its claims, do not themselves regard
these claims This reasoning is wholly un-
sound but il is very prevalent.
After all however, we verify believe that
the mis,leeds or reputed misieeds, OF here aud
! there minister Of the Gospel, are not, 10y any
means, 50 great obstacles 10 the progress OF
Christianity in this land as are the false doc
triues and inadequate or perverted ideas Of
much larger number. No minister can do tho
harm b, any sin Of his own That he can do by
constant, false or INADEQUATE teaching. When
he falls. he falls like LpCiicr, nev,r to rise
again. When he leads moral life and holds
his place as an accredited teacher, hG' neither
has nor convcysany adequate conception OF
Gospel truths or of the Gospels plan Of 'a'-
yalion. he is, unseen, sippns the foundations
Of Christian belief aul surely preparing hi'
followers nr the utmost hXity oi lie as well
as dociriuc. The sns Of a fallen prcach'r
can never outweigh in their debasing III
luencc the evils produced by false teacher.
Therefore, the Christian may well be 'ls-
mayed at the tendencies Of this day. All
over the land there are men claiming To be
ministers Of the Gospel. and who have their
circle. little or great, uf admirers who arc
utterly isuorant Of the relations OF man % h's
God. The great doctrines Of Amnemenb
Mediation, Intercession, aud Sancuiciil'n
are lost sight Of their sermons are only 30
many graspinss after popularity, aud their
prayers, even more than their sermons, ar'
uttered to catch the popular ear.
Gould anything, for instance, be moro
pi,iable. or more thoroughly dttcd 10 degrade
prayer in the eyes Of men indifferent % re-
h.ion. than the official acts Of the present
Chaplain Of the United States Congress
Hardly great occasion occurs in that body.
but his prayer must be tclearaphed through
out the country, iu order that its sicky CONE
plimeu,s aud yapid iuculcaiions may be
spread before the people. Nay, worse than
all, it is reported that, having neglected to
pray for the Vice Pnsi eut at Charles Sum
ner's funeral he actually telesnphed on
clause about Mr. Wilson, to be inserted ia tic
Associated Press report
"If prayer is degraded into an address {,
men. aud the sacrameut., which oneht 10 be
IN ans Of gaze, a'e made into lorns of pro-
fesson before men the intention T. lead
moral life, aud the mediation aud iutcrcess.1i
Of Christ are lost sight Of, aud religion is made
to consist only in cultivalius friendly and lor.
Jog relations with fcllow-men, then lhcro wl.
soon be 20 rule Of faith or Of life hen wi..
SION forget the revealed, unchanged, and ur
chanseable truth They will become meu-
plelscrs rather than pleasers Of God, and Their
.nduct will vary T. salt the capriccs Of thrif
frIlow-mcn, rather than he crn.ormed 70 thc
will Of Him who Is the source Of law and o.
truth.
"Well does the Church pray far her clergy
tia, they may both in lire aa1 doet,iae SCI
forth GoIs true and lively Word