The New York herald., 1875-08-22
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.
Ministerial and Church
Movements.
Camp Meeting Pastimes--
Theological Errors.
PROGRAMME OF SERVICES TODAY

In All SAINTS Protcst2nt Episcopal church the keV
w. N. Dunnel will preach at the usual hours to-day.
! Rev. Allan s. Woodle Will minister In Christ church
this morning and evening
The Rev DR.. Ludlow will preach in the Collegiate
church, Finh and Forty eighth street. this
morning and evening
DR.. Cyrus Dickson will offciato and preach in the
Fourth Presbyterian church this morning
In Madison Reformed church this morning
the Rev. H. D. Ganse will preach the united congre
cations of that church and the Fifth Presbyts
rian church
The Rev. W. G. Haskell Of Lowell, Mass, will speak
this morning prayer" in the Bleecker street Uni
versalist church
Rev. J. H. wggn will speculate the weight OF the
this evening for the entertainment OF tho Progress
| i've Spirituasts.
''rhe Beauties OF Holiness will be exhibited by Rev.
Lghtbourn in Seventeenth street Methodist Epis-
| copal church this evening
| ''The True and tho False" will be discussed by Pro-
fessor Loutrci in the Fifth Universaist church this
morning
In the Westminster Presbyterian church the Rev.
George d. Matthews will preach this morning and
! ing.
In the Church OF the Holy Trinity this morning and
afternoon, the Rev. Morris A Tying will preach
DR.. William White will speak this evening in Harvard
Rooms "The Good OF spiritualism-"
| The legal work done by the temperance brotherhood
of Brooklyn will DO the subject of addresses by Mr.
E. Hale and others this afternoon in Robinson Hall
Three services will be held to-day in ST Ignatus
church, Rev. DR.. Ever rector
Mr., T. Fowler will give a lecture in Harvard Rooms
this afternoon Existence"
Services this morning and evening, usual In the
First Reformed Episcopal church, Rev. W. 7. Sabine
rector.
The Rev. T. W. Clarke will preach in the Church OF
~ and
mentalism"
Consolation for the Dyins and "Some Sort OF Re
ligion a Necessity the themes be discussed in
All Souls Episcopal church, Brooklyn, to-day, by the
Rev. DR.. Porteous.
The Rev. DR.. Howell will preach In the Morning Star
chapel this evening.
The Rev. Alfred Taylor will preach in the Congrega-
tonal Tabernacle Jersey City, this morning ''rho
Use We Make OF Our Bibles"
FUNDAMENTAL CHRISTIAN ERRoR-n1MoRTAI-
TrY ONLY THROUGH THE RESURRECTION.
To THE EDITon oP THE HERALD
In my former and preliminary communication
''The Theology of the Day" 1 stated that there ap
peared TO me fundamental various systems
of Christian theology which have inevitably produced
dscordant creeds and obstruced the progress of vital
spiritual Christianity than what is termed the
natural hostility OF the human heart
The first and most fatal OF these l deem to be the
dogma OF inherent Immortality expressed in the
ventiona phrascology of the day by the 'immor
tai SOUL" ''never-dying soul," ''deathess spirit"
separate soul" "disembodied spirit" such doctrine
being not only baseless but direct opposition
TO the teachings of revelation. To fortify
this tenet it was indispensable for theo-
logians to demonstrate that the teachings OF the
Bible in this respect uniform truth being always
consistent Primarily therefore, necessary that
Hebrew Scriptures should ndorse their VIEWS that
the Mosaic account the starting point Of creation,
should be definitely and satisfactorily conformed TO
this their preconceved and important article of belief
Consequently find that in the translation of the
Scripture narrative into the various dialects have the
substitution of the word sou for that OF Creature"
the original in Genesis, f. 81 "a and 80 and ill., being
the word that rendered in translaton-when
applied to animals creature; to man, soul Fortified
with this word soul, by which twofold nature
given man. they further claimed that the breath OF
life which God breathed nto'' the nostrils of Adam
importation Of the divine exstence-the breath
of immortality.
Now what is the common sense teaching OF the
rave but that all the creatures included received
their life breath from the same omnipoeCreaor but
that distinguished and only thus, by special
provision made for the pcrpeuation Of his
the fruit of ''the OF life, Of which he per-
mtted ''freely" to eat long he refrnned from
tasting Of the fruit of the forbidden tree the OF
knowledge of good and ev or Of right and wrong"
1t is more correctly rendered. The penalty for dis
! obedience was death-"dying thou shalt die" Such
was the sentence and il executed to the letter.
That the proongation Of the natural life of our first
narens was CONTINGENT on their obedience TO the divine
requirement Is unquestionably confirmed by the Ian
guage OF Jehovah recorded in the twenty
OF the third chapter "And the Lord said, behold the
man is become as one OF US, to know good and evil,
and now lest he put forth his hand and take also of the
tree of life and eat and live forever therefore the Lord
God sent him forth from the Garden OF Eden" Danish
ing him forever from access TO the life preserving ruit
the natural and correct rendering Of the above
narrative to be wholly destructive OF the theory that
man created immortal and further, that IT has
the Scriptures, but Is altogether opposed TO
their uniform teachings, which invariably declare that
the grave is the land OF forgetiuness whore thought
and memory eXtinguished, and silence alone pre-
walls; that 'the dead know not anything" that lin
that very day their thoughts persh; that "the dead
praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into
silence. ="
And now let ecclesiastical history cnlghten US as to
the origin of this hcresy reserving for future cQmmu
the Inconsistencies and evils which have sprung
from this prolific and fundamental error.
During the st aud second centuries of the Christian
the contemporaries OF the apostles such as Clement
Poycarp lgnatius, &c clearly orth their opinions
in their epstoary writings wherein they uniiornly
press their belief IN the essential mortality o tho human
race declaring that their only expectation Of future
life by OF resurrection from the dead hence,
they preached the resurrection OF Christ as the only
evidence and pledge OF hls peoples resurrection unto
! lite The controversy concerning human Immortality
commenced IN the latter part Of the second and
tnued the close Of the nth century II took ts rise
in philosOphic conjecture, and was debated as
question of human science Its Introduction into
Christianity Is attributable to the influence of the Greek
and Latin fathers. Glesler, In his compendium OF
Ecclesiascal History " acknowledges this influence in
moulding the doctrna theology Of the period He
IA speculative treatment OF Christian doctrine
WIS generally ndispensable If Christianity should be
accessible to the phosophic condition Of the time II
| could only proceed from Platonsm, which, of all
philusophc systems, stood nearest to Christianity"
Here distinct avowal OF s Patonic heaIhen origin.
From the third TO the sixteenth century the phio-
sophie element OF Plalonism thus introduced was by
the time Of this admixture Of human and divine science
the present hour the doctrine Of human Immortality
has been built ratOcinavc baGis merely, and
the Bible has been very coolly ignored The doctrine
OF the souls immortality, during this period had be-
the orthodox and the popular mith OF the Church
1.-THE Romish then the only church,, but there was
not vet an entire agreement between schoastcs but the
Platonss laborcd hard establish this their iayorite
doctrine and having Pope Leo X " their
views he came in with his baton OF niabily, and ut