, 1876-03-12

TIE CHICAGO TRIBJ
doctrine as thoy teach it rests wholly and solol
on their belief aud that Of others respecting til
meaning of certain passages OF Scripture! The,
know beyond 3 cavil that there is no precep
epjoining Sabbath observance before the tim
Of Moses. Yet in the true spirit OF orthodox
they both assert that tho Sabbath as 8 matte
OF fact, is Us old us creation. They both know
but have not the courage to confess It, tha
| their assertion rests on inference; and mus
be'ieye they beth know that law for tho regu
! }ation of human conduct cannot DO derived Ioil
any sucn source. Still they keep right on th
! even tenor Of their way, and repeat the assor
ton aa positively. and with as much emphasis
and assurance as if they could point to tho letIe
OF the law and say ''1'Ars saith the Lord
cato Il precept on his mere opinion and belief.
however sincerely entertained, and a1Hert its ex-
istenco Is fact, aud 60 On to build up an argu-
1nent Gu it and make deductions from it as If il
OF Just QUO thing, viz: That the mass OF re-
1igous people have no independent thought on
tho doctrines they profess, but like csliow birds
arc rcadY, with open mouth, to swallow what
ever the pulpit drops in.
| Let mo not be understood as in the slightest
| degree impugniug the Christian character and
sincerity Of protesting Christians. Christianity
/ is 3 thing OF the heart, OF the moral affections
and Tendencies, and not aa is too Often ignor-
antlV assumed. creature OF tho head. "With
| the talent OF an angel man may be fool, =
| and, With q head full Of erTors, crudities aud
| f4Iae beliefs, q man may be siucore honest,
| genuine Christian. II it we're not 10, Christian
| ity would be but poorly adapted to the wants OF
] the world But while lam willing. in all candor
aud fairness, to glVe the Christian all the credit
! he can reasonably claim, cannot but think, and
express the thought. that his manifest passive
! ness in the hands OF his teachers is mike de-
grading and coutomptihle. What think I affirm
without fear or favor, and am forced from my
exceptions, = religious I people = are, ~ in
respect toy religious l. subjects, ignor-
ant, prcjudiccd, bigoted, and suparytitious.
II it wcru not SO Ar. Bailey nud Dr. Fnllows
would not venture to make such basciess assee-
tons as thoy have; they would never, unless
they counted largely on the credulity Of their
hearers or readers. affirm that God gave law
not found in His Revelation simply because they
supposed or believed 60. imagine a mau, ro-
gardcd Us sane, inte1ring from certain express
Congress once passed ee1tain Law making an
otherwise harmless act criminal; and though
no euch law, OR no reference to it can be found
in all tho legal or historical archives OF the
: United States, yet he goes on asserting its ex-
istence and dcnouncipg as d criminal every one
who commits the act which, according TO HE
imEginnry law, is pronounced . crime. Now.
Imagine whole communities indorsipg such M
e1trasagant yagary, aud you have IN oxacr
parallel OF the present status OF tho Sabbath
question on tho orthodox side.
have urged slr. Bailey repeatedly for weeks
past to point out q precept for Sabbath obsory-
ance before the timo Of Moses have pointed
ont to him ~ we'll as I could the absurdlty OF
trying TO rest precept on lnforence--n fact he
understands us well, as perhaps better than, can
tell him ; but thus far he has not pointed to tho
prccept. nor had the courage to confess that he
con!d not. "Open confession ia good for the
SOUL" but it is fearfuliy huInbhng TO clerical
pride. Mr. q. is certainly polemio genius. He
gracefully out OF an argumentative difficulty. Iu
the article before my last brought this ques-
ton SO squaroly and pointedly to his notice that
It seemed to be impossible for him to longer
wind to the shorn lamb. Instead Of answering
ho struck the happy discovery that in that article
Moses, alias John Merton, had made no new
points, and did not need reviewing" How for |
tunnsc that Fmade no new points! I did not |
claim to have made any, but I did make somo !
old ones that he had refused to answer, alto !
getner too sharp for him. Docs 1Ir. b imagine !
thas such an evasion Was not virtual oonfes- |
sion OF his inability? ''1eu it not III Gath" He |
knows quite as well as do that he has practi-
cally confessed that lis assertion Of creation !
Sabbath is basclees. But he also knows as we'll |
as do that he has popular religious prejudice
and creduhsy in his favor, and that build asser-
tion on his side haa more weight than the most
h&EumeDL On mlDE. -
Mr. Bailey has asserted without qualification
that tho Sabbath was enjoiucd at
creation, and was observed py mankind Let
us try the value Of this assertion by practical ]
lest. Suppose Mr. B. as being interrogated, :un-
der oath, somewhat "a follows: "Do YOU, Mr.
B., Of your own knowledge Of the Bible, declare,
in the presence Of Almighty God, with tull
knowledge Of the awful responsibility incurred,
That the foregoing declaration, to-wlt that at
tue close Of creation, when God blessed and
nallowed the seventh day. He made it's observ-
ance as Sabbath day obligatory on mankind by
precepe, aud that In conformity with that law
hey observed lido you, Dir. B., solomnly
swear that such is 9 fact Of the record 7" I
ask Mr.. D., would he dare to cay yes to such au
The question ia simply absurd |
dr. B. would do no such thing. Ho would con-
ess at once that ha had no such knowledge. !
But suppose we come to where there is plain, !
Sabbath Inv as in the Decalogue,
vouid air G hesitate to swear point-blank, With
ut il or but or hesitation, to the fact as mart
f The record? Certainly not. Hero iA. q test |
bat every advocate Of law Of Sabbath OBJ
er1auce given at creation can apply, aud it
overs the whole case, aud proves Mr. BIS and t l
II, tailows' assertlous to be mere clerical as
umptions. JoHH 1iEnroS.
MOCDY'S TRAINING AND METHODS.
HIS GREAT THEME, "aoD IS LOVE"