The Leavenworth weekly times., 1876-06-29
FREE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
germoa June 4lh.

discourses on what he believes. He said:
81 am to commence tonight series of
sermons about what believe. 1t is not
often that i lay down doctrines wiz
announcement that they are IA th'
think have never laiI~ .hy belief.
rcss and the err" ID to show the weak
mas, and n oi some prevailing dog
thi- nave never omitted to put some
-.is that seemed TO Inc better in theil
place. But have not thought it worth
while &c add the apparent assumption tha
it is true, because it is my belief. | al
ways intend that all my thought shall
stand upon its own merits, and not on ans
assertion. ! do not think much OF the au,
thority Of any man, unless the thing ii
clear and reasonable. ! am an enemy oi
external authorities, and would not be
foolish enough 10 assume an authority that
will not accord 10 another. | do not regard
NV own assertion as any better than the
assertion of the Pope. But if, in tearing
away the old, can replace it with logical
and good thought, ! trust 10 the intelli-
gence OF those who hear, and feel conf
dent that they will accept il on its own
worth, not because ! present it 40.
From time immemorial, IT has been the
e habit of the clergy TO pronounce doctrines
trIe upon their own authority, as priests of
God. People have been taught in every
age to accept what the priest or preacher
says without a Question. The word OF a
clergyman is suiiitient to most men and
women to establish the truth OF Divine
things. The tyranny Of the priesthood mas
been poison to all the. teaching of the
world. Ii has kept men and women from
thinking, until they have become almos,
incapable Of thought. To the masses OF
the people, brazen impudence and arrogant
assumption is weightier than all the sweet
reasonableness OF the world. The loud dec
laratIon Of a priest, that his word is the
word Of God, is enough 10 conquer the in
tellects oil the larger portion OF mankind.
And then again, certain doctrines well es-
tablished, and long accepted, have made
the clergy and the people most intolerent of
all opinions differing from them, 50 that
any one who is out Of the old track is re-
garded as the enemy of religion itself
This preoccupatiOn of the mind with
certain doctrines has produced a sort OF
SlidptSaAiiaS, lillilEAElH anu ISD-
pie look squint-eyed at all things they are
not familiar with. The perceptions have
been so thoroughly dulled, the reason has
become so inactive through the command
ing instruction oil the pulpit, that the
average mind is utterly lost when it wan
ders from the highway that ages before
have surveyed and opened. Nothing seems
10 attract attention and bring conviction,
unless it comes with the absolute declara-
gion that it is the word of God, nd'cannot
and must not therefore be gainsaid.
! have found many persons who have
listened to me Sunday after Sunday, and
yet have said that they could not see that j
believed anything, simply because j would
not say, "this is the absolute truth OF God"
and all the time / have fondly dreamed
that | have been as explicit As the Eng
lish language would allow, and az pure in
the purpose Of my thought as the eternal
truth itself.
have preached about God, have torn
the prevailing notion of God into tatters,
have shown how unreasonable and absurd
it is, and then have built upon the ruins
clear thought OF the Infinite, with the
plainest and simplest speech, and, after all,
l have found myself assailed as one who
does not believe in God. ! have dissected
the common notion of Christ, and salvation
through his blood; have let the light of
reason through the bloody swaddling-
clothes OF the false Christianity..of the time,
have exposed all the fooIishness and i'm
morality of the vicarious atOEement, and
then carefully presented a clean and plain
thought OF the historical Jesus IN their
stead, and unfolded true idea ot salvation
by the nobility OF good lille, so that none
could mistake; but L have discovered that
many who nave followed all the teaching,
concluded that dld not believe IN any re-
ligIos at all. L have taken the common
belief IN Heaven and IN Hell, and held them
up as the rags which barbarGus age tried
10 cover ltself with, and after searching all
space IN VAIN, lor the local Heaven and
Hell, which most men and women hclIeve
IN; alter making 1t PLAIN that there can be
no Heaven but The holiness oil The soul,
have been surprised and chaSrIned TO find
people whom one would call Intelligent say
they could not see that believed IN any re-
wards or punishments have devoted whole
arniuatior If ,ba tboncbt and IaI;af !,
immortaIitv and ransacked all the realms
of uat,,re and tbouabt for iIIustr,tiops of
INV heIief in a fnture lie but ali snch Of
e., L,,-, h.o,, fr,,;,Ias, % ,,,oo,- ~ l.
,..nSs I All NO, beI;sye in Iacai Hill ,nd
tjo.r.n co,Ld nor 500 tb,, 7 h.I;ava5 i,
the de.tbIas. he;pr ot man II ,bere was
no pI.ce 10 e,o 10 ,bev tbougbt tbars oonIJ
he no existence. i once tried 10 puncture
the greatest evils OF our day by speaking
upon morals. | held up hypocrisy as the
monstrosity OF the modern time. | con-
trasted the man who believes one thing and
practices his belief, but who for the sake of
popular renown, and temporary honor,
preached the reverse which he did not be-
lieve, with another who believed and preach
ed what is to her the truth OF God, even
though her teaching brought TO her all the
odium that the world could bestow. From
that contrast l drew the lesson that the
thing needed in this day and generation is
a manly and honest adherence TO convic-
tion, come what consequences there may.
And 10! found myself heralded abroad
~ a teacher oi lmmoraiity' pelleVer In
murder and ali other crimes that man Is
capable o.
The minds of men and women have been
90 drilled from yery childhood, IN the cur
ron, Of the mast the catchwerds and the
stereo,vned phrases of /. rerioious svs,em
have been engraved so deeplv upon the
hraip of the multitude thar \ new word
c,nnot lind a rrstinc.rIace apI il bufTs,tad
,bnut ,s wa;f ON the 50, of tbougbt nm
walcome everrwbere
And this is the reason that the damag-
Ing charge Is so often made against liberal
thinkers and teachers, that they are forever
tearing down some established thirc, for
ever telling what they do not believe, and