The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1877-12-31
AMONG OUR CHURCHES.
What was Said ia Them Dy the
CIergymen Yesterday.
SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

al
Moses We would have believed Me, for
he wrote of Me-"
We sometimes find ourselves disposed
to apologize for these Jews who rejected
Jesus Christ. Surely they did not know
He was the long expected Messiah. IL
they were sincere in their belief that de
was an impostor, are we right In deemlng
them great criminals because they cruel
fed Him? But this disposition to excuse
them is taken away when we consider
the reason OF their unbelief given by
Christ. They had the writings of Moses,
regarded them as the word of God, and
admitted their obligation TO
study and believe them. They
failed both to study and believe
and on account of this great neglect OF
known duty, when the promised Mes
sish came, they were In no condition OF
mind or heart to receive Him IN bis true
character. Hence their responsibility Tor
their unbelief and the business OF the
punishment which came upon them In
consequence of 1t. Had ye believed
Moses" as ye ought 20 have done, "ye
would have believed Me"
This will appear clearer when you
consider what would have resulted from
conscientious study OF the Old Tests-
ment and An effort to become lmbued
with its spirit.
|. Tney could not have failed to learn
that Coo valued righteous character far
above scrupulous Observance OF the GER
emonial law
2. This knowledge would have been
followed by the effort to attain the right
eous character which effort would have
issued in = sense of their need Of spir-
itual Savior.
3. Tnev would have discovered thst
Cod design IN 81 his dealings with
their nation was TO make them holy,
rather than "a victorious or wealthy PEG
pie, and they could have felt sure that
The Messiah promised would be dellv.
crer from sin rather than from Rome.
Had they learned these truths and be-
come imbued with their spirit, as they
might have, mad they believed Moses,
they would have accepted Jesus without
S.GmUiyG ~ the absence OF scepter
and u sword,
Jesus Christ is still rejected. One
reason among many of the rejection l.
that so many men stumble at what Is
termed orthodoxy. They hesitate TO re-
ceive those doctrines which sustain an
intimate relations to faith in Christ. The
acceptance OF these doctrines puts a man
in . mental condition to commit his soul
- Jesus and MS NE TO His service, and l!
no allow them TO have their legitimate IN
huchce. upon his heart, it also will be IN
Il like favorable state. While the re-
lection OF these renders it highly I'M
probable though not impossible that he
should ever become a Christian.
Why is 1t then that so many hesitate
OF refuse to accept as true, the orthodox
doctrines? 1t is mainly TO be accounted
Tor by the fact that the mass of them
derive their conceptions OF orthodoxy
from some other source than the Bible
and IN some other way than a proper
study Of il. and hence what they often
denouhce and with so great u show OF
reason Gnd often with ridicuie and rage
is not orthodoxy but an utter perversion
Of it. Two points we have q right TO insist
upon:
/. The Bible is the source Of all re-
ligious truth, and no one can be justified
10 rejecting any of the truths which, it
is claimed, are derived from it, before
examining them a: the fountain head.
Hhe Creeds OF the churches claim TO be
nothing more than human and falhble
statement OF what body of Christians
believe the Scriptures teach. The ser
IEo"s, theological treatises and other
productions of religious character are
S,lll less reliable statements of orthodoxy.
kad yet 1t Is undenisble that many
skepticS have derived their notions of
the truths they profess to reject not
even from the creeds, or the representa-
tions OF believers, much less from the
Bible itself, but from the productions
OF men who have long rejected and have
learned to hate these doctrines How
many mon could be found in this city
who have given up church going and
talk skepticism, after having read Paine
or Ingersol! Tney have given them
's,yes wholly over to unbelIet without
spending single hour in the Investlga-
tlon OF the Scriptures. May we not say
60 them, Had ye read the Bible We
woH!d MOI have rejected its truths SO
readily"
And we have also the right to de-
msud that all study of the Bible shall be
with. a sincere desire To learn precisely
what 1t tesc hes One need not be preiu-
diced In favor of its truths, but he must
lot be biased against them. If one is SO
disposed, he can find fault with any.
thing. The Bible must be studied to
know what IT teaches, not to see if con-
,radictions can be found or exceptions
be taken.
1t this course be pursued, and, as the
result, orthodoxy be correctly appre-
hended, II is not very likely It viii be
rejected. 1t carries its evidence with it.
aad whilst it may b9 supported by other
evidence, IT does rot usually need it. Let
there he mind DESTROYS OF knowing re-
ligious truth, in order that the lite may
b. right in the sight Of God. and y cor
rect statement of the truth is all that is
needed. Such u mind will see the truth
lIlress Of p proposition when it is cor
re,,lv spprehcnGci
In proof OF his the fact may be cited
tha. the vas. T,j5rily OF objections to
Christian truth are directed against per-
versions OF misconceptions of it. When
tae truth is correctly appreheuded it's
: rn at once that :he'c objections are sim
ply irrelevant.
L,.us take for m example the subject
Of hell which hs: quite recently beer
forced into prominence in England, and
IN The Easter" part Of cur ,wn land.
II would seem ths, even within
churches which have always held the
q gtgiue, some arc s.rembnng AZ it. and
pronoUnCing against il.
Ii we examine the various arguments
and protests so vigorously made against
what is supposed 10 be the orthodox doc
trIne OF the eternal punishment of the
wicked in hell, We shall discover that
trey are occasioned by the following AS
SYMPTOMS:
l. Tina. all the lost are subjected to the
same tortures without regard to their
dIverslties o; character and grades of
wickedness on earth, and various degrees
OF light enjoyed.
= That these fortunes are prrlal ipror