The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1877-12-27
NEW DEPARTURE.


ANEW DEPARTURES.
Beeehcr On the Trinity and the
Brimst0ne Treatment.
A New York special Of the 10th to
he Cincinnati Enquirer gives q synop-
lis Of Beecher's discourse that day in
which he discoursed Of the Trinity
and the doctrine of eternal punish
ment and showed that he had taken
wide departure from the old teachings
of his church.
Speaking of the Trinity, he. said he
believed there were three persons
united in one God. head; but If any
one should ask him why he believed
il. he should tell him he did not know
auy thing about it, only that 1t was
easier to believe that which he thought
coincided with the doctrines OF the
New Testament than to deny Il. Or
thOdOxy says that men must believe
in the Trinity or they can not come
into the Church. That is called ortho-
doxv. but he called it heathenism.
It ia not an easy thing said Mr..
Beecber'for an honest, st,cOnservativeMan
to know Just what TO preach and what
not to preach, A man who values
morality, and who has the good OF his
fellow man at he Art, can not be care
less as to the things he ought to teach.
1t was said that Adam was created
perfect. 1t was also said that Adam
sinned, and that in consequence Of that
sin the whole human race fell. The
human race had existed on the earth
for thousands and thousands of years,
and had gone on prop agating and mui,
,iDlving until all the waves that rolled
i'm upon the shore during those centur-
les did not contain drops enough, nor
the sands of the sea particles enough,
nor all the figures of the arithmetic
numbers enough, to compute the pre-
face. to say nothing of the great MS
tory of the human race. The numbers
of the human race were actually be
vond computation, and for thousands
and thousands and thousands OF years
thew had been born into the world, had
lived and struggled, and finally died
and eone-where? If you tell me
that they have all gone to Heaven. my
answer will be that such q sweeping
of mud into Heaven would dehie lte
purity, and / can not accept that. II
You tell me that they have gone 10
Hell, then I swear by the Lord Jesus
Christ. whom have sworn to WorshlP
forever, that you will make an lnhoel
of me.
s.The doctrine that God has been for
thousands of years pcopling this eartn
with human beings during q period
tbree-fourths of which was not lllum-
mated by an altar or church, ana ID
places where a vast population OF
those people are yet without light, Is
to transform the Almighty into mon
ster more hideous than Satan himself
and / swear by all that is sacred that
/ will never worship Satan, though ne
should appear dressed in royal rooes
and seated on the throne Of Jehovah.
Men may say, You will not go to
heaven. A heaven presided over by
such q demon as that, who has been
peopling this world with millions OF
human beings, and then sweeping
them off into hell-not like dead flies,
but without taking the trouble even TO
kill them-and gloating and laughing
over their eternal misery, is not such
a heaven as I want to 60 to. The doc
trine is too horrible. l can not be-
lieye it, aud l won't. They say the
Saints in heaven are SO happy that
thew do not mind the torments of the
damned In hell. But what sort OF
Saints must they be who. could be
happy while looking down upon the
horrors of the bOttOmiess pit! And
by the blood Of Christ denOunce this
doctrine By the wounds in His hands
and in His side L abhor it. By Ills
groans and agony l abhor and de
nounce it as that hideous nightmare
of theology.
These sentiments OF Mr.. Beechcr are
in marked aud happy contrast will
the following extracts copied from the
famous sermon Of DIR. Jonathan Ed
wards, entitled Sinners in the hand'
of an angry Cod which has beer
printed by the 'Presb5 terian Board o
Publication of Philadelphia, for dis
tributioD as missionary publication
The sermon opens with this state
nent:- c. ~
There is nothing that keeps wickct
men at any one mumt ~ out Of he'll
but the mere pleasure OF God. BY the
mere pleasure of God, mean his SOW
ereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, re
strained by no obligation, hindered by
no manner of difficulty any more thai
if nothing else but Gods mere vii
had, in the least degree, or in any re
spect whatsoever, any hand i'll the pre-
servati0n Of wicked men one moment.
In the body Of the sermon il is said
sThe pit is prepared, the fire is mad'
ready, the furnace is now hot, ready
to receive the wicked: the flames dt
now rage aud glow. The glitterins
sword is whetted and held over then,
and the pit hath opened its mouth un
der Them sThe greater par
of those who heretofore have liyet
under the same means of grace, an(
are now desd,are undoubtedly gone
to hell am
In the application the preacher said
to the 'unconverted: Eai. ~
sThe bow of Gods wrath is bent
and the arrow made ready for tn,
string; and justice directs the arrow
to your heart, aud strains the bow, an(
it is nothing but the mere pleasure o
God, and that of an angry God, with.
out any promise or obligation al all
that keeps the arrow one momen
from being made drunk with YOU
blood iri'
THE God that holds you over th'
pit of hell, much in the same way o.
one holds a spider, or some loathsom,
insect, over the fire. abhors you, an(
is dreadfully provoked; his wrat!
towards you burns like fire; he look
upon you as worthy of nothing ,els'
but to be cast into the fire; he is o
purer eyes than to bear to have you il
his sight you are ten thousand times
more abominable in his eyes than tn,
most hateful venomOus serpent is il
ours. You hang by slender
thread, with the fames of divine
wrath flashing about it. and read!
every moment to SINCE it, and burn j
| asunder.'
That the impenitent wicked have nj
Il r.