The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-09-03
RelIrious Drift and DisenasIon.

carly days Of the church, through which
the Latin "testamentum" was adopted, In:
stead OF the more descriptive Covenant
which Is the proper equivalent both OF the
Hebrew and the Greek word so commonly
mistranslated. The devotional and esseil'
tial differences between the words seem
hardly necessary 10 enlarge upon; GER
tainly Prof. Colt proves that 1t would be
well TO correct the traditional title.
The millenarian preaching of Rev. DR..
Goodwin, Of the First Congregational
church in Chicago, so shocked Mr. Ham.
mond in the pews that he rose to reply.
Prof. Swing holds that this was improper,
but allows that Dr. Goodwin was aggravat.
ing, not so much because Of his belief, but
because he intimated that those who didn't
agree with him were not Christians: In
DR.. Swings opinion "a man who believes
that he will meet Christ in eternity may
be Just as wise and good man as the
other man who expects 70 meet Christ
next year or next spring in Boston. II
would be balm to Mr.. Hammond's soul,
no doubt, II the doctor, his pastor, should
confess that an expectation TO meet the
Lord in America or Europe does not In
tellectually or emotionally 0utrank the ex:
pectation Of meeting Him in what Is called
heaven" "a Daa1 s5 10 .
Mr.. Spurgeon objects to 'prostituting"
his abilities, such Us they are, to the hire
Of lecturer, on the ground that he Is
Servant OF God.n The reverend gentle
mans conscience is to be respected, but ii
it can stretch to such an uncomfortable
limit as his preaching sometimes indicates
it would not hurt him to see something OF
the world besides his London parish and
its perpetual hattery. Is this stuff, for IN
stance, which has no warrant in the Bible
which he processes to preach, q part OF his
serving God ?-"When thou diest thy soul
will BIO tormented~ alone; that will be
hell for It; but at the day OF judgment thy
body will join thy soul, and then thou
wilt have twin-hells. thy soul sweating
drops OF blood, and thy body sntfused
with agony. In fire exactly like that we
| have on earth thy body will lie, asbestos
| like, forever unconsuned, all thy veins
roads for the feet Of pain to travel on, eve.
RI nerve string on which the devil shall
forever play his diabolical tune OF HelPs
Unutterable Lament" yHh }Hf7A
Gov. Colquitt, of Georgia, had q hearty
welcome at the recent Chautauqua assem-
bly,. There was.a processionin his honor,
preceded by q band, and DR.. ]. H.Vincent
delivered welcoming address to the Gov
ernor as President Of the International
Sunday School Convention at Atlanta, last
| April. Coy. Colquitt made a remarkable
address, oonfessing the lack OF social relig-
Gus union in the South, for heretofore"
| saidhe,, "our peculiar sociology scattered
and isolated those OF our people who
would naturally lead in all reformatory
and advancing ideas. Since last April,
The continued; .T have had, and 80 have
I thousands in my own section, q new rev.
felation Of the power and possibilities Of
Organized effort After somewhat more
I in this direction, the Georgia Governor
went enthusiastically to. work TO argue
that the restoration Of complete harmony
between the sections Of this country must
spring from the spirit and teachings OF
Jesus Christ. He based that hope upon
the Sunday School children OF the cOun.
try. Governor Col1uitt; gave hopeful
picture Tof his: State for It's Sun
day School enthusiasm, "There have
been,n he said, at least forty coun-
! ties within the last so days that have
held Sunday School mass meetings where
the people go out from ono extreme cor
ner oithe county to the other: extreme IN
wagons, horseback and buggies and car
riages and walking, and in every conceiy-
able method by which they. can reach
their destination; carrying their picnic
baskets and their peaches and their
watermelons and their confectionery.
These conyocaGons have been the largest
that have ever been held in our State.
The, largest political meetings when party
struggle ran the highest, never were able
to command so many families as the an.
nouncement that there would be q general
Sunday School mass Injecting 1ih6stch q
groye.h In short, Gov. Colquitts address
was filled with earnest Christian feeling,
not unmixed with humor Us at the sugges-
ton that heHshould be ordained on the
spot as q, preacher, - q character he had
modestly disowned, although he has many
a time given sermons to both white and
colored congregations in Georgia.
The spasms Of virtue which have agi-
tated the Roman Catholic. Church in re-
gard to the marriages Of priests from Luth-
er down to Pere Hyacinthe's day, and
especially OF late because OF the action of
the German Old Catholics in iabOlishing
saeerdotal celibacy, arc, with all due re-
spect to tradition, simply ludicrous. The
facts in regard to this practice show that
marriages OF priests were not considered
Improper for nearly 400 years, when the
church organization began to be perfected,
and It was felt that priests were less man
ageable with wives than without. How
long the devotion to the church served to
keep priestly morals pure after marriage
was prohibited there Is no absolute record,
but fits notorious that in the ninth and
tenth centuries they were. "a kissing and
Ireproach. An Italian bishop in that age
said that II he were to enforce the
canons against unchaste persons ad-
ministering ecclesiastical rites there
would be no one left in the church
except the boys, and II he enforced
the canons against bastards they also must
be excluded. But oil this time priests did
either marry; although such unions were
Illegal, or maintain concubines openly,
and not until the reign Of the wonderful
Hildebrand' in the 18th century was IN
absolute check laid upon discrepancies.
II was this pope, known as Gregory VII,
before whom the emperor Henry " Of
Germany Frustrated himself at Canossa;
he was for hisage, great reforfnet. But
att the Council OF Constance tlil4-14ls) ev-
idenee was given which no Roman Catho.
lie can dispute that the state Of pricstly
morals was as low Us the range Of human
vices could reach. That the same charges
against priests are current now does not
need special efforts ofmemory. And tits
impossible to believe that human nature
has so changed that marriage isnot still a
healthier state than oeelibaCy, which tho
records Of history prove to be mere po-
II la.