The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1879-09-13

other tuOls: u brother OF the Guile
to build W u more stately edidce. q
to be cOntented with the content {
ignOreDce.
It lie we'll to define lust what
meant by religion" IL it % assent
"r adhesion to any mere Get Of dog
tnas? Has this any thing eseentia
to do with a devout lie IN God
may man be u christian, and main
tain unOrthOdox views Of tho Trinity
OF the sacramento? All these oppos
ing creeds have set the world on fire
caused the sacrifice OF million OF hu
man lives. does u religious life de-
pend O0 the way they are settled
Evidently no. Then, q religious lif,
must % the ASPIRATION OF tho human
soul for something higher. some
thing purer, something nUbler thar
ltself; u spiritual Worship and love o
God, az the great first cause. the
source 1t lite, The Divine. and bene
ticent Father OF ell. It must fint
expression In q tender and sympath
etic love, for all the works o.
HE hand, from the tiniest flower
which blooms, to the great universe
Ut worlds. Such an expression, Of
religious feeling, is more forcible.
han any amount of dogmatic teach.
lug. Love and wisdom, are like li9ht,
and heat. and will penetrate whethei
w will Or no. into the inner conscl.
business. and the love Of Christ, the
the sublime humility, the charity
and love With which he walked the
peth OF bic earthly existence. etlipt
OF precept and parable, would have
mad. him In q most imp0rlent eenet,
the Savior and Redeemer OF men, II
the definition We have given be cor.
rect, then there have been great re-.
! gt0u- souls In all sges.
Socrates Was profoundly religious!
Que Of the church fathers sp0etra.
pbises him 40 "holy Socrates" PIa-
to WAS religious, for he taught the
existence and worship OF but one
true God, and that the minor Divini.
ties were but powers or modes OF ex.
preston, like the sunshine broken
into rays, to whom their fathers had
erected affairs. But unfortunately.
Ill which was true and sublime about
Pagantsm, was appropriated by the
~tse aud phil0sop1ic. 1t Was reoerv.
ed for the Redeemer to touch the
hearts and minds Of the maeees.
PARsntsm addressed itself TO the cen.
zee, Christ to the spirit. There IL
one great truth Ne should bear 10
mind; the more We mix the elements
Ut sense with the alteration We nay
70 Him who would be w0rshippeu
IN spirit aud 10 truth" the farther
Ne depart from Him.
It 10 probable, that Christ In In.
shutting but few and simple formu.
lartes. 10 leaving IN any way delines
ton Ut bis pero00 90 Q man, wished
to show 10 the danger We were IN Of
assing into td0lstfy. In almost eli
bic teachinge, he led tho multitude
away into the mountains, By tho GEO.
side, where the Voice Of God IN their
hearts would and its trueet echo; 10
I'll ways be sought to teach them
that religion did not depend upon
the senses, and must fi0d ito moot
acceptable worship apart from them.
Sill, not two Centuriee had passed
away before the church became
greatly perverted. Split into factiono |
upon what seem TO us essential !
points Of doctrine they persecuted |
zach other, with tho bitterest sni.
mostly. He must approach the Di.
Vlntty, Who cen possess power, and
not abu,e Il. Even tho primival
Church did not possess this mark OF
ntxllbility. One OF the first acts Of
Julian, the Ap0etate, was to proclaim
OF opiuion. He forbade the !
lse Of the word hereto, aud pro.
that be who dared, Ia the
name OF religion, to violate personal
leCurtty should eu0er ~ . common
elvn. It Vas q little later than this.
hat tho Bishop Of Rome Rathered !
nto bic hands tho retns OF the world
md founded that temporal and spir.
tuxl empire which has moulded the |
lgee. AZ the centuries psssed away.
10 church turned aside from tie
'tmple teechiDRs Of ito great found.
II; It made to itself craven images. i
md bOWed down to them, aud found. II
ID Q new system upon IT, traditions
nd oUuocils. Az amid clouds OF 10.
|en0e, the Pagan dlvinitte0 bad $40.
Zen through their orsoles, " nov
mid cl0u,le Of incense the marble
ips Of the Virgin smiled upon her |
Lneeling vOtsrieo. In TACT, tho tWO
ystels were % oonf0unded, that II ,
las did1cult, ~ It Vas strongly a.
erted, to Ssy whether PagADlsm had
.scOme Christisni1sd or Christianity
aagani1ed.
It IL very remarkable that tho very
,rguments which the moro enlight.
red Pagsus made 10 defence OF tneir
hip. almost tho very I'm.
,,sa9e Vac used BY tho council "
Vice 10 Ito Permission to kneel and
ray to the images Of SsintS and !
Martyrs. Plato ssys. we do not
'orsh!p the images, but tho Gods !
shom tney Represent. Ten centu.
leo passed away. Az unto tho church /,
( tie Laodiceens, It might have
'een said, thou sayest / am rlch
nd increased In goods, and have
ICED OF nothing, and knowest no, {
hxt thou art wretched and misera. {
'le. and poor and blind, and naked I" =
be csndlest Ok Was not removed
rom iis phase, but It burned too dim. 9
y to brighten tho clouds o! tgnoranOe
nd superstition which shrOuded the I
vvrld. Then came the terrible
Of tho fifteenth century.
human reas0n, which had beeu
rushed where It went not With En-.
Lurch, asseeted itself. Men beaar
y think, to investigate, to doubt. and
o repudiste. Like y whirlWind. TIM