Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-11-30
REFERENCE FOR DEITY.

to the Gent,les, nor to the church of God.
CORINTHIANS K: 81.
To jealously guard the reputation of the
from the sneers of the ungodly, is the first
duty of minister of the gospel. He should
take the utmost care that he himself shall
give no reason for offense, for his position
as teacher of religion doubles his power
for harm as we'll as his capacity for good.
A falsehood uttered by a clergyman is far
more censurable than one spoken by per-
son of fewer pretensions to morality. So
with every transgression against the moral
law. 1t is doubly heinous when committed
by the men who set themselves up as the
patterns of propriety.
We are glad to say that the proportion of
clergymen who offend the moral sense of
the community is small. Yet in one respect
a large proportion of the clergy deserve crit
icism and condemnation. This is the bias
phemy-oftentime unconscious, we believe
which they commit from the pulpit. They
manifest familiarity with the M deity that
is repulsive to every person who has learned
to reverence the author of his existence. It
is not an uncommon thing for minister,
either in his prayers or his sermons, to
speak to or of the creator in terms such as
men employ in connection with their most
associates about the streets. They
tell him of their needs and the needs of their
flock, and tell him what he ought to do in
order to ensure their alteration. He is
to do this or the other thing as
the price of that which he requires of men
reverence aud worship. Their tone is
that which becomes the dictator rather than
the creature, and is often scarce
removed from the rankest blasphemy.
Ir our opinion greater respect IS due to
the deity than that shown by many of those
who assume to DO MS representatives. He
is deserving of our profoundest reverence,
our most devoted worship. It oHends our
sense of duty to have him spoken of or to
as familiar, and instructed as to his duty
towards his creatures. Such language as is
often employed in the pulpit would be con-
sidered insulting if exchanged between men
of equal standing in the community. We
revolt against SO much irreverence as is man
Tested by those to whom We have right to
look as models of reverent and devoted
life.
A dictatorisl tone employed in what should
be supplication to the most high is out of
place. 1t tends to debase the ideal most
cherished in the human breast of the char
acter and attributes of God. Judging from
the manner in which the throne of grace is
frequently addressed one would BIZ led to
conclude that the omnipotent one was but
servant of mortals, waiting to learn their
wants and wishes, and ready to execute their
orders at the word of command. He is
insulted day after day and put to an open
shame. He is imputed by some, by impI-
cation, instead of loving father to whom
the SORROWS of his children can be confded,
and entreated to withhold his wrath-a
wrath which he does not possess. He is, by
others, attributed with sinister motives, and
asked to reward those who have done much
for tho advancement of his cause. But
worse than oil other indignities, he is treated
as familiar-a being with whom his sup
plants or dictators are on the most intimate
terms. TO curse is a frightfnl insult
to the master of our being, but to patronize
him and assume to instruct him as to the
best method of governing our atom of space
- fop a.
deity and inculcates habit of frivolity in
conversation regarding him that is RESPONSE
BILE in large degree for the present all-per-
vading heedlessness of sacred affairs. Let
US entreat of the ministers of the gospel that
they manifest more respect, if they have not
reverence, for that being who holds the
destinies of all mortals in his hand, by ad-
dressing him with becoming language, and
not offend those who look upon infnity as
the embodiment of dignity as well as of
power.