The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1879-05-29
Liberalism in Religion.

Liberalism in Religion.
The New York Herald calls attention tt
the declaration OF Cardinal Newman, in re-
| ply to the communication which announced
his elevation to the cardInalate, that hi
twill resist with all his powers the spirit o.
liberalism in religion" because sit is incon-
sistent with the recognition Of any religion
as true" and is "intended to supercede re-
ligion." There is much in the sentiment
declared to cause reflection and command
the concurrence Of all who regard revealed
religion as something more than a mere
speculative theory and the Bible as the
Word of God. Liberalism in religious
matters has led to the widest fanaticism,
and the most absurd interpretations Of
Scriptures, resulting in conclusions shocking
to the teachings Of the Bible and leading to
ends destructive Of human happiness.
We have before us two striking -illustra
lions of what this character Of liberalism
inspires. The first is the accommodation
from the Westminster Iowa) Presbyterian
| Church, of Mr.. Oliver Clemens, because Of
lecture he delivered on aMan, the Archi-
tect of our Religion" In it Mr.. Clemens
asserted the last six commandments in the
| decalogue to be moral rules always practiced
by mankind, the setting of which, in form
of words, was like the naming of noun
tain; that inspiration is simply higher de-
velopment of thought in a special direction,
or is a dream that there is nothing In the
Old Testament indicating belief OF its
writer's that anything thought, said, or done
in this life would affect the condition of the
soul in the life to come. ''He also asserted
that Abraham was sun and fire worship
per, adoring the Canaanitish gods Of Ca
naanitish places in Caananitish ways that
Melchesedik was Canaanitish priest and
king, and a priest OF the Sun, as the god
meant by the Most High God that the
smoking furnace and burning lamp des-
cribed In Genesis XIV, II, were symbols Of
three gods-the Sun, the Tree, and the Plan
ct Venus; that Abraham s sacrifice, de-
manded in Genesis XIV, was offered to the
sun, the tree, and the goddess Of love and
beauty that the turtle dove was symbol
OF love and beauty and spring, and that the
young pigeon was symbol of the life-giv-
ing power OF nature"
In contrast with this 'sliberal' and heret-
ical Interpretation of the Scriptures, and de-
partures from 1.-The orthodox treatises upon
the subject of religion, we find letter from
Mrs. Freeman, the wife Of Charles Free
man, of Massachusetts,, who few weeks
ago killed his little daughterI in the insane
belief that he was clarifying God, and that
as Isaac was saved from the uplifted knife
of Abraham, by divine interpostion, so his
little child would be miraculously saved from
the dagger he aimed at her heart. Writing
to her sister, in explanation of the motives
and circumstances Of the cruel butchery OF
the little girl, the mother says, from the
prison, with her husband !:
s'But having such great faith in God to be-
lieve he would stop him just as he did Abra-
ham-that it was only:a trial Of faiah-know-
ing, as did, Charles life and love, his fear
to disobey God, and that he had Abraham's
faith, could not hinder him. But neither
OF us thought God would suffer her to be
touched any more than the day would fail to
come. We thought God would see our faith
and give us some token of acceptance. We
believed God would thunder from Sinai be-
fore any harm should come to our darling !;
but when 1 found my precious Edie gone,
oh, Father, how felt! But comfort seemed
to come again. Abraham believed God
would raise Isaac, and so we felt it was Gods
plan to take her, so as to raise her from the
dead and thus show his mighty power and
love. We did believe he would do this, in
order to show the world that the God OF
Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob still lives,
and so wake up the frozen Church OF God to
its duties-the Church so married to the
world that there is scarcely any difference
between the two. We believed this was to
be, and that Edie would yet 60 with Charlie
to preach the Gospel of the kingdom. What
power she would be !! What glory to His
cause Elijah, Elisha, Christ and the Apos-
ties raised the dead, and why should not God
But the time has so far passed, and we are
here. God knows we are innocent OF any
crime. Charlie still thinks God is going to
manifest His power and glory, and himself
be justified in the eyes Of the world. God
grant it may be 500
1t may be assumed that all mere theories
on the subject Of religion must either run in
to rationslism or superstition, and that
equally irrational conclusions will be reach
ed as those recorded in the two Instances
above related. 1t is an unsafe step to seek
to reconcile the scriptures with the inventions
Of human agencies, for the more men spec
ulate and theorize upon the subject OF relig-
ion, the greater is the danger Of running in
to fanaticism,, and deranging the mental ia
culties in an attempt to reconcile to reason
that which is the province of faith alone.