The daily gazette., 1880-12-02
CALVINISM.
HENRY WARD BEECHER ON cREEDs +
uNcUpIsTIANIJKE CHRISTI NIFTY.


New YORK, Nov. 29.-Gen. Ora Mt
was at Plymouth Church yesterday
morning sitting in Mr.. Ii. B. Clahins |
pew. Mr.. Beecher took several texts,
one of which was Sand the Lord pass.
ed by him and proclaimed the Lord,
the LORD God merciful and gracious,
long suffering and abundant in good |
ness and truth, keeping mercy for
thousands, forgiving inlquity, trans
gression and sin, and that will by
no means clear the guilty" "This,"
said Mr.. Beecher, sis the earliest de-
olaration in full of the nature of the
moral government in the world and Of
the nature of the moral governor. =
Thousands of years rolled away and
another voice was heard crying from
another mountain. Calvary and it's
meaning was enlarged through centur-
les. Slowly to us, but not slowly to
him that dwels in eternity, the evolu-
tions had been taking place,and in the
cry that came from the expiring Son
of God we hear the same declaration
of the time preced rg sof the love of
God for men. 1t is the triumph of
God to love things that are absolut tely
repulsive; that are contrary to every
instinct, every attribute, every decree
of the divine mind. He loved tine race
before it was lovable to the extent of
suffering for it-preferred its interests
to his own.
l have bad occasion here oi,en with
great indignation to denounce the Cal
nj Dcf ol l. 10
and l say for his own glory fore-de-
termined everything aud determined
that large paro of the human race
should be created for damnation and
another large part for salvation, with
the explicit declaration that this was
doEe not from foresight Of good or evil
of good on the part of the salvable or
Of evil on the part of the rest-but for
the express purpose OF repre- senting the
glory and power of God, Is theory re-
pulsive to the divine nature. And
against that statement place the decla-
ration of the New Testament, that the
nature OF God is absolute benevolence
that he loves those that are not loVdble
aud these who are positively hateful,
and puts himself to suffering for them
by giving up his first and only child.
That flaming orb of love | bring to bear
against this detestaDle and internal
Moioch In heaven, that the fire OF true
love may burn it TO ashes. it is most
atrocious slander upon the divine ma
lure, but it stands yet in the symbols of
all who hold the Calvinistic faith. The
n-Presbyterian Council at Philadel-
pbia attempted to change it, but ended
by leaving it as it was. Every man
that comes into the Presbyterian minis
try is obliged to declare that he will
preach this hideous God that is prt :
sented in the longer ard shorter West
.Yinster catechisms. | don't know of
any such treason to humanity or TO good
judgment, don't know any ground SO
dangerous for young mau to put his
foot upon, as to swear that he will be
true to those articles of faith, and that
he will teach them for substance
and doctrine. He can't do 1t. He
might just as wei swear that he will be
$50 feet high every time he gof s into
the pulpit.
They don't preach 1t or teach it, or il
there is now and then man that doe:
preach it he is long, lean lightning-roC
man that does not have much to DO will
common folk, and common folk do no
have much to do with him. What is thu
condition of the human family ? So fa
as their commercial value is concerned
| the major part of The human race nigh
ast as well be swept away as not. What
does it matter to the Emperor Of Clius
if million of his subjects die? NJ
philosophy dies with them-no poetry
You might kill million men every day
and million squirrels out in Oregon anC
there wouldn't be any difference excep
| that the squirrels skins would be wprtl
something and the mems skins woulun's
One-half of the human family live 81
low that if they were all swept away
| nothing would be missed and it is no
until | see what men are worth for Coo
and the future that the vision makes IN,
think it a crime to tread upon The low
est human creature. No matter how
low, it makes no difierence-therc j!
something in his nature that God see'
and loves. Then there is another bear
| ing in the exercise of love among cur
selves. Talk about love-most people
mean passion. A man who was like
Christ would be the strongest man il
our day, but after the thousand years oi
preaching that God so loved the worlt
that he gave his Son to die for it, there
is nothing so surprising as that DO per
son shOnld follow him. Anybody thai
followed Christ would be mystery tC
the church to-day.
The revivalists shout, Come up and
be savedi and there is grand rush OF
sinners, who say they are going to
Heaven, as if Heaven was au old gar
ret for the storage of all sorts of use
less lumber and rubbish. The quo s.
tion is not do you want to be savetl?'
but 'Do you want to be salvable?'-
There is not church in existence that
can by doctrine pi opagate tine gospel
by external things. | don't care how
many priest you have or how intellect
ual they are, there can be no church
without love as a social force rs it ex-
lists in the household, and [ never
knew a church where that idea WIS
centrally exerted toward each other
and towards the congregation over the
way-towards the heretics over tic
way. The spirit Of the church is:
"Where do you belong, to u > S'
eyes"
"Bless you"
ado YOU belong to us?'