Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-02-22
SOWING AND REAPING.

SOWING and REIPING.
Be not deceived; God is not Knocked: for
whatsoever . man soweth, that shall he also
| reap.-GAATIANs VII.
There is o direct and intimate relation in
this world between cause and effect, and it
needed not the words OF the inspired writer
to convince all reasoning human beings that
men make their own fate-that their acts
are followed by consequences that are q
natural and inevitable sequence of their pro-
ducing cause. If man lives cody, up
right life, be enjoys in this life not only the
approval of his own conscience, but the
respect and esteem of his fellow men. If,
on the contrary, he allows his passions and
appetites to draw him from the path of
rectitude, he learns to his SORROW that the
way of tho transgressor is hard. The rule
is memorable, and there are no exceptions to
it. Though q man pursuing a Maynard
course may. for time seem to prosper, he
eventually feels the pains that follow the
transgression of natures laws and of the
divine commands.
The same laws that apply to individuals
apply to organizations, and the churches are
not exempt from their operations. If a
church sows good seed-the seed of pure
morality, of love and genuine religion, it
will go forward and prosper through evil
and good report, being recognized all around
as power in the moral world and enjoying
the confidence of all, including those that do
not accept the tenets it teaches. Butt it sows
the seeds of hate, of uncharity, and Of per-
nicious doctrine, it must be content to reap
a harvest of contention and strife, OF distrust.
of doubt and of disappointment.
We regret to say that there are many
churches of the latter description. They
teach doctrines that do not harmonic with
the revealed will of deity. They inculcate
the doctrine OF hate, teaching that all who
differ from them or question the truth of
their dogmas will be irrevocably damned;
that God is an implacable, unforgiving being
instead of father to his children, ready to
forgive their transgressions and take
them to his arms. They seem to forget
that ':as father pitieth his children, SO doth
the Lord pity them that fear him. They
will not tolerate dissent from their creed,
and will have no fraternity with other sects
of protesting Christians.
OF late years the Evangelical Alliance has
done much to overcome the intolerant spirit,
bat its work is yet far from complete.
We yet find preachers disputing with and
eliminating each other. They seemingly
difference of opinion as to the Interpretation
of certain disputed texts of scripture. There
forewe see mem bers of scores of professedly
Christian churches excluded from the COM
munion table OF other scots. merely SYM
bolic rite is regarded as essential not only
to salvation but to fraternity among those
who ought to be brethren. This manifestly
absurd sectarian regulation is not confined
to one denomination alone, but permeates
nearly all of them. Few Presbyterians can
be found who will join Christians of other
denominations in eating the bread and
drinking the wine representative of the body
ahSA OlOO0 VI Iu0 Oucs no Sdulo
may be said of almost every sect in the
United States. Where men and organlza-
tions each profe ssing to be laboring in the
same cause manifest so much acrimony
towards each other, it is not surprising that
men of the world distrust them ell.
1t often seems as if men who, before they
Joined the church are peaceable and loveble
in every respect, good neighbors and desira-
bic associates, become the reverse after that
event. They are often contentious, bigoted
and intolerant, capable of acts of meanness
that before they joined the church they
were incapable of, and would have despised.
1t is not the fault of religion that they be-
come so, but rather of the false doctrines in
stilled into their minds They are taught
by their preachers to abhor all sorts of her
esy, and all dogn hat do not agree with
heretical. The reason is that too many
of these men abdicate their right to think for
themselves, and turn that function over to
the preachers. accepting as truth whatever
is enunciated from the pulpit without at
tempting to reconcile it to reason or q rea-
sonable Interpretation of revealed religion.
If they would stop to consider that all NOR
tails are liable to err in matters of religion
as we'll as in other things, and that perhaps
they themselves may BIZ in error, they would
cease to be as uncharitable and intolerant as
they now are, and would become searchers
after truth, ready to receive light from any
source upon subjects regarding which they
are now in doubt. Only by such means can
they arrive at conclusions that will be justi-
fed by common sense, and entitle them and
their doctrines to the respect of the world at
large. Let the preachers in the first place
enlighten themselves, So that they may be
enabled to impart intelligent counsel to
those who look to them for spiritual advice
and information. Let them give their
parishioners the privilege of thinking for
themselves and do all in their power to aid
them in arriving at correct conclusions, and
the world will not scoff at religion, and the
harvest garnersd will be productive and mu.
nlicent.
The bidding little DisDltch ia anxious to