Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1881-07-28

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III thc fundamental doctrines Of Christ
are S'hgularly free from harhness aud
aouse. vi course cannot speak
win absolute certainty, but / believe
most confidently that there il not in
all the religious polemics of tbi. cen.
tnry as much slanderous inyective as
can be found in any ten lines of Mr..
lngersolfs writings. OF course | do
not include political preachers among
my models Of charity and forbearance
lhey are mendacious set, but Chris
tIanlty Is no more responsible for their
misconduct than it il for the treachery
OF Judas lscariOt or the wrongs done
TO Paul by Alexander the copper
smith.
But, says he, Crptians hare been
gu,ty of DaHtOH and ,cicked Dersecu.
tim. 1t is true that some persons.
protesting Christianity, have violated
the fundamental principles of their
faith by inficting violent injuries aud
bloody wrongs upon their fellow.men.
But the perpetrators Of these outrages
were III fact not Christians they were
either hypocritcs from the beginning
or else base apostatc--infdels or
something worse - hireling wolves,
whose gospel was their nav. Not
one OF them ever pretended TO find
warrant for his conduct in any pre-
ccpt of Christ or any doctrine of his
church. All the wrongs Of this ma
ture which history records have been
the work Of politicians aided often by
/ priests and ministers who were willing
to deny their Lord and desert to the
enemy for the sake Of their temporal
. interests. Take the cases most com.
monty cited and see if this be not a true
account Of them. The auto da ie Of
Spain and Portugal, the burning Of
smithhcId, and the whipping Of wo-
men in Massachusetts,, were the out
come of cruel, false, and antichris-
tian policy, Culigny aud his adhcr-
ent- were killed by an order Of Charlc-
IN, at the instance Of the Gui-es,
who headed a hostile faction. aud
merely for reasons of state. Louis
/ XIV, revoked the cdict of Nantes,
aud bani-hed the WaIdcn-cs under
. pain of conG-cation Of death but this
was done on the declared ground that
I the victims were not .aic -ubiect-
. The brutal atrocitic. oi Cromwell aud
the "utragcs of the Orange lodge
against the Irish Catholics were no,
f. pcr-ecutiou- by religious people, but
movements a. purely political a. those
of the kuow.NOthiug-, Plug. Ugly-,
aud B.oOd-Tub- Of this country. Ii
I the Gospel should be- blamed for these
acts in opposition otis principles, Why
not also charge it with the cruel;ie- Of
. Nero, or the present persecution Of the
Jesuit, by the inHiel republic of
/ France.
Christianity u opposed 10 freedom ef
thought. The kingdom of Christ J.
based upon certain principles to which
. 1t require, the assent Of every one who
would enter therein. If YOU are uu-
willing 70 own Hi- authority and
conform your moral conduct 10 His
laws, YOU cannot expect that He will
admit You to the privileges of HIS
I government. But naturalization Is not
forced upon YOU if you prefer to be
an alien. The Gospel makes the
strongest and teudcrest appeal to the
heart, reason, and conscience Of man
--cntreats him to take thought for
his own highest interest, and by all its
moral influence provokes him to good
works but he i not constrained by
any kind of durcss to leave the ser.
vice or rclinquish the wages of sin
Is there anything that savors Of tyran-
ny in this? 4 man of ordinary iudg.
mont will say, no. But Mr.. lngersoll
thinks it n oppressive a. the refusal
of Jehovah to reward the worship of
/ demons.
The Gopel Of Christ does not satis.
~ The hunger Of The heart That de.
/ ponds upon what kind of a heart it is.
If it hungers after righteousness, it
will surely be filled. 1t is probable,
also that if it hungers for the filthy
food of goddess philosophy it will
get what its appetite demands. That
was an expressive phrase which Car.
| lyle used when he called modern inf.
deity "the gospel of dirt" Those
who are greedy TO swallow it will
doubtless be supplied satisfactorily.
accounts Of miracle are al,pdys false.
Are miracles impossibley No one will
say so who opens his eyes TO the mira.
cles of creation with which we are sur.
rounded on every hand You cannot
even show that they are priori i'm.
probable. God would be likely to
reveal His will TO the rational crea.
ture who we're required TO obey it /;
He would authenticate in some way
the right of prophets and apostles to
speak in His name; supernatural pow.
or was the broad seal which lie affixed