Litchfield enquirer., 1881-01-20
V Heresy.

me feIusal OI NOngfegaIl0naIC Council 70 assent to the ordinataoBof Rev. Myron Adams. of Rochester, New York, on various grounds of certainty in faith, but particularly for ienouncing the doctrine of the everlasting punishment of sinners. occasions considerable newspaper comment and some severe criticism
 It is not the province of secular paper to en- ter upon the discussion of theological questions except So far as they involve questions of general morality. We are only concerned, therefore, with the incidental moral results of silencing ministers for heresy and here we range alongside. the theologians. Genuine ness is of the very essence of every good thing. If the Congregational church still honestly holds to the doctrine of eternal damnation, it should insist by all means upon the teaching of that doctrine. A minister who believes and teaches the opposite doctrine is no longer a Congregationalist but Universalist minister If the CongregatiopaIist church, however, has ceased to believe in everlasting punishment, nothing will SO soon develop change of creed from the change of belief as an enforcement of the old doctrine. All statute books will be fund to contain more or less obsolete laws, and these laws are something worse than use less, since, if of any importance, they breed contempt for all law which is of evil example But let these obsolete statutes be enforced, and if they are of value, their enforcement pro- duces adoubly good result; it effects the object for which they vsre originally passed, and it revives respect for law generally. If, on the other hand, those statutes have ceased to be useful, their enforcement ensures their speedy repeal.
 In theology obsolete articles of belief work even greater injury. They are the parent of of an hypocrisy that saps the life out of any church which harbors them It is this very evil which most of all impairs the strength of
 established" churches. The example of France is tremendous warning of this kind. We have there today pronounced hostility between the established church and all that is liberal, progressive, republican. in the state The occasion of this is that the creed of that c,urch is generally disbeleved by intelligent Frenehmen. Yet Catholicism is probably stronger in France today than are the state religions of some other countries where the position generally taken by men of iutelli- geuce is that of conformity ;"s (. nominal christianity, practical infidelity. In the United States free institutions and freedom from state control have made religion a much sincerer thing than in the old country Still many churches here suffer greatly from the dcad-rot of conformity. The root of the the difficulty lies in the lack Of individual in- dependence. The moral teaching of all churches is attractive to all moral men, But moral teaching is but small part of the duty of the live church l; and the merely moral man
 without genuine faith in religion is thorough y out of place in any church. He is the more dangerous because he is apparently reputs. l,'e church member His practice is christian, but his faith is unchrstian To him the major part of tEe dognas of his church are mere shams. He does not dissent; he does not as-
 sent without being aware of it, he falls into the condition of the pharisee, not to say of the hypocrite. so fearfully denounced in the New
 Testament. Allthis is wrong-unjust to the church, untrue to the ''conformist's" own manhood. Such men have no right in the or thodox pulpit; they are even out of place in orthodox pews. Their true place is outside the church. There they may endure the pains and penalties, social or other, often visited up on the unbelever in christian communities, but their position is an honest one. They are guilty of no treason to the church by delu- sive adherence. On the other hand, their pro- test, likethat great protest of Martin Luthers, over three and a half centuries ago-may en- force more humane creed and better prac- tice upon the church