, 1881-10-16

| ~
t ! 1lme % reconstruct, or do away with. Il 81
. clety that keeps its books SO badly" as am
: thing less than ;ln amazing absnrsliTve
A Il. TAYLOR, Assistant Treasurer.
DR.. THOMAS.
OPINIONS OF THE RELIGIOUS PRESS ..
The dHhrEcs.
tit be heretical to believe that The Rlbl
is not of uniform value; If it be heretical t
believe anEht except tile literal blood theor
OF the atoncnlent; if it be heretical to hon
that loving God will receive any slime
who may turn to Him, no matter when O
where, then every man Whose opinion
worth rush OIL theological questions is
hereto on some point or otller in the evan
gelical creed. Let the Church continue til
work Of expelllng the Swings, and Tlonnases
and Aua1nses, aud by-alul-by it will cunsiS
Of a gathering ct 1'arkhursts who decide tha
their theological opinions shall be BY cast
Of the almighty dollar.
| Interior.
The Rock River Conference have expelled
Dr.. Thomas, and employed more vigorous
than graceful eNpletivcs in putting him out.
They meant, as DR.. Hatfield explained, that
there should be no mistake as to the fact that
Methodism is neither Uniyersalism nor Uni
| tarianism. DR.. Thomas retires with the
! honors of 4 martyr, not because any man of
discernlnent would hold that he had a right
to controvert Methodism iii Methodist pull
! pits, but because the exuberant zeal and inl-
passioned language which are characteristic
of Netflodisln bore With stinging severity
other difficulty to contend with. The dc
nomination has no systematic theology.
There was no law but lynch law-, however
{ust the lynch c Ivy w2s-on which to bring
showing that while the statesmen were try
ing in vain to save the Federal Union by coli
sttutional methods, the people took the
question out Of their hands and saved tile
ton. So while Dr.. Thomas had not violated
the constitution Of the Methodist Church,
he was destroying the foundations OF
the denomination, and must he dealt
Of Dr. Thouas' statement that God God is r not
reconciled TO man, but man IS reconciled to
God. There is a sense IN which DR.. Thomas
was right. God is without.cllange or varia-
bleness, or the shadow Of turning. The
Scriptures and our Standards. lis a faithful
transcript Of Scripture doctrine, represent
the change Of relations between God and
man as resulting from the satisfaction Of
Divine Justice rendered by Christ; the re-
generation by the llo]y Spirit; the return of
man from a State OF cnnity and rebellion to
4 state of obedience and love. Cod could
not be reconciled to sin, nor to tile sinner rs
such. lie could be nothing elsc than u con-
s,lining fire to the workers of iniquity.
ileuce it was that witllouta vicario,ls atone
u1clt there could he no salvation. It's be-
cause Christ bore our sins in lis own body
on the tree, anu because IN Clrls1's right |
consness we. stand rs righteous i'll Gods
sight, that lie is rcconciicd to lis. God |
makes no COMPROMISES with sin. We must !
appear before Him in spotlcss robes, or ap-
pear not at all. i little of the cIear-crt !
truth, as found III our subordinate Stand /
ards, would have helped the brethren out Of |
their embarrassment with Dr.. Thomas. /
s'TuE GREATEST OF THESE IS CLARITY"
To the Editor Of The Chicago Tribune
RACINE. Wis, Oct. ESQ marked and |
has been the criticism of the late
proceedings of the Rock River Conference
that the writer offers no apology for adding
4 unit to the column.
There is, however, one class of sympa-
Lhizers with the distinguished defendant in
lie heresy trial that has notas yet been pro1l}-
nentiy represented
women uf the great Northwest-tle sub
crii,er modcstiy entrcats a hearing.
In a thousand households: on Sunday last,
mothers and daughters read with iiiolste9ed
yes aud hearts brlmmlns M y W'th 4, s,xrnpatn! ,r,p
Shor1t OF every attribute Of seltlshies5 and
eIf-seeking, its close logic, its perfect sim
.licity. and its rare humanity made It liter
iiv masterpiece OF lofty protest against i'll
uStjce-a Christian plea against intolerance. |
No soul that was not utterly STEPPED ~ t
,rrdludice, or stultifed By the doctrine OF
xnediency, could lave withheld verdict OF
he most profound respect Tor fhe hoiiesE
onyictfous Of such 4 man.
in sharp and most disgusting CONTRAST to
,fsc llttcrauces, SO frt.Nght with sincere
,ifh in Him whose ''mercy endureth for : :
yrr. - was tie closing harinSue IN behalf OF )
1e prosecution. ,
i W}tat Ditiful legend to be Incorporated III !
"a history Of nineteenth century Method, !
m is the record of this most disgracetul !,
Pi2I 1Yhat a comment upon the fine taste: and :,
,1f.rpsDect OF tile orator, that his choice - -
.nortnire of theological. slang has become :,
e latest acquisition Of newsboys and Street :
iIn.v manly and admirable the Jesultic
=, - that tracked its victim for ten years.;
.in,r ,,nfer the shallow pretence OF 4 faith
i o51,errnce to old-time standards a will
ctive intent to humble the man who III
vi and spirit OutneaSureS MS prosecutors | II
Il the f sr1ant outn1easures the pigmy. | II
IInw dig,lified the purpose tAal could iulk -,
n,,+ streetcor11ers and stairways watching II
~, st,i}er-like persistence tor II stray Nali | J.
Tns!jn that could be tortured or distorted
r. danIli;lg evidence , .,,u .,,, q,
- iia,. .,tifyinr the spectacle OF the moral =.
r7ce that after colating and circulating =
issue Of petty ISLANDERS that would dissrace u