The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-02-16
JEHOIAKIM.
The Prototype of the Modern
Infidel.
Sermon Preached in Brooklyn Tabernacle
2 on Sunday, February 5, 1882, by
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage.

SUBJECT: THE NEANNESS OF INFIDELITY.
TExT-Jeremiah xxxvi., %: "When
Jehudi had read three or four leaves he
cut it with his pen-knife."
There sits JehOiakim in his winter
house, his feet up toward the ire, blaz
ing and cracking on the hearth. His
Private Secretary is reading from the
scroll containing Gods words to Jere-
miah. The divine scroll does not please
JehOiakim, and he gets red in the face
and jumps up and snatches the scroll
out OF the hands of the Private Secretary,
and cuts and SlaSheS it all to pieces with
his peL-knife. He thought by cutting
the scroll to pieces he could destroy the
prophecy. Oh, no; Jeremiah took another
scroll and it was redictated. All the
pen-knives ever made in Sheffield or In
the combined cutleries of the world
could not successfully destroy the Scrip
lures. We have a JehOiakim now who
is attempting with his pen-knife to
slash the divine scroll to pieces. He
tries to stab Moses, to stab Joshua, to
stab all the prophets and evangelists
and apostles, to stab Christ and to stab
the God of the Bible. But while the
modern JehOiakim is cutting to pieces
his only copy of the Bible CfOT | suppose
he has not more than one copy of this
dangerous book in his household, and
that so carefully locked and guarded
that none of his friends coming near
can get poisoned by it,) there are more
copies of this book being Printed than
of any other book in all secular or re-
ligiOus literature. A very small number
of the most popular books have been
printed in comparison. Disrael's En-
dymiOn and Shakspere's tragedies have
had a very slow sale compared with this
Bible, which, after the assault of thOus-
ands of IngeTsOlls for centuries, has
now over three hundred million copies
in existence. There are at least ten
thousand Bibles born to one destroyed.
Cut away, then, with all your intidel pen
knives.
The attempt is made by Mr.. IngersOll
to cut the Bible to pieces with the sharp
knife-blade of ridicule. Now, l like fun.
No man was ever built with keener ap-
preciatiOn of it. There is no harm, but
positive health in laughter, physical
health, mental health, if you only laugh
at the right things. The morning is
jOcund with its own mist. The Indian
appropriately baptizes the cataract as
Minnehaha or laughing water. He has
not eyes open, OF ears alert, VINO mas not
seen the sea smile, OF heard the forests
clap their hands, or orchards on blossom
week aglee with redOlence. But there
is a destructive mirth, there is laugh
ter which is the rebound of despair. 1t is
not healthful to giggle about God, or
chuckle concerning eternity, OF litter
about the SOULS destiny. l suppose you
know what caused that terrible disaster
on the Hudson River Railroad two or
three weeks ago, by which nine lives
were destroyed and the shuddeT of horror
was sent across the country. An intOXi-
Gated man in fun pulled the string of
the air brake and stopped the train at
the most dangerous part OF Its journey.
Not knowing there was any obstruction
on the track, down came the express
train smashing out of the mangled
bodies of the victims the immortal
spirits that the next instant went speed
ing toward God i'll judgment. 1t was
only Joke of an intoxicated passenger.
All that Mr.. IngeTsOll is trying to do is
to halt the belief of the world. He
wants to stop the long train of the Bibles,
and the long train of the churches and
the long train of Christian influences.
Meanwhile, coming down upon us are
death, judgment and eternity, coming a |
thousand miles a minute, coming with |
more than the force of all the Alpine |
ayalanches that ever slipped from the |
Alps, coming with more than all the |
strength of all the lightning express |
trains that whistled, shrieked or thun- |
deTed across the continent. Stop" he |
says, lit is only joke" At the spec
tacle Mr.. IngersOu almost splits with
laughter, and on a subject more agOniZ-
ing than any other subject that ever
moved the nations he feels uprOariOus,
his funniest lecture on the most tre-
mendOus question that was ever asked
What must | Do to Be Saved-Only
joke. Now, propose in this sermon in
reply to Mr.. IngersOll, the champion
blasphemeT of America, to show phase
of intidelity that has never been shown,
and that is its meanneSS. ] have shown
you its untTuth, its blasphemy and its
Ignorance. Now have to explore its
meanness. Mr.. IngersOll in many of
his lectures satirized his early home.
He describes the Sunday they forced
upon him in his youth, and in various
ways gets you to think that his father
was tyrant or bigOt or fool. Now,
the meanest thing that son can do is
to assail the memory of father or mother,
whether good or bad. l had Christian
of the most elevated type.
But suppose my father or mother had
Ieen ignorant, OF hypOcritieal, or bigOted
)r bad, would it not have been debasing
n me to hook the horses to the plOW-
share of contempt to turn up the mound
Df their graves? Two accounts come to 4
me in regard to Mr. Ingersoll's parent
age. One says his father was a PTesby-l
,erian Clergyman, a good man, at times
blOQu6nb III ul5cu5SlOu, very
his determination with other denOmina-
tions, at one time preaching sermon
under which a hundred souls were con-
yerted. indulgent to fault towards his
and, though he had some pecn-
liarities, his memory is blessed. On tie
other hand letter came to me last week
from one of the places of his residence
giving him the opposite character saying,
'He was abstemiOus to fault, and the
family suffered accordingly. The child
rem were commanded to eat, drink and
dress sparingly. He never spoke kind
word of his wife, who was a noble
Christian woman, nor of his children,
within the knowledge Of persons now
living here, who were familiar with the
family. At last the mother died. She
was cared for by friends in her sickness,
and on the day of interment gentle
hands carried her form and rested it for
a time on the catafalque. Mr.. IngeT-
soils father, TO the establishment of all
present, deliberately removed his cravat
and gloves, stepped on the rostrum, and
delivered eulOgy over the body. He
attempted to extOl her virtues and pane
geTize her conduct. 1t was the first
time he had ever been known publicly
10 speak well of her." know not which
account is accurate. l only know that