Morning journal and courier., 1882-05-06
Yale Theological School.
The Lyman Beecher LectUres-Rev. Ph1- lips Brooks, D. D., on ''TOleratiOn'-An Al,Ic

The Lyman Beecher Lectures-Rev. Phil-
 lips Brooks, D. D., on s'TOleration"-An
 Able Discourse.
 The second lecture by Rev. Phillips Brooks D. D., of Boston, was given before a large audience at Marquand chapel yesterday afternoon at o'clock The lecturer spoke
 with great eloquence and power, dwelling
 upon the importance of broad and compre-
 hensive religious doctrines. Professor Fish
 CT opened the exercises by giving out hymn in the singing, in which both students and audience joined. The speaker took for his subject 'Toleration"
 "The great praises" said he, (which have been lavished upon religious toleration have hindered, in some degree at least it's action. Liberty is simply a means to an end It al- | lows men to do what they choose simply I that they may choose to do good. It is the work of this century to advance toleration until all men shall attain the truth. It is the
 duty of every religious student to look into l this subject, to see it's true nature and to as- certain how it can be best used for the cause
 of Christ. Federation is the willing accepta ton on the part of men of the religious con- l 7ictions of other men, however different ! from thei own. The two elements the willingness on the part of the tolerant
 man and the honest conviction on the part of the one tolerated-must be present or there is no true toleration. Men are growing ! more and more tolerant. In fact toleration is being forced upon us; if we chose to re-
 sist we should certainly be overcome.
 There are three different kinds of tolera- ! ton. First, there is the toleration of indif- | ference or that entertained by men who care ! nothing at all for the truth This is one of 1 the results of letting men think and do just l as they please. The interest in religious l matters is not so strong as it was Some | such period of indifference must succeed a
 period of bigotry before the dawn of an era 1 of true religious thought and practice, which
 is sure to come bye and bye. We should guard ourselves from placing too much ! weight on this sort of tolerance. Secondly | there is the toleration of sentiment. Men relax their ini olerance when it relates to cer- I tain favored things beloved persons, and are often much more tolerant to those of \ other denominations than to their neighbors I in their own church. This kind of tolera- tion, like the first, cannot be trusted. True toleration is that which comes of faith. To ! have it. one must believe that God governs
 the world; ill the multiplicity of the truth of
 God and theimpossibility of it's being grasped by any one man or set of men; and lastly, in
 the sacredness of every one of Gods crea- ! tures This toleration nothing shake. A man travelling from the weaker to the higher kinds of toleration may become a ] bigot by the way. It is little to be tolerant
 now-it is so easy. But when I read the lives of Falkland, Milton and Cromwell. liv- ing as they did in an age of intolerance, I
 think I see true religious toleration. There \ are certain times when the most dogmatic l men are tolerant and we often see those who
 at middle age have fought each other on reli- | gious doctrines later in life rejoicing because \ they are members of one faith. The religion ] which brings men to Jesus Christ is the reli- l zion of toeration Ministers of Christ should be the most tolerant of men. If they l essay to be better than the men they lead
 toleration will be their highest and best at ] tainment. Yet this need not keep from 1 opposing those who do not legitimately differ | from us in faith, but who simply have no ! faith at all. There is no harm in sects if they l remember that they are only sects and that ! they are all parts of one church. The flock l is in many pastures, some on the hillside l some ln the valley, some far off on the plain ali waiting for the master"
 Next Tuesday afternoon at 3 o'clock Pres- dent John W. Dawson, of McGill University, will lecture on 'sThe Relations of Modern ! Science to Religion"