The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1882-08-01
WEEKLY BAZOO.
A CALM VIEW.

to say a word in behalf of a class OF
men who are neither extremists mol
disbelievers, as to the doctrines of
christianity.
This necessity is made more appar.
ent since there are but few who take
upon themselves, as ministers of the
gospel. the pains of becoming CONVEX
SAINT with the thoughts and beliefs OF
this class of which We now write.
These ''men of God" live too far
apart from the world. They have
their little coterie of fellow.worship-
ers. Sunday after Sunday they stand
before the same faces, speak to the
same minds, utter over and over the
same platitudes.
There seems no expansion to these
men, none of that power which grasps
the progress of thought which is as
sure as the progress Of time. They
are built on a narrow basis and lack
elasticity.
There are many who would be glad
to array themselves in the ranks of
christian belief and work could they
but find q church which would allow
them the privilege of a generous
liberty of belief upon certain doctri-
nal points. We do not refer to a
liberal local organization, but to a
society which has its representatives
in many places so that,a complete
unity and broader sweep II heir in
fluence and power could be~btained.
The masses are not disbelievers of
the cardinal doctrines of christianity.
They do not discard the authority Of
the Christ even if they do scout at
the strained and narrow interpreted
tions of many of the schools of the
0losy which have fought each other
for centuries and been the most pro-
life cause of infide!ity that have ever
existed.
But the day is past when the priest
is the sole interpreter Of the scriptures.
Men are thinking tor themselves.
They seek for light and truth, and
ask for reason for the hope that is
in them. And the church must re-
cognize this condition of things.
While she is not to give up one jot
or title of the truth, she must allow
to her membership the right to re.
ceive or not those teachings which are
purely speculative, and hence. shroud-
ed In doubt and darkness.
Many of the utterances of church
councils are as mystical as the incan-
tatious OF Pagan worshippers. ToSthe
common mind they mean nothing land
even their trainers cannot satisfac-
torily explain them. Upon this
point Henry Ward Beecher says:
No matter what becomes of DEGREES
of election and reprobation, an audi
ence of fathers and mothers under
stand what fatherhood is. No inge-
nuity or eloquence can persuade them
that a God, who for ten thousand
years has labored to produce an in.
finite population of damnable souls,
can with decency be called our Father.
The common sense, the humanity, the
moral sense which have grown out of
the gospel are judging theology. Lit
tie by little the pulpit shrinks from
medieval theology. Ministers first
gloss it by new interpretations. then
they prudently hold it in suspense,
then doubt it, then cast it away.
Men are not willing to accept that
which they cannot understand and
which, to them, has no practical
bearing. They want that which will
help them to a better life, be a
strength to them in weakness, a guide
to them in darkness, a comfort to
them in sorrow, a solace in trouble,
an inspiration to better things, a
surety when the light is fading and
the end draws nigh. Abstruse doc
trines will not do these things nor
g i've these gifts.