Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-12-24

versible will of God. Therefore, necessity,
not free will, is the controlling principle of
our conduct. God is the author of what is
evli IN US, as well as Of what
Is .good.' His disciple and friend,
Mssancthon, wrote in his
commentary on the epistle to the Romans:
"God IS the author of David's adultery
ana the treason of Judas as we'll as of
PauPs conversion" The attribute of JUS
tics disappears from the deity. The
church taught that the reward or punish
ment of sosls during eternity is the result
of their own free acts. With Luther reward
and punishment are the direct will of God.
Man has no choiee between doing good OF
evil, neither, consequently, between seek
ing heaven or hell. Hence,
God creates some for heaven and
whatever evil they may commit they will
be necessarily saved; he creates others for
hell and whatever good they may accom-
plish they will be damned. What doc
trine of despair! The heavens dsrksn
over us; there no longer exists q GOD of
mercy, of love, Of goodness, of justice;
cruel relentless tyrant is SEATED on the
throne, calling forth from nothing beings
that he may Impel: them to commit sin,
and then damn them for eternity! The
vision Of o saVior's tenderness vanishes The
sweet joys of Christmas tide become bit
tsr irony; the angelic song "peace on
earth to men of good WILL" is heavens lie
to earth. God does not wish the salvation
of all. Christ came not to save all. The
iron rule of necessity presses many down
ward into hell and no smile of happiness
lights up. the faces of those who are to be
saved; for they are saved des pite them
selves, driven into heaven as dumb, IN
reasoning animals.
Confronted with texts of scriptare in
which Gods desire for the salvation of all
men is expressed Luther boldly replied
I'VE must distinguish between Gods ap-
parent will, which says yes, and his secret
will which says no." God, according to
Luthsr, tells one thing to men and in his
mind means the contrary. Gould bias
phemy be more brutal anu revolving!
LUTHER's DOCTRINE OF TOTAL pzPBAv1ry.
We come to another point in Luther's
teaching most degrading for men, aud
promosive of evil-his doctrine on human
nature since the fall of Adam.
The church held that man by the fall had
been weakened in his intellect and his
will, besides losing the supernatural gifts
OF grace that had beea superadded to
nature without ever having been part of
1t. But human nature, as it remained,
was good in itself, capable of thought in
spiritual as we'll IS in earthly things, en-
dowed with free will, and the power to
elicit moral acts. The doctrine of the
church thoroughly accords with the suy-
gestions OF reason and the deepest in
stinc.s OF our being. Yet men to-day
who propose reason as guide turn away
from the church which they qualify as an
enemy to the dignity of human nature to
admire Luther; they turn from light TO
darkness. Latber, the reformer of morals,
the liberator OF the mind and heart from
ths slavery Of the churchl-teaches that in
the fall human nature became in its sub
stance corrupt, and is now foul mass of
sin, all sin. The cots it performs
may sesm to the outward eye 10 be
good CT evil, and we speak
OF them as such. This is but the appear
apeo; in reality the oest Of those acts are
sins. offensive tc God, deserving damna-
ton. Luther's expressions are: E'I5 is the
nature Of man to sin; sin constitutes the
essence of man; SINGS the fall ne is quite
sitered; man is an evil tree, of which all
the fruits are evil, rock rent By lightning
that can no longer supply living waters;
dunghili that can only exhale Infections
odors." In this manner all is sin. The
playful prattle of childhood is sin; the
works Of al hsathens are sins; the chastity
of Lucretia, the heroism OF Scevela, the
bravery OF Scipio, are sins. Humanity is
pool Of dark, IoaJhsome waters che
carolling of birdH, the beauty of the set
ting sun, the sweet perfums Of roses in
spsing-all is but mockery Of man, laugh
ter ct his misery. Re is an accursed be-
ing. What incentive 10 there
in this doctrine to morality
Acts which We call virtue are, before God
as sinful as thoae we call vice! Who will
strive by self denial and sacrifice 20 prac-
tioe the so-called virtues? What appeal
can be made in tho name of benevolence,
patriotism, humanity? "Ths worst of hu-
man errorg," says Robert Dale Owen, writ
ing onssths doctrine of the;reformers, sis
to identify God with evil-to regard him
&c spirit Of wrong; the next worst is to
identify man with evil-to look upon him
as an outlaw past saving. God deliver us
from the setting up of devil to wor-
ship, and of hopeless deprevity to believe.
Bettsr-if the Stygian creed were truth
to burn at once every detestable record of
the Past. To what purpose the perusal of
long series Of denominations? Aye, aud
better too, We add, if that living corrup-
ton, humanity, could forever be annihi-
lated. The doctrine OF total deprevity
was universal with the reformers Of the
sixteenth century. From Wittenburg it
passsd to Geneva, where John Calvin,
with dismal stern logic extracted ell its
consequences, blasting every hope, every
bright speok in mind and heart. The book
of despair is Calvin's Institutes. From &C.
nova John Knox brought over to
Scotland the new gospel, "ths tidings
OF joyr' and the trainers of the thirty
nine articles for the Anglican church
handled pens that had been dipped in all
the gall of Genevese bitterness Provi-
dence permitted that this horrible doctrine
should spread as a pail of death over the
whole revolution, as if to show in all clear
ness that his curse rested upon it.
JUSTIFICATION BY FATTY ALONE.
In Luther's theology some men wers TO
be saved. Christ had died for portion
Of the race, however small. How are they
to be justified, freed from their sins and
fitted for heaven? You will again remark
how Luther in his answer to this question
as in his other teachings on man, de-
grades human nature and opens the way to
eyiI.doipp The teaching of the church