Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-03-02

NJ TJ~eEs -d1t = zHa
Bat this COATES aaso thee, that after
ihs 44s ~hieh thss esli herssg. 80 ~0sshiD
the tszi u ass f4Ehal. be.lssing al thiasz
saieh ays written a. the las aad u tbs pro-
ghets Aets xzis. Il il iaa text apos
sisiea kev Henry Pozers besed his sEsser
= iA4 qaesfl a, Hhs ARE tae iahielsf a tns
sgsra iao.szs lssst night. fis psonsaa. ''thzs,
~ a-ea aere rsfsrred - tas Jsss sna ths
fsot q tae .sosd. -i.sress nsans nosslry.
The jess lao.ked alon Paai's ~ag of woEshiG-
lng G.,d ~ O. noseltg. snd thsrefore calt-d
hlm 81 ina.lsA rs attesngted - teach them
a better Esg " ~ofshiEiRg Cod ksom the
very Hatase ,,f thiags. iahdels Of this fashion
mast pay the penalty fos thelr belief, which
= exclusion Or recommendation from the
Sd church. Il was - Uith Paul Il u -
to-day ln this city IN 1871 the n. T. Con
fsFencs east out Martln '. Rosk. simply be
cause he did not belisEs literally Ia the res
direction "a The body and Sas honest en0agh
- say that he did n0t believe t. The men
xho believe 10 the progress Of religion have
been and vail be looked upon a. inn1sls-
fnhdsls are those Nho refuse u believe ia the
orthodox faifh. not necessarily those Who re-
lest Christianity The orthodox faith u
founded upon the fail II Adam. which
doomed thsi ah0le human race, and upon the
story Of the at0nement Because men
reject that faith. or part Of Il. they are called
inhdel-. not because they reject Christianity.
So of all glasses Of men, there are two
kinds Of inhdels--the good and the bad The
good believe ia the progress and rise OF re
ligion. Ilste.sd Of believing that God
doomed msa 10 sin and suffering, they be-
lieve man doomed to good. They reject the
doctrine Of the fall Of man, and believe
that man j. 10 rise and progress. Instead of
The incaruttion OF God IN one man, they be
lieve that God J. incarnate in the souls Oi all
men. They want a religion that will meet
the wants and cond tons OF the people of
to-day, net OF the at ages; gospel that
hall leave men and women better IA this
world: that shah hnd IT, best sphere here;
thar viii enable souls that are evil to eventu-
ally embrace the good, sometime or some
where on their journey TO the stars;
gospel that shall abolish the idea
OF hell or devil. Such Is
the Gospel that infidels wish to take the
place Of the creeds Of the past ages. IL Is
better 10 be an infdel than an orthodox
Christian. lnfdels have a better conception
Of their condition in this world and the
hereafter than the orthodox Christian, al
though they don't pretend 80 much. Josh
Billings" ones said that " it Is better not To
know 20 much. than TO know so much that
il not 80. Rev. Mr.. Talmadge once preached
a sermon in which be described heaven; told
Just what proportion of mankind would 90
there-about one out of each one hundred
THOUSAND. Just how many would come in at
each Of rhe twelve gates; how they would be
dressed, how maEy Methodists, Baptists, Pres
byterian=, etc. described the walls, streets,
and everything about IL. Il l. better not to
pretend 10 know too much. Man cannot
conceive the conditions of the future life.
He can now understand the principles only
and the inhdel knows more about the funda-
mental principles than the orthodox Chris
tian. Many have given up the orthodox
faith bat are too cowardly 10 say so. Many
orthodox ministers do not believe in future
punishment. but how many of them dare tell
their congregations "a muchr How many
believe the creed of their church? Not more
than one-half Such inhdelity deserves the
strongest condemnation. The inhdelity of
Ia-ersOIl Is as truth TO the basest false
hood when compared with this. lnger-
soll believes what he professes, al
though he don't believe all that he should.
Abraham was the first great infdel- He
did not believe that he was required to offer
his sou as a sacrifice, a taught by his creed.
Moses was the next-he introduced a new
creed. David was great inhdel-he set up
new standard of religion. Jesus Christ
was an infidel when. Judged by the religion
Of hrs time, he gave us the eleventh COM
mandment. Luther was an infdel and a
great heretic-the whole church opposed him
for thirty years, and deluged Europe with
blood before It would accept his ideas. John
Wesley was oHe Of the grsndest and greatest
Of iniilels.