St. Paul daily globe., 1885-12-21
BEECHER,S SERMON.
Happy is the Man that Lives q Cor.
rect Life.

are tney tnaC munger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be filed"
He said: can hardly find better COM
mentary on this short benediction than is in
the third chapter of Proverbs: Happy is
the man that fndeth wisdom, and the man
that getteth understanding. According to
the philosophy or nomenclature that existed
then, wisdom and knowledge are the curses
of religion, so that wisdom may be taken to
be synonymous with our idea of re-
ligion. Her ways are ways of pleas
antness, and all her paths are peace.
In the New Testament the same general
idea is expressed by righteousness. That
is the best word yet; obedience to the high
est rule Of life. Righteousness" is only
the old form for ''rightness," and that is
only another form for ''rectitude." Living
right is righteousness; right conduct issuing
out of right character. That is the COM
pleted man, the man after the similitude of
God: By the by, religion is an imported
word. I think you cannot find it in the
the idea of being bound to the service of
God, and it springs from the habit of the
Roman army binding the soldiers to the stan
dard by oath. Religion" think, is
NOT USED ONCE
Ill ku0 WuOlG Is Uu6
Bible word character" ''conduct"-and
it is much better word than 'sreligion," I"
which has been covered over and over with
so many misconceptions that we are con-
stantly in danger of being beguiled and led
astray by the word. Men seek religion"
constantly and very seldom rectitude That
is not what they are after. They want
religion" (" and what is religion? It is a
glorious ''feel good" They have been
battered and beaten with declarations that
they are all sinners, bound to hell, and it is
rather uncomfortable, and by and by comes
in some revival to the flashing conscious
ness. s'You are saved" and they say,
''Oh, am I saved?" and the sensation is
not unlike that of man on the verge of
bankruptcy, who is at the last moment
offered financial aid. He is born again.
There is such weight lifted, and he feels
SO good; and multitudes of men think they
are Christians because they had the idea
dawned on them by
SOME MERCENARY OR OTHER,
some change or other, they don't know
exactly what, but they are told they are
''saved." have heard good men, whose
hearts were much larger than their heads,
crying to congregations; do you want to
be saved? Do you want to be sayedr' and
crowds of men ratified up to the anxious
seat and wanted to be saved. but never
heard the call made to congregation.
do you want to live life of absolute rec
titude?" There wouldn't be only one in
thousand go up to that call. They want
religion because they think religion is an
embrocation that will make rheumatic arms
and feet better, an opiate that will ease
their aches, a wonderful tonic that will
brace them up, and they will feel as they
did when young. That is their idea of re-
ligion. 1t is altogether superstitious no.
ton, pitiable but widespread. Then there
is religion Of partisanship-people who
are
WILLING TO DIE FOR THEIR SECT.
They are so religious they won't give up
the ''faith of the fathers;;" they contend
boldly for the ''faith delivered to the
saints" (Mr. Beecher initiated man
working himself into passion in argument
and seeming to swear at his opponent
That is not an extravaganza. 1t is now
raging around central orthodoxy in Boston.
There are four or five schools in one church,
high theology, middle theology, low theol-
ogy, and any man that goes to preach in
these churches in Boston finds an audience
who have cultivated their critical judgment
till it is as keen as a scythe just whetted on
the stone, and they sit there, and after the
first half dozen sentences they see whether
you belong to the old andover or the new
andover and the anti-andover, or whatever
it is, and the moment they have found
where man belongs, that's enough; there's
no hope for that man. He may be living
with the sweetness and meekness of dove,
with the courage of lion against iniquity,
in the tenderest summer of blossom and
fruit-bearing love. That doesn't make any
difference. His theology is wrong, and
when mans theology is wrong, some men
think he is born to be a sleuth hound and
to put his nose on his track and follow him
up with baying and DEATH and that is in
spired religion; yes, inspired, but from
downward and not from upward.