Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1885-11-19

! -
they will probably recommend her to the
''cemencY of the court" which would
be right, Tor it does not appear that she
disclosed the contents of the letters only
to her intimate friends, and they TO theirs,
under promise that they would "never-
never tell"
!
The discourse al the Metho dist churc
in this city last Sunday evening by Rev.
Purington, of Paige, OAK, one OF the
ministers attending the convocatisn Of
Baptist ministers IN this city, would prob.
ably haye been . model sermon in the
days when semi -barbarous civilization
accepted barba1ous theology; when
witches rode through the air on broom
sticks; when the deyil was pictured with
head like the COW with the "crumpled
horn," hoof like an OK and tail like
an anaconda; when the minister thought
it his mission to 60 into all the werld and
preach hell to every creature that did not
believe as he did; when the people &C
eepted what the parson preached because
it Yves so unreasonable they could not un.
derstand it; but in this enlightened age
of the world when people read and think
for themselves 1t can hardly hs called
anything but relic OF an obsolete and
discarded theology. Surely there is moth.
ing in the visible manifestations of God
towards His children on earth to justify
the belief that He will deal with them
like monster of dspravity IN the eternal
existence in the life beyond, as Rev. Pur-
lngton in spirit and idea preached on this
occasion.
Man is endowed with the faculty of
reason, and it is presumed that any reve-
lation made to HIM by his creator would
be addressed 10 him as such. Revelation
may be above reason but not opposed to
1t. Reason tells us that infinite love and
infinite wrath are irrecopciiisbly opposed
to each other and Cannot exist IN the
same being. Love ceases here wrath
begins. A father may punish his child
in love for its good, but the moment he
lnfllcts blow or other pain of body or
mind to crafty his wrath he becomes
brute. Vengeance was the creature of q
barbarous age and the people of that age
measured God by themselves as they do
now and always will. This did not, does
not and will not change the character
and attributes of God in the least. The
earth moved just the same when Gallleo
was prosecuted and compelled by the In
QUESTION to abjure his belief in its motion
that it does now when every intelligent
person believes it. Truth exists independ-
ent of mans belief or unbelief. A fact
IS not changed by the different views men
may have concerning it or there would be
as many Gods, or God of as many an
tagonistic characteristics as there are
conflicting opinions of His attributes. In
the revolutionary war one party appealed
to God who would maintain the "di-
vine right of kings to rule" while the
opposing party appealed to q God who
had endowed man "wlth certain inalien-
able rights among which were ''lfe,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness"
Before and during the rebellion the peo-
pie of the south worshipped God who
sanctioned human slavery while the peo-
pie north of Mason and Dixon's line
wsrshipped a God who condemned it.
The Baptlsts worship q God who saves
through remission of sins and baptism by
immersion. The Methodists worship q
God who saves through repentance and
q renewal of heart. The Presbyterians
worship q God who saves through faith.
The Catholics worship God who saves
through lntercession of the priests. The
Mormons worship q God who promises
the highest seat in heaven to the "saint'
who has the largest list of wives and
children, and 80 on, each sect measuring
its God by its own creed.
The whole human race is the one fam
lily of God who IS the Father of all. The
ties of affection that bind earthly parents
to their children, and the sympathetic tie
that binds the whole human race together
and moves the heart to assist the destitute
and comfort the distressed, to forgive er-
rors and lift up the fallen, is implanted
in the heart by the creator and is finite
reflex of like infinite characteristics IN
Him. 1t is the God given nature of man
to save his children at any sacrifice it
may cost. Can it be that the ties of par
ents affection are stronger and higher IN
man than they are with God towards His
family, and He the fountain head and
source from which these ties emanate?
Is the creature better than the creator?
Some thirty years ago the son of the gov
ernor of Kentucky was under sentence
of death for crime. The father held IN
his hands the sfiiclal power to save the
life of his son, but there was no doubt of
his guilt aud 1t was struggle between
parental affection and official fidelity. In
the face of the law, the state and the
world, he issued the executive pardon,
resigned his office and retired to obscurity,
A few years ago little Charley Ross was
abducted from his home in the city of