The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1888-05-24

ThLMAGE PICTURES THE ENTIRpA.
TION OF CHRISTIANrrY


| OF the Old World--rhe Awful End.
Tho Rev. DIR. TalmaRe preached Sun
day morning upon "Obscuration" taking
tho text from Acts H., 20: "IIe shall be
turned into darkness" He said:
"What the destruction Of the sun in
the natural heavens would be to our
physical earth, the destruction of Chris
tianity would be to the moral world.
Tho sun turned Into darkness. Iutidclity
III our time is considered great Joke.
There are people who rejoice to hear
Christianity caricaturcd. and to hear
Christ assailed with uuibblo and quirk
and Misrepresentation and badinugc
and harlequinade.
81 propose this morning to tako III
fidelity and atheism out of the realm OF
popularity into ono of tradedy, and show
! you what they propose and what, if
they arc successful, they will accomplish.
| There are those in all our communities
who would ike to see the Christian re-
llgOn OvcrthrOwn, and who say the
world would be better without it. j want
to show you what is the end Of this
road, and what is the terminus Of this
crusade, and what this world will be
when atheism and intidclity have tri-
umphcd over il, if they can.
''ln the first place, it will bc the com
! plcte and unutterablc degradation Of
womanhood. | will prove il 10y facts
and arguments which no honest man
will dispute. In all communities and
cities uud States and nations where the
| Christian religion has been dominant,
womap's condition has beon amehorated
and improved, and she is deferred to
and hOnorcd i'll II thUiisan, things, and
every gcntl man takes of his hat before
| her.
"Now compare this with womau's
condition i'll lands whero Christianity
has mado little or no 0dvanco-in China,
in Barbary, in Bornco, in Tartary, in
! Egypt, in Hindoostan. The burmese
sell their wives and daughters like SO
many sheep. Tie IIinioO Bible makes
it hsgracetnl and an outrage for wo-
man to listen to music, or to look out Of
! the window in the absence Of her hua-
band, and gives rs IL lawful ground for
divorce woman's beginning to cat be-
fore her husband has finished his meal.
What mean those white bundles On the
I ponds and river5 in China in the morn
ing? mfanticido following infanticide.
Female children destroyed because they
are female. Woman hnrncssed to n
plOw as IN OK. Woman veiled and bar
ricaded, aud i'll all styles of cruel scclu-
sion. Her birth misfortune. Her life
a turtnrc. Her death II horror.
"Ihe missionary Of the cross to day
IN heathCn lands breaches generally to
two groups--a group Of men do as they
please and sit where they please; the
other group, women, hidden and care
fully secluded in Il side apartment, where
they may hear the voice Of tho preacher,
but may not be seen. No refinement
No liberty. No hope for this life. No
hope for the life to come. Hinged nose
Cramped foot. DIstigurcd face En-
bruted soul. Now compare those two
conditions. How far toward this latter
condition that L speak of would woman
go If Christian influence were withdrawn
and Christianity were destroyed. 1t IL
only question of dynamics. Ii an OBJ.
Ject be lifted to certain point ana not
fastened there, and the lifting power be
| withdraw, how long before that object
will fall down to the point from which it
started? 1t will down, and it will go
still further than the point from which
it started. Christianity bus lifted woman
up from the very depths OF degradation
almost to the skies. If that lifting pow
OK be withdrawn she falls clear back to
the depth from which She was rcs,lr-
rccted.
of infiaelity triumph and Christianity
be ovcrthrOwu, it means the dcmOraliHl-
ton of society. Tho one idea in the
Bible That atheists and intidcis most hate
| Is the idea of rCtrbution. Take away
the idea of rctribution and punishment
from society and it will begin very soon
to dismtcgrnte, and take away from the
minds Of men the fear Of hell and there
are great many of them who would
very scOn turn this world into hell
| The maj j)rity Of those who arc indignant
against the Bible because Of punishment
are men whose lives arc bad or whose
| hearts arc impure, and who hato the
| Bible because Cf tho idea Of future pun
ishment for the same reason that crimi-
nalS hate the pc '!cntiary. Oh, | have
| heard tins brave talk about people fear
ing nothing Of the consequences Of SIN
i'll the next world, and have mado up
my mind it Is merely n cOWard's whist
| ling to keep his courage up. | have seen
men ilaunt their immOraltics in the
! lace OF the community, and L have heard
them defy the Judgment day and scoll' at
the idea Of any future consequence Of
their sin; but when they came to die
| they shrickGd until you cOnld hear them
for nearly two l'locks, and III the sum
mcr night the neighbors got up to put
the windows down because they could
not endure the hOrros.
"l would not want to see a railway train
with 800 Christian people on board go
down through drawhridgc into II
watcry grave. ] would not want to see
800 Christian people go into such dis.
&stcr, but tell you plainly that could
moro easily see that than | could for any
prOtractGd time stand and see an inlidcl
die, though his pillow were of elder
down and under 81 canopy Of vcrmilliOn.
] have never been able to brace up my
nerves for such spectacle.
"Tho mightiest restraints to-day
against theft, against immortality, against
libcrtinism, against crime Of all sorts
th" mightiest restraints are tho rctribu-
tiOns Of eternity. Men know that they
can escape the law, but down in tho
oilonG"rs soul ahcrc is the rcalizati III Of
the fact that they canuot escape God,