Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-08-17

oullo,ng where I am accustomed 70
! p1eaen' Tor that was erected by peonle
VINO pelleve in an entire Bible and =
would be dishonest for me to nromn ioots
sentiments different from those fos
winch that building was put up. When
we enter any denomination as ministers
VI reilglon We take solemn vow that wa
WIN preach the sentiments of that de-
domination. If we change our theories.
a as we nave right to change them, then
mere Is world several thousand miles
~ circumference, and there are hun
ureds OF halls and hundreds of acade-
mics of music where we can yent;lato
our sentiments.
l. remember that in all our cities in
time OF political agitation there are the
heFubilcan headquarters and the Demo-
cratlc headquarters. Suppose should
go into one of these Headquarters pre-
tending to be in sympathy with their
work: at the same time eiectioneering
Tor the opposite party. I would soon
mud that the centrifugal force was
greater than the centripetal! Now, if
man enters denomination of Chris
tans, taking solemn oath. as he will
40, that he will promulgate the theories
OF that denomination, and then the man
snail proclaim some other theory, he has
broken his oath and he is an out and
out perjurer. Nevertheless, declare for
largest liberty in religious discussion.
would no more have the attempt to rear
monument to Thomas Paine interfered
with than l would have interfered with
the lifting of the splendid monument to
Washington. Largest liberty for the
body. largest liberty for the mind, larg-
est liberty for the soul.
Now. want to show you, as q matter
of advocacy for what believe to be the
right, the splendors of orthodoxy.
Many have supposed that its disciples
are people of fat skulls, andno reading,
and behind the age. and the victims Of
gullibility. l shall show you that the
word orthodoxy stands for the greatest
splendors outside of Heaven. Behold
the splendors of the achievements. All
the missionaries of the Gospel the world
| round are men who believe in an entire
Bible. Call the roll Of all the mission
aries who are to-day enduring sacrifices
in the ends of the earth for the cause of
religion and the worlds betterment, and
they all believe in an entire Bible. just
as soon as a missionary begins to doubt
whether there ever was a Garden of
Eden, or whether there is any such thing
as future punishment. he comes right
home from Beyrout or Madras. and goes
into the insurance business! All the
missionary societies this day are Differed
by orthodox men, and are supported by
orthodox churches.
| Orthodoxy, beginning with the Sand
wich Islands, has captured vast regions
of barbarism for civilization, while
heterodoxy has to capture the first square
inch. Blatant for many years in Great
Britain and the United States, and strut
ting about with q peacockian braggado-
clio it has yet to capture the first CONT
nent, the first state, the first township,
the first ward, the first space of ground
as big as you could cover with the small
end of sharp pin. Ninety-nine out of
every hundred of the Protestant
churches of America were built by peo-
pie who believed in the entire Bible. The
pulpit now may preach some other Cos
pei, but it is a heterodoX gun on an or
thodox carriage. The foundations of all
the churches that are Of very great use
in this world to-day were laid by men
lid, and if I cannot take it in that way I
will not take it at all; just as if I re-
ceived letter that pretended to come
from friend, and part of it was his and
the other part somebody else's, and it
was sort of literary mongrelism, I
would throw the garbled sheets into the
waste basket.
No church of very great influence to-
day but was built by those who believed
in the entire Bible. Neither will q
church last long built on a part of the
Bible. You have noticed, l suppose,
that as soon as q man begins to give up
the Bible he is apt to preach III some
hall, and he has an audience while he
lives, and when he dies the church dies.
If thought that my church in Brooklyn
half Bible, OF ree-quarters of q Bible,
or ninety nine -hundredths of a
Bible, would expect it to die when I
die; but when 1 know it is built on the
tire Word of God, know it will last
80 years after you and sleep the last
sleep. Oh, the splendors of an orthodoxy
which with 10000 hands and 10000 pull
pits and 10000 Christian churches, is
trying to save the world!
In Music Hall, Boston, for many years
stood Theodore Parker battling ortho-
doxy, giving it, as some supposed at that
time, its death wound. He was the most
fascinating man I ever heard or ever ex-
pect TO hear, and I came out from hear
ing him thinking, in my boyhood way,
well, that's the death of the church.
On that same street, auc uoI LII Iiol1
being opposite, stood Park Congrega-
tional Church, called by its enemies
"Hellfire Corner" Theodore Parker
died and his church died with him; or,
il it is in existence, it is SO small you
mot see it with the naked eye. Park
Longre gational Church still stands on
"Heiltire Corner" laundering away the
magnificent truths Of this glorious ortho-
doXy just as though Theodore Parker
had never lived. All that Boston, OF
Brooklyn. or New York, or the world
ever got that is worth having came
through the wide aqueduct of orthodoxy
from the throne of God.
Behold the splendors OF character
built up by orthodoxy. Who had the
greatest human intellect the world even
knew? Paul. In physical stature in
significant; in mind, head and shoulders
above all the giants of the age. Ortho-
dox from scalp to heel. Who was the
! greatest poet the ages ever saw: cknowl,
, edged to be so both by intidels and
+ Christians? John Milton, seeing more
.tho,,t eyes than anybody else ever saw
with ewes. Orthodox from scalp to heel:
Who was the greatest reformer the world
has ever seen, so acknowledged by inti
|, rlric CT If