St. Landry democrat., 1889-06-01

tiful is woman's when it is simply wo-
manly.-7he Baptist Teacher.
Non-Essentials and Essentials.
1t is customary with many people to
divide matters of religious faith and prac-
tice into essentials" anG mon essentials"
The essentials they insist upon, the non
essentials they treat of less account.
There are certain things which are es-
sential to human life; there are other
things which are non essential. To live.
a man must have lungs and heart and
stomach and spine; but he may live with
out fingers, hands or arms; toes, feet or
legs; tongue, eyes or ears. He will not
be much Of man when he has got rid of
all these mon essential parts of his body,
still he may live and be man-what there
is of him. So man may, perhaps, be
Christian, though destitute of many things
which are mon essential"
A watch cannot run without wheels,
spring and balance-these are essentials.
It may run without chain, a case or
hauds-these are non essentials. But what
IS the watch worth with these non essen
tials left out7 Many people seem to think
that anything which can be omitted from
Christian life without danger of damna-
ton is of comparatively little account,
whether the Lord has commanded it or
not Hence they take it upon themselves
to pronounce as to what is essential and
what is non essential, and so succeed in
confusing their minds and the minds of
many others CHs
But they often not only omit from their
religious systems things which God has
positively commanded, pronouncing them
non esse ntial, but they introduce things
which he has not commanded, and thereby
cause great confusion of faith and prac
tice. a watch case may be non essential,
but watch will not be worth much with
out it., because the case belongs to the
watch, and the maker of the watch de-
signed that the watch should have case.
A single nail in watch is Of course
mon. essential" The watch can 60 quite
as well without it, for the one who made
the watch never intended that single
nail should be driven through the middle
of the watch, or crowded in among the
wheels. 1t is foreign element, which
can only make trouble. So while people
are pronouncing this or that portion of the
Lords word nom essential, and are setting
it aside, they are at the same time intro
ducing the commandments of men, and
driving their nails into the delicate ma
eli in 4ry of the Church of God, thus de-
ranging, dislocating and destroying every
thing they come in contact with, BY laying
aside the Lords precepts and calling them
mon essential" at the same time contlnu-
ing to introduce the commandments OF
men, ordinances which God has not ap-
pointed. doctrines which he has not enun-
ciated. and creeds which he has never
given.
One writer speaks of the importance of
the creeds of ChristendoD, as revealing
! in brief forms "the sublimest expressions
of human thought" But what the people
of God need is not these expressions OF
human thought. They need the thoughts
of God, not in the words which mans Wis
dom teacheth, but in the words which
Holy Ghost useth." They need to seek,
not the latest expressions of modern opin-
ions. but the old paths, the good way, in
which they may walk and find rest te
their souls. :,
When once this work of adding to the
word of God, and legislating for the
church of Christ, and tinkerlng creeds
and enforcing confessions which God has
not imposed upon men, is begun, no maj
can tell where it will end. The. whole
history of ecclesiastical despotism, OF sec.
tartan strife and persecution, OF Papa
tyranny and infallibility, is built up, stone
by stone, upon this one foundation. Give
to any man or set of men the privilege OF
domineerlng over and legislatlng for I'M
people of God and the Church OF Christ
and you have sown the seed OF all ecclesl
| astieal tyranny, oppression and persecu'
tion. No matter how innocent these thing
may appear in their beginning the.
are usually introduced as mere matters o
expediency, as advisory" and not author
itative,--it is not long before the lust
power grows, ambition increases, ant
tyranny and oppression is the result.
The only safety for the church IS In re
sisting the beginnings Of eoI in taking
firm stand pom the Word of God and hold
ing fast the faith. just SO sure as men
even GOOD men, are allowed to commenc
this work of legislating and having con
troll of1he Church of Cktsst, they or other
will be quite likely to carry their inter
ference TO the bitter end. and the thing
which they now adult are non-essentia
will be the pery things on which theycwil
most strenuousrg insist As man VIII
steals loaf of bread in violation of tn
statute law will be prosecuted anG i'm
prisoned, because his crime affects the in
terests of men, while the same man ma
fill the air with blasphemy and curse
against God, and no man will interfere be
cause no mans pocket is touched; SO
man may disregard dozen precepts Q
Christ without criticism or penalty, but
he ventures to violate law, or disregar
custom imposed by human authority. b
will be promptly dealt with. censured
prosecuted and punished. And if he ven
lures to appeal to the Word OF God t
Justify him in his doings, he will be toll
that he is not to be judged BY the Wor
4 OF God, but by the rules and usages
that particular denomination whose nam
he bears He has voluntarily placed him
self under their control, and he is boun
to obey their commands or take the conse
The w-iter has actually sat and wit
| messed the expulsion from the FELLOWSHIP