West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1889-02-07
ISLANDERS REFUTED.
REV. DIR. TALMAoE REPLIES
To the Enemies of Eyangelism.-The
Little Book of Creeds,

TExTi "And I took the tatIe book out OF
tAe oHgefS hand, and ate % an. and Il tUds
tR my mouth ssoeet rs honev: and as soon
1S ihod eaten q mu belly tcds bitter. Ind
ne said unto me. Thou must proDhesy
ogu,n oeJors many peoples, and nations,
~no tongues, and kfngS"-Rev. T.. 10-ll.
pomitien, the Roman Emperor. had in his
ne Vrouole3ome evangelist who would
keep preaching, and SO he exiled him 10 a
barren Island. as now the Russians exile con-
Nicts 20 siberia, or es sometimes the 4 a1lish
Government used 20 send prisoners TO Aus
pala. ihe island I speak of is now called
fatmos, and Is so barren and unproductiv
That its inhabitants live by fishing.
but one day the evangelist of whom ]
speak, sitting at the mouth Of a cavern ON
.ne hillside, and perhaps half asleep under
~ urone OF the sea, has a supernatural
time and eternity. Among the STRANGE
uuues snot NO saw was an angel with n
little book In his hand, and In his
1rean the evangelist asked for
to him. and tod him TO eat r. mn.
AS In a dream things are sometimes in
congruous, the evangelist took the little book
ana ate 1t up The angel told him before
nanu That IL would be very sweet in the
mouth, but afterward he would be troubled
with indigestion. True enough, the ~evangel-
ISL deVours the book, and il becomes to him a
sweetness during the mastication. but after.
ward n physical bitterness
VINO the angel was and what the book was
no one can tell The commentators do not
agree, and / shall take no responsibility of
Interpretation, but will tell you that
~ suggests TO me the little book
OF creeds which skeptics take and chew
W n md a very luscious morsel
70 their witticism. but after a while il is TO
them a great distress. The angel OF the
church hands out this little uook OF evaneel-
ISM, anu the antagonists OF the Christian
Shurch take 1t and eat IL up, and it makes
mem smile at first, but afterward 1t is to
1nem a DIRE dyspepsia
All intelligent people have creeds-that Is,
Iayorlte theories which they have adopted.
rohtlcal cre0ds-that Is theories about tariff.
aoout nance, about civil service, about
spSeInment Social creeds-that is, theories
ABOUT manners and customs and good neigh.
Dornood. Rsthetical creeds-that is theories
aooue tapestry, about brac, about
ssyieS OF ornamentation- Religious creeds-
enaS Is, theories about the Deity, about the
soul, about the great future. The only being
who has no creed about ANYTHING ia the
Inlot- Ihis ScoHing against creeds Is always
a sign OF profound Ignorance on the
part OF the ~scoffer, for he has
nlmseit a hundred creeds in regard to other
Things In our time the beliefs OF evangelis-
tc churches are under a fusilade of carics-
lure and misrepresentation. Men set up
what they call orthodox faith, and they rake
u with the musketry OF their denunciation.
10y Aohoh1 what the CHRISTIAN churches be-
heVe. they take evangelical doctrines and
set them In a harsh and repuisive way, and
put them out of the association with other
truths. They are like a mad anatomist. who.
desiring TO tell whaSa man is, dissects a hui
man body and hangs up in one place the
heart, and in another place the two lungs.
ana In another place an ankle bone, and says
that Is a man. They are only fragments of
places.
EUnnOalfOal .-Ig-4-- -
car, Weii-Jointed, roseate, bounding life, and
sRe scalpel and the dissecting knife OF the i'm
mel or the atheist cannot tell you what IL Is.
evangelical religion is as different from
Mnat IL Is represented to DO by these enemies
as the scarecrow which a farmer puts in the
cornheld to keep or the ravens is different
from the farmer himself.
for instance, these enemies OF evangelism
say that the Presbyterian Church believes
mat Goa Is a savage Sovereign, and that He
there are infants in hell a spar long. These
oid SANDERS Come down from generation to
generation. The Presbyterian Church be-
neVes no such thing. The Presbyterian
SSnurcn believes that God is a loving and just
sovereign, and that we are free agents
mo, no; that cannot be" say these men who
nave chewed up the creed and have the con-
sequent embittered stomach. That is impos-
siole; II God is a Sovereign, we can't be free
agents." Why, my friends. we admit his
IN every other direction. /. De witt Tai
mage, am a free citizen Of Brooklyn. I 60
when 4 please and l come when I please bnt
4 have at least four sovereigns. The Church
court or our denomination: that is my
sScleAiastica' sovereign The mayor of this
city; he is my municipal sovereign. The
governor or New York; he is my State
sovereign. II President OF the United
states he Is my national sovereign. -Four
sovereigns have l. and yet in every faculty
OF body, mind and soul ] am a free man. So
You see, it Is possible that the two doctrines
go side by side. and there is a common sense
way Of. presenting IL, and there Is a way that
ID repulsive. il you have the two doctrines i'm
q worldly direction, whynot in a religious d.
recsion II l choose tomorrow morning to
walk into the Mercantile Library and inn.
prove my mind, or TO 90 through
the conservatory OF my friend at Ia
maica, who las flowers from all lands
growing under the arches OF glass, and who
has an aquarium all asquirm with front and
gold fish. and there are trees hearing
oranges n bananas-if l want TO 20 there,
could. am free to 20. IL l want to 20
over 70 Hoboken and leap into n furnace ~
an OIL factory, IN / want TO 5ump from tho
platform OF the Philadelphia express train
want 70 leap from the BrOogfyn BRIDGE
! may. But suppose 1 should go tomorrow
and leap into the furnace at Hoboken q
would be 10 blame That Is ali there iS
aoout sovereignty and free agency. Col
rules ana reigns, and He has opEervatorte -
and ne has blast furnaces III you want to
walk In The gardens. walk there m Won
Want 70 ieap IN the furnaces, you NAV.
suppose now n man had n charmed kev
Tith which he could open al the iai's and
ne shonid open Raymond Street Jal and the
We" 1ork Tombs aud all the prisons ON the
continent In three weeks waat kind OF n
country would this bei all the inmates
turnei out OF thoss prisons AMI p-enitentiar.
e@ suppose all the r~eprobats. the Lad
spirtss the outrageous spirits. shouId be
turned into the New Jerusalem. Why. the
next morning the gates Of pearl would be
iOunl OF hinge, the hnchpin would be zone
out or the char OF wheels. the shouss
or many mansions would be burr.
iarizei. Assault and battery. arso6.
hDertlnism and assassination would
reside iu tho capital Of the skies. ANGELS ol
God would be hisuitsl on the streets. Heaven
would b n dead failure 81 thero were mo
treat lookup. II all people without regard
20 their character when theyleaye this world
90 right INTO glory-l wonder II in the
temple 81 the skies Charles Guitaau and
John Wilkes Rooth occupy the same rev
our common sense demands two dogtfnicsl
And then az 70 the Presbyterian Church be.
lovinR there are Infants in perdition. IN vor
viii brinz me q Presbyterian Of good morale
and sound min who viii say that be believe.
there ever was a baby Ia tho iost world. Oh
ever viii BE-, 7 viii make him n deed 10 th.
house live in and be can take possession
tomorrow.
- The Ep~iscopalian Church is misrepre.
mnpd ~ TIE enemies n evangelism. They
say That church suhst tutes forms and oere.
none. for heart religion. aud &c S. al a mat