St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-02-25
SUNDAY IN SALTWATER.
Rev. SCHNEIDER Defends the Principles
Of Robert Elsmere.
PRAISE FOR IT'S AUTHORIZES.
Bluff City Sundries---A Sunday Wedding
and Acknowledgement
Notes. -

MIS-. w ara was dCCuaCeU ny lile NISueSb
motives. and that the orthodox minis
tiers who condemned her on purely
dogmatical grounds were cumberers of
Christian earth. Proceeding, he said.
"Mrs. Wards book is more than a
charming fiction; it is the spiritual
autobiography of human life, wherein
are clearly traced the Mental struggles
of its author. Opinions differ as to the
truth of the teachings of the book, but
the story truly represents the expert
ence of some people. Robert Elsmere
began life as all orthodox Christian.
When he examined the historical evil
dence of Christianity he found no
sufficient support of the leading ideas
of orthodoxy. He was at first bewild-
he settled down to faithful serv-
ice for God and man. Jesus,
the saint of Nazareth, more
than made good his loss of wonder
working Christ. From Him he learned
the duty of doing good. Instead Of
continuing perfunctOry service in an
institution in which he had no faith, he
resigned his position like an honest
man, and on an independent basis de-
voted himself to work among the labor
ing classes of great city, and rendered
more tolerable the conditions amidWhich
they lived. For this fidelity to his con-
victiOns he is called weakling, because
he ceased to be orthodox, and held up
as hereto whose influence endangers
the souls of men. This royal soul. to
whom God was a tender father. and
who saw in Jesus an elder brother en-
lowed with deepest love and tenderest
sympathy. is denounced and ridiculed
and ostracized by Christian ~ minis
ter for the crime OF not being orthodox!
Such men are cumbererS of the Chris
tan soil.
Truth and Righteousness, more than
dogma, are engaging the modern world.
Intellectually speaking, Robert Els
mere" is an earnest plea for rational
belief as against a traditional. and
vigorous protest against the habit of
perpetual perjury in the sanctuary of
God ON the part of those ministers who
keep up a miserable pretense of belief
from which the reality has forever
fed" Squire Wendoyer and a few
others may not care about the parsons
opinions $50 long as he performs all the
antics .decently," but honest men and
women do care. Nowhere as much as
in the pulpit Go the people want truth
full men-nOt liars against God and
themselves. Whatever else we may not
have, let US insist OIL hearing an honest
voice from behind the Christian pulpit.
Mrs. Wards book is a protest against
religiously living lie, and an appeal to
men TO be truthful in word and life.
MIR. Gladstone shows us the practical
side of this book: 1t is Impossible to
conceive more religious life than Els
mere's, in his sense of the word re-
ligion. And that sense Is far above
the sense in which religion is held, or
practically applied, by great mnltitudes
of Christians" When he was brought
face to face with the real problem of
poverty on the sources estate; when
he found people living in novels, on
mud floors, where there was no drain
age, with diphtheria, fever and rheuma-
tism making their lives altogether hor-
rible. did he pass them by on the other
side? He. labored with the squire until
repairs were made, and personally SUI
perintended the sick. He was a prac-
tical Christian, like his Master Of
Nazareth; and each year he worked
harder than before in administering unto
those who suffered the pangs of poverty
and disease. 'Fhis angel of mercy a
and warned against 10y prOfessed Minis
tiers of Jesus Christ!
Robert Elsmere believed profoundly
in God. The symbol of his faith: "In
Thee, o Lord, have [ put my faith"
Jesus was his teacher. the symbol of
all things heavenly and abiding, the
image and pledge of the invisible life
of the Spirit" Without any miracles
bearing testimony. he yet saw the Di-
vine Sonship in all souls, and heard the
voice of God speaking truth and love
that shall be unto all people. The life
of his reconceived Christ ShOne into his
soul with larger significance than ever
before, and by that light he went about
on missions of mercy and love such as
have attracted and will forever hold the
admiration and attachment of world
to the sweet Saint of Galilee.
No more beautiful testimony to the
divine influence of a helpful life is
found in all the range of literature than
that of the man who, as he lay dying
from the effects of a terrible accident,
said to Robert: II cared for nothing
me. I've seen Hmm YOU" So, also,
is it recorded of Jesus that he shows us
the Father, And the minister who will
pass these things by in his discourse,
and dwell Oh the life of an impure
woman for an occasion to compromise
the character of good man, needs to
hide his face for shame and pray to be
baptized with the spirit of cleanliness.
Church creedS are only collections of
statements some of the propositions
trne. others untrue. They do not con-
slitute true conception of religion.
Religion is the life of man touching the
life Of God in obedience to His law of
love and tauth. Schemes of revealed
religion" are ficti0ns of mans Gre
dulity. The true support of faith is
found in proper apprehension of hui
man history. as an unbrOken chain OF
cause and effect, wherein the welfare
of individuals and the race is cOntin-
gent upon obedience to the immut-~
able aud righteous law of God.
lief that Jesus performed miracles, Or
rose from the dead; but it flows forth
from those souls who recognize in Jesus
as a lover of men the ideal of a true
manhood. Robert Elsmere may have
been mistaken in some of his opinions,
but Jesus was the inspiration of his
life, and his character and conduct is
above reproach. He labOred to win
souls to the beauty of holiness, ito
sweetness of faith, to noble striving and
pure living" And at last his tender,
but persistent devotion. compelled even
Catherine, the embodiment Of the very
narrowest orthodoxy, to see that he was
doing such work for God and men as
would make angels weep for joy" 1t
dawned upon her at last that the work
her husband was doing is just the kind
of work that Jesus tried to get done in
the world.
Read this notable book. 1t is we'll
drawn mental picture of the vital tram
sition through which Christianity is to-
day passing. It teaches Jesus; not as
priest or king, but as affectionate
brother. faithful friend, good citizen,
loyal subject of the kingdom of God.