Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1889-02-02
ISLANDERS ANSWERED.
n. TALMAGE REFuTEs THE FALSE
DOCTRINES or ANTl-cHRlsTANs.

miles Of Evangelism-The Plague of I'm
belief That IL Now Rampant In In.
World Doctrines Of tho sccts.
BROOKLYN. Jan. 27-Tho Rev DIR. +
Do Witt Taimages sermon this morning wa,
on ISLANDERS Against Religion Answered.
His text was: "And took the little booL
out Of the angels hand. and ate IL up; and /,
was In my mouth sweet rs honey; and a,
oon as ] had eaten Il my belly was bitter
And hc said unto me. Thou must prophecy
again before many peoples. and nations, and
tongues, and kingz"-Rev. I, 10, II. The
reverend gentleman said:
Domitian, tho Roman emperor. hail In his
realm troublesome evangelist who would
keep preaching, and 80 hc cxilcd him TO a
barren island, as now the Russians exile con-
vtcts TO Siberia, or rs sometimes tho English
government used 10 send prisoners TO Aus
eralia The island speak OF Is now called
PatEos, aud Is so barren and unpr0ductiyc
that It's inhabitants live by fishing.
But ono day tho evangelist OF whom
speak, sitting at the mouth Of q cavern ON tho
bill side. and perhaps half asleep under tho
dronc Of tho sra, has n supernatural dream,
and before him pass. rs In panorama, tino
and eternity. Among tho strange thingsthat
DO saw was an angel with a littlc book In his
hand, and In his dream tho evangelist asked
for this little book, and tho nngcl gave Il to
him. and told him 20 cat IL up. Asin dream
things arc sometimes incongruous, tho evan
CELLS. took tho little bool; and atc It up Tho
angel told him beforehand that IL would DO
very sweet in tho mouth, but aitcrward no
woSd I've troubled with Indigestion. Truc
enough, tho evangelist dcvours the book. and
Il becomes to liz a sweetness during the mas
tication. but aitcrward n physical bitterness
Who the angel was and what tho boo.; was
40 one cal tel. Tho commentators do not
agrcc, and | shall ta.:o no responsibility Of
interpretation, but viii tell sou that It Sug-
ycst, 10 INC the littlc book Of crccds which
i.;ep;ics ta!:S and chew up and flnl very
luscious rinrs.l 10 their witticis:n. but after
while IL |, to them great distress. Tho
angel Of tic church hartls out this little book
Of cvs.a ;clis.,. s.ll TIC antagonists OF ito
Christina c,;.rci ta.:c |. aad cut It up, and Il
ma.:cs t.ir n a.a!ic at first, but afterward IL II
70 ih"Iat .iss ,lyspc.Mia.
TIL: .:...AaoS.i WHY Ci::::.-:os Ag;: NECESSARY.
Ali ia:, .l-,:.t p,op!s have crectls-that Is,
favogiic i..rari,s which they Lave adopted.
Political crccis - taat is. theories about
tariff. abe. finance, about civil rvicc,
about i:ovc-n:acnt Social crccs.s-ihat Is,
theories about manners and customs and
good n-iyhboraood. Issthctical crcc,ls-that
s. theories about tapestry, about bric-a-brac,
about styles Of characterization Religious
:rceis-that Is, theories about the Deity,
about the soul, about tho Crcat future. Tho
only being who has no creed about anything
is the idiot. This soothing against crcctls Is
always q sign OF profound ignorance on tho
part Of tho scoiIcr, for hc has himself hun
ared crccds in regard TO other things In our
time tho beliefs Of cvan;clistic churches nrc
under fusilladc Of caricaturc and IN. repre-
scntation. Men sct up what they call ortho-
iox faith, and then they rako Il with
tho muskc;ry Of their dcnunciation. They
salsify what tho Christian churches be-
leve. They take evangelical doctrines and
set thcm In q harsh and repulsive way,
and put them out Of the association with
other truths. They are lilo mad anatomist,
who. desiring TO tell what man Is, dissects
human body and hangs up In one place the
neart. and in another place tho two lungs,
and In another place an ankle bone, and says
that is E,an. They ere only fragments Of q
man wrenched out Of their God-appointcd
places
Evangelical religion Is healthy, symmct-
rical, ell jointcd, roseate, bounding life, and
tho scalpcl and the dissccting knife Of tho In.
ldel or She atheist cannot tell you what II Is.
Evangelical religion Is rs different from what
Il Is represented TO 10 by these enemies as tho
scarecrow which farmer puts In tho corn.
Geld TO keep OF tho ravens Is different from
tho farmer himself.
For instance, these enemies OF evangelism
say that tho Presbyterian church believes
that God is a savage sovereign, and that he
IL s,,e$ 60 4 anAN
there arc infants In hell span long. These
old ISLANDERS como down from generation to
generation Tho Presbyterian church be-
licvcs no such thing. Tho Presbyterian
church believes that God Is q loving and just
sovereign, and that we arc FREQ agents. "No,
no! that cannot be" say these men who have
chewcd up tho creed and have the consequent
embittcrci stonaachS THAT Is impossible;
II God isa sovereign, wo can't DO free agents "
Why, my friends, wo admit this in every
other direction. !, Do Witt TalmaSc. an q
FREQ citizen OF Brooklyn. ] GO when please
and como when ! please. but l havo al
least four sovcrcigns. Tho church court
OF our denomination: that Is my
ecclesiastical sovereign. The mayor Of
this city: no Is my municipal sovereign
Tho governor OF New York; he is my
state sovereign. Tho president Of tho United
States; no Is my national sovereign. -Four
sovcrcigns have I. and yet in every faculty
Of body, mind and soul I am FREQ nan
So, you sec, Il Is possible that the two doc
trincs go side by side. and there Is common
sense way OF presenting IL, and there Is q
way that Is rcpulSlvc II you havo tho tw,
doctrines n worldly direction, why not IL
n religious dlrectioni II choose Tomorrow
morning 10 walk into tho Iercantil, library
and improve my nind, or 70 SO through thu
conservatory of my friead at Jamaica, wht
has flowers fro:i all lands CROWN; under tn
arches Of glass. and who has an aquarium al
asquirm with trout and gold fish, and Their
arc trees bearing oranges and bananas-if
want TO 60 there, | could. | am frc'
20 60. II want TO so over 20 lIobokc!
and Lap into furnace Of ali Gil factory, II
want 70 jump fro2i the platform Il tho lhila
dclphia express train, II want 20 leap froi:
Brooklyn bridge. ] may. Dut suppose
should go tomorrow and leap into tho fur
nacc at Iicbo.;cn, who would be 90 blanc
That u oil t..crc isabout sovereignty end fro
agency. God rules and rci:ns, end hc In
Conservatives and no has blast furnaces
you want TO walk In tho gardens, walk there
II you want 90 leap In tho furnaces you may
SOME MISCONCEPTIONS THAT FILL MEN
MINDS
Suppose now q man had q charmed Ike.
with which hc could open oil the jails, and h
should open Raymond Street Jail and ID
New York Tombs and oil tho prisons on th
continent In three wcc.;s what Wind OF
country would this bet all the inmates turnc'
out Of those prisons and pcniten;iaricS CUP
pocc oil tho rcprobateS, the bad spirits, ia
outrageous spirits, should DO turned into tli
New Jerusalem. Why, tho next mornin