Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-08-31


Bile. Can any sane man maintain and de-
fend a doctrine which he believes and con-
feSses to be horrible? Many an accuSa-
ton has been brought against John Calvin,
but never has any one charged him with
lack of brains. | insist, therefore, that he
could not really have said what he Is
charged with saying The word horrible
both in classic and in ecclesiastical Latin
has two senses, one being horrible, the other
oufitl. 1t seems only reasonable to hold
that the great Reformer used the word in
the latter. Reprobation is, indeed, awful,
but if it be doctrine of Gods Word, it is
not horrible, and the same may be said Of
the endlessness Of future punishment.
Moreover, Calvin was pious man, as |
think everybody admits. Could a devout
man attribute to the Most Holy God de-
cree which he believes TO be deserving of
adherence? Surely this question admits
of but one answer. AS to DIR. Schafi's re-
peated coupling of reprobation and preteri-
tion as il they were one and the same
thing, this only shows that a man can be
an extremely clever Church historian
without being either theologian or
logician. But his translation of horrible
seems to me senseless aud impossible, al
though the blunder has been perpetraied
for generations by the ignobile pecas of Ar
minian sectaries.' The igaobilc peeuS of
Arminian sectaries' is hardly fattering
language"
This sketch of a young preacher is from
the Methodist Regiec' "Getting a hint
somewhere, the young preacher resolved
to give up the getting up of sermons. He
resolved to master subjects and let sermons
grow. 1t is wonderful how the idea took
hold of him. He began TO work on one
great doctrine or department of theology
as if he had suddenly become specialist
on it and must prepare course of lectures
or write book on it. He took up, for ex-
ample, The Incarnation What idea does
the word convey? What do think when
that word is spoken or my eyes see 1t?
What is the Christian doctrine of the In
carnation? The history of it; the Bibli-
cal statements concerning it; the real rela-
ton of it to the mission of Christ; the
views of the various schools of theological
thought concerning it; how did Augustine
speak of it? And Luther? And Calvin ?
And Hodge and Whedon? What ideas do
my people have when the word 'Incarna-
tion' is pronounced? Can it be that they
have no definite conception Of it? Let me
find out. Thus he goes on, day after day,
using all the books to which he has access;
conversing with all the thinkers he meets ;
the old Presbyterian theological professor
who is laid on the shelf; his young, schol-
arly and travelled fellow-pastor; that
thoughtful old Swedenborgian, DIR. -, who
| is laughed at as 'transcendentalist; Mr..
-, the public school teacher, who is an
agnostic-a man who is sure that nobody
can know this, that or the other, thus as
suming his own omniscience to start with
Miss -, who is sort of amateur philos-
| opher, and so on. He reads and thinks,
and converses and discusses, and gets all
! on fire with the one subject. But where
are the sermons for next Sunday !?
| He asked himself that a score of times,
aud kept working away on his subject
Before Saturday morning came he had in
cidentally found ten or fifteen texts on
which he intends some time to PREACH
On sip of paper he had put down eight
distinct topics that he hopes some day to
take up He had list of twenty ques-
| tious bearing on his subject which he is
sure somebody will ask. Here are five
serious objections which must be answered.
! These texts, topics, questions and objec-
tions are not all Immediately connected
with The ruling subject of his weeks study,
but they are collateral or are suggested by
this study He could not in five hours
discuss all the lines opened up by his re-
searches of the week. He is embarrassed
| by the wealth of thought that comes to
him. And out of this radical work there
grew two vigorous, practical, earnest
talks for the Sunday. And they are so
full of vigor and dash, and come out so
like the stream of the faucet, that people
involuntarily think of the great reservoir
among the distant hills-all the water of
which they cannot drink, but the pressure
of which fills full with sparkle and fresh
ness the goblet which they draw. On
this plan our young minister will study
with some degree of carefulness about six
or eight great subjects year. And he
will grow sermons by the score and hum
dred. In fact, he is full of sermons. And
his sermons are full And such fullness
gives force. Happy the people whose
pastor, having common sense, tact, sym
pathy and the abundant grace of God, is
regular studen. of 'stupendous themes,
and who, out of what he is and knows,
grows sermons for the comfort and edifica-
tion of the peoplel"