St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-11-24
Some Of the Horrible Visions
Conjured Up by It's Ut
tepance.
Crimes That Have Been Com
mitted in the Name Of
Christianity.
The "Zeit GeiSt" of Goethe the
Harbinger Of the New
Era.

SiSSdGiOn dI the GTanu opera mouse.
Shall We Abolish the Word Hell?''
was his theme, and the text was: For
whatsoever a man soweth that shall he
also reap" Taking this as a basis he
reviewed the common sentiment of
mankind that there must be punish
ment for sin. He claimed that future
punishment must net be COMPOUNDED
with endless punishment, and that we
had passed the time when intelligent
men should be asked to believe in pagan
ideas of hell, claiming also that the
word had meaning in the minds of av-
erage people that was entirely miSlead-.
ing II used by q man of progressive
ideas. II think" he said, that the
word should be abandoned, not be-
cause L disbelieve in the punish
ment OF wrong, but because 1
believe that specific. pictorial
meaning has attached to the word by
long usage, born III ages OF darkness
we use the term these pictorial images
!. rise 1.-the mind of the average nearer
and render the word useless while we
have punishment, consequence, retribu-
ton and kindred terms at our COM
mand."
Ideas of material hell were spoken
of as born when knowledge of the uni
verse was so crude that men must guess
about its structure.
The whole theory was built on the
erroneous idea that this world was the
center OF the universe and was fiat;
that beneath WIS q great cavern where
the dead were gathered for physical
punishment. Error, therefore, made
the Persian believe that in a distant
valley was great bridge, below which
was the mouth of fiery pit, and that
the wicked. cast into this place, sank
into the flames of hell. Error prompted
the Icelander to make a hell
where men would freeze in blowing
storms. be left in great oceans uII-
clothed, on cakes of ice. without food.
be storm tossed and driven against
rocks, yet ever reviving, and never able
to die. This frigid ocean, too, was in
the center of the earth. an idea impossi-
bic to believe at tile present. Error of
the same kind invaded the Christian
church and has never lost its hold there.
IeEtullian, an able father of the church,
declared that "the damned burn eter-
nally without consuming, as the vol
canoes, which are the vents from the
stored Subterraueal fire of hell, burn
forever without wasting" And, strange
as 1t may seem, the church has developed
d literature OF horrible description that
is not surpassed in the complete range
OF pagan production. And. strange as it
may seem, too, this literature is passing
out OF sight at the present time. the de-
velopment of education and general in
telligepee, having to all appearances,
given tia death blow" a..
The Spirit of the Age--f -,
the ''Zeit Geist'' of Goethe and Matthew
ArnOld-waS spoken Of as being the
harbinger of new era.
MANY OF the religious ideas still re-
main with US, while the spirit of the
time they represent in all other essen
tails has changed. A little while ago a
beautiful girl was accused of being in
league with the devil She was ar
raigned before learned judges, able
counsel ergued against her. the clergy
man OF the town, graduate of Cam
bridge university, testified that he had
seen every evidence that she had will
ingly sold her soul to Satan. She was
condemned and thrown into swift
Streami i'll the evening dusk, and men
looked on to hear her cries mingle with
the rush of the waters, and see her sink
to death without friend! What would
you think OF Judge GiltiIlan or Judge
Collins for being party to such thing
now? Is 1t possible to suppose such Il
case? Think now of Your sister or
daughter, girl eighteen years of age,
fair as rose, pure as dewdrop.
ordered to execution for breathing
word against tyrant Iuler. She sees
great leather sack brought in, and in it
are placed half dozen large fierce cats.
She realizes that she must be placed in
that receptacle. with the animals Stung
to frenzy by lack of air and the dark
neSs--that they are to be her execution
erS! Would itnot be impossible to ell
act such a scene at the present day?
Victor Hugo tells of young man who
was condemned through the influence
of the clergy but century ago. He was
arrested for singing song of liberty.
He was condemned as dangerous man
because he claimed the right to think,
the right to sing of liberty. He was
fastened to the rack. The machine was
whirleda around until he was uncun-
SciouS; then he was restored and rested.
Then came man with an iron bar who
struck terrific blow that shattered Il
limb above the knee. He tainted away,
but was restored and rested! Another
! blow with like result! Hours of faint
| ing and agony before the final blow fin
isbed him. Judges, lawyers, state Off
GERS and ciergvInen stood by; wise
gray-haired men who called themselves
Christians. Their victim was eighteen
years of age. And if it is impossible to
do such things to-day it is because the
time-spirit has touched our century,
and the time-spirit is the spirit of God
working in humanity. and it has
brought INTO our. age respect for
human rights and a sense of human
sympathy that has revoluti6niZed ideas
and made Older habits of thought use
less; and if the evangelical Christianity
expects TO keep pace with conditions it
must have God vino is as humane as
the age, else the age will refuse 10
worship, and find in literature and
music a substitute for the service of the
| church,
Death-bed repentance was spoken of
as follows:
"a young man in San Francisco first
ruined all innocent, motherleSS girl, and
| then asked her to meet him in desert.
| ed part of the city where he strangied
her. He was arrested, convicted and
| sentenced. His lawyer moved heaven
| and earth to get q new trial, but failed.
| He then made most earnest effort to
! get reprieve, and again failed With
| the galiows staring him in the face, the
| young man sent for q preacher and eX-
perlenced religion. He was hanged,
! and on the gallows, at the close of full
| some speech on his experience, declared
| lndb III Z WAS only SOrry tlaI the girl,
ruined by his influence, and dead by
his hand, was in he'll and would never
find relief! And many theologians can
not get beyond this, nor in any way
deny it,. A great man once led this ma
| ton through struggle for life that was
never equaled in the worlds history.
He was gentle as child. He welcomed
the poor girl coming to ask the life of
her brother, who. sick and hOmesick,
had deserted the army, and lie gave
her brothers life to her. He listened
to the heartbeat of the people,
he never betrayed their trust. When
he died nation mourned. Well, one
| nlght this strong man sat in the box of