The Red Cloud chief., 1891-06-26
CHURCH STRIFE.
d.. Talmage Discourses on the lat
tie Of CreedA.
The C-oetrovsrsAss BsA Things-Work More
Requisite Thsa strilss-rhe Relieio.
Of Christ Bettse Than Creed DE-
Putes-vorhing Together.

heQuhsiee 1haa Sertfeo-The Religioa
Of Christ Better Than Greed DE-
Putes-vorking Together.
In a sermon ut Brooklyn lately the
subject chosen by Rev. T. DeWitt Tai.
mage was "The Battle Of CreedA" His
text was from Proverbs xvi. IL: He
that passeth by and meddleth with
strife belonging MOI to him is like one
that taketh a dog by the ears" The
preacher said:
Solomon here deplores The habit Of
rushing in between c~ontestautA of tai.
ing part IN the antagonists Of otherA Of
joining in fights which they ought TO
shun- They do no good 70 others and
get damage to themselves He com
pares 1t to the experiment Of taking Q
dog by the cara Nothing 80 irritates
h CANNES u TO be clutched by the
Tugs Take them by the back of the
neck and lift them and il does not seem
to hurt or offend, but you take the dog
by the ea and he will take you
with his teeth. In all the history Of
kennels no intelligent or spirited dog
will stand that snow" says Solomon,
You go into q~uarrels or controversies
that are not yours and you will get
lscerated hnd torn and bitten. He
that passeth by and meddleth with
strife belonging not to him is like one
that taketh a dog by the ears"
This is a time of resounding e~cclesi-
astical quarrel Never within your
memory or mine has the air been so
full OF missiles The Presbyterian
church has on hand a controversy 50
great that 1t finds il prudent TO post
pone its settlement for at least one
more year, hoping that something will
turn up. Somebody may die or a new
general assembly may have grace TO
handle these exciting questions. The
Episcopal church mas cast out some re-
c~alcitrants, and its digestive organs are
taxed TO the utmost in trying TO assim-
ilate others "Shall women prcach?"
% be C as delegates to conference?"
are questions that have put many of
our Methodist brethren on the anxious
seat" And the waters in some Of the
great baptistries are troubled waters.
Because of the controversies through
out Christendom the air is now like an
August afternoon about 5o'clock, when
it has been steaming hot all day, and
clouds are gathering, and there are
lions of thunder with grumbling voices
and flashing eyes coming forth from
their cloudy lairs, and people are
waiting for the full burst of the tempest
] am not much of a weather prophet,
but the clouds look to me mostly like
wind clouds 1t may he a big blow,
but | hope il will soon be over. In re-
gard to the battle of the creeds I an
every day asked-what ! think about il.
Iwant 10 make 1t so plain this morning
what ] think that no one will ever ask
again. The most damaging thing on
earth is religious controversy. No one
ever comes ont of il as good a man as
:. goes in. Some of the ministers, in
all denominations, who, before the
present acerbity were good and kind
and useful, now seem almost swearing
mad. These brethren i notice
always open their violent meet
ings with prayer before devour-
INK toih tttst MUD saNlhH ZIG
before meat They have q moral
~hydrophobia hat makes us think they
nave taken a dog by the ears They
never read the i~mprecatory psalms of
David with such zest as since the
Briggs and Newton and MacQueary and
Bridgman and Brooks questions got in
to full swing. May the rams of the
sheepfold soon have their horns sawed
of. Before the controversies are settled.
n good many ministers will. through
what they call liberalism, Toe Landed in
TO practical infdelity, and Others
through what they call conservatism,
will shrink mp into bigots tight and
hard a. the mummies Of Egypt which
got through their controversies 5000
years ago.
This trouble throughout Christen-
dom. was directly inspired of Satan.
He saw that too much good was being
done. Recruits were being gathered by
hundreds of thousands To the gospel
standard. The victories for Co and
the truth were too near together. Too
many churches were being dedicated.
Too MANY ministers were being or
dained. Too MANY philinthropies were
being fostered- Too many souls were
being saved.
What amaZes me most Is that all peo-
pie do not see that the entire movement
at this time all over ~Christendom is
satanic. Many of the internal attacks
are sly and hidden and strategic and
40 ingenious that they are not easily
H. - = In - -
covered attempt of the powers of dark
ness e split up the churches, ~ get
ministers TO take each other by the
throat, TO make religion a laughing
stock If earth and hell. to leave the
Bible with no more respect or anthem
ticity than an old almanac of ls2a,
which told what would he the change
OF weather six months ahead and in
What quarter of the moon IL Is best to
plant turnips In a word. the effort is
to stop the evangelization OF the world.
1t seems to me very much like this:
There has been a railroad accident and
many are wounded and dying. There
are several drug stores near the scene
of casualty. All the doctors and drug
gists are needed and needed right away.
RandageS, st~imulantk an@sthcticS
medicines of all sorts What are the
doctors and druggists doing? Discus
sing the contents Of some old bottles
on the top shelf. bottles of medicine
which some doctors and druggists
mixed two hundred or three hum
bred years ago Come, doctors!'
Come druggists" cry the people, and
help these wounded and dying that are
being brought from beneath the tim
bers of the crushed rail train. In q lit
tie while il will be too late. Come, for
Gods sake! Come right away" NO"
saws a doctor. no until we have set
tied whether the medicine on that top
shelf was rightly mixed l say there
were too many drops of laudanum in
il and this other man saws there are too
many drops of campfire, and we must
get this question settled before we can
attend TO the railroad accident" And
-one doctor takes another doctor by the
collar and pushes him back against the
couuter and one of the druCpiStS SAWS.