The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-10-27

solAsh pursuits. That noble enthusiasm
for humanity which lands men and women
10 gracious ministries Of marcy cannot
spring mp In Q nature given to dupltcity.
These pure and spiritual excsllsncts. OF
religion can thrive only In the atmosphere
Of perfsct sincerity n simplicity. a man
trying TO b. one thing TO himself and an
othsr thing before this public; one who with
holds his honest conviction from fear OF loss
Of position Or popularity, or n who uses
conventional phrases to keep his place
whoa they do not represent his real belief
these men cannot reach a religious life OF
n grace or sweetness. So We may say
that sincerity II an atmosphere indispcns-
able for growth In religion: to live IN the
spirit We must be true TO the spirit; TO live
for God and man we mist DO loyal to what
God gives US for the good Of man. We
must begin by being sincere, for only
path OF life.
And what / would insist upon in this
connection il the important fact that our
moral and spiritual nature ~ a unit. We
cannot divide ourselves into compartments,
while We can reap the fruits Of godliness
In the others. II We SOW thistles anywhere
In our nature we shall not be able to gather
grapes from that planting somewhere else,
and tho thistles will not stay where they
were first put; they will overrun the whole
field Of life. Whoever pays little regard to
il not likely to be very s%crupulous in his
dealings ON the market. II a man stands
mp in church and recites with apparent APP
prevail q creed which he does not believe,
We need not expect him to have any very
keen sense Of obligation respecting the
Il Is inevitable that insincerity in
religion will spread as a deadly
disease through ones whole moral
life. II q person merely acts q part at the
altar of his God when engaged In the most
solemn Offices, surely VIZ may be certain
that he will mix much pretense in his con-
duct among mortals.
Now, if these principles are true, 1t is
self-evident that there are very many
things among the practices of religion to-
day, which are deserving of our severest
condemnation. An illustration will make
plain what mean: A lady in Boston re-
euished clergymen in that city-a Trini-
tartan Congreoationalist-and made known
her religious position. She did not believe
certain dogmas, long considered essen
tial in the creed of his church and
still retained in i, 80 far as
cided opposition to them, but she had found
help in his preaching, and she expressed
y desire to join the church, provided she
could do 30 without pretending to believe
those dogmas. In a hearty manner the
minister assured her that these doRmas
were a dead l%ettsr-kept in the church only
self did not believe them; that she need not
pretend to believe them, while he appointed
4 day when he would DO glad to welcome
her to the membership Of his church. But
when the day came, to her great astonish-
ment, she, with Others, was asked TO stand
while that very creed was publicly read,
with the understanding that she and the
others believed it all! Well might
she be indignant, and charge this min
lister with most r~eprehensible lnsincerity!
Here WAS a man, protesting to be a servant
Of God, engaged in preaching the gospel,
who publicly read as a description of sav-
ing faith = creed, fundamental parts of
which he had in private confessed that he
did not believe; and not only was he will
ing to act a lie, he was willing that this
come into the church as a partici-
pant in his lie, and begin her public re-
ligious life by the most poisonous act of
practical atheism! Had be never heard
ity and that the gospel is truth! These are
the things which make us feel that judy
ment must begin at the house of God; and
that the time is not far distant.
l do not wish to speak harshly of the pull
pit; l would not imply that ministers as a
rule are insincere; bnt / see otherwise noble
men doing astonishing things IN religion;
preaching ono doctrine in the pulpit while
having another doctrine taught in the
Sunday school; living in their studies on
Darwin, Martineau and Emerson but SON.
tradicting them in their public teaching;
using old phrases in a new sense to tickle
the ear at once of conservative and radical;
svaporating the creed into a vague fog that
blinds and paralyzes. satisfactory because
SO dim. This is tampering with veracity,
and whoever Hampers with veraoity destroys
the vital force of civilization.
Attempt is made to justify what l have
been condemning by holding that it is
are not ready for advanced ideas. But
when will the people be ready il the clergy
deal in half-truths and allow tradition to
hold the Sunday school in bondage? The
people are ready for the best truth the min
lister can give, regardless of the creed.
There is no such thing as teaching new
ideas by degrees. You do not teach a boy
that two and two are FIVE in order to pre-
pare him for learning that two and two are
four. Teaching that every word in the
Bible is inspired docs not prepare people
for the results of modern scholarship;
teaching that heaven 10 reached by belief
IN Jesus righteousness does not prepare
people for the sublime conviction that
heaven IL the outcome of our own growth
in righteousness. God gives truth, not to
be dealt out in fragments. but to be passed
on to others in all its majestic entirety.
Do we want q truer science. a nobler
home. a more efficient school, a iuster mar
ket. a purer state, a diviner church? Then
we must make sure of the essential prepa-
ration; We must be sincere in religion. We
must use our influence to publish the high
est truth found and spread the use of
reason in religion; we must see to it that
our children are carefully taught what We
have found to be the noblsst and most use
full doctrines. for it 10 rs wicked to load a
young heart with superstition as to expose
a child to evil companions; and we must
use our whole influence I'M rational and
manly fashion for the things of the spirit
that have been our joy and our emanoipa-
ton. And to the d%ecalogue we must add
this commandment: No salvation without
sincerity.
Buckien's Arnica Salve.
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