Telegram-herald., 1891-09-21
TREND or RELIGIONS
B. y. Underwood Gives His Con-
illusions Concsrning it.
MINISTER'S CLASSED As PARASITES
Ths Bssis Csnsidsrea simply - N An
e,ens nsstoSy-Ne kmeaey IN Prsyss
The Church chsaEisg its Tse-
sios-Mssisssrtai Bypserisy.

0uSa tsls tot0tihk VS. >>sss~>> ~ Ns~'
he stepped to the front Of the stage and
said: Ladies' and gentlemen. the
subject of my talk this evening wilt be
'The Tendency and Friend Of Religious.
Thought" humboldt declared that
all religions have three things IN
common. their geologic origin, their
historic period, and their theoresic
phases. This 10 true OF all religions.
Al religions have two elements, the
universal aud special. The universal
a found ia the Mormon religion, the
Mohancdan. the Buddhist, ETC.. and
the special element Of these religions
IS the object Of their admiration. They
have something gdistlnctiye. Christlanity
has the moral element. or the prccepts
Of Buddhi. The only difference 10 that
Christianity teaches remuneration and
love and Buddhism teaches love and
remuneration. Our knowledge Is not
sufficient to understand all the work
ipgs of nature. 1t would be impossible
TO 20 into minute description OF the
nature of Jesus Christ. His early sur
roundings we've different than those OF
any other man.
Causes OF AupernaturAI rover.
It would be as impossible to describe
the early surroundings and character
of Shakespeare as Of Jesus Of Nazareth.
If We understood the Circumstance,
surrounding the time previous " the
birth of the great Nazarine reformer
We might see the reasons for his birth in
obscurity. 1t 10 one OF the character
istics Of human nature to look for the
causes Of supernatural power. Jheoi-
ogy always intrenches itself in igno-
rauce. Every preacher 10 . parasite.
He D reaches that which he does not
know. The man who teaches the doc
trines found in the Bible teaches that
which has been handed down for CEN
turies. Ministers are good citizens and
good neighbors but they canfer no
benefit on mankind by their teachings.
respect the clergy outside OF their
theological teaching. Ministers
used TO claim that they were
called TO preach the gospel. but now
people regard such proposition as
preposterous. Why should ministers
be given reduced rates n the railroads,
or buy clothing at . reduction any more
than laborer? The minister has al
ways been regarded as a sacred person,
one called by God 10 preach his word.
There is . tendency on the part OF the
clergy to absorb modern ideas and 10
become secular in their teachings.
Price OF Intellectual Death.
"The time WAS when you could not
talk with q preacher three minutes be-
fore he would begin to preach sermon
on the souls welfare. Nowadays he
-, al, 81 tsf nj alrt.IlrfS
and he hardly ever mentions religion IN
his social talk. The old teaching was
that Christ died to atone for all our
sins. They used to say that He drank
damnation dry. / wondered why there
was so much damnation In the world If
He drank damnation dry. In con-
versation with ministers now l find
that they claim Christ was . good
moral teacher of great ability,
that they do not teach
that Christ came into the
world to satisfy sin. The mass OF the
people who have creeds have subscribed
to those that were written centuries be-
fore thev were born. They take those
of some one else. They do not investi-
gate for themselves but accept creeds
as they are gwen to them. Intellectual
peace is the price of intellectual death.
The story of the fall of man is contrary
to the teachings of science. Science
teaches progression. We find the the
ory OF Darwin and progression meeting
with the acceptance OF the church.
The fall Of man has been up instead of
down. Man could not ain before he
had conception of right and wrong.
The imperfections of our parents are
inherited by us. Science does not
teach that child is the embodiment of
purity. He has concentrated in his
mind all the imperfections OF his fore
fathers. When child is born his
mind is like sheet Of paper written on
by his ancestors but the writing is in
visible and needs circumstances to de-
velop 1t.
The Personal Devil Doctrine.
The doctrine of personal devil is
set forth in the Bible but the
clergy now do not believe such thing.
They say that the word devil is used to
represent the evil tendency of man.
kind. A different view oil the represen-
taton of heaven and hell 10 taken by
the church than is represented IN the
Bible. When We come 10 contemplate
ing OF hell is gong into dlsuse. A few
ministers preached that the Johnstown
flood was sent by God to show his
power. These ministers were reprl-
manded by the press and by tho the
thinking clergy. Most ministers do
their thinking by proxy, the accept
everything IN the Bible as true without
investigating for themselves. TINS kind
of thought mas no power. The Bible
assures us that prayers viii be answer
ed. Sometimes q governor will deslg-
nate a day for the people Of his state
To- pray for q certain thing. They have
prayed for the destruction of the grass
noppers in the infested states
and finally when their wings
were grown cut they would
fly away. The people would attribute
their disappearance to the power OF
prayer.
Mintsssssss Hypeerssy.
Ministers will dedicate . church 70
God hut will not protest agsinss light
ning rod belng put upon Il 10 keep II
from being destroyed. Some portions
OF the bible may be inspired but there
are some portions thai are decidedly
nnlnspired. A truth needs no insprs-
tlon. some tree thinkers ssy the shie
Is pack Of lies. vii not say Ne much
ss thai. IL 10 I've literature of the
nssiens of antiquity and should - pre-
served. The winters sere ancient
authors of truth and romance.
The bible y ssluatae only - 4 gives ne
tbe true condition. OF antiquity. Ssnas
Of she commands Of the Risis sheuia
rot be os<yed. - the klilsnx of womsn
and efiiafea. The church ncs aees
nes olasH thss The earth w&s made