Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1891-06-15
THE BATTLE OF CREEDS,
DR.. TALMAce GIVES A LIVELY SKETCH
or THE HERESY HUNT.

No One ks Bettered by IT,
BROOKLYN, June IA. DR. Talmage
dealt in his sermon this morning with
the very timely topic, ''The Battle OF
Creeds After so long and exhaustive
a discussion In clerical circles and in
the secular press. there seemed nothing
more to be said OH the subject DR.
Talmage. however. has bis own way Of
looking at all subjects. and even peo
pie who thought they knew all that
could be said on both sides received
light from the fresh and original con
tribution which he made TO the contro
versy. His text was taken from Prov
erbs xvi. II, "He that passeth Sy afg4
meddleth with strife belonging not to
him is like one that taketh dog by
the ears
Solomon here deplores the habit of
rushing in between contestants OF TAX
ing part in the antagonisms of Others.
of joining in fights which they ought to
shun. They do no good to Others and
get damage for themselves He com
pares II to the experiment of taking a
dog by the ears Nothing so irritates
the CANNES as TO be clutehed by the
lugs Take them by the back of the
neck and lift them and it does not seem
to hurt or offend but you take the dog
by the ear and he viii take you with
his teeth. In all tie history of ken
nels no intelligent or spirited dog will
stand that Now" says Solomon,
''you go into quarrels or controversies
that are not yours and you will get lac
Grated and torn and bitten. He that
passeth by and meddleth with strife be
longing not to him is like one that
taketh dog by the ears. ,"
This is a time of resounding ecclesi-
astical quarrel Never within your
memory OF mine has the air been so
full OF missiles. The Presbyterian
church has on hand o controversy so
great that it finds 1t prudent to post.
pone its settlement for at least one
more year, hoping that something will
turn up. Somebody might die or a
new general assembly may have grace
to handle the exciting questions The
Episcopal church has cast out some re
calcitrants and its digestive organs are
taxed to the utmost in trying to assimi
late others 'Shall women preachr p
''Or be sent as delegates to confer
ences2" are questions that have put
many of our Methodist brethren on the
''anxious seat. f" 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 5 o'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 wait
ing for the full burst of the tempest. |
] am not much of weather prophet,
but tho clouds look to me mostly like
wind clouds II may be big blow,
but hope 1t viii soon be over. In re-
gard to the Battle of the Creeds, am
every day asked what think about it.
! want to make Il so plain this morn
ing what think that no one will ever
ask again.
LyAvR IT TO THR JURyMRN.
Let those who are jurynen in the
ease, mean those in the different &c
elesiastical courts have the questions
put directly before them, weigh and do
eide. Let the rest OF us keep out The
most damaging thing on earth Is reli-
gous controversy No one ever comes
out Of II rs good man as he goes in
Some OF the ministers. In all denomi
nations who, before the present acer
bity were good and kind and useful.
now seem almost swearing mad.
These brethren notice always open
their violent meetings with prayer be
fore deyouring each other, thus saying
grace before meat They have a moral
hydrophobia that makes us think they
have taken dog by the ears They
never read the iinprecatory Psalms OF
David with such zest as since the
Briggs and Newton aud MacQueary
and Bridgman and Brooks questions
got into full swing May the rams OF
the sheepfold soon have their horns
sawed of. Before the controversies
are settled a good many ministers will,
through what they call liberalism, be
landed into practical lntidelity, and
Others through what they call con
seryatisin, will shrink up into blgots
tight and hard as the mummies OF
Egypt which got through their contro
versies three thousand years ago
This trouble throughout Chrlsten-
dom was directly inspired of Satan.
lie saw that too much good was being
done Recruits were being gathered
by hundreds OF thousands TO the Cos
pei standard. The victories for God
and the truth were too near together
Too many churches were being dedl
Gated Too many ministers were be
ing ordained. Too many philanthroples
were being fostered. Too many souls
were being saved. Il had been dull
time Ia the neither world. and the ar
rivals were too few
SO Satan one day rose upon his
throne aud said, ''Ye powers Of dark
ness. hear And all np and down the
cayerps The cry waA Hear hearf
Hatan sddA There y that American
board Of commissioners for foreign
anlNione II musl elfller be demolished
Or crippled. or ule lirsi thing you know