The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1892-03-17

ailo'nsod NE to preach goo2 things :,
tie poor
! ECoNoxfCs 80 THE NEITHER ygoEIn.
Jesus Christ dill not invent hen. He
found world fnIl Of hell. Ee founa a
world bound 54and and fout by saFsxs,i
i1on and slavery and sin atsti yscs. The
religions 90 the world be fore the e1urvinr
revelation Of Christ were PRINCIPALLY
taken up with the economies az hell.
The religion Of GrUsce and the rslizSu,,
Of Rome consisted mainly q q minute
description OF the doiags az TINS neither
world. Jesus did not invent hell or
come TO preach hen. lie came to save a
world that was alfuady IN hell. lie came
to lead the world out of 5arlEacss into
light, to give glad tidings to those who
knew only darkness and despair. What
did Christ teach aOogt puaishueats
There are some things lie certainly did
not teach.
Flrst-Hg never proclaimed ihs doc
trine Of hell Of mate rial Ere and hriln-
stone. Other religious are full Of the
materialism Of the under world. From
the lips Of Jesus we have not single
sentence descriptive Of the economies Of
this world. Jesus Christ knew that
men could not bo helped in life here 10y
the unfolding Of such a terror for the
life beyond. | know there have been
men whS have preached such hell
who claim 10 be the ministers Of Christ.
/ have always been sorry for such mon.
! shall never forget in my childhood
hearing a man like that preach on iaell.
He described God az looking over into
this furnace and smelling tle roasting
flesh. He described the shouting Of the
angels and the redeemed rs thuy re-
soiced in tho smoke and the s,lfferings
Of the damned. | saw that man walk
down the aisle and stand before a beau
tiful girl whose only sin, so far as he
knew, was that she did not belong TO the
church and would not join because she
liked to dance occasionally. / saw him
stand before that girl and launch at her
head personally all the fierce fires Of the
material hell which he had described in
the pulpit. l heard him thus arraign
the trembling girl, until, boy that was,
| felt that | should like 20 drag him ont
of the house by the neck. felt then
that he lied. ] k1o,c since that lac lied.
AlasI poor fellow. his religion did not
help him to live a successful life here.
The last time l heard OF him he was n
fugitive from justice, a disgraced and
wrecked man.
CANON FARRAR.
1t cannot be charged that Jesus Christ
is in any way responsible for the modern
doctrine of this furnace Of eternal fire.
Canon Farrar recently said that, as
man of God, as scholar, he claimed the
authority Of sch-larship and of honesty
to say, and to say without the fear Of
contradiction and with the love of God
and the love Of man in his heart, that
not sentence can be found IN the Now
Testament, from the opening to the close,
out of which can be constructed this doc
trine of an eternal hell fire. He declares
that there are only three sentences in the
New Testament that appear 10 teach
such doctrine. One of them L. bald
misstatement; the other two are wTestsd
from the context and meaning, and into
them from without is read tho doctrine.
Second-Certain it is that Jesus Christ
himself never appealed to amy man 70
follow him, lest he should be burned up
in an eternal fire Of hell. Every motive
to which Jesus appealed was the very
farthest removed from such q motive.
Jesus said, Come unto me and / viii
give you rest" Jesus said, Come unto
me and viii give you life Jesus said,
H'Te that believcth on Mc, there shall
spring ap within him a wei Of water
unto eternal life." These are the mo
tives to which Jesus appealed, and from
the opening of his ministry 10 it's close
the hell motive is not once found. He
taught none Of the modern peryersions
of Christianity which belong to this in
fernal doctrine. Jesus Christ cannot be
charged with teaching that babes are
condemned TO this fiery furnace. John
Calvin may have taught it. Calvin
burned Servetus because Servetus taught
the salvation of children. Bat Jesus
said, Suffer little children TO come unto
me and forbid thei1 not: for o. such is
the kingdom Of halreu."
HISTORIC gEGvURsIoEs.
The conception of religion which en-
phasizes he'll as IS cardinal doctrine is
a creation Of ue3imvel ignorance and
fear. Some Of it yet survives. We
long to see the day when this dark
shadow win lee Lifted from the heart of
the race. The poorest religion that this
earth knows is such a religion. DR..
Momerie says that lc was surprised t.
find the amount Of it that still fingered
when be entered his niuietry in Scot
land He says that lie wac called to see
a woman who was dying. lie asked her
if she could remember anything in her
life, her relations TO God, that gave her
special satisfaction now. She said yes,
she had alwaEs had profound respect
for the Clergy lie asked her If there
were anything else. She said .es, che
remembered that she had q large oven
in her kitchen, aud that whenever size
looked 1t thas oven she always thought
Of he'll. I..is was the sum total Of her
religion. This was all that Hhe appar-
emily had u cling 20 in the hourof death.
Di. G9nlerie relates another incideE:
Of like character. 4 mother said to her
little girl. IF you do not obey me God
viii punish YOU" The child replied,
| .sGod is too busy burning up people in
he'll to pay any attention to me-" Her
idea Of the occupation of God was that
he was in the internal regions mending
| the FIRE; that he had SO many IL attend
to there that the few who still survived
on earth were Of small importance.
Whatever such religion may be, it is
not Christianity. Jesus never taught it.
In no sense can he be charged with it
responsibility. Let us remember that
historic peryersions Of Christianity are
one thing, the Christianity Of the Christ
another.
What did Christ teach? He taught the
law Of tho harvest. Whatsoever man
sowetli, that shall he also reap" He
taught that conduct is the key 10 char