The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1893-05-09
WHY MOTT

WHY NOT:
If SIMON sought to buy with money tina
which may come only by repentance, faitI
and a new life, are there not thousands who
frequent the churches and think that by
their attendance and by liberal contribution;
they are discharging their whole duty anG
making secure their salvation, while neither
at heart nor in their outward lives have they
turned from Mammon worship and those
other lusts of the flesh which, according tC
the doctrine of the CHRIST, kill the soul? Car
that man properly call himself christian and
effectually lay hold upon the promises who
for six days is of the earth earthly and makes
a pretense at piOus observances only on the
seventh, and who hopes that his charity" tC
the church will cover the multitude of sins
which he cannot bring himself to give up
For how much of this attempted self decep-
ton are the clergy themselves responsible in
that they do not more ~strenuously insist
upon the duty of men to make their worldly
concerns the secondary instead of the chief
interest in life? Can they excuse themselves
for a complaisant acquiescence in a state of
affairs so periIOus to the souls over whom they
are set New York Advertiser.
1t all depends on how you look at it.
In the days when SIMON MAGUs was
practicing his legerdemain, he seemed to
keep his eye turned strictly to business.
He was a magician, such as the old Re-
man Augurs, and when he met the apOs-
ties and saw them casting out devils of
assorted sizes and performing other un-
parallel miracles-his heart was touched
only because he thought he saw experts
greater in the black art than he-and he
lined" the company only to get ION to"
their secrets. Failing in obtaining, by
observation, the desired information, he
offered to buy it and ST. PETER grew in.
dignant and roundly lectured him. And
as we remember the story Col. S. MA
GUS believed for awhile.
The preacher is not to blame, however
in these days, because it is fashionable to
have fashionable pews to have fashion
able cOngregations-and the poor, vet
pious parsOn, Is obliged to pull the leg,
as we th%eologians would say, Of the Sun
day saints and six day sinners, in order
to maintain the fashion and "feather his
own nest" as ISAIAH would express it.
And in order to be able to cough up the
treasure necessary to keep the filigree
work in repair, the %repentant must rustic
like All Get Out during the week or the
parson will have poor health and receive
a "calr to another pastorate, incidentally
at an increase Of salary, unless the six
day sinner can "see" the rival town and
ego it one better as we read in the
Golden Rule
just as long as church going is a fad :;
just as long as pious pretensiOn is a step
ping stone to confidence just as long as
ministers sell their prayers as a rewspa-
per sells its advertising space-iust that
long will ~1nsincerity, Hypocracy and
WickednesS occupy the finest pews, and
just that long will the parsOn be doing
wrong.
For u part, we believe that a prayer
without pay is just as good as one along
side pure reading matter and at top of
column. For our part, we know that in
hundreds Of churches there is less chris
tianity thar there is outside its frescoed
walls. For our part, we believe we know
that GOD ALMIGHTY never intended that
ministers of his gospel should brighten
men out Of their gains and then tell them,
like the priest told MICKEY FREE, after
draining his purse, hat about one more
pound would take his poor father out of
hell. Money has Kept men on of the
penitentiary, but money will not keep
men out of holland men who give it
alone TO ease their conscience will find
that they haye only bribed an impostor
who is not GODS agent, and they have
only Increased the surplus and reserve
fund in the counting house of hell.