New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1898-02-09
Advanced Ideas
From a Pulpit.
Rev. Mlnot Savage Of New York Talks Of
the Influence Of Modern Know
ledge on Old Beliefs.

ledge on Old Beliefs.
In recent sermon, Rev. Minot ]. Saw
age made the following utterances:
cit is modern knowledge, increasing
knowledge, larger, clearer light, that
takes away old beliefs. l would rather
believe in no God than in bad God,
such as has been painted. If I had my
choice of the future what would it be?
If we're standing on the threshold of
heaven itself, and loved ones were
reckoning me to come in, and had the
choice between an eternity of felicity in
their presence and eternal sleep, I would
take the sleep, rather than this Joy at
the cost of the unceasing and unrelieved
torment of the meanest soul that ever
lived.
''The story Of Eden, the creation of
man-and then Immediately the fall Of
man and the resulting doctrine of
total depravity has been taken
away. Then the old theory of the
Bible has been taken away, that the
DRY which makes it a book with
out error or flaw, and makes us under
the highest obligations to receive all its
teachings as the veritable word of God,
though they seem to US hideous, bias
phemous, immoral, degrading, or not
this is gone.
''The Blood of the Atonement is gone.
What does this mean to the world? It
means that the Eternal Father will not
or cannot forgive and receive back to
his heart his own erring, mistaken, wan
dering children, unless the only begotten
son of God is slaughtered, and we, as
the old, awful hymn has it, are plunged
in a sea of blood Revolving, terrible,
if you stop to think of it for one reason
ing moment, that God cannot forgive
unless he takes agony out of somebody
equal to that from which he releases his
own children! That, though embodied
still in all the creeds, has been taken
away. 1t j. gone, like a long, hideous
dream of rkness.
"Beli' the Devil has been taken
away. does that mean? 1t means
tat lolI
for nearly thousand years that God is
not really king of the universe; that he
holds only divided power; and that
here thousands and thousands of years
go by, and the Devil controls the destiny
OF this world, and ruins, right and left,
millions and millions of human souls.
and that God cannot help 1t, or does not
wish to, one or the two. This belief is
taken away.
"And then the belief in endless pun
ishment is taken away. Are you sorry?
The belief that all except the elect,
church members, who have been through
special process called conversion,
that all these, including all the mil
lions upon millions outside of Christian
dom and from the beginning until to-
day. have gone down to the flame that
is never quenched, the'worm that never
dies, to llnger on in endless torment for
ever and ever. This teaching was sim
ply a monument of what was called the |
judgment of God. This is sone.
"There are churches printing, publish
ing, scattering all over America and Eu-
rope statements of beliefs which hardly |
one man in ten among pew-holders and
vestrymen believes one word of. They
tell you they do not believe it. They are
almost angry if you make the statement
that these are church beliefs. And at the |
same time we are in the curious condi-
ton Of finding that the man who of.
fers himself candidate for the ministry
In any of these churches dares not ques-
ton or doubt these horrible statements.
If found he does question them after he
gets into the ministry he is in danger of
for heresy. ~sz.
''There is not an intelligent man in
Christiandom who does not know the
doctrine of mans fall and rum is de-
untrue. It is not matter
of question; it is settled; and yet. the
churches go Oh as though nothing had
happened.
us this sincere2 Is this quite honest?
Is this the way you use language in Wall
street, in your banks, and in your stores2
Is this the way you MAINTAIN your cred.
it as business men? Oh, let us purge
these statements of far outgrown crudi-
ties, falsities, blasphemies, infamies'''
LIND WOULD BE ELECTED.
D A m II. ~