St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1899-07-15
TALKS ON BIG0TRY.
Rev Dr.. Talmagc Discusses a Del
icate Subject.
DeplorcS Scctarian DiHcfcnee In the
Home-CauilOns Parents ax to
Its EVIL Eject on tho
Children.
copyright. 1899. by Louis Klopsch.l

Copyright. 1899. by Louis KIopsch.l
Washington,
In this sermon DIR. Talmagc discusses
| topic which will interest domestic
| circles everywhere. The text is Gene
| sis xiii, s: LET there be no strife,
pray thee, between me and thee, and
between my herdmen and thy herdmen.
Is not the whole land before thee:"
Uncle and nephew, Abram and Lot,
both pious, both mi!lionaires. and with
such large flos.ks of bleating sheep and
lowing cattle that their herulnen got
| into fight, perhaps about the best
pasture, or about the best water privi-
iege, or because the COW of one got
hooked by the horns of the other. Not
their poverty of opportunity. but their
between these two men. To Abram, the
glorious old Mesopotamian sheik, such
controversy seemed absurd. 1t was
like two ships quarreling for sea room
in the middle of the Atlantic ocean.
There was vast reach of country, corn
fields, vineyards, barvests and plenty
Of room in illimitable acreage. "Now,"
said Abram, "let us agree to differ.
Here are the mountain districts. swept
by the tonic of sea breeze and with
wide-reaching prospect, ard there is
the plain of Jordan, with tropical lux
uriance. You may have either" Lot,
who was not rs rich as Abram and
might have been expected to take the
second choice, made the first selection.
and with a modesty that must have
made Abram smile, said to him:.
You may have the rocks and the
fine prospect: I will take the valley
of the Jordan, with all its Insurance of
cornfields, and the river to water the
flocks, and the genial climate, and the
wealth unreasonable" So the con-
troversy was forever settled. and great
souled Abram carried out the sugges-
ticn of the text: "Let there be no
strife, pray thee, between me and
thee, and between my herdnien and thy
hcrdmen. Is not the whole land be-
fore thee?-
Well, in this, the last decade of the
nineteenth century, and in this beauti-
full land, which was called America,
after Americus Vespucius, but should
have been called Columbia, after Its
discoyerer, Columbus, we have a wealth
of religious privilege and opportunity
that is positively NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
of all sorts Of creeds, and of all kinds of
government, and all forms of worship,
and all styles of architecture. What
opulerce of ecclesiastical opportunity!
Now, while in desolate regions there
may be only one church, in the opulent
districts of this country there is such a
profusion that there ought to be no
difficulty in making q selection. No
gical or non,iturgical adhercnts, or as
to baptisimal modes, or handful of
water as compared with a riverful. If
Abram prefers to dwell on the heights,
where he can only get sprinkling
from the clouds, let him consent that
Lot have all the Jordan in which to
immersc himself. LET there be no
strife, pray thee, between me and
thee, and between my herdmen and thy
her1men. Is not the whole land before
thee?"
Especially is it fortunate when
families allow angry discussion at the
breakfast or dinner or tea table as to
which is the best church or denomina-
ton, one at one end of the table saying
he could never endure the rigid doc
trines of Presbyterianism, one at the
other end responding that she never
could stand the /. rms of Episcopacy.
and one ut one side of the table saying
he did not understand how anybody
could bear the noise in the Methodist
Baptists bigots. There are hundreds
OF families hopelessly split on ecclesi-
and in the middle of every dis
cussion on such subjects there is a
of indignation, and it needs
some old Father Abram to come and put
his foot on the loaded fuse before the
explosion takes place and say: let
there be no strife, Ipray thee, between
me and thee, and between my herdmen
and thy herdmen. Is not the whole
land before thee?"
undertake subject never under
taken by any other pulpit, for it is an
delicate subject, and if not
rightly handled might give serious of
Tense. but I approach it without the
slightest trepidation, for l am sure l
have the Divine direction in the mat
tiers 1 propose to present. 1t is tre-
mendous question, asked all over
often asked with tears
and sobs and heartbreaks and involv-
ing the peace of families, the eternal
happiness of many souls. In matters
of church attendance should the wife
go with the husband, or the husband
GO with the wife?
First, remember that all the even
gelical churches have enough truth in
them to save the soul and prepare us for
happiness on earth and in Heaven. /
will go with you into any well-selected
theological library, and will show you
sermons from ministers in all denom-
nations that set forth man as a sinner
and Christ as deliverer from sin and
sorrow. That is the whole Gospel. Get
that into your soul, and you are fitted
for the here and the hereafter. There
are differences, we admit, and some de-
we like better than others.
But suppose three or four of us make
solemn agreement to meet each on inn
portant business, and one goes by the
New York Central railroad, another by
the Erie railroad, another by the Penn
sylvania railroad, another by the Bal
timore & Ohio railroad. One goes this
way because the mountains are grand
er, another takes this because the cars
are more luxurious, another that be-
cause the speed is greater, another
takes the other because he has long
been accustomed to that route and all |
the employees are familiar. So far a.
Dur engagement to meet is concerned,
It makes no difference if we only get I
here. Now, any. one of the innumcra-
bic evangelical denominations, if you
practice its teaching, although some of |
heir trains run on q broad gauge and |
some on q narrow gauge. will bring you
,ut at the city Of New Jerusalem.
1t being evident that you will be safe
N anv of the evangelical denomina. |