Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1899-06-17
CHOICE OF BELIEFS.
REV. DR.. TALMAGE SPEAKS ON RE-
LlGious TOLERANCE.
All Evangelical Churches, He Says,
Are Good and Are Seeking the
Same Enti-Angry sectnrinn Discus
sfoun DepIOred.

Same Enti-AnEry SectRrAhh OiSe
sionr Deplored.
copyright. Louis Klopsch. 1891
WASHINGTON, June lin this SER
mon DR.. Talmage discusses a topic
which will interest domestic circles
everywhere. The text is Genesis xiii, 8:
"Let there be no strife, I 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 Let,
both pious, both millionaires, and with
snch large focks of bleating sheep and
lowing cattle that their herdmen got
into fight, perhaps about the best pas
ture or about the best water privilege
or because the COW of one got hooked
by the horns of the other. Not their
poverty of opportunity, but their wealth.
was the cause of controversy between
these two men. To Abram. the glorious
old Mesopotamian sheik, such contro-
versy seemed absurd. 1t was like two
ships quarreling for sea room in the
middle of the Atlantic ocean. There
was vast reach of country, cornfelds'
vineyards, harvests and plenty OF room
in illimitable acreage. Now" says
Abrsm, .let us agree TO differ. Here
are the mountain districts. swept by
the tonic sea breeze and with wide
reaching prospect. and there is the
plain of the Jordan, with tropical
luxuriance. You may have either
Lot, who was not as rich rs Abram
and might have been expected to take
the second choice, made the first seec-
ton and with modesty that must
have made Abram smile said to HIM
"Yon may have the rocks and the
fine prospect; | will take the valley OF
the Jordan. with all its lux -iance OF
corntields and the river to water the
focks and the genial climate and the
wealth unreasonable. Sc the contro'
versy was forever settled and great
souled Abram carried ont the susges-
ton of the text 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?'
Well. in this the last decade of the
nineteenth century and in this beau
tiful land. which was called America
after Americas Vespucius, but should
have been called Columbia, after its
discoverer, Columbus we have wealth
of religious privilege and opportunity
that is positively bewildering. Churches
of all sorts of creeds and of all kinds OF
government and all forms of worship
and all styles of architecture--what
opulence of ecclesiastical opportunity ]
Now, while in desolnte regions there
may be only one church. in the opulent
districts of this country there is such
profusion that there ought to be no
difficulty in making selection. No
fight about vestments, or between litur-
gical or nonliturgical adherents, or
as to baptismal modes, or handful OF
water as compared with riverful. If
Abram prefers to dwell on the heights,
where he can get only sprinkling from
the clouds, let him consent that Lot
have all the Jordan in which to i'm
merse himself ''Let there be nc strife,
I pray thee, between me and thee and
between my herdmen and thy herdmen.
Is not the whole land before theeY'
Angry DIscuasion DepIored.
Especially is it unfortunate when
families allow angry discussion at the
breakfast or dining 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 forms of Episcopacy,
and one at one side of the table saying
he did not understand how anybody
could bear the noise in the Methodist
church. and another declaring all the
Baptists bigots. There are hundreds OF
families hopelessly split on ecclesiasti-
cism, and in the middle of every discus
sion on such subjects there is kindling
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, l pray thee, between me and thee
and between my herdmen and thy herd
men. Is not the whole land before
thee?"
| undertake subject never under
taken by any other pulpit, for it is an
exceedingly delicate subject, and If
not rightly handled might give serious
offense, but l approach it without the
slightest trepidaticn, for | am sure l
have the divine direction in the mat
tiers propose to present 1t is tre'
mendous question. asked all over Chris
tendon, often asked with tears and
sobs and heart breaks and involving the
peace of families, the eternal happl.
ness 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 evan
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 we'll Sc
lected theological library, and l will
show yon sermons from ministers in all
denominations that set forth man as a
sinner and Christ as a deliyerer from
sin and sorrow That is the whole Cos
pei Get that into your sonl and you
are fitted for the here and the here
after. There are differences. we admit,
and some denominations we like better
than others. But suppose three or four
of us make solemn agreement to meet
each other week from now in Chicago
on important business. and one gees by
the New York Central railroad, another
by the Erie railroad. another by the
Pennsylvania railroad, another by the
Baltimore and Ohio railroad. One goes
this way because the mountains ara
yrander; another takes this because the
.ars are more luxurious; another that
because the speed is greater; another