Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1899-08-05
GLORIOUS DELUSI0N.
Or. TALmAGE sATlalZES THE ANTAG-
oNlsTs OF cHRl3TlANiTY.

oNIsTs OF cHRl5TlANiTY.
The Gr~Rt Preacher Depicts In
Very Unusual Way tn r iumphs Of
che s..p.I-A "Driuslon" Witch
oxerpover. strongest Inteiiects.
lcopvdeh,. LOU. Kcrsch. iSo.l
WASHINGTON. Aug. 1.-THE antago-
nistS OF the Christian religion are IN this
sermon ~ Ia. Talmage met In very
nnnsna, way. aud the triumphs Of the
rosnel are depicted. The text Is Ezekiel
xNi II. "iIc made his arrows bright. he
consulted with images. he looked In the
liver"
Two modes 10 divination 10y which the
king ~ Babylon proposed Ia iind out the
will az God. lie took n bundle Of ar
rows. M, them together. mixed them up.
,h,n pullcd forth one aud 10y the inscrip.
,ion on Il decided what city he should
first assault. Then an animal was slain
and hy the lighter or darker color "f the
liver the brighter or darker prospect of
sncecss was inferred. That u the mean.
inr Of the text. lie made his arrows
bright. he consulted with images. he
locked In the liver" Stupid delusion.
And vet all the ages have been filled
with dcluSions. II seems rs " the world
loves 10 bc hoodwinked. the dciusion OF
the text only n specimen az vast NUM-
Ter of dcccits practiccd upon the human
race. In the latter par, of the last cen
tury Johanna Southcote catnc forth pre-
tending 90 have divine power. made
prophecies. had chapcls built In her hon
or. and 100000 disciples came forward
a. follow her. About five years before
the birth of Christ Apoll"nims was born.
and he cam. forth. and after five years
being spccchlcsS. according 10 the tradi.
ton. h. healed the sick and raised the
dead aud preached virtue aud. according
90 the myth. having Deceased, was
brought 90 resurrection.
The pclphc oracle deceived vast multi
tudcs ~ people: the ry,hnncss. seated
In the temple ~ Apollo. uticring crazy
iargon from which the people guessed
their individual or national fortunes or
misfortuncs. The utteranccs were Of
such n nature that you could read them
any way yon wanted e. read them.
general coming forth To- battle consulted
the Dclphic oracle. and he wanted Ia find
the battle or killed in battle. and the an
swer came forth from the Dclphic oracle
IN such words that II you put the comma
before the word never" IL means one
thing aud il You put the comma after the
word never" IL means another thing just
opposite The message from the Dclphic
oracle e. the general was. Go forth. re-
turn never in battle shalt thou perish. P"
III he was killed. that was according to
the Dclphic oracle IL he came home safe
~. that was according Ia the Dclphic ora.
Gle.
Decetfs of Ancient tuguries.
So the ancient auguries deceived the
people. The priests of those augnrics. by
the flight IF birds or by the information Of
thunder or by the inside appearance Of
slain animals told the fortunes or misfor-
tunes of individuals or nations. The
sibyls deceived the people. The sibyls
were supposed Ca he inspired women who
lived in caves and who wrote the sibylline
books afterward purchased 10y Tarquin
the Proud. so late as the year 1879 a
man arose in New York. pretending 20 be
a divine being. and played his part 50
well that wealthy merchants became his
disciples and throw their fortunes into
his keeping. Aud in all ages there
have been nccr"mancies. incantatisnS.
wiichcrafts. sorccrics. magical arts. en-
chanimcnis. divinaiions and dclusions.
The one of the text was only a specimen
OF that which has been occurring in all
ages 81 the world None of these dclu-
sions accomplished any good. They de-
ccived. they pauperized the people. they
were as cruel a. they were absurd. They
opened ne hospitals. they healed no
wounds. they wiped away no tears. they
emancipatcd NO serfdom.
But there are those who say that all
these tLelusions combined are as nothing
compared with the dclusion now abroad
in the world. the deusion Of the Chris
tian religion. That delnSinn has today
10000. 600 dupcs. II proposes To- cncircle
the earth with its girde That which has
been called dclusion has already over
shadowcd the Appalachian range "n this
side the sea. and il has overshadowed
the Balkan and Caucasian ranges on the
other side the sea. IL mas conquered Eng
land and the United States. This cham
pion leluson. this hoax. this swindle of
the ages. as il has been called. has gone
forth 10 conquer the islands of the Pa
cifc. and Melanesia and Micronesia and
WaIayan Polynesia have already sur
rendered to the leiusion. Yea. il has con-
auered the Indian archipelago and Bor-
neo. and Sumatra and Celebcs and Java
have fallen under its wilcs. In the Fiji
island-. where there are 10000 people.
2.OGO have already become the dupes OF
this Christian religion. and il things ~
on rs they are now going "n and II the
influence 81 this great Authorization Of
the ages cannot bc stopped. IL will swal-
low the globe. Surprising then that
Christianity j. the drlusion Of the centu-
ries. ~ some have pronounced it. ] pro-
pose to show you what has been accom-
plishcd by this chimcra. this fallacy. this
hoax. this swindlc Of the ages
Wonderful transformations.
And in the first place remark that
this delusion Of the Christian religion has
made wonderful transformations 81 hui
man character. I will go down the aisle
Of any church in ChriStcndom. and ] will
find on either side that aisle those who
were once proiligaie. profane. unclean Of
speech and unclean Of action. drunken
and lost But by the power Of this deln-
sion Of the Christian religion they have
been completely Transformed and now
they are kind and amianle and genial and
loving and useful Everybody sees the
change. Under the power Of this great
hallucination they have quit their former
associates and whereas they once found
their chief delight among those who gam.
bled and sworc and raced horses. now
they find their chief joy among those who
20 10 prayer meetings and churches. 50
complete is the delusion. Yea. their own
families have noticed 1.-THE wife has
noticed H. the children have noticed il.
The money that went for rum now goes
for books and for clothes and for ehuca-
tion. lie is new man. All who know
him say there has been n wonderful
change. What Is the cause Of this
change? This great hallucination II the
Christian religion There is rs much diff
ference between what he is now and
what he one. was as between a rose and
a nettle. as between n dove and vnlture,
as between day and night Tremendous
delusion,