The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-08-11
GOSPELS TRlUMPHS
DIR. TALMAGE DEPICTS VICTORIES
OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION


DIR. TALMAGE DEPICTS VICTORIES
OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION
TransfOrmations Wrought by the
Power Of Chriscs Teaehings-Drunk.
ards Reclaimed and Thieves Made
Righteous
copyright, Louis Klopsch, 1897
The antagonists Of the Christian re-
ligion are in this sermon of DR.. Tai
mage met in a very unusual way. and
h triumphs Of the gospel are de-
picted. The e x is Ezekiel xxi, q, HE
made his arrows bright, he consulted
with images, he looked in the liver"
Two modes Of d%ivination by which
the king Of Babylon proposed to find
out the will of God. He took a bundle
of arrows, put them together, mixed
them up, then pulled forth one, and by
the inscription on it decided what city
ne Should first assault. Then an ami
NAL was slain, and by the lighter or
darker color of the liver the brighter
or darker prospect of success was in
~ SH~ >
text, He made his arrows bright. he
consulted with images, he looked in
the liver" Stupid delusion! And yet
all the ages have been filled with delu-
sions. It seems as if the world loves
to be hoodwinked, the delusion of the
text only a specimen of a vast numbe
Of deceits practiced upon the human
rare Tn the latter mart of the 1aCt
century Johanna Southcote came forth
pretending to have divine power, made
prophecies, had chapels built in her
honor, and 100, 900 disciples came for
ward to follow her. About five years
before the birth of Christ Apollonius
was born, and he came forth, and aft
err five years being speeches., accord
ing to the tradition, he healed the sick,
and raised the dead, and practiced vir-
tue, and, according to the myth, having
deceased, was brought to resurrection.
The Delphic oracle deceived vast
multitudes of people; the Pythoness
seated in the temple of Apollo uttering
a crazy jargon from which the people
guessed their individual or national
fortunes or misfortunes. The utter
ances were of such a nature that you
could read them any way you wanted
to read them
MYRIADS OF "DUPES."
So the ancient auguries deceived the
people. The priests of those auguries
by the flight of birds or by the intona-
ton of slain nimal told the fortunes
or misfortunes of individuals Of ma
tions. The sibyls deceived the people.
The sibyls were supposed to be inspir-
ed women who lived in caves and who
wrote the sibylline books afterward
purchased by Tarquin the Proud. So
late as the year 1929 a man arose in
Nnur VonlZ ~rn+a~1;-~ ~ Io n ;~
being, and played his part so we'll that
wealthy merchants became his dis
ciples and threw their fortunes into his
keeping. And so in all ages there
have been necromancies, incantations,
witchcrafs, sorceries, magical arts,
entertainments, divinations and delu-
sions. The one of the text was only q
specimen Of that which has been oc-
curing in all ages of the world. None
Of these delusions accomplished any
good. They deceived, they pauperized
the people, they were as cruel as they
were absurd. They opened no hospi-
tails, they healed no wounds, they wip-
ed away no tears, they e~mancipare1 no
serfdom.
But there are those who say that all
these delusions combined are as moth
ing compared with the delusion now
abroad in the world-the delusiOn of
the Christian religion. That delusjon
has today 400, 900, 900 dupes. 1t pro-
poses to encircle the earth with it's
girdle. That which has been called a
delusion has already ov~ershadowed the
Appalachian range on this side of the
sea, and it has overShadOwed the Bal
kan n Caucasian ranges on the other
side of the sea. 1t has conquered Eng
land and the United States. This cham
pion delusion, this hoax, this swindle
of the ages, is it has been called, has
gone forth to q the Islands of
the Pacific, and Melanesia and Micro
nesia and Malayan Polynesia have al
ready surrendered to the delusion. Yea,
it has conquered the Indian archipela-
go, Borneo and Sumatra and Gel
ebes and Java have fallen under it's
wiles. In the Fiji islands, where there
are 2 $1,000 people, 100000 have al
ready become the dupes of this Chris
tian religion, and if things go on as
they are now going on and if the in
f1uence of this great hallucination Of
h ages cannot be stopped it will
swallow the globe. Surprising, then,
that Christianity is the delusion of the
centuries, as some have pronounced 1t,
I propose to show you what has been
accomplished by this chimera, this
fallacy, this hoax, this swindle of the
ages.
And, in the first place, I remaik that
his delusion of the Christian religion
has made wonderful transformations
VI III SlidI l. wan ~ 0o"A SAN$
aisle Of any church in C~hristendom,
and I will find on either side that aisle
those who were once prOhigate, pro-
fame, unclean of speech and unclean OF
action, drunken and lost. But by the
power of this delusion of the Christian
religion they have been completely
transformed, and now they are Kin
and amiable n loving and useful.
Everybody sees h 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 gambled and
swore and raced horses, now they find
their chief joy among those who go to
prayer meetings and churches, so COM
plete is the delusion. Yea, their own
families have noticed 1.-THE wife has
noticed it, the children have noticed
it. The money that went for rum now
goes for books and for clothes and for
education. He is a new man. AL who
know him say there has been a Won
derful change. What is the cause OF
this change? This great ha~llucination
of the Christian religion. There is as