The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1899-1900, 1899-06-14
TALKS ON BIGOTRY.
Rev, DR.. ralmage Discusses a Del
icate Subject.
Oeplorea SectarIan Difference in the
HOme-CautIOns Parents as to
Its Evil Eject on the
Children.
copyright, 1899, by Louis KlOpsch.l

sis xiii, 8: "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 millionaires, and with
such large focks of bleating sheep and
lowing cattle that their herdmen got
into fight, perhaps about the best
pasture, or about the best water privi-
lege, 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 sheili, 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, harvests 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, and there is
the plain of Jordan, with tropical lux
uriance. You may have either" Lot,
who was not as 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; / will take the valley
OF the Jordan, with all its luXuriance of
cornflelds, and the river to water the
focks, and the genial climate, and the
wealth immeasurable." So the con-
troversy was forever settled, and great
souled Abram carried out the sugges-
tion of the text: "Let there be no
strife, | pray thee, between me and
thee, and between my herdnen and thy
herdmen. 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 Ainericus Vespucius, but should
have been called Columbia, after its
discoyerer, Columbus, we have a wealth
of religious privilege and opportunity
thati 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
'opuleDce of ecclesiastical opportunity!
Now, while in desolate 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 a selection. No
fight about vestments, or between litur-
igical or nonliturgical adherents, or as
TO baptisimal modes, or handful of
water as compared with riverful. If
Abram prefers to dwell on the heights,
where he can only get a sprinlSling
from the clouds, let him consent that
Lot have all the Jordan in which to
immerse himself. "Let there be no
strife, l pray thee, between me and
thee, and between my herdmen and thy
herdmen. 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-
&ion, one at one end of the table saying
he could never endure the rigid doe
trines of Presbyterianism, one at the
other end responding that she never
could stand the forms of Episcopacy,
ant 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 ecclesi-
asticism, and in the middle of every dis
cussion on such subjects there is a
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, pray thee, between
me and thee, and between my herdmen
and thy herdmen. Is not the whole
land before thee?"
/ undertake a subject never under
taken by any other pulpit, for it is an
exceedingly delicate subject, and if not
rightly handled might give serious Of
fense, but | approach it without the
slightest trepidation, for / am sure !
have the Divine direction in the mat
ters l propose TO present. 1t is a tre-
mendous question, asked all over
Shristendom, often asked with tears
and sobs and heartbreaks and inyolv-
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 eve1-
gelical churches havS enough truth in
them to save the soul and prepare us for
happiness on earth and in Heaven. l
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-
nominations we like better than others.
But suppose three or four of us make
solemn agreement to meet each on i'm
portant business, and one goes by the
New York Central railroad, another by
the Erie railroad, another by tie 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 as
our engagement to meet is concerned,
1t makes no difference IL we only get
there. Now, any one of the innumera-
BILE evangelical determinations. IL Won