The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-06-21
AGAINST BIG0TRY.
Rev. Dr.. TaIraage Discusses a
Delicate Subject.
SEcTARlAN DIFFERENCES.
Cautions Parents as to its e,
fects on Their Ch;i-
dren's Religious
Prospects.

circles everywhere. The text IS Gene
sis Kill, S: Let there be no strife, :
pray thee, between me and thee, and
between my herdmen and thy herd
men. Is not the whole land before
thee?'
Uncle and nephew, Abram and Lot,
both pious, both millio1aires, ard with
such large focks of bleating sheep and
lowing cattle that their herdmea got
into a fight, perhaps about the best
pasture, or about the best water privi-
lege, or because the COW Of o0e 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 3bram,
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 coun.
try, cornfelds, vineyards, harvests and
plenty of room iu illimitable acreage.
"Now," says 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
luxuriance. 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 modesty that must have
made Abram smile said to him
you may have the rocks and the
fine prospect, l will take the valley OF
the Jordan, with all its luxurlance Of
cornields, and the river to water the
focks, and the genial climate, and the
wealth immeasurable." So the contro
Versy was forever settled, and great
sculed Abram carried out the sugges
tion of the text: Let there be no
strife, pray thee, between me and
thee, and between my herdmeu and thy
herdmen. Is not the whole land before
thee?"
Well, in this, the last decade Of the
nineteenth century, and in this beauti-
full 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 wor-
ship, aDd all styles Of architecture.
What opulence of ecclesiastical oppor-
tunity! 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 selection. No
fight about vestments, or between litur.
gical or nonliturgical adherents, or as
to baptismal modes, or handful of
water as compared with a riverful. If
Abram prefers to dwell on the beights,
where he can only get sprinkling from
the clouds, let him consent that Lot
have all the Jordan in which to i'm
merse himself. Let there be no
strife, pray thee, between me and
thee, and between my herdmen and thy
herdnen. Is not the whole land before
thee?"
Especially is it fortunate when fami-
lies allow angry discussion at the break
fast or dinner or tea table as to which
is the best church or denomination, one
at one end Of the table saying he could
never endure the rigid doctrines Of
Presbyterianism, one at the other end
responding that e 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 Baptist bi-
gots. There are hundreds Of families
hopelessly split on ecclesiasticism, and
in the middle Of every discussion on
such subjects there is kindling of in
dignation, 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
I pray thee, between me and tree,
and between my herdmen ard Thy
herdmen. Is not the whole land be-
fore thee?"
undertake subject never un6erta-
ken by any other pulpit, fo- it is an ex-
ceedingly delicate subject, and if not
rightly handled might give serious Of
fense, but approach it without the
slightest trepi6ation, for l am sure l
have the divine direction in the matters
! propose to present. 1t is tremen-
dous question, asked all over Christen-
dom, often asked with tears and sobs
and heart breaks and involving the
peace offamilies, the eternal happiness
Of many souls. In matters Of church
attendance should the wife go with the
husband or the husband 90 with the
wife?
CFirst, remember that all the evangeli-
cal churches have enough truth in them
to save the soul and prepare US for hap
piness on earth and in heaven. | will go
with you into any we'll selected theolog-
ical library, and l will show you SER
mons from ministers in all denomina-
tions that set forth man as sinner and
Christ as a oeliverer from sin and sor-
row. 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 the Penn
sylvauia railroad, another by the Balti-
more and Ohio railroad. One goes
this way because the mountains are
grander, another takes this because the
cars are more luxurious, another tn a
because the speed is greater, another
takes the other because he has long
been accustomed to that route and all
%bo oroo1ovaac GRO familio- Sn for oS