The Savannah morning news., 1903-03-09
JOURNEY TO HE'LL
REV. II. c. CHRISTIANS UNIQUE
SERMON AT WESLEY CHURCH.
WITH EYES WIDE OPEN
THOSE WHO GO TO THE DEVIL
HERE MUST TRAVEL, HE SAID.

Pastor of Wesley Monumental
Church Believes There Is a He'll.
but Its Location and Condition
Are Not Clear TO Him-Man Is
Born with "a Natural Tendency
for Evil, He Said-Mind Has Soft
ness of Wax for ViciOusness and
Hardness of stone for GOdIiness.
Minister Was Once Professional
Gambler and Proprietor of a sa-
IOon-Re reformation Under Tragic
Circumstances.
I'm Savannah it is a hard matter
for man to go to the devil. If you
do go there, it is with your eyes wide
open. and because you have made
up your mind in that direction"
81 believe that there is a hell, and
1 express this belief after thirty-one
years of thought and study. Where it
is, l do not know. What it is, is not
perfectly clear in my mind. Strong
argument that there is a literal hell
can be found in the Bible. l am in
clined to the opinion that the fire and
smoke spoken of by Him are used fig
uratively, however"
II was a professional gambler, and
was once the proprietor of a saloon
In the suburbs of your state capital.
A tragedy in a saloon caused my ref
ormation, and the prayer that saved
me was offered in a bar as 1 kneeled
by the side of a whisky barrel"
1.-THE natural inclination is to go to-
wards hell The human mind has the
softness of wax for viciousness and
evil, and the hardness of stone for that
which is right and Cody"
In a strong sermon to a congregation
that filled Wesley Monumental Church
last night, Rev. II. C. Christian made
the statements quoted above. His sub
ject was, Five Mountains in Every
Mans Way to He'll" He used as his
text Isaiah V, IS: Woe unto them that
draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and
sin as it were with a cart rope. Mr..
Christians sermon was a powerful one,
and quite a number went to the pulpit
and shook his hand when he had con-
cluded. 1t was a sermon from man
who is competent to tell of the suffer-
ings of those who wander from the
straight and narrow path.
His Belief in He'll.
Mr. Christian began by saying that
he thought it better to be unminis-
terial and save a soul than to be min
sterial and see a soul lost to the devil.
While he said he believes in hell he
thinks that the fire and smoke spoken
of in the Bible are figures of speech.
Fire is the most painful thing that
can be applied to the nerves of man,
he said. and he believes that it is used
in the holy book to show the suffer-
ings of a guilty conscience. If there is
no hell there should be one, he said.
He told the story of the Universalist
who preached a sermon in which hell
was dynamited out of existence. The
sermon pleased the congregation inn
mensely.
I'm due time the hat was passed
around" said Mr.. Christian, land
nickels and dimes with holes in them,
and other worthless things were put
in by some of those in the congre-
cation. When the collection hat was
brought forward this preacher looked
in, as ministers are won't to do. The
sight that met his gaze prompted him
to remark that there should be a hell
Necessity demands such a place, my
friends. Its purpose is not to make
men suffer- but to keep them in re-
straint.
Born with Evil Tendencies.
eve are born with natural tendency
for evil The human heart is inclined
in the direction of wickedness. But L
tell you the man who goes to hell in
Savannah does not do so blindly. There
are always five mountains between man
and hell. Even in Savannah you have
got to vault these mighty barriers,
these great distractions, before you
can reach hell. The first we call Con-
science. 1t is high and steep and rug
ged, but you've got to climb this mighty
mountain on your journey to hell
Mr.. Christian then related an in
cident in his own life when he en-
countered this mountain. He had in
jured himself while at work in the
field and he took the name of his Maker
in vain. A child of ten years at the
time he related how he found it i'm
possible to sleep. But you can pick
and pick at this mountain called con-
science until you have stabbed it to
death, then from its summit you can
hear arguments on religion and have
no feeling or conviction on the subject.
The second barrier he called Mount
Zion, meaning the church, not of one
denomination, but of every creed
Mount Sinai was named as the third
barrier. Before climbing this noun
tain on the journey to hell God must
be met face to face.
Was Once "a Gambler.
Then Mr.. Christian told of his life
as a professional gambler and saloon
keeper and of his wonderful reforma-
ton. He told of the tragic death of a
close friend in Grady's saloon in the
capital. He had seen the friend an
hour before, and when he heard that
he had been shot through the head in
a barroom brawl he FASTENED to his
friends side. Mr.. Cristian found the
man muttering and cursing and saw
him pass into the other world under
these circumstances. Il held out my
hand to Grady, and invited him to join
me in an effort to lead a better life
but he withdrew his hand, and when
/ last heard from him he was dying
from delirium tremens out in Texas.
l fell by the side of a whisky barrel
and prayed that night"
Mount Parents Prayers was the next
obstacle in the trip to hell described
by the minister Mount Cavalry, with
Jesus standing upon the summit, is the
last of these obstacles that must be
overcome. After this mount is climbed
Mr.. Christian told of the rapid plunge
downward. The momentum is revers-
ed and where there was a pull and
tug upward over the five mounts il is
a push downward straight to destruc-
ton and hell.
-s-&~-
nIY0N ACTING MAV0p