RELIGIOUS EXCITEMENT AT PLANO, TEXAS.
The following is from The Commercial, published in Dallas, Texas. The readers of the Review who have followed the movements of Bro. Kilgore in that State, will understand it. Plano Texas Oct. 2, 1878. To the Editor of the Commercial: The excitement in religious matters is increasing. The stir caused by the Adventists’ tabernacle has aroused opposition, and some of the clergy are enlisted in a holy war against the new evangelist, who is having a good hearing from our best citizens. At the tent there was a pointed discourse given on the two covenants, in which Eld. Kilgore took the position that the ten commandments were not in the old covenant; that they antedated the first covenant, and were the law that Abraham kept, Gen. 26:5; that that which Cain transgressed in killing his brother was a part of this law; that the commandment respecting the observance of the seventh day for the Sabbath sustained the same relation to the decalogue at the close of creation week that it did at Mt. Sinai, Gen. 2:2, 3; and that the first covenant was the contract or agreement which God made with Israel concerning the keeping of his law. This he proved by reading Ex. 19:5–8, and he showed by reading Ex. 24:7, 8, that it was ratified, dedicated, and sealed by blood; and that Paul, in Heb. 9:18–20, distinctly states that this was the first testament (covenant). The new covenant was made by Christ with his apostles, in his teaching and instructions, before his death; and, when sealed by the blood of the testator, it was then in force, and could not be disannulled or added to after the death of Christ on the cross; from which he concluded, that if Sunday is found to exist as a new-covenant institution, it was a usurper, and must be branded as an intruder. Even if its birth took place the day of the resurrection, it was just three days too late, since Christ had never said a word about it previous to his death. Yesterday Eld. Caskey, the Christian minister from Sherman, arrived with a “sharp stick” and on the war path to meet the tabernacle devotees. After the discourse, Eld. Caskey arose and stated that he had been invited by citizens of Plano to come and enter into a debate with Mr. Kilgore, that he had come for that purpose, that the people of Plano wanted a debate, and now he wanted to know whether Mr. Kilgore was ready for it. Mr. Kilgore responded that when he had had an opportunity of presenting his views to the people unmolested and in a quiet manner, then, if the people of Plano desired a debate, and Eld. Caskey was the man indorsed by them, he would not run. Eld. Caskey, being persistent in urging the debate, immediately called for an expression of the congregation (about 300) assembled; and by a rising vote it was decided against him by a vote of 75 to 22. It was plainly seen that some of the members of his own church did not indorse his actions in the matter, as they voted against him for being so wild in his remarks, and it is now plainly seen that most of the people now-a-days cannot be driven to Christ with a sharp stick. The man who seeks Christ will find him in a mild and gentle manner, and thus sayeth the Christians. I have been trying to find the spirit of the Bible for years, and have had thus to sit, finding no one who could explain the points so well as has been done here the last week by the new evangelist; and his past conduct has caused many to come out to hear the word of the Bible who had never entered a church for years; but if the sinners have to be driven to church with a sharp stick, I fear Eld. C. never will find them, as most sinners are on the contrary order, and need a great deal of sugar to lead them along. A Sinner.