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Materialization

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Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 8, 1858

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 12, No. 8.

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Materialization

By Beecher

The first and universal danger of institutions is Materialization. Men form institutions by giving to a principle a body, that it may walk or work among men. Once incarnated, the soul of the principle is apt to be neglected, and its body supremely cared for. Churches are institutions designed to bring the spirit of religion to bear upon human life. Once created, they are perverted when the safety of the organization is more thought of than the power of its central principle. Christ may be imprisoned in Christian churches. There is death when the soul dies and the form only is left.—Beecher.