Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 14, 1857
SELECTIONS.
From the "Sabbath Recorder."
THE SUNDAY CAR-QUESTION.
THE question whether cars shall run on Sunday in Brooklyn has been decided in the affirmative. The vote of the Common Council was twenty-two in favor of their running, and twelve against it. While the question was pending, numerous articles on the subject appeared in the New York papers. One of the papers published a memorial presented by the Quakers to the Legislature of Pennsylvania in 1855, in reply to a statement of the governor, in his message that "a stringent and comprehensive law is required, vindicating the great law of the Sabbath, to save it from desecration through the demoralizing effects of strong drink." The following extract from that memorial contains matter for serious reflection, though mixed with some errors:—
The first decree for the observance of Sunday, was made by Constantine, the second Christian Emperor, in the year 321, and was in these words:
"Let all the judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades, rest on the venerable day of the sun; but let those who are situated in the country, freely and at full liberty attend to the business of agriculture; because it often happens that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and planting vines; lest the critical moment be let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by the providence of Heaven."
The domestic life of Constantine was marked by singular atrocities; and this first union of the Church and State, in the Christian era, so injurious to the Christian world, was suited to the character of the man.
It is upon this decree, corrupt as it is believed in all its sources, and not upon the law of God, that all the Sunday legislation of the Christian world has its foundation.
It is matter of authentic history, that even after the recognition of Christianity by law, the courts were open on the first day of the week, and that the early Christians worked on that day, as suited their convenience.
Sylvester, Bishop of Rome under Constantine, in order, (as is stated,) to give more solemnity to his decree, changed the name of Sunday to the more imposing one of the Lord's day.
Under the decree of Constantine, sanctioned by the church, Sunday was held as a festival for a period of sixteen hundred years after the Christian era, retaining during all that time the names of Sunday and Lord's day.
The Parliament of England met on Sunday, until the reign of Richard the third, in the year 1483. Many of the kings were crowned on that day. Among whom were Rufus, Stephen, Henry the second, Richard the first, John, &c.
The first law of England made for the keeping of Sunday was in the reign of Henry the sixth, about the year 1470. By that act, Sunday, the Feast of All Saints, of Holy Innocents, and many other days, were established as festivals by the English Law. There were also many Councils of the church at Constantinople, Laodicea, &c., in which the festival of Sunday was recognized; and in several of them sabbatizing, or keeping of the Jewish Sabbath, was forbidden.
Such was the state of the Sabbath question, until the latter part of the sixteenth, and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries. In the year 1595, Dr. Bound (a non-conformist) put forth a book in which for the first time, the name Sabbath was given to the first day of the week; the Sunday of Constantine, and the Lord's day of Sylvester.
He was sustained by the intolerant sectarians of that period in their bitter hostility to the Romish and Episcopal churches. It was believed that if these churches had made it a day of fasting, then the non-conformists would have made it a day of feasting and recreation. The king and the English churches resisted this innovation; the king published what was called, his "Book of Sports," which was ordered to be read in the churches, decreeing that the people should not be cut off from their usual recreations on Sunday. "The king declared that it was done out of pious care for the service of God, and for suppressing of those humors that oppose truth, and for the ease, comfort and recreation of his Majesty's well-deserving people." The Bishops recommended these Sunday recreations as bringing the people more willingly to church, as tending to civilize them, and to compose differences among them, and as serving to increase love and unity."
Chief Justice Popham issued an order of the Court, that all the Sabbath books of the sectarians, should be called in. This only increased the desire of the people to read them. The sectarians, (as is well known,) gained the ascendancy, and the king's "Book of Sports" was directed to be burned by the hang man.
The nature of this sectarian movement may be estimated from the fact that the "Lords, Knights and Gentry," were allowed to make feasts and wedding dinners at their pleasure, which were forbidden to the common people.
As the non-conformists gained the ascendancy in the State, they ordained that not only labor and amusements of all kinds should be interdicted, but that all traveling should be stopped; no tailor was allowed to carry home a suit of clothes; no barber was allowed to shave a man on Sunday; no man was permitted to sit at his own door, to walk the streets, or enjoy the fresh air in the green fields."
The ingenuity of man was exercised first to make the Sunday laws sufficiently comprehensive, and then rigidly to enforce them. To compensate the people for the deprivation of their usual Sunday amusements, other days were appointed, and no effort was left untried to accomplish the end proposed. The effect of this severity, was an increase of moral depravity and of crime.
Theological License of Language.
By J. Panton Ham
BY J. PANTON HAM, ENGLAND.
"If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air."—PAUL, to the Corinthians.
Whatever may be the views of our readers in reference to our treatment of those topics which concern the human constitution, and the future reward and punishment, it must at least have been observed by them that our theological language is marked by a definiteness and precision which give an obvious distinctness and coherence to our opinions. It is always recognized as a maxim that, in scientific discourses, a well-defined vocabulary be employed, so that words shall never be used in a vague and dubious sense. The purpose of language is to communicate ideas, and unless this purpose be fulfilled, language is no longer an instrument of the thoughts and emotions of the mind, and is therefore useless. It may be generally accepted as a fact, that when the language of a writer or speaker lacks this quality of scientific accuracy, the ideas which he professes to impart are but very confusedly apprehended by himself. Confusion of language is generally the expression of confusion of thought, for it is seldom that a mind possessed of clear ideas, fails to make those ideas intelligible to others. The remarks on the necessity of scientific accuracy in the employment of language, have been suggested to us by observing its frequent disregard in theological treatises and discourses. Even when theology is discoursed of controversially, as well as popularly, we have observed this considerable defect. The very best theological writers will furnish us with examples, and we think we shall be rendering a service to the cause of truth, to call attention occasionally to the inaccuracies of language which their works contain. We beg, however, at the outset, to disclaim any intentional discourtesy towards the10witnesses we may have occasion to quote, and trust, that by conscientiously abstaining from any improper mangling of their works, we shall escape the odium of perpetrating a literary injustice towards them. Our object, we repeat, is very far from the gratification of a paltry, carping disposition; we seek only by honorable extracts from some of the more accredited of our theological authors, to justify our statement, that confusion of thought must have underlaid the obvious confusion of language, which in the calmness of their studious moods, they have penned and transmitted for the instruction of posterity.
The discriminating mind of the pious Philip Doddridge, escaped, no more than others of less accurate modes of thought and writing, the inconsistency of which we speak. In his paraphrase of Matt. x, 28, he writes, "But much rather fear, lest you should incur the displeasure of 'him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell,' and has power at the final judgment to condemn both to everlasting misery in that infernal prison." His own paraphrase, it is of course understood, is designed to explain the scripture text, for that was his object in furnishing his paraphrases. The reader will observe that this emphatic passage, where God is represented by our Lord as being able, and therefore by implication, being determined, in the case of the wicked, "to destroy," or cause to perish, "both soul and body"—even the whole man, in the flames of hell, Dr. Doddridge explains to mean, that God will inflict on the wicked the punishment of "everlasting misery!" Is it possible that both soul and body shall be destroyed, and yet preserved alive to endure "everlasting misery?" The Dr.'s exposition involves the absurdity, that a being may be destroyed, and yet preserved at one and the same time.
We turn to the pages of the eloquent John Howe, who, writing on the same subject, says, "Destruction from the Almighty; what a terror must that be! . . . and not for aught you know to have a handbreadth, not more than a breath, between you and eternal woes and flames!" Here the same strange sense of language is apparent. Can that punishment, according to the common usage of language, be called "destruction," which is described by this eminent man as the endurance of "eternal woes and flames?" Surely he must be curiously sensible that he is not destroyed, who is enduring woes and flames that shall be eternal!
President Edwards, one of the most awful preachers of the doctrine of endless misery as the punishment of the wicked, furnishes us with a large number of examples of verbal inconsistency in his printed discourses. Take the following illustration:—"Their souls they think are precious; it would be a dreadful thing if they should perish, and burn in hell forever!" What idea could this eminent, but sadly mistaken, man have had when he uttered this language? The word "perish," here surely is a very improper word to employ of those who shall "burn in hell forever." It is a strange violence done to language, to say that a man has perished who is burning in hell in conscious misery, and will continue to burn forever. Now the word "perish" is a term used in scripture to describe the future punishment of the wicked, but not so the phrase, "burn in hell forever." This last is the strange explanation which president Edwards gives of, the scripture word perish. The reader will judge for himself whether the explanation is a suitable one.
Here is a comparison from the pen of the same author, in his discourse on "The Justice of God." "What more base and vile treatment of God can there be, than for you, when justly condemned to eternal misery," &c. "It is more abundantly manifest that it is just that you should be destroyed." It is evident to the least reflective, that only one of these statements can be accepted. If it is just that the wicked be destroyed, then it certainly cannot be just that they be afflicted with the agonies of an eternal misery, and vice versa; although it would be hard to persuade a rightly balanced mind that it could be possibly just to subject any human being to the endurance of the latter punishment. But what a total disregard of our conventional idea of the word destruction does J. Edwards exhibit when he interprets it as synonymous with eternal misery!
The following is another passage in point:—"How just therefore is it, if, now at length, God ceases to oppose you, and falls in with you, and lets your soul be ruined; and as you would destroy yourself, so should put to his hand to destroy you too! . . . and at last cast you into a lake that burns with fire and brimstone; to be there to eternity, having no rest day nor night." How a being can be destroyed, and at the same time burning forever without intermission day and night, exceeds our comprehension. To effect such a ceaseless burning of the human being, our author should surely have represented God as putting forth his hand to render its subject indestructible. The word destroy is the last word he should have used.
The next example we shall present from the same author is the very extreme of extravagance—it is language turned lunatic—the very raving of rhapsody. "O then, how would your hearts sink, if you knew that you must bear it forever and ever! that there would be no end! . . . This is the death threatened in the law. This is dying in the highest sense of the word. This is to die sensibly; to die and to know it; to be sensible of the gloom of death. This is to be undone; this is worthy of the name of destruction!!" Here is a punishment which is to be consciously borne forever and ever, whose horrid endurance will know no end, and this punishment president Edwards assures us in what we must call the delirium of this declamation, is the death threatened in the law! This ever living is declared to be dying in the highest sense of the word! This miserable existence in acute anguish which can experience no end, "is worthy," so writes Jonathan Edwards, "of the name of destruction."!!!
The popular commentator, Albert Barnes, has fallen into the common orthodox snare. His "Notes" supply among others, the following examples: On the text, "Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life," he observes, "They are in danger by nature of perishing, that is, of sinking down to the pains of hell." By "pains of hell" he means, as he elsewhere states, a condition in which "the wicked will be miserable forever." We should be glad to be informed on what authority Mr. Barnes perverts the meaning of the word perish to signify a being miserable forever. Could any one, save a theologian, calmly assure his readers, that perishing means a sinking down to the pains of hell to be made miserable forever! Passing strange it is that two such contrasts in sense should be closely yoked together by the explanatory link, "that is," "Perishing, that is, sinking down to the pains of hell!"
On the passage on Matt. iii, 12.—"He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire," Mr. Barnes remarks, The "unquenchable fire is fire that shall not be extinguished, that will utterly consume it." (the "chaff.") "By the chaff," he says, "is represented 'the wicked.'" "They, (the wicked,) are represented as chaff which the fire consumes." And yet with strange inconsistency he sums up his note on this passage with the following words: "By the unquenchable fire is meant the eternal suffering of the wicked in hell." Mr. Barnes recognizes the comparison of the wicked to the rapidly perishable chaff; he deliberately tells us that the unquenchable fire is the agent "that will utterly consume," or burn up the chaff-like wicked, and then, anon, confounding the agent of punishment with the being punished and forgetting all he had said about the wicked being chaff, and being consumed—he coolly tells us, "By the unquenchable fire is meant the eternal suffering of the wicked in hell."!:
Such are a few out of the many examples which might be adduced to show the extremely unsatisfactory state of theological terminology. If theology aspires to the dignity and utility of an accurate science, it must revise its vocabulary, not only in relation to the subject of which this paper treats, but also in relation to other highly important topics of sacred interest. If the foregoing quotations, and our comments thereon, shall suffice to arrest the attention of the thoughtful reader, we have no fear but he will come to the same conclusion as ourselves, and that is, when a theological dogma can only be upheld in its appeals to the scripture by such marvelous abuses of language, there is strong presumptive evidence that the scriptures do not sanction that dogma, and that its real authority lies nowhere but in a mere tradition, handed unreflectingly down from the times of a dark and somewhat remote antiquity.
THE MISSION OF REFORMERS.
YE that for progress would be aught achieving,
Worthy your sacred mission on this sphere,
And in life's woof the golden threads be weaving;
To fill with an immortal beauty here;
Rouse for the contest—'tis no time to falter—
Wage endless war 'gainst folly, vice and crime;
And send the whip, the bottle and the halter
To slumber with the creeds of ancient time.
Long have man's wrongs been waiting to be righted;
But now the promised hour approaches fast;
The beacon fires on many a hill are lighted,
And the stern war-cry rises on the blast,
That shout has raised your enemies from slumber,
And as one man against you they unite;
Yet earnest hearts, however few in number,
When once in arms must triumph in the fight.
Your cause is holy: 'tis to guide the erring,
To lead the blind, and make the deaf to hear;
To win to virtue those who, vice preferring,
Plunge in the slough of crime without a fear.
To snatch from jaws of death the infant sinner,
To tear from sensual vice the yielding prey,
To aid with hope the resolute beginner,
Turn his face heavenward, and speed the way.
But ere the heart be thus regenerated,
Many a daring heart and hand it needs;
For those who act, thus far the cause has waited;
The age of progress asks not words but deeds.
Go then ye workers in the great progression,
Lift up your erring brothers from the dust,
And let no soul that bears a God's impression,
In crime or idleness corrupt or rust.
BARTIMEUS.
OR THE POWER OF CRYING PRAYER.
"And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And they who went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace; but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me." Luke xviii, 38, 39.
What an object of pity is here! Poor Bartimeus! at this remote period our heart bleeds for thee! Blind—born blind!—and so indigent as to have to sit by the wayside begging! Alas for thee! Deprived of the precious blessing of sight, by which so many pleasures and joys of life are received. Thine eyes had never seen the sun. The works of God were an unknown blank to thee. The beauties of nature, the countenances of friends, had never imparted one thrill of gladness to thy heart. Mournful case! And to all this was added abject poverty, even to begging. What has sin done! None such as this man were found in Eden, nor shall ever be met with in heaven. "My soul, repeat his praise," who, though I am not in Eden, nor in heaven, has so graciously distinguished my lot from that of Bartimeus. "What shall I render unto God?"
But in Bartimeus' physical and temporal circumstances, all can see their own individual moral state by nature, "Blind, born blind and beggars!" Blind to the glories of God, of his works and his word. Ignorant of one's self, of the Saviour, and of the way of salvation, is every man by nature; and not only so, but spiritually poor and blind. Men may fancy themselves increased in goods, and having need of nothing; but the truth is, they are "poor, and miserable, and wretched and blind and naked." The fact is, they are "ready to perish." Dear readers, do we feel it? have we realized it? have we cried to Jesus? are we enlightened, enriched, saved?
For man, all glory to God! for man, there is a Saviour, who is near, able, willing to save. Near, by his humanity; near, by his divinity. He comes into our world to seek and save us. Ah! it is he who seeks out the perishing sinner. We are found of him, not he of us. And that he is able and willing to save, let this beggar's deliverance testify.
It was to this Saviour blind Bartimeus was praying, "crying so much the more." And what a prayer it was! What an example it sets! what lessons of prayer it teaches! Would to God, says every christian heart, I could so pray, always so pray!
It was "crying, persevering prayer."
"He cried, and cried so much the more." Under the pressure of distress the mind pushes, forces its way through, struggles, wrestles, agonizes, to get God to be heard and helped. "He cried," and when rebuked to hold his peace, "he cried so much the more." He must be heard, must be helped. Now or never. The only Saviour from his malady was passing by, might never pass again; all his hopes were hung upon this one moment, and upon Jesus, and Jesus only; therefore he would not be silenced, would not give up, but "cried so much the more." Thou Son of David have mercy on me.
Ah! it is not fine prayers, nor eloquent prayers, but crying prayers, which attract notice, and are heard and answered. "Jesus stood still." O the power of crying prayer! Are my prayers such as to stop the way of my Jesus, and cause him to stand still? O for a baptism of such prayer shed down on the churches! "Jesus stood still." Tell it, reader, tell it if you can, what were now the beggar's feelings, his hopes, his fears, his deep anxiety, what? And what now were the deep workings of the compassionate mind of Jesus towards him, and what the expectations of the lookers-on! What a moment of breathless suspense! How every eye ran11between and upon the beggar and the Saviour. The suspense must have been painful.
At last the silence was broken; Jesus said unto him, "What wilt thou?" This was not the language of inquiry. He knew what the beggar wanted; but it was the language of compassionate Omnipotence, language which on an angel's lips would be blasphemy. By this inquiry a blank is put in the beggar's hand, to write upon what he would. The powers of God are at his command. "What wilt thou?" Write, speak, ask, "open thy mouth wide and I will fill it."
"Never man spake like this man."
"What wilt thou?" "Fear not; only believe and thou shalt see the glory of God." His glorious powers on thy behalf, and his glorious grace and good will to help thee. Is anything too hard for him who drove back the sea, and brought waters gushing out of the rock for Israel, his chosen?"—Selected.
The Dance at Moscow.
"A time to dance; a time to die." Eccl. iii, 24. During the occupancy of the city of Moscow by the French army, a party of officers and soldiers determined to have a military levee, and for this purpose chose the deserted palace of a nobleman, in the vault of which a large quantity of powder had been deposited. That night the city was set on fire. As the sun went down they began to assemble. The females who followed the fortunes of the French forces, were decorated for the occasion. The gayest and noblest of the army was there, and merriment reigned over the crowd. During the dance the fire rapidly approached them; they saw it coming but felt no fear. At length the building next to the one which they occupied was on fire. Coming to the windows, they gazed upon the billows of fire which swept upon their fortress, and then returned to their amusement. Again and again they left their pleasure to watch the progress of the flames. At length the dance ceased, and the necessity of leaving the scene of merriment became apparent to all.
They were enveloped in a flood of fire, and gazed on with deep and awful solemnity. At length the fire, communicating to their own building, caused them to prepare for flight, when a brave young officer, named Carnot, waved his jeweled glove above his head, and exclaimed, "One dance more, and defiance to the flames." All caught the enthusiasm of the moment, and, "one dance more, and defiance to the flames," burst from the lips of all. The dance commenced; louder and louder grew the sounds of music, and faster and faster fell the footsteps of dancing men and women, when suddenly they heard a cry, "The fire has reached the magazine! fly! fly for life!" One moment they stood transfixed with horror; they did not know the magazine was there, and ere they recovered from their stupor, the vault exploded; the building was shattered to pieces, and the dancers were hurried into a fearful eternity.
Thus it will be in the final day. Men will be as careless as these ill-fated revelers. Methinks the hour has come, and I stand upon an eminence, from which I behold the vices and amusements of earth. I warn them and tell them that in such an hour as they think not, the Son of man cometh. With jeering laugh they ask, "Where is the promise of his coming?" I bid them prepare to meet their God. They reply, "Pleasure is our God." I tell them of the awful judgment, and of eternity; crying "priestcraft," they again engage in a noisy revel. Soon an awful rumbling is heard in the heavens. A thousand voices tell them that the angels are rolling out the judgment throne. They reply, "One dance more, and defiance to that throne." Suddenly the stars go out, the moon turns to blood, all nature is convulsed, an unusual panic seizes the hearts of all men, when, horror-struck, I see some Carnot turn his blood-shot eyes upon the burning world, and waving his jeweled hand above his head, exclaiming, "One dance more, and defiance to that flame;" and ere that dance is done, the bolt is sped, the magazine of the universe explodes, and the time to dance is gone, gone forever, forever!—Ladies' Repository.
Dinner of Tongues.
Æsop was the servant or a philosopher named Xanthus. One day his master being desirous of entertaining some of his friends at dinner, he ordered him to provide the best things he could find in the market. Æsop thereupon made a very large provision of tongues, which he desired the cook to serve up with different sauces. When the dinner came, the first and second courses, the side dishes and the removes were all tongues.
"Did I not order you," said Xanthus in a violent passion, "to buy the best victuals the market afforded?"
"And have I not obeyed your orders?" said Æsop. "Is there anything better than tongues? Is not the tongue the bond of civil society, the key of science, and the organ of truth and reason? By means of the tongue cities are built, and governments established and administered; with it men instruct, persuade and preside in assemblies; it is the instrument with which we acquit ourselves of the chief of all our duties, the praising and adoring the gods."
"Well then," replied Xanthus, "go to market tomorrow and buy me the worst things you can find. This same company will dine with me, and I have a mind to change my entertainment."
When Xanthus assembled his friends the next day, he was astonished to find that Æsop had provided nothing but the very same dishes.
"Did I not tell you," said Xanthus, "to purchase the worst things for this day's feast? How comes it then, that you have placed before us the same food, which only yesterday, you declared to be the very best?"
Æsop not at all abashed, replied, "The tongue is the worst thing in the world as well as the best, for it is the instrument of all strife and contention, the fomenter of law-suits, the source of divisions and war, the organ of error, of calumny and falsehood, and even of profanity."
ENEMIES.
HAVE you enemies? Go straight on and mind them not. If they block up your path, walk around them, and do your duty regardless of spite. A man who has no enemies is seldom good for anything—he is made of that kind of material which is so easily worked that it resists nothing, while every one who thinks for himself, and speaks what he thinks, is always sure to have enemies. They are as necessary to him as fresh air; they keep him alive and active.
A celebrated character who was surrounded by enemies used to remark, "They are sparks which if you do not blow, will go out of themselves. Let this be your feeling, while endeavoring to live down the scandal of those who are bitter against you. If you stop to dispute with them, you do but as they desire, and open the way for more abuse. Let them talk—there will be a reaction if you perform your duty; and hundreds who were once alienated from you will flock to you and acknowledge their error. Follow this advice, and you will never have cause to regret it."
Mercy Overcomes Prejudice
"The sentiment of charity in the soul of man will derive more nourishment, vigor and dominion from a single act of mercy, than a fortnight's meditation. A good Samaritan does not dwell at home, indulging grievous reflections on the miseries of the unfortunate; he does his daily work, neglects not his business; and when on his way to market, he espies an afflicted, injured brother, he binds up his wounds, and takes care of him, and thus destroys his sectarian prejudice and his social pride at one gracious blow."
All in Christ.
By Molyneux
MAN, or woman, or child, do you want anything? Are you anxious about the matters of your soul? Are you disturbed? Are you ignorant? Do you feel, "It is wisdom I want," or, "It is righteousness I want," or, "It is peace I want," or, "It is power I want," or, "It is heaven I want?" Well, it is all in Christ. In the knowledge of him is eternal life. And do you understand, it is all with Christ? You do not receive it from Christ; you receive it with Christ. "He that hath the Son hath life." There is no salvation out of him. We become bound up in him by faith, and then all that belongs to him is ours. As it is all in him, it is all with him. Once more, it is all for Christ. Do you understand that every thing we receive is to go back to him?—it is given to us that we may glorify his holy name. Are we justified? Are we sanctified? Are we blood-bought? Are we temples of the Holy Ghost, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ? It is that we may have liberty to serve God, and glorify the name of our Redeemer. Thus all that salvation implies is in him, and all that salvation implies is with him, and all that salvation implies is for him, in time and eternity. My brethren, Christ is a root, Christ is a rock. He is a root of which flows the sap grace, through the branches, and the soul that is united to him, as a branch, receiveth it. He is the rock of ages; and the soul that is based on him, the gates of hell cannot prevail against; it shall rise up a mighty tower unto the skies, a building that shall manifest the wisdom, the power, the grace, and glory of God, throughout eternity.—Molyneux.
Faith Purifies the Heart
If you walk by faith you will never live in sin; faith purifies the heart; gives you to realize the presence of a holy God, and will set the whole force of the soul against evil.
The Young Christian and Temptation
Few things look worse than to see a young Christian sauntering in the street; it is courting temptation, and inviting Satan to lead you astray; hasten home to your calling, your closet, or your Bible.
Persecution as Religious Duty
Those are the most severe, relentless and deadly persecutors, who are actuated by what they regard as a religious duty.
"I Have Thought of it."
So said a young lady who had been reminded by a pious mother of a neglected duty. "Ah, but thinking of it does not do it," said her mother. "True," answered the daughter, "I have found it does not," and as soon as the opportunity occurred, the neglected duty was performed.
"I have thought of it." Ah, how many stop there in the holy purpose of doing good!
A church member sees a brother go astray: "Have you conversed with your erring brother?" No: "I have thought of it."
Do you know the state of mind of that young neighbor who is so constant at the prayer-meeting? Have you had any serious conversation with him?
"No, I have thought of it," is the chilling reply.
No doubt that erring brother has thought of reforming, and that impenitent neighbor has thought of repenting; but of what avail will it be, if their actions do not correspond?
The Prophetic Reformer
Should "God send into the bosom of the church a being with prophetic endowments; one who sees deeper than bishops and priests; one who moulds not his strange faith according to ancient human models, but gazes for himself and with his own eyes deep into the infinite mystery of truth, and who, dazzled by the splendor of the vision, breaks out in wrapt songs than the world has been wont to hear; one who goes straight and often to the Father of lights, and returns clothed with wonderful radiance, before which the thousands who were christened into fashionable piety stand amazed; he speaks new words; he proclaims new doctrines; he moves on in majestic derision of all worn-out standards of belief; the creed-bound church, though it had last week held a conference of solemn lamentation over its division, its dullness, its weakness, and its death, calls the teacher mad, the truth-seer a heretic, and the renovator, a dangerous, devil-inspired demagogue."
THE COMET AND THE END OF THE WORLD.
By Editor
A PERSON came into our Office the other day, to obtain a paper, as he wished to know if the world was really to be destroyed in June next by the expected comet. He doubtless thought to find a full discussion of the subject, as a matter of course, in our paper. But we are not doing that kind of business. It is none of our work to raise any excitement on such a foundation as this.
First, it is only some one out of a thousand astronomers who has predicted that the comet's path would bring it in contact with the earth at all; the main body of them deny any such result. And second, if the comet and the earth should, in their revolutions, both seek to occupy the same sphere at the same time, it remains to be proved that it would result in any damage to this planet of ours. According to the best light which science now sheds on the subject, it would not.
And yet there is an extensive alarm growing up in regard to it throughout the country; and we learn that "in portions of Europe the ignorant population are all in excitement." This is, of course, by many connected with "Millerism," and we are branded as fanatical alarmists. But it is not those who have a hope well grounded upon the prophecies and promises of God, that are ready to fall into convulsions over this phenomenon. The anxiety felt and manifested, is on the part of those who, if they have not made the coming of Christ and the end of the world, a matter of scorn and ridicule, have at least treated it with indifference and neglect. These are the ones to come to us and inquire if we think this may be the destruction which they have often heard us read from the word of God, should at an unexpected hour come upon the world.
But though this excitement is groundless, it is nevertheless of deep significance. It shows something. It reveals to us a state of feeling which our Saviour told us should exist in the last days; namely, that men's hearts should be failing them for fear.
The word of God presents considerations which should excite the deepest concern. The end of all things is at hand. The Judge standeth at the door. We have a surer foundation for our faith than to suppose that the destruction of the earth is committed to an erratic comet. The idea of the earth's destruction in the common acceptation of the term, we disclaim. We are told that it shall be purified by fire. When the elements shall melt with fervent heat; that this shall take place at the perdition of ungodly men, which is at the end of the 1000 years intervening between the two resurrections; that 1000 years previous to this time, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, and the righteous—the dead being raised and living changed—be caught up to meet him in the air. We are also informed what phases the world shall exhibit as we near this time; what signs shall be manifest in the natural, moral and political world. All these things may be known. They are written out in bold lines in the word of God; and all it costs to know them is the trouble of reading them. Upon whom then will rest the blame, if that day overtakes them as a thief? Let those who charge the humble expectants of their Lord with ignorant fanaticism, beware lest it redound upon their own head as ignorant infatuation.