OCR Text |
Show Till; MOK I, OF THE ISKVii-' In a r ui-iCuurse ruviuwing the B'-ecii'-c-T:lton cx-c the lie v. Florence McCaithy, i Chicago, after ably funni.ing up the li.-.nling evidence and arriving r.t tin njnclu.iion that Mr. i litre her u K;nlty, .riiiiiig'y AntA ( out the nior.i ol'liie Plymouth Cnurch iciiidal as appliebie to the Chriiti-anity Chriiti-anity of Uu;d.y. McCarfny contends j that tho religious pulpit and pre&s j must f.dl win B.:eclier, 'uuless they at ouzc (ipcak out in denunciation of j his coudiict, and demand hU dethronement de-thronement a a Chrbtian minl-tcr, 1 adding: The Chri-itiauiiy of our d iv "w a ( m'i'bid ai.d corrupt tronth. It om- j f.aL-i, in some church , of t'nc idola-: try of emotion, and in llie vol, of the idolatry of aentiment. Iu the B.p-liat, B.p-liat, PrL-aljyierian ani Mt-thoilist cliurcht'H, religion means to-day ten-dernc-Hj of heart on religious subjects. It does not mean a sweet temper, a forgiving di. -position, practical benevolence, be-nevolence, honesty in buvim ;., or purity between tlie .-cX'-.h. It means a tear under a powerful sermon on tho crucifixion, or at the recital ot a pathetic story aUnit a ly mg ir i com-tnitlmg com-tnitlmg hi-r-clt into the hands of the Savior. The pious man is the man who crie?, wnether he swindles his workmen and breaks every commandment com-mandment in the decalogue or not. In the .Episcopal, Congregational ist, Unitarian, Universalis!, and riweden-borgian riweden-borgian chiuvhes, religion consists in the contemplation and admiration ol Ifcautiful ideas and principles. Me who goes into the greatest ecslacies over pulpit essays or orations on the beauty of heroism, ot benevolence, of uiihelfishncssuess ; on tho beauty of the heavens, on the beauty ot tho mountains, tho beauty of the ocean, the beauty of beauty, is the burning and shining liht of tho church, though ho frequent the theatre or the faro-bank, though he be a continual toprr, and have a .lecidedly bad name on 'Cliangfc. It is actual')- alarming to behold how completely religious tmolion and religious sentiment have been divorced from religious principle. We used tc sing, twenty years ago, "Wo crmrot live in sin, And fi'ui a Savior's love." But now, alas! it seems as if the freshness, exuberanco. and energj ol a man's religious emotions were no more a pledge of a puro life than an election to Congress is a proof of patriotism. And, if the truth must be told, the churches are becoming, in consequence, very corrupt. Church discipline has beco ue obsolete and impossible. U'a have tho form of gullincss and deny the power thereof. there-of. One of the causes of this evil, which is also one of its effects is the moral cowardice of the puipit. The preachers preach-ers of tho d iy have timidly refrained from preaching morality, and abandoned aban-doned themselves to easy-going and popular theories until tliev have transformed their congregations into spiritual voluptuaries. Tiny arc. too venal and pe'fish, too much enlnved to tlittcry, and too mortally afraid of a rich man's frown to preach a cans-: tie truth once iu a month. We hear no scorching sermons ou formality I and hypoeiisy such as wj used to hear. There are no discourses dc livored on lying and theft, on drunk-j enncss and adultery, such as i hero used to be. The nasLors atan 1 with- in a circle of blooming roses findi preach about nothing but the nobility I of human nature, and the sweets of immortality. Verily, I s-'j unto you, they have their reward. Plymouth church is at ouce the symbol and Jculmiation of this evil tendency of the times. Pastor and i people, they have given themselves up entirely to rhododendrons and rainbows, to symphonies and poems, to broad views, to progress, to brir-liant brir-liant speculation and sentimental gushes, to mutual admiration and to pastoral idolatry. And now they are reaping the crop that might have been expected from such seed. They have sown unto the flesh, and they have reaped corruption. They have sown the wiud and rciiped the whirlwind, whirl-wind, Thi-y- have sown self-adulation and i-jif indulgence, and they have reaped tho most remarkable crop of Pharisees and free-lovers that ever sprang up on American soil. I - Tho truth is, there must lake placo pretty soon a reformation in Christianity. We aro in dire ncd to-day of another Luther or White-field, White-field, to inaugurate a great Christian movement iu the interests of old-fashioned old-fashioned morality. What are our gorgeous and extravagant houses of worship in this city but so many religious re-ligious club houses.' What are the churches themselves but social cliques, loathsome nests of gossip, scandal.an-gry scandal.an-gry passions, uumberless divisions, and eudless feuds? And they are in greater danger of speedy extinction than they dream of. If real churches do not take their places, Christianity, in twenty years, will be a thine of the past. Oh! for a latter-day cleansing of the temple! not now with a whip of small cords, but with a besom of destruction. Let the reformation begin be-gin at ouce, say I. let tho crucible bo brought forth, and the fire kindled, and the church and all the ministers bo thrown into it, and if any are saved, let it be so by fire. "Oh! God, the heal lieu are come into Thine inheritance ; Thy holy temple havo they have defiled I Yc are become a reproach to our neighbors, neigh-bors, a 6corn and a derision to them that aro around about us. Pour out ihy wrath upon the heathen, heath-en, that have not known Thee, and Tiy name. v 8o we. Thy people, peo-ple, and the sheep of Thy pasture, will give Thee thanks forever; we will show forth Thy praise to nil geu- |