Show belief of all the thousands of ministers carist abroad there is none who has risen to a lusher eminence among tho sectarian believers than ward beecher the eloquent preach M of plymouth church brooklyn in a recent cormon be stated hi re legious faith quite explicitly and although we by no meant oin cide with his views cither single or iu the whole we cannot but dmm chein interesting enough for our read era who will learn thereby bow near with truth is falsehood mixed and bow easy i the step from the suh lime to the ridiculous in speculative devoid of tho beau of revelation for thirty four year I have ns deavo red to follow this injunction said mr beecher on sunday morning after announcing as his text the seventh to the fifteenth verse ot the second chapter of the epistle of paul to titus how imperfectly none so well know as I do it has been dono constantly sincerely earnestly but with manifold imperfections recently it ha been proclaimed that I have made a new departure that I have taken ground in which I have not oly forsaken the truth but which would place me in sympathy not only with those who are spoken of as liberal minded but even with those who have assumed an infidel po this has been spread abroad by the press very fully to those who sit under my ministry regularly it not needful to reply to this but to those who read my sermons for profit and to those of my christian brethren who may be led to stumble or to useless disputatious disputations thereby it may be needful for me to deiy as tar as the time will allow me on what ground I blend and to allude to the salient points in my religious belief I shall therefore briefly touch on the following topic the inspiration of the bible the sinfulness of man conversion the trinity the doctrine of the father the saviour and the boly spirit the atonement and retribution on the question of the church and its ordinances din ances I ahall not have time to speak and this is a topic that is of secondary importance I believe that gol in every ago and in all nations has moved upon the hearts of men through the holy spirit inspiring them to whatever i true or noble and that the scriptures of the old and new testament are the fruit of inscription and I believe with the apostle that all scripture is given by the divine inspiration of god and that it is profitable for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness that the man of god may bo perfected and thereby strengthened in all good works I believe that a true understanding of gods word may b gained by a careful study ef the facts of nature and that the true view of the inspiration of scripture if best found by a continuous and careful study of those facts I believe that a persistent disregard of the study of he nature of god and the bible is to carry men back again into bondage and to drive outliers to the use of casuistry in the interpretation of th scriptures with increasing yeara and increasing experience I more and more value the bible from the beginning to the end it tells men thatis is evil to do wrong and urges upon them the ding of good and the following of it I believe that every man WM born without holiness moral sense enao linn ht ha rapacity for all these things is developed by after work and that men come gradually to knowledge jofh e laws of nature of men of society and that the divine lawn awaken an expert ex peri enee that as men arrive at yer of discretion prepare them for anac and acceptance of influences that are in harmony with ahe laws I believe that the whole human race is in various cons editions of guilt and i of such a character as to need a divine I believe that god exer an influx enco upon the human soul by it h turned in the direction of moral good and its whole nature changed and braueht under divine influence and that god reveals himself to men eflowly gradually and partially and that he has thug revealed himself in the vow testament as father god son and holy ghost without attempting to define the nature of divine existence I accept the tion of gods nature as triune and as being a triune god with specific individuality but in reference to thi belief the church did without it for beirs and a man can be a good man without believing in r J believe also in be divine nature ot christ reject tho clamae in the Athan osian creed that christ is both human and divine I believe in rendering to christ the completes hora ase of which the human ie c f pable I believe in the holy ghost and that regard to the divine mind it in an influence thai largely premises human activity I belaev in the atonement not aa a plan as a historic act an occasion er a device to aid humanity in escaping the penalty of a broken law I believe that the atonement is the outcome of a divino love and ahat this is found in the life the teachings thetus erines and the resurrection of chrit I be licko beyond that that out of these facts come influences that test upon the heart of man by which it is brought into sympathy gym pathy with the din Tine lovo out of all the and iea of modern I rest firmly and go back heartily to an endorsement indorsement indor of the creed As to retribution I believe thai conduct in his world has a powerful influence upon the happiness and condition of men in the world to come that tho testament did not teach the doctrine of retribution as part of h truth does not alter that the nw loea teach it explicitly that jesus christ diaso teach it and did put it aa a motive to good men o turn back their fellows from all evil yov beyond thata to tho duration and final outcome of retribution do not think tho scriptures give any dc finate declaration whatever J believe beyond this i mero theory in other words opinion and not that of knowledge the difference between me and salista and an htmat they have distinct view as a creed a to the final outcome of retribution I hold vieng as to tha nature and of retribution which are obtained simply by conjecture I think with the that evil done hero is not ended here but goes spirit to the world beyond i |