Gospel Herald, 1859-10-22

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Deiroted. to ChT-ii^tianity, Moi'ality, th.e Iiaterest-s of Salaliath Scliools, Social Im.pi'ovemortt, Teinperaiice, Ed-acation   and Geneifal Nf
BEnOLD,   I   BRING   YOU   GOOD   TiniNGS   OB   GKEAT   JOY  ....   ON   EAKTH   PEACE,   flOOB   AA'ILL   TOAVARD   MEN.'
VOL. 16.
DAYTON, 0., SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1859.
NO. 24.
ORIGINAL POETRY.
irrittflii for ihe Gospel Jlerald.
I Love to Sing.
HY I!. imiLHY.
I loTO to sing of Jesus,
Wiio died upon tlie tree; I love to sing fiis priiises,
For lie ivas slain lor nie. He suffered to redeem mo,
And washed mc in his blood; He will from death relievo me,
And talio mo home to Ciod.
I love to sing of father-s.
Whose spirits are at rest; I love to sing of mothers,
"Whose homes are with tlieblent- By faith I see them shining,
In robes of spotless white; Ind with the angels singing,
Around the throne of light.
I love to -sing of heaven.
Yon everlasting dome; Where all who are forgiven.
Shall find a peaceful home- Where sickness, psiin and anguish,
Are felt and feared no more; All sin will then be banished,
From that delightful shore. PaUiUine, Pickaway eo., Oliio.
ORIGINALITiES.
Written for the Gospel Herald.
Divine Origin ot Christianity, He 4.
BY  JAMES MAPLE.
God hag commnnicatotl liis AA'illto man. lie has niatlo such a reA^elation of himself as tho v^ants of man roqniro; antl this revelation is contained in tho Bible. This is tho depository of tho di¬ vine Avill. Here we havea sy.stcm of di¬ vine truth, and a code of mortils adniir- hly suited to tho Avants of the luiman mind.
The ohristianity ofthe i3ible i-s eith¬ er tho production of G-od or man. It 18 either tho effect of a su])ern;itnral cause, or it is the AVOrk of man. Xoav I a-ffirni Avithotit anyhesittitioii that tlio system of religion rcvcalodin tho Biblo is tin eil'ect that the human mind is not capable of producing, it is a Avork en¬ tirely beyond tho roach of the hitman intellect. No adequate |Ctinso can be fuiind for it, in the pOAA'crs antlpassion--; of human nature. It is true that hu¬ man powers are not strictly define], and AVC aro not able to say precisely Avhat limits they cannot pa.ss; but tlio disproportion between the eft'ect and the powers of human nature maybe so \-ast as to Btriko tho mind A\'it,'h such force as to satisfy it at once that tho effect is inexjjlicablo by hnman power. I know not what advances tho uncul¬ tivated intellect of tbe Arab of the de¬ sert nniymake; yet, that it Avould'pro¬ duce tlio ''Paradise Lost" of Milton, is about as plain aa that bo conld ere- ato n Avoi'ld. WhilelknoAV not at Avhat point bodily strength must stop; yet, I may be safe in asacrting that a man could not carry the Andes on hia shoul¬ ders.
Tho queationthen,Avliether thcprinci- ples and passions of human nature, under tho circumstamccs in Avhich it Avas placed at the birth of Christ, Avas able to produce the christian religion.
is oneAvhich avc are capable of ansAver- ing- Now I affirm that hnman nature is incapable of producing tlio chris¬ tian religion, and this is clearly deni- onstrateil from the nature of this reli¬ gion, the sublime vieAvs that it giA-'CS u-s ofthe character of God, the nature of the sonl, of moral duty, of the future state, and all the circnmstances of its establishment and progre.ss in the AV'orld-
1- The vieAvs that the scriptures give ns of the paternal character of God, is, such aa could never have been diseoA'ered by the human mind alone- God is rcA-'caled as the grctit universal Father of all, animated by the strong¬ est paternal love for his creatures, dis¬ pensing his blessings to till the human family, Avatching OA'or all Avith a pater¬ nal interest, affording them dlA'ine as¬ sistance in their struglcs aftor Anrtnc, and fbr the mastery of evil, as taking cognizance of all events from the fal¬ ling of a sparroAA^, up to the rcA'olutions of empires, the fall of kingdoms, and the destruction of nations- What a grand, sublime, interesting, and Ioa'o- ly character is here revetded! The hu¬ man mind, unaided and alone, has nev¬ er been able to arrive at such just, correct, consistent, and sublime views of the divine character- Tn none of the diiferont religions systems of the eartli, do Ave find such sublime vioAvs ofthe Deity. In all these systems, we find the Deity represented as sustain¬ ing a peculiar relation to the nation for Avhoni the system Av^ti-s designed. In none of these systems is lie represen¬ ted as the great nniArersal Ptither, sus¬ taining tho same relation to all men, and exercising a paternal regard for, and care over all. Even, the most strenuous adA-octitos ofa divine provi¬ dence, among tho heathen philosophers, taughtthat bis caro did not extent! to all men—-that he only Avatched OA'or the interests ofthe great and tho lear¬ ned, and thathe did not interest him¬ self in the affairs of the common peo¬ ple. Many of the heathen philoso- ]ihers believed that tho supreme Deity did not intero-sthimselfAvith the affairs of this Avorkl; but AvithdrcAV himself entirely from its interests, and loft it to the care of inferior Gods. They be¬ lieved tho Sun, Moon and Stars, to bo intelligent beings, and to have the caro ofthis AYorld. Plutarch argues, that it is tmAvorthy erf tlio Supreme Majesty, ami inconsistent with his Iiap])iiics8, to busy himself about tho affairs ofthis world- Some oftbo philosophers di- Addcd tho atf'airs ofthe universe be¬ tween tlio Supreme Doity and Fatc-— Plato says,''that God, and avith Goil, Fortune and Opjiortnnitv, govern the alfairs of men.'' According to the phi¬ losophers, the Su]iroinc Majesty ira's himself governed by Pate, and unable to control some events. Jupiter is re¬ presented asconiyilainingtlmt tho Pates Siad decreed that liis son iSarpeaon should die, ;ind therefore, it AVas not in his power -;o -s-t-ve him. Tho learned and elegant Pliny says, that itis ri- dicalouH lo imagine thtit the (iJ-od Atdio ia supremo take-s any care of human affairs; and Tactions was of the opin¬ ion, "that neither our beginning nor end, nor men at all, are ininded by the Gods." Though the philosophers believed that the '"Gods bestoAved ont- Avard good npon man; yot they de- niodithat they afforded any assiskance to
establish man in virtue-Theyforbid man to ask tho Gods to give them spiritual strength, and according to some of them, a good man Avas superior tothe Gods- Plato believetl tho supreme God to be perfectly unintelligible, un¬ employed, and uninterested in the af¬ fairs of man- The Epiourian philoso- ])hers believed that the Deity Avas per¬ fectly idle, and unconcerned about the interests of man- These wore tho high¬ est conceptions that tho most enlight¬ ened and cultivated minds of antiquity Avere capable of conceiving ofthe Di- viuH Being- Hero ^vi.'. have a melan¬ choly proof of the insufficiency of rea¬ son to give us cletir, consistent, antl sublime views of the character of Gofk The history of mind clearly demon¬ strates the fact thatthe light of nature is not sufiicient to reveal "to us the pa¬ ternal character of God, and that un¬ aided, the human mind could never litiA'e discoA^ered the sublime and thril¬ ling truth, that God is the great uni- A'ersal Father of all, and is animated by a paternal love and caro for alk
2- The inculcation of universal char¬ ity and lovo is a peculiar feature of Christianity. This duty Avas never in- ctdcatcd until it Avas tinfoldoti in the teachings of Christ, and exempliflod in his life. All the heathen philosophers, Avith the exceptions ofa few eminent sages, taught that roA'cngo Avas right, and a virtue; and the most enlighten¬ ed and polished nations of antit|uity held that it was right for them to con¬ quer and enslave all that interest or ambition might lead them to. Among allthe philosophers, moralists and phi¬ lanthropists of antiquity, there Avas not ono that ever taught tlio duty of lov¬ ing our onemies as ourseh'os, and man¬ ifesting towards tlieni tbe same tender regarcl tintl spirit that God does to- Avards tbe sinner; and of returning curses, and injuries with prayers and blessings- A system of philanthropy proposing and toiling to do good unto all men, and of lovo embracing all men, of all ranks and stations, and even tlio hated publican and tho despised Samaritan Avas unknoAvn, jirior to the advent of Christ- None oftbo heath¬ en philosophers Avere able to I'ise above the spirit, prejudiecs, and hnvs of tho age, and tlie passions of liuman na,ture, so far, as to bo able to conceive a sys¬ tem of love and benevolence that Avould cnshiA'-e all men, and pour bles¬ sings and prayers upon tlie heads of our Avorsl enemies- This featui'O of Christianity is beyond tho farthest ad¬ vances ofthe powers and passions of human nature, and clearly demon- stratos tho divino origin of Christiani¬ ty-
;-',- Tho adaptation of ehistianity to become a nnivcr-sal religion all'oi'ds strong evidence of its divine origin-— Christianity is admirably atlapteil to the Avants, capacities^ find situaLiouof all men, of all nations, of nil clinioH- aiul proposes notliing siiort ofthe sal¬ vation of all men i'rora hill, ;ind tbeii restoration to the divine iniiige- 'I'his is a feature that belongs to Christian¬ ity alone- .All the dit'i'crent systems of religion, atiidf. from christianil-y, Avere formed for some particular nation and tor that nation alone. None Avero termed iiir, or tlesigncdto be a univer¬ sal religion. None of the philosophers of antiquity ever conceived ao A'ast an idea  as tha formiing of a aystera of re¬
ligion that Avould embrace all men of all nations. The philosophers had but^ littlo sympathy for tho common peo¬ ple; and indeed, they looked upon the mass of men as hopelessly lost in ignor¬ ance, superstition, and sin. In Chris¬ tianity avo find nothing ofa local na¬ ture. It does not breathe the spirit of tho age in Av'hich it originated. Its teachings and provisions are not adap¬ ted to, and confined to one nation alone; but it addresses all men in the samo language, tmd makes provisions lor the salvation of all. Thisiathe most grand and sublime idea that CArcr en¬ tered the human mind, and ia Avholy iiiexplicable Avith the principles and passions of human niituro, and the sit¬ uation of Christ. He Avas a .few and the stronge-st pas-sion of a Jew was that ho Avas superior to all other men, the chosen faA'-orite of hetwen, tmd that the Jews were the peculiar people of ti-od. The Avail bctAVocn tlic Jews and all other nations seemed to rise as high aa heaA-en. The last place that Ave Avould look for the origin ofa uniA'er- sal religion Avonld be among tho Jews; hut hero originated a -system ofreligion adapted to the Avaiits of all men, and proposing the salvation of all. This is wholy inexplicable on any othor prin¬ ciple than its tliAino origin.
Written for tie Uo»pd Jlerald.
Observer, Ko. 4.
B-—Br- A- Well Sir—I must say that I am surprised to hear that. I have been of tho opinion that our church and congregation have been among tho number ones in this cotiiitry, for pay¬ ing our preachers; and avo hiiA'-e had several ofthe number-one ministers, and I -supposed that that thing was all settled long since. I Avas much pleased Avith onr 7iew ininister, and paid but little tittcntion to such small matters as that. HoAvever, when I come to think about it, I do remember to have heard something said about the mat¬ ter several months since, Avhen Ave said Ave Avould settle the thing all up. At that timo ho consented to have his claim shaved about ten or pfteen dollars, which I eonsidorcd a lirat rtite thing for us; but I think it w:is on tho con¬ dition that Ave Avould pay np-soon, and now I have my fears ttbout bis stand¬ ing that siiaA-e on the claim, the thing has been ni\glected too long. Perhaps he raiglit ytit bo -\villing to take loss titan the full amount of the claim, and he contented with it- I do think that sonic one had better seo hiiii, and ask I him in a kind nuiuner to aid us in pay- i ing it, con.senting to havo it shaved I pretly tlecp—tell hira that these are I hard times—money is hard to obtain, j to ]);iy old debts Avith- If thia arrangc- ' incut' ean bo made, I am Avilling to do my part and have the old tiling closed up. This thing must he tlcue, or it will stand against us iluring all time So come, tmd then be called, ap as an himost unpaid debt in the last jtidg- ment of the great day- ¦ Ju-st tliink how itAVOuld Koum! lo have this thing called out before tdl tin; Avorld in tho last great day. lint lam alittle too fast-^my ibe-iingH ai't3 getting the bet¬ ter of my judgment; let mo see, it is an old claim and'there is no hail on it,and I think he had better take a part of it than none, and say no more about it; and I am ofthe opinion that he will