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9*8 THE LEADER. [Saturday , - d* ¦ ' ¦ —...
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IJl-'K; ITS DANGERS AND DURATION. The'Dc...
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Theodore Parker's Mew Work. Theism, Athe...
Christianity , iliis Introduction we must entirely except from our previous strictures . It is written in the author ' s best manner , and is lull of fresh vigorous thought . Our readers will probably prefer a few extracts from it to further criticism . Why Christianity appears Miraculous . " What power there must . have been in the ideas and the lii'e of thoke men , to effect such a conquest in . such a time ! It is no wonder that many ordinary men , who know Christianity by rote , and heroism by hearsay , and who think that to join a fashionable church is to renounce the world , '—it is no wonder that they think
' Christianity spread miraculously , that God wrote a truth and sowed 'Christianity broadcast , and if men would not take it without , He harrowed it into them by miracle . Judging from their con sciousness , what is there that-they , know which could explain ' the spread of Christianity , and ( he heroism of a man laying his head , and his wife s and children ' s heads , on the block for a conscientious conviction ? Doubtless they are just and true to what is actual in themselves in believing that Christianity spread by miracle ; and if a man has not soul enough to trust that soul , it is easy to see how he may think that every great truth came by miracle . An Esquimaux would suijpose that a railroad car went miraculously . "
Characteristics of the Anglo-Saxon Mind . " The Anglo-Saxons are a burly-minded race of men ; more ethical than imaginative , artistic , or ¦ philosophical , they are the most practical people at this day in all Christendom . With consummate skill to organize things into machines , and men into industrial States , they have now the same controlling force in the practical affairs of the Teutonic nations , —yes , of Christendom ,- —which the Germans have in the world of pure thhnYmg . The Anglo-Saxon loves things ; the German , thoughts . The one symbolizes his individuality by a visible hedge about his field , distinguishing it from his neighbour ' s property ; the other by some peculiar idea of his Own ; one conquers new lands , accumulates material riches , and founds States } the other conquers ideas , accumulates vast intellectual treasures , and founds systems of philosophy end theology . The Anglo-Saxon is singularly direct , simple , and devoid of subtlety ; his mind , his Iangv . ago , and his government , are distinguished for plainness and simplicity—for absence of complication . He seizes tilings by their great relations , and
seldom understands the nicer complications which are so attractive to . the German . This simplicity appears also in the metaphysical systems of the Anglo-Saxons , and in their Theology . There are numerous sects in their churches ; but . they , depend , on obvious and palpable , differences , not on nice and abstruse distinctions . The sects differ . in the form of church-government—by Bishops , by EUWs , or the People ; in the form of the ritual—baptizing in babyhood' ' or in manhood , from a , porringer or a pond ; -in the aritbv . iet . ic of . deify—considering the Godhead as one perron cr as more than one ; in tiie damnation or . salvation of mankind . These and similar diflcrcnecs , easily comprehended by any one who can count his . fingers , are the matterr , on which the Anglo-Saxons divide into sects . The subtle questions v .- ' uch vexed the Greeks in tho Patristic ntrc , fho Italians ur , <\ Colt ? in the ' Scholastic age , or the modern Germans in- the Critical age , seldom disturb the sturdy and straightforward intellect of the English and American .- , intent on the ultimatum of practice , not the process of speculation . "
Want of Vitality i . v Ecclesiastical Institutions , " Take the whole Christian world at this Cir . y—where is the vigour , the energy , the faith in God , the lore for man which marked the lives of those periions who built churches with their lives ? Taken as a whole , the clergy of Christendom oppose the foremost fdoucc , justice , philanthropy , and piety of the ago . The ecclesiastical institutions seem to bear the same , relation to mankind now , as the ecclesiastical institutions of the Hebrews and Heathens two thousand years ago . Evoiy year the Science of the scholar . separates him further and further from tin ; Theology of the churches . The oncu united Church is rent into three . The infallibility of the Konum Church—who believes it ? the I ' opo , the superior Catholic clergy ? The Infallibility of the 33 ible , —its divine ; origin , its miraculous inspiration—do the Scholars of Chrir . tcnclom believe that in defiance of JMuthoinaticu , Physics , History , and Psychology ? They leave ic to the clergy . The ; Trinity in . shaken ; men lose
their fnith in the eilicacy of water-baptism , and other artificial wicninients , to save the houIh of men ; miracles disappear from the . belief of all but the dt > njy . Do they believe them ? The Catholic doubts the medieval miracles of hiy own Church ; it is in-vain that the Virgin Alary reappearr , iu Switzerland and Trance- ; that Saint JiiniiariuR annually liquifies his blood ; that , statue : ) weep ; thu stomachs of reapers refuse Much bread . It avails nothing to threaten . scientific doubters with eternal bell . Superior tain it forsakes the Church , —even in Catholic countries , there are few clergymen of genius , or even groat talent . In ' Protestant Germany theological , ; . > enius tenches in the college , not in the pulpit : and with now science ' destroys the medieval opinions it was once set to defend . Will the spirit of the human race come back and reanimate tho dry bones of dead Theology ? When tho nnmnnie : j of TKgypt . t . h :: ll worship again their half-forgotten gods—Osiris , Oru . s , Apis , Lsi . s ; when mankind goes back to the ; other NcienoeM of half-savage life ,, tho Theology of that peri'xl nuiv Ik ; welcomed again , iV < t till then .
" What need there if ) of u new religious life ! Tho throe «; mit , public foives of the lending nalione ; of Christendom , —Uusine . 'iy , Politics , and the Press , nxcitc a great intellectual activity . Christendom wan never ho thoughtful m now . Shall ' this great movement of inind he , imreligious , witJiout conwioiisneHsof ( lod ? Jt will not be controlled by tho Theology of the Christian Church . Hut it is not a wicked ago . 'What philanthropies an ; thorn newborn in our time P Catholic 1 'Vnnce is rich in ( lie litemture of chnriiy , fdisiuiing tho haughtiness of tho Anglo-Saxon Church . Yv . t within not ; many years at what great ; cost bus England net free , uhmmi , a million men ' owned' sis i-lnves ! Niiy , Russian Nicholas eninncipate . 'i bis nitI ' m . Socialists week to nbolish "poverty , mill sill the curses it brings on ' the body ami the spirit of
man . Wiso men begin to see that , tho majority of criminals siro tin ; victimi ) of society move than its focu , and week to abolish tho ciuiuen of crime ; what puins arc taken with fb (;]) oo .-, the crazy , the lame , flu ; blind , the < leaf , the dumb ; nay , with the fool ! Great men look at the condition of wonmn—uml gonixonn hearted women riiie tip to oinmicinato their sex . 'I'Jie churches nro busy with their Theology mid their ritual , mid cannot sittond liuicli to these great , bunmiio movements ; they nuuit , uppe'ire the ' \ vr ; till of ( Jod , ' or baptize men ' s bodies with waiter and their niinds with wind . Still tin ; work goes on , but without a corresponding consciou . 'jne . 1 of Clod , iind connexion with tho religious emotions . No wondor Chrifitendoin fieer . i : ; tending to ^ iimrehy . Hut , it w only jhe auurcliy which cornea of the , breaking up of diivlcnenH . "
Throughout t he volume we alight here and there on passages worthy of quotation ; but we must confine ourselves to two . ^ The Theological View of Divine Manifestations . " The authors of the popular theology had no conception of a uniformity of force , no conception of a universal law , whereby the Infinite God works in the world of matter and of spirit-. —in short , no conception of the Infinite God . So theolooiana make two forms of operations in the universe . One is the ' work of Nature / by means of law—a constant mode of the operation of a constant force ; the other is the ' work of Grace / by means of miracles—inconstant modes of the operation of an inconstant force . "Wheat grows out of the ground by the laws of Nature , and is not thought , in theology , eminently to show the goodness of God ; but when Jesus is said to have made five loaves feed five thousand men , besides women and children i
__ " 1 1 _ I i ' i i-- ^ 1 T _ 1 " _ " 1 J _ l _ . / . * J 1 li w . > and leave twelve baskets of broken bread , that is thought a miracle , to reveal the immense power of God , and to show much more of his goodness than the wheat growing from the bosom of the earth , century out and century in , and furnishingfood for the whole human race . Newton writes the Principia of the universe he writes by the 'li g ht of Nature' and describes only the ' work of Nature / and it is considered , theologically , a small thing . St . Judo writes an epistle of twent y-five verses and it is claimed that he wrote by the ' light of miraculous inspiration f \\\ s book is a ' work of Grace / a miracle ; and the production of Jude is thought to be incomparably greater than the Principia of Newton , with the Mecanique Celeste of La Place thrown in . ' Newton and La Place / says this theology , write by the carnal reason , and their works are fallible ; while Jude wrote by miraculous inspiration , and his writings are infallible / "
The Great Hopb . "God is democratic and loves all , but the odds between & he natural gifts of- John and James may be greater than the difference betwixt the plains of Lombardy and the Alps which look down thereon . Men may try to forget this fact ; America may put little , mean men with mediocrity of intellect , into her president ' s chair ; mayput little mean men with ordinary mind and with feeble conscience , with inferior affections and a paltry soul , into their pulpits ; but God still goes on creating his great masterly men , with immense intellect and commensurate moral , affcctional and religious powers , who , while they come to bless , perforce must overawe and terrify the littleness which burrows in state and church : men who receive the earliestsalutation of new-rising truth , and shed it down , reflecting from far up the Higher Law ' s intolerable day en president and priest . Alas ! great minds have hitherto been commonly tho tyrants of tho times , oppressors in the state , and wor ss
oppressors in the church : and lmniblo men believed that God was only Might , not also Kight arid Love ; so they paid a base and servile homage to the great ojipressor , and trod down justice ,, mercy , love , in their haste to kneel before a Pope or King . Jetius of Nsizarcth i 3 still exceptional in the World ' s long life ; Napoleon is Jnstnntial . lint if selfish popes and kings are common history , ' tho self-denying Christ is prophecy of what one day shall bo . Per as God matlo the mountains . Tfcouy , huge twA tail , that they , screening the vale below , might wrestle with the storm , and clot-he their shoulders with ice anil snow , —spoil wrung from-the wayfarhig cloud , —and therewith robe the . plains beneath in green and vari-ccloured dress ; sohas . Ilo made groat , mnuntdnoua-jmndcd men as forts of defence for all the reel-, r . iul trcasuriro of help . Great men shall not always misuse their five talents , nor little : ne : i hide their one piece of the Lord ' s snuill money in the ground ; mankind Ion . " ; stumblinfif ^ viil- one day learn to walk . "
Notwithstanding the serious defects )} we have noticed in tills work , we can conscientiously recommend our readers to make themselves acquainted with it . _ Compared with what we have learned to expect from Theodore Parker , it is disappointing ; but compared with the sermons which issue from the majority of pulpits , it id a treasure of wisdom and beauty . One merit of Mr . . Parker , and in this ho is favourably contrasted with some reverend authors in Vnir own country , is his " great plainness of speech . " His writings need no key . He wishes to say precisely what he thinks , and lie succeeds , lie is a sincere , stedfast man , \ vho may , without any affoctation , appropriate tho famous words of Luther : " Let me be refuted .. the clearest .-ivguinents ; otherwise I cannot and will not recant ; for it i ' s neither safe nor expedient to act against conscience . Here I take my stand ; I can do no otherwise , so help me ' God ! Amen . "
9*8 The Leader. [Saturday , - D* ¦ ' ¦ —...
9 * 8 THE LEADER . [ Saturday , - d * ¦ ' ¦ ——¦>——i ^ , - < W >> M > M 1 > 11 | —L ' . - . T ill ! ¦¦ ' — " ... T , .. - _ -- _ , „ . ., ¦ i . .- ¦ - - _ .. _ . .
Ijl-'K; Its Dangers And Duration. The'dc...
IJl- 'K ; ITS DANGERS AND DURATION . The'Dcclini -of Life , in Health and J / httnr ; bcAmj an attempt to inrcntiijitle the . causes of Lonurvit , / , and Hit : litml metnts of attaining Old Aqc , J 5 y JJnrnaid ' Van Ovou , BM > . l ' m-n Id * . < i , / . * ' Chnrcliill . Ilufdand ' s Art of VvaV . nitjiug Life . V {\\ ivi [ Ivy Krasnms Wilson , IMt . S . Price 2 . v . 6 . 7 . Cliincliill . Health ; , Skin : < i popular Treati * c . on tht-Skin and Hulrjhch- Prcxcrvatlm and Mannijevu-,, 1 . Jiy Kriisinnii Wilwn , F . R . S . Fourth Kditio . i . I ' rico - Js . ( id . Chnreliill . Mano , r * ofa Stomach . Written b , i Himself : Thai till who eat may read . With Notes Cnticul and Kxpluimtnry by n Alini . sttn- ofllio Interior . \ V . E . I \ iinter . [> KC : ON 1 > A HTM Mi . ] In treating- of the mode of attaining old nge , Dr . Van Oven commences by tho judicious remark , that as man attains maturity by the regular exercise of all hia powers , physical and mental ; each tiMmulafing and sustaining tho other , . so likewise will he attain old age by thus activity of all tho functions . " Tho longest livcrfi—noldicrs , paupers , labourers , &(• ., have mostly been those who wore often exposed to many and varied changes , and who wereconstantly called on to miiko considerable exertions ; for . such exertions rather sustain than exhaust , stud invigorate the general system by culling forth the variety of its powers and resources ; but if any attempt bo made to incrcnfio indefinitely tho natural powers , whether of body or mind , a goucrul decay or destruction of both will l > o the consequence . When , for example , h bo Jittemptcd to attain excessive muscular power by constant practice and exertion , by the taking undue quantities of . solid or nutrient , food , or by uny of those menus Auniliar to trainorn for the prize-ring , an undue balance between tho functions of nutrition aud absorption results , the quantity of blood is increased , tho circulation mtiniulated ; and , in a word , a plethoric condition induced , which may tend to tho development of any hereditary disease , or the formation of some new evil . If tho powers of the mind bo overtaxed , if the brain be worked too lon ^ , similar effects will result , — -too much blood will How to that organ , tho due balance- between the nutritious and regenerative procofisos will he broken , disease of ' the brain and } of tho wjiolo nervous eystoiu will result . '? ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 8, 1853, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08101853/page/18/
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