The doctrine of Christ Jesus' descent into hell is emphatically part of the Christian belief, although not alluded to by Christian divines excepting when unavoidable. In the first place, it is taught in the Creed of the Christians, wherein it s
After "man's shameful fall," the earth began to be populated at a very rapid rate. "The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. . . . . There were giants in the earth in
We have seen that Unity of Intention is necessary to congregational worship. When a few people, animated by the same sentiments, are drawn together by one motive, and incur the same dangers, it matters little whether they use a form of worship or n
"When ye pray, say, Our Father, &c." S. Luke xi. 2. We can now understand why the Lord's Prayer is used twice in the same Service. The Praises begin with it and the Prayers begin with it. The setting of {17} the Lord's Prayer will always proc
The worshippers are divided into two or more parties who take up their parts alternately, or together. It is evident that such a division may be made in many ways. Those which have been adopted in former times have resulted in the survival of five
Reasoning of the kind which Socrates used comes near to proof. But it can never actually prove the existence of God. The mind of man is so constituted that it dislikes the notion of Laws without a Lawgiver. Evolution is a law which is found to hol
We find that, in the Services, shares are distributed to the worshippers in five different ways, which may be called Worship-forms. The Table on p. 21 should be carefully studied. Hooker's description of them (E. P. v. xxxix. 1) is a little diffi
"And the preacher had understanding," so runs the ancient word, and "understanding" the preacher must have. This is only another way of saying that he must know what he is talking about. So much as this, at least, is essential in every man who com
We approach, at last, the end of our poor attempt. Its purpose has been to furnish a reminder of some things that are absolutely essential to the effective preaching of the Gospel. Let us recall the steps by which we have come thus far upon our
Another essential quality of the effective and successful messenger of Christ is individuality. The preaching of the truth is, after all, man's work for the sake of man, and the man is needful to the completeness of the definition. It has ever be
It is set before us in this last chapter of our lecture to say something in reference to appeal as an essential quality of the sermon. The discourse, it must always be borne in mind, is not an end in itself, but a means to an end, and that end the b
Having now given some little thought to a consideration of the essential qualifications of the Christian messenger, and also to the content of his message, it remains to name certain qualities of form and expression equally needed for success in the
"What I have been to my country, albeit this unthankful age will not know, yet the ages to come will be compelled to bear witness to the truth."--JOHN KNOX. A diet of worship on a Sabbath day in Scotland in the days of Knox, or in the per
"A constant form is a certain way to bring the soul to a cold, insensible, formal worship."--BAXTER. The foregoing brief review of public worship within those influential sections of the Presbyterian Church whose attitude on this quest
"The Book of Common Order is best described as a discretionary liturgy."--SPROTT. The Book of Common Order makes no reference to the reading of Scripture as a part of public worship, nor does it, after the fashion of many similar books, c
"Religion shall rise from its ruins; and its oppressed state at present should not only excite us to pray, but encourage us to hope, for its speedy revival."--DR. WITHERSPOON. In 1689 the first Parliament under William and Mary was held,
"All who desire to manifest an intelligent appreciation of what is distinctive in Presbyterian ritual would do well to guard against attaching undue importance, or adhering too tenaciously, to details of a past or present usage, as if these cons
"He who is unmarried careth about the things of the Lord, how he may please God" (i Cor. vii. 32). THE Catholic Church recognizes matrimony as a holy state. She recommends celibacy to those desiring greater perfection, and enjoins it on her pries
THE angels are pure spirits. They have no body. Consequently the worship they render God is spiritual, interior. The heavenly bodies are not spiritual, but entirely material substances. They render God a sort of external worship according to the w
THE Mass is the great sacrifice of the New Law. It was foreshadowed by all the sacrifices ordained by God in the Old Law. They were shadows; it is the substance. We learn from Genesis of the fall of man. Universal tradition, as well as Scripture,
"If thou wilt enter into life keep the commandments" (Matt. xix. 17). WHEN Jesus Christ died on the cross for us, He did so in order to lead us into life, to open heaven for all mankind. How important our salvation must be, then, for which Christ
"Whom when He saw He said: Go, show yourselves to the priests" (Luke xvii. 14). "Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins ye shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins ye shall retain, they are retained" (John xx. 23). THE whole of the
Baptism, or purification from sin by water, is supposed by many to be an exclusive Christian ceremony. The idea is that circumcision was given up, but baptism took its place as a compulsory form indispensable to salvation, and was declared to have
"The more I learn to know Buddha the more I admire him, and the sooner all mankind shall have been made acquainted with his doctrines the better it will be, for he is certainly one of the heroes of humanity."
Believing and affirming, that the mythological portion of the history of Jesus of Nazareth, contained in the books forming the Canon of the New Testament, is nothing more or less than a copy of the mythological histories of the Hindoo Saviour Cris
Christian dogma also teaches that it was not "God the Father," but "God the Son" who created the heavens, the earth, and all that therein is. The writer of the fourth Gospel says: "All things were made by him, and without him was not
According to Christian dogma, "God the Father" is not to be the judge at the last day, but this very important office is to be held by "God the Son." This is taught by the writer of "The Gospel according to St. John"--whoever he may have been--whe
The next step is faith. Talk about faith! I think this is about the most extraordinary case of faith in the Bible. Abraham was the father of the faithful; but God had him in training for twenty-five years. Moses was a man of faith; but he saw the
and all he had to do was to fill it out from that time on. When he wanted to bring water out of the rock, all he had to do was to fill out the check; when he wanted bread, all he had to do was to fill out the check and the bread came; he had a rich
than that. Since I have become a father I have made this discovery: that it takes more love and self-sacrifice for the father to give up the son than it does for the son to die. Is a father on earth a true father that would not rather suffer than to
--at the feet of Jesus. We shall meet him by and by in the kingdom of God. His testimony has been ringing down through the ages these last nineteen hundred years. It has been talked about wherever the Word of God has been known. It was a wonderfu
Had you gone into the palace in those days, you would have heard Herod talking of nobody but John the Baptist. He would say to his associates: "Have you been out into the desert to hear this strange preacher?" "No; have you?" "Yes." "What