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CHEROKEE PIHETIX
AJTP IJrPIAJfS’ ADVOCATE.
CHEROKEE NATION, PROPRIETOR^/' EDITED BY ELIJAH IIICKS.
VOJj. V. HEW ECnOTA, CHEROKEE HATIOH, SATURDAY, OCTOBER S, 1833.
HO. 33.
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RELIGIOUS.
PULPIT ELOQUENCE,
rtrad from Dr. Channing's Sermon,
on the Immortality of Ike Soul.
"I have thus, my hearers, endeavor-
to shew, that our nature, the more
is inquired into, discovers more clear-
tlie impress of immortality.—I do
jmcan that this evidence supercedes
other. From its very nature, it
sonly be understood thoroughly by
proved and purified minds. The
oof of immortality, which is suited to
understandings is found in tho Gos-
I, scaled by tho blood, and confirm-
by the resurrection of Christ. But
isllhink, is made more expressive
« denaanstxation of its harmony
lb the teachings of nature. To me,
lure and revelation speak with one
ice, and on the great theme of man’s
urc being. Let not their just witness
unheard
"How full, how bright, are the evi-
accs of this grand truth. How
ak are the common arguments
ich scepticism array against it. To
, there* but one objection against
mortality, if objection it may be eall-
, and this arises from the very srreat-
53 of the truth. My mind some-
les sinks under its weight—is lost in
immensity. I scarcely dare believe
it such a good is placed within my
ich When I think of myself as ex-
ing through all future ages, as ser
ving this earth and that sky, as ex
ited from every imperfection and
ror of my present being, as clothed
illi an angel’s glory, as comprchnnd-
gwith iny intellect and embracing
iih iny alfections an extent of crca-
in, compared with which tlie earth is
point, when I think of myself as
olting on the outward universe with
i organ of vision that will reveal to
e a beauty and harmony, and order
it now imagined, and as having an
teess to the minds of the wise and
sod, which will make them, in a sense,
y own; when I think of myself as for-
ling friendships with innumerable be-
igs of rich and various intellect, and
fthe noblest virtue, as introduced to
it society of heaven, as meeting there
e great and excellent of whom I have
tad in history, as joined with the
just made perfect,” in an everlasting
liuistry of benevolence, as conversing
rith Jesus Christ, with the familiarity
ffriendship, and especially as having
o immediate intercourse with God,
ich as the closest intimacies of earth
learly shadow forth i—when this
taught of my future being comes on
w, whilst I hope, I also fear; the
lessedness seems too great; the con-
ciousness of present weakness and un-
lorthiness is almost too strong for
bpe. But when in this frame of
mind, I look round on the creation,
and see the marks of an omnipotent
loodness, to which nothing is impossi-
le, and from which every thing may
b hoped—when I see around me the
proofs of an infinite father, who must
desire the perpetual progress of his in
tellectual offspring—when I look next
•t the human mind, and see what pow
ers a few years have unfolded, and dis»
tern in the capacity of everlasting im
provement; and especially when I
look at Jesus, the conqueror of death,
the heir of immortality, who has gone
n the preserver of mankind, into tho
tensions of light and purity, I can
and do admit the almost everpow-
ering thought of the overlasting
hfo, growth, and felicity of the hu-
soul.”
From tho Philadelphian.
DESIRE TO GLORIFY GOD.
It is not our design, wero it possible
for us, in these few remarks, to enter
fully into a subject so wide and vast,
so diversified in its ramifications as this;
or to argue at all with tho skeptical,
but simply to glance at a few thoughts
that we presume will accord with the
judgment of every candid and pious
mind. In addressing ourselves to
such we would speak only the senti
ments of scripture and Christian expe
rience.
We know that in numerous instanc
es, the exciting of this desire to glori
fy God, lias produced a change in the
conduct and lives of men, that has di
verted them directly from the course
which they were pursuing, or had
marked out for themselves; has turned
them from the highway of political dis
tinction and earthly greatness, to the
voluntary adoption of a course which
was sure to bring on them privations,
sufferings, persecutions, and, in many
cases, even death. Thus was it with
the Apostle Paul; and thus has it been
with many others, who were in reputa
tion with those whom the men of the
world call great. To the prevalence of
this desire in the souls of men, is owing
most that has been yet achieved for the
moral renovation of tho world;—yea,
its very continuance to this very time.
It is a hallowed desire. It came from
heaven. It is its very spirit, in willing
exile for a little time on earth; yet not
an inactive, or inglorious exile. It is
an active, pervading spirit. It reaches
to every faculty of the soul, and ex
tends itself without, to all mankind. It
widens and deepens the moral suscep
tibilities of man, in proportion as the
moral wants of his race become exten
sively known to him. It rises on his
every intellectual quality, quickens
and expands it, and gives it direction
and employment. It gives light to the
mind, not the dim, faint light of sci-
shinos even to eternity. It m its guide
—its conducting cloud by day—its pil
lar of fire by night.
But when this desire to glorify God
has become prevailingly dominant in
the mind, it gives a decided elevation
to Christian character and aims. It
gives moral courage to the mind that
was timorous, and produces entire dc-
votedness to the irresolute. It may
even work a radical change in the na
tural temperament of the mind; for
this, though born with us, is capable of
alteration, and even of a total rever
sion. A temperament, naturally mel
ancholic, tho habitual desire of glorify
ing God may render cheerful—the
plegmatic, ardent; the man of violent
passions, one of evenness of temper;
the fickle, steadfast in his purpose; and
all this without any magic or miracle.
This is simply the legitimate effect of
divine gruce, urging on the soul to ho
ly action, and gradually transmuting
the earthly man into tho image of the
heavenly. It is the change which is
wrought in the mind when exerting it
self to be ready for ovory good work,
io free itself from every impediment—
to conquer every enemy—to remove
every thing that will be the occasion of
offence.
The man that prevailingly desires to
glorify God will consider nothing that
pertains to himself, which demands
correcting, of too little importance to
receive a share of his attention—noth
ing too great or too difficult to be at
tempted, that pertains to the good of
man, which his power and influence can
offect. He will wish every error in his
manners, in his mode of conversation,
in his intellectual habits to bo repeat
edly pointed out; ho will wish to be
come an cnflro neio man—a perfect
model of excellenco in all respects.
The desire will enlighten his con
science, and lead him conscientiously
to enquire after present duty at the pre
sent time, and faithfully to discharge
it. It will lead him duly to estimate
his facilities for intellectual and moral
improvement, and to endeavor so to
uso them as will turn to the best ac
count.
The world affords no motive so pow
erful as this to intellectual culture, or
to the prudent use of time. He that
before was prodigal of his hours, now
is frugal to thorn, even to a sort of
spiritual parsimony. The indolent stu
dent now becomes untiring und indefat
igable in his application. The novice
becomes learned. He wljiom a fond
ness for a worldly glory cduld not ex
cite, is now aroused; his every energy
is brought into action. Dace before
the mind actuated by the disire of glo
rifying God, the splendors of the world,
its distinctions, the things which she
calls great, and their influence is too
weak to raise ono powerfill emotion.
Bind for tho man of such b mind the
laurel wreath; convince him that he
might place himself on the throne of
Alexander, that he might assume the
diadem of Napoleon the greit, that he
might attain to the intellectual distinc
tion of Newton, Bacon, and Locke, or,
that, like Milton, he night live all
time in the breadth of posthumous ap
plause, and all are too feeble, too im
potent, effectually to move him.
Gather around him all the riches of
the world, set before him all its king
doms and their glory, point him to the
pinnacle of fame, and assuro him the
elevation may be his; and he turns
from it, as it were instinctively, with
loathing and disgust. But set tho glo
ry of God before him, and it shall lead
him, not in the steps of the enthusiast
or fanatic, far from this world, but it
shall lead him to take the only road to
true merit, to a worthy, lasting remem
brance, that of being every where, and
in every feasible way, a doer of good.
It leads him to extend his attention to
every thing, connected with his influ
ence in the world; to his deportment;
to his intercourse qfith society; to his
style of writing; to his studies, to his
eyery thought and look. It interests
him in every object, for which he
should oiler a prayej, and indulge a
sigh, or over which ho should drop a
tear of sympathy. It is a holy affec
tion that will fill the whole soul, that
would convert him afresh^to God every
this holy feeling of desire inflamed the
heart of Mills, fired the bosom of Brai-
nerd, and burnt in the devotions of
Payson? Who knows not how it is
inflaming with pure and enlightened
zeal, ready to consume them, many
ivho are now desirous to carry the
light of lifo to the benighted, or tc dis
pense it to tho destitute in our own
country? But when we turn from its
effects on the Christian himself and en
deavor to calculate the influence it will
give him in the world, as it shall travel
along down the track of time, in his
sermons, in his tracts, in the recollec
tions of his holy example, we are lost
in computation, as the mind is inade
quate to conceive it; language is too
imperfect to expross it. It will re
quire the acclamations of those saved,
through his instrumentality, in eterni
ty, adequately to declare to. Who can
even now compute the influence, that
such men as Luther and Calvin and
Whitefield and John Newton and
Thomas Scott, and Leigh Richmond,
and Mill and Payson, havo exerted,
and are still exerting on the world?—
Who shall be able even to begin the
calculation of it as it shall continue wi
dening and enlargeing and spreading
itself, till time shall have become lost
in the ocean of eternity, and all the
ransomed of the Lord shall be brought
home to Mount Zion with shoutings of
victory? E. P. E.
UNITARIANISM IN INDIA.
The Oriental Christian Spectator
for March last contains a review of a
Madras Tract, entitled, * ‘Some addi
tional Reasons in answer to the Ques
tion—Why do you go to the so-called
Unitarian Chapel?”—from which we
copy the following:—Boston Recorder.
The existence of Socinianism is a
striking proof of the truth of the Chris
tian Revelation.
The Revelation declares, "that tho
heart is deceitful above all things and
desperately wicked;” and Socinianism
confirms the truth of thin declaration
in a very remarkable manner.
The adherents of that system profoss
to receive, and believe that they do
receive, Christ as their prophet, to in
struct them both in doctrino and duty.
In holding the non-existence of evil
spirits, and, at the same time, the non
existence, or at least, non-eternity, or
hell torments, they believe that they
are embracing the doctrine taught by
Christ, when he predicted the sentence
to be passed upon the impenitent,—
“Depart from me, ye cursed, into ever
lasting fire, prepared for the devil and
his angels,”—and when he described
the state of those “cursed” ones,—
“Their worm dieth not, and their fire
is not quenched.” In holding the doc
trine of the sufficiency of human nature
to reform itself, they are persuaded
that they are only following the words
of Christ, when he said,—“no man
can come unto me except the Father,
which have sent me, draw him.’' In
rejecting the doctrine of the substitu
tion of Christ in the room of the guilty,
and of the expiatory nature of his death,
they believe that their sentiments quite
accord with those of Jesus, when he
says,—“The Son of man caine to give
his life a ransom for many”—and “this
is my blood, which is shed for many,
for the remission of sins.” In holding
the doctrine of the mere humanity of
Christ, they feel that their opinions
flow in sweet accordance with such of
his declarations as those:—“Before
Abraham was, I am;”—“I am he who
searcheth the reins and heart.” (Jer.
xvii. 10.)—“He that hath seen me
hath seen the Father.” In denying
the personal attributes of the Holy
Ghost, they thiuk that they are fully
borne out by the language of Jesus,
although it often runs in such a strain
as this: “The Spirit of truth will guide
you into ill truth; for he shall not
speak of himself, but whatsoever he
shall hear, that shall he speak; and he
will shew you things to come. He
shall receive of mine, and show it unto
you.”
The heart that is capable of making
perversions like these, and at the same
time, of persuading itself that it has
not been made them, is certainly su-
superlatively deceitful and desperately
wicked. Yet such a heart is found a-
Scripture approves itselt a trae witness,
and claims our attention as a revelation
from the God of truth.
But, while the existence of Socin
ianism only illustrates the truth of
Scripture to the Christian, and is thus
overruled for his benefit, the case is
far otherwise with those who are mere
ly inquirers of Christianity. Them it
is too well calculated to deceive and
to destroy. It early meets them with
promises of peace and salvation. It
shields them from the charge of infi
delity, and flatters them with the name
of “Christian.” It maintains their
dignity as “virtuous” men, and gives
them a system of doctrine and duty of
which no ‘gentleman’ needs be asham
ed. It ministers to the pride of intel
lect and tp the pride of “moral digni
ty.”
In the Bombay Presidency, avowed
and opeu Socinianism is as yet happily
unknown. The case, however, is very
different at Calcutta and Madras.—
The Socinians there are not content
to maintain their own doctrines among
thcmscivcs, and to propagate them u-
mong their countrymen, but they go
so far as to explain them to tho Natives
and to urge their reception of them.—
This the more intelligent of the Native
gentlemen are very willing to do, in as
much as, by so doing, they give up
non* of their own tenets or practices,
and yet acquire credit of membership
in a community of “respectable” Eu
ropeans. Ram Mohun Roy is n chief
Brahman in India, and one of the no
blest converts and brightest ornaments
of Socinianism in England.
The publication of the tract, which
stands at the head of this article, was
occasioned by the reprinting at Ma
dras, with a Tamul Translation, of a
small Socinian pamphlet first published
at Liverpool. The name of that work
uppears to have been, “An answer to
the question—Why do you go to the U-
nitarian Chapel?”—& the writer of the
tract under review, very pertinently
puts forth his publication uuder a sim
ilar name.—“Some Additional Reasons,
Sic.” These “Reasons” are put into
the mouth of a learned Brahman, well
acquainted with English Literature,
and aware too, hut unwilling to sacri
fice to it his Brahmanical honors und
privileges.
“I go to the ‘Unitarian’ Chapel,”
soys the forcinontioncd Brahmin, “be
cause,
“1, The doctrines of the (so called')
Unitarians are not opposed to Hindu
ism :
. ~.^J)luy easily coalesce with Ilmdu-
ism;
'3- Are favorable to Hinduism:
4. V irtually allow the superiority of
Hinduism to Christianity, in respect to
antiquity and divine inspiration:
“5. Are in united hostility with Hin
duism against Christianity: and
“6. lend to the overthrow of Chris
tianity, and to the consequent estab
lishment of Hinduism on a secure and
eternal basis.”
“1 go to the ‘Unitarian’ Chapel,”
the foresaid. Brahman again remarks,
because il we can get Unitarianism
to pass for genuine Christianity, then,
(the deity of Christ being denied.)
“1. We subvert the authority of
Christ and his Apostles, as teachers:
prove Christ to be desti
tute of veracity, and full of vanity, and
ambition:
“3. We destroy all respect for the
support of Christ’s pretentions; and
we
4. Shew that; in fact the Christians
are altogether without a God.” (p. 21.)
Ilicsc several points are sat.isfacto:i-
ly established to the no small deli»ht of
the learned Brahman. °
UnitarianisM (so called) teaches
that Christ was nothing more than a
man, and^ that the writers of the sacred
books ot the Christians were not di
vinely inspired. The (so called) Uni
tarians, therefore, claim for Christ and
the Bible no more than we Brahmans
can easily grant.
“We have only to substitute mental'
ly the name Brahma for God; and for
Jesus Christ the names of Vishnu,
Shiva, Krishna, or any other . .
manifestation of the Divine Being, and
then wc might, in religious worship,
Jk? -89BW?, UflWlMflffisP"'*
“If, indeed, the Bible were a divine
ly inspired book, then, we must con
fess, it would he the bounden duty of
all men to receive it. For the Bible
claims this exclusive respect; and, if
it be divinely inspired, this claim must
of course be granted.
“But according to Unitarianism (so
called,) the Bible was not written by
men inspired.
‘Therefore, if wc can persuade peo
ple Unitarian i^so called^ is true Chris
tianity, we may say to them,—‘Why
should you, by becoming Christians,
cast away your own Vedas, and the
persuation of your forefathers, in favor
of a book not inspired? Why should
you receive and that too from a foreign
country, doctrines which according to
these (so called) Christians themselves,
are confessedly not of divine authority,
and reject your own country doctrines,
which arc of divine authority?’” (pp.
11 and 12.)
“Christ used such language concern
ing himself that the Jews thought ho
claimed equality with God, and put
him to death on that acconnt
and his disciples and friends, misled
by his words and conduct, worshipped
him as God, and taught and command
ed all the world to do the same.
“Now then, it may be triumphantly
asked—
“1. If Christ spoke and acted so am
biguously, to say falsely, as to
mislead all his hearers, both friends
and enomies, can lie he a divinely com
missioned teacher? Surely not.
“2. If his disciples, who had the
best opportunities of knowing his sen
timents, were so misled, cun they be
safely received as our only guides to
religious truth? Surely not.
“Therefore it is the duty of us Brah
mans to countenance Uuitarians (so
called) in every jnssible way, and try
to persaude all imH that Unitarianism
(so called) is true Christianity, (pp.
16 and 17.)
“Since the Old Testament tells us
of one who should come, both as God
and man, (Zech. xiii, 7.) to be the Sa
viour of the world, and who, through
sufferings should entor into his glory;
and since it teaches and promises such
things concerning this Saviour as were
exactly fulfilled in Jesus Christ, wn
must either receive it as a divinely in
spired book, which, according to Uni
tarians (so called) it is not, or else wo
must believe that it was written aftef
Christ was born, and theroforo a forge*
ry.
