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MMEiK
AND Ilf DIALS’ ADVOCATE.
CHEROKEE NATION, PROPRIETOR.. EDITED BY ELIJAH HICKS.
rot. V.
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NEW ECHOTA, CHEROKEE NATION, SATURDAY, AUOU8T 31, 1833.
NO. 39.
Fiom tho Religious Herald.
RIST1AN BENEVOLENCE.
’o do good and communicate for
»t,” is strongly enjoined by the j year they continue members thereof,
lie in his epistle to tho Hebrews. | without contributingjowards any of its
irtuc is more frequently incu'Jcat- j necessary expenses—without expend-
id urged ou Christians in the s£- ! »ng one cent of their substance in any
REMOIOITS.
The lovo of the world and of self must
be ovetcome, love to God and man
must be an active exercise. Benevo
lence, charity, liberality, integrity,
honesty, are virtues inseparable from
the Christian character, and must be
exhibited in prominent colors. Unless
the tests of Christianity, which stand
directly opposed to covetousness in all
its various shapes, are manifested, the
individual is deceiving himself with t
vain profession. His heart is not right
in the sight of God. That day in which
the secrets of all hearts arc revealed,
will shew him when too late, the utter
worthlessness of his profession.
Next to intemperance this is one of
the sorest of evils which infest the
church of £hrist. Individuals join a
church, professing to love their Maker,
with all their heart and their neighbors
as themselves. And yet from year to
word than liberality, and no vice
ro pointedly condemned than co-
sness. And this is strictly in ac-
nee with the scope and spirit of
ospel. Liberality is essentially
lied with religion. It springs
but spirit of love and benevo-
wliich which is one of its great
'uishing features. It is the ful-
nt of the command to love our
jors as ourselves. It is carrying
e gospel into practical operation,
ality to brethren, is made by the
ic John, the standard of the
ian profession. And if the want
irality to brethren proves the ab-
nf vital Christianity as the Apos-
icates, the individual who thro’
usness refrains from works of
ml benevolence towards his fcl-
catures cannot be less guiltless,
uiav the world in reference to
exciiiim in the language of the
lie, How dwelleth the love of
in them. Covetousness implies
ive ot self, which is directly op
to the spirit of the gospel, which
sin the most strenuous terms on
ibsolute necessity of self-denial,
also based on love of the world
f the things thereof, which is as
edly condemned. “If any man
le world the love of God is not in
iv'as the declaration of our Sav-
irhile on earth; which he illustrat-
ythe argument, that no man can
two masters. The Christian re
require an unreserved and entire
lion of every faculty, of time, of
i, and of substance to the service
Redeemer. •
•vetousness is also classed with
ry in tho word of God; and the
to of this will be apparent in con
ing their general features, the
er devotes hift powers and affec-
to the worship of some other ob-
han the one true and living God.
renounces his allegiance and sub-
les another in his place. He who
to dispense any portion of his
ancc in the service of God, who
ion his wealth as a source of plea-
*nd gratification, makes it the ob-
of his idolatry; his soul is wrapped
lit, it has the first place in his af-
on», and Jehovah is virtually over-
Hi. His authority is set at nought.
Word is disregarded. And the in
itial is virtually as guilty of idola-
as if he embodied a portion of that
ho so loves, into an idol, and made
object of his adoration. It is not
issary to have a visible object of
ip, to constitute a man an idola-
If any- object, pleasure or pursuit.
°Mes his time and his affections,
tho object of his worship, and God
is too jealous to admit of a rival,
accept of a divided homage views
*» a practical idolater. Ye cannot
?God and mammon.
sometimes hear a professor of
lion termed a covetous Christian, a
‘•fisted Christian, a worldly-mind
hristian, Ctc. These epithets in
opinion involve a contradiction, a
** absurdity. It would he as con-
«nt to talk about a drunken Christi-
* lascivious Christian, a dishonest
Mian, &,e. Such persona may be
*ssors, they may have a name and
64 With his people and church; but
l»re not, they ‘ cannot be children
To suppose that this could be
benevolent enterprise. If reminded of
their tlcty, they either consider it an
insult,, or on?r some frivolous excuse.
They have us*£ for all their money.—
They do not con»i t * ?r their duty to
contribute to the suppoJ^ ol t,lc gospel.
They do not approve of UitT.se benevo
lent institutions. They are alru'ul »ho
living in disobedience to sDme of the
plainest injunctions of thewerd of God,
he can neither enjoy those solid com
forts which flow from the gospel, nor
look forward to the great day of ac
counts without fear.
From the American Quarterly Register.
SPIRITUAL IGNNRANCE.
One of the evils of a condition of
spiritual ignorance, is the low estimate
which it leads men to form of the value
of human life.
In what countries have wars raged
to the greatest extent ? Where has hu
man life been wasted like water?—
Where are the battle fields which have
drank deepest in human . blood ?—
Where have suicides been most com
mon?—Where assassinations? Where
has the duelist most frequently return
ed from the ground wet with his broth
er’s blood? Where is human life sport
ed with and talked about, as if it was a
thing of no value. I answer, in those
countries, and in those towns where
Christianity is partially or entirely un
known. It is where there is a famine
of the word of God. It is where the
Christian Sabbath is desecrated or neg
lected. It is where the Christian min
istry is absent or inefficient. Christi
anity, has thrown innumerable defences
and guards -round the life of man. It
money will not he properly expena«?d 5 1 -'' as made it a most precious thing, not
8tc. When reminded of the exhorta
tions to liberality which abound in the
New Testament, they are still uncon
vinced. If it be urged that they can
disburse their own contributions by
giving tracts or supplying their desti
tute neighbors with bibles—still they
are unmoved—-they have no money to
spare. They do not feel that love to
wards their fellow men which would in
duce them to labor to bring them to a
knowlcdgo ofCbriut. Tlmu thoy con
tinue during their lives, a reproach to
the cause they profess to love; dead
weights in the church of Christ, and
influencing others by their evil exam
ple, disregarding their own real good,
and wholly useless' in their day and
generation.
As tho scriptures inculcate charity
and liberality as practical duties, which
ought not to'be neglected by the disci
ple of Jesus; those individuals who
consider themselves under no obliga
tion to practice those virtues, must en
tertain wry erroneous conceptions of
religion. As liberality is enjoined and
covetousness forbidden in the word of
God; what must we think of the dis
ciple who turns a deaf ear to the com
mands of his lord and Master? Can
he he sincere in his profession? Whilst
indulging his appetites, living in luxury
and splendor, spending large sum . for
his own gratification, and at the same
time pleading, when urged to contri
bute to any benevolent object, that he
has nothing to spare; is there not rea
son to fear that the heart of such pro
fessor is under the influence of worldly-
mindedness or covetousness. Does
he exhibit any thing of the spirit of his J
Saviour who went about doing good?—
Is he not living in conformity with the
world; under the influence of its spirit,
and governed by its precepts? And
shall he not reep as he sows.
We pity that professor who has nev
er felt the luxury of doing good. He
who lays himself out for the service of
his Redeemer: He who considers that
all he possesses is the gill of his hea
venly Father, and therefore rightly be
longs to him, and ought unreservedly
to he devoted to his cause: Who view
ing the extent of human misery and
evil, yearns for the salvation of his fel
low immortals, and knowing that God
accomplishes his benevolent purposes
by human agency, watches every op
portunity to employ his talents and his
substance to promote their salvation,
is rewarded by the enjoyment of peace
of mind, a clear conscience, and a solid
pleasure whilst pn earth, and will be
f leeted with the approbation of his
.ord and Master, with the joyful wel
come of “well done good and faithful
servant enter thou into the joy of the
Lord.” But he who lives only for
himself, \*ho never bestows one thought
on the condition of these perishing for
lack of knowledge around him, who
turns a deaf ear to the admonitions qf
scripture and the remonstrances of his
brethren, has every reason to daubt
t,7 be' undervalued: not to be trifled
with. It informs man that he is in a
state of prohS-i° n > that, on the tenure
of life, the feeb'ps't and frailest of all
things, is depending n.ipp-'nesSj or woe
unending. Why do you loois oil a hu
man face, with far other emotions than
you do on that of a horse ? why is there
something mysteriously sacred in a
breathless corpse? A soul now in
pain unutterable, or in endless bliss^
has just left it, and that body is again
to be animated, and clothed with incor
ruption. But where Christianity has
not shed its influence, where spiritual
ignorance is predominant, men will en
danger their lives without forethought
or without fear. They will engage in
enterprises where there is a certain and
fearful waste of men’s lives. Select
those portions of this land where there
are the most frequent suicides, mur
ders, duels, where the blood of man
cries in vain from the ground, St there
spiritual ignorance reigns. There
Christianity does not lift its warning
voice, nor utter its terrible maledictions
against him who imbrues his hands in
his brother’s blood. If you would
bring men universally to attend to the
public exercises of the Sabbath, there
would be very few murdcVs indeed.—
There would be very little need of a
bridewell or a penitentiary. When did
you hear of a murderer, who was areg-
lar attendant oil public worship?
An individual, who recently suffered
the penalty of the law in England, wa3
for a long time a respectable man in
deed with excellent sense and good na
tural talents, a regular attendant on
public worship. Being led into temp
tation, he renounced public worship,
violated the Sabbath, connected him-
selfwith gamblers, became the com
panion of sinners, faithless to an exem
plary wife, an adulterer, and .finally a
murderer.
, Another evil of religious ignorance,
is the erection of a standard of right
and wrong other than the law of God.
It is of vast importance to the well
being of a community, that the law of
God, in its purity and spirituality,
should be kept before the eyes of a
community, should bo pressed on the
consciences of tho people, should be
the pole star of every individual. But
if men are ignorant of this law, if they
are left tQ the faint traces of it, which
are written on their own hearts, they
will adopt some other rule of conduct,
they will take up with some defective
or erroneous standard. This is tfie in
evitable consequence. The false pro
phets in the days of Jeremiah, substitu
ted their own dreams, m place of the
testimonies of the Omniscient God. In
the days of our Saviour, the Pharisees
had set aside the law of God, through
their traditions. The great body of
the people being Pharisees, gladly ac
cepted of the glosses and comments,
and perversions of their teachers, in
place of the perfect rule. The Jews,
in our Saviour’s time, were grossly and
deplorably ignorant. If they had not
been, they would have seen through
the craft, and hypocrisy, and selfish
ness of their spiritual teachers. Such
is the fact now, where the means of
grace are not enjoyed • where the gos
pel of salvation is not preached, men
will be governed by some other morali
ty than that of the gospel. The high
er ranks of society, will be under the
dominion of a most tvrantcal and cap
ricious fashion, sacrificing convenience
pleasure, conscience, every thing at
her shrine. A law of honor, falsely so
called, usurps the place of God’s law,
and amid the groans and tears of wid
ows and orphans, maintains it3 Moloch
reign. The common people will be
governed, in a great degree, by max
ims and customs, equally at variance
with the unerring standard. It has
frequently been the fact, that where
long established custom had rendered
a thing popular, though death went be
fore it, and hell followed after, though
it bore on its face the strongest marks
of iniquity, yet it has been pertinacious
ly adhered to, as the god of a most re
volting indolatfry.
From the New York Observer.
DOCTRINE OF TRAN SUBSTAN
TIATION.
HISTORY OF ITS RISB AND PROGRESS.
The Roman Catholic Council of
Trent, speaking of the doctrine of
Transubstantiation, say “ it has always
been believed in the church ol God.”
Now the truth is, as we shall soon
show from their own writers, -that it
never was believed in the church of God,
and that it has not always been believ
ed, even in the church of Rome itself.
The 'Bible contains the whole bejicf
of the church of God, but the Bible
nowhere teaches the doctrine of tran
substantiation, as some of the most dis
tinguished papal writers and divines
themselves expressly admit. Scorus,
Nicene Council. Reserving the de
cision of the seventh ecumenical couu-
ed, which met at Constantinople in
A. D. 1754, they declared that the
bread and wine used in the sacrament,
were » after consecration, literally
changed into tho proper and phyical
body and blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It was not, however, until the
time of Paschasius of Corbey, in the
ninth century, that the doctrine was re
duced to a well digested system. “Pas
chasius,” says Ballarmine “was the
first who wrote seriously and copious
ly concerning the truth of Christ’s bo
dy and blood in the Eucharist.” But it
is worthy of notice, that even then, Pas
chasius was opposed by Rabanus Mau->
rus, archbishop of Mentz, by Bertram,
of Corby, Walafrid Strabo, John Sco-
tus Erigne, and many others.
Many years still elapsed before the doc
trine began to be any thing like univer-
sally received even among Roman Ca
tholics themselves. In the year 1079,
indeed, Pope Gregory VII. compelled
IJerengarius, who had denied that the
elements became, by consecration, the
body and blood of Christ, to acknowl
edge that he was in error. But it*was
not until the fourth council of the La-
™ n » A D. 1215, that Pope Innocent
111. finally enjoined and imposed tho
present doctrine of transubstantiation,
upon the whole body of faithful papists
as a necessary article of the Roman
Catholic faith; and as such, since his
day, it has been generally received a'
niong the papists..
Such is a pluin account of the rise ft
progress of this absurd and unscriptural
doctrine, and of the steps by which R
became at lergth an article of faith in
the Komish Church. We see from it,
“ibat the holy council of Trent were
guiliy of a barefaced falsehood, in as
serting that transubstantiation was al
ways believed,” even in their own
IUV...DV..VO aumu.. m «i U5 , church, and much more in presuming
the great papal oracle, declares that this to say that it was ever believed in the
doctrine cannot be proved from the sa c h ,,rf *h nf
cred Scriptures; and Bellarminc grants
that this is not improbable. Occam,
another famous schoolman, and Petrus,
cardinal of Cambray, expressly admit
that the protestant doctrine of the bread
and wine remaining unchanged after
their consecration/ 1 is no ways repug
nant to reason or scripture.” Cardi
nal Cajetan, whose fame is in all the
papal churches, confesses that “ the
gospel nowhere expresses that the
bread is changed into the body ofChrist,
and that this opinion is derived only
from the authority of the church:” and'
Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, who is
ranked by the Romish church among
her martyrs, candidly admits, that there
is not one siugle syllable in the sacred
Scriptures, from which that doctrine
can be proved> Now most of these di
vines firmly believed in the truth of the
doctrine; bnt they had the honesty to
confess that they did not derive it from
the Bible, but merely ftom the authori
ty of the church of Rome! Here then
is the admission of many distinguished
Romish divines, that transubstantiation
is not a doctrine ofthe Bible, and, con
sequently, that it never has been a doc
trine of the church of God.
We now proceed to show respecting
the same doctrine, that it has not al
ways been believed even by tho church
of Rome. To begin wifh the early fa
thers:—Justin Martyr, Irencus, Ter-
tullian, Origen, and Cyprian, all make
use of language which clearly shows
that the popish doctrine of transubstan
tiation was unknown in their times.
The truth is, the doctrine first origi
nated in the brain of Eutyches, a here
tic of the fifth century. As soon as it
was broached, it was at once opposed
by Theodoret of Cyrus, and also by
Pope Gelasius, whose infallible author
ity ought to satisfy the good Catholics
of the absurdity of the doctrine. Ge
lasiua expressly den'
any pyhsical ckang.
after consecration; “th* substance
nature of the bread and wine,” says he,
cease not to evist, Sic. Tiie doctrine
was also vigorously opposed in the
sixth century by Ephrcin of Antioch,
who ridicules it as absurd; and by Fa-
cundus, an African Bishop.
It. was not until A. D. 787, that the
popish doctrine of transubstantiation,
decreed to be orthodox by the Sec
r
church of God.
The truth is, it is a “mere mushroom
novelty ofthe dark ages,” which would
ue\cr have taken root, or grown to
maturity in any soil upon which the
light ot truth was permitted to shine,
or where the people were not forbidden
to read for themselves the word of God
X. X.
REASONING IN SERMONS.
Powerful reasoning should be the
soul of our sermons. Reasoning in
elocution, is like love in religion; with
out love, you may have the shadow,
but you cannot have the substance of
religion. Without love you are noth
ing* if you have not love, your virtue
is only noiso, it is only as sounding
brass and a tinkling cymbal. In liko
manner, in regard to eloquence, speak
with authority. Open all the treasures
of your erudition, give full scope to a
lively and sublime imagination, har
monizing your periods; yet what will
your discourses without reason be ? a
noise, a sounding brass, a tinkling cym
bal. You may confound but you can
not convince; you may dazzle, but
you cannot instruct; you may delight,
but cannot hope to change, to sanc
tify, and to transform your hearers.—
Saurin.
Nothing made in rain.—A. chap from
Vermont who had“ hired out” in Bos
ton as a Kitchen Colonel, wished to
ape the city dandies, by the cultivation
of a huge pair of whiskers. In a few
weeks he might be seen with a basket
on his arm, following his master to mar
ket, with an important strut, his cheeks
covered with a pair of whiskers of the
colour and configuration of a squirrel’s
tail. Not long after, his sweetheart, a
fat cora-fed lass from the same place,
came to hire in the same family. As
lover, she
uuauruiiy oi uie uocirine. lie- *—— ~ •»
expressly denies the doctrine of soon as recognized her
tyhsical change in the elements exclaimed* “O Bill! what do you wear
them great ugly whiskers for?” Why,
darn it { Sal,” replied the swain, “ the
fellers all have them down this way,, for
the gal’s to warm their noses in.”
Dr. Johnson says, that small, debts
are like small shot, they are rattling
on every side, and can scarcely be es-
<m. VU) caped without a wound. Great debt*
hitherto condemned as heretical, was are are like cannon, of loud noise aqd
but little danger.