Evangelical Religion

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES AND SEASONS:

Sir, having been in the habit of late of perusing the "Cross and Journal," a Baptist periodical published in Columbus, Ohio, to search out the pure principles that are advocated by this advocate of righteousness; in my investigations I happened to blunder over the following extracts;-as they were interesting to me, I had the vanity to suppose the [they] might be the same to yourself. If they are, and you should judge them worthy of a place in your valuable periodical, they are at your disposal, together with my reflections upon them.

"Prayer was offered up by Rev. Dr. Jenks, after which Mr. Knapp addressed them in a sermon of an hour and a half in length, from the words of Saul of Tarsus, Acts, 9:6, 'Lord what wilt thou have me to do?'. . . . 'The text is the language of a young convert. . . . . The enquiry [inquiry] is not where you can enjoy the most; but where you can do the most for the glory of God. Some of you in answering this question may be called to preach the gospel, others to go on a foreign mission."

1. "The first answer is, "take my yoke upon you." Unite yourselves to the people of God. Join some evangelical church." * * * * * * * * *

5. "Search the scriptures." "If you have irreligious books, novels, or books on Universalism, burn them up. Make the bible your study. Carry it in your pocket: have it at hand at all times, and as much as possible commit it to memory [memory]. Be in the habit of reading it upon your knees, and of looking directly to the spirit of God to enable you to understand it."

Having perused the above passages, sir, and not being very quick of apprehension, I examined them a second time, when I had the following reflections:-"Prayer was offered by the Rev. Dr. Jenks:"-Well now, that seems to be good-afterwards Mr. Knapp preached from the words of Saul of Tarsus" "Lord what wilt thou have me to do?" These seem to be good words-they are scriptural words; and I think Mr. Knapp has preached FROM

them well. He has not troubled himself with the subject referred to in the text, at all:-but perhaps it is not elegant, or orthodox, for evangelical ministers to adhere to the scriptures; and therefore he preached from the text. "Unite yourselves to the people of God." Well now, who are the people of God? Which, of all the multifarious sects shall I join? He answers, "join some evangelical church." But then, what is an evangelical church? Is it a church that believes part of the scriptures; or one that believes all of them; or one that believes none of them? I see that Mr. Knapp has preached from the scriptures; consequently he has not much confidence in them, or he would have quoted their authority. Perhaps the church that he belongs to is evangelical;-but then he advises, in the fifth paragraph, to "search the scriptures. If you have any irreligious books, novels, or books on Universalism, burn them up.-What kind of novels am I to burn? Religious novels, or is it only irreligious novels? I think a religious fiction, or lie, must be as bad as an irreligious one. Well, to search the scriptures is good, but it seems to me as though Mr. Knapp would have me search, study, and read them as I would Homer's Iliad, Euclid, or Virgil, to obtain a refined taste, and a classical education, rather than to be governed by its precepts; for the scriptures say nothing about burning Universalists books, &c.; but they tell me to "prove all things, and to hold fast that which is good." Now if Universalism be false let me prove it false by the scriptures, and not burn their books unread. I perceive, however, that the Universalists, in the estimation of Mr. Knapp, are not an evangelical church.

In looking over the same paper, I find under the head of "communications," upon the subject of Mormonism, the following:-