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Chosen no: R-452 a, from: 1883 Year. |
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Christ Shall Make Us Free.
GALATIANS 5:1.
If any class
of men in the world are free, it ought to be the Christian.
But that
which is freedom to one, is bondage to another, as men are bound, some to one
thing, and some to another. Is there a remedy for this evil, and what is the
cause? We are what we are by education, being governed to a greater or less
degree by our surroundings; imbibing both truth and error with equal zeal,
according to the faith reposed by us in our guides and teachers. And while in
many instances these divers opinions may not be of vital importance, it is a
question of truth and error, and where two differ, one must be wrong, and sometimes
both; we are not accountable for having imbibed errors from our teachers, but
we are accountable for rejecting a truth when it is properly presented.
Dear reader,
to what age, or class of men, or code of tenets, have you obligated yourself in
your religious or irreligious opinions? Wisdom did not die with any particular
age or class of men. To-day we have the same Bible, and with it, revisions by
the ablest scholars. It is not only our privilege, but absolute duty, to read
it; not "as through a glass darkly," where all seems mystical and
uncertain, but by the light of the noon-day sun, which is free as the blessed
Word itself. No longer is the Bible chained as Luther found it; no longer
should our conscience or affections be chained to any creed, written or
unwritten. Who is our master? To whom are we bound? Is freedom, then, a myth, a
mockery? Can we, with an open Bible before us, shift our religious
responsibilities upon our would-be teacher, and sit dreaming under the sound of
his monotonous discourse, just as a man will buy a through ticket and take
passage on a train for a strange country, consigning himself wholely to the
care of the conductor? Is this freedom? Is it "fighting the good fight of
faith?" Is this you? Wake up.--Investigator.
W.T. R-452a : page 2 - 1883r.