Call number
Publication
New York: Newman & Ivison, 199 Broadway, 1852.
Physical description
39 p.; 23 cm
Notes
A PDF of this work can be accessed at https://archive.org/details/ourpositionsermo00barn
Sermon text: 1 Corinthians xii.4-11. - "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."
Opening words:
"The Emperor Charles V., after he resigned his crown and retired to private life, amused his leisure hours, among other things, by endeavoring to make several clocks and watches run together so as to keep exactly the same time. "Having found," says the historian, "after repeated trials, that he could not bring any two of them to go exactly alike, he reflected, with a mixture of surprise, as well as regret, on his own folly, in having bestowed so much time and labor on the more vain attempt of bringing mankind to a precise uniformity of sentiment concerning the profound and mysterious doctrines of religion." The attempt to make all men see those profound and mysterious doctrines alike, whether by argument, or by force, has thus far always failed, and in the present condition of things must always extensively fail. Men have different kinds of mental structure; they possess different temperaments; they receive a different education; they see objects from different points of view; they estimate the value of things by different measures; they are more or less under the influence of the imagination, or they subject the articles of belief more or less to the rules of a rigid logic; they are brought under such influences at their conversion as to give a greater or less prominence to particular views of truth; and they have such idiosyncrasies of character and feeling, that it would be much easier to bring the laws of matter in a machine to perfect uniformity of action, than the human soul in religion.
Closing words:
. . . "(c) The object aimed at by all these resolutions, and to which they tend, is one that cannot be mistaken. It is, as expressed in 1818, and re-uttered in 1849, "to use our honest, earnest, and unwearied endeavors, to correct the errors of former times, and as speedily as possible to efface this blog on our holy religion, and to obtain the complete abolition of Slavery throughout Christendom, and, if possible, throughout the world." There is nothing ambiguous, disguised, or uncertain. It aims at a definite object, and the purpose of these resolutions will not be accomplished until this institution shall cease among men.
(d) Yet, the immediate and direct bearing of this is on ourselves. The duty pertains to ourselves. The result is one that is to affect ourselves. The thing demanded, the end to which all these things appertain, is, to detach ourselves from all connections with the system, and to stand before the world, as the Quakers do, in the high and noble position that in all our borders, not a human being is held in bondage; that not one is excluded from the highest privileges of the Gospel; that no one is debarred from the most free access to the Word of God; that there is no one who is deprived of the fair avails of his own labor; and that under no circ:
umstances, and under no plea, no one connected with our branch of the great Christian brotherhood, shall be liable to have the bonds which united husband and wife, or parent and child, sundered by his being sold.--This is not an impractical thing. They who hold slaves in our denomination are comparatively few in number, and most of them, if not all, it is believed would be rejoiced to feel that they themselves are free. Not a blow need be struck. Not an act of violence committed. Not a harsh or unkind word need be uttered. Let us imitate the perseverance, the firmness, the kindness, and the fidelity of the Society of Friends, and the work will be done. No man's motives need be impugned; no man's rights invaded. All that is needful for each Christian man to stand up in the sacred majesty of a solemn Christian principle, and to detach himself a soon as possible, from all connection with the system, and the work will be done. Then in a more high and honorable position than we can now occupy, we shall stand before the world, in that attitude to which all our resolutions tend, detached wholly from this great evil, and bringing all the force of a great Christian example to remove the evil from our land and world. . . . "
See also:
Kuhns, Frederick, "Slavery and Missions in the Old Northwest," Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society, 24.4 (December 1946): 205-222.
Sermon text: 1 Corinthians xii.4-11. - "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."
Opening words:
"The Emperor Charles V., after he resigned his crown and retired to private life, amused his leisure hours, among other things, by endeavoring to make several clocks and watches run together so as to keep exactly the same time. "Having found," says the historian, "after repeated trials, that he could not bring any two of them to go exactly alike, he reflected, with a mixture of surprise, as well as regret, on his own folly, in having bestowed so much time and labor on the more vain attempt of bringing mankind to a precise uniformity of sentiment concerning the profound and mysterious doctrines of religion." The attempt to make all men see those profound and mysterious doctrines alike, whether by argument, or by force, has thus far always failed, and in the present condition of things must always extensively fail. Men have different kinds of mental structure; they possess different temperaments; they receive a different education; they see objects from different points of view; they estimate the value of things by different measures; they are more or less under the influence of the imagination, or they subject the articles of belief more or less to the rules of a rigid logic; they are brought under such influences at their conversion as to give a greater or less prominence to particular views of truth; and they have such idiosyncrasies of character and feeling, that it would be much easier to bring the laws of matter in a machine to perfect uniformity of action, than the human soul in religion.
Closing words:
. . . "(c) The object aimed at by all these resolutions, and to which they tend, is one that cannot be mistaken. It is, as expressed in 1818, and re-uttered in 1849, "to use our honest, earnest, and unwearied endeavors, to correct the errors of former times, and as speedily as possible to efface this blog on our holy religion, and to obtain the complete abolition of Slavery throughout Christendom, and, if possible, throughout the world." There is nothing ambiguous, disguised, or uncertain. It aims at a definite object, and the purpose of these resolutions will not be accomplished until this institution shall cease among men.
(d) Yet, the immediate and direct bearing of this is on ourselves. The duty pertains to ourselves. The result is one that is to affect ourselves. The thing demanded, the end to which all these things appertain, is, to detach ourselves from all connections with the system, and to stand before the world, as the Quakers do, in the high and noble position that in all our borders, not a human being is held in bondage; that not one is excluded from the highest privileges of the Gospel; that no one is debarred from the most free access to the Word of God; that there is no one who is deprived of the fair avails of his own labor; and that under no circ:
umstances, and under no plea, no one connected with our branch of the great Christian brotherhood, shall be liable to have the bonds which united husband and wife, or parent and child, sundered by his being sold.--This is not an impractical thing. They who hold slaves in our denomination are comparatively few in number, and most of them, if not all, it is believed would be rejoiced to feel that they themselves are free. Not a blow need be struck. Not an act of violence committed. Not a harsh or unkind word need be uttered. Let us imitate the perseverance, the firmness, the kindness, and the fidelity of the Society of Friends, and the work will be done. No man's motives need be impugned; no man's rights invaded. All that is needful for each Christian man to stand up in the sacred majesty of a solemn Christian principle, and to detach himself a soon as possible, from all connection with the system, and the work will be done. Then in a more high and honorable position than we can now occupy, we shall stand before the world, in that attitude to which all our resolutions tend, detached wholly from this great evil, and bringing all the force of a great Christian example to remove the evil from our land and world. . . . "
See also:
Kuhns, Frederick, "Slavery and Missions in the Old Northwest," Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society, 24.4 (December 1946): 205-222.