Well, let us see how this is, and whether they in reality agree upon any thing. We will institute another court of inquiry, and briefly examine and compare the views of the various churches relative to the cardinal doctrines of the Christian religion.
1. Moral Depravity.—The first in order will be the fall and depravity of man.
Well, brother Calvinist, as you hail from the oldest Protestant Church, we will first solicit your views upon this all-important question. We wish to know whether you believe that man fell from a state of purity, and became morally depraved by the fall. "Oh, yes! we believe he fell so low that he became totally depraved by the fall; so that all men are now the children of wrath, born in sin, and conceived in iniquity, and covered with corruption from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot."
Brother Arminian, what do you think of this view of the matter? Is it Bible doctrine, or not? "No: it is neither according to the Bible, nor according to common sense, but a damnable doctrine, that will send any man's soul to hell who believes in such outrageous doctrine. It is not only untrue, but it is demoralizing to rob man so completely of his moral attributes as to make him feel like a brute, and, consequently, act like one."
2. Man's Restoration.—How is this to be effected, brother Calvinist? "Why, by the outpouring of the blood of Christ, the propitiatory offering." Brother Arminian, is this true Christian doctrine? "No, it is not. Man's salvation is effected in no such a way. Every man is to work out his own salvation. I can prove it by the Bible."
3. Endless Punishment.—Most Protestant sects hold and preach that the wicked, when they die, are consigned to a place or state called "the bottomless pit." (How they are kept in it with the bottom out, the Lord only knows, or perhaps we should say the Devil). But the Universalists affirm that the Bible teaches no such doctrine, but tells us that, "as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive;" which proves, as they affirm, the ultimate salvation of all the human race. But the Restorationists prove that there is "a mediate place for souls, which is neither heaven nor hell, but a preliminary and a temporary abode for all souls, good and bad." And there is another class of Christians who find in the same book a still different doctrine, that of the absolute and total destruction of the wicked. They quote Phil. 3-19. Which of these four Christian sects teach the true Bible doctrine? Who can tell?
4. Divinity of Christ.—Most of the Protestant sects tell us that the Bible makes a belief in the supreme divinity of Jesus Christ essential to salvation; but the Parkerite Christian, the Hicksite Christian, and the Unitarian Christian affirm that it does not, that it only makes him a perfect or superior specimen of manhood. Which is right? Who can tell?
5. Polygamy.—Most of the churches once believed that polygamy is a Bible doctrine, and practiced it for eight hundred years. But now they tell us it is not. The Mormons, however, declare that it is sanctioned in the Old Testament, and not condemned in the New, and hence is a Bible doctrine. Which is right? How can we tell?
6. Marriage.—Nearly all the sects hold that marriage is a Bible institution. But the Shakers declare that it is not, and quote Christ's own words to prove it as found in Luke 20-35. "The children of this world marry and are given in marriage; but they who shall be counted worthy of that world, and the resurrection, neither marry nor are given in marriage." They reasonably conclude that those who shall not be considered worthy of being saved (which includes all married people) will not be saved, being cut off by Christ's positive prohibition of marriage. Which is right? Who can tell? The text, however, furnishes a consoling hope for old bachelors and old maids, to say the least.
7. The Sabbath.—Most of the churches keep the first day of the week as the Bible sabbath. But the Seventh-day Baptists affirm that it is not, that the seventh day of the week is the true sabbath of the Lord; while other sects tell us that Christ, both by precept and example, labored to do away with all sabbath observances and all holy days. Which is right? Who can tell?