Christian Messenger (Bonham, Tex.), Vol. 3, No. 32, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 15, 1877 Page: 5 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Fannin County Area Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Bonham Public Library.
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■ V
Christian Messenger.
Bazette, Navarro County, Melrose, Texas, Aug. 11.
Texas, Aug. 2d, 1877.
Bro. Burnett: , * ’
I send you one dollar and
twenty-five cents, for whifeh
you will please send the Mes-
senger to John E. Parker; his
post-office is Dexter, Cooke
county, Texas. The cause for
which we plead is growing in
countysp^j|iiave but two
three public preachers in
Occasionally,preach-
ers from other parts come
among us and do much good.
The brethren and sisters seem
willing, and are preaching the
word as it began at Jerusalem [
wherever they are scattered,
and the good seed sown seems
to be taking root. Prejudice
is giving way and many are
I searching the Scriptures to see
if the things we teach be so.
May the good work go on. The
Messenger is doing its part
well wherever it is read. I
have been a subscribe*iM&i
two years, and have but one
Bro. Burnett : 4
I have jnst returned home
from Shelby county, where I
had been to assist in bolding a
meeting. The result was 17
added. There were seven or
eight preachers present. The
meeting had not closed when I
left. I was compelled to come
homeland was too unwell to
return. To the Lord be all the
praise. Yours in Christ,
D. A. Leak.
Bros. Faulkner and Mckin-
ney had 21 additions at a re-
seat meeting in Dallas county,
Texas. Bros. Faulkner and
King had 17 additions at a
meeting six miles south of
Farmersville. Bro. Marquis
baptized 18 at a meeting in
Matagorda county, and set in
order a congregation.
■'<# >. ——;lf • -*-
• Bro, Addison Clark has add-
ed some ninety persons to the
church, in Texas, during the
copy in my hoqpe. I first read, I present summer. j
m
then hand to some .one else.
Onr brethren, one and all, cer-
tainly would do much for the
cause by taking the Messen-
ger and Christian. Keep the
cross off the comer, read and
hand to your erring neighbor.
I have just returned from An-
derson county. While there, I
met and made the acquaintance
of T. M. Sweeney, He is do-
ing a good work. I made spe-
cial enquiry among the world
and sects concerning him aS a
teacher. All gave the same
answer, and stud he was a good
preacher. I heard of but one
objecting, and that was a Bap-
tist divine, who told 3> young
man, after Bro. Sweeney had
preached the gospel to him,and
he had obeyed it witli,all of
his heart, that he thought it
was a poor step toward heaven.
By wishing you and the Mes-
senger a long and successful
life, I close. *
comity,
Texas, Aug. 16, 1877.
Bro. Burnett:
1 began a meeting with Union
congregation, in this county,
on the 1st Lord’s day in this
month, and closed the following life was right and that he died
OBITUARY.
Death has again visited opr
town, and this time has come
very near to us, for he has
taken from our ranks a devoted
disciple of Jesus. Bro. Colby
T. Smith was bom jn Clark
county, Ky., in the year 1825,.
and lived in that state until
1859, when he emigrated to
Texas, and settled in®e town
of Dallas. In 1871 he moved
to Bonham, and was to the day
of his death one ' of onr most
respected citizens. He became
a Christian in his seventeenth
year, and continued through
life a zealous and devoted fol
lower of the Master. He was
sick thirty-one days, and dur-
ing that time was scarcely con-
scious any of the time. His
sufferings were at times severe,
yet he'bore all patiently, and
died peacefully, in the bosom
of his family. Had his mind
been in a condition that Mi
cpuld* have left some parting
word tor kind admonition, it
W.ould have bq&n a comfort to
his friends; bfit it is of more
importance jto kndw that his
Friday, with the following re-
sults: Seven added *>y letters
of commendation and two by
confession and baptism, f
preached only atnight, as the
house was used in the day for
school purposes. ~ The cause is
looking up in the western part
of this county. Fraternally,
J. R. Darnall.
•-*
■4—i~
San Gabriel, Tex., Aug. 3.
Bro. Geo. Williams began a
protracted- meeting here -last
Friday night The result up to
this date is : Ten by confession
Power or* a Little Chud.—
Yesterday afternoon two men
engaged in an angry dispute on
the street, during which, one
and baptism, one from Baptists shook his fist beneath the oth
era
worked
bKk.
and six by letter. Great’inter-
the gospel according to the
cient order. Yoon,
W. 8. Glasscock.
^VT ----__ close to him, and looking up
I have just returned from a 4nto his face, .inquired, “What
preaching tour. I witnessed 17/makes you so tros3, mister 1”
in the faith of the Christian;
.with the armor on. Bro. Smith
was for several years one of
the elders of the church at
Bonham. He leaves a wife and
six children, quite all of whom
have imitated the example of
their father, and enlisted under
the banner of Prince Emman-
eul. If faithful, they will meet
again, “over there.”
The Tocltl and TJnder^
wood Debate.
This discussion, upon the or-
igin of the Bible, passed off in
a very quiet and orderly way
at Pleasant Hill, Mo., between
July lfith aiid 22nd, Bfo. M. D.
Todd, of Dayton, Ohio, for
three nights, affirming that the
Bible contains a revelation
from God. His line of argu-
ment consisted in the produc-
tion of those prophecies that
pertain to the Messiah. The
prophecies; weje held up to
vision, Bro. Todd relying on
fidel literature. He softens
down his former asperities by
adopting the development the-
ory, speaks of the Hebrews as
a people of many excellent
qualities, mixed with great er-
rors. Say's this is to be expect-
ed. Sees valuable things in
the Bible., Even its errors are
necessary-to show us tman ’in
his true light. Thinks Jesus
Oh; the
)hssed off
whole, evei
quietly.
(11 condut
Vc
bate was well conducted by
speakers aiid moderators,
harm was done the community
so far as -we ^outd learn.
Young men of no religious
standing opened their eyes as
the Bible vindication proceed*
ed. and we think, fpr the first
time, began to ascertain the
n .
the best man his age could |vabt proofs lying back of the
produce, Indeed.he said, if you Sacred Book. We 'took onr
eliminate the miraculous, he i opinion of the
values the Bible as history. partial witnesses as
Of course Bro. Todd made I possible. Of c<
: v I■. II fcOt feSpIn
,tbe New Testament knowledge «£*$**£ i defender. Yet
nose, and appeared to have
ated himself into a fever
who had been
Just then a
an infant,
going by but
of the audience, and allowing
them to make their own appli-
cation. This method proved
very embarrassing to his op-
ponent, who seeined impatient
to attack, but was held in
cheek by Bno. Todd, who re-
quested no anticipation till he
had finished his argument. To
any person familiar with B. F.
Underwood’s course of quib-
bling, it .will at once be seen
that Bro. Todd, by so handling
his side, showed groat shrewd-
ness, and was relieved from a
legion of petty hindrance®.
When Underwood assumed
the affirmative the case was dif-
ferent. Todd was always,
ready to lodge criticism, and
Uuderwood gave him full op-
portunity. His proposition
was the reverse of Bro. Todd’s,
being worded thus: ‘‘The Bible
is of human origin.” He first
attempted to show that the
Bible was of human origin be-
cause $o affirm its divinity
would be to make the Bible an
exception to all other books.
This he illustrated by suppos-
ing a man should show you six
watches, telling jqu when an#
where, and by whom they
were made, and then to pro-
duce a seventh watch, avowing
that it fell from the clouds. He
said we would not believe this
statement, and neither would
he believe the Bible to be given
us by God. |
The second reason he gave
for affirming the Bible to be of
human origin was that to af-
firm its divinity wps to say
that God had le/t something
out of his original work and
was trying to supplement it.
His third reason for avowing
his proposition was that the
Bible is of a character th:\t ad-
mits of all kinds qf mistakes.
His fourth reason, that man
ought to»know what is right
from wrong without having to
go to a book ,to find out. He
said it ought to be written on
the face of the sky, that all
who run may read.
In the course of the debate
he affirmed that all the ideas
of the Bible are such as could
be obtained by Jhe human
mind. All* the main doctrines
of the New Testament, he de-
clared were old when Jeeus was
born. Among the .doctrines
referred to he cited the Trinity,
the resurrection and tjie incar-
nation. Underwood also gave
much attention to wlht he
called the scientific inaccura-
cies of the Bible, .dwelling on
was what it claimed to be or a: day the leading one
gross imposture, and so of its
writers, and of Jesus. In re-
ply' to what was said of Herod,
he showed that a King that
could murder two wives, and
five in adultery with a third,
and who could order a vast
number of the best citizens to
be destroyed at his death, as a
celebration of his funeral,
might be expected to order the
death of those whom he feared
as his rivals. Underwood had
brought forward Buddhism as
the equal of Christianity, sus-
taining hiluself by Max Mul-
ler. Todd jetorted by reading
Clark’s Ten Religions, showing
that wherein Buddhism fell
short of' Christianity. He
then showed that while Budd-
hism had some excellent mor-
al principles, they were mixed
with a mafcs of horrible mbr
bish, that nothing was enforc-
ed, that when yon had taken
your a^ode in the heart of
Buddhism, you were in an un-
civilized country. In meeting
many of Underwood’s criti-
cisms of the .Old Testament
morals, Todd showed, that as
in the case of Solop, who gave
the Greeks as good a law as
they could bear, so had God
exacted a higher life of the
Hebrews than that required*
coming out of slavery as’they
did, they would •have been un-
able to practise it As to the
taking ' of the Midianfte
women, Todd showed that they
were taken as captives and
drives, sustaining himself by
the record. He vindicated the
to say that Mr, Todd
troduced a line of a;
be never heard- before,
did not think Mr. Uni
ever had. And on the last <
a leading daloom
our presented"
was the worst
ever saw; that
ground to stand ol
ought to leave the
quit debating on-
- > m > J W.
The Oliri-tlan
Bible from the charge that it; securities,are nqne
iim. Beipajr.tjeiri
contained nothing new or orig
inal, by showing that it assert
ed the distribution of Noah’s
family with their traditions
over the 'whole earth, and it
wih-to be expected that these
parallels of history and doc-
trine wopld constantly exhibit
themselyes. Underwood had
denied that the Egyptians
ta 1 ■MMiMihiflMtailili
Kpm
He is »bore ?
He cannot j
fraud. 4 He i
the keeping of another,
trays no secret*
keeping. , He. m
borrowed pin
takes selfish i
mistakes,
weapons in
never stabs
ashamed
is not one riling to
and another be! _
If by accident he «
possession of hi»
counsels, die pass
an act of instant
bears sealed
tampering with
pers not
whether they fiul
dow, or lie open
unguarded e*p$iur#, are
creq to fiiip. He
no privacy ‘6f others,
eve* the sentry s
Bolts and bars, locks
hedges and pickets, 1
sou
ught a transmigration of bears it
ule, but Todd showed that for
out of sight, fibar tl
partition-any where. He
no offices, he sells none, lie'
trigues for none. He
rather his
win them; I
will eat honest 1
ples'on no bhe.
man. If he is
r- .v
its cosmogony, its Hebrew con
ception of the heavens, and the
fiood, at some length. Bro.
Todd met all his arguments
promptly, with skill and with
success. He was thoroughly
at home while handling Under-
wood’s objections, and uncon-
sciously he conveyed the im-
pression to us that, if he were
so disposed, he conld pat the
the very reason they believed
it, they embalmed their dead,
holding that as long as the
body conld be preserved the
spirit would remain in it
What we thought one of the! , - -
most unanswerable things tiiatt Pendent1
the. wi*er by
mawy,
do ri^lit.
——
ie.
Todd said was that
imgs
alth
ough;
Egypt was intensely pplythe
istic in her religion, ana al
met at a Ajoo'
Paternoster Row,
versing
Dr. Campbe
of “Thom o:
of some fame on
tist side of the
“There,” aaid
tor v tp . Mr.
There is^- what
stopped, apparently paralyzed objections Still stronger and
by tlie man’s farv, movedunitet then refute them. In the
lo mmm '
m&ml
- praise.
i V •%
additions at Post Oak congre-
gregation, Washington county;
Eleven at Middleton Springs,
chanty; five at Red
Pi Lee county, These
meetings were conducted by
Bros. Dabney, Lincoln and my-
self. To the Lord be all the
J. Jones.
fit was so unexpected that the
man evideufcly.felt a .cojnplete
revolution of feeling. Gradual- stealing
course of the discussion, Un-
derwood gave us a little- of
almost everything. He refer-
red to the cruel conduct to the
Midianites—to the Hebrews
though Moses was brought trp
in all the Egyptian learning and
religion, still Moses took moH
notiieism away with him and
effectually established it., He
enquired where did Moses get
his idea of one Grid? This
was one of tlie many things
that U nderwood never auawer-
ed. On the scientific question,
Todd showed from scientific
societies and men that sonic 12(1
theories of cosmogony
been exploded and set aside
already, while the Bible was;aftcUai
still read aod pondere#. j Its roree,:* fllMti
Several times during the dis-, ThC follow!
enssion questions of the canop j tist Weekly, is
—the Peshito version—the ear-j creditable to the
ly fathers, etc., camb up. In Uaptifte:
each instance Todd
designate a thorn ;
for you BaptiSs.”'
passage.^ was Mr.!
geon's 4mmediatem
.... h* finiebud. it
atewMBi
artee, and
^.-1: ■ J' J,'-
their daughters—to j himself familiar
showed j “Tfie, town of ^Vlfred,
withr , ynctghany pqnpty*, whiph '
there J^re, settled seventy-flve'y
maker's head and remarked as
he moved away, ignoring the
other man altogether, “I guess
you’re right,, little pet.”—San
Francisco .Pos^.
Egyptian antiquity—to Herod
destroying the children of
Bethlehem, etc.
Hr has evidently profited by
rgcojit modifications in' the jln-^ umphaitt partjif .the debate.
deruood was condemhea and
set aside instantly by Todd.
This was perliaps the most tri-
nuwi umi a lueu l
pennitted the sale cl
liquor* This is the
ters ot the ^al
Seventh day ‘ Bi,
tfie|r yniv^sitj* is
M-
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Burnett, Thomas R. Christian Messenger (Bonham, Tex.), Vol. 3, No. 32, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 15, 1877, newspaper, August 15, 1877; Bonham, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth974286/m1/5/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bonham Public Library.