CRITICISM OF "BOANERGES."

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2500, 10 January 1877, Page 2

CRITICISM OF "BOANERGES."

(To the Editor'of the Evening Star.)

Sir, —Your correspondent who mia* names'himself "Boanerges" is, indeed, 1 a very weak son of thunder; his letter rather partakes of the character of parsonic whine than of the thunder clap which rouses everybody; certainly, it can do us no harm whatever, but is calculated to aid our cause not a little. He begins his letter with a falsehood, for we have attacked no opponent's character, but have simply offered good and reasonable advice. As for the opinions of any man, we heed them not; our faith 1 is not founded on the opinions of men, not even on the opinions of parsons, for they all contradict one another, and consequently are unworthy of confidence in matters of religion. Our faith is founded on the literal word of God, the divinely inspired word which is easily understood, and which no man dare alter without laying himself open to Almighty pains and penalties, but which the teachers of these days do dare alter and thus make confusion of the whole. It is no wonder, therefore, that we differ from the hirelings ' of these days, any more than it was a wonder that the great Luther. differed from all around him in his days, for the literal word was his stronghold, and' that which made him the powerful asent of the Almighty he proved himself to be. If people are offended because jfif*wiU

" contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints," we cannot help that. We mean no offence —it is but the offence of the gospel, and all who proclaim that gospel have ever been and must ever be subject to that offence; we cannot help peopie being offended. Because the mass of teachers prdclaim "another gospel" than the gospel of God, and because the mass of their hearers profess to believe them, I suppose we must shut our mouths and not dip our pen in ink to defend the truth : that is the liberty which " Boanerges " and his tribe would accord to us if he and they had the power, no doubt. Well, they will have the power presently, and then we shall see what amount of. liberty they will accord to the true disciple of Jesus Christ. Precious little, we know. The stupid idea of these days in the churches and out of them is that majorities are right. Are they ? Well, if so, the Roman Catholics are right, and the Musselmen are right, and' the largest number in the worldly churches of these days are right, and the primitive churches were more right than the Apostles, who gave them instruction, and so we might go on, but we discern all through the Bible that the minority were always right and the majority always wrong, and so it is now, in the churches and out of them also. •■Spiritually-minded men, froii the parsons downwards, are sadly in the minority in all the churches of these latter days. Money !■ Money ! Money! That's the cry everywhere, and when the funds are low the most serious subjects of holy writ are prostituted, simply with a view to replenish the exchequer. But if those who publish truth simply say to the truthful, help us to pay the printer, woe be to them. " Boanerges," for shame of you! Your tribe employ even little children to scour the town for money to keep your mills grinding out nonsense. Physician heal yourself! Your reference to "that little matter of £16 sterling" has very much amused us, for you have inadvertently advertised our requirements through another medium, and mark us, we shall be sure to receive contributions for the continuation of Enoch through the unintended kindness of an enemy. How often it is in the providence of God that our enemies do us more good than our real friends. We may as well tell you that our "pitiful lament," as you please to call it, is bringing us some money; we have received £3 towards the £16 during the last few days, and none of it from the " retailer of drugs " either. We number, not two only, we are happy to say, but a host—a people now scattered all over the earth; a poor people we are indeed, but rich in the faith of the return of our mighty Christ Jesus, who has all power both in the heaven and in the earth, and who will soon gather us together to reign with him over the earth and to bring i about the recovery or " restitution of all things," such a thing even as you among the number of things,. notwithstanding your present opposition. Now, " Boanerges," if you have a better hope than ours, it is your duty tor proclaim it, and for this purpose we will give you liberty and space in our publication to do so, but you must do it scripturallj, if you can, putting yotir real name at the end of the communication, and for publication; for in these matters we don't believe in dummies, but in fearless, open, straightforward, outspoken people. Before I leave your snearing whining letter, I have a word or two to say upon dogmatism, or positivism. We are positive and thus dogmatise; of course we do. How can any believe the word of God and do otherwise ? The word of God is a positive word, thus are we also positive who believe it, and give our testimony. Our God is the unchangeable God, absolutely perfect in all His attributes. If 'then such a God has spoken to His creatures, His word will certainly come to pass; it is a positive word, and cannot be changed; though all the hirelings in the •world may seek to change it, nevertheless it remains the. same, every word will receive its accomplishment, every promise be fulfilled and every denunciation on wicked men be brought to pass in their season and time. If " Boanerges " gives evidence in a.court of justice he dogmatises, that is, he is positive, otherwise his evidence would not be worth a straw, and would not be received; but the religious hirelings seldom get beyond a think—one of the greatest possible proofs

that they really know nothing of what they talk about. What man of common sense , can for a moment credit their contradictory evidence? Now what is the consequence of their doubting ? Why, that Christendom is involved in doubt and confusion, every man of it upon all religious matters —doctrine and practice—and this after the preaching and teaching of 1800 years. Is is not high time that the whole j thing was swept into oblivion, and that lomething better stood in its place ? At ally rate God has spoken, and He by His spirit has declared the end of it. all, and that now, right speedily. There is no sure word now in all flfcristendom; metaphorically the Bible is trampled under foot, as it will be literally and generally ere long.. The word of the Lord is either forsaken'or perverted everywhere; except by very few the "sure word of prophecy" is despised and scoffed at, even by the parsons themgJOes. It is treated as mere opinion, like any other writing # which any man may pull <all to pieces just as he pleases. If Malachi says, "Behold, the- day Cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble, &c." Oh, say these scoffers that is a figure, a symbol, or a metaphor. Well, we shall see if it be so; that day has begun, and summer heat is becoming terrific all over the earth. We read in the public journals that in-many places the heat has become unbearable,- thus already proving the literality of God's word. We could easily fill a column of your paper with similar literal passages, but one passage is as good as a hundred, because they are all the Word of the Lord, and are certain to be fulfilled ; it is positive and cannot be changed. In conclusion we nay to all who really believe God's Word, come out of Christendom; have nothing to do with it, lest you be involved in its overwhelming destruction, now close at hand. Come out and wait for the Lord from Heaven.—l am, &c, The Editob op Enoch.