ABOUT a hundred and fifty years ago, two men, John Wesley and George
Whitfield, said, If everybody is going to hell, somebody ought to
mention it. The Episcopal clergy said: Keep still; do not tear your
gown. Wesley and Whitfield said: This frightful truth ought to be
proclaimed from the housetop of every opportunity, from the highway
of every occasion. They were good, honest men. They believed their
doctrine. And they said: If there is a hell, and a Niagara of souls
pouring over an eternal precipice of ignorance, somebody ought to say
something. They were right; somebody ought, if such a thing is true.
Wesley was a believer in the Bible. He believed in the actual presence
of the Almighty.
God used to do miracles for him; used to put off a rain several days to
give his meeting a chance; used to cure his horse of lameness; used to
cure Mr. Wesley's headaches.
And Mr. Wesley also believed in the actual existence of the devil. He
believed that devils had possession of people. He talked to the devil
when he was in folks, and the devil told him that he was going to leave;
and that he was going into another person. That he would be there at a
certain time; and Wesley went to that other person, and there the devil
was, prompt to the minute. He regarded every conversion as warfare
between God and this devil for the possession of that human soul, and
that in the warfare God had gained the victory. Honest, no doubt. Mr.
Wesley did not believe in human liberty. Honest, no doubt. Was opposed
to the liberty of the colonies. Honestly so. Mr. Wesley preached a
sermon entitled: "The Cause and Cure of Earthquakes," in which he took
the ground that earthquakes were caused by sin; and the only way to stop
them was to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. No doubt an honest man.
Wesley and Whitfield fell out on the question of predestination. Wesley
insisted that God invited everybody to the feast. Whitfield said he did
not invite those he knew would not come. Wesley said he did. Whitfield
said: Well, he did not put plates for them, anyway. Wesley said he did.
So that, when they were in hell he could show them that there was a
seat left for them. The church that they founded is still active. And
probably no church in the world has done so much preaching for as little
money as the Methodists. Whitfield believed in slavery, and advocated
the slave-trade. And it was of Whitfield that Whittier made the two
lines:
"He bade the slave ships speed from coast to coast,
Fanned by the wings of the Holy Ghost."
We have lately had a meeting of the Methodists, and I find by their
statistics that they believe that they have converted 130,000 folks in
a year. That, in order to do this, they have 26,000 preachers, 226,000
Sunday school scholars, and about $100,000,000 invested in church
property. I find, in looking over the history of the world, that there
are 40,000,000 or 50,000,000 of people born a year, and if they are
saved at the rate of 130,000 a year, about how long will it take that
doctrine to save this world? Good, honest people; but they are mistaken.
In old times they were very simple. Churches used to be like barns. They
used to have them divided--men on that side, and women on this. A little
barbarous. We have advanced since then, and we now find as a fact,
demonstrated by experience, that a man sitting by the woman he loves
can thank God as heartily as though sitting between two men that he has
never been introduced to.
There is another thing the Methodists should remember, and that is that
the Episcopalians were the greatest enemies they ever had. And they
should remember that the Freethinkers have always treated them kindly
and well.
There is one thing about the Methodist Church in the North that I like.
But I find that it is not Methodism that does that. I find that the
Methodist Church in the South is as much opposed to liberty as the
Methodist Church North is in favor of liberty. So it is not Methodism
that is in favor of liberty or slavery. They differ a little in their
creed from the rest. They do not believe that God does everything. They
believe that he does his part, and that you must do the rest, and that
getting to heaven is a partnership business. The Methodist Church is
adapted to new countries--its ministers are generally uncultured, and
with them zeal takes the place of knowledge. They convert people with
noise. In the silence that follows most of the converts backslide.
In a little while a struggle will commence between the few who are
growing and the orthodox many. The few will be driven out, and the
church will be governed by those who believe without understanding.