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Modern Skepticism: A Journey Through the Land of Doubt and Back Again A Life Story By: Joseph Barker (1806-1875) |
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A Life Story by JOSEPH BARKER. Philadelphia:
Smith, English & Co.
1874.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by
Rev. Joseph Barker,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
Jas. B. Rodgers Co.,
Printers and Stereotypers,
Philadelphia. CONTENTS.
PREFACE, 7 CHAPTER I. Introduction. My early life. Enter the Church. The Ministry. Happy
days. Sad change. How happened it? 17 CHAPTER II. Causes of unbelief. Vice. Other causes. Constitutional tendencies to
doubt. Disappointed expectations about Christianity. Mysteries of
Providence. Misrepresentations of Christ and Christianity in human
creeds. Church divisions. Ignorant advocates of Christianity. Wrong
principles of reasoning. False science, 19 CHAPTER III. Another cause of unbelief. Bad feeling between ministers or among
church members. Alienates them from each other. Then separates them
from the Church. Then from Christ. How it works. My case, 26 CHAPTER IV. Origin of the unhappy feeling between me and some of my brother
ministers. Tendencies of my mind. Rationalizing tendency. Its
effects. Reading. Investigations. Discoveries, 30 CHAPTER V. Modification of my early creed. Unscriptural doctrines
relinquished. Scriptural ones adopted. Some doctrines
modified. Theological fictions dropped. Eager for the pure, simple
truth as taught by Jesus. Doctrine of types given up. Other notions
relinquished. Alarm of some of my brethren at these changes, 44 CHAPTER VI. How preachers and theologians indulge their fancies on religion. John
Wesley. His resolution to be a man of one book. What came of his
resolution. His sermon on God's approbation of His works, unscriptural
and unphilosophical throughout. Illustrations and proofs. And Wesley
was one of the best and wisest, one of the most honest and single minded
of our theologians. What then may we expect of others? Evils of
theological trifling. Mischievous effects of mixing human fictions with
Divine revelations, 55 CHAPTER VII. Further theological investigations. Unwarranted statements by
preachers. John Foster's Essay on Some of the Causes by which
Evangelical Religion is Rendered Distasteful to Persons of Cultivated
Minds. Introduction of similar views to the notice of my ministerial
brethren. The reception they met with. No Church has got all the
truth. Most Churches, perhaps all, have got portions of it, which
others have not. My attempts to gather up the fragments from
all. Freedom from bigotry. Love to all Christians. Judging trees
by their fruit. Reading the books of various denominations,
like foreign travel, liberalizes the mind. I found truth
and goodness in all denominations. Appropriated all as part
of my patrimony. Results. Suspicions and fears among my
brethren. Mutterings: Backbitings: Controversy. Bad feeling, 65 CHAPTER VIII. My style of preaching. Decidedly practical. Using Christianity as a
means for making bad people into good ones, and good ones always
better. Reasons for this method. A family trait. Hereditary. Great
need of practical preaching. Folly of other kinds of
Preaching. Littleness of great Preachers. Worthlessness of great
sermons. The Truly Great are the Greatly Good and Greatly Useful. My
Models. The Bible. Jesus. My Favorite Preachers. Billy Dawson, David
Stoner, James Parsons. My Favorite Books. The Bible Nature. Simple
Common Sense, instructive, earnest, moving books. How my preaching was
received by the people. Its effects on churches and
congregations. Uneasiness of my colleagues. Fresh mutterings; tale
bearings; controversies; and more bad feeling, 82 CHAPTER IX. Extracts from my Diary. A strange preacher. Horrible sermons. Lights
of the world that give no light. Theological mist and
smoke. Narrow mindedness. Intolerance. T. Allin, Great preaching
great folly. A. Scott, A good preacher... Continue reading book >>
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