Modern Skepticism: A Journey Through the Land of Doubt and Back Again - A Life Story

Joseph Barker

Informations

• Publié par: isto
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 254
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The Project Gutenberg eBook,
Modern Skepticism: A Journey
Through the Land of Doubt and
Back Again, by Joseph Barker
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Modern Skepticism: A Journey Through the Land of Doubt and Back
Again
A Life Story
Author: Joseph Barker
Release Date: June 24, 2006 [eBook #18675]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODERN
SKEPTICISM: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE LAND OF DOUBT AND BACK
AGAIN***

E-text prepared by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Lisa Reigel,
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading
Team
(http://www.pgdp.net/)
from page images generously made available by
the Making of America Collection
of the University of Michigan Digital Library Production
Service
(http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/)

Note: Images of the original pages are available through the Making of Americal Collection of the University of Michigan's Digital Library
Production Service. See http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?
c=moa;c=moajrnl;g=moagrp;xc=1;q1=Barker;rgn=full%20text;cite1=Barker;cite1restrict=author;view=toc;idno=AJK2731.0001.001;cc=moa


[Pg i]
MODERN SKEPTICISM:
A
JOURNEY THROUGH THE LAND OF DOUBT
AND BACK AGAIN.

A LIFE STORY
BY
JOSEPH BARKER.
PHILADELPHIA:
SMITH, ENGLISH & CO.
1874.
[Pg ii]
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.
[Pg iii]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
[Pg iv]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.—Sanctification.—Keep to Scripture.—R. Watson:
theological madness.—Big Books on the way of salvation; puzzling folks.—
Antinomian utterances about Christ's work and man's salvation.—Preachers
taking the devil's side; and doing his work.—Scarcity of common sense in
priesthoods, and of uncommon sense.—The great abundance of nonsense
and bad sense.—Common religious expressions that are false.—Favorite
Hymns that are not Scriptural—Baxter's good sense, 98
CHAPTER X.
Reforming tendencies.—Corruptions in the Church.—Bad trades.—Faults in
the ministry.—Toleration of vice.—Drinking habits.—Intemperance.—The
Connexion.—Faulty rules.—Bad customs.—Defective institutions.—All
encouraged to suggest reforms and punished for doing so.—Original
principles of the Connexion set aside, and persecution substituted for
freedom.—My simplicity.—My reward.—The Ministry.—Drunkenness.—
Teetotalism.—Advocacy of Temperance.—Outcry of preachers.—My
Evangelical Reformer.—Articles on the prevailing vices of the Church; On
Toleration and Human Creeds;—On Channing's Works; On Anti-Christian
trading, &c., get me into trouble.—Conference interference.—Conference
trials.—The state of things critical.—No remedy.—Matters get worse and
worse.—Exciting events: too many to be named here.—Envy, jealousy,
rage, strife, confusion, and many evil works.—Conspiracies: Fierce conflicts.
—Expulsion, 117
CHAPTER XI.
Explanations about the different Methodist Bodies.—Grounds of my
reformatory proceedings.—About immoralities.—Christianity not to blame for
the faults of professors and preachers.—My own defects, 153
CHAPTER XII.
Story of my life continued.—Results of my expulsion.—Fierce fighting.—
Desperation of my persecutors.—Great excitement on my part.—Rank crop
of slanders.—Monstrous ones.—And silly ones.—Bad deeds as well as
wicked words.—Hard work.—Exhaustion.—Powerlessness.—Three days'
rest.—Long sleep.—Wonderful,—delightful,—result.—Public debates.—
[Pg v]Remarkable occurrences; seemed Providential.—A lying opponent
unexpectedly confronted and confounded.—New Body,—Christian
Brethren.—My church at Newcastle.—Change in my views, and fresh
troubles.—Losses.—Poverty.—Learn the Printing business.—Follow it
under difficulties.—Want of funds.—Generous friends. Family on the verge
of want.—Pray.—An unlooked-for cart-load of provisions.—Trust in
Providence.—False friends.—True ones.—A mad utterance.—A worse
deed.—Theological Conventions.—Free investigations and public
discussions.—Change of views, 103
CHAPTER XIII.
Approach to Unitarianism.—Kindness of Unitarians.—Preaching and
lecturing in their pulpits.—Ten nights' public discussion with Rev. W. Cooke.
—Subjects.—Results.—Publications.—Now periodicals.—Unitarian
invitation to London.—Public reception.—Liberal contributio