If any class of men in the world are free, it ought to be the Christian.
But that which is freedom to one, is bondage to another, as men are bound, some to one thing, and some to another. Is there a remedy for this evil, and what is the cause? We are what we are by education, being governed to a greater or less degree by our surroundings; imbibing both truth and error with equal zeal, according to the faith reposed by us in our guides and teachers. And while in many instances these divers opinions may not be of vital importance, it is a question of truth and error, and where two differ, one must be wrong, and sometimes both; we are not accountable for having imbibed errors from our teachers, but we are accountable for rejecting a truth when it is properly presented.
Dear reader, to what age, or class of men, or code of tenets, have you obligated yourself in your religious or irreligious opinions? Wisdom did not die with any particular age or class of men. To-day we have the same Bible, and with it, revisions by the ablest scholars. It is not only our privilege, but absolute duty, to read it; not "as through a glass darkly," where all seems mystical and uncertain, but by the light of the noon-day sun, which is free as the blessed Word itself. No longer is the Bible chained as Luther found it; no longer should our conscience or affections be chained to any creed, written or unwritten. Who is our master? To whom are we bound? Is freedom, then, a myth, a mockery? Can we, with an open Bible before us, shift our religious responsibilities upon our would-be teacher, and sit dreaming under the sound of his monotonous discourse, just as a man will buy a through ticket and take passage on a train for a strange country, consigning himself wholely to the care of the conductor? Is this freedom? Is it "fighting the good fight of faith?" Is this you? Wake up.—Investigator.