hey tell him they have nothing to do with vain
philosophy.

2. The man of taste and culture hears other Christians harping eternally
on two or three points, adopted perhaps from some dreamy author, and
denouncing all who question the correctness of their version of the
Gospel, as heretics or infidels, while all the time their notions have
little or no resemblance either to the Gospel or to common sense; but
are at best, only perversions or distortions of Christian doctrines,
which have no more likeness to the religion of Christ than a few broken
bricks have to a beautiful and magnificent palace.

3. In many cases the Christians with whom he meets have not only no
general knowledge of religious subjects, but no desire for such
knowledge. The Bible is their book, they say, and they want no other.
And they make but a pitiful use of that. They do not go to the Bible as
to a fountain of infinite knowledge, whose streams of truth blend
naturally with all the truths in the universe, but merely to refresh
their minds with a few misinterpreted passages, which ignorance and
bigotry are accustomed to use to support their misconceptions of
Christian doctrine. They use the book not to make them wise, but to keep
them ignorant. They dwell for ever on the same irrational fancies, and
repeat them for ever in the same outlandish jargon.

4. He meets with other Christians who read a little in other books
besides the Bible; but it is just those books that help to keep them
from understanding the meaning of the Bible. And the portions of the
books which they admire most and quote oftenest, are the silliest and
most erroneous portions. They put darkness for light, and light for
darkness. The man of culture speaks to them, but they cannot understand
him. His thoughts and style are alike out of their line, or beyond their
capacity. If at any time they catch a glimpse of his meaning, they are
frightened on perceiving that his thoughts are not an exact repetition
of their own.

5. Another cause which has tended to render Christianity less acceptable
to men of taste and culture, is the peculiar language adopted in the
discourses and writings of its _Teachers_. The style of some religious
teachers is low, vulgar. The style of a still greater number is
barbarous. Men soon feel the language of the _Law_ to be barbarous. They
would feel the language of theology to be as barbarous, if they were not
accustomed to hear it or read it so constantly.