All Items 4 Collection 2 Archives & Special Collections 4 Emily Dickinson Collection 1 Contributor 4 Hitchcock, Edward, 1793-1864 3 Amherst College. Class of 1850. Dickinson 1 Dickinson, Austin, d. 1895 1 Dickinson, Emily, 1830-1886 1 Location 1 Massachusetts 3 Topic 12 Christianity 3 Sermons 3 Sermons, American 3 Piety 2 Prayer 2 Apostasy 1 Christian life 1 Correspondence 1 Hypocrisy 1 Poets, American 1 Regeneration (Theology) 1 Religious aspects 1 show more 7 show fewer Part Of 2 Edward and Orra White Hitchcock Papers 3 Emily Dickinson Collection 1 Genre 2 Sermons 3 Correspondence 1 mods.shelfLocator 1 Box 7 Folder 6 4 Edward Hitchcock sermon no. 117, "Grades of Apostacy," 1822 August Hitchcock, Edward, 1793-1864 Edward Hitchcock's sermon on apostasy, based on Matthew 26:58 - "But Peter followed him afar off." Hitchcock enumerates the practices by which professing believers follow Christ from a distance until they abandon their faith completely. He shows that the "fatal root of all apostacies [sic] in religion" start with the Christian's neglect of his closet - earnest, fervent, secret prayer and self examination - and his abandonment of ejaculatory prayer - "short mental petitions during the day wherever he may be." Hitchcock noted the dates and places where he had delivered this sermon between 1822 and 1851. Edward Hitchcock sermon no. 117, "Grades of Apostacy," 1822 August Edward Hitchcock sermons no. 119 & 120, 1824 August Hitchcock, Edward, 1793-1864 Based on Acts 7:51, these two companion sermons by Edward Hitchcock focus on natural man's hostility to religious doctrine and religious practice. He states that "most men are ignorant of the modes in which their enmity to God displays itself" and that "it is one of the grand objects of the faithful preacher to convince men of their deep rooted opposition & enmity to God." In sermon 119, he provides examples of the ways in which even a man who believes himself sincere and honest in his beliefs will oppose "the system of revealed truth our fathers have delivered down to us." Sermon 120 continues his examination of "our opposition to vital godliness" and Hitchcock enumerates ways in which this hostility manifests itself as "our natural opposition to experimental or practical religion." Edward Hitchcock did not provide a title for either of these sermons. Twice within the second sermon, he mentioned that his remarks on "native repugnance" to the doctrines of the Gospel were delivered in the "morning" and "forenoon," suggesting that both sermons were presented on the same day. As was his habit, on the first page of each sermon Hitchcock noted the dates and places where he had delivered these sermons between 1824 and 1831. Edward Hitchcock sermons no. 119 & 120, 1824 August Edward Hitchcock sermon no. 123, "Evidences of Christian Character," 1822-July Hitchcock, Edward, 1793-1864 Edward Hitchcock's sermon based on 1 Peter 8:15. Drawing upon the "science of religion," Hitchcock examined the standards of Christian experience. He mentioned that he had "proceeded in the morning (if I may be permitted to borrow a phrase from our courts of civil law) to challenge many of those equivocal evidences" which Christians use to prove their piety. He recognized that in his audience "some in despair were led to say to themselves if these are not evidence of regeneration what evidence can be found?" The object of this discourse was to answer this question, to enumerate those "marks, given in scripture, by which real Christians can be distinguished from all hypocrites." Hitchcock noted the dates and places where he had delivered this sermon between 1822 and 1843. Edward Hitchcock sermon no. 123, "Evidences of Christian Character," 1822-July Emily Dickinson letter to W. Austin Dickinson Dickinson, Emily, 1830-1886 Emily Dickinson letter to W. Austin Dickinson
