In those days all the Congregational churches were orthodox and evangelical. Of course, the Presbyterians, the Methodists, the Episcopalians, and the Baptists were thoroughgoing orthodox, and Congregational ministers were the zealous defenders of the orthodox faith. I was looked at as a very dangerous heretic, and was almost excommunicated. I could not conscientiously stay in the orthodox church, since my theology so greatly differed from theirs, and so I left the Congregational church in order to make my position clear to the world; but when I left the church I left the Christian ministry also. I wish to call special attention to this point: Why did I leave the ministry when I left the Congregational church? Because, in the first place, my New Theology and Higher Criticism had destroyed my faith in the perfect, divine authority of the Bible; and in the second place, they had destroyed my faith in the perfect deity of Christ. When I had lost these two things I had lost everything. I could not preach Christ alone, and him crucified. I could preach Christian theism, Christian morality, and Christian sociology. In fact, I could preach all the practical side of Christianity, but not the central fundamental truths of Christianity, Christ and his salvation through the cross. In those days there were many liberals who were saying, “You may have your own theology in your study, but retain the commonly accepted Christian doctrine in the pulpit. There is no need of entering into the discussion of theological questions in the pulpit, because it is for the common people, and not for the scholars.” But I said: “I cannot use two theologies in my ministry, one for myself, and the other for the people. I cannot handle the Word of God in such a double-handed way. What I have learned in my study that I will preach in my pulpit.” But such was quite the common practise among the liberals of those days. Not only in those days, but even now, there are many liberals who are practising these worldly counsels of handling the Word of God cunningly and deceitfully. They are proclaiming from their pulpits, not the salvation of souls by the blood of Christ, but only what they call social salvation, moral uplift, and world reconstruction by the example of Jesus of Nazareth, thus hiding their skeptical theology and agnostic philosophy under the cloak of practical Christianity.