Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde
Stevenson may have done a bit of exaggerating when he wrote the story of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, yet the principle of dual personality which he pictured is quite real.
I have seen this exhibited in denominational preachers. Occasionally, after listening to a gospel sermon on the radio, one of them will send me an unsigned letter. It is rather simple to learn from the phraseology that it was written by a preacher, and his particular denomination can almost be ascertained. In my experience, without exception, the letters have all been ugly and bitter, but when those same preachers get before a public gathering, they want to leave the impression that they are very pious, kindly disposed, and not a fiber of rancor in them. I know that this is strictly for public consumption.
It never occurred to me to be even a little surprised at their conduct seeing how thoroughly corrupt they are in doctrine. But to me, it is cause for amazement when I see my own brethren who have been exposed to' the truth for so long acting the same way. One of the severe contrasts so noticeable in a single personality was during the Neal-Wallace debate on Premillennialism back in 1933. The pious disposition put on by Charles Neal while the debate was being conducted in the building of the Christian Church and the vindictive spirit he manifested otherwise is an example. All of our brethren with divided personalities, a pretty name for base hypocrisy, have not gone out from us. Some of those who seem to think they are so sweet spirited that Isaiah was talking about them when he said, "A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench," will, while hiding behind a boulder of journalistic censorship, snipe at those who disagree with them rather than fairly and calmly discuss the problems which are causing the disagreements. They would like for brethren generally to believe that they are so full of love that it would register on a "Geiger counter" but in certain places and through certain media, "their speech betrays them." We can do with the Dr. Jekylls, and we can do without the Mr. Hydes.