Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1858-06-23
For the Reporter.
Declaration Of Faith.


fact too well known to require an ar
gument; and yet we find all sects, less
or more, inclined to creed-making. The
great evil of such a declaration is, that
it is intended to serve as a bond of I'M
ion, when, in fact, it has the contrary
effect. All the schisms, seets, and par
ty broils rise out of formal declara-
ton Of faith. The torrents of blood
shed by religious bigots flowed from
such declarations. The reader NAV
ask If we are opposed to all declara-
tons of faith. We answer, no. We
believe that every man onght to make
a public declaration of faith; but that
should not bind any other person, nor
even himself, any longer than he sin
cerely believes it to be true. What
virtue is there in believing certain ab-
stract propositions? Do men possess
a sovereign and independent volition to
believe any and all propositions creed
makers may require Of them? They
do not. We only believe from the force
of evidence, and that evidence often
forces itself upon us contrary to our
will or inclination. And the same pre-
else evidence does not always leave
the same impression on the mind of
some men as it does on others. 49,
Some men possess stronger power of
mind than others, and are more capa-
bic Of comparing ideas and of making
deductions, Or, to speak chronological
", the organs of causalitv are more &C
tive and energetic in some men than in
others. It would be just rs reasonable
to require all men to have one uniform
color Of hair, as to require them to be-
lieve in the same declaration of faith.
Why, then, do men act so absurd as to
quarrel and wrangle with each other in
regard to matters Of faith WHY at
tempt, at all, to make declaration of
faith bond Of union? This wicked
and injudicious policy Of making dec
larations Of faith the bond of union al
ways has, and will, exclude some Of the
wisest and best men from our Christian
fellowship, for if man becomes wiser
than we are, to see the folly and alb
surdltv of some Of the articles Of our
faith, if he is an honest man and makes
an open declaration Of his faith, as all
truly honest men will do, the necessary
result Of our bond of union is a schism.
When we think philosophically upon
this subject, it does appear that none
but ignorant bigots would ever attempt
to make a formal declaration Of faith a
bond Of union; and, indeed, all church
history proves this to be the fact. In
every age of The church, ignorant su-
perstitious, bigoted bishops have pub
lished their anthems and Popish bulls
of accommodations against all re-
formers. The most damnalole sin OF
heresv. in the estimation Of these intol-
Grant bigots, is unbelief-i. e., a want
Of faith in some dark proposition which
the wiseSt Of men know nothing about,
and, perhaps, cannot understand. Thus
we find an Arius accommodated from
the church, and Servetus burnt at a
stake, because they had been blessed
with too much good sense TO believe
there were three Gods, and that these
three Gods made but one. Would i
not look more like Christians to make
love the bond Of union, and let every
one have their confession of faith p
Far-ah, far better I say would it bt
| III Christians to pay less attention tx
matters Of faith, and more to the prac
tice Of virtue.
Such is the pretended spirit Of big
otry and intolerance III the pretended
Christian church, that man may sus
tain an unblemished character, practice
all the moral precepts Of Jesus, but i
he rejects certain dogmas of the church
faith, all church fellowship is withdrawn
from him, while he, himself, is denounc.
ed as a hereto, an infdel, sceptic, 6
dangerous member Of society. A man
may be ever so uncharitable, grind the
face Of the poor, turn a deaf ear to the
cries of the miserable while he swims
in wealth and affluence, if he will 60 tc
church, have little water sprinkled or
his children by priest, or be plunged
in mill-pond, eat a crumb Of bread,
and wet his lips with wine which has
been prayed over by a priest, make
long prayers in his family, and at church
give few dollars to the preacher, and
subscribe to the declaration of faith,
that man will always have the fellow
ship of the church, even if his grain