Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1879-08-09

menceuient ot&"SymPosiuilOh Oreeus
bv eminent theologians Of the leading
Churches of Europe. The Continental
Churches are represented by Professors
VAN OsrERzEE and LUTHARD, Canon Eli
LOTT represents the Church OF England,
Professor REYNOLDS the Congregational
churches, and DIR. MnIGGAN the Presby-
terian churches. The papers written by
these eminent theologians appear in the
JuN number Of the Qint,riy, and these
are 10 be followed in the next number
by papers from the pens of DIR. PRES
SENSE OF the French Reformed Church,
DIR. VANCE SNITH, Unitarian, and the
Rev. +. W. MACDONALD, Wesleyan. The
question for discussion is: care Church
creeds compatible with mental Tree
dom and the best welfare OF Divine
truth?' We give synopsis OF the vari-
Gus papers:
DIR. VAN OsTEEEE traces the use OF
creeds to the necessity which is land
upon the Church to state where and
what she is. AS she lives by the truth,
she must give expression to what she
lives by. The Church universal is called
upon by the world to show her coIors;
and the different sections OF the
church to justify to other sections
the grounds of their isolation. The
Protestant principle (l529) recognized
the inviolable freedom OF the indyid-
nal and collective conscience as against
all human authority, by whomsoever
arogated, but at the same time-and
this is too often iorgotten-D'dii'tdiacd
ne obligation Of unconditional S''bm $3.50" 10
The authority Of GoTs rOrd IA The Holy
Sr,ipt,,res Of the Old and N,Jr Testament as
The bigbcSf lq,r. The confessions are the
cburch's certificates of birth, written
not seldom by the lurid light OF the stake
and with the precious martyrs blood.
Mental freedom is thus far untouched,
inasmuch as a man may choose ms own
communion and may revise his choice.
And the church herself is always at
liberty to compare her creed with the
trust on which it is based. The great
sgBjeci naitsr cannot be altered Heb.
xiii. 81 but the oppression, the formulating
of the truth needs constant correction,
because that which is divine can he
only approximately expressed in human
language.
DIR. LUTHARDT iniers from their gener-
al adoption that crceds are not an acct
dent, but a psychological and historl-
cal necessity. individuals and churches
cannot help telling "the things they
have seen and heard and must ever
distinguish between what is and what
is not conscnous with these things. He
admits that they are restraints, but con-
tends that such restraints are necessary
10 true liberty. Man being made for So
ciety, society must protect him against
individual caprice. And thus law for
citizens and creeds l0r Christians de
fcnd true liberty against the false, and
creeds become opponents of the truth
by which their adherents are made Tree.
Canon ELLIOTT contends that creeds are
the charters Of the Church's freedom Is
they promote the development Of thco-
logical Science and provoke Il constant
examination OF foundations. AsChecks
they are not letters but stimulants, pre-
venting the exhaustion and paralysis IN
cident To instability OF direction, by Ill
recting inquiry Ia a dcterminate end.
As such they cannot be inimlcal To the
interests Of Divine Truth. ON the con-
trary, those churches which have abb
iured creeds have become nurseries OF
error and have found room Tor schools
OF unbeliei. Canon ELLIOTT dcprccatcS
the multiplication oiSymbolical books or
articles. AS regards the laity the iormul'c
cannot be too simple. rs regards the
Clergy they ought To hc more stringent.
DIR. REYNOLDS deals with the question
from the point at view ol Churches
(which have no Symbollcal books or
formularies, and yet to whom the con-
fession of the common faith is dearcr
than life" He is surprised that, when
science is passing through the empire
stage to the dogmatic, and the processes
OF generalization advance with amazing
speed. scientific men should resent the
application Of the scientific method to
the facts and principles OF Revelation.
4 man is capable Of arriving at and eX-
pressing his views of Divine Truth. lie
must, ii lac wishes to retain his IDEAS OF
God, Sin, Death and Righteousness,
make some attempt to diScoycrthe sour
ces OF those truths, and think ont their
relation Ia one another. He thus be-
comes a theolOgian. Language Is cOcval
with thought, but a specific word is a
sound which two or more persons at
least have agreed to Use as 4 symbol OF a
thought common to them. Then the
Church must know what it believes ii 1t
is To be aggressive, and it can only he
known by the words in which
it clothes its spiritual IDEAS. The
Church at the beginning did not wait
Tor its enemies to elicit its faith. Ii
boldly proclaimed "all the ronis OF this
life, and 10y the message it delivered 1t
overcamc the world. Loyalty to It's
Master, too, neceSsitated this formula
ton of its faith against hcreticS; and
new it is brought face to face with the
dogrnatic afIirmations of Rome and the
dogmatic denialofsccpticism, it oughtnot
To assume the agnoStic attitude and re-
fuse to say where it stands. He thinks
modern sccpticiSm spiritually the result
Of the unwillingness of the church to
speak in the nineteenth century as 1t
dill in the sixteenth, and with its now
-. II - .,,,NhIoI f,;tI, 80 boctv