Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1881-03-31

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exercise of reason. But every one know
that the Bible abounds in flowing, meta
phorical and fgurative language, that il
full Of oriental ideas, local opinions ant
the views Of private writers, and Of al
books it most demands the exercise O
reason. The facts are, there is just al
much papacy in Professionalism as in Roman
Catholicism. The only difference is tina
in the one church it is IN infallible Pope
and in the other it is an infallible book; il
neither case are you allowed the candid
and honest use of YOU reason. In one
case you must blindly believe everything
that is written, however contradictory il
may seem, and in the other case you must
believe everything that is told you by Pope
and priest. But even those who deny us
the exercise Of reason use reason in inter-
preting particular passages. Such pass
ages as This is my body broken for you.'
eff you have faith as a grain Of mustard
seed you remove mountains, all things are
yours" must be interpreted in a spiritual
sense. There have more abuses arose from
the contempt and abuse Of reason than by
the exercise Of this kingly faculty. The
ages of persecution, bloodshed and slaugh-
ter were VIGOROUSLY ages in which reason
was wanting. To those who say that the
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things above our comprehension and SEEM
ingly contradictory, We say, first, that God
il a teacher of infinite wisdom will not
propagate infinite error; and, secondly,
that infinite teacher would adapt his
teachings to the capacity Of his pupil. A
skilful teacher discovers his wisdom by
adapting himself to the capacities Of his
ignorant pupils. A revelation should be O
gift of light, not a cloud Of darkness.
/. We believe In the great doctrines OF
the Bible.
God we consider to be one person, .
spirit infinite, eternal and Interchangeable in
His being, wisdom, holiness, justice, good
ness and truth. We believe that if God
were one person under the old DISPENSE
ton, He is still one person, and not three ;
for He is the same to-day, tomorrow, and
forever. The idea Of the Trim ity is I'M
scriptural for all the expressions con-
corning Christ show that "God sent"
him, God appointed" him, he was the
Son of God" If true, this doctrine, by
its great singularity. its great difficulty,
its great importance to the Christian dis
pensation, should have been laid down
clearly. guarded carefully and stated with
the utmost precision. But nowhereis this
done. Nowhere in the Scriptures is God
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Father, Son and Holy Ghost said to be
God. 1t is remarkable that no objection
to this doctrine appears in the early con-
troyersional books Of the Christians with
the enemies of Christianity. If the doc
trine had been believed in primitive Chris
tianity, there would have been many OBJ
~jections to it. The doctrine is unfavora-
BILE to devotion, for it draws our worship
and affections from the one true and living
God, and ~scatters them among three per-
sons.
II. We believe that Christ was a divine
and inspired man, the chosen of God to re-
veal to mankind truths concerning sin,
salvation, immortality, heaven and holi-
ness. We believe that he is the savior Of
mankind, not by the shedding of his blood
on Calvary, but by the divine truths which
he revealed concerning God as our Father,
deliverance from sin by the mercy and love
Of God, punishment to the guilty for their
sins and rewards to those who are right
eous. Jesus delivered us from the fear Of
the grave by his resurrection-a resurrec-
ton declared to be not by his W power,
but "by the power of God" The way
Jesus spoke of God showed that he did
not consider himself God. He said
" God is my father, l. of myself, can do
nothing" "The works that l do,
l do not Of myself, all my
power is given unto me-" In many pas
sages he is expressly declared a man only.
In Acts 2:22 Peter on the next day Of
Penticost does not call Christ God. aud
surely if he were God then was the time
to declare it, then Christ is spoken of as
Jesus OF Nazareth, q man approved of
God" Again in Antioch, Paul preaching
to the Christians of Antioch, speaks Of
Christ, saying, Through this man is
preached unto We the forgiveness Of SIM"
Again in Athens Paul speaks of Christ as
"a that man." etc. There are a few isolated
passages which speaks of Him as "God;"
but these passages are to be interpreted
by his own human faith. human body,
human sufferings and his own acknowl-
edgment OF inferiority to God. The ORTIZ
odox doctrine not only makes three beings
one God but it makes Jesus to possess
two souls, two minds, two wills, two moral
natures. He is at once weak and al
mighty, ignorant and omniscient, while
q proper understanding of his nature as
one inspired Of God and divinely chosen
to deliver the race by the power that
places his unity OF nature beyond question.
III We believe in the moral per-
f~ections Of God. We venerate God not
because a sovereign being, but because his
| throne is established on eternal rectitude.
II man distinguishes between right and
wrong, God does 80 in a higher degree.
| God is Just. His justice is not only in
his acts, but in his disposition. This JUS
| tice is in perfect harmony with his be-
n%evolence. 1t is a justice that does good
to all, not to q few; that seeks the welfare
| Of every individual as well as that OF the
whole system.
Nv. There is no justice in condemning q
man to eternal punishment, simply because
| he lives here on earth a few years. God is
! merciful but his mercy is not q blind
| confession without reflection. God merci-
fully pardons the guilty, but only on
the ground Of p~enitence. His mercy
| distinguishes character. In q word,
what is Christian virtue or holiness ?
| Christ's death had one great end alone to
lead mankind to virtue and holiness. This
virtue has its foundation in mans moral
nature or conscience and in mans ability
to temper his life in accordance with his
conscience. We do not believe there is
anything praiseworthy in what is called
Irresistible grace" According to this
view the holy spirit seizes on man and
forces him into a certain line OF action,
but the product Of this action is no more
praiseworthy than the inability of some
domestic animal. We believe that an act
is praiseworthy only as it springs from
pure motives of love to God or love to the
right. We do not disparage the holy
spirits influence, but we believe that indu'
ence is a persuasive influence, arising from
the contemplation Of the excellence of no
illness of Gods character. The highest
virtue il love to God. All actions should
have this motive for their source
and fountain. Love to Jesus. God
is q parent. and governs this world
with a parental government. Therefors
the doctrine Of total depravity and OF cleo
ton are opposed to the moral projections
Of God, and must be thrown aside as op
posed to mems free agency and the justics
Of God.
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