The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-11-23
The Faith of the Church.


| TO the Editor Of the indianapolis Journal
Canon Farrar's lecture recently delivered in
this city naturally excited much comment, for
the Canon is great man and his lecture was
| great lecture. Of the many remarks that 1
| heard the strangest, to me, were those about the
extraordinary broadness and liberality of the
man. One gentleman went so far as to say that
the sermon was too unorthodox for even the pull
pit in which it was delivered. Two facts-anG
these the only specific things-were adj
duced as evidence of the Canons broadness or
unortbodoxy: First he disavowed his belief in
material hell; second, he spoke good word for
| Charming and Theodore Parker.
noticed, further, that all this talk came from
non Episcopalians, and from this drew the con-
| cluson that viewed from the non-Episcopal
| standpoint, the great churchman was really
! broad man. And with this conclusion 7
am not disposed to quarrel. Still
| the standpoint has much to do with
| the matter, and what want to show is that
| Farrar is no broader than the church which gave
| him his training, and at whose affairs he minis
| ters and, further, that his tolerance and large
| mindedness are very largely the result of his
| education in the Church of England, the freest
| and most tolerant Christian organization on the
| face of the globe. When state this state a
| fact known to all men who have investigated
| the subject. One proof of it lies close at hand.
| viz. this No churchman in Farrars audience
| was specially impressed with his liberality they
| are used to 1t; 1t is part of the system under
| which they live. Church teaching is always
Bible truth in its simplicity. The church leaves
| this matter ju"t where the Bible leaves it,
There is not a syllable in the Creed, or Articles
| or catechism, Prayer book, that requires
| churchman to choose between the literal
and the spiritual meaning n!1, Of the Ian
| cir ftop tho ind onf
an awful reality; so does the church, and so did
| Farrar. No could hear that lecture on
| Dante without feeling the awfulness Of SIM the
absolute need of penitence, and the awfulness of
| sin carried over into the next life He'll, in Far
rars theology, is advanced stage of sin and
| its awful consequences Numbers of great
teachers in the church have held the same views
| Origen, Ambrose and Gregory, and many others
| in the early ages. They say heaven is reality of
spiritual joy pictured in the Bible by light, gold,
music, harps and songs. beautiful robes and
precious stones These metaphors used be-
cause no literal language conveys the fullness of
the thought. To say that there will be no literal
| gold in heaven is not to deny the existence of
| heaven. To make it all spiritual is to make it
most real. So of hell. The Bible he'll is pictured
| by the undying and the lake of
! fire, and Farrar interprets these as he
did the allesories of Dante. as
meaning spiritual reality too awful for plain
words. We know SO little, literally, about all
| this that dogmatism on the subject would be
l
liberal just in accordance with the nature of the
| subject The church is our divine mother, and
| not a Procrustean bed. People do not under
| stand this. They do not see how church can
| be comprehensive enough to include in her COM
munion DR.. Tying Canon Farrar, and a
| Heber Newton Yet the explanation is easy
| She knows what she believes, and she has no
theories to impose upon her children. Ont
| side of "the faith" which is a simple
positive and definite thing. she allows the widest
| range of thought and the freest discussion. She
| requires of man who would enter her fold, not
that he should subscribe to any peculiar doctrine
| of the Protestant Episcopal Church. but only
| that he should believe all the articles Of the
| Christian faith as contained in the Apostles
Creed" Lest some of our non-Episcopal readers
| may not have their prayer books within easy
reach, here set that creed forth: 81 believe in
| God, the Father Almighty. maker of heaven and
| EARTH and In Jesus Christ, His only son, our
| Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost
born Of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius
| Pilot was crucihed, dead and buried. He de-
| scended into hell; the third day he rose from
| the dead and assembled into heaven and stitch
| on the right hand of God the Father Almighty
| from whence he shall come again to judge both
| the quick and the dead. | believe in the Holy
| Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion
of saints the forgivness of sins the resurrection
of the body and the life everlasting Amen"
| That is the church's single rule of faith, and
broad as Canon Farrar is he is no broader than
| that creed for he believes it. 1t has been in use
| in the Catholic don't mean Roman Catholic
| Church for ages, and to-day it is used by the
English, Greek and Roman churches. 1t is
| older than parts of the New Testament. 1t has
| the Endorsement of all the genuine general
| councils and the sanction of the undivided
| church 1t is the divine creed
1t will be seen no theory is advanced about
! the creation; churchman may be an evolution
| ist or Darwinian, if he pieases so long as he
| recognizes the fatherhood and almighty creative
power of God; how that power was exercised
| the church does not try to tell him. because the
Bible don't No theory is advanced about the
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