The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-04-14


and general indigestibility.
But suppose the Pastors Union"
voluntarily brought out this platform"
of conglomerated theOl0gies, then of
course generous people will not blame
the reporter though they may wonder
at the Pastors Union" For as we
study it, it is still a fossil" and as we
analyZ9 it, we are impressed with the
fact that it is composed of fearful and
wonderful elements. Let us read it:
l. The divine inspiration, authority
and sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures.
2. The right and duty Of private
judgment in the Interpretation of the
Holy Scriptures.
3. The unity of the Godhead and
the trinity of the persons therein.
4. The utter depravity of human
nature in consequence of the fall.
5. The incarnation of the Son Of
God, his work of atonement for the
sins of mankind, and His mediatorial
intercession and reign.
6. The justification of the sinner by
faith alone.
7. The work of the Holy Spirit in
the conversion and sanctifcation Of the
sinner.
S. The immortality of the soul, the
resurrection of the body, the judgment
of the world by Jesus Christ, with the
eternal blessedness of the righteous
and the eternal punishment of the
wicked.
8. The divine institution of the
Christian ministry, and the obligation
and perpetuity of the ordinances of
baptism and the Lords supper.
Now what does this platform say?
For it assumes to contain the theology
to which Dubuque Christians have
come. 1.-The suficiency of the Holy
Scriptures s"-suf1icient for what? "Suf-
fcient" as against Catholic authority?
Very well; but on other points their
'sufficiency" remains to be proven. l
hold the Bible against all competitors
within all reasonable bounds, but 1
submit that the Bible has not yet
proven its "suf1iciency" in all things,
e. g., The authority of the Koran is
''sufic ient' to keep the rum curse out
of all Mohammetan countries. But
our Bible has not yet been sufficient to
cure Christian nations of drunkenness.
Our Bible has not yet been sufficient"
to prevent Christian" merchants from
sending whisky to Africans on the
Congo. A few months ago Christian"
merchants opened some saloons In the
Mohammedan city of Constantinople.
The Turks being prohibitionists drove
them out. Then these christian" (?)
saloonists appealed to the British Con-
sui and he declared that unless these
"Christian" subjects of Great Britain
were allowed to conduct their business
unmolested, British guns would open
fire on Turkish property. The Bible
alone has not been sufficient" to pre-
vent Christian" nations from corrupt
ing other nations when we could make
a few dollars by it. The Bible has not
yet been sufficient to prevent Chris
tian" white men from enslaving black
men as beasts of burden. Our Bible,
valuable as it is, has not yet been
sufficient" to prevent our Catholic
and Protestant citizens from mObbing
Cinnamon and burning their homes.
The other day in Detroit the Bible
was not sufficient" to prevent con-
ceited secretary of the Y. NJ. G. A.
from insulting a learned Jewish Rabbi
in the manner of common black
guard. 1t has not been "suffi cient" to
drive the whisky curse from Christian
civilization as the Koran has been
sufficient to drive that curse from
Mohammetan civilization. Not yet
sufficient" to overcome the giant evils
of intemperance, oppression, bigotry
and monopoly. Let us hope that by
the help of science it may yet be "suf-
ficient" for these things, but for the
present our boasting of "sufIiciency"
is the cheap efferyescence OF our own
pride.
?. "The right and duty of private
judgment in the Interpretation of the
Scriptures" Very good. But sup
pose that in the exercise of his private
judgment man doesn't agree with the
majority? Suppose his private judg-
ment fails to discover the immaculate
beauties of this Evangelical plat
form" The history behind this bonn
bast is that every man is free to exer-
else his private judgment in interpre-
tation-if he signs contract before
hand to think only what the majority
have been thinking. If his private
judgment leads him to be Catholic or
a Unitarian or Uniyersalist or an ag.
nostic-then he must suffer There
was a good deal of pr: rate judgment
in John Bunyan, but he went to Bed
ford jail because of it. There was the
exercise of private judgment in Roger