Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1890-04-10

a creed about government, and SO on.
creed is something that a man believes
whether it be written or unwritten. The
Presbyterian Church is now agitating
about its creed. Some good men in il
are for keeping it because it was framed
from the belief of John Calvin. Other
good men in it want revision. am with
neither party. Instead OF revision
want substitution. / was sorry to have
the question disturbed at all. The creed
did not hinder us from offering the par
don and the comfort Of the Gospel to all
men, and the Westminster Confession
has not interfered with me one minute.
But now that the electric lights have
been turned on the imperfections of the
creed-and every thing that man fash
ions is imperfect-let us put the old
creed respectfully aside and get a brand
new one.
1t is impossible that people who lived
hundreds of years ago should fashion
an appropriate creed for our times. John
Calvin was great and good man, but
he died 500 years ago. The best cen
turtles of the Bible study have come
since then, and explorers have done
their work, and you might as well have
the world 90 back and stick to what
Robert Fulton knew about steamboats,
and reject the subsequent Improvements
in navigation; and go back to John Gut
tenburg, the inventor of the art of
printing, and reject all modern news
paper presses, and go back to the time
when telegraphy was the elevating of
signals or the burning of bond fires on
the hilltops and reject the magnetic
wire, which is the tongue of nations,
as to ignore all the exegetes and the
philologists and all the theologians Of the
last 1926 years and put your head under
the sleeve Of the gown of a sixteenth
century doctor. could call the names
OF twenty living Presbyterian ministers
of religion who could make a better
creed than John Calvin. The nineteenth
century ought not to be called to sit at
the feet OF the sixteenth.
"But," you say, 'it is the same old
Bible, and John Calvin had that as well
as the present student of the Scriptures"
Yes; so 1t is the same old sun in the
heavens, but in our time it has gone to
making daguerreotypes and photo
graphs. 1t is the same old water, but in
our century it has gone to running
steam engines 1t is the same old cleo
tricity, but in our time 1t has become a
errand-boy. So ii is
the old Bible, but new applications, new
uses, new interpretations. You must
that during the last three
hundred years words have changed their
and some Of them now mean
more and some less. l do not think
that John Calvin believed, as some say
be did, in the damnation Of infants, al
though some Of the recent hot disputes
would seem to imply that there is such
! thing as the damnation of infants.
A man who believes in the damnation
Of infants himself deserves to lose
Heaven. do not think any good man
could admit such possibility. What
Christ will do with all the babies in the
next world / conclude from what He did
With the babies in Palestine when He
lugged them and kissed them. When
'ome Of you grown people go out Of this
world your doubtful destiny will be an
to ministers officiating
It your obsequies, who will have to be
,autious so as not to hurt surviving
friends. But when the darling children
70 there are no ''ifs" or "buts" or
.uesses We must remember that good |
John Calvin was logician and a meta
physician, and by the proclivities of his
nature put some things in an unfortun-
tie way. Logic has its use and meta
physics has its use. but they are not
,ood at making creeds.
A gardener hands you blooming rose,
levy fresh, but severe botanist comes
o you with a rose and says: II will |
how you the structure of this rose
Ind he proceeds to take it apart and
'ulls of the leaves and he says: There
re the petals" and he takes out the
.nthers and he says: "Just look at the
wonderful structure of these floral pill
ars, and then he cuts the stem to show
ou the juices of the plant. So logic or
takes the aromatic rose out
I the Christian religion and says: II
5ill just show you how this rose Of re-
igion was fashioned and it pulls of Of
piece and says: THAT is the human
ill, and another piece and says: This
) Gods will" and another piece and
avs: This is sovereignty" and an
Their piece and says: This is free
gency,n this is this and that is that
md while / stand looking at the frag-
rents of the rose pulled apart. one
'hom the Marys took for q gardener
ONES in and presents me with a Grim
On rose, red as blood, and says: I'm
ale the sweetness of this, wear it on
our heart, and wear it forever" must
1nfess that | prefer the rose in full
loom to the rose pulled apart.
What a time we have had with the
ogmatics. the apologetics and the her
The defect in some Of the
leeds is that they try to tell US all
bout the DEGREES Of God
Now, the only human being that was
yer competent to handle that subject
as Paul, and he would not have been
,mpetent had he not been inspired.