The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1890-03-05

the question disturbed at all. Inc creed
did not hinder us from offering the
pardon and the comfort OF the Gospel To
all men, and the Westminster Confes-
sion has not interfered with me one
minute. But now that the electriclights
have been turned on the imperfection Of
that creed--and every thing that man
fashions Is inpr"f, ct-let us put the old
creed resp, ctfully aside and get 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 three hundred
and twenty-six years ago. The best
I centuries OF the Bible study have come
since then, and explorers have done
their work, and you might as well have
the world go back and stick to what
Robert Fulton knew about steamboats,
and reject the subsequent improvements
in navigation; and go back to John Gut
tenberg, the inventor Of the art Of print
ing and reject all modern newspaper
presses, and go back to the time when
! telegraphy was the elevating of signals
or the burning Of bonfires on the hill
tops and reject the magnetic wire, which
Is the tongue OF nations, as to ignore oil
the exegetes and the philologists and
the theologians Of the last three hundred
and twenty-six years and put your head
under the sleeve Of the gown OF six
teenth 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 we'll
as the present student Of the Scrip
lures" Yes; so 1t is the same old sun
in the heavens, but in our time 1t has
gone to making daguerreotypes and
photographs. 1t is the same old water,
but in our century 1t has gone to run
ming steam engines. II is the same old
electricity, but in our time 1t has be-
come lightning-footed errand boy. So
1t is the old Bible, but with new applica-
tions, new uses, new interpretations
You must remember that during the last
three hundred years words have changed
their meaning and some OF them now
mean more and some less. do not
think that John Calvin believed, as
some say he did, in the damnation Of in
rants, although some OF the recent hot
disputes would seem to imply that there
is such thing as the damnation Of in
iants.
A man who believes in the damnation
Of infants himself deserves TO lose
heaven. do not think any good man
could admit such a possibility. What
Christ will do with all the babies In
the next world / conclude from what
he did with the babies in Palestine
when lie Rugged them and kissed them.
When some OF you grown people go out
Of this world your doubtful destiny will
be an embarrassment to ministers offioi-
ating at your obsequies, who will have
TO be cautious so as not TO hurt surviv-
ing friends. But when the darling chill
dren go there are no "ifs" or "buts" or
guosses. We must remember that good
John Calvin was logician and meta
physician, and by the proclivities Of his
nature put some things In an unfortu-
nate way. Logic has its use and meta
physics has its use, but they are not
good at making creeds. A gardener
hands you blooming rose, dewy fresh,
but a severe botanist comes to you with
a rose and says: 81 will show you the
structure OF this rose" And he proceeds
to take 1t apart and pulls of the leaves
and he says: "There are the petals"
and he takes out the anthers and he
says: "Just look at the wonderful
structure OF these floral pillars" and
then he cuts the stem TO show you the
juices OF the plant. So logic or meta
physics takes the aromatic rose OF the
Christian religion and says: 81 will just
show you how this rose Of religion was
fashioned" and 1t pulls of OF 1t piece
and says: "This is the human will,"
and another piece, and says: "This is
Gods will" and another piece and
says: This is sovereignty" and
another piece and says: "This is
free agency" and this is this and
that is that And while / stand looking
at the fragments OF the rose pulled
apart, one whom the Marys took for
gardener comes in and presents me with
a crimson rose, red as blood, and says:
"Inhale the sweetness Of this, wear 1t
on your heart, and wear 1t forever" !
must confess that | prefer the rose in
full bloom TO tho rose pulled apart.
What time we have had with the dog
matics, the apologetics and the her
meneutics. The defect in some OF the
creeds is that they try to tell us all
about the DEGREES Of God. Now the only
human being that was ever competent
TO handle that subject was Paul, and he
would not have been competent had he
not been inspired. believe in the
sovereignty Of God and believe in
mans free agency, but no one can
harmonic the two. IL is not neces-
sary that he harmonic them. Every
sermon that / have ever heard that
attempted such harmonization was TO
me as clear as London fog, as clear as
mud. My brother Of the nineteenth
century, my brother Of the sixteenth
century, give us Paul's statement and
leave out your own. Better one chapter
Of Paul on that subject than all OF
Calvin's institutes, able and honest and
mighty as they are. Do not try to meas
ure either the throne OF God or the
thunderbolts Of God with your little
steel pen. What do you know about
the decrees? You can not pry open the
door Of Gods eternal counsels. You can
not explain the mysteries OF Gods gov