The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1890-03-13

cause 1T was framed from the belief OF
John Calvin. Other good men in 1t
want revision. lam with neither party.
Instead of revision / want substitution.
was sorry to have the question dis
turbed at all. The creed did not hinder
us from Offering the pardon and the
comfort of the Gospel to all men, and
the Westminster Confession has not in
terfered with me one minute. But now
that the electric lights have been turned
on the imperfections of that creed-and
every thing that man fashions is imper-
fect-let US put the old creed respect
fully aside and geta 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 a great and good man, but he
died three hundred and twenty-six
years ago. The best centuries of Bible
study have come since then, and ex-
plorers have done their work, and you
might as we'll have the world go back
and stick to what Robert Fulton knew
about steamboats, and reject the subse-
quent improvements in navigation; and
go back to John Gutenberg, the invent
or of the art of printing, 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 hilltops, and reject the
magnetic wire, which is the tongue OF
nations, as to ignore all the exegetes
and the philologists and the theolo-
gians OF the last three hundred and
twenty-six years and put your head un-
der 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 Iot 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 Script
ures."
Yes; so it is the same old sun in the
heavens, bat 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 it has become a
lightning-footed errand boy. So it is
the old Bible, but new applications,
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
fants, although some of the recent hot
disputes would seem to imply that there
is such thing as the damnation Of in
fants.
A man who believes in the damnation
of infants himself deserves to lose
Heaven. 1 do not think any good man
could admit such possibility. What
Christ will do with all the babies in the
next world I conclude from what He
did with the babies in Palestine when
He hugged them and kissed them.
When some of you grown people go out
of this world your doubtful destiny will
be an mbarrassment to ministers Off
ciating at your obsequies, who will
have to be cautious so as not to hurt
surviving friends. But when the dar-
ling children go there are no ''ifs'' or
'buts" or guesses. We must remember
that good John Calvin was logician
and metaphysician and by the pro-
clivities of his nature put some things
in an unfortunate way. Logic has its
use and metaphysics has it's use but
they are not good at making creeds.
A gardener hands you a blooming
rose, dewy fresh, but severe botanist
comes to you and says: 81 will show
you the structure of this rose" And he
proceeds to take it apart and pulls off
the leaves, and he says: "There are
the petals" and he takes out the an
thers and he says: 'Just look at the
wonderful structure of these floral pill
lars" and then he cuts the stem to show
you the juices of the plant. SO logic or
metaphysics takes the aromatic rose off
the Christian religion, and says: 81 will
just show you how this rose of religion
was fashioned;" and it pulls off OF it a
piece and says: THAT is the human
will" and another piece and says: This
is Gods will," and another piece and
says: This is sovereignty" and an
other piece and says: This is free
agency" this is this and that is that.
And while l stand looking at the frag-
ments of the rose pulled apart, one
whom the Marys took for gardener
comes in and presents me with GRIM
son rose, red as blood, and says: "lnhale
the sweetness Of this, wear it on your
heart and wear it orever." must con-
fess that prefer the rose in full bloom
to the rose pulled apart.
What a time we have had with the
dogmatics, 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 COM
petent 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 har'
monize the two. 1t is not necessary
that he harmonic them. Every ser
mon that / have ever heard that at
tempted such harmonization was to me
as clear as a London fog, as clear as
mud. My brother of the nineteenth
century, my brother of the sixteenth
century, give US Paurs statement and
leave out your own Better one chaptei
of Paul on that subject than all OF Cal
wins institutes, able and honest and
mighty as they are. Do not try tc
-1.'.. o;4h %. tha thrnna of God or the