Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-03-03

creed is something that man Delieseef
whether il be written or unwritten. me
Pres byterian church is now agltated
about its creed. Some good men II IL
are for keeping it because it was framed
from the belief OF John Calvin. Other
good men i'm 1t want revision. am with
neither party. Instead of revision l
want substitution. l was sorry to nave
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 iuterfered with me one minute. But
now that the electric lights have been
turned on, the imperfections OF that
creed-and everything that man fash
ions is imperfect-let us put the old
creed respectfully aside and get brand
new one. It is impossible that people
who lived hundreds of years ago should
fashion an appropriate creed Tor our
times. John Calvin was 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 explorers have done their
work, aud you might as well have the
world go back and stick to what Robert
Fulton knew about steamboats,, ana
reject the subsequent improve
meuts in navigation; and go
back to John Gutenberg, the in
ventor of the art of printing, and reject
all modern newspaper presses, and go
lack to the time when telegraphy was
the eIevatiuG of signals or the burning of
bontires on the hill tops. and reject the
magnetic wire which is the tongue of
nations, "a to ignore all the exegetes and
the philologists and the theologians Of
years, and put your head under the
sleeve Of the gown of Sixteenth century
doctor | could call the names of twenty
living Presbyterian ministers of religion
who could make better creed than john
Calvin. The Nineteenth century ought
not to be called to sit at the feet OF the
Sixteenth.
THE SAME, BUT USED DIFFERENTLY.
"But,' you say, cit 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 daguerreotvpes and photographs.
Il is the same old water, but in our GEN.
fury it has gone to running steam en-
gines. It is the same old electricity, but
in our time it has become q lightning
footed errand boy. So it is the old Bible,
but new applications, new uses, new in
corporations. 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. l DO not think that John Calvin
believed as some say he did. i'll the dam
nation of infants, although some of the
recent hot disputes would seem to imply
that there is such thing as the damna-
ton of infants. A man who believes in
the damnation of infants, himself de-
serves to lose heaven. l do not think
any good man could admit such posi-
biiity. What Christ will do with all the
babies IN the next world l conclude from
what he did with the babies in Palestine
when he 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 Off
ciating at your Obsequies, who will have
to be cautious SO as not to hurt surviving
friends. But when the darling children
20 there are no "ifs'' or "butS' or
guesses. 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 unfOrtu-
nate way. Logic has its use and met
aphysics has its use, but they are not
good at making creeds. A gardener
hands you blooming rose, dewy fresh,
but a severe hotanist comes to you with a
rose 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 anthers and he
says, "Just look at the wonderful struct-
ure of these floral pillars, - and then he
cuts the stem to show you the juices of
the plant. So logic or metaphysics takes
the aromatic rose of the Christian religion
and says, 81 will just show you
how this rose of religion was fash
Toned :" 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
agency - this is this and that is that.
And while l stand looking at the frag-
ments of the rose pulled apart, one whom
and presents me with crimson rose,
red as blood, and says: "Inhale the
sweetness of this. wear it on your heart
and wear it forever. - must confess
that l prefer the rose in full bloom to the
rose pulled apart. What time we have
had with the dogmatics, the apologetlcs
aud the hermeneutics. 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
TO handle that subjebt was
Paul, and he would not have been COM
petent had he not been inspired.
l believe in the sovereignto of God
and l believe in man S free agency, but
no one can harmonic the two. It is not
necessary that we harmonic them.
Every sermon that l have ever heard
that attempted such characterization 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 CAL
WINS institutes, able and honest and
mighty as they are. Do not try TO meas
ure either the throne of God or the thun-
derbolts Of God with your little steel
pen. What do you know about the de-
crees? You cannot prY open the door of
God . eternal counsels. You cannot ex-
plain the