Telegram-herald., 1890-12-01
CHURCH CREEDS
At TEMPLE EylsuEL LlSr EVENING
D1stae fsaEh a. Li<hs Csfslas fsssif -
tAs r-1tsias spfxis every Day aaa
kAs erssa shsal4 0Fo~ AecsHdr
iszif - kssstasiea.

AK AL oscaA4&r Aac 11Ai~ts "a A0t
evening .d.scourse vas The use and
abuse u cFssds." For the evening
lesson ths s9ory from the Talmud Of
Abraham and his re-worshipping
guest NAsread bow. when ths patriarch
turned the unOellsysr from hIs dooI
the angsEaftne Lord rsprOved Abraham
sayink sths Lord has endured this man
In hs welcomes Tor many years,
could you not endure hlm for one
hour
The text vas from PauPs epistle &c
the Romans i4-s. LET every man BE-
fully persuaded la ms own mind. 1"
The speaker defined the word creed
in 20 acclescistical sense and said that
che would divide her discourse into
three hesds. namely; the hxed eompul
sary ASnef. the unnxed compulsory
tellet, and the progressive compulsory
belief.
The Roman Catholic Church is the
ehiefest or the progressive compulsory
beliefs. lt = progressive because the
head OF The church Is accepted as the
vicegeFent Of Christ on earth ana 20
hlm il delegated the power 70 provide
for any future changes IN the church.
The truth = promulgated little by little,
bat all adhcrents must accept upon
sight all that his Holiness may from
time tO time direct.
The MOrmons are another example
of progressive compulsory creed, Tor
whenever the prophet receives com
munication from Heaven, rs mandate
must DC accepted and earned out.
''Ihe jewish theOcracy received the
precepts and commands Of God through
= human medium as IN the case of
Moses aud the prophets They were
not able 10 live upon the traditions OF
the past, and the commands given TO
their fOrefathers, but Il was necessary
that they should constantly receive new
commands from on high. What be-
came of the Jewish the
ocracyS It died when the
line of prophets ceased. IL had
within Il a power that sent out shoots
of wonderful growth, but when there
were no more prophets the religion
ceased TO be progressive. Moses faded
out of the religion, and the forms and
ceremonies Of the religious rites be-
came of more consequence than the
truth. Here was the genesis of 3 pro-
gressive compulsory creed. When a
new and migAtier prophet arose they
would not accept HIM, because they
had been so long tied 10 forms and GER
smonies that they could not under
stand the truth. Ii is but Just to de-
clare here IN a Jewish church that
JSss did not Kill Christ, although they
have always been accused OF this deed
by the intolerant and ignorant
he was the victim of the
Roman law and was exc.
cuted for treason 10 the Roman
Government. Christ was the greatest
reformer that ever lived. There never
was suchan iconoclast as Jesus.
"His creed was no intellectual con
yiction and the lessons that he taught
were founded more in deeds than in
words. AS the years passed on and Je
sus was no more on earth, the ears OF
the people grew deaf TO the voice Of tins
great prophet. The church again be
came directed of men. The great
truths again became secondary to the
forms, ceremonies and prescribed
creeds.
"If anyone wishes to join a church to
day ne must subscribe to a certain creeC
particular church. Here we find the
fixed compulsory creed. The question
arises aOf what use are they? Can tn,
truth that Is unfolding itself to Us every
day be bound down. Does Calvary
mean the same 20 you that il did tC
Martin Luther, John Knox, John Col
Win or even Johnsthan Edwardsp W,
do not hear much of the doctrines oi
total depravity, infant damnation, fore
ordination. predestination, the resur
rection of the body or everlasting tor
ment, that were the favorite themes OF
Calvinisuc preachers few years ago
They are as much IN the creed today a.
can not be hauded down IN theil
entirety why preserve them. Al
that Is the matter with the PRESBYTERIAN
churches today is tnst they are grow
ing. Do these compulsory creeds pro
mote honesty What percentage of ths
membership accepts these creeds with
out mental reservation or falsifica-
ton. The young convert who IS start
ing in the purer, better llfe, desires tC
associate himself with Cody people
aud n order 70 90 this ne must sub
scribe to something that he does not be
creed Go here. Is Il right 20 meet those
who desire 70 i've better life with 4
barrier Of doctrines7 Greed = not Z
preventative. IT man JOINS a church
from false motives, the fact that hs
must subscribe 70 certain creeds will no.
prevent hlrn. lt viii not keep out ths
faise and the dishonest. while il car
keep out those who are conscieutioul
4.
anyone 90 believe anything about HIM
self. HIS religion was one Of deeds
truth. mercy ard love. "By these thing
shall men know that ye are nay DIS
cipies.F You may infer from what IA.
been said Of the abuse Of creeds. TIA
the Unitarian has no use for them. ou
tbs a a mistake A man might as vel
be without = backbone AZ without 4
creed He would e ike a mschn,
without motive power. 7 know OF nC
class Of people wao MAINTAIN theil
ereeds ss 10 the Unitsrisns. The grea
ard good men of our country
Claiming. Emerson. Edward Ever
ett Hale, LonEfellow and Rob
ert CoiiVer. could nos such men Al
fhess formulate creed "a vel a.
those who prepared the Westminstei
catechism. "A Inltarans every ulsr
has creed for himself bat not fol
otaers. and that creed = progrcsssv -
and not fxed. Esch hss bis own creec
srd Il = not IN = shell thst nay crsni{
Us growth. Is should be stamped *
q railway ticket. good for tnlsasy onsy
Fach dsv nas - revelations oi tTut1
and the creed should grow accordingly
The srsrit af Erod = sbrosd 10 tae hearts