New-York tribune., 1891-05-25
concerned. free for view whatever that
mends itsen 10 the Christian conscience.
I'M

hath made us free but liberty wherewh the Church
hath made us free She hath made free from the yoke
OF every doctrine affirmed in Catholic ceeds
1t meant for moment that the creeds exhaust the
thought Of the Church. On oil these themes which
the ereeds silent It is natural and Inevitable the
mind Of should think Opinions must be formed and
held. But these opinions not to be identified with
Christian truth. The Christian be he ayman or clergy.
man, is left free TO form and hold his opinions all
themes outside the great creeds in loyalty the
Church In which he lives
The other and secondary body Of opinion is In reality
the Interpretation OF the great creeds which even
must make in some way another, concerning which
the Church s wisely silent "Think as you best
about these things my children" she say
'but do net mistake thoughts for the Christian
doctrine ITSELF"
The Nicene Creed is charter Of liberty. 1t
from ninetenths Of the burning questions with which
Professionalism is fire today. 1t is thus pact Of
peace that is Greed that ought TO keep the unity
| Of the spirit In the bond OF peace.
What the Nlcene Greed anirns is binding upon
loyal child Of the Church To deny the armetons Of that
Creed is to be dsoya to accept Loyalty "a the Churchs
teachings what one's mind fails to affirm, is thor
ouehy honest attitude To interpret that Greed differ.
is inevitable since human minds
constructed upon mould II be that the
probation show historic Justification is legmately
within the Church.
What does Nicene Creed affrm7 1t anlrms first oil
great fundamental truths Of religion all lands
and agesGod and Immortality In these truths are In
cluded the spiritual nature Of the who says
neve" and the moral Judgment on his life which
him in the world to come II afrms, further the
belief concerning historical facts OF
Christianity the birth Of Jesus from the Virgin Mary
His erucxion under Pontus Plate; His rising sgain
dead His ascent into Heaven His enforcement
in power and His coming TO Judge the quick and the
which added the existence OF Catholic
Apostolic Church. which has around Christ with
It's institutions. 1t sfhrms yet further the
philosophical form In which these spiritual truths
and this central historic fact Of Jesus the
Christ God by the Christian conscen:ousnes.
by deepest thought through the centuries
philosophy embodied the Greed is found the
great doctrines which the which
woven in and out OF ell its statements These doc
first. the Trinity second, the Incarnation.
The doctrine Of the Trinity is ordinarily assumed to be
most unpractcabe Of specuatons the irrational
Of dogmas. by majority Of the Church the doctrine Of
the Trinity is dogma which is not imagined to
be understood integenty spprehended-whieh is not
3rofessed TO be Observation-Disclosures 1t placed above
and beyond all human thought Q mystery. The doc
trine Of the Trinity is purely phlosophic formula meta
physical statement In Interpretation OF the mystery OF the
Of The Divine Being Creation. To interpret this
doctrine accurately h therefore, wholly beyond the power
OF any To interpret it closely as pos
sibe to the historical meaning is the duty Of every clergy
1 have tried In times pas. to give you my inter-
probation, believing 1t 70 be in accord with the meaning OF
the OF the Greed themselves and you must by
this time tolerably familiar with the thought have
thus tried Interpret speech undersandd Of the
people" You will thus recognize in the doctrine OF the
Trinity philosophical formula expressive OF the three
conceptions Of the Divine Being each Of which is needfu
supplement other thoughts These three thoughts
may be summed into the words Tanscendence Immnenee
Becoming.
God is imminence in Nature-its life and law. This
thought alone out into Pantheism. God must be
conceived separabe from Nature man is separated
from the body in which dwells. The source and
spring is transcendence This gives
us theism. God again. thought OF not having
perfected creation. but ever leading 1t on toword
an idea the ideal In HIS own mind. the perfect type
and pattern which He is creating in realizing
He al
SELF lifting human life into the Divine life Thus.
on going Divine Nativity is the work Of redemption
under the law OF sacrifice
These are stated that any intel
lsent man can at least understand something in them
which the Church has embodied in our formula Of the
Father, Son and the Holy Ghost and which she has
interpreted doctrine Of the Trinity There are
doubtless deeper depths in this doctrne-dephs which
lead us mystery OF the Divine Being itself,
but there wholly beyond our depth In straning
for such a vision dark with excess of light"
THE SECRET OF ALL LIFE.
spiritual truth ghiosophcaiy stated
spiritual truth is the secret or all life seen IN the
he in all life. Ho all life In
proportion to the place any life in the scale OF
being. He is in man, man is the crown and con-
summation being-the intelligence and the moral life
which constitute essential humanity. He is in man
in proportion is truly human-that is. Divine
He is supremely in Jesus, the Christ In whom the
supreme human Characteristic goodness dominates the
whole being. is uniquely In Jesus Christ Christ
a unique mana new order OF creation, he type OF
the spiritual humanity yet TO come upon the earth-the
human nature in which God is to be enshrned Jesus
Christ is therefore, as the spiritual sense has ever
dscerned a man allied with the indweing God-"God
manifest in the fesh' Such unique man and such
new creation. such incoming of the spiritual man.
must be thought by break In the Divine order
Of growth or evolution, through which God is leading
life toward Himself
This TRUTH which the spiritual instinct of man has
recognized and felt with without any metaphysical
interpretation has been phosophically stated by the
Church In drawn from the doctrines
Of the Trinity Christ is the Incarnation Of that
God that is imminent In nature the ndwelling in man.
the realization In the flesh OF that Dyjne idea ideal
~ m,n-God's thought of man. the type and pattern to
which through which, by which and with which God is
creating nanthe Word Of God. Such at least is the
natural thought Of Churchs philosophy rendered into
the speech In which plain folk understand some
thing OF It, But sh how vain all words TO interpret
the mystery OF that man Divine before whom we bow
feeling that no thought worthy OF Him save that which
bushes its reverence the silence of worship.
This in suggestion Of its contents is the great Greed
I'm which our Church shrines her standard OF faith 1t
IA noble Greed, well worthy to be sung and not merely
sa,d giving us the It's rightu Interpretation.
IL t worshpful through nature and through man
n Goa with the eyes, OF the alone, but OF the
imagnaton Of the conscience 1t delivers us from
the tyranny Of opinions and gives us the freedom OF fai
and thus bond Of peace In tho unity OF the spirit
n "a tha r+ooncation Of Christianity with the historic
regons OF the past The ordinary Protestant conception
OF Christianity finds no connection between Chrisuany
and the religions Of humanity In the pssO eAeep VfS Oh
substitute of the true the false But the Nicefe
Creed gives us that conception Of the Christian faith In
which we see It be the consummation OF the long
strainns OF mans thought and aspiration after God
1t is the reconciliation OF Christianity with i~ef
4. torn and disInembered before eyes, 1t
is paraiyzed with doubt it is disturbed by the con-
teptons over dogma Through every branch OF Christen
dom strife of crseds is going on Inc niha Oh man
is seeknr creed formed for his faith under which ne
can rest with Intellectual honesty and with spiritual
satisfaction We cannot find such shelter under the
reformed Confession OF Faith. He who reads the signs
Of the times clearly one OF Two stsrnsVes oe'ofe
p,oestantsm the throwing overheard Of its creeds
the simplifying OF its creeds.
To-day could our Protestant churches be content to
mart with their reformed Confession Of Faith, and fall
baek upon that great Catholic creed which has come down