St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-06-01
Rev. Heber Newton Says All
Creeds Fust Rest Square,
1y Upon It.
They Must Stand Plumb With
the Line Of Eternal Right
BUSINESS.
True Meaning Of a Creed to
Be Found in What It
Suggests.
Many References to God and
Christ Are to Be Taken
Metaphorieally.

NEW York, May 31.-The interest
Ielt IN the series of discourses on creeds
being delivered By Rev. r. Heber New
tan was attested to-day by the presence
OF congregation which flied All Souls
church to the limit of its capacity. Mr..
NeWton'S sermon was entitled How to
head the Creed" and based on the text:
"Understandest thou what thou read
est?|-ActS viii, so. He said: Let me
try to help you to a recognition of the
simple principles by which we are apt
10 interpret our form of faith. and read
Alright our creed. A creed is to be
read as understanding its true au-
thOrIty. No creed rests upon the au-
thority of Christ himself. Creeds do
rest apparently on the authority of the
councils which issued them. But this is
not all that might be desired. A uni
YerSal council is not synonym for the
Almighty. CreedS are not transcripts of
some heavenly manuscript set up from
copy brought down by little angels.
Constantine indeed commanded the
assembled to receive the dictates of the
Holy Spirit. The story of many of the
councils IS tale of violent and acri-
monious disputes, of metaphysical hair
splitting and theological jugglery, of
political intrigue and ecclesiastical
mungery, of bitter passions breaking
forth into words of eXecration, with an
athemas instead of benedictions, a
Scene Of Clencked Fists
and drawn swords. of soldiers Keeping
bishops from geach others Threats, of
bloody massacres and Stealtliy asSaSSi-
nations. The DEGREES of such councils
are plainly not matters of plenary in
Spratlon by any spirit, whose dOminat-
ing characteristic is holiness. One
thing is thus made prOvidentialIy clear,
that the truth of the creed rests not on
the authority of the body setting it
forth, but on its own intrinsic truthful
ness, Its Interpretation of the Christian
consciousness. Its authority will last
so long and only so long as it continues
/ eAD4oss The Christian consciousness.
ana to interpret satisfactorily the prob
lens OF nature and man in the light of
the spirit of Jesus Christ. A
creed is dead Alright as it
is continually carried back
attempt to state logically and phio-
sOphically the teachings OF the new
testament. 1t can only continue to
stand rs 1t is seen to rest Enthusiastically
on this foundation. This forces on tie
church the continual duty of showing
that every, affirmation OF the creed CAT
not be proven from scripture. and of
stretching herauthOrity generally when
ever there is any question on this point.
The scriptures are not the bed rock of
the foundation of the faith. Reason
and conscience tested them and stamped
them as divine. A creed must be ever
brought back to this mint of man for as
saying. 1t must be shown not to have
deprecated. No creed can long stand
which does not square with fact, which
does not rest on the granite rock OF
reason. which does not stand plumb
with the line of eternal righteousness.
\ creed to be read Alright must be read
in the light of the
larger Life of Faith
out of which it springs, of which it is
a part. As you see the truth in your
neighbors' creed YOU will better see the
truth in your own. To know the creeds
of other religions is to gain many a clue
to the meaning Of our Christian creeds.
What is the prospect for an intellectual
understanding of. its great creeds if a
church practically reissues that edict of
the fourth council of Carthage, mo
bishop shall read a gentle book" A
creed IS to be read as dealing with them
and transcendng all human thought,
and therefore its affirmationS are not to
read as exact statements. The themes
with which creed deals are
the proGoundest problems which
can tax mans mind. the most
massive mysteries which faScinate
his intellect, the riddles over which sue
cessive generations had puzzled them
selves YEARLY. What then must be the
nature of all his thoughts upon such
high things? Words thrown out at
tranSceudent mysteries, !" attempts to eX-
press the ineXpresSible, to define the in
definable, to know the unknowable.
The true meaning of creed is to be
found not in what it states but in what
it suggests. a dictionary will not ade-
Quately interpret creed. A creed is to
be read as including philosophy, which
can be rightly interpreted only by lie
rhilosophically minded. The language
OF
The Nfcene Creed
concerning the incarnation is pure
philosophy. We know this from the
character of the words employed. They
are the technical terms of metaphysics.
They can be traced up to the philoso-
pliers OF paganlsm by whom they were
minted. In the works of the Nicene
fathers we see men Of acute and some
times deep metaphysical powers Wrest-
ling with the very problems which have
always furnished the materials for
philosophy, reaching philosophical con-
illusions by philosophical methods and
expressing them in philosophical terms.
Technical terms turned out of their
native region and used in the every day
speech of men must not be expected to
convey much meaning. The popular
prejudice against the doctrine of the
trinity is mainly due to this failure to
recognize it as philosophy. A creed
is to be read as a form of sound
sung. A creed dealing with transcend
ent themes must not only philosophize,
it mast pOetiZe = thus to interpret
through the Imagination the MINISTRIES
of tie faith. God is declared to be s'the
maker of heaven and EARTH" Yet is the
Almighty no celestial carpenter. Gre
ating is not manufacture, but a
growth. OF Christ it is declared that |
''He assembled into heaven and sitteth
on the right hand of the Father. The |
most high has no right hand. The |
throne of God is of naught which can be
seen. It is poetic statement of the |
truth that Christ is enthroned in power |
in the spirit spheres. Such metaphors
are plainly to be read, not literally, but |
figuratiYely. a sensible man does not
charge child with insincerity in using |
the
Language of Imagination.
Such intelligences and amenities are
reserved for the saints in dealing with