St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-05-25

the fall OF man, as popularity received
through Chrlstendom. is an extra.
creedal belief. What does the church
command us to believe concerning
Predestination and Election?
Nothing whatever. She is absolutely
silent upon the mystery which so eXer-
cises the souls of our CaIvinistic friends.
What does the church teach US to be-
iieve concerning the atonement? Only
that which is contained in the simple,
undogmatic language of our creed:
Who, for us men and for our salvation,
came down from heaven What does
the church order us to believe concern
ing future punishment? Nothing that
is not contained in the simple, undog
matte statement of the creed: He shall
come again with glory to judge both the
quick and the dead The reality OF
this alone is part of our faith.
What does our church compel us to be-
lieve concerning the resurrection?
This, and this alone, And l look for
the resurrection of the dead The
apostles creed is to be interpreted by
the Nicene creed, The pharases in the
apostles creed. The resurrection of
the body'-is then to be interpreted by
the larger and more elastic phrase of
the Nicene cree d Tie resurrection of
the dead You are free to interpret
this in the sense of the body laid away
III the grave. lfait so helps you. You
are free to interpret it in the
larger sense in which most men must
read it, if they are to believe it at all.
What does our church order us to be-
heve concerning the sacramentS?
Nothing beyond that which may be
necessarily meant by the great phrase
OF the Nicene creed, Il acknowledge
one baptism for the remission of sins.'
You are free to read this as referring to
the institutive right itself; or you are
free to read it with that vast host in the
church which has always referred this
language to the
Inward Spiritual Grace
which is shrined in the sacrament,
through which is remission of sins. The
Nicene creed is charter of liberty. 1t
frees us from nine-tenths of the burn
ing questions with which Professionalism
is called to answer to-day. What does
the Nicene creed affirm? 1t affirms, first
of all, the great fundamental truths of
religion IN all lands and agss-God and
Immortality. 1t affirms, fNrther, the
church's belief concerning the great his
toric facts of Christianity; the birth
of Jesus from the Virgin Mary,
His crucifxion under Pontins Plate,
His ascension unto heaven, His
enthronement in power, and His
coming to judge the quick and the dead.
10 this is added the existence of the
one catholic and apostolic church. 1t
affirmS still further the philosophical
form in which these spiritual truths and
this central historic fact of Jesus, the
Christ Of God, is cast by the Christian
consciousness, by the deepest thought
of the church through the centuries.
These doctrines are, first, the Trinity,
and, second, the Incarnation. The doc
trine of the Trinity is ordinarily as
Sumed to be the most impractical of
speculations, the most irrational of dog
mas. the most narrowing form OF faith.
The doctrine of trinity is purely philo-
sophical formula, metaphysical state
ment In Interpretation of the mystery
of the relation of the Divine Being to Gre
alton, which, again, is a mystery of the
nature of the Divine Being himself. To
interpret this doctrine accurately is,
therefore, wholly beyond the power of
man. To interpret in some way, as
closely as possible to the historic mean
ing discernible in the fathers and rec
ognized through the church, is the
duty of every clergyman. l have tried
Ill times past to give you my interpreta-
ton. believing it to be in accord with
the meaning of the trainers of the creed
themselves. You will thus recognize in
the doctrine of
The Trinity
philosophical formula expressive of
the three conceptions of the Divine Be-
ing, each of which is needful to sup
plant the other thoughts. These three
thoughts may be summed into the
words 'tranScendence. imminence,' be-
coming the incarnation is q spiritual
truth philosophically stated. God is all
life. He is in Christ, as Christ is
unique man. The nature in which
therefore man filled with the indWell-
ing Cog. God manifest in the
flesh. This. our great creed,
is conciliation of Christianity
with the historic religions of
the past. The ordinary hereto
conception of Christianity finds no con-
ciliation between Christianity and the
great religions of humanity in the past,
excepting that of a substitute of the
true for the false. But the Nicene creed
gives us that conception of the Christian
faith in which we see is to be the con-
summation of the long straining of
mans thought and aSpir alton after God.
Our creed is the reconciliation of Christ
lanity with itself. Christendom is torn
and dismembered before our eyes. 1t is
paralyzed with doubt. 1t is distracted
with contentious over dogma. Through
every branch of Christendom the strife o
creedS is seen. The mind of man Is
seeking a creed for his faith under
which he can rest with intellectual
honesty and with spiritual satisfaction.
lie cannot find such shelter under the
reformation confessions of faith, with
their long-drawn metaphysics, their in
tolerable opinionatiyeness their infali
bility in points where knowledge is
blasphemy. He who reads the signs of
the times sees clearly two alternatives
before our American Protestantism-the
throwing overheard of its creeds or
their simplificatiou. Could our Protest
ant churches to-day be content to part
with their reformation confessions Of
faith and fall back upon that
Great Catholic Creed
which has come down through the CEN
turies, and is by our own church held
forth as the common heritage of all
who profess and call themselves Chris
tianS, there would be an end of strife
and contention. Well nigh every battle
waged iD our sister churches would
cease at once. DR.. Bridgman would not
have to leave his pastorate on the ques-
ton of future punishment. DR.. Briggs
could excite no contention in his church
on the question of inspiration. The
conciliation of creeds is to be found
returned to that common creed of
Christendom which rules out from
the form of faith these dog
mas over which men are disputing.
Our great creed is the reconciliation of
Christian faith and modern thought of
theology and science. There is no con-
fiict between religion and science, but
there is between theology and science.
1t does not yet appear how the accep-
tance OF scientific truth can be squared
with the Westminster confession and
the Heidelberg catechism. But what
autagonism is there between the Nicene
creed and science? Read literally, as a
hard. prosaic dogma, there is much
every way; But sung, as an expression
of the worship of mans whole nature
i'm