Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-05-27
LOOSE THEOLOGY.
Bishop McLaren's Vigorous Pro.
fest Against the Same.
PLEA Fos MORE CHRISTIAN GRIT"

FILA tOS HOhk U alSIIAA GRIT.'
No Cancellation with the AssaIIants OF
the Faith Pv,.ibIe-PecuIisrity of the
Present Fight gsainst Orthodoxy. and
the Ultimate Meaning Ihereof-A Time
for Men TO stand Up and BE Counted
No Middle Path to Tread-Proceedins.
OF the Prssbyteriaus-Church Notes
CBIcSeo. May Z7-The Episcopal con
vention Of this diocese began here yes:sr-
day and was noted for the vigorous ser
mon delivered By Bishop McLaren against
the loose theological notion, OF the day.
The sermon was eap.iOnsd -An Earnest
Contention for the Faith and was from the
text Thou, therefore. endure hardness as a
good soldier OF Jesus Christ The bishop
said: 1t is always a time OF war with the
church Of God on earth. Cancellation is
only possible by the surrender Of one of
the opposite parties. Peace can come only
BY conquest Anii-Cbristian forces have
always been .mplacab.e. The cry is.
Cruelty Him whether the hps taat u.
te- the CRY b. those Of snimaliz-d unbe-
lief, mournful aguosticism or fiippant ra-
ti-nalism.
1t All Means Cruelty Him
/; J. peculiar 70 presea; forms OF at
t,ck upon Christianity that laudations
are heaPed upon the character Of Jesus as
the idea. msU, but these assaults are d.
rected against the only means by which
his character i made known and against
the Institution whereo; his personality
Is the very ife-hlooL sweep them away,
and Jesus tie ideal man. must disappear
with them. The assault upon Christian
ity i, therefore, N effect the old cry,
Cruelty HimI Christians are almost
guilty OF treason 20 their Lord If they AL
low their MARTA. xxi; TO decline il such
conflict a. : upon u. and which few
seem 10 real.ze.
Christian "Grit'' Not Popular.
1T lOok- a. though there exists a secret
impression that IN order 20 survive Chris
tiani;y must BE- made over. creeds De re.
written. priests unfrocked, sacIaments
abolished, music concertizsd, sermons
turned into lectures. the practice OF Lo!i-
ness replaced y ethical culture. In one
word, natural religion, with thin gold
plating 81 Christianity, established Il
looks "a II many are more fearful Of the
cheap imputation Of narrowuess AID
blgotry than % the more serious charge
OF indifference 70 the fate o. the IA q
they prOte--. L looks as If the easy path
70 appropriately just now Is to show some
grit in tie fcAr.
Tho Real Issue tated
- The time La, come 10 protest against
the timidlty now Observable among
Christians, Who seem half convinced that
Christianity j. 'one Of the Gays of nu.
msDity' now sinking into the midnight
before a more glorious day They are
I'll o rH.a IA -.-.ks -
dread by falling into paralysis and des-
perat!ou. But the gosp-l Of Christ Is not
mor!bund, and cannot be IS long as there
Is a martyr left 10 die Tor il aud a deten-
scr { lei 10 TIE sky 10 care for il. TIE
real issue i only this: i modern civili-
cation to be nodded or not by tue incar-
nate God, Jesus Christ,
Criticism Of the Bible
This Is 10 time TO seek a pathway be-
tween faith and disbelief We must not
be browbeaten out Of belief 1 charge
you. clergymeu aud laymeu OF the do
cese Of Chicago. TO endure hardness as a
good solder OF Jesus Christ. The chief
point Of attack during the past century
ha- been the Bible. 1t has been ire
mendous couf.c; between Christianity
aud destructive criticism. led by BaUr
and Strauss and the German ,kep;ics.
But they have not been able TO stand be.
fore the dstense- OF Tischendorf, Scho.z,
Griesbach, Tholucn, Doruer. Ullmsnn,
and Others.
No Evolution in Faith.
-The second attack j. that OF those
whose weapon j what they call compare
tive reli ytuu. They would assign TO
Christianity the place Of present best
religion IN an evolution toward a faaI
best. They hold that Jesus i after all
only a great hero Of religion. But SINH
larity is not sameness. There is a bound
airy line beyond which resembiances
cease, and there il i we discover the
h.aven-w,de differences between Chris
tianity and Uon-Chri,tian systems
Christianity has nothing TO fear in tn
crucible Ot honest comparison. But
Christians are called 10 be stubboru,y
faithful To truth rather than aG.iable to-
ward error.
Christianity Not Philosophy.
I'VE are now menac=d by new philos-
ophy' which would sweep away Chris
tiauity aud agnostic!z. the race. We
must adhere 70 one definition. Christian
ity on the human side i the religious op-
GRAFTON OF mans nature by creed. cult and
life toward God, as revealed in Carist. It
is not philosophy. Il accounts for all
things in the one word Cod Philos-
ophies strike out sparks OF light and pass
into midnight gloom. The light Of the
world shines on. The supreme lesson of
history is the persistence OF Christian
truth. which, once perceived, becomes
singing rebuke to timidity. The only
safety o. the church Is fidelity 10 herself
as she l.. To become a sLarer ia the dis
int grafton that i going on in the modern
Protestant world would be to seal her
fate
THE PrESBYTERlANS At DETROIT.