The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-09-21
WHAT IS TRUTH?

When / see young men carry the Chris
tian name and really illustrate so many of
the features of Christian life, and yet make
positive denial of essential truth, or, by
their indifference to it, sacrifice the dearest
interest of Christian truth, am disheart-
cned. 1 am not contending here for Sec
tsrian theology. l am preaching to you on
the broad lines Of catholic Christianity, and
am trying to present to you the essence Of
Christian faith. I only wish that you should
realize that Christianity, if it is anything, if
it deserves any. enduring place, if 1t has any
exceptional claims, If it brings any word Of
comfort, if it has any voice Of authority,
rests upon the doctrine that Jesus
Christ was delivered of our offences, and
raised again for our justification. 1t is not
true that Christianity is life and not
doctrine 1t is life becauseit is doctriue.
A religion that sees only the human side of
that looks only upon ethical states and
breaches only the moralities of life, religion
that holds that love is the greatest thing In
the world, and is satisfied with the sweet
ness and tenderness of Christian feeling, Is
religion of which the best that you can say
is. that it is trying to keep the fruits OF
Christianity living, while 1t lays the axe to
the root of the tree which bears them.
Now say, dare to say-would to God
that men would heed me-that if I must
choose between life and dogma, will say
that Christianity is not life. but dogma.
You cannot live the Christian life without
holding the Christian dogma; the one emu
mates solely from the other. This dogma's
great opposition Is, that man is sinner,
and that without the shedding Of the blood
there is no remission Of n. Its great fact
is that Jesus WAS the propitiation for our
sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins
~ ho hnta
in a thousand ways that we cannot be justi-
fed by the law, but that being justified by
faith we have peace with God. Its one shin
ing and conspicuous miracle is the resurrec-
on of Christ. Its doctrine Of the incarna-
ton separates it from all the religious in the
world.
II you are in earnest my friend, and you
want to know what you shall do to keep
your Christian faith on rational grounds,
will tell you how to get at the heart OF the
question without delay. You believe in God.
Add to your theism the incarnate Christ,
and YOU have found the truth. The pitched
battle of unbelief is here. It is history yer-
sus philosophy. Settle with yourself whether
YOU will let your rationalistic philosophy
settle your history. or whether you will
make history qualify your philosophy. Will
you permit theory to make fact or fact to
make theory? This is the crucial Question
of theological debate, not the inspiration OF
the Scripture nor the authorship of the Pen
tateuch.
Young men of the senior clnss. you lately
won battle in athletic games; then remen-
ber that ordinary events In life are often
parallels to us. There are battles We have
to fight and victories we hope 10 win through
life. You know how you did it. You know
the patience, you know the training and the
faith that entered into it, Self-conhdence IS
the beginning of great acts. You contested
that YOU might win an earthly crown; but
10 not forget, my friends. that there is a
crown Of Righteousness that fadeth not
away. Go forth today in the strength Of
Christian character, stand like true soldiers
nm the battlefield, and fight your hardest
IBaccalaureate Sermon, Princeton Univer-
sity, in 80. Treasury.