The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1895-05-01

eIernal purpose anu SOOu VIII UOWalu
men were never so clearly seen as now.
Never was the church so tried, and she
has stood the trial. If the church be in
deed preparing as the bride of Christ,
well may it be said to her in view Of
these experiences of the present genera
tiOn, and the promise which they give
for the future, go woman, great is thy
faith!"
The church, which once thought her
self to have monopoly on Gods reyela-
tiOn of himself, has come to see In some
nOn-C Christian faiths, defective and often
deplOrable, evidences Of altars to the un-
known God whom it may now proclaim
to those who already ignorantly and de-
basingly worship. The parliament OF re-
ligiOns has taught us anew some things
which Paul told us in the 1st Of Romans,
and in his sublime discourse on Mars
hill. We have come dimly to apprehend
that these heathen religions by creating
longings which they could never satisfy,
by keeping in mind the thought of the
unseen as the eternal things, and even
by their very horrors painting black
background against which may be lifted
in its glory the cross Of Christ, have not
been wholly apart from Gods thought
nor their adherents beyond his love and
ultimate purpose.
Then we have come to learn that we
are the heirs Of many ancient nations,
and that not only the faith which came
to us through the Jews, but the knowl-
edge and strength which came of the
Romans and the skill and eruditiOn of
the Greeks are ours. All things are ours,
Paul and Cephas and ApOllas and Pericles
and Plato and Phidias. We have come
to see that while the gospel made use of
Jewish ceremonial, it made use of the
Greek language and the advantages pro-
vided by the Roman system of govern
ment, and that these three were almost
equally necessary to its success. We see
how we trace our spiritual lineage not
only from the lOins of Abraham and
Moses, but also from Caesar and Con-
stantine, from Seneca and Socrates. We
see how, while God set apart the Hebrews
to be specialists in religion, he set apart
Greeks and Romans for their appointed
work, that language in which the gos-
pei might be preached, that system of
roads and colonies which made foreign
lands accessible, that thousand things
which the Hebrews alone were pOwerless
to bring about, God was preparing in
other nations. This has marvellOusly
enlarged our spiritual horizon. 1t has
increased so greatly our thought of GOd's s
purpose that at times we have almost
lost it in the sense of its vastness. But
again we have returned to the Bible with
a larger view of what is meant by the
saying that Christ was born in the full
ness Of time.
will not speak of the changes in the
popular view and the opinion of scholars
as to the date and authorship of portions
of the Bible, and the relatively new view
Of the progress of revelation, together
with the increased appreciation Of the
human element of the Bible. Suffice ii
to say, that while opinions have changed
and are changing, the Bible was never
more loved or faithfully studied than to-
day and the resultant Of all these changes
has been to give us clear if more
guarded faith in the word of God itself
Take for example the date of the book Of
Daniel. 1t has been supposed that il
was written by Daniel during or sOOr
after the captivity. Now it is believed
that it was not written by Daniel ant
that its author lived several hundred
years later, perhaps within 100 years Of
the beginning of this era.
This newly discovered truth destroys
your argument from prophecy" says thC
devil. The church replies, IF God go
on without that argument till | invented
it he may do so STILL"
In a word, such adjustments and en-
largements of faith were never in any
one generations given as lessons to tn,
church of God. If her faith was to per
ish, it might have been buried under thil
avalanche of discovery. There is largO
promise in what our own eyes have seen
that when the Son Of Man comes, he viii
find faith on the earth.
When Satan attacked our pet theories
of inspiration, lie knew quite well tha
he was doing his worst for us; it was S,
easy for us to pet our wounded prid
while thinking of ourselves as uphOldint
the ark. But the church has been tru,
to the real word of God, and has said
THAT opinion was dear to me: cher
ished it. But God got on very well be
fore invented it, and it is possible tina
he can do without it still" So, much o
our wood, hay and stubble has gone
Nevertheless the foundation of Gol
standeth sure"
Some one has suggested that the churcl
has shown want Of faith in her will
ingness to learn new truth. For shame
What should the church do that she ma
show her faith? When some presumpti
GUS mouse Of error, real or supposed
comes creeping in, would it be faith 70