The record-union., 1898-04-03

freak of the imaginationt-the delusive
product of mans own thought The
logic Of materialism is that trees, flow
ers, plants and suns are self-creative.
Unless this fallacy has blinded our
judgment, we must admit that the nat
ural world owes it's existence to super
natural power If God should stop
working, there would not be a particle
of grain in the fields, nor fruit in the
orchards. Now, if this supreme power
cannot be excluded from the physical
world, why exclude 1t from the realm
of religion? The best elements of Ju-
daism were not an outgrowth from pa
ganiSm. They We're not an invention
of human philosophy, but lofty sugges-
lions from the mind of God. The ideas
that were strictly Jewish might have
existed million years, and they never
would have developed into anything
higher. God created a new mind,
new personality, whose life work was
indicated by his name, Savior. He was
inspired with thoughts that were so far
ahead OF anything conceived before
that the wisest Jewish philosophers
were astounded at his mental gifts and
moral genius. Christianity most ad-
Elirably meets the wants of human ma
ture, but the force that produced it,
and helps to keep it active, is super
natural"
We repeat with emphasis" says the
New York Outlook" our counsel to
every liberal minister in a conserva-
tive church: Stay where you are, and
preach the truth as God gives you to
see it, without fear and without favor
Never conceal conviction in order to
keep your place. Never pretend to a
belief which you do not sincerely enter
tain. Never fall into the error of i'm
agining that anything is gained to
truth or life by merely criticising the
faiths of other men who are as sincere
as yourself. Attack sin, but not sincere
belief; see the truth in error, and van
quish the error by preaching the truth.
Let no one persuade you that it is your
duty, on the one hand, to keep silence
in your pulpit, or, on the other hand,
to step out of it because your brethren
do not see truth as you see it, Follow
the example set you by Wesley and
Luther and Paul and Christ himself.
Subscription to a creed no more pro-
hibits you from endeavoring by all law
full and honorable means to alter the
creed, than subscription to a constitu-
ton prohibits you from endeavoring to
amend the constitution If you are
charged with heresy, insist on your
right to bring the creed to trial before
the whole church, and to have it tried
by the only standard which Protestant
ism recogniZes-not the decision of
councils ancient or modern, not the ira
ditions Of the church, not even the let
ter of the Scripture, but the Holy Spirit
speaking in Scripture
I 1T is possible, perhaps, though we
see little prospect of it, that the church
of Rome herself may be reformed and
once again become the Catholic Church
she once was" says the Church Stand
ard" tP. Ed of Philadelphia. But
Rome is not yet Catholic. Whether she
is less cruel than she was, no man can
tell. 1t Is less than generation since
Pope of Rome, speaking as Pope and
claiming infallibility, proclaimed it to
be a heresy to think or say that the
Church of Rome ought to reconcile her
self with modern civilization. That is
to say, the Church of Rome dogmatic-
ern civilization. The same Pope, in
the same document, proclaimed it to be
a heresy to think or say that it is not
right to prosecute heretics. That is
in plain words, the Church of Rome de-
clares it to be the duty of Christian
Bishops and Christian magistrates to
prosecute heretics in the same old fash
ion that was practiced by Torquemada
tv, l.yn in, he Nnfl, nrloy
and by Mary in England. While such
doctrines are doctrines of Rome, ev
cry man who abhors them must per-
force be a Protestant in this sense at
least, that he is bound in conscience
to reject, and with all his might to OPP
pose, the rule and teaching of church
which maintains such heresies Better
times may come; but If they do, they
will come by Gods grace, and in spite
of Rome, not by the goodwill of the
Papacy."