New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-12-04
THE MIT1BLE IN CHRISTIANITY.

A recent article in The Tribune on the work
of Dr. LYMAN Abbott arollses THE Syracuse
Standard 10 protest against the proprIety OF
assisting people with religious doubts to 'recon-
"cle the religion Of their traditions with the
Secular thought Of their time 1.-THE stand
ard" declares that so far rs it has been aoie
to Judge the help given consisted IN aDat-
ling the claims of religion until the desired
reconciliation was complete and 1t says"
"Such assistance can hardly be very useful 10
"a person who wishes TO retain the fahh once
delivered to the saints If religion needs 10
BE adjusted in every generation to the muta-
"ble fashion OF secular thought, 1t cannot DE
"a thing Of much value, or enc that men VIII
respect very long
Now we should not wish to undermine "lhe
Standards" respect for the most conservative
orthodoxy, nor do wish to argue the com
paratve merits Of what are commonly called
the old and now theology. But we wish 10
point out that DR.. Abbott or any other clergy
man who attempts TO adjust religion 10 the
mutable fashion of secular thought does moth
ing more than accept and cordially work in
accord with an irresistible tendency which has
operated in every age on every living religion.
1t may be an open question how far the Gus
todians of religious truth should themselves
Join in the work of adjustment and how far
they should be conservative and yield to the
inevitable change only by slow degrees. There
is much to he said Oh both sides Of that ques-
ton. On the hand there Is the danger OF
keeping the Church a generation behind the
thought of its most progressive members and
SO far weakening its influence for good. On
the other there Is the danger Of moving ahead
so fast as to puzzle and disturb slower work
ing minds and of letting the Chmch as an in
stituti0n, instead of merely making reasonable
progress, get adrft and jeopardize its divine
and immuabe cargo. But whatever be the
golden mean of piloage. the fact remains that
Christianity does change from age to age to
suit the time and present its permanent body
Of truth in adjustment with the point OF view
Of succeeding generations and different races
There is transient element in Christianity
which is inseparable from it as held by mum
dane beings. who grasp ideas only in concrete
and partial form. SO much do men find their
own mode OF thought as conditioned by their
time and surroundings to them necessary
part Of the religions conception that 1t Is al
most impossible for many Of them to regard
the man with different fashion OF thought
about a particular truth as holding the same
religion with themselves This Is what leads
to sects and religious wars. The divine truth
may he I'm each sect, but II Is so Identified with
the various wrapplngs Of human conception
that to each sect il seems hardly possible that
it should really be In more than one
The Christianity Of the first century In Pal
esiine was very different from that found a
few years later In Rome. The central truth
was in both, but one was presented III the garD
which suited Hebrew thought and the other
in the fashion which the Roman conld under
stand The great successes of Christianity
were in adjusting itself to the mutable fashion
of secular thought, in being an Oriental re-
igion to Orientals Greek religion to Greeks,
n Roman religion to Romans. 1t was only
when II ceased 10 be adaptable and Insisted
on crystalllzlng its philosophy that IT at times
temporarily weakened its hold on the Ire OF
the people. Some of the wisest foreign mis-
sonaries now are frank To say thar the great
est obstacle TO Outstanding the East Is the AT
tempt to make Chinese and japanese and Hin
docs American and English Christians. with
Western conceptions Of philosophy AMI the
ology instead of helping them to translate the
Christ idea into Chinese. japanese and itind0o
feeling thought and character. The Church OF
Rome is often thought Of as the type OF the I'M
mutable in theology Put as matter OF fact,
Rome has been peculiarly given to adaptation
Her theology many TO her essential topics
has changed much even in four hundred years.
immaculate conception and Papal infalblty
and ransubstantation are illustrations OF THIS
At one time Platonic and ut another time Arts
totclian philosophy has been the prevailing
fashion of thought In the Church. and the re-
sultinp structure of theology built about an
identical religious truth Is something vastly
different in the two cases. The most orthodox
CONGREGATIONAL theology prevailing to-day
would have many apologies to make to Cotton
Mather or Jonathan Edwards. They saw re-
llglous truth with their secular minds and
men Of this generation see 1t with minds
trained In the fashion Of to-day.
The fact that the same truth can he so dr-
ferently interpreted and still be or vital sig
niicance is one of the most convincing reveal
tons of its divinity. Living things change
their bodily form and outward aspect 1t Is
only dead things that are crystallized and I'm
morabc Men respect Christianity and 1t Is
of value to them because 1t can be adjusted
TO their changing ideas In spite OF men ike
those who having tied ii mp to the Ptolemac
convention of the universe insisted that 1.-THE
faith once delivered to the saints would he
wrecked utterly If It was reconciled to the
views of Copernlcus II Christianity were TO-
day what II was in the Middle Ages men would
not respect II long 1t Is because II sets
forth totally different conceptions OF this world
and the next from what the masses OF that
time could in the least have appreciated that
II holds the respect and influences the lives OF
the men Of this later day.