The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1899-03-31

sealed as strongly as stone and bolts and
mortar could make possible. On it was
This shall never be opened"
But ere long q tiny seed lodged in crew.
ice, and an incipient tree came forth,
which grew and grew, until the great
stones were torn asunder and yawned
open. The peasants, it is said, regard
this violated tomb with profound awe, as
the judgment of God. 1t is a reminder
that the seeds of truth cannot be con.
fined by any human barriers.
Near my boyhood's home stands, I
presume to-day, unless recently remov-
ed, a stone church. It was given, with
an endowment, 1 have been told, to a
certain ecclesiastical society, on the one
condition that certain form Of doctrine
contained in creed preferred by the
donor, should be ever proclaimed. I
used to walk past that deserted building
and wonder why its tell never rang and
worshippers were never seen to enter. 1t
was because no minister could be found
to preach that creed, and no congrega-
ton who would assent to it.
In dark ages gone by, kings sought to
compel men and women, on penalty of
the direst woes, to adopt prescribed be-
lief; but all in vain. No sword is sharp
enough, no endowment ia liberal enough,
to intimidate truth in its onward march.
Every institution,
EVERY AGE, HAS ITS 'NEw THOUGHT"
much as it fears it. There are always
people to whom the phrase ''new theol-
ogy," is like waving red flag before "a
bull. In a gathering of ministers, not
long ago, when some Christian thought
was advanced in language Of the pres
emit, one of the good brethren launched
out in an impassioned haraDgue, upon
the text that ''the faith once delivered to
the saints" was good enough for him.
But who shall say when Augustine, Lu-
Their, Calvin, Cotton Mather, Edwards,
Taylor, Emmons, Hopkins, Hodge, Oh
anyone else, were constituted the oraciee
of God? The Christian thought Of the
age does not bow to any existing institu.
ton as authoritative. 1t is not for An
dover or Hartford, Harvard or Yale, OK
ford or Berlin, grand as these institutions
are, to dictate to the Christian worlG
what is to be the accepted and distinctive
theology of the age. This is the worl
of the Holy Spirit, of Him who in pillal
Of cloud and fire led Israel to ''the Prom
ised Land" and ever guides into al
Truth.
IL. We ask now, Sis there distinct
i've theology, or type Of Christian
thought, that characterizes the presen
age?" Another form of the question
would be, sis there any distinct advanc
in Christian thought that has becom
manifest, say within the present century
or even generations"
That there is something of the kim
everyone admits. To my mind it /
largely matter of emphasis, thougl
even that has far-reaching results. An,
here, feel, lies the crucial difference
the system OF Christian thought was re
ceived, by our grandfathers and great
grandfathers, from the standpoint of til
Divine Sovereignty; the present stand
point is the Doctrine or the Fatherhoo
of God, the foundation doctrine OF Jesus
to which He gave the supreme emphasis
The wonder to our minds today is no,
the church ever managed to drift so ia
from the emphasis of Jesus. How cam
it that Sovereignty" and 'sDecrees" .
overshadowed the theology OF th
Christ? Man seemed to have become 9
interested in following ont Pauline cor
ceptions, that they ran them to absurd
ty, and lost their way. After o long an
wearisoms wandering, we are just ge
ting back home again. We still deelar
j that God is Creator and Sovereign. bu
| we draw near to Him, saying, q
\ Jesus taught us, .Our Father" | 81
satisfied that Jesus knew what he wa
doing when he taught the disciples th
true attitude toward God.
/. Fatherhood is always above sovereign
ty. Thrones and crowns and scepter
are adopted, put on; fatherhood is IL
hercnt, thing OF the iife-principl'
Parental feeling is deeper than sove
J eighty. Tbs truest, noblest soyereignt
, is based upon parental affection. Yicts
ria 10 the sovereign that she il becaus
she has the heart of mother. III Georg
the Third had possessed true father
heart, he would not have lost bis Amel
lean coloniesl When David lost hi
child, he threw aside bis robes and affair
j / state, and could not for the time b