The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-04-30
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
EXPRESSIONS FROM VARIOUS
RELIGIOUS NEWSPAPERS.
The Religious Thought of the Day
as Expressed in the Sec
tartan Press.

'.the necessity of returning from meta
physical speculations in theology, or
speculations of any sort, as terms OF
communion Such speculations have
been erected into dogmas in modern
times by John Calvin and many either
founders of sects 1t is a mark of the
period that those dogmas are losing
| their hold upon men just in proportion
as they come to see that they are of
merely human origin. This is very
we'll. But the trouble is THAT, divest-
ing themselves of these Gognlas, they
are substituting nothing for them. 1t
is very clear, from popular literature
that Calvinism is commonly confound-
ed with the Christianity of the ancient
church. The only refuge then is the
| Bible only but the discussions of the
day have shaken confidence in the BIZ
bic, and there is nothing left to fall
back upon except this vague prattle
about "a fuller Christian life But the
fuller Christian life is not a growing
feature of our times. Any one of the
slightest observation or experience
must be aware that the lives of a large
proportion of the people who bear the
Christian name, are not exhibiting any
marked increase of fullness, at least in
a religious sense
*
Speaking of the alleged secularization
of the church, the New York Church
man. (P. ED says: rs it true that this
novel change in the direction of relig
ious forces is to be locked upon as a
danger signal of the times? Is relig-
ion losing it's hold on the people? We
cannot accept this dark view of move
ment that is already widely stirring the
religious world and is destined to be
still more widespread. We believe it
has in it the vitalizing power of the
Holy Spirit, who is leading the church
into wider fields and her individual
members to realize in every walk Of
life their high privilege and RESPONSE
bility. Apart from the belief that each
lage must be approached in a manner to
which it will be responsive, it is evil
dent that a mere initiative reproduc-
ton of the type of religious activity,
familiar a generation ago. is entirely
UnWise and undesirable. 1t is easy to
lsee, without passing a severe judgment
on the past, that our civilization has al
ready suffered much from a type of
teaching and preaching which was in
effective because it failed to appeal to
humanity as Gods creation, because it
represented man as only in some special
and isolated way the organ of spiritual
influence. II is a good thing to pro-
test against the doctrine which left
large fields of mans energy untouched
by divine grace. 1t is eminently nee
essary, even at the risk of exaggeration,
to claim this vast territory The
church is neither losing its dignity nor
its faith by bringing itself closer to the
people by translating its message in
terms that all classes can understand
and appropriate"
"a minister in Greater New York is
reported to have said that physical
causes have produced moral and relig-
ious changes in opinions and character
and that the church has lost ground
because it has not adapted itself to the
new conditions. That is at least doubt
full" says the New York Christian In
| telligencer" Ref). MANY think that
the churches have endeavored to adapt
themselves to the demands of men, and
have lost power by it. How many SER
mons in this city, this State, or in the
United States have been preached in
twelve months on the justice of God,
the absolute righteousness of His su-
preme rule over ali things and all men?
How many ON the words of Jesus
Christ: Broad is the way that leadeth
to destruction, and many there be which
go in thereat; narrow is the way which
leadeth until life, and few there be that
find it,? How many on the Apostles
words: How can We escape if We neg
lect SO great salvation. or the numerous
kindred texts of the Word of God? The
|
the fact accounts for a reduced esteem
for the church, and an opinion that it
is of little consequence whether a man
goes to church or not Certainly the
change in the subjects of sermons and
the prevalent style of preaching must
be regarded as among he sew raj caus s
which are weakening the mold of the
church ON the men of to-day"
eve are willing to admit says the
New York observer Pres.) that in
most, if not in ell, of the different
theories of the atonement there are ele-
ments of truth, and that all the
theories, combined and adjusted in
some careful way, are necessary to any
thing like complete view of the sub
ject. But some theory, simple it may
be, yet clear and Scriptural, which will
do justice to the objective value of the
atonement, is absolutely essential to the
integrity of the Christian system, and to
the effective preaching of the Gospel
The question at issue, however, does not
lie between an objective and subjective
| atonement, although these were mu-
tually exclusive views, but between a
view, really the larger and more liberal
one, which includes both the objective
and the subjective view alone. In other
words, the man who holds that the
atonement accomplished a work outside
of him, with relation to the law of God
and the economy of grace, which is the
basis also of a subjective change with
in him in the direction of goodness, en-
tertains a more sound and Scriptural
view than he who, refusing the Biblical
testimony as to an objective satisfac-
ton of the demands of divine justice,
simply teaches a moral view to the
practical effect that by Christ's death
men are prepossessed in favor of holi
ness and magnetized in some intangible
lWay so that they become Christlike.''
|
1.-THE Governor of New Hampshire has
surprised New England and provided
fresh topic of easy discussion by putting
into his Fast Day proclamation the two
century-old complaint about the decay
of religion in the rural districts" says
the New York independent. ''Such
complaints as this are taken up chiefly
by the enemies of the church. They
love to tell how the loss of the old
faith, and the critical genius of the age,