Omaha daily bee., 1899-11-03
TALK ON CHRISTIAN BELIEF
HeV. Irving johnson Delivers an
Entertaining and Instructive
Address Rt st. PcuI,s,

Rev. Irving Johnson, rector of St Mar
tins Episcopal church, lectured Thursday
night at st. Pauls church, corner of Tbirty-
second and California streets, on 'Why Do
We Have a Creed?" Rev. Mr. johnson ia
a forceful speaker and his address was lis
tened to with the closest attention on the
part of large audience. The speaker said
in part:
The Christian belief ie not a matter Of
private opinion. Christ came to teach men
that which neither the keenness Of Aristotle
nor the briliancy Of Plato could give them
the gospel of salvation. The very word gos-
pei means message of good news A mes
sage Is not something which man derives
from his own brain, but that which is com
municated to him from without Christ
spoke this gospel with authority, not as the
Scribes and PhariSees, with plausible argu-
ment.
Verify, verify, l say unto you except Won
do 90 and SO you cannot be saved No ex-
planation other than that which was fur
nished by His own august presence and His
miracles Of love and power.
Persons say 1t makes no difference what
We believe. One belief is as good as an
other. Without a definite belief we would
have no definite action. Even the man who
says I do not believe in God has a creed
The man does not, cannot live who has no
creed.
The Christian creed that has the author
ity OF universal use is that known
as the Apostles creed. Americans
seem to have fancy that Christ
preached to Americans and those
OF tho nineteenth century. AS matter of
fact, Christ preached equally to the Jew of
the first century the Greek of the third, the
Roman OF the fifth. the barbarian of the
| sixth, the Celts of the seventh, the Anglo
Saxon of the tenth, the Norman of the
twelfth. To all men everywhere and at all
| times was the gospel preached. The Apos-
! ties creed is the only creed that all these
nations have heard. All confessions of faith
are local, believed by one set OF men in one
age The Apostles creed represents the
teaching OF the fathers in the second century
and the Nicene council il the fourth. The
philosophy OF the creed s to be seen in the
seven articles which 1t contains
First, I believe in God, the Father;
| second, In God, the Som third, In God,
the Holy Ghost These three articles teach
us the source Of life-the Ever Blessed
| Trinity. The last three articles-the for
givenees OF sin, the resurrection Cf the body,
| the life eyerlasting-the three purposes for
which men live and which they can find
| only in Christ Jesus. But attention is
called to the middle article of the creed,
namely. i believe in the Holy Catholic
church. This is the connecting link between
the source of faith and the end of faith.
so that the creed may be interpreted as
follows: From God the Father, God the
Son. God the Holy Ghost, through the Holy
| Catholic church, l hope to attain the for
| giveness OF sins, the resurrection Of the body
and the life everlasting. Thus % the Chris
| tian religion is matter OF authority and
not OF opinion; a gospel and not a philoso-
ply. (2) 1t has been handed down by every
age and in every CLINE. (3) This faith ha
been kept by the church in the Apostles
creed which is simple, definite aud sci
entifc statement OF the church's faith as be
lieved by all men at all times in all places. -
The lecture next Tuesday evening Will be
on the subject, What We Mean by Apes
toiie Succession"