The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-11-02

ness. which. as already indicated,
proves itself utterly ENTHUSIASTICALLY.
and easily becomes q mere shield for
the dry rot Of pharisaism- !
Such phenomena as these IN he life
Of the church are not occasional and
accidental. They are the logical conse-
Quences OF a false supremacy. and they
VIII infallibly appear n
sovereignty OF creed and the fear OF
ecclesiastical authority impair the
sovereignty Of Christ and the fear Of
God Reason and conscience canno
serve two masters.
The true fuction OF theological doc
trine as q minister to the mind and
heart and not as a master. Is coming
to be recognized The greatest history
OF dogma written In recent years con-
cludes with these words: Therefore
the goal OF all Christian work. even OF
all theological work. can only be this
to discern ever mere distinctly the
simplicity and the seriousness OF the
Gospel. In order to become ever purer
and stronge In spirit. and ever more
loving and brotherly in action"
The foregoing argument is not meant
to be in any sense a defense OF Unit
tarianksm. or to lend anything TO its
support As an Interpretation. Unfair
ianism Is inadequate and unsatisfac-
tory. II does not exhaust the cate
CORY OF Christ'S claims or activities,
and Z VIII never commend itself to the
deepest spiritual needs OF church.
On the other hand. the Trinitarianism
OF our evangelical creeds is not salts
factory. especially from its intellectual
side The majority OF Christians.
while nominally nronothefsts- are viz
tualy trftneiSts. With them the Voc
person Is synonymous with indiyld
and the three persons OF the GofL
are as eparate and distinct as
shr<la hrrnor has~- o.
to conceive OF any notifications ex-
cept of a nominal kind. that would be
in the practical faith ana
worship of most men. did they believe
the persons OF the Godhead to be -
sentially three while only officially
one. ]
/ cannot better express my own
view on this subject, h by quoting
a paragraph from Alfred f. CARVE:
The ecclesiastical dogma seems to the
writer To sacrifice, on the. one hand,
the unity OF the Godhead: and, on the
other. the unity OF Christ's person.
lin illustration. here is a remark made
To me by one OF the profoundest stu
dents in the southern church,: II be-
lieve that Christ had two conscious
neSSeS n one Self-consciousneSs."l
The Kenotic theories are commenda-
BILE as attempts to do justice to the
historical personality OF Jesus. while
dSSuiIInS The eccltStaStlc9I dOSfla.
but are unsatisfactory in putting an
undue strain Oh the passages in the
New Testament which are supposed to
teach the doctrine, and in venturing
on bold assertions about the constitu-
ton of deity. which go far beyond the
legitimate compass of our intelligence
in these high matters. The writer
confesses God as Father, Son,
Spirit, and Christ Jesus Our Lord as
Son Of God and Son OF Man. and main
tains that God is as He reveals Him
self, and Christ is what He claims to
be: but he holds that the doctrines OF
the Godhead and Christ need theolog-
ical restatement, in which our more
adequate modern conceptions of
personality" development "liber-
ty" will gain full recognition. and the
less adequate ancient conceptions of
nature" substance" person" will
be superseded Meanwhile he Is con-
tent to search ever more deeply into
the meanings of the New Testament
representations; and Is convinced that
such a study is the best preparation
for a theological ~restatement." fThe
Ritschlian Theology. page 27i.)
HAY WATSON SMITH. -
Union Seminary, New York;