The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-18
STRENGTH OF FAITH
BIBLE VIEW or FAITH WAS DR
 0REooRY's SUBJECT.

aREooRY's SUBJECT.
 The Fundamental Error in the Pop uIar View of Faith Pointed Out by Adams Street
 Pastor.
 pr. Gregory chose his text from Prov
 eth right unto a man but the end end there sns of are the way Of death" s, z He spoke as follows: There Is a popu-
 lar idea which finds expression in the
 lines of Hudibras:
 For forms of faith lot sraceless bigots fight
 His can't be wrong. whose life is in the right" F
 and in the oft repeated saying. Tt makes no difference what a man believes con corning religion SO long as he Is sincere. :" am not surprised that atheists and
 infldsls think !s;,,s so; for it gives them the rejection of Christianity as others are in receiving it.' But never could un- derstand why evangelical Protestants
 should give 1t countenance. When not contending for the faith against the at tacks of those who would destroy it al- together, but are seeking excuses for duties they have ignored, or commands they have neglected, they often fall into this habit It sounds oddly enough to hear a protesting Christian when some habit of his Iife, or favorite pursuit Is clearly shown to be unscrfpturaI, to hear makes no difference what man believes so long as he Is sincereP The public
 mind Is largely infected with. this idea. iJ is one of the most popular themes for pulpit, press and platform, but 1t Is nevertheless a fundamental error which threatens the stability of the church, and nf mi years ago, Edmund Sherer, rationalis-
 tic philosopher in his Meianges dIfis- tetre Reltgeuse foresaw the peril and
 contemplated the trend of the religious
 thought. even of that day, with alarm;
 he says: "As for natural religion, that
 exists only in books. Religions which
 have vital force and influence are posi-
 tive religions: that is religions which
 dogma. can not refrain from asking,
 not without anxiety whether Christian
 rationaiism is really a religion? What
 remains in the cracible after leaving all
 this liberty to mans thought? Is the
 residue really the essence of the posi-
 tive .dogmas or is it but a caput mor-
 tuumT' He afirms, that religious senu-
 ment Is measured by religious faith, and
 destruction ot faith; that there Is much
 to awaken anxiety regarding the indoc-
 trination of community with this idea.
 Solomon in the text, gives the Bible
 VlGW Ok Ul6 value ana importance Ux
 faith. He does not encourage insincer-
 ity, but demands in addition to sheer
 ity. correctness. Where is a way the
 traveller is tourneying, he thinks 1t is
 right, 1t seems to be right, but it Is
 wrong. and the result accords. not with
 the false opinion, but with the absolute
 truth of the case; its Issue in death
 proves it's direction was erroneous. Does
 not this show that your opinion of
 path does not make it right? Neither does your sincerity in that error exempt
 you from it's consequences. whether they aTect the body or the soul? Of course
 solomon does not intimate that a correct -life is of less moment than correct be-
 lief; or that every article of belief is equally vital to the souls welfare; hc merely attirms the principle which. should influence US in our study and reception of uogmas, viz: that all religious error, that some religious errors are fatally so.
 1. This Is the teaching of the Bible. The existence Of tbis book itself IS evi- dence sufficient Here is revelation LurportlnS to be from God. Why was it givenl Why this record of doctrines and CEristly ideas2 Was it needed7 You must say yes or no. II you deny, then it follows that God has acted very ut' wisely, that He has given us merely superfiulty, out if you admit, as you must, that this revelation was needed. you concede that God regarded error as injurious, and to benefit the race He kIaClOuSly IGNtAlcO lilc IlutAAs WV thobS
 sccept' the whole Bible or none of itfs Were not those nations who. woTshipped false gods sincereY Were they not hon est in the faith they held before the Bible was sent to guide them? Are not the heather tribes, and other religionists Of today as sincere as you are in the practice Of their superstitious rites. and yet we are commanded to preach to them if God didSnot esteem sincerity as equal to the task of averting the evil conse- quences of error? Does 1t not follow that having given to us this Bible, TOT the very same reason He will demand not only sincere, but also correct inter- pretation of it's acontents2 When a gov ernment enacts a law, it expects that citizens will obey it strictly, and never accept in place of such obedience, an act different from the one commanded on the ground that he thought something else would do as well. And shall we assume that the Judge of all. the earth Will be pleased or satisfied If we treat His law as we would not dare to treat one of human origin? The Bible, Is useless to the end designed by God url- less correctly interpreted, as false ex- position adopted or observed might but confirm mankind in the belief of those errors which God, in giving the Bible sought to correct. When we examine the Bible we find that God insists on the importance of faith and correct be- lief. Paul writes by inspiration solemn
 
 doctrines. though we or an angel from heaven, preach any other doctrine, let him be accursed." After certain admo- nitions we are commanded to reject the heretic. and the loving John writes .'Whoso transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God, he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ hath the Father and the Son"-that is, he would teach us not only that mental conception of the truth as it is in Jesus Is requisite to life and godliness. and that there must be a is effected through the Word as an in- strument, and therefore this mental con- ception Is positively indispensable. Again John says, If there come any unto you. and bring not this doctr ne, receive him not into your house. neither bid him God speed, for he that biddeth him God-speed is partaker of his evil deeds." We are earnestly warned mot to give heed to spirits, and doctrines of devils" and commanded to strive for, the faith once for all delivered to the saints" If we receive this book as Gods revelation we must, to everything that is written therein, say Amen. They certainly teach us not to depend on sincerity to excuse us if we are wrong. They assuredly l teach us that all error Is detrimental or else why do they anathematize 1t? why | authorize us to oppose 1t? And beyond | all question the Scriptures affirm that | the souls salvation is vitally connected | with some of the truths revealed. We l are taught that Jesus Is our Redeemer. and that unless we rely upon him we | must terteh Should We DelieVe that we