The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1907-05-17

And He came down with them. and stood in thu
plain. Luke 6;l7
Usually when we attempt to study
an incident In the life Of Christ, We
seek one that took place on some
mo6ntain, as Mount Olive, Calvary OF
3Moriah, because the mountain par
takes more OF the nature Of the roman
tic than do the commoner scenes.
The Savior had passed the night
al jhe rocks far up on the noun.
tin the early morning He de-
b,,s to a level place, where He
tbabe more easily approached by
y, v, anxious throngs.
Cb,kSworld's supremest need is a
leyst on the plain--a Christ on the
r-a Savior easy Of approach.
u ne way of approach to Jesus Christ
j through the truths Of the Gospel,
and the simpler these truths are made
the easier .of approach Is Christ rem
dered.
1t was the recognition of this fact
that led the fathers OF the Cumber-
land Presbyterian Church to formulate
the system Of doctrines found In our
Confession Of Faith.
SO far as the Presbyterian world was
concerned, the theologlans had gone
up pinto the mountains OF scholasticism
and we're engaged in discussions which
TIL common people could not under
\ 3sta !.
4 " had statement OF doctrine
thar no two Of the great writer's Of
that day understood In the same way,
nor have any two ever yet been found
who can agree.
In 1910 our fathers came down from
the mountain to plain below, and
formulated system OF doctrine di-
vested Of much OF the philosophy Of
and scholastic lore Of the Westminster
Confession Of Faith.
About seventy years later the
church realized that, though our
fathers had come a great way down
the Side Of the mountain, they had
stopped too soon and had retained far
too much of the dizzy mountain ele-
ment in the Confession OF Faith, and
she at once began the work Of further
revising and simplifying our system
OF doctrines.
When the General Assembly OF 1888
had finished it's work it handed to the
world the Confession of Faith as we
now have it--a book recognized as
containing the best and simplest state
ment Of the doctrines OF the Bible In
all the world.
Within recent years certain credu-
lous idealists, who have shut their
eyes both to the facts of all history as
we'll ais to the fundamental principles
OF all human society,"" have taken up
the old cry Of Alexander Campbell Of |
one hundred years ago, and have been
dinniug into the ears Of the people the
idea that organic union between
Christian denominations is essential
to the progress Of the Church Of Jesus
Christ.
Many OF the trusted leaders Of the
church became enamored with that
theory. and catching a glimpse Of
larger things, they decided they would
pull stakes and go back up the
\ But Il was an Immortal statesman
4 said that "You may fool all the
}le part Of the time, part OF the
pie all Of the time, but you can't
II ii all Of the people all OF the time,
an0 we are assembled here to-day as
representatives or those Of the Cum
befland Presbyterian Church who re-
fuse 10 be led into the mysticism Of q
system Of theology.
When the joint committees met In
ST. Louis all the Cumberland Presby-
terian members OF that committee ex~
cept one, the immortal Keller, re-
ported further progress as Cumber-
and Presbyterians impossible and adj
sised return to the mountain {
pnights. *
But Kellar, like Caleb Of old, said,
Is he looked upon the land Of future |
lsefulness, LET Us 90 up at once and /