Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-23
THE SCIENCE OF THEOLOGY
DEALS WITH FACTS; RELIGION
DEALS WITH DUTIES.
Assumes Existence of God and Man
and Then Searches Out Their
Nature and Relations.
From the Independent.

| From the Independent.
Theology is a science. 1t is not like
| physical sciences, except that. like all sci
ences, it begins with assumptions. Chem
| istry assumes matter and then seeks it's
qualities and relations; theology assumes
| God and man, and asks what are their
nature and their relations
| Theology is a science, a sort of knowl-
edge: 1t is not religion. Theology has
to do with facts. religion with duties But
! theology, in its search for facts finds
that duties are facts, and considers them
So theology can be divided into two Sec
tons, one that which considers our duties
as facts, and is thus ethical; and the
other that which searches for facts which
are non-ethical or super-ethical, and so
| are OF curious or interesting Importance,
put are no part of obligation.
! For example, obedience to God is a
| religious duty. The fact that it is such
brings 1t within the purview of theology.
Love OF our feliow-man is primary
| duty and when commanded by God be-
| comes also religious duty. AS a fact of
religious ethics it comes within the scope
| of theology. But the inner constitution
of Deity, whether triple or single has
nothing to do with our duty. 1t belongs
TO Gods knowledge and concerns us only
as We are more or less clearly informed
on the subject. Regeneration. considered
as Gods act, belongs to Him alone; it is
no part of our duty: our duty is with
repentance for sin, not with Gods activ-
ity. So redemption and forgiveness in
whatever way they may be granted, be-
long to God only, not to us. We can
argue about them. guess about them but
as We have nothing to do with them. no
duty i'm the matter. as they are portions
OF Gods knowledge and duty, not ours.
we can leave them to Him. They are
theoretical. not practical interesting, but
it Is not vitality important that We should
understand them correctly.
Complaint Against Theology.
We are led to these distinctions by
reading a series of articles in the British
Consregationalst by Principal Forsyth of
Hackney Theological College, who with
dolorous emphasis complains of the fab
| biness of British theology. The substance
OF his doctrinal statement about salvation
Is thus expressed:
No man is saved. no church is saved,
the world can never be saved by any
olosy as such-not by IL Chrstology, nor
Savior who is real Rcdeemer of the
world. and not a prophet, genius or con-
| summate spiritual influence
mo man is saved"-what docs that
mean? He is a thcoogian-he must use
the term technically-he means saved
from eternal death Only by a Savior
who Is a real Redecmer of tia world
| more than prophet or genius; that is,
who is God: the Second Person in the
Trinity. The words mean no less. And
| they mean. saved by believing that such
a Divine Savior is his Redeemer But
what is his authority for asserting that :?
| Noah was not so saved, nor Abraham
nor the worthless of the eleventh of He
| in God. not in Jesus Christ. And multi
| tudes OF pous Jews and of pious pagans
lave thus been saved in all the ages Or.
| If Dr.. Forsyth means that in His eternal
| counsels God will need and make use of
| the redemption of Christ to save those
who are saved out of every nation then
that is Gods business. perhaps his secret;
at any rate. good Christians are not
agreed on the subject of what Christ's
relations are to the salvation of men, and
Principal Forsyth has no right to impose
Gods business on us. Secret things be-
long TO the Lord, our God.
"Redemption.''
He goes on to say that without the
ology of that redemption no church can
remain saved, or become a power in his
tory" He says SO, but We are not obliged
TO believe him. Even the word redemp-
ton is only one of the figures under
which Gods forgiveness Of sin is ex-
pressed in the Bible, not the exclusive
one to be selected out as explaining for
siVeness. There is no redemption in
the parable OF the prodigal SON Redemp-
ton is not our work nor our business 1T
is Gods work. and so His business Mans
business-important, essential business-is
with repentance for sin. trust in the for
giving love of God and then doing duty
of love as taught by Jesus Christ We
shall be saved if we do out part; and
how and why God will then save us il is
not essential for us TO know. We can
leave that 10 God We can speculate
about it, study the Bible for light. nut it
in our personal body of theology. if We
care 10. but that is not what will save the
church or bring us the Kingdom of God
Our duty may be imposed on us, not
God IS duty. nor any view as to His ma
ture or action. We may guess. speculate
and argue all we choose