Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1910-05-04
Text Il am not ashamed OF the Gospel of Christ
Romansi, l6).

have frequently rejected also the cen
trail truth. which that dogma. to GER
tain degree. misrepresented. Thus we
are in the day of the rejection of the
creeds by the people of all denomina-
tons, Catholic and Protestant, end
equally we are in the day of Bible re-
lection, because it is assumed that the
Bible, having been studied by the
formulators of these creeds. must be
in accord with these. and hence, must
be responsible for the unreasonable
teachings, and must be rejected when
these are rejected.
Some of us ran away with the doc
trine of election" thinking it the
whole Gospel of Christ; whereas, our
fragment was incomplete, unsatisfac-
tory. and misrepresented the Gospel.
when taken alone. Others grasped the
doctrine of free grace" and ran away
with that, claiming that it was the en-
tire Gospel - ignoring the Scriptures
which referred to election" etc.
These made a similar mistake, and
similarly miSrepresentpd the Gospel of
Others grasped those Scriptures which
assure us of a universal opportunity
for salvation, and interpreted them to
mean that all mankind will attain
eternal salvation. regardless of their
wills and cooperation. Others found
difficulty in harmonizing the relation
ship between the heavenly Father. the
heavenly Son. and the holy Spirit. and
this contention led TO UnitarianiSm on
the one hand. and to Trinitarianism on
the other. Others of us caught the
! doctrine of baptism" and made of it
| the entire Gospel, and thus did violence
| to the lengths, and breadths. and
heights, and depths of the true mes
sage. the true Gospel. of which st.
Paul in our text declares that he was
not ashamed.
Noting the logical mind of st. Paul.
who can doubt that he would be
ashamed, as we ourselves are, of the
fragmentary presentations of the vari-
Gus creeds which more or less oppose
and contradict each other? We may
be sure that what the Apostle would
endorse, as the Gospel of Christ" we
need not be ashamed of. Hence Oul
determination should be to search the
Scriptures. and to find that one reason
able message of the Divine Plan which
centers in Jesus our Redeemer.
Things at Which We Gagged.
Men and women do not find it diff
IN fco
and powerful Creator: just such a Coo
our hearts and heads tell us we should
expect; just such a God rational PEG
pie find no difficulty in wOrshiping
Indeed, while some of US in the pas
may have believed in the total de
pravity' of the race. may we not real
ize that Notwithstanding the fall, Their
is still in the human mind and hear
, something which has ''longingS inf
mite" something which cries out TO
the living God, and which command
our reverence and worship, in proper
ton as he is recognized?
Spiritually we gagged at the sugges
ton that a God of all wisdom. love
justice and power ever created GU
race with the fOreknowledge and fore
ordination that practically all Of thes
thousands of millions must suffer e
Their purgatorial torture for severa
centuries, as our Catholic friends pre-
sent the matter or at the still NOR
irrational theory of us Protestants tina
) eternal torture is to be the fate Of a
! except the elect few. the saints. VIII
= now follow in the footsteps Of Jesus
a course contrary to the world and a
the tendencies of life around us. We
J may we gag, and the sooner we rejeC
; and eject this entire mass Of >un-ScriI
tural dogmas, the better. AS a whol
;. it comes to us from our honest, but III
! enlightened forefathers, who veril
e thought they did God service in tortu
!, ing one another, even to the extent {
|, burning one another at the stake, b
a cause of little differences along tt
lines Of these doctrines of devils
I Timothy iv, y.
L The rich spiritual food and the stror
} faith, which we, dear friends. as B
BILE students, should desire and see
1t self We should not spurn suggestion
: from one another, but we should r
. ceive such suggestions tentatively, al
- the Word of God should be searche
IL so that our faith should not stand
le the teachings of men, but in the pow
N of God, as set forth in the Word
10 God. From this quarter only can '
u expect information respecting
c. The Gospel of Christ"
ut Of which st. Paul was not ashame
10 That Gospel has two distinct feature
eff Primarily it~relates to the world
Id mankind, and instead of telling
I'd that either centuries of putgatoriA 81
of fering, or an eternity of torture AVA
re the world, its message is that, in Coz
ch due time, q great blessing awaits
ar- world through the glorified Christ, a