The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-05-07

Text: ~ am not ashamed of the
ospel of Christ" (Romans j, 16.)
| Bible, having been studied by the
formulatorS CT 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 CT Christ; whereas, our
fragment was incomplete, unsatisfac-
tory, and misrepresented the gospel,
when taken alone. Others grasped the
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 miSrepresented the gospel Of
Christ in it's Wilderness it's solidarity.
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
difficulties 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
the entire gospel, and thus did violence
to the lengrhs, 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 nfher0
be sure that what the apostle would
endorse, as the gospel of Christ" we
need not be ashamed of. Hence our
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
cult to believe in a wise, just, loving
and powerful Creator; just such a God
our hearts and heads tell us we should
expect; just such a God rational peo-
pie find no difficulty in worshiping.
Indeed, while some of us in the past
may have believed in the total de-
pravity'' of the race, may we not real
ize that Notwithstanding the fall there
is still in the human mind and heart
something which has '1ongings inf
mite" something which cries out for
the living God, and which commands
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 our
race with the foreknowiedge and fore
ordination that practically all of these
thousands of millions must suffer Ell
Their purgatorial torture for several
centuries, as our Catholic friends pre-
sent the matter, or at the still more
irrational theory of US Professionals that
eternal torture is to be the fate of all
except the elect few, the saints, who
now follow in the footsteps of Jesus
a course contrary to the world and all
the tendencies of life around us. Well
may we gag, and the sooner We reject
and eject this entire mass of un-scrip
tural dogmas, the better. AS a whole
it comes to US from our honest, but un-
enlightened fcrefathers, who verify
thought they did God service in tortur-
ing one another, even to the extent of
burning one another at the stake, be-
cause of little differences along the
lines of these doctrines of devils Il
Timothy iv, -.
The rich spiritual food and the
strong faith which we, dear friends,
as Bible stu dents, should desire and
seek for, are to be found only in the
Bible itself. We should not spurn sug
gestions tentatively and the Word of
God should De searched, SO that our
faith should not stand in the teach
ings of men, but in the power of God,
as set forth in the Word of God From
this quarter only can we expect infor-
nation respecting
The "Gospel of Christi
of which st. Paul was not ashamed.
That gospel has two distinct features.
Primarily it relates to the world of
mankind, and instead of telling US
that either centuries of purgatorial suf-
fering, or an eternity of torture awaits
the world, its message is that. in God s
due time, a great blessing awaits the
world, through the g1oriffed Christ, and
as a result OF the sacrifice which he
finished at Calvary.
This great blessing will not be uni
versal salvation. but it will be uni
versal opportunity for salvation. 1t
will not be L salvation in ignorance
and heather superstition, but a saliva
ton from such conditions, with full op-
portunity to return to the image and
likeness of God, lost in Adam, and re-
deemed by our Savior. This is the
same God that was heralded by the
angels on the night of our Lords birth
| in the words, Behold we bring you
good tidings Of great joy, which shall
| be unto all people. for unto you is
born this day in the City of David
| a Savior 6Life Giver). which is Christ
| the Lord duke ii. 100. This version
of the gospel. a good message, and
| for all mankind, corresponds exactly
with the first statement of the gospel
made by God to Father Abraham, say
I In I111 all 20 &c