The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1910-03-25
PEOPLES PULPIT.
Choose 3e ThHDay
BetzUeen Truth
and Error.
Choose You This Day Whom
Ye viii Serve. II Jehovah Be God,
Serve Him" joshua XIV, ~.

900 forbid that we should bury any
OF the doctrines OF Christ and his
twelve apostles. On the contrary let
us strive to resurrect these from the
rubbish OF human traditions which
eighteen centuries have piled upon
them. Let us instead bury our man.
made creeds. of which we are all
ashamed. Our Presbyterian friends
some years tGo set noble example to
all Christendom In the burial of their
Confession of Faith and their substitu-
ton instead of much simpler and
much more rational statement.
But, No. ! must correct myself here.
This Is what they should have done
but did not do. Instead of burying the
old creed, not only from sight, but also
from odor, they have merely covered
the corpse which is admitted to be
dead and placed the briefer and better
Confession atop the winding-sheet.
They assuredly declare that 1t is not
q substitute but merely representative
statement Hence every time we read
the re-statement, we must hold our
noses to avoid contamination from the
odors of the carcass beneath. Not
all must do this. for. as the Apos-
tie suggests. All have not their senses
exercised to discern. But all intell-
gent Presbyterians are being rapidly
driven not only away from Calviuism.
but, alas, away from the Bible also,
because Of their erroneous supposition
that the teaching Of Calvin and the
teachings of the Bible are one and the
same.
These bright minds are not merely
lost to the Christian forces. They be-
come active agents I'm the promulga-
tion Of antiBiblical teachings. They
are engaged in pulling down the Bible
and substituting for Its teachings Oar
wins Evolution theory. These sincere
men are to be found In the faculties Of
all of the Colleges, in the highest pull.
pits throughout the land and In the
most prominent positions In business
and social life. Their loss of faith in
the Bible has not made them murder
ers or thieves. Their noble inheritance
from the past preserves to them en- up
of fear Of hell-torment has not under
mined While they are no longer
Christians from the Bible standpoint
no longer believers In Jesus as a Re
deemer-they are still believers in
Jesus as a great Teacher and a noble
Leader of men. They fall to discern
the fact that II he posed as the Son
Of God and the Redeemer Of men, and
was not such, instead Of being a noble
example. his life and teachings were
most stupendous frauds and decep-
lions.
Baptists and Disciples Awakening.
When we say that this awakening
is also reaching our Baptist and our
! Disciple brethren, let it not be under
stood to mean that all of these have
| been asleep until now. Perhaps it
would have been better for them IL
some who have gotten awake during
the past thirty years had slumbered
| longer. Those long awake have prin-
cipaly gone of into Darwinism and
Higher Criticism. Baptist and Disci-
pie schools and Colleges and Theolog-
ical Summaries, like those of other de-
nominations, are manned with the
brightest minds Of the denominations.
and all with one accord teaching High
er Criticism, lnfdelity and Darwinian
Evolution. With one accord all are
engaged in overthrowing the Christian
Faith of the rising generation. They
are doing this intelligently, wisely.
cunningly, but not with evil motive.
Having gotten awake to the inconsist-
| encies of their creeds these scholarly
men, concluding that the creeds truth
fully represented the Bible, abandoned
faith In the Scriptures to the same de-
gree that they have abandoned faith
in the creeds which their intellects
have repudiated. Now they are seek
ing to gradually help Christian people
Of all denominations to what they con-
slider the higher plane Of Truth. What
they have-almost anything in fact
is better than the "creeds" they have
repudiated. They are working hard
and succeeding we'll In introducing
their misunderstanding theory into the
minds of the rising generation through
the school books. From these they
not only have eliminated everything
sympathetic with Bible faith. but In
the stead have introduced the sub
tersive doctrine of Evolution.
AS for the rank and file of Bapt!sts
and Disciples, probably three-fourths
Of them still hold vaguely and indefi-
nitely to the Bible and their Comics
sions Of Faith though both Of these
denominations in their innocency of
mind think that they have no creeds-
that they take the Bible only. AS
these dear friends awaken to the in
constituencies of their Confession and
teachings they are In great danger of
following their leaders into a repudia-
ton Of everything pertaining to the
past-into Higher Criticism-I nfidelity
and Darwinism.
"chooss You This Day Whom 70 Will
Serve"
Joshua's words to the Israelites, aft
er they had come into Canaan. consti-
tute our text. Joshua perceived that
the Israelltes were In trying position
and that II was their duty to decide
promptly and thoroughly which course