The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-05-06
PEOPLES
Sermon by
CHARLES T.
RUSSELL,
Pastor Brooklyn
Tabernacle.

an interpreter. he was heard by all.
His address was delivered under the
auspices Of the INTERNATIONAL
BIBLE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION.
A profound impression was evidently
made. and Bible study surely received
a considerable impetus. Many inclined
10 scoff ut religion and the Bible. as
interpreted in the past. said reverent-
ly. If this be the Gospel OF Christ
it is worthy OF all acceptation." The
speaker said:
We. dear friends. are living in q day
in which the leading minds OF the
world are rejecting the Bible and its
message in all the great colleges OF
the world: yea. in the theological
seminaries also, the Bible is classed
as antique. PROGRESSED faith in the
Bible. as the inspired Word OF God.
today calls forth sneers Of ridicule and
the comment that such believers are
'unlearned' But. my hearers. ! am
before you today TO contend that 1t is
not the Gospel of Christ" that is be-
ing rejected by the intelligence of the
world. but another Gospel that came.
NOT from Christ. neither from the ApOs-
ties. neither is it taught in the Bible.
am here to claim. and to endeavor to
prove that the Bible is eminently log
ical thoroughly reasonable. and that
the message it bears to'those who have
''ears 10 hear" is the most wonderful
message that could possibly be pre-
scented TO human heads and hearts. .
We are not here to claim new rev.
citation. making void the Word Of God
through Jesus and the Apostles; we
are not here to twist and turn their
words to make them appear TO mean
what they do not say. We are here
70 show that the Bible taken in its
simplicity. and allowed TO interpret it.
self, is the most wonderful book in the
world, and that the Divine Plan Of Sal
walton therein set forth is Soul-satiSfy-
ing and. as the Scriptures declare. suf-
ficient. that the man of God may; be
thoroughly furnished unto every good
word and work. 80, n o. t.st,
at}i Theories of the Dark Ages. ggIfl
We are not here my friends. to set
forth any sectarian viewsOf the Scrip
lures. nor TO advocate a new, theology,
By no means: we have already too
many lthsologies; I'VE have already too
many sects or divisions of Christ. We
want no more. GChristendom is awakr
ening to the fact that the various con
fiieting creeds cast discredit on the BIZ
bic. The creeds of Christendom uni
versally discredit each other by their
interpretations. and universally they
discredt the Bible. which would be
surely a most ridiculous book. il it
taught all the various conflicting dog
mas.
However. should not be misunder-
stood as making an attack upon any
creed. or upon the adherents of any
creed. Rather. suggest that We may
well look with sympathy upon all the
various creeds and SectS. realizing that
Gods people have been in Babylonish
confusion for now many centuries,
Did not the Apostle tell that great
falling away would come? Gil TheSsa-
lonians ii. g., Should we then b. sur
prised il we find his words have come
true. that for fifteen hundred years the
Church of Christ has been deeply en-
tangled with errors and superstitiOns,
which make void the Gospel Of Christ?
Let us not then stop to find fault with
our forefathers. and to upbraid them;
let us rather. so far as possible. as
sumo their honesty. their sincerity.
Let us take the Bible standpoint. and
realize that the difficulty has been the
power of our Adversary. the Devil
and that he has deluded and ensnared
not only the heather world, but to a
considerable extent Christendom.
Mark st. Paul's words. THE god Of
this world hath blinded the minds Of
them which believe not. lest the glo-
rious light of Divine goodness should
shine into their hearts I'll Corinthians
iv. A. The intimation is that our great
Adversary. Satan. is interested in de-
ceiving mankind. respecting the glo-
riOus character of our God. and his
wonderful Plan of Salvation through
Christ. Satan uses as his tools the
very best Of humanity that he can
bring under his control. and nothing is
more evident than that he has COM
petely deluded the heather world
with what the Apostle terms. doc
trines Of devils" Not only so. but
to the extent that he was able to do
so, he has evidently worked mischief
with the various determinations and
creeds of Christendom Thank God
that he did not gain entire control Of
any of these. Thank God that there
is a center or nucleus Of truth in each
Of these creeds. and around that kerr
mel of truth. terminating power may
be felt in every denomination. but the
Adversary has wrapped these creeds
with layer after layer of mistransla.
ton and miSinterpretation
In the light of our day. many are
able 10 discern more clearly than did
our forefatherS. the mOnstrous and
God -dishonoring fallacies Of the creeds
and. aroused to disgust they have re-
iected the irrational dogmas: but they
nave 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-
lions: Catholic and Protestant, and
equally we are in the day of Bible re-
iAefinn because il is assumed that the