The Mankato free press., 1910-03-11

i lie DO make Vold the law Oh Sou uHouS" !
your traditions s-the traditions Of the ancients
Uohn wi, II; Marx VII. l3: Peter i. l0).
| oOCe-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-s-s
increasing light of our day the creeds
of the past are seen to be fallacious.
! irrational, by all who use their think
| ing apparatus. The leaders in the va
rious Churches discovered this in ad-
vance of their f1ocks. They promptly
and reverently set their creeds on a
( high shelf where the people might not
so particularly notice their flaws, but
might continue their reverence for
them, until gradually their attention
| would be drawn aside and their hope
and faith transplanted to Evolutionary
soil or Theosophistic and Spiritualistic
childs play.
With the decline Of Christian doc
trines, including heart union with
Christ and an understanding of its
terms and conditions, Churchianity
came in, to take the place Of Christi
anity. Today the pride of all denomi-
nations centers, not in their doctrines,
but in their institutions. The people
are no longer exhorted to hold fast to
the doctrines of Methodism, Calvin
ism, etc, but to hold fast to the Sys-
tenn. They are no longer encouraged
to think of their system as being the
only one. outside of which there would
aged to cultivate partisan spirit,
which takes pride in their organiza
ton, its wealth, the value of its church
property, the largeneSs of it's collec-
tions. the grandeur Of its music, the
wisdom, learning and ability Of its
preachers, and the fashion and wealth
of its constituency.
1t is not our wish to offer a single
'unkind or unbrotherly criticism. 1t is
our duty and privilege. however, to
point out that the creed doctrines of
the various denominations, now set on
the shelf as too frail and imperfect to
stand handling and investigation, are
not and never were the doctrines of
Christ and the Apostles. 1t is our duty
and pleasure to show forth to Chris
tian people to the extent of our ability
that the teachings of the Bible, the
doctrines of Christ, are grand, noble,
reasonable, worthy of all accepta-
ton" To the extent that we succeed
in doing this we are bringing back
straying Christians from the deceptive
bogs Of Evolution and Higher Criti-
cism to the firm foundation, the solid
rock of Truth-God's Word.
1.-THE Wounds of Friend"
Faithful are the wounds of a
| friend is the Divine assurance. We
cannot. therefore, better show our
| friendship and Christian love to our
brethren than by pulling down from
the shelf their reverenced creeds and
allowing them to fall in pieces beyond
repair. If every church could be thus
| induced to pull down it's creed-idol.
| the present Laodicean stage of the
Church would speedily come to its
senses, as suggested by our Lord.
Then. instead of feeling themselves
rich and increased in goods and hav-
| ing need of nothing, our dear Chris
| tian brethren of all denominations
would realize the meaning of our
Lords words-that Churchianity as
whole today is poor and naked and
miserable and wretched and blind
| Revelation iii. 14-22). AS Christians
of all denominations we have cause of
rejoicing that we have outgrown the
trundle-bed creeds of the past and that
we can no longer wrap ourselves COM
fortably in the narrow bigotry Of er
ror. The Lord caused this to be writ
ten in the long-ago through the proph-
cts. saying, For the bed is shorter
than that man can stretch himself
on it; and the covering narrower than
that he can wrap himself in it, isaiah
xviii, 2O). If in connection with this
growth which has come to us and by
which we have nobler conceptions
than had our forefathers of the rights
of man under the Golden Rule, it is a
cause for rejoicing. Even though the
transition has been accompanied by a
great falling away into Higher-Criti-
cism, Infidelity, Evolution, etc, never
theless even these errors are in many
respects preferable to the blindness
and bigotry. Happy are we. dear
friends, if, the eyes of our understand
ing being opened, our hearts are led to
a closer walk with God, more care
full and prayerful study of his Word,
and to subsequent growth in grace
and in the fruits of the holy Spirit
Do some inquire for clearer specifica-
ton respecting the features of the
creeds put upon the shelf. which we
think should be no longer cared for, but
allowed to fall? We answer that Of
course there are good features in all
Of our creeds-truths which will never
fail. But with these truths are mixed
the errors which are, as the Proverb
says. Dead flies [thatl cause the oint-
ment to stink" (Ecclesiastes X, -.
There is plenty more of the ointment
in Gods Word. 1t is indeed the "balm
of Gilead' and pure-without the cor
roding fly of error. This is what we
all want whatSoaver orr danomina