The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1910-05-10
Sermon by
CHARLES T.
RUSSELL.
Pastor Brooklyn
Tabernacle.

DIOOhlJu 4dDeEudcle, new 1OEk,
preached here today to large and at
tentive audience. Speaking through
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
considerable impetus. Many inclined
to scott at 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 day
In which the leading minds of the
world are rejecting the BibIe and it's
message in all the great colleges of
the world; yea. in the theological
seminaries also. the Bible is classed
as antique Protested faith In the
Bible, as the inspired Word of God,
today calls forth sneers of ridicuIe and
the comment that such believers are
''unlearned" But. my hearers, | am
before you today to contend that it 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 1t taught In the Bible
I a m hnrn fn claim on6 m, nnAnav m,
prove that the Bible is eminently log
ical, thoroughly reasonable. and thai
the message it bears to those who have
'ears TO hear" is the most wonderful
message that could possibly be pre-
scented to human heads and hearts.
We are not here to claim a 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
to 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. sui
ficient. that the man of God may be
thoroughly furnished unto every good
word and work.
Theories of the Dark Ages"
We are not here. my friends. to set
forth any sectarian views of the Scrip
lures, nor to advocate Il new theology.
By no means: we have already too
many theologies; we have already too
many sects or divisions of Christi We
want no more! Christendom is awak-
ening to the fact that The various con
ficting creeds cast discredit on the Ri
BILE. The creeds of Christendom uni
versally discredit each other by their
interpretations, and universally they
discredit the Bible, which would be
surely a most ridiculous book. If il
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 an:
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? I'll Thessa-
lonians ii. 81 Should we then be sur
prised If we find his words have come
true. that for fifteen hundred years the
Of hric boe
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. Paurs words. 1.-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 Gil 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 r1der his control. and nothing is
more evident than that he has com
pletely 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 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 to discern more clearly than did
our forefathers, the monstrous and
God-dishonoring fallacies of the creeds.
and. aroused to disgust. they have re-
jected the irrational dogmas: but they
nave frequently rejected also the GEN.
trail truth. which that dogma, to a 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-
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, uIrsatisfac-
cory, and misrepresented the Gospel,
when taken alone. Others grasped the
doctrine of free grace" and ran away
with that, claiming that 1t 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 its Wilderness, its solidarity.
Others grasped those Scriptures which
assure us of 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