Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-05-18
DREW SEMINARY
BACCALAUREATE
Professor Curtis, Retiring,
Takes Paul's Epistle on Faith
for His Text.
Especial to the Evening star,l

| MADISON, May lo.-Ine Dacca-
laureate service of Drew Theological
Seminary, which is the beginning Of
the end of the school year for that
institution, was held yesterday MORN
ing in the Methodist Church on Modi-
son avenue. The organ prelude was
played by Professor L. B. McWhood.
Rev. Addison w. Hayes, the pastor,
offered prayer Benediction was pro-
nounced by DR.. Henry A. Buttz,
president-emerltus of the seminary.
| Professor DIN A. NJ. Curtis, who
will shortly give up his regular class
at that institute, delivered the bacca-
laureate sermon. He took for his
text st. PauPs second epistle to Tim
othy, fourth chapter, seventh verse;
II have kept the Faith"
DIR. Curtis divided his sermon into
four main parts.
1.-THE first" he said. us the Spirit of
| faith. By the spirit of faith Is
meant an instructive or Unborn conf
| dence, which appears even in
| creatures below man, as theh birds
when they build their nests, but
| which finds perfection in childhood.
Every child begins life with this in
nate confidence. And this spiri of
| faith is so persistent that it remains
for years after man has yielded to
| skepticism. For instance, Amiel, in
his remarkable journal, confesses
that under all his doubt there was
still a spirit of faith which was like
ly to appeag at any time.
The Venture of Faith.
Second there is the venture of
| faith. But man has a capacity for
personality, and so he cannot live by
mere instinct, but must in personal
way treat his Unborn tendencies. Thus
every man, in the changes and sor-
rows of life is severely tested, and at
heart this testing amounts to this
question, Will you take sides with
this Unborn spirit of faith or will you
take sides against it?' Thus, If this
nborn spirit of faith is adopted it is
adopted by free person under some
peculiar test in life. But word of
| caution is necessary here. This ven
ture of faith, if carried beyond nor
NAL boundary, will turn out not 20
be faith but presumption. All real
faith is hel in check by emperic real
! ity, and by emperic reality is meant
reality which comes from experience.
| For example, we know by experience
| that a half is less than a whole, and
/ we ny ldllH oOb' tiiefl
| q half is more than a whole.
"Under all religion, all belief and
all action, the primary demand upon
Ills is that we never under any cir
cumstances, for the sake of religion
of any kind or for the sake of COM
fort of any kind, juggle with fact.
The Christian Faith. .
! Next comes the Christian faith.
| The Christian faith which ST. Paul
| had in mind, has, when we translate
it into terms of the present day, five
peculiarities. First is Christian op-
timism. Back of everything the
Christian religion of hopefulness and
this hopefulness toward life and
toward men is very peculiar, for it
comes from the triumph of one kind
of emphasis over another kind.
Christianity first places emphasis
upon sin and upon the nature and
peril of. sin. But this emphasis is
met by another peculiar emphasis,
namely. an emphasis upon the grace
| of God AS ST. Paul himself ex-
presses it, But where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound The
second regularity is she conception
of the atonement for sin. This con-
ception we find In the new testament
and expressed in terms of our own
days it amounts to this: The death
of Jesus Christ makes 1t possible
for God, with a motive of love and a
method of holiness, to forgive bad
man when that man, as a mortal
person. is ready to be forgiven. Next
| in peculiarities we have the Chris
ton conception of the Redeemer. This
is that the Son of God, who became
man in Jesus Christ, Is not product
of the will of God, but its an organic
part of the being of God.
And thus it comes about that
when the Son of God is made man
in order to accomplish our redemp-
ton, there is a veritable self-sacri-
flee on the part of God.
"Fourth is the Christian group of
miracles. The miracles which are
intrinsic In the Christian religion
are three: The Virgins birth of
Christ. our Lords resurrection and
His ascension. The Importance of
these miracles, when taken together,
is that they show that God cares
more about man than He does about
the universe. The universe expresses
simply a habit of Gods will. These
Christian miracles express Gods will
lingness to break habit In order to
save man. The Virgin birth OF oui
ord. which is now so much under
: discussion. Is, all things considered
perhaps the most important of the
! Christian miracles, for the Christian
meaning is that even the humanity
of our Lord Is not production oy
cosnic process, but a peculiar crea'
ton made for redemptional pur'
poses. c,,...,.4,a
THE fifth popularity Of Christian
faith is the Christian venture o.
faith. This Christian venture of faitf
is like any other venture of faith, II
that it is the free act of a person
; but it is unlike the ordinary venture
of faith, In that it is moral matter
! Bv this venture a man is trying tt
: satisfy his conscience and escape Sill
and secure moral peace. the op1ec'
of this venture of faith is not, as 81
f many people are now saying, Jesu:
: Christ alone, but is to use st. Paul.!
: own expression, Jesus Christ ant
/ Him crucified.'
/ The fourth division of Prof. Cur
e tis's sermon was Keeping tn
t FAITH The preacher made a double
: plea, first for the keeping OF Chris
e tian optimism, and second, for tn
: keeping of the body of Christs be
lief without which 1t would be I'M
possible to keep fully the Christian
optimism,
The sermon closed by Prof. Curtis
bringing TO the minds of his hearer
h the entire scene pertaining to tn
: text.
:. Today the reunion of the classes o
: ,oco 1oTA 1870 1894 1899 1904 and 1870