Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-08-21
A Creedless Religion
Is Impotent, If 1t Be
Not Really Impossible
RY BISHOP w. A. GAMBLER.

/ is a vain and worthless thing, he rs
quite correct in his position.
/ St. James taught the same thing
nearly twenty centuries ago, when he
wrote in his general Epistle' the tol-
! lowing passage: Thou believest there
/ is one God; thou doest we'll; the devils
also believe and tremble. But wilt thou
/ know. O vain man. that faith without
works is dead" Games ii: 1920
! But from the general trend of the ar
! ticle il was evident that the writer was
not reiterating the wholesome doctrine
of St James, but was disposed to decry
all creeds, and Substitute for definite
! belief a vague and pulpy sentimental
ity In so doing he misrepresented
4 Jesus, as do all those who are fond "f
: affirming that our Lord cares nothing
for what a man may believe.
1t is quite true that Jesus cried with
most moving pathos. Come unto me-
and we should never tire of the tender
invitation. Our weary world could bet
ter spare all the epic lines Of Homer
and Virgil and Milton Than efface from
its memory the words of Jesus when he
cried, Come unto me, all We that labour
and are heavy laden, and | will give
you rest" In these matchless, but
simple words, mankind has found more
rest for tired hearts than can be found
{ III all the unlnSplTSu lltti dNui Go " Ga
/ the nations In all the ages
But these words. in which multiplied
millions of broken hearts are hnding
consolation today, and in which un-
1 numbered multitudes OF tired souls
have found heavenly rest during all the
Z Christian centuries. imply a creed. This
will appear at once if the question be
asked, WAS He who spoke these words
nc more than a mere MANI
Imagine a mere man saying to mis-
fellow citizens, living in the same land
and time with himself. Come unto me,
and / will give you restG' But Jesus
uttered the invitation to all men in all
lands and i'm all times. If he be not
/ divine. his words are worse than a
mockery of human grief, they are the
utterance of colossal conceit if he is
not God as we'll as man. If He did not
rise from the dead and ascend into a
superhuman state of being which IN
wolves omnipresence and omniscience.
the tired multitudes of earth can not
come to Him nor can He come to them.
! Men who come to Christ can not be
creedless creatures. The writer of the
/ Epistle to the Hebrews says, "He that
cometh to God must believe that He
/ is, and that He is the rewarder of
them that diligently seek Him." He
brews XI:6). How could it be other
wise? Will a man come to any being.
human or divine. if he believe nothing
about the one to whom he comes?
| True Christianity, involving as it
does coming to Christ in the closest and
most personal communion, can not be
creedless thing. That would be i'm
possible.
No religion can survive without
creed When the religious sentiment
is separated from definite beliefs, 1t be-
comes a shapeless shifting mist. and
eventually evaporates into nothingness.
All the emotions that color and con-
troll religion disappear when they have
nothing of belief to inspire and sus-
tain them.
But how can love exist without any
knowledge of the character and ma
ture of HIM who is ia be loved?
Shall We as Christians accord to
Christ an adoring love? If He be a
mere man alteration of Him is idol
airy. Shall refuse to worship Him
If He be God. such refusal of adora-
tion is rebellion against the Supreme
Sovereign of all souls.
1t is obvious that the element of
love in religion rests on certain def
mite beliefs, and that it can not exist
in the absence of such beliefs.
In like manner religious fear can
have no intelligent character without
definite acquaintance with the object
of fear. So also gratitude and desire
must arise from clear apprehension of
a divine benefactor who has blessed us
and a divine Father for whose face
and favor we yearn.
In every case of love, fear. gratitude,
desire. reverence, and alteration, the
affection is called out by some corre-
spending truth. The very life of these
elements of religion depends upon def
mite truth.
So also the intensity and force of
religion is dependent upon what we
believe. and it's practical power is In
exact proportion to the definiteness
and certainty Of what is believed. A
shapeless faith must issue inevitably
in a shadowy character.
II religion is to have any substan-
tial character, or be of any real value,
it must rest upon definite truth which
the mind can grasp, the memory can
retain. and the heart can respond to
with warmth.
Religious sentimentality is powerless
TO speak to the conscience, regulate the
passions and control the life of men. A
creedless religion is a weak thing. which
can not satisfy the intellect, comfort
| the heart or direct the will. 1t is i'm
| potent. If it be not really impossible.
An amiable sentiment however pleas
| ing, can never be the basis of an abiding
| and energetic religious life.
One of the ablest and most celebrated
| of the hampton lecturers has put the
matter clearly and cogently. He says.
"a subjective emotion with no reality
| to answer to IT can scarcely be the re-
| ligion of a rational and immortal being.
| The very lights and shadows that come
| and go over the landscape and leave no
| trace behind on the earth they darken
! into gloom, or paint with ten thousand
hues of beauty have a substance and a
| life and a cause. A religious emotion
| devoid of dogma. but beginning and end
1 ing as an emotion, is more unreal even
! than they. 1t is absolutely unsubstan-
! tial-a thing causeless and self-created,
not only without a form. but even with
! out a name. Religion can not survive
! without creed In its absence the re-
/ lgious sentiment itself Vanishes and
| dies. 1t would be as reasonable to eX-
1 pect A shadow without a substance as a
/ religious influence without a religious
| faith. The necessity lies deep in the
| very constitution of our nature. To re-
/ ject dogma is 10 reject religion.
At last the men who decry dogma are
! not opposed to dogma, but only opposed
/ to the doctrines of the orthodox