Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-04-08
q |; ~
OLD-TINE RELIGION
By RLSHOP w. "a CAMDLER

GAN DLLN
Such also was St Paul To the Corinthian
church he wrote: Watch ye, stand fast in
the faith, quit you like men, be strong
e. Corinthians 1919 These stirring WORDS
of thegreat apostle to the Genthes are
battle cry. They have in them the notes Oh
a buge summoning an army TO cohhlct'
Is it assumed by some that the Ialtn
for which St James eXhorts the saints TO
contend earnestly" and in which st. Paul
urges them to stand FAST" is not doctrinaI
truth but certain ethical principles Wnlch
have remote relation to Christian doctrine
if indeed they are related to it at all. rms
erroneous view rests on faulty exegesis Oh
Scripture and an unsound theory or etnlcs.
What st. James taught is that departure
from the faith was the source Of the grieV-
GUS immoralities which he denounced.
This is evident from specific allegations
which he brings against the evildoers, who
had ''crept in unawares," denying the only
Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. 1t
is equally obvious when the opposite type OF
man which he approves Is considered: BUT
We, beloved, building up yourselves on your
most holy faith, praying in theh Holy Ghost,
keep yourselves in the love or Coz LOOKING
for tn ENERGY of our Lord Jesus Christ unto
eternal life" Oversees 20 and 21.) 1t is
still more apparent if the Epistle of Jude is
compared with the second chapter or the
second epistle of Peter, from which a large
part of Jude's letter is taken and to which
loved remember ye the words which Were.
spoken before Of the apostles of our Lo'yysiSo
Jesus Christ" (Verse 10 In this exho -
tation it is unquestionable that Jude had
mind this warning OF st. Peter: THEW
shall be false teachers among you who
priviy shall bring in damnable heresies.
even denying the Lord that bought them
or. Peter 2:2.) Commenting upon the
passage in the Epstle of Jude, that able
and learned exposition, DR.. J. r. Lumby,
Norrisian Professor of Divinity in Cambridge
University, says in ",rhe Speakers Com
mentary" "He (Jude) sees that the pro-
phetic words spoken by st. Peter about false
teachers and their heretical lessons (II.
Peter 2:1) have received their fulfillment.
and not only so, but heretical teachings have
resulted in corrupt practice, and this calls
forth his impassioned letter."
St. Jude taught the fundamental truth Of
all sound ethical systems that bad beliefs
make bad behavior. st. Paul also taught
the same, when showing the direful conse-
quences Of false doctrine concerning the res
direction he wrote to the Corinthians, BE
not deceived: evil communications corrupt
good manners e. Corinthians 15:33)-an
exhortation which an able exposition ex-
pounds by paraphrase thus: Beware OF
Intercourse with those freethin11ers: remem-
Der the proverb, Evil companionships corr
rupt honest characters "
The theory that what one believes is a
minor matter having little to do with how
one lives, that creed and conducts have lit
tie or no connection with one another is
novelty in both theology and philosophy.
1t has become current during the reign
Of agnostic materialism, which has con-
fessed it's bankruptcy in faith while not
daring to face a world destitute of morality.
But without faith morality cannot long
survive. A world without God must pres
emily be world without goodness. A
creedless race will quickly become a COR
rupt race
This is the vastly important truth which
st. Paul declared concerning the source OF
the foul immoralities of the heather world
when he wrote to the Christians at Rome,
Because that, when they knew God, they
glorified His not as God neither were thank
full; but became vain in their imaginations
and their foolish heart darkened Pro-
Tossing themselves to be wise, they became
FOOLS and changed the glory of the uncor-
ruptible God into an image like to corrupti-
BILE man, and to birds and four-footed beasts,
and creeping things. Wherefore God also
gave them up to uncleanness through the
lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their
own bodies between themselves: Who
changed the truth Of God into lie, and
worshiped and served the creature more
than the Creator, who is blessed forever
(Romans 1:21-25.)
The catalogue Of the vile immoralities of /
a putrid paganism Paul traced to false doc
trines about God, and that is their source.
Sucn must inevitably be the product Of
false doctrine concerning God. The intellect
and the will too closely connected to be-
without influence one upon the other.
Atheism in the mind breeds anarchy in
the life, like begets like. Greed and con-
duct inseparably united. A faithless
world must be foul world. Waves of crime
issue from of doubt. -
Mankind needs a worldwide revival Of
religion, but such a revival cannot come
through doctrineless sentimentality and
creedless emotionalism. 1t must come from +
the faithful preaching of ''the truth as 1t 10 {
in Jesus" (Ephesians 4:21.)