Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-10-18


refuge in that agnostic confession
which appears to me to be the only
| position for people who object tC
saying that they know what they
are quite aware they do not know
Divinity of Christ
"(2) DO I believe in the divinity
| of Christ? Yes and no. If God is
! Love and if in the person and life
| of Jesus we find the supreme mani
| festation of the spirit Of love, then
| in the sense we may acknowledge
| that we have in him an incarnation
which we may justly characterize as
divine. Every man who has in him
some measure of the same spirit
which was manifested in the life OF
Jesus is. in my opinion, to that eX
tent a son of Cod but in view OF
the generally admitted fact that IN
| Jesus we find this spirit manifested
in an exceptional degree, we may
regard him as prominently the son
! of God.
GAS for the historical identifica'
! ton of Jesus with God in a mysti'
| cal, or metaphysical sense, that is
a theory which involves a consid
Grafton of so much beyond the field
of normal human experience that ]
! have never been able to arrive at
any positive conviction in the mat
ter.
"(3) DO T believe in Jesus? Be,
| lieving in Jesus ] do not understand
! to consist in believing any specula
tive theological doctrines about him
his incarnation, his deity, his
atonement, his relation to a trinity
etc, but in believing in the Ideals
which he taught and exemplltled III
his life.
go What do I believe is involved
| in Christian discipleship? beheVe
it involves spiritual sympathy aho
Fellowship. To the extent that we
have in us the same spirit of love
and truth which found supreme e%
preston in the life and teaching OF
/ Jesus to that extent are we, IN my
opinion. his disciples. That TINS
opinion has some basis in the teach
ing attributed to Jesus himself Is
indicated in the parable of the last
Judgment where Jesus pictures MN
self as welcoming into the fellow
shin of his kingdom a host of people
who apparently had previously nc
| idea that they had been serving the
| Master. May it not be possible
therefore, to conceive Of such per
sons as Buddha, Confucius or Hulk
! lev as so many unconscious dis
ciples? o+ nm.
derstand loyalty to Christ to com
| nit us to any purely intellectual
views which we may have held. So
| far as I am able to judge from the
available records Jesus was intellect
uallv a child of his age. For exam
ME. he evidently shared the view
! commonly entertained by his coun'
| trymen of the day that certain all
| ments or abnormal conditions OIL
| mind are due to demon possession.
| If he knew better it is inConceivable,
. in view of his alleged omnlsclence,
| that he should have made no attempt
! to correct this error when one bears
| in mind the deplorable consequences
when. in supposed Difference to his
| authority, it became a dogma OF
! medieval Christianity. Because OF
! the lesson which history has taught
/ I do not feel myself bound in my
! loyalty to Jesus Christ to adopt as
! my own the theory of demoniac pos
session or any other view which he
NAV perchance have held as regards
| matters of fact and Interpretation.
| These things l am convinced must
! be deft for decision to scientific or
| historical investigation.
/ 90 Do / believe in the divine i'll
SEPARATION of the Bible? Also yes and
| no. Whatever was written in the
! Bible under the influence of the spirit
/ of love was inspired by that spirit
| and in that sense may truly be said
| to be inspired of God. The Bible is
| therefore a revelation of the work.
| ing of that spirit in the hearts OF
/ the writer's. The question of the
/ historical reliability and doctriual
Importance of the Bible is q problem
/ which belongs to the realm of his
torical and theological scholarship,
and in the sense used here is in no
way bound up with the question Of
inspiration.
"(6) Do 1 believe in the Virgin
Birth? My answer to this question
may serve as A convenient example
of the kind Of reply I would make
tude toward any doctrine or alleged
/ fact belief IN which is based upon
traditional scriptural authority.
am not convinced, as l intimated
( above. that the Bible is a final au'
+ thority in the realm of scientific or
historical investigation, and there
( fore any argument based upon that
premise could have no weight with
me. If by Virgin Birth we mean to
imply an actual historical event, il
becomes purely a question of fact
and the only way l believe such a
matter could be solved, if at all
would be through consideration of all
the evidence bearing upon it. Ii
this evidence is sufficiently abundant
and varied to put the matter beyond
dispute, We could justly accept the
virgin birth as an established his
torical fact. At the present time
+ there does not appear to be suffi
/ cient unanimity of opinion on this
matter among authoritative Biblical
+ scholars to warrant a layman hold.
/ ing any decisive opinion on the ques-
/ ton,
! Concessions Reached
At the joint meeting in Atlanta Of