14-01.04.03 � Of Protestant Creeds (Part 3)

SECTION III.

Another serious objection to human creeds, and one which the above position alone will enable us to remove, is that they are mainly the offspring of extreme views. They are not generally the sober conclusions of a calm, cool, and dispassionate judgment, but the result of fiery contests and furious debates. The enemies of a supposed truth drove its friends to express it in stronger terms than the Bible will justify; to prevent it from being undervalued, they gave it too much prominence. The consequence has been, a destruction of the beautiful symmetry and just proportions possessed by the Christian system as it emanated from the hands of its Author. Thus all parties have usually taken extreme ground,--one going too far to the right, and another to the left; while truth was passed over by all, and left, unappropriated, in the middle. An apt illustration of this, and one which has the advantage of being familiar, is found in the ground taken by the respective advocates of justification by faith, and justification by works. There can be no doubt that faith is a cardinal item in Christianity, one absolutely essential to a man’s acceptability in the sight of God; equally clear is it that good works are authoritatively enjoined, and form an essential element in the Christian character. It would seem to be but the dictate of common sense, then, to blend the two together, insisting upon both, in the order in which the Scriptures present them, as equally divine. Instead of which the great labor of theologians seems to have been to separate them, and force the Scriptures to teach that here and hereafter a man is justified either by faith alone, or by works alone. Neither position is true; works without faith are utterly valueless, and faith without works is dead and powerless. The Scriptures quoted by each party are true, full of meaning, and immensely important; but they become false in their application of them to these extreme views. I am persuaded, from a somewhat careful and impartial study of polemic theology, compared with the teachings of the holy Scriptures, that in a large majority of instances all parties are wrong. In seeking to separate their views entirely from those of their opponents, to give them a conspicuous distinctness, and to form them into an independent system, they have broken up the, connections and destroyed the relations in which the subjects are found in Holy Writ, and have given them a false coloring, a factitious value, and an unscriptural importance. Let any one dispassionately read the Bible with reference, for instance, to the controversy between the Calvinists and Arminians, and I am persuaded, if he accept without reserve the teaching of that book, that he will reach a conclusion widely differing both from the one side and the other, and which yet partakes somewhat of the nature of each. The texts which have been held to teach the respective doctrines are commingled in Scripture, and reciprocally modify and limit each other’s meaning. Schoolmen and controversialists separate them, tear them away with violent hands from the connections which serve to qualify and explain them, and the result is, if not falsehood, a gross perversion of truth. And now, as if to prevent mankind from ever looking at them with unbiased eye, as they really exist in the Bible, these ultra views are embodied in a platform or creed, and their respective advocates go forth to muster volunteers. The impression is unavoidably produced that one side or the other must be right; and no one seems to think that both may be right when modified, and both wrong as they are. Now if men were left free, i.e. if they were not forced to give in their adhesion to one view or the other upon peril of being debarred the privileges of the church, or--for it amounts to this practically--upon the peril of losing their souls, these errors would be more easily and speedily corrected. But such is not the case. These ultra notions are made the basis of a church, and every member pledges himself to their support. Having once taken the step, we all know the difficulty in the way of formal retraction. Men have an instinctive dread of being called inconsistent, and with most men consistency means never to change! To avoid this the Scriptures are interpreted according to those false methods we have endeavored to expose, and by means of allegory, mysticism, and dogmatism, the system can maintain its ground until it expires as if by its own limitation; for all human systems, in matters of religion, must inevitably be temporary. Called into being by the circumstances and prejudices of a particular age or nation, they can never be permanent or universal. Their importance is factitious, and their beauty of appearance results rather from the excited state of those who gaze upon them, than from any conformity of their nature to the true principles of moral and spiritual æsthetics. Hence, notwithstanding the difficulties in the way, they are perpetually changing, receiving modifications, additions, and special adaptations, to enable them to maintain their influence in society, and exhibit the phenomena of a vitality which is not inherent. While hundreds of human systems have flourished for a time and then passed forever from the history of the church, others have taken their place and are now undergoing those changes which are the stamp of their origin.¹ Calvinism is not what it was; Arminianism has changed its face; other isms have been forced to adapt themselves to the requirements of an increasing intelligence; and if the founders of existing sects could rise from the dead, they could with difficulty recognize their own churches. The men who to-day are prostituting their talents in the well-meant labor of fitting Scripture to their systems, will have their work remodeled by their successors, as they have undone that of their fathers. Gradually, mayhap imperceptibly, the change will take place, and thus the standard of orthodoxy which tests the meaning of the Bible will be perpetually different, while the Bible will be perpetually perverted to its support.