ffass ?.T Book . Copyright N°. COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. Moses on Mt. Nrbo. {Frontis, "The New Theology. "THE NEW THEOLOGY" By a Methodist Layman BY HAMILTON WHITE, it Chicago, Illinois BROADWAY PUBLISHING CO. NEW YORK, BALTIMORE ATLANTA I9IO *$ Copyright, 1910, By HAMILTON WHITE. &CU 278511 ^ CONTENTS. PAGE 7 56 69 III 130 I40 God and Creation Good and Evil Theology Religion The Holy Spirit . What Did Jesus Say — About the Church? About the Kingdom of Heaven? About the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man? About Teaching? About Heaven? About Hell? About Sin and Holiness? About Sanctification? About Consecration? About Revivals? About Evangelists? About the Plan of Salvation? About the Covenant or Covenants? The Bible 174 Life 182 Church 190 Truth Versus Falsehood . .199 To the Laymen of the M. E. Church. The thought that I should, or would write a book, never occurred to me until I was in my seventy-fifth year. When the thought came to me I said, No, I could not write a hook; I never wrote even a mag- azine article; never wrote hut three or four addresses that I ever delivered. I was more of an extemporaneous speaker and had a dislike for writing. But the thought kept coming to me, day after day, week after week. Finally the thought came to me in this form: t( Freely ye have received, freely give. Give to others the thoughts that have been given to you n — and I finally decided that I would seek the best conscious- ness of the help of the Spirit of Truth, who has promised to lead us into all Truth, and through this help I would give to others the Truth, as it has been given to me. With my best consciousness of this help, I have written this book and send it out to the world, espe- cially to the Laymen of the M. E. Church 5. and to the Laymen of the various Protestant Churches, trusting that it may bring to them the help and consciousness of the Truth that makes us free. I fully realize that the Spirit of Truth even cannot lead any one who is unwilling to he led. He cannot lead anyone into the Truth, who has not the capacity to receive the Truth, hut he can lead, and direct and help, and abide with the honest Truth- seeker, who is willing and anxious to do the will of our Heavenly Father. I trust that this little book will not be considered from a literary standpoint. I have no literary talent or ambition in that direction, and now apologize in advance to my literary friends for the bungling manner in which these thoughts have been thrown together. But I trust that they may go out to the world in the interest of Truth, even after I am gone, as I am now on borrowed time, having passed the three-score and ten by six years. I am quite conscious of my inability to express clearly the thoughts that come to me, along the lines of the New Theology, in this age when there is such a determined effort to put new wine into old wine-skins. 6 GOD AND CREATION It has been said that an honest man is the noblest work of God. It has also been said that an honest God is the noblest work of man. Some one has said that in the beginning God created man in his own image, and that man has ever since been returning the compliment, by creating God in his image. It is true that no two men have ever seen the same rainbow; because they see it from different standpoints. In this sense, no two men have ever seen the same God; and yet, both have seen the rainbow and the God. In the beginning man's conception of God must necessarily have been very limited; as much as a new born baby's conception would be of its own parents. And there is no way z C&e iQeto Cfteologp to help this, except by growth. There is no revelation that can come in here. In either case there is no capacity to receive revelation or knowledge, except by growth. We must grow into the knowledge of our own being. We must grow into the knowl- edge of God. There is no other way. God cannot reveal Himself to us any differently than he has done. God is infinite; we are finite. The finite will never be able to fully comprehend the infinite. We are children of God, heirs of God, and joint heirs with our elder brother, Jesus Christ. "We don't know what we shall be" — we have not the capacity now to comprehend; but "we shall be like Him," because we shall grow into His image, and see Him as he is. This is the assurance of our divinity. When shall we see Him as he is? When our capacities are enlarged, and when our knowledge of the Father and the Son is increased, and we grow into the knowledge of God. This lack of capacity and knowledge will account for the various conceptions of God, that men have had, from the days of Adam, or the creation, up to the present time. Ac- 8 Cfte Jfteto Cfieolojp cording to the Mosaic account of the crea- tion, we have had six thousand years of growth in the knowledge of our God. We don't know anything about the capacity or advantage of God's children in what is called the Heathen world, or what He requires of them, or what He has in store for them, or of the various conceptions He has given them of Himself, in all the ages, or whether they are sufficiently advanced, or evoluted, to receive the higher and better conceptions of Himself. The best conception of God that we can get, then, is when we see Jesus— "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." Moses gives two separate accounts of the creation of the world, and of man (Genesis, 1:1-31, and Genesis, 2:1-25). There is some discrepancy between these two ac- counts. The first tells us that the man and the woman were created together, after the animals were created. The second account informs us that God created Adam first, and then the animals, and last of all the woman* We shall not attempt a discussion of these two accounts of the creation, or the various €f)e H9eto Cfieologp other accounts, that the ancient nations, or religions, of the world give us. It appears that nearly all the ancient religions of the world have their own account, of the crea- tion of the universe and of man. Some of these different accounts concur in some points with the Mosaic account. This would indicate that they all got their information from the meager tradition they had, and gave their best conception of the creation at that time. It would take a much larger book than we intend to write to discuss the various accounts of creation by these various authors. It is claimed by Moses, and all the others, that they wrote by inspiration of God. We shall not deny this, but rather grant it. But what we say about Moses, and inspiration, may be applied to all the other claimants. They simply gave their best conceptions of the creation at that time, with the best light they had, with the best conceptions they had of the help of inspira- tion — that they were led and guided by their, best conceptions of their God. What we wish now to inquire after, are the best conceptions of God that we have 10 Cfte iQeto C&eologg been able to get, from Adam up to the pres- ent time, according to the Mosaic account. Well, you say, God has given us a perfect revelation of Himself and of what He re- quires of us. This could not possibly be true. God cannot reveal Himself to us, dif- ferently from what He has done. God can- not give us an infallible rule of faith and practice, and we remain human. But, you say, we limit the Almighty. No, he limits Himself. There are some things God can- not do. The Book says it is impossible for Him to lie. That would be a contradiction. God cannot create anything out of nothing; that would be a contradiction. God cannot do wrong. God is love. He cannot hate. God is just; He cannot be unjust. God cannot give us an infallible rule of faith and practice, and then require us to advance. He gave the beaver an infallible rule of faith and practice, in the beginning, and he builds the same house that he built in the beginning. He gave the birds of the air an infallible rule of faith and practice, and they build the same nests, and migrate from north to south, and from south to north, as ii C&e lOeto C&eologp they did six thousand years ago. No ad- vancement. But with humanity, with God's own children, it is different. They have to learn to advance through their mistakes. They have mind, and reason, and these God- given gifts have to be used, must be exer- cised, or there is no advancement. The best conception of God, ever given to the world, was given to us by Jesus Christ, when he said, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." Just in proportion as we can see the Christ, the Son, we can see the Father, God. Just in proportion as we can see good, innocence, purity, sinlessness, we are able to see God, our Heavenly Father. Moses has been considered the author of the Pentateuch, by both Jews and Christians, up to a very recent period. The discoveries of Science, and the critical study of the various languages in which the Pentateuch' and the various other books of the Bible were written, have put the authorship of many of the books of Bible in doubt. But, for my purpose now, it is immaterial whether they were written by Moses, or someone else in that age, or whether the Jewish, or 12 Cfte iQeto Cfieologp Samaritan copy of the Pentateuch was the genuine; or whether the various sacred writings, from which the Bible was made up, were of equal claim to inspiration or not, is immaterial. The account of the creation of the world and the creation of man, sup- posed to have been written some three thou- sand years after the creation — with nothing to guide except a very unreliable tradition — has given rise to many other accounts of the creation of the world and of man; all claiming divine inspiration. We don't pro- pose to discuss the genuineness of any of these accounts of the creation, or of the books of the Bible, or of the various claims to inspiration by the various authors. Moses was an educated man, learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. No doubt, he gave his very best conception of the crea- tion of the world, and of man, with all the help he could get from tradition and inspira- tion. But we must not forget that inspira- tion never yet made any man infallible. We have no time or space here to discuss the various theories of inspiration. The greatest religious frauds in the world have all claimed 13 Cfie J8eto Cfieologp inspiration. We will admit that when God's spirit bears witness with your spirit that you are His child; that is inspiration, but it does not make you infallible. We will admit that Moses was inspired. But he was not in- fallible. In his work, as God's chosen leader, to lead the children of Israel out of bondage, he was sorely tried and vexed, and made many blunders — sufficient to prevent him from ever reaching the Promised Land. Moses had to adapt his language to the capacity of this ignorant people. He was compelled to use language to convince them that he was God's spokesman to them, and that God would be very angry with them if they failed to obey Him and carry out the commands of Moses. He had to govern them through fear, and this gave them a very low conception of God. "Fear is the beginning of wisdom," and Moses appealed to that faculty in their nature. They were not "able to bear," or to receive any higher conceptions of God at that time than Moses gave them. Moses, in his record of the experiences of the Children of Israel, makes Jacob say (Gen., 32-30), "I have seen God 14. Cfte xQeto Cfteologg face to face." In Numbers 14-14 Moses tells the Lord that the Egyptians had "heard that thou, Lord, are among this people, and that thou, Lord, art seen face to face," and in Exodus, 33-1 1, he says that the u Lord spake to Moses face to face." The Isra- elites, believing that God was in human form, could understand that Moses was on very intimate terms with God, and that they should obey the commands of Moses. But, with Moses's better conception of God, he makes God say (Ex., 33-20), "Thou canst not see my face, for then shall no man see me and live." And in this record we get Moses's best conception of God. I don't think the Children of Israel at that time could comprehend this personal experience of Moses: "While my glory passes by, I will put thee in a clift of the rock and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by, and I will take away my hand and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen." Moses, in his experience, was able to see the back parts, the past, of God's dealings with him — how he had been led in the past (about all that God ever allows us 15 Cfie H3eto C&eologg to see) ; but His face, the future, he could not see. He would hide him in the clift of the rock, while His glory was passing; while his trials were on, which caused him to cry out to God to come to his help, in bearing the burdens of the people, or kill him, and relieve him from the great burden — greater, he said, than he could bear. But God had His hand over him, in the clift of the rock, while His glory was passing — this wonder- ful deliverance of this people from their bondage. And Moses was able to see the hinder parts, the past — but he could not see His face, the future. It would have been a sad sight for Moses if God at this time had shown His face, the future — that Moses would never be allowed to enter the Prom- ised Land. This, we think, was the best conception ever Moses got of God. It is among the better conceptions of God that we get. We, too, have been in the clift of the rock, and unable to see His face, while His glory was passing, with his hand over us — and we could only see His hinder parts, the past. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. If God was to reveal to us that 16 Cfie H3eto Cfieologg six months hence we should suffer martyr- dom, or we should have some great sorrow, we would not be able to bear it. But, while we see the past, we cannot see the future. We could not see the future and live. No man can see God's face and live on this earth. When we are perfected we can see God. We can partially see Him through a clean heart. We can see Him better as we are able to see the Christ. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." We admit that Moses and the prophets were inspired, also that Paul and the other apostles were inspired, and that all the teach- ers and seers, from the days of Enoch up to the present time, who have walked with God and come into close communion with Him, were inspired. Peter said: "Of a truth I perceive God is no respector of persons; but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted of Him." No respector of persons. Every nation. Not the Hebrews only, but all the nations that fear God and work righteousness can have His spirit, His help, His inspiration. Excuse *7 C6e JSeto CDeologp the expression — but no one can "get a cor- ner" on God's spirit. The greatest religious frauds in the world have tried it — but only to prove to the world that they were frauds, claiming infallibility of their teachers. I was taught when in college to believe in verbal inspiration of the Scriptures. Few believe in it now. I was taught to believe in an infallible book — Bible. Not many in- telligent people believe it now. Our Roman Catholic brethren believe in an infallible Church, an infallible Pope — an infallible Church, officered, directed, controlled by fallible men. It is not our purpose here to discuss the various theories of inspiration and infal- libility. We leave that to the Catholic and Protestant theological professors and to the professors and teachers in the various other religions. They all claim inspiration for their various systems of religion, and their discussions of the same are very voluminous. God is no respector of persons. Every man or woman who feareth or loveth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted of Him and is entitled to the help of His spirit i a Cfte I5eto C6eolD0p But God has never given His spirit, or his help, to any man or woman, so as to make them infallible. Moses was inspired, and had the spirit of God to guide him, to help him — just as any one has who seeks to do the will of his Heavenly Father; but Moses was not infallible. And he could not write an infallible book. Moses, the man chosen of God, appointed of God to lead the Children of Israel out of bondage; Moses, the man given the spirit of God — listen to what he says, Numbers, 11:11-17: "And Moses said unto the Lord, Where- fore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?" Moses scolding God. "Have I conceived all this people? Have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as nurs- ing father beareth the suckling child, unto the land which thou swearest unto their fathers? "Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? For they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat. *9 Cf)e iQeto C&eologp "I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. "And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them, and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congrega- tion, that they may stand there with thee. "And I will come down and talk with thee there; and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone." Why, Moses, with all the inspiration that God ever gave him, or ever gave to any one else, got to where so many of God's people get, when they are struggling, with the help of His spirit, to do the best they can with the work given them, or the burden laid upon them; they are willing to give up, willing to die. Moses, the inspired man, willing to die! Asking God to kill him! But God 20 €i>e I3eto C&eolog? never fails to come to our help in such ex- tremities. He came to Moses' help. The seventy men upon whom God put his spirit, and put them to work to help Moses bear the burden, were inspired — but were not infallible. Elijah was an inspired man, but he got discouraged — got under the juniper tree, and wanted to die ; and he was not the only one of God's tired, discouraged chil- den that got under the juniper tree, in their discouragement, and want to quit. But the help always comes under such circumstances. On another occasion Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, made him a visit, and found him struggling with the people, not knowing just what to do (Numbers, 11:1-23). Jethro was a son of Abraham, by his concubine wife, Keturah. On this occasion Jethro found that the people were wearing Moses out; they kept him from morning until eve- ning, judging the people, settling their dif- ficulties. Jethro solved the difficulties with- out any inspiration, as it were. He said to Moses, his son in law: "What is this thing that thou doest to the people? Why sittest thou alone, and all the people stand by thee 21 C6e iQeto Cfteologp from morning until evening ? The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away both thee and the people that is with thee, for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it, thy- self alone." We think this about the best advice, and best help, that Moses received in his dif- ficult work with this people, although Jethro did not give it by inspiration. Moses evi- dently used his best judgment in leading the children of Israel out of their slavery and fitting them to be free men. Abraham Lin- coln used his best judgment in leading the black men out of slavery in our own country in the '6o's, and leaned very hard on the help of the Almighty, trusting to the Spirit of God — the spirit of Goodness, the spirit of Philanthropy, the spirit of Love, the spirit of Kindness, the spirit of Truth, the spirit that is now leading this Nation unto all Truth — the Truth that makes us free — the Truth in Science, in Literature, in Com- merce, in Inventions — the spirit of Truth, given to lead us, as a nation, as a people, into all Truth. 22 Cfte iQeto C6eolD0g Moses was a great man, a great law-giver, a man of wonderful executive ability. But he grew into it by his experience, with this ignorant and almost ungovernable people — just out of slavery, and, of course, he had to adapt his language and his teaching to their capacities. Their conceptions of God were very low. And Moses, in his teaching them, had to use language in agreement with their capacities. He had to convince them that he was on very intimate terms with God, that he had talked with God face to face, met him on the mountain top, and received the Law written on two tables of stone, and that God would be very angry with them if they failed to obey His commands. Moses had for this people a God of Vengeance — ■ a God who would protect them from their enemies, a God who would curse their enemies for them. Moses was a great man, a scholar educated as the son of Pharaoh's daughter; educated in all the learning and wisdom of the Egyptians. He was not only a judge, a jurist, but a man of wonderful executive ability; a general, a military man, who by his strategy, his diplomacy delivered 23 C!)e lOeto C&eologg the children of Israel out of bondage, over three million men, women and children; over six hundred thousand men over twenty years of age able for war, besides women and children. He was too much for Pharaoh. With his superior wisdom, with his keen diplomacy he led them forth, with their flocks and herds, instructing them not to go out empty-handed, but to "borrow" of the Egyptians jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment, and thus, with his great army of men and women, he marches them out of, over from under the power of Pharaoh with their flocks and herds, without the drawing of a sword or the firing of a gun. The most unique deliverance of a people out of slavery that the world has ever witnessed. But now that they are delivered, that they are out of Egypt, that they are across the Red Sea, in the wilderness, safe from the power of Pharaoh, Moses now finds himself up against a proposition that few men would dare face. He is now in the wilderness with this great army, with over three million mouths to feed, with no commissary, with no means of support, except their meager flocks 24 Cfie iQeto Cfieologg and herds, and with what little forage that could be found in the wilderness. With an almost ungovernable, ignorant people, just out of slavery, with an unusual amount of kickers that such a people under such con- ditions could furnish. But Moses was equal to the task. He trusted in the God of the Hebrews. He made them realize that he was God's chosen leader, to lead them not only out of bondage, but to lead them into the promised land. He gave them the best conception of God that they "were able to bear." He taught them that he could talk face to face with the God of Israel. He took "Aaron, Nodab and Abihu," and sev- enty of the Elders to witness his going up into the mountain to talk with God (Ex., 24:1-2). He dso arranged that the entire camp, the people of Israel, should witness his going up into the mountain to talk with God, and to receive the law to govern this people from the hand of God (Ex., 19: 16-18). "And it came to pass on the third day in the morning that there was thunder and lightning, and a thick cloud upon the Mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceed- 25 C8e ifteto etieologg ing loud, so that all the people that were in the camp trembled, and Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And Mount Sinai was altogether in a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire, and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly." And the light of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain, in the eyes of the children of Israel — a good oriental description of a great thunderstorm. "And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and got him up into the mount; and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights." Here Moses was, away from the noise of the camp, from the annoyances of the camp, for forty days and forty nights. He was alone, in the solitude of the mountain, with his God, with his best conceptions of his God, and of the help he would give Him. He was at work on the ten commandments, and on the laws for the government of this people. He evidently prepared the two tables of stone, and wrote the ten command- 26 Cfte iQeto C&eologg ments under the best inspiration he could get in the quiet and solitude of the mountain. Now his work is completed. He is ready to return to the camp to his supposedly wait- ing people. But what about the camp? This restless people, who had thus been miracu- lously led into the wilderness. They had seen Moses go up into the mount, in the midst of that terrific thunderstorm. They had seen the mountain, as it were, on fire. They had trembled in fear at the noise of the thunder, and the lightnings. They evi- dently felt concerned as to what would be- come of Moses. Ten days passed and no word from Moses. Twenty days passed and the people begin to fear that Moses must evidently have perished in the storm. Thirty days have passed and they have given up all hope of ever seeing Moses again. They go to Aaron with this conviction. "And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him, Make us gods which shall go before us, for as for this Moses, the man that brought us out of the land of *1 C6e jQeto C&eologg Egypt, we wot not what has become of him." And Aaron told them to break off their golden earrings and bring them to him, and he would make them Gods to go in and out before them. Aaron was not much better than the rest of them. And when Aaron had received of them their gold earrings and melted them, he "fashioned it with a graven tool, after he had made it a molten calf, and they said, 'These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.' " And when Aaron saw it he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a pro- clamation and said: "To-morrow is a feast to the Lord." Now in the midst of this feast Moses appears; the military dictator. He comes with the confidence that now with the two tables of stone, with the ten com- mandments written, as he said, by the finger of God, he would be able to govern this ignorant and rebellious people. But to his disappointment, as he nears the camp, he hears the voice of song and revelry. He sees his people naked, in their revelry, and dancing, and debauchery. Aaron, knowing the uncontrollable anger of his brother at 28 Cfte H3eto C&eologp certain times, said: "Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot. Thou knowest the people that they are set on mischief." Then he apologizes to Moses for his part in making the Golden Calf, issuing the proclamation for a feast, and thus helping to bring about this disgraceful scene. But "Moses' anger waxed hot." Moses worshipped a God whose "wrath waxed hot," and as he came in sight of the Golden Calf, and realized that this people had actually been worshipping this idol, this god, the work of Aaron's hands, a people that he had left only forty days ago, left them in their fear and trem- bling at the sight of the God of Israel in the mount. Then, as his anger continued to wax hot, and he fully took in the situation as came into the presence of this people, he takes the two tables of stone that he had prepared to show the people that the writing "was the writing of God," that they were "written by the finger of God, and as his anger waxed hot he cast the tables of stone out of his hands and brake them be- neath the mount" (Ex., 23 : I 5"35)« And he took the golden calf which they had made 29 Cfte lOeto Cfieologp and burnt it in the fire and ground it to pow- der and strewed it upon the water and made the children of Israel drink of it. But he did not stop with that. His anger continued to wax hot, "and he stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me." And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. "And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, put every man his sword by his side and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother and every man his companion and every man his neighbor, and the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and there fell of the people that day three thousand men." Ex., Chap. 32. What a slaughter! There thousand men dead in the camp. The people thor- oughly terrorized; willing now to follow the military dictator, their leader, the man who could talk with God face to face, the man who could get God's autograph, "God's handwriting" "written by the finger of God." I doubt whether the people of that age 3° Cfte K3eto Cfteologp were prepared to receive any better concep- tion of God than Moses gave them, and had it not been for this slaughter of the kickers, that preferred to go back into Egypt and die, Moses would not have been able to have controlled this ignorant, idolatrous, ever restless people. But now Moses is master of the situation. Now he can lead these' three millions of men, women and children that he has brought into the wilderness. He is ready now for conquest. He has num- bered the people, and finds he has 603,500 men of twenty years and upwards able to go forth to war in Israel. He is ready now to "drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, and the Hittites and the Perisites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and take posses- sion of the promised land, flowing with milk and honey." But God in his wisdom would not allow Moses to enter on such a conquest and slaughter these innocent people, but leaves him in the wilderness to wander there for forty years, and even then would not permit either Moses or Aaron to enter the promised land. After this slaughter of the three thousand men in the camp; after his 3} C6e jQeto Cfieologg anger had cooled off, the record says, "And it came to pass on the morrow." It was on the morrow after Moses had slept over this scene of anger and slaughter, after he was able to see how he had let his anger "wax hot" and get away with him, that he could repent, that he could ask the people to re- pent, and even makes the record say that God, too, repented, because He, the Lord, had let his "wrath wax hot." "And, the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people." What a conception we have here of God! God repenting. Moses repenting, and the people repenting, is quite human; like most of us when we let our "anger wax hot" will on the morrow repent and be able to see how much of a fool we had made of ourselves. Most of us, when we allow our anger to "wax hot," are ashamed of it afterwards. After all this repentance Moses again prepares two tables of stone and goes up into the mountain to talk or commune with God and again receive the ten commandments written on the two tables of stone. On this occasion he gets a better conception of God. 32 Cfie H3eto Cfteologg He gets into closer communion with God than he had ever been. He was so impressed with the presence of God that his face shone, so that even after he came down out of the mountain, that the people could not look upon him. "And when Aaron and all the Children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone. And they were afraid to come nigh him." This was a different coming down out of the mountain than the other scene, when the u wrath of the Lord waxed hot" and the "anger of Moses waxed hot." "And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh and he gave them in com- mandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai." "And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil over his face." This was a new experience, not only to Moses, but to the children of Israel. It gave them a better conception of God, and his power with Moses, and his dealings with the children of Israel. On this occasion Moses says nothing about the handwriting of God, or that the ten commandments were written by the finger of God, but only that he "gave them in commandment all that the 3a Cfce iQeto Cfteologg Lord had spoken to him in Mount Sinai." God had spoken to him in the solitude and quiet of Mount Sinai, just as he had spoken to him in that other experience, when he wanted to see God's face. Every man's face will glow in proportion to any great joy that comes into his life. Thus we see that Moses' best conception of God comes through com- munion with God in seeking to do the will of God. The Hebrews' conception of God was that they had a God with whom they could bar- gain. u And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou wilt, indeed, deliver this people unto my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. And the Lord harkened unto the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. " What a bargain to make with the Al- mighty! What a conception of God, the Father! The bargain was perfected accord- ing to the Jewish conception of God. The Jews were always great on bargains. They evidently had a God that they could bar- gain with. Jacob was connected with some a* Cfie J3eto Cfteologg very questionable bargains, very questionable business transactions. Had he lived in this day in Chicago, and been a member of the Board of Trade, he would very likely have been expelled; or, had he lived in Wash- ington, he would have been entitled to mem- bership in the Ananias Club. Laban, Jacob's father-in-law, was good on a bargain. He beat Jacob on his first trade, for his daugh- ter, but Jacob beat him in the end — got the best of his cattle ranch away from him. The Jews are great on bargains. I think the present day "bargain counter" is a product of the Jewish thought. But it gives a very low conception of God. That was an age of sorcery, and enchant- ment, and magicians. Exodus, 7 : 8-12 — here we have, according to the Mosaic ac- count, the rod of Moses in competition with the magicians. The story told by the writer of the Pentateuch about the rod of Moses turning into a serpent, and the serpent turn- ing into a rod again — and the rod of the magicians turning into a serpent, etc. — and the use of the rod to bring up frogs out of the waters, so that they, the frogs, covered 35 Cfie H3eto C&eologg the whole land, and the magicians duplicat- ing the same thing, by bringing up the frogs out of the waters, etc., etc. (just as Aaron did with his rod) — putting God in competi- tion with the magicians — this gives a very low conception of God. The magicians' part in this story should discredit the entire story. No magician ever did, or ever could, bring the frogs out of the waters by a trick rod, and it only shows the very low conception that this people had of God. No doubt but Moses had a struggle to free this people and get them out of bondage, but the his- tory of it, written by Moses himself, could only be appreciated by an oriental people, whose imaginations were very vivid — a peo- ple who could appreciate the statement that "Rivers of water run down David's eyes," when it was only a very small stream. Had the history of our civil war, the deliverance of the black man out of slavery been written by an oriental mind, in connection with the ignorant slave, the miraculous deliverance and help coming to the black man would have been more miraculous than the deliv- erance of the Israelites from Pharaoh. 36 C6e jQeto C&eologg This people had been surrounded by Polytheism — gods many, and lords many, idolatry in all its forms — and could appre- ciate a story of this kind, the Mosaic ac- count of their deliverance. And like all war stories (for Moses was a military man) they grow every time they were told round the camp fires. The world's best conception of God to- day is very different from what it was in the days of Moses. The old thought, that God is the same yesterday, to-day and for- ever, is true only as to God. It is not true as to us. We get a better conception of God every day, as we grow into the knowl- edge of God. "Jesus, the same yesterday, to-day and forever," is not true, as to us. To all Christians He is greater to-day than yesterday, or last week, or last year. He is dearer, He is more loving. He is a greater Saviour every day, just in propor- tion as our capacities are enlarged, and we are able to comprehend Him. We should now be able to read Jesus greater yesterday than last year, greater to-day than yester- day, greater in all the forevers that shall 37 Cfie I9eto C&eologg ever come to us, in the forever. "In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." In what day? The day that the Comforter comes to you; in that day that the Spirit of Truth comes into your life, the Holy Ghost, to be your guest, your teacher, your leader — to lead you unto all truth, into the truth that will make you free. How? Just in proportion as your capacities are enlarged and you are able to receive it. Not the same Jesus, but the greater Jesus. Not the same God, the God of the Hebrews — but the God revealed by Jesus Christ, who was crucified by the Jews, because he revealed the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, and said he was the son of God. Not a God of vengeance, to come before, with fear and trembling; but a God who is our Father, to whom we can come with holy boldness, realizing that we are his sons and daugh- ters — children of God, heirs of God, and joint heirs with our elder Brother, the Son, the Christ. This is a different conception to us from what we get from the God of Abraham, and 38 Cfie Ji3eto Cfieologp his wives and concubines, and their chil- dren — we know not how many; the God of Jacob, with his wives and children and his bad record; the God of Samson, with his record; the God of Gideon, with his numer- ous wives and seventy sons; the God of Rehoboam, with his eighteen wives and sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters; the God of Solomon, with his seven hundred wives and three hundred con- cubines. I merely mention some of these prominent Hebrews, in order to ask our brother laymen of the Methodist Church, and other churches, if they wish only the conception of God given us, by these men, thirty-five hundred years ago. They pos- sibly had the best conception of God that they could get in their day. But we have had our three thousand years of growth in the knowledge of God since their day. Jesus said that there was no man born of a woman greater than John the Baptist up to that time, but that the least in the kingdom was greater than John the Baptist. The least in the kingdom has a better conception of God than John. John, it appears, even with 39 Cfie Jfteto Cfitologg his better opportunities to know of the Christ, yet was in doubt as to wh knocking at every door that promised good for his people. He broke loose from the old Jewish idea of seclusion. He showed his wisdom in his organizations of men, of, nations and of navies. He did it now. He put men to work. He employed all the expert workmen he could find in masonry, in woodwork, in gold, in silver, in brass, in iron, and in everything that pertained to building, improvement, and commerce. He put seventy thousand common laborers, bur- Cfte jQeto Cfieologg den bearers, to work; and forty thousand carpenters, or hewers, in the mountains, and thirty-six hundred to be overseers. Break- ing loose from former Jewish ideas and ex- clusiveness he formed alliances with the sur- rounding nations. He built navies, employed expert seamen, and went to the uttermost parts of the earth and seas in search of gold and merchandise. He discovered the land of Ophir, the land of Gold, from which the record says, he received as much as eighty-three thousand pounds of gold in one year; "besides that which merchant men and ship merchants brought." "And the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon." "And King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom." He was great in all it took to make greatness in that age. That was an age in which it took gold and silver, and cattle, and clothing and a large number of wives and concubines to consti- tute greatness; but in our age the simple name of Washington, or Lincoln or Grant or Beecher, or Swing, is a better synonym for greatness. Solomon with all his wisdom, 54 Cfte jQeto C&eologg with all his greatness, must have had a very limited conception of God; a God that could bless him in all his love affairs for the record says, "But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Phar- oh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians and Hittites. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines." The very sup- port of this number of wives and concubines would figure quite largely in making up the invoice of Solomon's greatness in that age. Thus we are able to see that Solomon, and the age in which he was great, had a very low conception of God. Jesus said that John the Baptist was the greatest man born of a woman up to that date, but that the least in the kingdom was greater that John. We might say the least in the kingdom is greater than Solomon. The least in the kingdom certainly has a better conception of God than Solomon. "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." GOOD AND EVIL. God is good. Evil is bad. Good is God. Evil is Satan. Good and evil are opposites. In our Heavenly Father's econ- omy of the world, both good and evil are necessary. If there was no good, there could be no evil. Evil is the absence of good. Good is joy. Evil is sadness. If there were no joy, there could be no sadness. If there were no sunshine, there could be no shadow. Both are necessary. From the effects, or the operations of Good and Evil, we have joy and sadness. We have pleasure and pain. We have success and failure. We have health and sickness. We have light and darkness. Both good and evil are requisite to our development. The Apostle says we are perfected through suffering. We could be perfected only through the operation of good and evil. Cfie H3eto Cfteologp Vegetable life is perfected the same way, being acted upon by opposites, — good and evil. The light and the darkness; the cold and the warmth, the rain and the sunshine. A few years ago I planted some tomato plants in the glare of an electric light, within twenty feet of the electric light pole. Sun- light all the day, electric light all the night. No darkness. The result: I got tomato vines, but no fruit, some bloom, but no fruit. I learned that darkness is as necessary to vegetable lift as the light. The fruit tree requires the good and evil, to perfect its growth and fruitage. It must have the light and darkness. If there was sunlight all the time, there could be no perfected vegetation. The light and the darkness; the necessary warmth and the frost; the rain and the sun- shine ! See that tree, so loaded with blooms ? If every bloom was perfected into the fruit, it would destroy the tree : but the frost comes and destroys the weaker blooms, and strengthens and perfects the rest, and saves the tree. Perfected through the influence of Good and Evil! So with us; so with humanity. We need 11 Cfte iQeto Cfieologp the good and the evil. We need the sunlight and the shadows. We need the sorrow and the gladness. We must needs have our suc- cesses and our failures, our joys and our griefs. We, too, are perfected by suffering. In the perfection of vegetable life, much is destroyed by the evil ; and yet, it is over-ruled by the good. The good is strengthened by the operations of the evil. In human life, the fruit of good is "love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance." The fruit of evil, fornication, uncleanliness, lacivi- ousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, here- sies, envyings, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. Everybody knows that these things above enumerated represent Good and Evil. We are now living in the spirit age, where- in God has: "put his laws in our minds and written them in our hearts." So that it is unnecessary for any man to say to his brother, "Know the Lord, for all shall know him even from the least to the greatest." Our hearts and consciences are the tests of God's law, the tests of right and wrong. The 58 Cfte iQeto Cfieologg tests of good and evil. How much of veg- etable life is destroyed by the operations of good and evil, in perfecting the good, will never be known. How much of human life is to be destroyed, or perish, through the perfecting influence of good and evil, we cannot tell. The Apostle Paul says, (Cor. 3; 14-15) "If any man's work abide which he hath built, thereupon he shall receive a reward." "If any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire." A great many people, financially, socially, morally, and religiously are saved so as by fire, they barely escape. They barely escape the financial wrecks. They barely escape so- cially, morally and religiously. They escape 'so as by fire.' They fail to build on the rock, and when the floods come, as they come to every human life, their work is destroyed. Our Heavenly Father knows just what is best for his children, in all the ages, and in all the nations of the world. He is not will- ing that any should perish, but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth. When? Where? How? — Just in £rogortion as they 59; Cfte iSeto Cfteologg have the capacity to receive it and the oppor- tunity to embrace it. Possibly not all in this life, but "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God and Father." "And things under the earth," I believe refers to the spirit world to which Jesus went just after he was crucified, and preached to the spirits in person. A place of advance- ment, where all can come to the knowledge of the truth. We are perfected by the operations of good and evil. Here is a case in hand. A short time ago the little eight-year-old boy of Mr. and Mrs. Whitla, of Sharon, Penn- sylvania, was kidnapped. The sorrow and anguish of the parents and friends of the boy were unbearable. The kidnappers demand- ed a ransom of ten thousand dollars. The father of the boy, in his distress and anxiety for the safety and return of the boy, was eagerly anxious to pay the ten thousand dol- lars and secure his boy. He got into con- fidential communication with the kidnappers, 60 Ci)e H2eto Cfteologp and arranged to pay the ransom, ten thousand dollars, and secured the return of his boy. The money was paid and the boy returned to the father. But the police in Cleveland, Ohio, were on the alert, and the kidnappers were captured within a few hours after they had received the money, and the money captured with them. The whole country was aroused as it had not been since the kidnapping of Charlie Ross. The sympathy of thousands of good people of many states went out to the parents and friends of the boy. The kidnappers were found to be a man and his wife, both of good and respectable families. Both well educated and of good ability. This is a sad case in more ways than one. See the opposites in this case. Good and evil. Sor- row and gladness. Good triumphs in the return of the boy to his father's arms. Evil triumphs over the two kidnappers. They will suffer loss, but the end is not with them yet. Good has triumphed in that the sacred ties binding parent and child have been strengthened in thousands who have been exercised over this case. Many daughters 61 C6e JBeto Cfieologg who were on the verge of ruin have been turned back by the example. The father of this woman kidnapper, it is said, cast his daughter out of his heart some few years ago, and, in her anxiety to get into the heart of someone else, she was overcome of evil. The good resulting from this, will be in strengthening the ties between parents and children. Thus, in this sad case, it can clear- ly be seen that good is largely in excess of the evil. Good and evil co-operate in our development. We add another illustration of the co- operation of good and evil. This occurred since the above was written. We refer to the great coal mine disaster at Cherry, Il- linois, where five hundred and seventeen men miners were in the mine when the fire broke out. Of this number 217 escaped the fire. Ten men, heroes, lost their lives in an at- tempt to rescue the men from the burning mine. These heroes were caught by the flame and burned while in the cage, before it could be hoisted. Seven days after the fire commenced, twenty men — supposed to be dead, and mourned for dead — were res- 62 Cfte jQeto Cijeologg cued and brought out alive. A total death list of 310 miners, whose lives were sacri- ficed in this great disaster. The sorrow that came to the wives and children of these dead miners can never be measured. The sorrow that came to the little town of Cherry can never be told. The sorrow that came to the people of the state, we might almost say the nation, for the news of this disaster was read everywhere, north, south, east and west, can never be forgotten. The softening influences of the great holocaust were felt by everyone who read of the disaster, and money and help came from every quarter of the State. We were reminded of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man. We re- alized that these poor miners were our broth- ers, and they have our sympathy. Our sor- rows were comingled with the sorrows of the bereaved ones, and, notwithstanding the great evil in this great disaster, the good that will come of it is greater than the evil. The hearts and thoughts of the masses will be more tender, will look more kindly upon that great body of men who work in the mines, that we may enjoy the benefits of their labor. 63. Cfte JBeto Cfteologp The State will look into the causes of this calamity. Conditions will be made safer, for the men thus employed. Boys under sixteen will not be allowed to enter the mines here- after. When we think of these men, thus entrapped, thus doomed to die, how bravely they met their death! How they counted the hours in their diaries! How they sang and prayed ! How they turned to the Father, the only real source of help in such times of trouble! Of course the full experiences of these men under these trying conditions will never be told, but we learned enough to know how bravely and trustingly they met their fate. They will appear to us as our brothers more fully than if this disaster would never have occurred. So that the good, even in this terrible disaster, will be much greater than the evil. Our individual lives, our faith, our civilization, is perfected by the operation of good and evil. Overcome evil with good. There is no other way. It is a struggle for advancement. A struggle to better our conditions, and we sometimes choose the evil to accomplish that purpose. We discover our mistakes only 6 4 C[)e J13eto Cfteologg when the evil fails to do so, and then we suffer loss. God, in his wisdom, created the evil and the good, and uses them in the growth and development of his children. These light afflictions are not joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, they work out the peacable fruits of righteousness to them who are exercised thereby. God is as much the author of evil as he is the author of good. He created both the evil and the good, and each has its place in the perfecting of his children. God is good. Jesus said: "There is none good but God." The best conceptions ws have of good are the best conceptions we can get of God. He that hath seen the ten- der, loving Christ, has seen God. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." Hath seen the personal God. Our Father, we his sons and daughters! "In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." The family of God, — Father, sons and daughters. The Father, our per- sonal God. Evil is the personification of Satan, the devil, the evil one. If you have seen evil, 6S, Cfie H3eto Cfeeologp you have seen Satan. If you have seen the brothel, you have seen devils incarnate. If you have seen the midnight orgies, you have seen the devil incarnate. Personal devils. The only personal devil you will ever see is a devil in human form. Peter was Satan in the very presence of Jesus, and Jesus said to him, "Get behind me Satan," Thou art an offense to me." Your best friend may sometimes be Satan to you, trying to lead you away from the truth, or trying to lead you into evil. Evil is only the absence of good. Where good dwells in all its fullness, there can be no evil. God creates evil as he creates darkness for, his own purposes. (Isaiah 45-7). I form light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil (Amos 3-6). Shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it? Sin and holiness are opposites. If there was no such thing as Holiness there could be no sin. If there was no law, then there could be no transgression of the law (Paul, Romans 4-13). For where no law is there is no transgression (Romans 5-13). For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is 66 Clje H2eto Cfteologg not imputed when there is no law. ( i John 3-4). Whosoever committeth sin transgres- seth also the law. For sin is the transgres- sion of the law. And all have sinned. I desire now to say here with all reverence that God could not make a man a free agent with- out making a sinner. The very fact that God has made us free agents, with the power to choose evil or to choose good, to obey or transgress, to sin and repent, to struggle and grow, into his likeness, makes us His chil- dren. The very fact that we must grow, into the knowledge of God, there is no other way, makes it necessary that we should struggle with good and evil, with truth and error, and thus growing into the knowledge that we are the children of our Heavenly Father, per- fected through the operation of good and evil. Good and Evil are inseparable in us. They are parts of our very being. Some would call them our higher and lower na- tures, our spiritual and carnal natures. Our better natures seeking to do good, or seek- ing the good; and our lower natures seeking the evil. Paul says, Rom. Chap. 7, after 67 C6e Jl2eto Cfjeologg discussing the influences of good and evil — "For the good that I would I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do." I find then a law, that, when I would do good evil is present with me, inseparable in our very being, tied together in our very makeup ; the irrepressible conflict in our lives, in our earthly lives from which there is no deliver- ance in this life. The severest conflict that Jesus ever en- dured was at the very end of his earthy life, not even in the Garden but on the cross that caused him to cry out "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me"; but the good even then triumphed and enabled him to say "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Humanity is the product of good and evil. 68 THEOLOGY. Every religion must have a theology. The- ology is a classified expression of Religion. The laymen in all our churches have as much religion, possibly more, than the teachers, preachers, or theological professors. But it is not supposed that a layman should write very extensively on the subject of either The- ology or Religion. However, we shall en- deavor to give a layman's view of the New Theology. THE NEW AND THE OLD— In Re- ligion, in Theology, in Science, in Literature, in Mechanics, in Agriculture, in Life, the old is displaced or destroyed by the new. In the Christian Religion, the old covenant was su- perseded by the new. Under the old cove- nant, God spoke to the people through the Prophets; under the new. He speaks through his son, Jesus Christ. Under the 69 Ci)e iQeto Cfceologp old, the Prophets spake to, or taught, the people through the Law. Under the new, God puts his laws in our minds and writes them on our hearts, so that no man is under the necessity of saying to his brother, Know the Lord; for all shall know Him, from the least to the greatest. I heard a returned African missionary say recently, that one of the things that surprised him, in that coun- try among these native black men, was that in his intercourse with the people — with the children of these black men — the boys and girls have as clear a conscience of right and wrong as he had. Thus the old covenant is set aside or dis- placed by the new. The Old Bible thought of six days for Self and one for God has been superseded by the new thought of seven days for God and nothing for Self. In The- ology the old is very rapidly giving place to the new. In Science, the new is displacing the old. The Chemistries used fifty years ago cannot be used today. In Literature, the old is out of date, the new conceptions of truth are taking the place of the old. In Mechanics, the new is greatly in advance of 70 Cfie J0eto Cfieologg the old. In Agriculture, the new is always superseding the old. Fifty years ago one man with the old implements would work five acres of corn; today, with the new, he works sixty acres. In life, Human Life, the old customs, the old thoughts, are constantly being displaced by the new. In the church, the old customs and ideas are giving place to the new. We have the individual com- munion cup today; twenty years ago it would not have been possible. Fifty years ago the church organ was a very questionable piece of property in many of the churches, and the violin or the harp could not have been thought of. Close communion in the church has given away to the more christian thought of open communion. Solomon said, three thousand years ago, that there was nothing new under the sun. We are told that the latest patterns, or styles, of jewelry are three thousand years old. It has also been said, that if we could discover, or rather recover, some of the lost arts, we would have our fortune. With all our boast- ed inventions and pride of modern mechan- ism, we are told that the ancients, three C6e H9eto C&eologg thousand years ago, could move and trans- port blocks of stone, for miles, so large that we have no knowledge, or machinery to move them a single foot. King David said, over two thousand years ago, that the Heavens declared the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. When you have made this discovery — that declaration, and shown the handiwork of the Almighty, you have been over nearly all the lines of thought, old and new, with which we have to do, or are capable of doing. The glory of God, and his handiwork! David, in this same connection, speaking of these lines of thought, says, "Their lines have gone out through all the earth, and their thoughts to the end of the world. There is no language or speech where their voice is not heard." That is, there is no thought, or expression of thought, where their voice is not heard. Students, scholars, thinkers, in all ages, have been trying to run out along and grasp these lines of thought. No one has ever run out very far, on any of these lines of thought, until he discovers that they declared the glory of God. Usually when 72; Cfte lOeto Cfieologp thinking men disagree, they disagree because they have been out on different lines of thought, each realizing that his peculiar line of thought declares the glory of God, hence must be right, and all others wrong. When he gets off the too often little, narrow line that he has been out on, and goes out over other and broader lines of thought he will find that they too declare the glory of God. God spake, or thought, the world into ex- istence. All creative thought is from God, and will show his glory. No one ever in- vented anything, or made anything or con- structed anything, but what it was a thought before it was an object or thing. The City of Chicago is a wonderful city, but there is not a brick, or a building, or a piece of furn- iture or architecture, but what was a thought before it was a reality. The great city is the result, or product, of thought, every man, every woman, contributing his or her part in the building of the city. Is it not also true that the City of the New Jeruselam, the City with the golden streets, is and will be a product of thought, and everyone entering that city contributes something to its mag- 73 C&e H3eto Cfieologg nificance and beauty. The golden thoughts, the thoughts of pearl, of onyx and crystal, the thoughts of God, the thoughts of Christ, the thoughts of Moses and Elias, the thoughts of John the Baptist and the purer and better thoughts of the very least of those now in the Kingdom. Such magnificence, such a product of thought, old and new. No wonder that John in his vision, on the isle of Patmos, with his figures of golden streets and crystal fountains fails to describe it. He gave us as good a description of the beauti- ful city as language could give, or we have the capacity to receive. But it is very dif- ficult to describe thought or the product of thought, especially when the divine hand is back of it. The world is moved by thought, old and new. The best of it is divine thought, and is as old as Deity itself. So Solomon learned many years ago, that there was noth- ing new under the sun. Yet, there is very much new to you and to me. Old and new are relative terms to us. What is old to one man may be new to another. What is old in one age may be new in the next. The old should not be abandoned because it is 74 Cfte Jl3eto Ci)eolO0g old, neither should the new be accepted be- cause it is new. First principles are as old as eternity, and should never be abandoned or lost sight of. They are the foundations upon which we must build, if we become scholarly. Should the student attempt to build without these corner stones, when the floods come, when the testing time comes, he will discover that he is built upon the sands. This is true in literature, in morals, in finance, and in religion. Sooner or later the floods will come, they do come to every human life, — the testing time, and then it is that we discover whether we have built upon the rock or upon the sand. Building on the rock, or building on the sand, is old, old as humanity. Sowing and reaping is old, old as the ages. When the serpent said to Eve, the fruit is beautiful, thou shalt not surely die, the thought was new to Eve; she accepted the new without sufficient investigation, and you know the result. When God said to humanity, 'the heel of the man shall bruise the head of the serpent,' it was a new thought for humanity, — and from this central thought has come the Christ, — the hope of 75 Cfie Jl3eta Cfieologp the world, with all its beauty, with all its blessings, and with the promise that the old, with all its errors, shall pass away, and that all things shall become new. Oh, there are so many grand new things in this age. New to us. New methods. New lines of thought, to us. New thoughts of electricity, new in- ventions, new discoveries. The new philos- ophy, the new theology, the new nation, with a big N. The new man. The new woman. The new life, revealed, manifested in us. The new life is manifested in us in propor- tion as the old dies within us, and we are led on and inspired by the new. New hopes, new objects in life. To all such, the new seems best. The present age to many seems a new age. We have the new theology. As men grow religiously or intellectually, they get new and better conceptions of the truth. The real teacher never ceases to grow. The new things that come into his life, each day, make him stronger, wiser, and better fitted for his work. He is better qualified to choose, between the old and the new. The preacher is only a teacher of the people, and if he absorbs more of Christ, and grows into 7 6 Cfte K3eto Cfieologg the perfect stature of a man in Christ Jesus, with the new man fully developed and the old man entirely dead, — thus giving us a new Theology, (so new to many professed Christians) we hail such a new Theology with joy. The old theology is fast passing away to give place to the new. The laymen of our churches have very largely abandoned the old theology of an endless Hell, or place of torment for the damned. And we seldom hear the doctrine of endless punishment preached any more, except by the travelling, money-making evangelist. The doctrine of the blood atonement for sin, and the fall of man, is seldom preached on any more, and the ordinary intelligent layman has lost his interest in such theology, the doctrine of an angry God, angry over the eating of an apple, — or the disobedience of his own child, who could not grow or progress with- out making mistakes — and then trying to find some way by which he can forgive his own children for their sin, is so silly that intelligent men and women fail to be inter- ested any more in such theology. I cannot .77 Ci)e J0eto C&eologg better express myself on this subject than by quoting Rev. Dr. F. J. Campbell, Pastor of the City Temple Church, London, Eng- land: "But how do ordinary church-going Chris- tians talk about God? They talk as though He was (practically) a finite being stationed somewhere above and beyond the universe, watching and worrying over other and less- er finite beings, to-wit, ourselves. Accord- ing to the received phraseology, this God is greatly bothered and thwarted, by what men have been doing throughout the few milleni- ums of human existence. He takes the whole thing very seriously, and thinks about little else than getting wayward humanity into line again. To this end He has adopted various expedients, the chief of which was the send- ing of His only begotten Son to suffer and die in order that He might be free to for- give the trouble we had caused Him. I hope no reader of these words will think I am making light of a sacred subject; I never was more serious in my life. What I am trying to show is that, reduced to its sim- plest terms, the accepted theology of the Cfte iQeto Cfteolo0g churches today is pitiably inadequate as an expansion of our relationship to this great and mysterious universe. There is a beau- tiful spiritual truth underneath every ven- erable article of the Christian faith, but as popularily presented this truth has become so distorted as to be falsehood. It narrows religion and belittles God. It is dishonoring to human nature, and is absolutely ludicrous as an interpretation of the cosmic process. Of course, the dogmatic theologian will main- tain that this is a caricature of the way in which the relationship of God to the world is set forth in religious treatises and from the Christian pulpit, but is it? I think I can appeal with confidence to the thoughtful man who has given up going to church as to whether it is or not. The God of the ordin- ary church-goer, and with the man who is supposed to teach him from study and pul- pit, is an antiquated theologian who made his universe so badly that it went wrong in spite of Him and has remained wrong ever since. Why He should ever have created it is not clear. Why He should be the in- jured party in all the miseries that have en- 79 Cfie H3eto C&eologg sued is still less clear. The poor crippled child who has been maimed by a falling rock, and the white-faced match box maker who works eighteen hours out of the twenty-four to keep body and soul together have surely some sort of a claim upon God apart from being miserable, sinners, who must account themselves fortunate to be forgiven for Christ's sake. Faugh! It is all so unreal and so stupid. This kind of God is no God at all. The theologian may call Him infin- ite, but in practice He is finite. He may call Him a God of Love, but in practice he is spiteful and silly." Has it occurred to you that not more than one-eighth of the population of Chicago at- tend the various churches? Has it not oc- curred to you that a large proportion of the membership of our various churches are very irregular attendants. We had intended to give the average attendance of some of our prominent churches, at the morning service and at the mid-week prayer meetings, but upon investigation we feared it would be very embarassing to the churches to publish the names of the churches and facts in regard 80 Cfte iQeto Cfteologg to the membership and attendance. We have visited city churches in Chicago with a membership of six hundred and found less than one-tenth of the members in attendance at the mid-week prayer meetings. What church would be willing to publish the aver- age attendance of their own membership at the morning service, or evening service, or at the mid-week prayer meetings? What is true of the Chicago churches is true also of the churches in other cities and in the country. We quote from Ralph Waldo Trine in his book "In Tune with the Infin- ite," pages 170-172: "It is the type of preacher whose soul has never as yet even perceived the vital spirit of the teachings of Jesus, and who as a con- sequence instead of giving this to the people, is giving them old forms and dogmas and speculations, who is emptying our churches. This is the type whose chief efforts seem to be in getting men ready to die. The Ger- mans have a saying, Never go to the second thing first. We need men who will teach us first how to live. Living quite invariably preceeds dying. This is also true, that when 81 Cfje Beto Cfieologp we once know how to live, and live in ac- cordance with what we know, then the dy- ing, as we term it, will in a wonderfully, beautiful manner take care of itself. It is in fact the only way in which it can be taken care of. It is on account of this emptying of our churches, for the reason that the people are tiring of mere husks, that many short-sight- ed people are frequently heard to say that re- ligion is dying out. Religion dying out? How can anything die before it is really born? And so far as the people are con- cerned, religion is just being born, or rather they are just awakening to a vital, everday religion. We are just beginning to get be- yond the mere letter into its real, vital spirit. Religion dying out? Impossible, even to conceive of. Religion is as much a part of the human soul as the human soul is a part of God. And as long as God and the human soul exist, religion will never die. Much of the dogma, the form, the cere- mony, the mere letter that has stood as re- ligion, — and honestly many times, let us be fair enough to say, — this, thank God, is rap- 82 Cfie iQeto Cfieologg idly dying out, and never so rapidly as it is today. By two methods, it is dying. There is, first, a large class of people tired of, or even nauseated with it all, who conscientious- ly prefer to have nothing rather than this. They are simply abandoning it, the same as a tree abandons its leaves, when the early winter comes. There is, second, a large class in whom the Divine Breath is stirring, who are finding the Christ within in all its match- less beauty and redeeming power. And this new life is pushing off the old, the same as in the spring the newly awakened life in the tree pushes off the old, lifeless leaves that have clung on during the winter, to make place for the new ones. And the way this old dead leaf religion is being pushed off on every hand is indeed most interesting and inspiring to witness. Let the places of those who have been emptying our churches by reason of their attempts to give stones for bread, husks and chaff for the life-giving grain, let their places be taken even for but a few times by those who are open and alive to these higher in- spirations, and then let us again question 83 Cfte iSeto Cfieologp those who feel that religion is dying out. "It is the live coal that kindles others, not the dead." Let their places be taken by those who have caught the inspiration of the Divine Breath, who as a consequence have a message of mighty value and import for the people, who by virtue of this same fact are able to present it with a beauty and a power so enrapturing that it takes captive the soul. Then we will find that the churches that today, are dotted here and there, with a, few dozen people will be filled to overflowr ing, and there will not be even room enough for all who would enter. "Let the shell perish that the pearl may appear." We need no new revelations as yet. We need simply to find the vital spirit of those we al- ready have. Then in due time, when we are ready for them, new ones will come, but not before." The people are not tired of religion, but they are tired of the old theology. Tired of the cant; tired of the insincerity. Ex-Governor John P. St. John, of Kansas said, a few years ago, that he addressed a 84 Cfte j[3eto Cfieologg congregation, on Sunday evening, of one thousand men and six women. That was in the penitentiary. The next Wednesday evening he addressed a congregation of fif- ty-six women and four men. That was in a church prayer-meeting. He said, "Judg- ing from these statements, there would not be enough men in Heaven to sing bass." But this condition of things is changing some. In Chicago, in some of our churches, we have almost as many men as women. The women have been at work during the week in the department stores, in the offices, in the factories, etc., and are tired, and they can- not get out to the morning services. But, in the places where the old theology is aban- doned, and the new theology preached, we have as many or more men than women. The pastor of the Central Church, Chicago, Dr. F. W. Gunsaulus, has the largest protes- tant congregation, possibly, in the United States, five thousand, and he is thoroughly up to date — religiously and theologically. The Apostle Peter said, "We look for new Heaven and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." The new Heavens Cfie iQeto Cfteologg and the new earth have already come. I£ Peter was to return to the earth today, he would not be able to recognize it. He would be able to see but very little of the old earth that he left, and less of the old Heavens. He would see a condition in which dwelleth righteousness, such as never before existed in the earth. He would see Christian men and women so far in advance of the apostles that there is no comparison. Jesus said that there was none born of woman greater than John the Baptist, but that the least in the Kingdom of Heaven was greater than John. Then, what would he say of the greatest in the Kingdom, in this twentieth century, measured by service ! The Apostles would be small men compared with Henry Ward Beecher, David Swing, Bishop Simpson, Bishop Nind, and many others who have passed over to their reward, and many others now living that we might name. One of the most astonishing things to me, is that the apostles should live with Jesus for three years, and work with him, and yet not be able to comprehend or know him. When Jesus was cruci- 86 C6e iSeto Cfieologp fied they were disappointed, bewildered. They thought Jesus was a failure, and, as one has said, u there were eleven men out of a job"; and Peter said, let us go back to our fishing business. But after Jesus was arisen, and the Holy Spirit was given them, they began to comprehend the situation. And yet, the very first blunder they made was, af- ter the spirit was given, in attempting to form a socialism, in which they would have all things in common. Jesus never author- ized any such thing, and they found their mistake and abandoned their social ideas. In their three years' work and association with Jesus, they failed to know him. In that wonderful talk He had with them, his last talk, in which He tried to explain to them who he was; that he was God manifest in the flesh, — when he said, "I and my Father are one," they could not comprehend. And Phillip said to Him, "Lord show us the Father and that will suffice" — that will make it plain. But Jesus said, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Phillip. He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father, and how saith thou C6e iQeto C&eologp then, show us the Father?" — "If you can- not believe my words, believe my works." He might have said, 'I have opened the eyes of the blind, I have made the deaf to hear and the lame to walk, and even raised the dead; believe the works.' But they failed to believe, Phillip was not the only one of the disciples who failed to believe. He was not the only one of the eleven who failed to see the Father through the Son. It was only a few hours after this talk that they all for- sook him and fled. Thomas never did see the Father, through the Christ, until he put his finger into the print of the nails and thrust his hand into his side, and said, "My Lord and my God!" He then saw the Father. There are many people who never see the Father, until they see the print of the nails and the bleeding side of the Christ. Then they can see the Father. The best concep- tion we can possibly get of God is through the Christ. "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." He that hath seen good- ness, hath seen the Father. He that hath seen Love, hath seen the Father. He that hath seen kindness, and gentleness, and pa- 88 C&e iQeio C&eologg tience, and loveliness, hath seen the Father. This will be, to us, as much of the Father as we will ever be able to see on this earth. "In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me and I in you." Thus we, too, are linked together with the Son and with the Father. Is that a new Theol- ogy to you, my brother layman? It is blessed. It is glorious. In "that day ye shall know, that I am in my Father and ye in me and I in you." In what day? In the day you subscribed to a creed? Oh no! The day that the comforter comes into your lives. In that day that the spirit of truth comes into our lives, to lead us into all truth. In that day when the Holy Ghost, comes into our lives, to be our guest, to abide with us, — not simply during a revival season, not only during a season of bereavement and sorrow, when we need him so much — and he always comes in our need, — but He will abide with us forever. He will be our teacher. He will teach us, all things, and bring all things to our remembrance whatsoever He has said unto us heretofore." Things that He hath said unto us through the written word,, 89 €&e Jl3eto €&eologg through our pastor, through our brothers or sisters, through the church ; little things that we have forgotten, big things that we are un- able to grasp, truth that our capacities were not sufficiently enlarged to receive. He will bring these things to our remembrance, and help us to comprehend. He will lead us into all Truth, just in proportion as we acquire the capacity to receive it; in proportion as we grow into the knowledge of the Father and the Son. What a wonderful teacher this is! What a lovely guest to have in our homes ! He will not be in the way, as some of your other guests are sometimes. If you lose your temper, (which we all do some- times), and get a little ugly, He will excuse himself and retire. He will not force him- self on you, as your guest; but, as soon as you see how ugly you have been, he will come back and go right along with his teaching and His help. Then he will give you peace; peace that the world cannot give; peace, rest, satisfac- tion that no other Teacher can give you. But this peace will come after your little conflicts, after your big conflicts, — after the battle. 99 Cfte I3eto Cfteologp You will always have your battles to fight, all through life. But this guest, this teacher, this help, will always be with you, if you need him, and he will give you victory and peace — after the battle. When Jesus himself went out into that forty days battle, in the wilder- ness, peace came after the conflict was over; and the "Angels of Peace came and minis- tered unto Him." Now I want to ask my brother layman did ever such peace come to you, such love come to you, such a Teacher come to you, because you believed God was angry with all the world, and had a great conflict with evil, the evil one, with the evil that he had cre- ated? For He created the evil and the good. We have spoken of this in the chapter on good and evil. Did ever such peace, and love, and light come to you because you be- lieved that you and your loved ones might possibly some time get into the hands of an angry God, and get into an endless burning Hell, to be there through all eternity in end- less torment? How much real comfort has ever come to you through the old theology? How about your best conception of God a 1 C&e JSeto C&eologg through the old theology? We shall have something to say about the best conceptions of God, from Adam up to the present time, in another chapter. "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." We hear a good deal, now and then, about the "Old Time Religion," — and from men who are unable to grasp the new theology and never did understand the old theology. The old time religion is gone never to re- turn. When I was a boy, sixty-five years ago (that was the time I commenced to study theology — the Presbyterian shorter cate- chism) we lived about half way between two old time church buildings, about forty rods from each. The one was a Methodist Epis- copal, and the other an Associate Reformed Presbyterian. Sunday morning, (Sabbath, we called it then) the Associate Reformed Presbyterians would assemble early, bring their lunch baskets with them, and have two sermons — with lunch between. Old time re- ligion. They were very strict Sabbatar- ians, — under the old Jewish idea, one day for God; six days for Self. The Methodists had received some very crude ideas about 92 Cfie J3eto Cfteologg the Holy Ghost, enough to make them very happy occasionally; and Sunday night, we could hear them shouting clear down to our house. The Associate Reformed Presbyter- ians were not allowed to go to hear the Methodists preach, especially on the Sabbath. We might occasionally go to hear them on a week day, or night. But to sing their abominable hymns was almost the ''unpar- donable sin." We used the "inspired psalmody." This was the old time religion. But, if our good shouting Methodist brother and our good, strict Sabbatarian Presbyter- ian brother were to meet any time during the week — "The six days for self and trade horses, both would get cheated, — for each would misrepresent his own horse. The old time religion. There was a strife, and in some cases a bitter strife, between the differ- ent denominations. A strife to get men and women into their church. This, too, is pass- ing away with the old theology. Just in pro- portion as they realize that the true work of all the churches is to get men and women into the Kingdom. Paul says, the "Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteous- 93 Cfte iQeto Cfteologp ness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." It is not a place. It is a condition. It is within you. It is in our midst ; in this brother and in that brother. It is a condition, or life, into which we must be born. "Except a man be born again he cannot enter into the King- dom of Heaven." He cannot enter into the new life, — this life of righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Not a kingdom beyond the sky; but a kingdom here, on this earth, in this life, — the new "earth in which dwelleth righteousness. Jesus came that we might have life. A more abundant life, a better life; not beyond the skies, but here, in this life. "What will it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his life? or what will a man give in ex- change for his life?" When? Here, this life. "Except ye eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of man, of the Christ, ye have no life in you." Christianity is a life, not a creed. We must be partakers of the life of the Christ. When? In this life. "In that day ye shall know that I am the Father, and ye in me, and I in you." We must be able to comprehend the unity of the Father 94 Cfce iQeto Cfieologg and the Son, and the brotherhood. The old theology that we are sheep, that u the Lord is my Shepherd," was good in its day. Gave comfort. But that, the Lord is my Father, is better. Jesus was crucified because he said he was the Son of God. That was very offensive to the Jews. And the Apostles, who failed to comprehend Jesus when he tried to ex- plain to them this relationship, — the Father- hood, the Sonship and the Brotherhood, — i the unity, — being Jews themselves, could not realize the truth of His words, and did the best they could to Judaize the sayings of the Christ. The Apostle Mark, believing in the divinity of Jesus, but not yet being able to comprehend the divinity of man, writing his Gospel to the Gentiles, uses the expression, "Kingdom of God"; but Matthew, writing his Gospel to the Jews, who were so partic- ular about the use of the word "God" and had crucified Jesus because he said he was God, would say, "Kingdom of Heaven," — the one saying "For of such is the Kingdom of Heaven," and the other saying, "For of such is the Kingdom of God," to express the 9i C6e J3eto Cfieologp same thing. Jesus, knowing their inability to comprehend Him, said to them, "I have yet many things to say to you, but you can- not hear them now." I am aware that the best men in many of the churches, Protestant and Catholic, are abandoning the old theology; but their church creeds and confession of faith still endorse the old theology. I now quote from the Presbyterian Confession of Faith. This confession of faith is the acknowledged au- thority with the various branches of the Pres- byterian church. "Chapter 3 of God's Eternal Degrees": "Decree 1. — God from all Eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel, of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordained whatsoever comes to pass : yet, so as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is vio- lence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of the second causes taken away, but rather established. "Decree 2. — Although God knows what- soever may or can come to pass upon all sup- posed conditions; yet, hath He not decreed anything because He foresaw it as future, 26 Cfte iQeto Cfteologp as that which would come to pass upon such conditions. "Decree 3. — By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His Glory, some men, and angels, are predestinated unto everlast- ing life and others foreordained to everlast- ing death. "Decree 4. — These angels, and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are partic- ularly and unchangeably designed; and their number is so certain and definite that it can- not be either increased or diminished. "Decree 5. — Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, hath chosen in Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of his mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions or causes moving Him thereunto; and all for the praise of His glorious grace. "Decree 6. — As God hath appointed the elect unto Glory, so hath He, by the eternal 91 Cfte H3eto Cfieologp and most free purpose of His will, foreor- dained all the means thereunto. Wherefore they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ, are effectually called unto faith, in Christ, by his spirit working in due season; are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by his power through faith unto salvation. Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified and saved, but the elect only. "Decree 7. — The rest of mankind, God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he ex- tendeth or withholdeth mercy as He pleaseth for the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice. "Decree 8. — The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care, that men at- tending the will of God revealed in his word and yielding obedience thereunto, may, from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal election. So shall 98 Cfte I2eto C&eologg this doctrine afford matter of praise, rever- ence, and admiration of God; and of human- ity, diligence, and abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the Gospel. "Chapter 10. — Effectual Calling. (Sec. 3, page 57.) Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated and saved by Christ through the spirit, who worketh when and where he pleaseth and how he pleaseth. So also are all other elect persons who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the world. u Sec. 4. — Others not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the world, and may have common operations of the spirit, yet they never truly come to Christ and therefore cannot be saved; much less can men, not professing the Christian re- ligion, be saved in any other way whatsoever, be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the light of nature, and the law of that religion they do profess ; and to as- sert and maintain that they may is very per- nicious and to be detested." We have quoted the above articles in the Presbyterian Confession of Faith so that we 99 Cfte iQeto Cfteologg may not be chargeable with misrepresenting Presbyterianism. I am aware that many Presbyterians look upon this confession of faith as a dead letter, and are not expected to believe it. A Presbyterian minister said to me, only a few days ago, that he had ceased to believe in endless punishment twenty years ago. A Presbyterian elder said to me recently, that he did not believe in the doctrine of endless punishment, and but few Presbyterians did. But this is the law of their church, and of the various branches of the Presbyterian faith. Infant Damnation. — Non-elect damna- tion. Endless torment. Infants in hell. Children in hell. Sweet little babies in hell. Innocence, purity, love, confidence, trust, faith, — all burning in hell. Little children! "For of such is the Kingdom of Heaven!" If you have seen innocence, purity, love, faith, confidence, trust — you have seen the Father. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." Why, you might as well think of Jesus in hell as the sweet little innocent baby. I am glad that Jesus came as a baby : the Jews did not expect him to come that [IOO C6e jQeto C&eologg way, hence no wonder they rejected Him. I can adore, worship, the child Jesus. I adore love, purity, innocence, sinliness, con- fidence, faith, trust. I adore the boy Jesus, who has taught us by His example, that we, too, should be "about our Father's business." I adore the man Christ Jesus, — the manly man, the sympathetic man, the lovable man, the man who can weep with us when we weep, and rejoice with us when we rejoice; the man who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, who was in all points tempted as we are, yet sinned not. I adore the divine man, Christ Jesus, — who knows our frame and remembers that we are dust; the divine man, Christ Jesus, who has re- vealed unto us our divinity — the Fatherhood, the Sonship, and the Brotherhood: "In that day we shall know that I am in the Father and ye in me, and I in you." I love the Presbyterians; I was raised among them, and now want to testify that there are no better Christian people in the world — they are much better than their theology, and I am glad that so many of them are abandoning the old theology. Most IOI Cfte JSeto Cfteologp of the United Presbyterians sing hymns now, elegantly, — and find more inspiration in them than they did in the inspired psalmody. Postion of the Baptist Church: What the great Charles H. Spurge on says on the doc- trine of endless punishment: I feel that I have a right to say something about this grand old church as I was once a member of the Baptist Church. I left the United Pres- byterian church and united with the Baptist church forty-one years ago. I had been a member but a few weeks when the church offered to license me to preach. I said, No; that is not my work. One year later, the church, without my knowledge or consent, licensed me to preach. I said to the pastor, "What does this mean?" The pastor of the church replied that "the church thought it should do its duty, whether you would do yours or not." One year later the church appointed a meeting to ordain me as an elder, to preach; and I declined, on the grounds that I did not feel that I was called to do that work. For a few years I thought that the Baptist church was about the only church that was right theologically. But as 102 Cfte JQeto Cfieologg I continued to grow, I found that there were some things of more importance than Bap- tism and close communion or church gov- ernment. Four years later I united with the Methodist Episcopal church, and have been a lay-member of that church nearly ever since. When I came to Chicago in 1898, I united with the Moody church, and two years later, locating near the Grace M. E., I changed my membership from the Moody to the Grace Methodist Episcopal, in which I hold membership to-day. I love the Baptist people. I got much help from the Baptist church, and shall never forget the lovable Christian men and women of that faith. I was a great admirer of the great preacher, Spurgeon, of London, and bought six vol- umes of his sermons. Some of these ser- mons I should decline to read to-day, or al- low, a child to read them. I quote the fol- lowing from these sermons, on the subject of Endless Torment: "There is a real fire in hell, as truly as you have now a real body, a fire exactly like that which we have on earth in everything except this: That it will not consume, I0 3, C6e H2eto Cfteolojp though it will torture you. You have seen the asbestos lying in the fire red-hot; but when you take it out, it is unconsumed. So your body will be prepared by God in such a way that it will burn forever without be- ing consumed. It will lie, not as you con- sider, in metaphorical fire, but in actual flames. Did our Saviour mean fictions when he said that he would cast body and soul into Hell? What should there be a pit for if there were no bodies ? Why fire, why chains, if there were to be no bodies? Can fire touch the soul? Can pits shut in spirits? Can chains fetter souls? No; pits and fires and chains are for bodies, and bodies shall be there. Thou wilt sleep in the dust for a little while. When thou diest, thy soul will be tormented alone, — that will be a hell for it, — but at the judgment day thy body will join thy soul; and then thou wilt have twin hells. Body and soul shall be together, each brim full of pain, thy soul sweating in its in- most pore, drops of blood, and thy body from head to foot suffused with agony; con- science, judgment, memory, all tortured; but more, thy head tormented with racking 1I04 Cfie iQeto Cfieologg pains, thine eyes staring from their sockets with sights of blood and woe, thine ears tor- mented with 'Sullen moans and hollow groans, And shrieks of tortured ghosts' ; thine heart beating high with fever,: 'thy pulse rattling at an enormous rate of agony, thine limbs cracking like the martyrs in the fire, and yet unburnt; thyself put in a vessel of hot oil, painted, yet coming out unde- stroyed; all thy veins becoming a road for the hot feet of pain to travel on; every nerve a string on which the devil shall ever play his diabolical tune of hell's unutterable lament; thy soul forever and ever aching, and thy body palpitating in unison with thy soul. Fiction, sir? Again, I say, they are not fictions, and, as God liveth, but solid, stern truth. If God be true, what I have said is the truth; and you will find it one day to be so." This is how Mr. Spurgeon talked to his Baptist people less than fifty years ago. This was the theology of fifty years ago, the old theology. ?°5; Cfie JSeto Cfieologp Now, I will take the great Baptist Uni- versity of Chicago — founded by these two great Baptists — the great Baptist scholar and theologian, William Rainey Harper, and the great Baptist layman, John D. Rockefeller, the most influential Baptist lay- man in the world, financially — and I will risk this statement: That there is not a single professor in this great university that believes in the doctrine of endless torment as described by the great preacher, Charles H. Spurgeon. I believe if Mr. Spurgeon was alive to-day he would correct his theology. I have great admiration for the late Dr. Harper, knowing him personally and inti- mately from his boyhood, knowing the nar- rowness of the theology and religious ideas under which he spent his boyhood days and his college days, and knowing the struggle that he had to come up out of these environ- ments into the clear sunlight of the twentieth century theology. His first break from United Presbyterianism, the faith into which he was born and baptized, into the Baptist faith. This must have taken quite a struggle in his boyhood days, then only about twenty [106 Cfte iQeto Cfteologp years old. In those days there was not much in common between the Baptists and United Presbyterians. I know what this struggle meant, as I made the same change, only a few years before, in my religious opinions. But the great university founded by these two great Baptists, cannot now even be held as a Baptist university, but has become non-sectarian, — a university now seeking the truth in science, in literature, in religion; recognizing the fact that "Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and that He who would save his life shall lose it, but whoso- ever will lose his life for the truth's sake shall find it." A grander, larger, better life. The future of this great university depends only on the loyalty to which it stands by the truth, no difference how badly it shatters former beliefs. The Roman Catholic Church: There are many things that I admire in this grand old church, but none more than their better con- ceptions of God and the Christ than they had even fifty years ago. I mean the rank and file, or the lay membership. Of course the Pope is constantly warning his church against :i07 Cfie H9eto Cfteologg what he calls liberalism, and will continue to warn it, — but the truth will not be bound much longer. The intelligence of the lay members is greatly in advance of what it was even fifty years ago, — yes, even twenty years ago. They will not much longer allow the Pope and the church to do their thinking for them. This great church has held her people in spiritual bondage for centuries, through fear from endless torment depicted by their priests, for financial and spiritual gain; men and women who never read the bible, and know nothing about it except what they get from the priest. Here is a specimen of their talk to children. We quote from a book written and published by the Rev. Arthur Chambers, associate of King's College, Vicar of Brockenhurst, Hampshire, England, an extract from "The Sight of Hell," by Rev. J. Furniss, C. S. S. R., Premissu Superorum: "Little child, if you go to hell, there will be a devil at your side to strike you. He will go on striking you every minute forever and ever without stopping. The first stroke 108 Cfie jQeto Cfieologg will make your body as bad as the body of Job, covered from head to foot with sores and ulcers. The second stroke will make your body twice as bad as the body of Job. The third stroke will make your body three times as bad as the body of Job. The fourth stroke will make your body four times as bad as the body of Job. How, then, will your body be, after the devil has been striking it every moment for a hundred million of years without stopping? Perhaps, at this moment, seven o'clock in the evening, a child is just going into hell. To-morrow evening, at seven o'clock, go and knock at the gates of hell, and ask what the child is doing. They will come back again and say: 'The child is burning.' Go in a week and ask what the child is doing. You will get the same an- swer: 'It is burning.' Go in a year and ask. The same answer comes : 'It is burn- ing.' Go in a million years and ask the same question. The answer is just the same: 'It is burning.' So, if you will go forever and ever, you will always get the same answer: 'It is burning in the fire.' " We have no hesitancy in saying that such 109 Cfte H3eto Cfieologg teachings of children should be prohibited by law. Nothing could be more blighting, and damnable, to the mind of a bright, lov- ing child, than to give it such a conception of God. We have laws prohibiting the publi- cation of vicious and obscene literature, and we can conceive of nothing more vicious than the above. We ought to apologize to our readers for giving it a place in this book, but we do it only that our readers may be able to see the monstrous doctrine of end- less torment in all its hideousness. Children in hell, burning — little children burning, eternally burning! "For of such is the king- dom of Heaven." Righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, burning. Love burning ! Innocence burning ! ! Purity burn- ing ! ! ! Take away the money that comes to the Roman Catholic Church through this fear of burning, and through their exagger- ated doctrines of purgatory, and you would wreck their church financially, but save it spiritually. "He that would lose his life for the truth's sake will find it." no RELIGION. What is Religion? According to Webster (i) "Religion, in a comprehensive sense, in- cludes, a belief in the Being and perfections of God, in the revelation of his will to man, in man's obligation to obey his commands, in a state of reward and punishment, and in man's accountableness to God; and also true godliness or piety of life, with practice of all moral duties." (2) "Religion, as distinct from theology, is godliness, or real piety in practice, — consisting in the performance of all known duties to God and our fellowmen in obedience to divine command, or from love to God and His law." (3) "Any sys- tem of faith and worship is religion — Buddhism, Paganism, Brahamism, Chris- tianity." The sooner we learn that Chris- tianity does not contain all the true religion in the world the better for us. in Cfte H3eiu Cfieologg What is the true religion? And who has the true religion? My answer is, YOU. Every man, who has religion according to the above definitions, thinks, or believes, that his is the true religion; and so it is, if he is true to himself and his God. Now, under- stand me. Peter emphasizes this truth when he says : u Of a truth, I perceive that God is no respector of persons. But in every na- tion he that feareth Him and worketh right- eousness is accepted with Him." No re- spector of persons. God is not the God of the Jews, or the Hebrews, or Christians, or Hindus, only, — but in every nation those who fear, or love Him are accepted with Him. Fear and love of God constitutes religion, and every man that has this fear and love and worship has true religion. It is about time that we Christians, men and women, were able to comprehend the truth of Peter's statement, that "God is no respector of per- sons. " God loves all of His children. He knows what is best for His children in every nation, in every condition, under all the en- vironments that surround them. Religion is a growth. All the various re- 112 Cfte lOeto Cfieologg ligions of the earth have had their birth, and their growth, — and many of them their de- cay and death. Buddhism, in some respects, is an outgrowth of Brahamism. Brahamism is an outgrowth of Vedaism. Hinduism is an outgrowth of Buddhism. And nearly all these old religions owe their existence to the sacred writings called the "Vide Scriptures" ("Vedic Sanhitas") — a belief in God. When God first placed man in this earth, (whether according to the Mosiac account) or any other of the various accounts of crea- tion, man was an infant, a child, in respect to his knowledge of God, or in respect to the worship of God. He had to grow into this knowledge. According to the Hebrew re- ligion, he was first taught to worship God by giving God something. By sacrifice. By giving the first fruit, or the best he could give, either of the fruits of his flocks or his lands. And as man continued to grow, or develop, he learned that God did not care for the sacrifices of burnt offerings, but pre- ferred the sacrifices of a broken heart or con- trite spirit, — thus growing into the better knowledge of his Maker. But mankind's "3 Cfte I3eto C&eologp childlike capacities were so limited that it took God a long time to reveal Himself to them. He could only come to them in terms that they could comprehend. He taught them that He was to them a refuge, a place of safety, a high tower, a sun and a shield, a shepherd, a king, a ruler, a sovereign. They could understand these terms. They wanted help of some kind. But it took them a long time to learn that He was their Father. In fact the larger portion of the world cannot comprehend that to-day. It took four thousand years of uplifting — or, if you please, evoluting — to enable the world to realize that God is our Father. He had to send Buddha into the world to reveal the brotherhood of man and charity, love, five hundred years before He sent Jesus. He had to send Jesus into the world to reveal the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man — and for two thousand years men have been struggling with their limited ca- pacities, unable to fully comprehend what it means. Buddha was sent of God into the world five hundred years before Jesus was sent. When Buddha came, the world was 114 Cfte I3eto Cbeologp dominated by priests, by caste, by greed, and Buddha advocated the principle of the brotherhood of man in this life, — that desire, and ambition, and greed, and caste in this life should be destroyed. And Buddha set the example by giving up his position, his kingly power, his riches, his pleasures, and taking up the life of the very poorest of men, the beggar, for His Truth's sake. It was this that brought Buddha his success, not the un- desirable doctrine of reincarnation. We said that Buddha was sent of God. Understand me. Every man that ever came into the world was sent of God. No man ever came into this world of his own accord. He was sent of God. Most of us don't know why we were sent. Moses never knew why he was sent until after he was eighty years old. To illustrate : John Bun- yan's father was sent of God, not especially to be a tinker, but to be the father of John Bunyan. There was a man "sent from God whose name was John." He was sent to bear witness of the Christ. There was a man sent from God whose name was Moses 1 — sent to lead the Israelites out of bondage. US Cfte H3eto Cfjeologg There was a man sent from God whose name was Lincoln, — sent to lead the black man out of slavery in the United States. There was a man sent from God whose name was Roosevelt, — sent to be the father of Theo- dore Roosevelt. There was a man sent from God whose name was Harper, — sent to bear witness of the Christ, also sent to be the father of William Rainey Harper. We might multiply these examples of men sent of God indefinitely, but this will suffice. The world was not prepared for Jesus when Buddha was sent. Buddha advocated the brotherhood of man, but was not en- lightened in regard to the fatherhood of God. The secrets of his success were the ad- vacacy of the brotherhood, charity, love, liv- ing for each other and helping each other. Buddha was the most successful founder of a system of religion that the world has ever seen. Even the Christian church, both Greek and Roman, honor Buddha. We quote from Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 12, page 784: "The first great solvent of Brahmanism 116 C6e iQeto Cfieologg was the teaching of Buddha. The life of this celebrated man has three sides — its personal aspects, its legendary developments, and its religious consequences upon mankind. In his own person Buddha appears as a prince and preacher in ancient India. In the legendary developments of history, Buddha ranks as a divine teacher among his follow- ers; as an incarnation of Vishnu among the Hindus, and apparently as a saint of the Christian church, with a day assigned to him in both the Greek and Roman calendars. As a religious founder, he left behind him a system of beliefs which has gained more disciples than any other creed in the world, and which, after a lapse of twenty-four cen- turies, is now professed by five hundred mil- lions of people, or more than one-third of the human race." There are many things in Common be- tween Christianity and Buddhaism. Both claim the miraculous conception and birth of their founder. Both came, advocating the brotherhood of all men, love, charity, faith, consecration, and devotion to their system of ^7 C&e Ji3eto C&eologg salvation. Both advocated a pure, clean, consecrated life. Buddha lived that men might die and be reincarnated into a better life beyond this life. Jesus died that men might live a better life, in this life. He came that we might have life, — a more abundant life, a better, grander life, in this life. Buddha lived that men might die better. Jesus died that men might live better. Buddha advocated transmigration of the soul after death. Jesus taught the incarna- tion of God and the Christ in us, and that we live because He lives in us. Buddha could not comprehend God, the Father. Jesus reveals to us that "He is in the Father and we in Him, and He in us." Buddha had his twelve disciples. Jesus had his twelve disciples. Buddha had his beloved disciple, Ananda. Jesus had his be- loved disciple, John. When Buddha was five months old, "five wise men, who were journeying northward through the air," miraculously came down to where the child was, and worshipped him. When Jesus was born, "The wise men came from the East" — "came into the house and saw the young 118 C&e JOeto Cfteologg child with Mary, His mother, and they fell down and worshipped Him." Buddha gave up all that most men value — w T ealth, pleasure, kingly inheritance, to be- come a beggar, — sharing the toils and trials of the poorest of men. Jesus left his throne in Heaven and took upon Himself the form of the poorest of men, not having where to lay His head. "Buddha came to establish a kingdom of righteousness, to give light to those en- shrouded in darkness and to open the gates of immortality to men." Jesus came that we might have life, a more abundant life, and to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth. Buddha fails to restore life. (Britannica, Vol. IV, pages 430-43 1 ) : "On another occasion he is said to have brought back to her right mind a young mother whom sorrow for a time deprived of reason. Her name was Kisagotami. She had been married early, as is the custom of the East, and had a child when she was still a girl. When the beautiful boy could run ;n9: C6e JSeto Cfieologg alone he died. The young girl in her love for it carried the dead child clasped to her bosom, and went from house to house of her pitying friends, asking them to give her medi- cine for it. But a Buddhist convert, thinking 'she does not understand/ said to her: 'My good girl, I myself have no such medicine as you ask for, but I think I know of one who has.' 'Oh, tell me who that is?' said Kisagotami. 'The Buddha can give you medicine; go to him,' was the answer. She went to Gautama; and doing homage to him, said, 'Lord and master, do you know any medicine that will be good for my child?' 'Yes, I know of some,' said the teacher. Now, it was the custom for patients or their friends to provide the herbs which the doctor required, so she asked what herbs he would want. 'I want some mustard seed,' he said; and when the poor girl eagerly promised to bring some of so common a drug, he added, 'You must get it from some house where no son, or husband, or parent, or slave has died.' 'Very good/ she said; and went to ask for it, still carrying her dead child with her. The people said, 'Here is mustard 120 C&e J3eto Cfteologg seed, take it' ; but when she asked, 'In my friend's house has any son died, or a hus- band, or a parent, or slave?' They an- swered, 'Lady! what is this that you say? The living are few, but the dead are many/ Then she went to other houses, but one said, 'I have lost a son,' another, 'We have lost our parents,' another, 'I have lost a slave.' At last, not being able to find a single house where no one had died, her mind began to clear, and summoning up resolution she left the dead body of her child in a forest, and returning to the Buddha paid him homage. He said to her, 'Have you the mustard seed?' 'My lord,' she replied, 'I have not; the people tell me that the living are few, but the dead are many.' Then he talked to her on that essential part of his system, the impermanency of all things, till her doubts were cleared away; she accepted her lot, be- came a disciple and entered the 'first path.' " "Jesus is the resurrection and the life." He raised the dead, opened the eyes of the blind and cleansed the lepers. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. 121 Cfie iQeto Cfieologg Here we have the sorrowing heart-broken young mother seeking life for her dead boy, — seeking comfort, seeking help; but she fails to receive anything but the cold uncom- forting truth that it cannot be helped, that death is the fate of all. No hope, no promise that she shall ever see her dead boy again. The love she has had for her child must die, must perish. The broken heart must be further crushed out; the very desire to see or continue to love her child must die with the child. This record says that Buddha "then talked to her of the impermanency of all things, the essential part of his system, till her doubts were cleared away, she ac- cepted her lot." Sorrowful lot, — without hope and without God in the world. This is the best Buddha could give. The brother- hood of man, and love and charity and good will in this life, — all of which must also per- ish and be forgotten, is as good as Buddha could give ; but it is a mockery, without the Fatherhood of God. How different with Jesus. When the two weeping heart-broken sisters came to Jesus with the faith, with the love, the trust "Lord, 112 Cfie H3eto Cfieologg if thou hadst been here my brother would not have died," and Jesus in His great love and sympathy, with tears coursing down His cheeks, said to them, "He shall live again." And with their great faith in the Son of God, they said, u Lord, we know he shall live in the resurrection"; but He only said, "Have faith." And coming to the grave He said to those present, "Roll ye away the stone"; looking into the open grave, He cried "with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, Lazarus, come forth'." A voice so loud that it has been heard around the world, and Jesus is now acknowledged to be the resurrection and the Life. Here the similarity between Buddha and Jesus ends. Buddha lived for men and died like a man. Jesus lived for God, and died like a God. Among the last words of Buddha were these (Encyclopedia Britannica) : "Theil turning to his disciples he said, 'When I have passed away and am no longer with you, do not think that the Buddha has left you, and is not still in your midst. You have my words, my explanations of the dee£ things C8e iQeto Cfieologp of truth, the laws I have laid down for the society; let them be your guide; the Buddha has not left you.' " Among the last words of Jesus were these. Talking to His disciples, He said: "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you." "In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." "I go to prepare a place for you." "In my Father's house are many man- sions. If it were not so I would have told you." "If a man love me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." "He that Ioveth me not keepeth not my words; and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me." These things have I spoken unto you, while yet abiding with you." "But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you." K 2.4 Cfte iQeto Cfteologg These quotations are all from John's Gos- pel, and according to this record his last words were, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up the Ghost. However, there is more in common be- tween Buddhaism and Christianity than there is between Judahism and Christianity. Buddhasim was founded on the brotherhood of man and charity to all. Christ came to reveal the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Judahism was founded on the principle that "Jehovah is the God of Israel, and Israel is the people of Jehovah." Israel, apparently, had no conception of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Israel worshipped a God who would bless them and curse their enemies. The Jews crucified, rejected the Christ because he revealed the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. The Jewish church of to-day has nothing in common with the church that Jesus said he would build or grow, — a church built upon the rock of con- fession, .... "and the gates of hell shall not be able to prevail against it." The Brahmo-Somaj of India is much more in 125 Ctie Beta Cfieologp line with Christianity than the Jewish church of the nineteenth century. See pages 160 — r i63 of this book, where we quote the doc- trine of Brahmo-Somaj (Brama-Samage) church of religion. At the present time Theosophy is trying to make itself felt among the various re- ligions of the world, though not claiming to be a religion, but its founders claim "That the best interests of religion and science would be promoted by the revival of Sans- krit, Pali, Zend, and other ancient literature, in which the sages and Initiates had pre- served, for the use of mankind, truths of the highest value respecting man and nature." It would have us go back three thousand years to dig up dead thought; thought that has been dead all these years. Thought that has had its day, and served its time and passed into its grave, and been buried. Let it sleep. Truth never dies; although crushed it will rise again. Error only dies amid its worshippers. It is a good thing to let the dead past bury its dead. The doctrine of transmigration of souls has been dead by enlightened minds many, many years, and [126 Cfie jfteto Cfieologg will never be resurrected. Theosophy, al- though not claiming to be a religion, might be called a destroyer of religion. The man who has a consciousness of his being, and a consciousness of his God, when taught to believe that this God, in the econ- omy of his universe, will, at the end of this life, turn him into a dog or a rat or a skunk, or any other animal, would have no use for such a God, and, in fact, could have no use for a religion of any kind. The strength of the Buddhist religion was in the doctrine of the brotherhood of man and charity — not in the transmigration of souls. And yet, a brotherhood of man without a Fatherhood of God is a bastard. What is the true religion? Yours, if you are true to yourself and God. "Of a truth, I perceive that God is no respector of per- sons; but in every nation, he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. Acts 17:26-29: "And he made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their 127 Cfte Jfteto Ctieologg habitations; that they should seek God, if happily they might feel after Him and find Him, though he is not far from each one of us ; for in Him we live, and move and have our being, as certain even of your own poets have said: "For we are also his offspring." "Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the God-head is like unto gold or silver, or stone, graven by arts and device of man." Malachi 2:10: "Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously, every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our Fathers?" I Corinthians 8:6: "Yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through Him." Ephesians 4:6: "One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all, and in all." John 4:23: "But the hour cometh, and now is when the true worshippers shall wor- 1128 C6e H3eto Cfteologg ship the Father in spirit and truth ; for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. God is a spirit; and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." This is the true religion. 129 THE HOLY SPIRIT. "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfec- tion?" — Job ii 17. The Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, being the third person in the trinity, will be as difficult to comprehend as God himself. If our best conceptions of God are limited, so will our best conceptions of the Holy Spirit be limited. The various new revisions of the New Testament have so muddled us that we scarcely know whether to say Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost. When we get through with this article, our readers can choose which they prefer. For myself, I prefer, as I have been accustomed to its use, the phrase "Holy Ghost." I was baptized, first in in- fancy, "In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost," and, afterwards I was bap- tized "into the name of the Father, Son and 13° Cfte iQeto Cfieologp Holy Ghost." The church has used the phrase "Holy Ghost" so long, under the Authorized Version that it seems to me to be a mistake to change it now. The Authorized Version, under King James, was authorized from three sources — Manuscripts, Versions, and Fathers. All combined in the Authorized Version. Most of our laymen, in the various protestant de- nominations will be surprised to learn that most of our preachers are using the Ameri- can Standard Version, in which the phrase "Holy Ghost" does not appear. When the Authorized, or "King James," Version was being prepared, it appears that the Holy Ghost was present, and asserted himself eighty-seven times. When the American Standard Version was being prepared it ap- pears that the Holy Ghost was not present, but that the office was filled by the Holy Spirit. The word "Holy" is a very common word, and can be applied to many, many ob- jects. Anything sacred may be called holy. Under the old dispensation, everything con- nected with the tabernacle, even to the 131 Cbe i0eto Cfieologp horses' bridles, were called holy. The word "Spirit" is a very common word. It can be applied to very many things. The spirit of love, the spirit of harmony, the spirit of goodness, the spirit of kindness, the spirit of devotion, the spirit of patriotism, etc. — all holy. Then we have the spirit of hate, the spirit of envy, the spirit of pride, the spirit of evil, the spirit of revenge, etc., etc. — Evil spirits. The word "Spirit" is used about four hun- dred times in the Old and New Testaments, and the word "Holy" about the same num- ber of times. The phrase "Holy Spirit" is only used three times in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament only four times. Jesus never used the phrase "Holy Spirit" but on one occasion, where he says, "Your Heavenly Father shall give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him." Jesus used the phrase "Holy Ghost," instead of "Holy Spirit." The phrase "Holy Ghost" is used in the New Testament eighty-seven times, and not even once in the Old Testament. 132 C6e H3eto Cfieologp All this is according to the Authorized, or "King James" Version. The Spirit Age was ushered in on the day of Pentacost. Acts 1 14-5 : "And, being as- sembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jeru- salem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence." In the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles we have the full account of the ushering in of the Spirit Age. The Disciples were to wait at Jerusalem for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit has been given. The Comforter has come. We no longer have to wait for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. He is ever pres- ent. He is in every religious meeting. He is in the midst. He occupies a stand in the center of the assembly, and is in touch with everyone in the room. What we have to do is to confess His presence. Fifty years ago, in the opening of a revival meeting, we were told that it was necessary for us, too, to tarry at Jerusalem, to wait for the outpouring of 133 Cfie iQeto Cfjeologg the Holy Ghost. But, on all such occasions now, the Holy Ghost is among the first to enter the church or the congregation. And his power shall be felt in proportion as his presence is confessed, or acknowledged. If we are filled with the Spirit, with the "Holy" Ghost, even the Spirit of Truth, we will be led by the "Spirit of Truth," to do our part and let the "Holy Ghost, even the Spirit of Truth" do his part! Many good Christians people are trying to do the work of the Holy Ghost. If we are filled with the "Holy Ghost, even the Spirit of Truth," we will be taught, by the "Spirit of Truth." We will be led by the "Spirit of Truth." We will be guided by the "Spirit of Truth." "How be it, when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come. He will guide you into all the Truth." He will not guide you into error. He will not guide you into fanaticism. He will not guide you into boasting, spiritual pride, — but He will guide you into all Truth. Blessed Guide. Blessed Leader. Blessed Teacher. Blessed Guest, — who will abide with us even forever. Will our scholarly brethren let me say "Holy [134 Cfte iQeto C&eologg Ghost, even the Spirit of Truth," instead of Holy Spirit? I like it better. In my old age I shall always use the phrase "Holy Ghost, Spirit of Truth." But in deference to the great scholarship and scholarly ability by which the various revis- ionists have conducted their work, we bow to their decisions. And the younger laymen will soon learn to say Holy Spirit, instead of Holy Ghost. We hail with gladness the various revis- ions of the Old Book, realizing that old things are passing away and all things are becoming new. A few more critical revis- ions, and the Old Book will become new. In deference to the scholarship of this century, and in deference to the better conceptions of the Father and the Son daily coming to us, in this age, we hail with gladness the coming of the New Book, the new light, the new Truth; the new Earth and the new Heavens in which dwelleth righteousness. I shall be glad to see a complete revision of the New Testament by the professors of New Testa- ment history selected from the different great universities of Europe and America. It has 135 Cfie i!3eto Cfieologp been claimed by some of these Professors of New Testament History, that some of the writers of the New Testament have attrib- uted certain statements to Jesus which are not in harmony with the life and teachings of Jesus. The world was never so anxious to know, truly, what did Jesus say? A commit- tee or conference of Professors of New Tes- tament History, from the various universi- ties could answer these questions. This com- mittee, representing the scholarship and spir- itual life of this age, could enable us to more fully comprehend "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." We are now in the Spirit Age, and are be- ing guided into the truth — into all truth — as we have never been in the history of the world. We are now in that age spoken of. by Joel, the prophet. The Spirit Age, when our sons and daughters shall prophesy, shall teach; our young men shall see visions, and our old men shall dream dreams. Our daughters are very largely doing the teach- ing in this age. Our young men see visions. Visions of electricity. Visions of railroads. Visions of great commercial enterprises and 136 Cfje iSeto C&eologg great transportation schemes. Visions of colleges and universities. Visions of teleg- raphy, telephone and telepathy. Visions of wireless telegraphy. Visions of airships and aeroplanes. Visionary men are greatly in demand. Practical men, who never do any- thing but what some one else has done before them, are not so much in demand. Our old men are dreaming of the good old times, times they had in their boyhood days. Times that will never return to them. Dreaming of the old time religion, when the greatest re- ligious interests to be had were secured through a fight, through some of the re- ligious denominations. Dreaming of an old time religion that will never return, of the old time revivals that are passing away with the old theology. Dreaming. Dreaming. Old men dreaming. Visionary young men who can see a cable going down under the water, reaching out across the sea, and con- necting two continents. Better still, — vis- ionary young men, bringing all the countries of the world, to be neighbors, by wireless telegraphy, talking from the shores to the ships on the ocean. Wonderful visions! 137 Cfte iSeto Cfieologg More wonderful visions yet in anticipation! Truly, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived of the wonder- ful visions yet in store for us, through the guidance of the "Spirit of Truth," who is so wonderfully leading us into all Truth. Visionary men are in demand in the Arts and Sciences, in Literature, in the Church, in the State and in the Nation. BY ELLA WHEELER WILCOX. The wonderful age of the world I sing — The age of battery, coil and spring, Of steam, and storage, and motored thing. Though faith may slumber and art seem dead, And all that is spoken has once been said, And all that is written were best unread; Though hearts are iron and thoughts are steel, And all that has value is mercantile, Yet marvelous truths shall the age reveal. Aye, greater the marvels this age shall find Than all the centuries left behind, When faith was a bigot and art was blind. [138 Cfje iQeto C&eologg Oh, sorry the search of the world for gods, Through faith that slaughters and art that lauds, While reason sits on its throne and nods. But out of the leisure that men will know, When the cruel things of the sad earth go, A faith that is Knowledge shall rise and grow. Thinner is growing the veil between The visible earth and the world's unseen, The True Religion shall leisure bring; And Art shall awaken and Love shall sing; Oh, ho ! for the age of the motored thing ! m WHAT DID JESUS SAY? Jesus, the greatest character that has ever lived on this earth. Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus, the greatest teacher that ever lived. Jesus, the man Jesus, who, to-day, lives in the hearts of the people as no other man lived. Jesus, the Divine man, God manifest in the flesh. "I am in the Father, and the Father in me." "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works." "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." It is surely of the utmost importance to us to know, what did Jesus say? John closes his gospel with these words: "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." 140 {To face Chapter "What did Jesus Say; The New Theology.} Cfte JT3eto Cfieologg [What Jesus said and did during his three years' ministry, as God manifest in the flesh, will never be fully told on this earth. The human mind cannot fully grasp the thought of "God being manifest in the flesh." The effort of Jesus to explain this to his disciples, (in John's Gospel, Chaps. 14 to 16), was an absolute failure of the part of the disciples. They could not comprehend. They could not believe. Jesus, realizing that they could not grasp the thought of his divinity, of his being One with the Father — in his very des- peration, as it were, — said, "Believe me, that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very work's sake." He might have said, "I have raised the dead; I have opened the eyes of the blind; I have made the deaf to hear; I have healed the lepers; I have made the lame to walk." "Believe me .... or else believe me for the work's sake." Truly, if we could comprehend the infinite, the Father and the Son, then this world could not contain the books that should be written. I anticipate that the occupation in the spirit world, in Heaven, will, in the millions of years to 141 Cfte H3eto C&eologg come, be our growing into the knowledge of God, the Father and the Son. No wonder that the disciples could not be- lieve, could not realize that Jesus, "whose Father and Mother we know" — the "car- penter's son, whose brothers and sisters we know," — could not possjbly be equal with God the Father. Had tKey believed they would not have forsaken him and fled, only a few hours after his wonderful talk with them. But, when their capacities were en- larged, when the Holy Ghost was given, they could believe. After this they could believe, sufficient to die for him. They could then realize that he had, indeed, risen from the dead; that he was still alive, that he was God manifest in the flesh. God cannot re- veal himself to us except as we have the ca- pacity to receive. They could now compre- hend that his words were true. He had not left them comfortless (orphans), but that he had, indeed, come to them — come with the help that they needed; come with the comforter — after all this sorrow, and anguish, and doubt. Come with peace. Come to be their teacher, their leader, to 142 Cfte J13eto Cfieologg lead them into the truth, into all the truth — into the truth that made them free. They could realize now his words, "In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." Blessed truth to us, — that we, too, are thus linked with the Father and the Son. Truly in him we live and move and have our being. Oh, the books that should have been writ- ten along these lines ! And yet, the very large number of books that have been written, supposedly in the interest of Jesus, have been written along lines that he never spoke of or referred to, — sectarian books^ Methodist books, Presbyterian books, Ro- man Catholic books — in fact, books of all the various human organizations called churches. The patience of the world, in this twentieth century, is not able to contain the books that have been written. Now we wish to ask what did Jesus say on the subjects on which many of these books have been written. What did Jesus say about the church? According to the Gospel of John, he never used the word church during his three years' 143 Cfte U3eto Cfteologp ministry. According to the Gospel of Luke, he never used the word "church." Accord- ing to the Gospel of Mark, he never used the word "church." According to the Gospel of Matthew, he never used the word "church," except on two occasions, — then using it only three times, and, on each of these occasions, the word "church" had no reference to the human organizations that we call churches. On the first occasion, Jesus asked his disci- ples — Math. 16:13-18: "Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am? And they said, some say that thou art John the Bap- tist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, but whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter," (being their spokesman), "answered and said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven. And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter," (Petros, a stone), "and upon this rock" (Petra, a rock), "I will build my church" (my ecclesia, or assembly) ; "and 144 Cfte H3eto Cfteologp the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." "Upon this rock," this truth, this con- fession and profession, "I will build my church" (my assembly), — upon this profes- sion and confession, "and the gates of Hades cannot prevail against it." There is noth- ing that can withstand against the confession and profession of Jesus Christ. It is the rock upon which the church of Jesus Christ is built. The Methodist League, or the Christian Endeavor Society, comes the near- est being the "church" that Jesus said he would establish, or build, than any other church organization that I know of. The only other occasion where Jesus used the word "church" is in Matt. 18:15: "Go tell it to the church" — the assembly. These are the only two instances wherein Jesus ever used the word "church" during his three years with his disciples. What did Jesus say about the Kingdom of Heaven, or the Kingdom of God? . He had a great deal to say. He uses the ex- pressions "Kingdom of Heaven" and "King- dom of God" synonomously, and uses them forty-nine times in the Gospel of Matthew, 145 Cfie H3etu C&eologg fifteen times in Mark's gospel, thirty-six times in Luke's gospel, and five times in John's gospel, — thus using the expression "Kingdom of Heaven" or "Kingdom of God," in the four gospels, one hundred and six times. This is the more remarkable when we realize that he only used the word "church" three times as explained above. What is meant by the expression "King- dom of Heaven" or "Kingdom of God"? Let the Apostle Paul answer. Romans 14:17: "For the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Now we shall use this definition of Paul's of the "Kingdom" to illustrate the importance of Jesus' mission. He came to establish a kingdom. Not a temporal kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom. Not a kingdom beyond the skies, but a kingdom here — in this life; a kingdom of righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Not a place, but a condition. "The Kingdom of God is within you." A new life; a life into which we must be born. "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." "Ye 146 Cfie H3eto C&eologg must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the spirit." Everyone, Jesus says; every one. No man can remember when he was born, physically. And we think it is equally true spiritually. We might except Paul, and a few of our Methodist brethren — but Jesus says every one. Most of the par- ables that Jesus used were given to explain the Kingdom of Heaven. If we substitute Paul's definition of the kingdom, as given above, we can understand just what is meant by the Kingdom of Heaven. To illustrate, "Righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" is like unto a grain of mustard seed. It has a very wonderful growth. Or, it is like unto "leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal." It per- meates everything. Or, it "is like unto a merchantman seeking goodly pearls." It is the great pearl, worth all the rest. Or "A rich man shall hardly enter into righteous- ness, and peace, etc." Or "How hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter into Ml Cfie JOeto Cfieologp righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Or "Repent ye, for righteousness, and peace, and joy, etc., is at hand." We could multiply these illustrations, but think these are sufficient. Jesus came to establish a Kingdom of God on earth. It was the "gospel of the King- dom" that he preached; the good tidings of righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. When he sent out the Twelve, he said: "As ye go, preach, saying the King- dom of Heaven is at hand." When he sent out the Seventy h? gave them the same in- structions. It was the gospel of the King- dom. Matthew 24:14, he says: "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations." The last we hear of Paul is in the last verse of the Acts of the Apostles. He was "preaching the Kingdom of God in his own hired house." Many books might be written about what Jesus said about the "Gospel of the King- dom," but you seldom ever hear it referred to in the modern pulpit. What did Jesus say about the Fatherhood 148 Cfie H3eto C&eologg of God and the Brotherhood of Man? It appears that this came in next to the "Gos- pel of the Kingdom" itself. He refers to God as our Father in John's gospel one hundred and seventeen times; in Luke's gospel, nine times; in Mark's gospel, five times; in Matthew's gospel, forty-two times. Jesus was crucified because he claimed to be the Son of God. He not only revealed the fact that he was the Son of God, but that we were sons of God also. When he at- tempted to explain to his disciples that he was the Son of God they could not com- prehend him. He had taught them to say, "Our Father" when they prayed. He made it very plain that God is not only our Fa- ther, but that every man is our brother. He used the word Father seventeen times in the sermon on the mount. When this ser- mon is fully comprehended, the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man will be established on the earth. The Kingdom of Heaven will then be, in deed and in truth, in our midst. What did Jesus say about teaching? That was the important thing in his life and 149 Cfte J3eto Cfteologp in his work. "He went about teaching" — i constantly teaching. His main work was teaching — publishing the glad tidings of righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, and his last message to us was, "Go teach (disciple) all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost; teaching them to ob- serve all things whatsoever I have com- manded you, and Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Teaching them to observe what? "All things whatso- ever I have commanded you" — not the things that I never referred to, but the things that I spake of. Things of the Gospel of the Kingdom. Things of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man. This was his mission. Teaching. Send- ing his followers out ,to teach; teaching, preaching, publishing the glad tidings of righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. This should be the work of the church. Everybody should be a member of some church organization; should either be a teacher or be taught. The only com- mission Jesus ever gave to any one was to [i£0 Cfte JSeto Cfieolosg go preach, or teach, the gospel of the King- dom. The great need of the world today is to be taught. We come into this world more helpless than a little chicken. It can get around and look out for its food. But the little human baby would lie there and die, if it could get no help; and it would never know anything if it were not taught, and it only becomes what it is taught to be. I wish I could impress upon my readers the importance of teaching. I will give you this example. In one of our States, Wis- consin, I believe, a man was convicted of murder and sentenced to the penitentiary for life. He was said to be one of the most vicious and desperate of men that ever en- tered the State's prison. He had never been properly taught. In the prison life he had to do some thinking, and he became inter- ested in the prison teaching and showed a willingness to learn. The officials of the prison encouraged him and gave him an op- portunity to study. He took up civil engi- neering, and within a few years he became one of the most expert engineers in the State. The Governor pardoned him out, and se- »5* Cf)e jQeto Cfieologg cured him a position of $2,000 per year sal- ary. This case only shows the power of teaching. Jesus was the great teacher, and well understood that the success of his king- dom depended on correct teaching. The twelve apostles were twelve ordinary men, unlearned, belonging to the common people, and Jesus, as shown in his last talk with his Apostles, realizing that they were dull and unable to comprehend him, said, "I will not leave you comfortless' (orphans), helpless, without a teacher. I will come to you." I will give you another comforter, another teacher, (aleader — who will lead you into the truth; into all truth; a teacher who will be your guest (the Holy Ghost), who will abide with you forever. This promise to his apostles, to lead them into all truth, comes to us today with more force than it did to the apostles. Comes to the world today with more force than it had two thousand years ago. Jesus then was only the leader of his apostles and a few disciples. Today he is the recognized leader of the world. He is the recognized teacher of the world. He lives in the hearts of the 152 Cfte I3eto C&eologg people of today as he never has since He was on the earth. He is leading the world into all the truth as he never has done be- fore. He is opening the way for the truth, religiously, scientifically, commercially. Truth commands in the churches today as it never has before, and we are willing to loose our little, narrow, baby lives, in order that we may receive the larger, better life. It com- mands in our churches today in proportion as the old theology is giving place to the new. Truth commands in our colleges and univer- sities today as never has before. Truth commands in our scientific laboratories; noth- ing passes there but truth; nothing passes in our chemical laboratories but truth. Some of the wonderful truths into which we have been led in the last fifty years; the truths in connection with steam; the truths in connec- tion with electricity; the truths in connection with the transportation problems; the truths in connection with telegraph, the telephone, the wireless telegraphy — wonderful truths ! Jesus not only promised to lead us into all truth, but He also said that after he was gone we should do greater things than He *S3 CSe iSeto Cfieologp did while on the earth. The greater things are now being done, and we, with expecta- tions, are still looking for greater. All to come through teaching. Today it should be every man's business to be a teacher, in the sense that, "Freely you have received, freely give." If you know more than your brother, give him the advantage of your greater knowledge. Give him your help in this sense. Jesus went about teaching and preaching the gospel of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. How will this Holy Ghost, this Teacher, this Spirit of Truth lead us into all Truth? Just in proportion as we have the capacity to receive the truth. We must grow into the knowledge of the truth. God is truth. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. We must be led into the truth. The world has never been so fully led into the truth as it has been in the last fifty years. We should be willing to be led into the truth, no differ- ence how badly it shatters our former faiths or beliefs. It has settled many vexed ques- tions in the religious world within the last fifty years. The advancement in power — * ;I54 Cfte n3eto Cfteologp steam power, motive power, electricity — during the last fifty years has been greater than that during the preceding fifteen hun- dred years. All this advancement — all these inventions — are the triumphs of truth. Everything not in harmony with the teach- ings of Jesus is error. Everything in har- mony with the love and life of Jesus is truth. He is the truth. He was our example. He suffered that others might live. He lived a perfect life. He said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself." Himself — put away his selfishness. "Take up his cross and follow me." If we live for self, we lose the entire Spirit of the Christ. "For whosoever shall lose his life for my sake" — for the truth's sake shall find a larger, grander and better life. "For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and forfeit his life, or what shall a man give in exchange for his life." "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." A grander, bet- ter life. Jesus also said, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, ye have no life in yourselves." Again he MS €f)e jQeto C&eologp says: "The words that I have spoken unto you are spirit and they are life, but there are some of you that believe not." Jesus knew that his disciples could not compre- hend this, but that they would be able to comprehend it after the Holy Ghost was given — the Spirit of Truth. "In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." Then they could realize what it is to be fed by the flesh and blood, nourished and strengthened by the very life of the Christ — one with the Christ and the Father. This gives us the assurance of our divinity. Children of God, heirs of God, and joint heirs with the Christ. This might have been getting pretty close to the things that Jesus referred to when he said, "There are many things that I would like to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." In the future — after we have been taught by the Holy Ghost, led by the Spirit of Truth, there may be many books written about the things we cannot bear now. Under the old theology many books have been written about Heaven, Hell, Sin, Holi- ness, The Plan of Salvation, Redemption, 156 Cfte H3eto Cfteologp Consecration, Revivals, Evangelists, etc. Now we want to see what Jesus said about these various subjects. What did Jesus say about Heaven? He taught us that Heaven was a Place, but that the Kingdom of Heaven was only a condi- tion — a condition of righteousness and peace. He was very explicit and plain in what He had to say about Heaven as a place. He said that "in my Father's house are many mansions. " Then, to settle any doubts we might have had about it, He said, "If it were not so I would have told you." Giving us perfect assurance that he had been there and knew what he was talking about. He said, I came from there; I lived there before "Abraham was." "I came out from the Fa- ther and am come into the world." Again, "I leave the world and go unto the Father." Nothing could be plainer. He did not say much about Heaven. Not near so much as a great many good men have said, who have never been there. Possibly he would have liked to have told us more, when He said, "you cannot bear them now." But the Teacher, the Holy Ghost, who is to 157 Cfie Jfteto Cfteologp abide with you, he has been there; I will send Him from there to live with you while you are on earth; He will tell you. He will bring all things to your remembrance that I have said unto you.' Paul says : "It is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for them that love Him." The mansions are prepared. And God is revealing those things unto us by His Spirit, just as fast as we are able to receive them. Jesus had much more to say about the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, in this life, than he had about the Kingdom beyond the skies. Seek first the Kingdom of God in this life — righteousness and peace in this life, and all things will be added. Joy in the Holy Ghost, in this life will be added, and Heaven anticipated. What did Jesus say about Hell as a place of endless Torment — Endless Torture? — According to John's gospel, He never used the word, "Hell, Gehenna, as a place of tor- ment. John was called the beloved disciple. He was possibly more intimate with Jesus than any of the apostles, and yet, according 158 Cfte H3eto Cfteologg to John's Gospel, he never mentioned the subject. This is unexplainable from the standpoint of the old theology. In Luke's Gospel we have a record of what he said in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. In Matthew's gospel, he says: "Whosoever shall say to his brother, thou fool! shall be in danger of the hell of fire." In Mark's Gospel, he says: "If thine hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched, etc." There is no controversy in the Christian world over future punishment. We have an illustration of future punishment every day, in every walk of life. The farmer who fails to sow is punished by lack of food or sus- tenance. The boy who fails to get an edu- cation suffers the consequence all through his after life. Lost opportunity, endless, never returns. The man who cuts his hand or his foot is punished in the future, until it is healed; but, if he cuts his foot off, he is punished eternally. The foot will never, never be replaced. Nothing truer than, l S9. Cfte JOeto Cfteologp "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap." The doctrine of endless torment, endless torture is not in line with the teaching and life of Jesus. The origin of the doctrine of endless torment was not Christian, not even' Hebrew or Jewish. Here is a sample of the Hindu and Persian thought on this subject. We quote from the Hindu and Persian sa- cred books : "Here worlds of nauseating disgust, of loathsome agonies, of intolerable terrors, pass before us. Some are hung up by their tongues or by their eyes, and slowly de- voured by fiery vermin; some scourged with whips of serpents, whose poisonous fangs lacerate their flesh at every blow; some forced to swallow bowls of gore, hair, and corruption, freshly filled as fast as drained; some packed immovably in red-hot iron chests, and laid in raging furnaces for unut- terable millions of ages." We also quote from a Brahmanic priest, who tells of a man who, for neglecting to meditate on the mystic monosyllable 'Om' before praying, was "thrown down in hell 1 60 Cfje H3eto Cfieologp on an iron floor, and cleaved with an axe, then stirred in a cauldron of molten lead till covered all over with the sweated foam of torture, like a grain of rice in an oven, and then fastened, with head downwards, to a chariot of fire and urged onward with a red- hot goad." Such thoughts as the above could come only from a bad heart, an evil heart, from incarnate devils. Jesus could not entertain a thought so evil, so Satanic. In fact, the wickedest man I know of could not harbor a thought so cruel. But even these ancient peoples are grow- ing out of this old theology, as shown by the Brahma creed as given by the Encyclopedia Britannica. We quote from an article by Prof. Julius Eggeling, Ph.D., Professor of Sanscrit and Comparative Philology, Uni- versity of Edinburgh: — "The Brahma creed was definitely formu- lated as follows: (i) The book of nature and intuition supplies the basis of religious faith. (2) Although the Brahmas do not consider any book written by men the basis of their religion, yet they do accept with re- 161 Cfie U3eto Cfieologg spect and pleasure any religious truth con- tained in any book. (3) The Brahmas be- lieve that the religious condition of man is progressive, like the other departments of his condition in this world. (4) They be- lieve that the fundamental doctrines of their religion are also the basis of every true re- ligion. (5) They believe in the existence of one Supreme God — a God endowed with a distinct personality, moral attributes worthy of His nature, and an intelligence befitting the Governor of the universe, and they wor- ship Him alone. They do not believe in any of his incarnations. (6) They believe in the immortality and progressive state of the soul, and declare that there is a state of conscious existence succeeding life in this world and supplementary to it as respects the action of the universal moral government. (7) They believe that repentence is the only way to sal- vation. They do not reconcile any other mode of reconcilement to the offended but loving Father. (8) They pray for spiritual welfare, and believe in the efficacy of such prayers. (9) They believe in the providen- tial care of the Divine Father. (10) They 162 Cfte ifteto C&eologp avow that love towards Him and the per- formance of the works which He loves, con- stitute His worship. ( 1 1 ) They recognize the necessity of public worship, but do not believe that communion with the Father de- pends upon meeting in any fixed place at any fixed time. They maintain that they can adore Him at any time and at any place, provided that the time and the place are calculated to compose and direct the mind towards him. (12) They do not believe in pilgrimages, and declare that holiness can only be at- tained by elevating and purifying the mind. '(13) They put no faith in rites or cere- monies, nor do they believe in penances, as instrumental in obtaining the grace of God. They declare that moral righteousness, the gaining of wisdom, divine contemplation, charity, and the cultivation of devotional feelings are their rites and ceremonies. They further say, Govern and regulate your feel- ings, discharge your duties to God and to man and you will gain everlasting blessed- ness ; purify your heart, cultivate devotional feelings, and you will see Him who is un- seen. (14) Theoretically, there is no dis- 163 Cfte Jl2eto Cfteologp tinction of caste among the Brahmas. They declare that we are all the children of God, and therefore must consider ourselves as brothers and sisters." Here we see India, during the last fifty years, has grown out of her old theology into a new and better theology. Our own mis- sionaries would not dare to go to India to- day with a gospel of endless torment after death. And yet, it is not many years since our missionaries and Missionary Boards talked in this way. We quote from the appendix of a book published by Minot Judson Savage, D.D., on "The Passing and the Permanent in Re- ligion" : "An American missionary, after his return from China, said: 'Fifty thousand a day go down to the fire that is not quenched. Six hundred millions more are going the same road. Should you not think, at least once a day, of the fifty thousand who that day sink to the doom of the lost?" The American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions says: "To send the Gos- pel to the heathen is a work of great exi- 164 C6e U3eto C&eologp gency. Within the last thirty years a whole generation of five hundred millions have gone down to eternal death." Again, the same Board say in their tract, "The Grand Motive to Missionary Effort" : " 'The heathen are involved in the ruins of apostasy, and are expressly doomed to per- dition. Six hundred millions of deathless souls on the brink of hell! What a spec- tacle ! "Rev. Dr. Cleveland, New Haven, 1863: 'Glorious things have been achieved, it is true. But, after all, there are six hundred millions still groping in the shadow of death, and perishing, twenty millions a year!' " What did Jesus say about Sin and Holi- ness? — According to all the gospels he never used the word "sin," but on these several oc- casions, in such references as the following: "Sin against the Holy Ghost," "He that is without sin cast the first stone," "Whoso committeth sin is the servant of sin," "If you were blind, ye would have no sin," "Had I not spoken unto them, they had not had sin," "But now they have no excuse for their sin," "The Comforter will reprove the world 16s C6e Beta C&eologg of sin," u He that delivered me has the greater sin," "How oft shall thy brother sin," "Sin no more lest a worse thing come upon thee," "Neither do I condemn thee; go, sin no more." From the above occasions we can only gather that "sin is a transgression of the law," a transgression of the written law or a transgression of the law that God has put in our minds and written on our hearts. Now, is it possible that Jesus would be the close friend and associate of His apostles for three years, and never say anything about the awfulness of sin as depicted in the old the- ology. Is it not likely that the erroneous ideas about sin and holiness that the heathen world has had, and the low conception of God held by them, has influenced the He- brew or Jewish thought aleng these lines? The Hindu thought that God made His own children so sinful and unholy that they must pass through many, many reincarnations be- fore their God of Holiness can have any- thing to do with them. The various theories, or lines of thought, entertained by the heathen world on the subject of God. Crea- 166 Cfte H2eto Cfteologg tion, Sin, Holiness, etc., have evidently in- fluenced the Hebrew or Jewish thought along these lines. The word "Holy" is used in the Old Tes- tament seventy times; but Jesus never used the word "Holy" but five times, and only once he applied it to the Father, when he said, "O Holy Father." The word "holi- ness" is used in the Old Testament twenty- three times, but Jesus never used the word at all. Is not this very remarkable — that Jesus has had so little to say about Sin and Holiness, when the old Theology has had so much to say? Holiness, in the Old Testa- ment, was applied to pots and vessels in the sanctuary, and even the horses' bridles were holy. Everything set apart for God was holy. We want to call the attention of our Brother Laymen to some things that the various Church organizations have empha- sized, that have occupied the time and atten- tion of the Church, but in which Jesus has apparently not been interested. What did Jesus say about Sanctificationf He never used the word. What did Jesus 1167 C&e H3eto Cfieologp say about consecration? He never used the word. What did Jesus say about Evangel- ists? He never used the word. What would Jesus think of a traveling, money-making Evangelist, touring the country, gathering in the dollars by the $100,000 — accumulating more than $200,000 within ten years, more money than he could make in playing base- ball in a hundred years? Is it possible to conceive of Jesus doing that kind of work, in the interest of the Gospel of the Kingdom? In making inquiry along these lines, as to what Jesus had to say about the various sub- jects that have occupied the time and atten- tion of the various Church organizations all these years, I have been surprised to find that Jesus had so little, or nothing, to say. What did Jesus say about the plan of sal- vation? Nothing. According to the four gospels, he never referred to it; never used the expression, "plan of salvation"; never knew there was any plan of salvation. He never used the word salvation but once. That was when he met the Samaritan woman at the well. The Jews and Samaritans had no dealings. Each claimed the correct copy of ;i68 Cfte jQeto C&eologp the Bible, the Pentateuch, and we all know that there are no fights more bitter than re- ligious fights. So the Samaritan woman, woman-like, was ready to take up the old fight; and she said to Jesus, "How is it that thou, being a Jew, asketh drink of me, which am a Samaritan woman?" This gave Jesus the opportunity to reveal Himself to this Samaritan woman. He soon convinced her that He was the real bread of life, the real water of life ; the living water, of which, if a man drink, he will never thirst. The woman asks for this living water, that she may never again thirst. How readily the Holy Spirit gives us the things we honestly ask for, for she immediately perceives that he is a prophet, or the Christ. Still she could not quite get away from the old fight between the Jews and the Samaritans, and she said: "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place that men ought to worship." "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when neither in this mountain, nor in Jeru- salem, shall ye worship the Father" — com- promising the old fight between the Jews and 169 Cfie J!2eto Cfteologp Samaritans as to where they should worship God; teaching her that the true worship was to worship the Father, in spirit and in truth. That the true salvation was spiritual salva- tion; not a Jewish or Hebrew salvation, from your enemies, from every earthly ill; but the true spiritual salvation that saves now, that quenches the thirst now; that saved the Samaritan woman then and there and many of her friends, enabling them to con- fess the Christ — the salvation that comes from confession and profession. This is the only time that Jesus ever used the word "sal- vation," although it is used sixty times in the Old Testament and forty times in the new. In the Old Testament it is used largely as an earthly salvation — a salvation from enemies - — "Wrought salvation in Israel;" "Jona- than wrought a great salvation," "Wait and see the salvation of the Lord," "Help us, O God of our salvation," etc. But in no in- stance, in the Old Testament, is it used as a salvation from endless punishment, according to the old Theology. In the forty times that the word is used in the New Testament, Jesus only used it once^-on the occasion just re- [170 Cfie ii3eto C&eologg f erred to; and He never used the expression "plan of salvation," about which the old the- ology has written so much. A plan ; a plan to save a sin-cursed world from the tortures of an endless Hell. An old theological plan. A plan to counteract the fall of man. A plan to beat, overcome, get ahead of the Devil, who got into the world somehow, but God does not know exactly how, and the old the- ology won't tell. It is an old plan; an old theological plan. Strange, but Jesus in his three years' ministry never referred to it! A plan that included Jesus, a plan in which Jesus was supposed to be the principal actor, and yet, in his three years ministry never re- ferred to it! I am glad to note that intelli- gent ministers, in most of the leading churches, in the Protestant denominations, seldom refer to it any more in their sermons. Old things are passing away, and all things are becoming new. Old theologies are rapidly passing away and giving place to the new. Some of our advanced thinkers are predicting a new religion, say "the present church does not fulfill its purpose ; must face life problems." 1171 C&e jQeto Cfieologg Why, the new religion is already here! There is no religious denomination that I know of that stands where it did fifty years ago, not even the Catholic. And fifty years hence no one of them will stand where they do today. We might say twenty-five years hence. The new religion is already here. It is simply a growth out of the old, and will continue to grow into the new! The New Religion, in its growth, is fast learning to fulfill the purposes of the Church and face all of life's problems. What did Jesus say about the Covenant, or Covenants that God made with his Peo- ple, the Hebrews, or Jews? He never used the word "covenant, or covenants" during his ministry with His disciples. Three years of close association, teaching, revealing unto us the things of most vital interest to us — and never used the word "covenant" ! The word "covenant" is used in the Old Testament seventy-seven times. "Book of the Covenant" used three times; "Established covenant" is used four times; "Everlasting covenant" is used nine times; "Keep (or kept) covenant" is used eleven times. "Made 172 Cfte iQeto C&eologp covenant" is used thirty-two times; "Make covenant" is used fifteen times; "New cove- nant" is used two times; "Remember cove- nant" five times, and "Transgressed cove- nant" nine times — using the word "covenant" one hundred and sixty-seven times; and yet Jesus never used the word! The word "covenant" is used in the New Testament sixteen times and yet Jqsus never used the word ! No wonder the Jews crucified Him, for He was, verily, a heretic from a Jewish standpoint. *73 THE BIBLE. The Bible, to me, is the greatest book in the world. It is not the greatest book in the world, to those that have never read it or who know but little about it. It is the great- est collection of truth in the world, to the truth-seeker. It is not all the truth. It is truth only to those who comprehend it and who love the truth. It is no truth to the man who never reads it. It is not much truth to the man who prides himself in say- ing that he believes everything in the Bible from cover to cover, and yet knows but lit- tle that is between the covers. It is not much truth to the sceptic, who says he don't want to believe it. It is not much truth to the man who swallows it whole, or attempts to, and gets choked on it, and is ever after- wards dead to all spiritual life. It is too big a dose to swallow whole, and it will al- 174 Cfte iSeto Cfieologg ways prove disastrous to the man who at- tempts it. Like other systems of truth, it must be taken in small doses at first. In mathematical truth, we must first learn addi- tion. In Biblical truth, we must first learn to add: "Add to your faith, virtue — and to virtue, knowledge — and to knowledge, tem- perance — and to temperance, patience — and to patience, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness — and to brotherly kind- ness, love." This mathematical course will enable you to prove the truth of the Bible. We have many men and women, Christian men and women, who have never had any- thing but the milk of the Word. A strong dose of the meat of the Word would kill them, as sure as a strong dose of solids would kill a two weeks' old baby. They are Christians, live Christians — as alive as any milk-fed baby. They like the milk of the Word — so well that they don't care about anything else. They are as happy as chil- dren, and at their social meetings they ex- change bottles with each other, just as chil- dren exchange their chewing gum. They know that they are alive, and always doubt 175 Cfte iSeto Cfteologp the genuineness of any other Christians larger than themselves. A full-grown man or woman in Christ Jesus would frighten them as a little baby is frightened by the sight of a stranger. Good people. God bless them, and put them into the Baby Class when they reach heaven. Strange ! I knew a mother once who, for some reason, de- clined to wean her baby until it was four or five years old, and then she found it very difficult to wean it. It would not only cry for its milk, but would fight its mother for it. By a little inquiry, you can get the testi- mony of mothers on this subject. The older a child gets the more difficult it is to wean it. So we will always have a supply of milk-fed Christians. But they don't get much out of the truth of the Bible. Their opinions about the truth of the Bible is worth about as much as the opinion of a boy, in mental arithmetic, would be about a proposition in Trigonom- etry. Unfortunately, we have some of those milk-fed Christians who are preachers. They got a taste of the milk of the Word years ago (and it does taste well), and they liked 176 Cfte iSeto Cfteologg it. They liked the work of distributing it to others, and .were under these conditions made preachers. They were never weaned, and they continue to use only the milk of the Word — and give it out to others. They have bottled large quantities of it, and al- ways have a supply on hand. Most of the milk-fed Christians don't get the real mother milk. They use the bottled milk, supplied by the milk-fed preachers. God bless them! But the Bible is not much truth to them! They have not the capacity to receive the truth. The Bible is not much truth to our Roman Catholic laymen, because they are not ex- pected to read it. The Bible does not contain all the truth. There are other systems of truth in the world, with which we have much to do. There are the great Mathematical truths, without which we could not get along. We could not even build our houses without them. We could not even divide up the earth, that God has given to all the people, each of us grabbing for all we can get of it, without the great truths of Mathematics. 177 Cfte jQeto Cfieologg We could not build our cities, we could not build our railroads, our tunnels, our sub- ways — our so many things, without the great truths of Mathematics. Then there are the great Chemical truths, that are essential to our very existence. Without them, we could not distinguish between poison and health- giving products. Then we have much to do with the wonderful scientific truths in this age of the world, in which the Bible is sup- posed to be silent. David was evidently seeking truth outside of revelation, when he said, 'I was made in secret, in the lowest parts of the earth;' I cannot get away from my Maker, but I cannot understand the secret of the origin of human life. "Such knowl- edge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain to it." (Psalms 139). The Bible is not supposed to contain all the truth, but Jesus says (John 16: 12) : "I have many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all Truth." Jesus could not reveal very much truth to us, and he said, "You cannot bear it now." We did not have the capacity 178 C&e JQeto Cfteologg to receive it then. But the spirit of truth is in the world today as it never has been be- fore. We are not only living in the Spirit Age, but the "Spirit of Truth" is at work, and He, the Spirit of Truth, dictates, speaks, guides, in the chemical laboratories, in the scientific laboratories, in the commercial world, in the literary world, in our great uni- versities, in the religious world, as it never has before. The Bible today (the truth of the Bible) reaches more people than it ever has done in the history of the world. It is not truth to the person who gets an incorrect interpretation of the Bible. For all Scripture must be interpreted according to the circumstances and conditions under which it was written. It is necessary to know who is speaking, who he is speaking to, and what he is speaking about. Even the simplest sentence in almost any language will bear two or three different interpretations. Take the sentence from Blair's Rhetoric, "Did you walk into the city yesterday? No, I rode. Did you walk into the city yesterday? No, I went into the country. Did you walk into the city yesterday? No, I went the day be- 17? Cfte K3eto Cfteologp fore." Here we use the same sentence, word for word and letter for letter, yet it requires three different interpretations ! So, the Bible is not much truth to any one who gets a wrong interpretation of it. It is not much truth to the man who takes it all literally. Jesus said, "The words that I spake unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." The Bi- ble is not much truth to the man who reads and takes the book of Jonah literally, and be- lieves that the whale swallowed Jonah, sim- ply because, literally the Bible says so — and if it had said that Jonah swallowed the whale, he would have believed that. He fails to get the truth, the great truth; that we all, occasionally, want to go to Tarshish when God wants us to go to Nineveh; to learn to do the will of our Father — the great truth that God has more pity for a people "who cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand," than we have for "a gourd — that comes up in a night and perishes in a night." The Bible is not much truth to him who is unwilling to be led by the Spirit of Truth; but it is all truth to him who is willing to be 180 Cfte iQeto Cfieologg taught — willing to be led by the Spirit of Truth, who will lead him into the truth that will make him free. Blessed Bible. Blessed Truth. Jesus is the way, the Truth and the life. Whoso- ever would lose his little, narrow, baby life for the truth's sake, will find a large, better life. 181 LIFE. Of all the animal creations, man comes into this world among the most helpless. More helpless than the horse or the cow or the sheep; more helpless than a little chicken. When the horse comes into this life he is soon on his feet, without help, seeking life from his mother's milk, soon nipping the grass provided for him by the Creator, and, with food and clothing provided, he is soon able to gallop off over the plains indepen- dent of any other horse for his living. But how is it with man? He comes into this life absolutely helpless. Without help he would lay there and die. But with the help of his mother, he soon grows into a larger life — but continues to be dependent, to need help all through his life, even to the very end of his life. He needs help even to die. I might illustrate this more clearly by .182 Cfie H3eto Cfieologg showing how helpless and dependent I am this morning. I am dependent on some one for the pen with which I am writing this ar- ticle. I am dependent upon some one for the table upon which I am writing. I am de- pendent on many persons this morning for the breakfast I had — dependent, even, on the chicken that furnished the eggs to eat — dependent on some one for the plate I had to eat on. I am dependent on some one for every article of food that comes on my table. I am dependent on some one for every ar- ticle of clothing I wear. If I go down to town this morning I shall be dependent on somebody's street-car, as I have none of my own to ride on; or I must depend on some- body for an automobile to ride in, as I can- not make one of my own. If I go to St. Louis tomorrow I must use somebody's steam cars, some one's railroad, as I have none of my own. I am dependent on some one for the very house I live in, as I never could build one of my own. Thus, we are enabled to see how depen- dent we are for food and raiment, and for all our bodily comforts. And yet we are de- Li8a C6e H2eto C&eologg pendent on each other for our intellectual and spiritual attainments. The little baby would never know anything if it was not taught. All we know comes from our teach- ing. Taking in all our environments, and all our advantages, we are all simply just as we have been taught. God gave the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air a perfect rule of faith and practice, and they are just as perfect as when He first made them. No more. No advancement. But he gave man a thinker; reason, power to help and de- velop each other. But this power to teach, to help each other, has something back of it that the other animals have not got. It has love back of it. God back of it; for God is love. It is love that prompts the mother to teach the child, to help the child. It is love that prompts each of us to do for, and help each other. A mother's love goes with us — not only through our infancy, but all through our lives. This love not only goes with us to the end of mother's life, but it goes to the end of each of our own lives and will meet us on the other shore. God is love. There are two personalities from .184 €!>e I3eto C&eologp whom we cannot get away. The sooner we know them both, the better for us. The one is God. The other is Self. We cannot get away from God. If we ascend up to Hea- ven, he is there. If we make our bed in Hades, he is there. If we take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, he is there. There is no getting away from God. There is no getting away from Self. You may try it, but you will fail. The young man who is tired of Self and Home may go West, but he will find Self getting off the same train that he does. The society man or woman may try it; they may go to Europe, but they will find Self stopping at the same hotel with them. Better get acquainted with these two personalities. You will be happier. You will be satisfied with your helplessness and your dependence. You will be dependent all through this life and the next. We had to have help to get into this life, we have to have help to live all the way through this life, and we have to have help to get out of this life. We cannot even commit suicide without help. We must use some one's poison, or some one's rope, or C6e JOeto C&eologg somebody's lake — somebody's something to help us out of this life. A man came from Iowa this week to Chicago to commit suicide. He says he tramped the streets of Chicago for two days, trying to decide how to do it. He finally jumped off the Clark Street bridge into the river. But a man passing happened to see him, and jumped into the water, and, with the aid of a policeman, rescued him. He had no river of his own, and, in trying to use the Chicago River, a Chicago man would not allow him to use it. We must have help on the sick-bed, trying to die (or live, pos- sibly). We need some one to help us, to turn us in the bed, to give us a drink of water, to quench our thirst; to soften our pillow, to look into our eyes, giving assur- ance of love. O, we are so dependent — in life and in death. We cannot die, even, with- out help. Now, this help that helps comes to us all along our lives, from infancy to old age, prompted by love. "Love is the fulfilling of the law." Love is back of all the real help we get in this life and the life to come. Back of the mother's help, back of the fa- .186. Cfte iQeto Cfteologp ther's help. Back of the help of friends. Back of the Christ help. There never was so much love in the world as there is to-day. There never has been so many hospitals, for the sick in this world, as there are to-day — and more being built. There never were so many institutions for the deaf, and the blind, and the incurables, as there are to-day — all prompted by Love. There never was so much Teaching in the world as there is to- day. There never was so much gratuitous teaching as there is to-day. Teaching by the Church, teaching by the Sunday-schools, teaching by the various Young People's So- cieties, teaching by the public schools, teach- ing by private schools, teaching by our many and great universities. There never was so much teaching by the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Ghost — leading into all truth. There never was such a Spirit of Truth abroad in the land, as there is to-day. The spirit of truth that makes us free, and is shattering former idols and former beliefs. We are just so dependent spiritually as we are bodily and mentally. The new-born soul would die if it never got any help. It 187. Cfte H3eto Cfieologp must have the God-Mother help. As it grows it needs the help of brothers and sis- ters, and all the helps that come to us in our spiritual and religious life. The help that comes from our environments, from the va- rious things that make us grow — that make us grow into the likeness of our Heavenly Father. Jesus illustrated this when he said : See the grass, see the lily; see how they grow. The lily that grows so beautiful, that Solomon in all his glory was not to be compared to it for beauty. "Wherefore if God so clothes the lily, the grass, which to- day is cast into the oven, How much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith." If he so clothes the lily, How? By growth. By help from outside influences. Every lit- tle dew-drop makes its impress on the lily. Every little ray of light does its part in per- fecting the lily. Even the darkness has its part in shading and bringing out the beauti- ful colors in the lily. How much more will He clothe you spiritually? How? Just as He clothes the lily. By growth, by help — outside help. By the little silent influences that come to you each day. Help upon 188 Cfte iQeto Cfteologg which we are absolutely dependent. Help that will grow a character more beautiful than the lily. Help that will enable us to grow into the likeness of the Father and the Son, and be able to comprehend Jesus, when He said: "In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." 189 CHURCH. Jesus never organized a Church, or never gave any directions about organizing a Church. He never said he would organize a Church. He was apparently disgusted with the organized Jewish Church. He said to the officers of the Jewish Church, Matt. 23 : 13, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye shut up "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost against men; for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in." Again, "Woe unto you, scribes and Phari- sees (officers of the Jewish Church), hypo- crites: for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him two-fold more the child of hell than yourselves." Jesus did say he would build or grow a Church, Matt. 16:18, when Peter made 190 Cfte H3eto Cfteologp that wonderful confession, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," and Jesus replied, "Flesh and blood hath not re- vealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven." Then Jesus gives us the basis upon which he will build, or groiv, his Church. He then says to Peter, the spokes- man for his disciples, "That thou art Peter (Petros, a stone), and upon this rock (Petra) I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades, shall not prevail against it." Jesus here proposes to build, or grow, his Church upon this great truth, the rock Christ Jesus, or the confession of this truth. A confession made, "not by flesh and blood, but by the Father," through his spirit. The rock upon which the Church of Jesus Christ is being built, or grown, is the rock of Con- fession and profession. And nothing can prevail against it. The confession of the Christ, made through the Father, through the Holy Ghost, goes to the hearts of the most hardened sinners and brings them to the Christ. This is the rock upon which Jesus Christ is building his church, and he is still building. His Church is still grow- 191 Cfte iQeto Cfteologp ing and will continue to grow, until this Gos- pel of the Kingdom, this Gospel of Right- eousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, shall be preached to all the Nations of the world. What a wonderful growth the Church of Jesus Christ is having. Truly it is like the mustard seed, in spreading its branches, through its growth. Like the leaven that the woman hid in three measures of meal, permeating to the innermost parts. A grow- ing Church. A Church being built by Jesus Christ. The keys given to the disciples. Not to the Pope. Not to the bishops. Not to the Elders, but to the "Petroses," the living, individual stones, in this building. The most wonderful building in the world! — the church of Jesus Christ. A spiritual building. And the keys in the hands of the spiritual power, men and women who can testify through the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. This is the power that binds in earth, and in heaven. All power has been given to this builder, to Jesus Christ, who is still building and growing His church. All hu- 192 Ci)e jQeto Cfteologg man organizations called churches are suc- cessful in their work just in proportion as they are in harmony with the builder. The Church of Jesus Christ is a growth, and the individual members have to grow into har- mony with the builder, and into the knowl- edge of the Father, and the Son. If we had an infallible church, an infal- lible rule of faith and practice, there would be no growth. Each individual church- member must grow. He is only a babe in Christ at first, but if he grows, he will reach the full stature of a man in Christ Jesus. In regard to the various human organiza- tions called churches, we think that Denom- inationalism is the next best thing to Con- gregationalism, where every church is inde- pendent. Jesus is using, very largely now, Denominationalism to build His church. But each individual Stone will find its place, and be fitted into the building by the Master Builder, Jesus Christ. Paul was a Jew, belonged to that class of Jews that crucified the Christ. Was among the chief persecutors of the followers of 193. C6e H3eto Cfteologp Jesus, until he was converted. He probably never heard Jesus make the statement that He would build a Church in which the Christ, the Son of the living God, and the Confession of the Christ would be the rock, the truth upon which He would build His church. After his conversion he was still a Jew, and labored as energetically to Juda- ize Christianity as he had labored to destroy it. When Paul was converted he was only a babe in Christ, like the rest of us, and had to grow into the knowledge of the Father and the Son. Being a Jew, he immediately took up the Jewish idea of a Messiah which has never materialized, even to this day, the Jews themselves being witnesses. The effort to Christianize Judaism was a perfect failure. Individual Jews were converted, but not a single Jewish synagogue was ever brought over to Christianity. The Apostles, failing in this, then attempted to Judaize Christianity; modeling their church, the Apostolic church, after the Jewish church, or synagogue. Paul in Ephesians, Chapter II, in his argument in behalf of the Gen- tiles, claims that the Apostles and Prophets 194 Cfie I3eto Cfteologg are the foundation of the Christian Church, Jesus Christ only being the chief corner- stone. Jesus said, "upon this rock I will build my church." This eternal rock, this eternal truth, — the Son of the living God, the confession and profession of the Christ. The "Apostles and Prophets are not the foundation of the Church that Jesus said he would build, or grow. He is still building. The "Apostles and Prophets" were evidently the foundation of the church which they built, which has retarded the growth of the Christian Church, the Christ Church, for more than eighteen hundred years. The Church that Jesus said he would build, and is now building, has for its foundation the Rock of Ages, the Eternal Rock, the Eternal Truth. Jesus is the Truth. He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." No human organization can furnish a founda- tion for the Church of Jesus Christ. But these various human organizations can do the work of gathering in the individual spir- itual stones, which Jesus will use in build- ing His church on the rock upon which he said He would build. The individual spir- Cfte Jl3eto Cfteologp itual stones realize that they are part of this building, that they will be fitted in, each stone in its proper place, part of the building, — joined in the Father and the Son, — for "in that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." The principal work of the various church organizations to-day should be teaching, "Go teach all nations," and Jesus has fur- nished the principal Teacher, — the ever- present Teacher, who will abide with us and lead us into all Truth. Everybody should be a member of some Church organization. They are all engaged largely in the same work, and surely it will not be difficult for any one to find a Church home in some one of them. Go in as a student willing to be taught, and you will be surprised to see how soon you will be- come interested in Church work and in the Christ, the Builder of this Church. I heard a man say recently that he had not been in a church for twenty years. I said to him, "I am sorry for you; I would think just as much of you if you had said, "I have not read a newspaper for twenty years." The 196 Cfte H3eto Cfteologg pulpit and the Press are the two promoters of public opinion. You cannot keep posted and neglect either. All the various church organizations are being led into the Truth as they never have been before. If you have not been in church for twenty years, you don't know how far you have fallen behind. You don't even know how ignorant you are, when you talk about the Church, and Church matters. If you want to keep posted, keep in touch with the Pulpit, and the Press. The work of the Church that Jesus is building, is growing, is simply to lead men into all Truth. The Press and the Pulpit are the great helpers in this work. When new truth is brought to light, to-day, as it is so frequently, the Press and the Pulpit are the first to rejoice over it. The Church that Jesus is building, is not like the Church whose "foundation was the Apostles and Prophets," who in the past burned men and women at the stake because they accepted and rejoiced in the Truth. The Church that Jesus is building is not only founded on the rock of Truth, but rejoices in the Truth. And the intelligent Press and the intelligent Cfte Jl2eto Cfteologg Pulpit rejoice with it. Every man, woman and child should be connected with some one of the various churches of to-day, and be willing to learn. In this day and age of the world, it is the man who is not willing to learn, that falls behind in the race of life; and the man who thinks he knows it all, just stands where he is, and fails to get there. Read the newspapers, and go to Church, and you will likely keep abreast of the times. 19 8 TRUTH VERSUS FALSEHOOD Let God be true but every man a liar. God is truth. Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Truth leads to God. Error leads away from God. Truth and error are opposites. If there was no truth, there could be no error. Lying is the absence of truth. Darkness is the ab- sence of light. Evil is the absence of good. There could be no evil if there was no good. All life is perfected by the co-operation of opposites, by the co-operation of good and evil, by the co-operation of light and dark- ness, joy and sorrow, truth and error. We are perfected by struggle, by suffering. When God said let us make man, he com- prehended the beginning and the end. He comprehended what man would be all down the ages; and he is still making man. He is making a better man in this century than 199 Cfce iQeto Cfteologg he has ever made, but will have a better man next century, and will have a better man in every following century until we shall be like Him. God made man u in secret," "in the lowest parts of the earth," and the secret of his origin is still a secret. He made him in the "lowest parts of the earth," in the very beginning of the formation of the earth. The very substance out of which man was created "was not hid from God," when he "was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth;" in the be- ginning of the formation of the earth, in the beginning of the formation of animal life. In the beginning when God said let us make man, he saw man in the very secret of his origin, in the very beginning of the forma- tion of the substance out of which man was made, and in the very thought of God "all his members were written which in continu- ance, were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." We are fearfully and won- derfully made; and the very secret of our origin is hid from us. Scientists have racked their brains to discover this secret, "the or- igin of the species, the origin of human life, 200 Cfie Jl3eto Cfieologp the origin of all life. God is the source of all life. In our search for this secret, the origin of the species, we stop when we trace it back to God. "Canst thou by searching find out God?" "Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection?" "It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? Deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth and broader than the sea." We might also say that the secret of our destiny is hid from us, that we only know that in the end we shall be like Him, for we shall then see Him as he is. Let God be true, but every man a liar. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6), or through me or through the truth. I am the way, the truth and the life. It is only through the truth that we can come to God. Again, John 6:44, "No man can come to me, except the Father which sent me drawn Him." God is truth. No man can really come to Jesus unless he is drawn by the truth. It is the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth that leads, that teaches, that abides with us, that brings us to God the Father. It is the Spirit of Truth that gives us the 201 Cfie I3eto Cfteologp consciousness that we are the children of God. The controversy that Jesus had with his disciples to convince them that he was "the way, the truth and the life" equal to God, the Father, being "in the Father, and the Father in him, and we in him" is re- corded in 14, 15 and 16 Chapters of John's Gospel. In this controversy Jesus refers to the "Spirit of Truth" three different times,, as the Comforter, the Leader, the Teacher, the Guide, that will guide us into all truth, into the truth that makes us free. "Let God be true, but every man a liar." God could not make man a free agent with power to choose between truth and error, between truth and falsehood, and not make a truth- ful man and a liar. "David in his haste said all men are liars." Adam, the first man, thought he could deceive God by hiding from him, and when the truth came out he blamed it on his wife, and Eve being truly wifely did not contradict him, but bore the blame or rather put the blame on the serpent, or on our tendency to go back to animal life. Cain, Adam's first born son, was a liar. After Cain had slain his brother Abel the 202: Cfie H3eto Cfteologp "Lord said unto him, "Where is Abel thy brother?" And he said I know not. Am I my brother's keeper?" Thus lying to God himself. The whole tendency of the human race from Adam to Noah, according to the Mosaic account was vicious. The truth is, we come from a bad family, beginning with lying and murder, ending in the utter de- struction and overthrow of the entire race, with the exception of Noah and his family. This effort to make man, through the co- operation of good and evil, failed because of the preponderence of animal life over the God life, breathed into the animal, Adam. Noah and his family saved out of the wreck, gave a new basis upon which to build or make a better man. According to this rec- ord it took two thousand years to make Noah, a man that could walk with God. But in God's plan to make man, the evolu- tion was to continue. The co-operation of good and evil was to do better work with this new material. Under this process of evolution and development, it took the first thousand years from Adam to develop or make one man that could walk with God, — ■ 203 C6e H3eto Cfteologp Enoch. And it took a thousand years more to make another man who could walk with God, Noah, who was Enoch's great grand- son. Thus, according to the Mosaic record it took two thousand years to produce two men that could walk with God. But with the new start, with Noah and his family, dur- ing the next two thousand years many men had learned to walk and commune with God. But the truth of David's statement that "All men are liars" has not been changed. Abraham lied when he tried to pass his wife, Sarah, off as his sister. Isaac also lied when he tried to pass his wife Rachael off as his sister. Jacob was a notorious liar, lying to his poor, old blind father, Isaac, when he was stealing his father's blessing away from Esau ; and Rebecca, his wife, was also a guilty party to the deception. Jacob's sons also lied, deceiving Hamar and his son Schechem (Gen. 34, 1-30), persuading them to be circumcized and to be one people with them, and after they were circumcized, slew Hamar and his son and all the males of their city and took captive all the women and children and all their flocks and herds. 204 Cfte iReto Cfteologg Jacob and his sons lied for gain, and not as Abraham and Isaac lied, for self-protection. David was a gay deceiver, and why he was rewarded by the birth of such a son as Solo- mon, by Uriah's wife, after his treachery in securing her, cannot be understood. "Let God be true, but every man a liar." We have the record under the Christian dispensation of Ananias and Sophira, his wife, of not only lying to men, but to God, and no doubt but since that occasion many men and women have failed to surrender and turn over to God all that they promised in their consecration to the Christ and his Kingdom. Deceit and untruthfulness is part of our being. Even now, in this twentieth century, after six thousand years development toward God and righteousness, had I the oppor- tunity to address an audience of one thou- sand of the best men and women of this country and say to them if there is a man or woman in this audience who has never told a lie, please raise your hand, and there would be no hands go up. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All 20£ Cfie H2eto Cfteologg have lied. All have transgressed, and we wish to emphasize the truth that God could not make a man a free agent with power to lie or to tell the truth, with power to obey or transgress, with power to sin, and not make a sinner. Truth is eternal, God is eternal. Evil, Satan, Devil, or anything you wish to call it, as the opposite of God, is a liar, and the father of lies, the source of all untruth, and must eventually be overcome; must perish. "Falsehood may have its hour, but it has no future." — Pressense. "Dare to be true, nothing can ever need a lie." — George Herbert. "Truth is by its very nature intolerant, ex- clusive; for every truth is the denial of its opposing error." — Luthardt. "Truth crushed to earth will rise again; the eternal years of God are hers; but error wounded writhes in pain and dies amid her worshippers." — Bryant. "I am theway, the truth and the life." — Jesus. THE END. 206 Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 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