FIVE CARDINAL PRINCIPLES
 
 UCSB LIBRARY 
 
 I
 
 THE 
 
 Five Cardinal Principles 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CHRISTIAN CHURCH DEFINED. 
 
 EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY 
 
 . IMI- L. IHITJIRLIE Y 3 
 
 CARRSVILLE, VA. 
 
 RALEIGH, N. C. : 
 CHRISTIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. 
 
 1886. 
 Presses of Edwards, Broughton & Co.
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Having for long years seen and felt the 
 necessity of defining fully the cardinal prin- 
 ciples of the Christian Church before the 
 thinking minds of an intelligent public, I 
 have at last determined to undertake the 
 work. Its necessity may be seen in every 
 local Church, and in almost every commu- 
 nity. 
 
 Individuals studying the Cardinal Princi- 
 ples of the Christian Church are continually 
 calling for explanations. 
 
 People of other religious organizations 
 often ask such questions as " Why do you 
 assume the name Christian?' 1 
 
 " In appropriating that name to your de- 
 nomination, do you not unchristianize all 
 others ?" 
 
 " Ought not all God's people to wear that 
 name ?" 
 
 This little volume proposes in a Christian 
 spirit to answer these and like questions. 
 Sometimes we are accused as a denomina- 
 tion, by friends and enemies, as having no 
 test of church membership or church fellow-
 
 iv INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 ship. We claim that Christian character or 
 vital piety is the test of church membership, 
 as a faithful perusal of these pages will show. 
 The right of private judgment in matters of 
 religion is often called in question, and of- 
 tener than otherwise is misunderstood. 
 
 The true position of the Christian Church 
 upon the subject is fully defined. That defi- 
 nition is herein given. We have lost much 
 by not defining fully our principles to the 
 world. We have failed to give a reason for 
 the principles that we hold. Consequently 
 hundreds have, after conversion to God, 
 sought homes in other religious organizations, 
 because they did not fully comprehend our 
 principles. Some say that we allow too 
 much latitude, others say, not enough ; hence 
 the necessity for defining the true position 
 of the Christian Church upon these leading 
 principles. 
 
 In order that the work might not be con- 
 sidered as the voice or production of one 
 man, but as the voice of the church, I have 
 selected and secured the valuable services of 
 five of the most pious and able ministers in 
 the church to aid me in the preparation of 
 this work. These brethren were selected
 
 INTRODUCTORY. V 
 
 from the church North and South, so that 
 there is nothing of a sectional character in 
 it. To strengthen this point, it has been 
 endorsed by the General Convention of the 
 Christian Church, the highest official body of 
 the church in the Southern States. 
 
 Hoping that it may serve the end and fill 
 the mission for which it was intended, it is 
 cheerfully and respectfully submitted to the 
 kind attention of an intelligent' and think- 
 ing public. 
 
 M. L. HURLEY. 
 
 Carrsmlle, Va.,July, 18-86.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 i. 
 
 THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY HEAD 
 
 OF THE CHURCH. 
 B > REV. JAMES MAPLE, D. D., Raleigh, N. C. 
 
 II. 
 THE NAME CHRISTIAN. 
 
 By REV. W. W. STALEY, A. M., Suffolk, Va. 
 
 III. 
 
 THE SCRIPTURES OF THE OLD AND NEW TES. 
 TAMENT A SUFFICIENT RULE OF FAITH 
 AND PRACTICE. 
 
 By REV. J. P. WATSON, Troy, Ohio. 
 
 IV. 
 CHRISTIAN CHARACTER THE TEST. 
 
 By REV. J. W. OSBORN, Ph. D., Swansea, Mass. 
 
 V. 
 PRIVATE JUDGMENT, THE RIGHT AND DUTY 
 
 DUTY OF EVERY BELIEVER. 
 
 Sermon by PROF. MARTYN SUMMERBEI.L, M. A., of 
 
 New York City.
 
 THCIE 
 
 FIVE CARDINAL PRINCIPLES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Christian Church Denned. 
 
 I 
 
 CHRIST THE HEAD OF THE 
 CHURCH. 
 
 By REV. JAMES MAPLE, D. D., Raleigh, N. C. 
 
 Ages before Christ was born into the 
 world the Father said of him, " Behold, I 
 have given him for a witness to the people, 
 a leader and commander to the people." 
 Isa. 55 -.4. There we have a clear statement 
 of one of the relations that Christ sustains 
 to his church. It is represented under the 
 symbol of an army, and he is its commander. 
 All the rules and regulations for its govern- 
 ment originate with him. He is its head. 
 God " hath put all things under his feet, and 
 given him to be the head over all things to 
 the church." He has appointed him the
 
 io Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 supreme ruler in the church. The media- 
 torial kingdom of Christ is the gift of the 
 Father as the recompense of his humiliation 
 and suffering. Paul states this connection 
 clearly in the following passage, which at 
 the same time gives us a sublime view of 
 the exalted state of the Redeemer, and 
 shows the unlimited extent of his domin- 
 ions: Let this mind be in you, which was 
 also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form 
 of God, thought it not robbery to be equal 
 with God : but made himself of no reputation, 
 and took upon him the form of a servant, 
 and was made in the likeness of- men : and 
 being found in fashion as a man, he hum- 
 bled himself, and became obedient unto 
 death, even the death of the cross. Where- 
 fore God also hath highly exalted him, and 
 given him a name which is above every 
 name : that at the name of Jesus every knee 
 should bow, of things in heaven, and things 
 in earth; and things under the earth, 
 and that every tongue should confess 
 that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory 
 of God the Father." Phil. 2:5 u. From 
 this and other passages, we learn that noth- 
 ing is exempt from his authority. He com- 
 mands the armies of heaven ; he claims the
 
 Christ the Head of the Church. 1 1 
 
 inhabitants of the earth as his subjects ; he 
 rules over the spirits of darkness ; he is the 
 Lord of the dead and the living. (Rom. 
 14:9.) 
 
 The proper object of Christ's mediatorial 
 kingdom is the church, and our subject em- 
 braces his relation to it. It is the peculiar 
 object of his care, and for the sake of it all 
 power in heaven and earth was given unto 
 him. By his personal ministry, and through 
 the work of his apostles, he founded the 
 church. The Christian Church is the work 
 of Christ. He established it. He said to 
 Peter "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock 
 I will build my church" Matt. 16:18. For 
 this reason it is called the Son of man's 
 kingdom. " The Son of man shall send 
 forth his angels, and they shall gather out of 
 his kingdom all things that offend, and them 
 which do iniquity." Matt. 13:41. It is also 
 Christ's household. (Matt. 10:25.) The 
 members of the church are given to Christ 
 by the Father out of the world, and are sent 
 by him into the world. " Thou hast given 
 him power over all flesh, that he should 
 give eternal life to as many as thou hast 
 given him." John 17:2. "Father, I will 
 that they also, whom thou hast given me, be
 
 1 2 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 with me where I am." John 17:24. Christ 
 is the head of the church, because he built 
 it. on the Rock of his Divinity, out of mem- 
 bers given him by the Father out of the 
 world. 
 
 The word head has several significations 
 in the scriptures, besides its natural one, 
 which denotes the head of man. It is some- 
 times used in the Bible to signify the whole 
 man : " Blessings are upon the head of the 
 just," Prov. 10:6; that is, upon their persons. 
 God says of the wicked, " I will recompense 
 their way upon their head." Ezek. 9:10. 
 It sometimes signifies a chief or capital city : 
 "The head of Syria is Damascus." Isa. 7:8. 
 It denotes a chief or principal member of 
 society : " The Lord will cut off from Israel 
 head and tail." " The ancient and honour- 
 able, he is the head." Isa. 9:14, 15. Head 
 also means one who hath rule and pre-emi- 
 nence over others. Thus God is the head 
 of Christ ; as mediator, he receives all his 
 dignity and authority from him. Christ is 
 the spiritual head of the church, both in re- 
 spect to eminence, power, and influence; 
 for he communicates life, strength, knowl- 
 edge, and influence to every believer. Paul
 
 Christ the Head of the Church. 13 
 
 says, " But I would have you to know, that 
 the head of every man is Christ." I Cor. 
 11:3. "The stone which the builders re- 
 fused is become the head stone of the cor- 
 ner." Ps. 118:22. It was the first in the 
 angle, whether it was disposed at the top of 
 that angle to adorn and crown it, or at the 
 bottom to support it. Thus Christ is the 
 life, strength and beauty of the church. 
 
 As the supreme head of the church Christ 
 established the ordinances to be observed in 
 it. He. has appointed but two ordinances 
 baptism and the sacred supper. The insti- 
 tution of the supper is described by Matthew 
 26:26 28. " Jesus took bread, and blessed 
 it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, 
 and said, Take, eat ; this is my body. And 
 he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave 
 it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it ; for 
 this is my blood of the new testament, which 
 is shed for many for the remission of sins." 
 "This do in remembrance of me." Just 
 before his ascension to heaven he commis- 
 sioned his disciples and sent them out " into 
 all the world " to preach his gospel. " Go 
 ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing 
 them in the name of the Father, and of the
 
 14 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Matt. 28:19. 
 These are the only ordinances that he auth- 
 orizes in his church, and no man, or number 
 of men, has any right to appoint others. 
 The authority of Christ over the church is 
 exclusive of the authority of man. Councils 
 may assemble to consult about the best 
 methods, and to form plans for the conver- 
 sion of the world, and the promotion of the 
 spiritual interest of the church ; but they 
 can neither increase nor diminish the ordi- 
 nances of the Lord's house. Christ's au- 
 thority is supreme, and man's duty is to 
 obey. " Let us hear the conclusion of the 
 whole matter ; Fear God, and keep his com- 
 mandments : for this is the whole duty of 
 man. For God shall bring every work into 
 judgment, with every secret thing, whether 
 it be good, or whether it be evil. Eccl. 12:- 
 
 13. H. 
 
 Christ is the supreme lawgiver in the 
 church. Human legislation has no place in 
 it. " One is your master, even Christ." 
 Matt. 23:8. " He is thy Lord ; and worship 
 thou him." Ps. 45:11. He holds supreme 
 authority over the consciences and lives of 
 men. The duty of the church is to submit
 
 Christ the Head of the Church. 1 5 
 
 to his authority ; and it is not done unless 
 his word is received as the only rule of faith 
 and practice, and every thing which is prac- 
 ticed in religion be exactly conformable to 
 his commands. He spoke by divine au- 
 thority. He said, "The words that I speak 
 unto you I speak not of myself: but the 
 Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the 
 works." John 14:10. It is by the words of 
 Christ, that man is to be judged in the last 
 day. " He that rejecteth me, said Christ, 
 " and receiveth not my words, hath 
 one that judgeth him : the word that I have 
 spoken, the same shall judge him in the last 
 day." John 12:48. The word of Christ is 
 the supreme law of the church, and the rule 
 of life. This law is perfect, and meets all 
 the emergencies of life. " The law of the 
 Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Ps. 
 19:7. " But be not ye called Rabbi : for 
 one is your Master even Christ ; and all ye 
 are brethren." Matt. 23:8. Christ is " King 
 of kings, and Lord of lords"; and his word 
 is the supreme law of his kingdom. The 
 citizens of his kingdom all stand on the 
 same level. "All ye are brethren," and one 
 has no right to lord it over another. " There 
 is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are
 
 1 6 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 called in one hope of your calling ; one Lord, 
 one faith, one baptism, one God and Father 
 of all, who is above all, and through all, and 
 in you all." Eph. 4:4 6. 
 
 The Christian owes allegiance to Christ 
 alone, and is responsible to him only for his 
 faith and conduct. No man nor number of 
 men, has any right to come between his 
 conscience and Christ, and say what he must 
 believe and do in order to be saved. This 
 is a matter of conscience between him and 
 his Saviour, and every man must settle this 
 matter for himself. Christ is the sovereign 
 and the judge. He makes the laws of his 
 kingdom, and sits in decision upon the char- 
 acter of his subjects. Hence Paul says, 
 " Wherefore we labor, that, whether present 
 or absent, we may be accepted of him. For 
 we must all appear before the judgment 
 seat of Christ ; that every one may receive 
 the things done in his body, according to 
 that he hath done, whether it be good or 
 bad." 2 Cor. 5:9, 10. The supremacy 
 claimed by the Pope, is an invasion of the 
 royal prerogative of Christ ; and he has in- 
 truded himself into this office, and assumes 
 the power to change the ordinances, repeal- 
 ing the laws of Christ, and extending his
 
 Christ the Head of the Church. 1 7 
 
 jurisdiction over the visible and the invisible 
 world. He " exalteth himself above all that 
 is called God," and is worshipped ; and, as 
 God, he " sitteth in the temple of God, 
 showing himself that he is God." (2 Thess. 
 2:4.) 
 
 Christ is the supreme head of his church 
 because he is the author of the spiritual life 
 of all its members. Paul says he " is our 
 life." Col. 3:4. He is " the way, the truth, 
 and the life." John 14:6. "The first man 
 Adam was made a living soul ; the last Adam 
 was made a quickening spirit." I Cor. 15:4.5. 
 " For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and 
 quickeneth them ; even so the Son quick- 
 eneth whom he will." John 5:21. Christ 
 has the power to impart life, and " by him 
 were all things created, that are in heaven, 
 and that are in earth." Col. 1:16. It is 
 through him that sinners are quickened from 
 moral death, and made spiritually alive. 
 " For we are his workmanship, created in 
 Christ Jesus unto good works." Eph. 2:10. 
 Christ illustrates this beautifully when he 
 says, " I am the vine, ye are the branches." 
 John 15:5. As the branch receives its life 
 and fruitfulness from the vine, so the Chris- 
 2
 
 1 8 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 tian draws his spiritual life and fruitfulness 
 from Christ. He is the source of spiritual 
 life to the church. " In him was life ; and 
 the life was the light of men." John 1:4. 
 Hence it is said, " He giveth life unto the 
 world." John 6:33. He summed up the 
 whole matter when he said, " I am the resur- 
 rection and the life." John 11:25. Hence 
 he is called, "The Prince of life." Acts 3: 15. 
 Prince here is used in the sense of author, 
 or giver of life. Christian life is not merely 
 an imitation and following of Christ, but a 
 living, constant union with him. "Abide 
 in me," said Christ, " and I in you. As the 
 branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it 
 abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except 
 ye abide in me." John 15:4. Such is the 
 vital communion between Christ and his 
 people, and this caused Paul to use such ex- 
 pressions as " fallen asleep in Christ " (i Cor. 
 15:18.), " I knew a man in Christ." (2 Cor. 
 15:2.), " I speak the truth in Christ " (i Tim. 
 2:7.), and many others. God sent his only 
 begotten Son into the world, that we might 
 live through him. (John 3:16.) Thus we 
 see that Christ is the source of the spiritual 
 life to his church, and therefore its head.
 
 Christ the Head of the Church. 19 
 
 This truth is illustrated in his relation to the 
 church as its light. "In him was life; and 
 the life was the light of men." John 1:4. 
 Light is the symbol of truth, and Christ is 
 the light of the world in the sense that he 
 is tlie great Teacher through whom the way 
 of life and salvation is revealed to man. 
 Hence he says, " I am come a light into the 
 world, that whosoever believeth on me 
 should not abide in darkness." John 12:46. 
 " I am the light of the world : he that fol- 
 loweth me shall not walk in darkness, but 
 shall have the light of life." John 8:12. As 
 the one infallible source of spiritual truth 
 Christ is called " The truth.'" John 14:6. 
 As the moon borrows her light from the 
 sun, because, of herself, she has little or none 
 at all, even so the church can have no light 
 of herself, but doth receive her light from 
 the Son of God. The promise is. " But unto 
 you that fear my name shall the Sun of 
 righteousness arise with healing in his wings ; 
 and ye shall go forth, and grow up as the 
 calves of the stall." Mai. 4:2. The church 
 is a school of divine philosophy of which 
 Christ is the Head, and from him alone we 
 are to learn the truth. Other teachers may
 
 20 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 assist us in attaining a knowledge of the 
 truth, but he is the only infallible teacher; 
 and his word settles all controversy. It is 
 the end of strife. He has made no mistakes. 
 He is not only " holy, harmless, undefiled, 
 separate from sinners"; but is absolutely 
 perfect in knowledge. " In whom are hid 
 all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." 
 Col. 2:3. 
 
 All things are made subject to Christ that 
 he may use them for the good of the church. 
 God "hath put all things under his feet, and 
 gave him to be head over all things to the 
 church." Eph. 1:22. This was done in 
 reference to the church, or for its benefit 
 and welfare. The universe is put under the 
 authority of Christ that he may make "all 
 things" tributary to the interests of the 
 church. All the forces of the physical uni- 
 verse are subject to Christ, and he makes 
 them serve the church. The kings and 
 rulers, kingdoms and nations of earth, are 
 subject to his authority ; and he has so con- 
 trolled them that they have not been able 
 to injure his church. The very means that 
 they used to crush it he has made to con- 
 tribute to its advancement and spiritual
 
 Christ the Head of the Church 2 1 
 
 growth in the end. The angels in heaven 
 are under his authority, and employed by 
 him to minister to the wants of the "heirs 
 of salvation." (Heb. 1:14.) The fallen 
 angels are under his control, and he will not 
 permit them to injure his church. " The 
 gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 
 Matt. 16:18. 
 
 What an empire is this! Heaven and 
 earth the church militant the church tri- 
 umphant all the mighty forces of the phy- 
 sical universe angels, saints and seraphs. 
 At his command the sweeping storm and 
 rollingbillows were hushed, demonscrouched 
 in terror and the grave yielded its prey! 
 " Upon his head are many crowns." He is 
 made " Head over all things, to his church." 
 Yes, over all things, from the smallest to the 
 greatest. He holds the stars in his right 
 hand, and preserves every star in its spirit- 
 ual orbit. With such a Head the church is 
 safe.
 
 22 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 THE NAME CHRISTIAN TO THE EX- 
 CLUSION OF ALL PARTY OR SEC- 
 TARIAN NAMES. 
 
 By REV. W. W. STALKY, A. M., Pastor of Christian 
 church, Suffolk, Va. 
 
 God has only one church. "Upon this 
 rock I will build my church." Math. 16: 18. 
 Christ is the foundation of this church, "For 
 other foundation can no man lay than that 
 is laid which is Jesus Christ." I Cor. 3:11. 
 He is also the head of this church. " He is 
 the head of the body, the church." Coll. 
 I : 1 8. "Which is the head, even Christ." 
 Eph. 4:15. The scriptures employ various 
 figures to represent this church. It is spoken 
 of as a family. " Of whom the whole family 
 in heaven and earth is named." Eph. 3: 15. 
 As a building. " In whom all the building 
 fitly framed together grov/eth unto a holy 
 temple in the Lord." Eph. 2:21. Unity 
 is a cardinal principle in the gospel church. 
 It is a body with many members, a vine with 
 many branches. But it is, in scripture lan- 
 guage, always one church with Christ as 
 foundation and head. Christ is, moreover,
 
 The Name Christian. 23 
 
 the life of the church. " In Him was life ; 
 and the life was the light of men." John 
 1:4. " For the bread of God is He which 
 cometh down from heaven, and giveth life 
 unto the world." John 6:33. As one life 
 pervades the church, all believers are bound 
 into one body in Christ. This principle will 
 be admitted by all who accept the gospel. 
 But the interpretation of this principle some 
 may strain. The multiplicity of parts in the 
 gospel church is not denied ; but this multi- 
 plicity, in their true relations, never breaks 
 the bond of unity that makes the church 
 one. It rather, like the multitudinous waves 
 of the ocean, makes it the one grand church 
 of Christ. The great cables that hold great 
 steamers to the wharf are made of thousands 
 of small strands, but they are so worked and 
 twisted together that they become one in 
 holding the ship to the shore. The church 
 of Christ is wrought into one grand union 
 of strain and life to hold the world to God. 
 Whatever weakens this interwoven unity 
 jeopardizes the salvation of men. All other 
 questions merge into the stream of fraternal 
 love, through which the united heart of the 
 gospel church flows out into the boundless
 
 24 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 ocean of God's love. If the churches were 
 closer to each other, they would be closer to 
 their God. 
 
 With the principles laid down and the 
 spirit indicated above, the name worn by the 
 Christian church is here explained or defined. 
 
 Names, as applied to religious organiza- 
 tions, are all derivatives. Their value must, 
 therefore, be determined by the root from 
 which they are derived. This principle seems 
 to be fair. It is not enough that they grow 
 into large significance and wide reputation 
 among men, laying the foundation for his- 
 toric periods, and embracing many within 
 their pale. The name should carry with it 
 the origin of this gospel church, and ever 
 teach, in part, this salvation through Christ 
 to the world. The name is a part of this 
 church. All inheritance comes in part by 
 reason of name, The children of God are 
 "joint heirs with Christ." Rom. 8: 17. Budd- 
 hists derive their name from Buddha who 
 was born near the end of the sixth cen- 
 tury before Christ. Mohammedans derive 
 their name from Mohammed who was born 
 toward the close of the sixth century after 
 Christ, Roman Catholics derive their name;
 
 The Name Christian. 25 
 
 from the historic fact, that about the fifth 
 century the Bishops of Rome claimed to 
 speak with supreme authority. Very early 
 in the Christian church the word Catholic 
 (Gr. Kat/wlikos], universal, had been em- 
 ployed to denote the world-wide offer of sal- 
 vation by Christ in contrast with the particu- 
 larism of the Jews. Hence it came to be 
 used by ecclesiastical writers to denote the 
 church as the depository of the doctrine of 
 universal salvation in contrast with heretical 
 sects. Since the Roman bishops claimed to 
 speak with supreme authority, the term Ro- 
 man Catholic church has been used. Lu- 
 therans derive their name from Martin Lu- 
 ther, the great Reformer of the sixteenth 
 century. Calvinists derive their name from 
 John Calvin who was born at Noyon, in Pic- 
 ardy, July 10, 1509. Baptists derive their 
 name from the views they hold respecting 
 the ordinance of baptism. This denomina- 
 tion had its origin no doubt in the sixteenth 
 century, when there was a great awakening 
 of religious thought and feeling. Metho- 
 dists derive their name from the system in- 
 troduced at first into Wesleyan societies. 
 Members of the University of Oxford gave
 
 26 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 Wesley and his society the name of " Meth- 
 odists," in allusion to the Methodici, a class 
 of physicians at Rome who practiced only 
 by theory. This name thus given a century 
 and a half ago came at length to be worn 
 with pride by this large and growing denomi- 
 nation. Other names might be mentioned and 
 their derivation traced out, and those already 
 given could be enlarged upon with profit. 
 The length of this chapter forbids, however, 
 anything more than enough to establisrfthe 
 principle on which the name Christian is 
 founded. There is no purpose to depreciate 
 grand old names of historic value, or de- 
 nominations whose numbers and activity 
 bless two hemispheres. The aim here is 
 only to search out in a plain way the signifi- 
 cance of names as applied to religious bodies, 
 and to discover, if possible, whether there 
 is only one true name embracing all that 
 should be worn by the church, to the ex 
 elusion of all party or sectarian names. The 
 references are based on historic testimony 
 and serve to illustrate the thought which is 
 here presented. These bodies are all proud 
 of their respective names. Their names are 
 significant and fully reveal their meaning.
 
 The Name CJiristian. 27 
 
 They are true exponents of what they are 
 intended to signify. There has grown up 
 with tliese names not only historic greatness, 
 but truest attachment, and tenderest affec- 
 tion. The good and the great have lived 
 under their shadow, and died in their com- 
 munion, and their graves are honored with 
 marble shafts and bedecked with roses. 
 Great theologies have grown up around 
 their peculiar tenets and literature is full of 
 theif thoughts and their labors. If the sleep- 
 ing dust of their martyrs could speak, a thou- 
 sand tongues would make earth ring with 
 their praises. This is all true ; and the world 
 is better, and richer, and happier, and grander 
 for its being true. But for all that, none 
 nor all of these names combined set forth 
 clearly and fully the origin of Christianity 
 to men. None of them in itself shows 
 the relation of the church to Christ. The 
 only name that can do this is Christian. 
 This name presents clearly to men the ori- 
 gin of religion in the gospel church, and the 
 relation of the church to its head, even 
 Christ, "of whom the whole family in heaven 
 and earth is named." Eph. 3:15. Perhaps 
 all will agree that this is the only name that
 
 28 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 can set forth these two relations, and yet 
 they may deny that this is necessary or that 
 it was so ordained of God. Reverence for 
 old things should never prevent the recep- 
 tion of truth. The attention of the reader 
 is, therefore, directed to this point: What is 
 the use of a name, as applied to the people 
 of God ? The object of a name is to dis- 
 tinguish the church, or the people of God, 
 from the world and not to distinguish them 
 from each other. The names referred to 
 above and all kindred names serve to distin- 
 guish religious societies from each other, 
 more than to distinguish them from the 
 world. They serve very well to distinguish 
 denominations from each other, and some- 
 times to hold them apart in love and labors. 
 The name should be such as to distinguish 
 the people of God from the world, and to 
 show their relation to Christ. In this para- 
 mount demand these names seem to be in- 
 sufficient, tending rather to division and 
 strife than to union and love. Paul seems 
 to be speaking on this, when he says to the 
 Corinthians: " For while one saith, I am of 
 Paul ; and another, I am of Apollos ; are ye 
 not carnal?" I Cor. 3:4. The apostles in-
 
 The Name Christian. 29 
 
 sisted that the disciples should be attached 
 to Christ and not to them. "A man can 
 receive nothing, except it be given him from 
 heaven." John 3 : 27. Besides, if these 
 names are the true ones for the church, then 
 centuries rolled away before she was prop- 
 erly named. None of these names goes back 
 to the time of Christ. Either the name makes 
 no difference, or these denominations wear 
 wrong names. The rig] it to wear the name 
 Christian turns on the above condition. 
 Some religious teachers hold the two follow- 
 ing positions : 
 
 1. That the name Christian is common to 
 all denominations, and that no one body has 
 a right to wear the name to the exclusion of 
 others. 
 
 2. That this name is not of divine ap- 
 pointment. 
 
 They think that men have the right to 
 choose a name for the society which they 
 compose. They claim this as one of the 
 rights of the church. In other words, they 
 claim the right of all evangelical churches 
 to adopt names expressive of their peculiar 
 tenets and practices. They think that God 
 has left this matter with the church. Those
 
 36 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 who claim tlie right of the church to name 
 herself must deny that any name has been 
 given by divine authority. Consistency re- 
 quires this. This they do. The logical con- 
 sequences of. these principles are such as to 
 lead into difficulty, when compared with the 
 attitude of these men toward the Christians. 
 They hold that men have the right to name 
 the church, deny that any name is from 
 heaven, and then deny the Christians the 
 right to call themselves by that precious 
 name. Are not the rights of all men in mat- 
 ters of religion the same? If the right of 
 choice in the matter of name belongs to all 
 other denominations, it belongs also to those 
 who chose to call themselves Christians. 
 The ages in their cumulative stores of wis- 
 dom and liberty are as open unto them as 
 unto others. The same rights of personal 
 choice belong to them that belong to other 
 branches of the church. If God has not 
 given a name for His church, and men have 
 the right to choose a name, then those who 
 call themselves Cliristians have the same 
 rig/it to do so, that others have to choose 
 the names they respectively wear. This con- 
 clusion is inevitable from the premises of
 
 The Name Christian. 3 1 
 
 those who hold that the Christians have no 
 right to this name, exclusive of all sect 
 namesr The Christians claim equality of 
 rights in matters of religion, with all other 
 denominations, but not superiority over 
 them ; and upon the principles which others 
 have laid down they wear this one name, of 
 right. If there was no other ground upon 
 which to stand, the Christians would stand 
 on an equality with all other evangelical de- 
 nominations. 
 
 This name has the sanction of usage, his- 
 tory, and the scriptures. 
 
 Luther, in his celebrated Theses, uses the 
 term Christian whenever he refers to the 
 true children of God ; and Tetzel, in his re- 
 ply, begins every proposition recorded by 
 D'aubigni with that name. This shows that 
 this name was important in their view, and 
 had in it a significance pregnant with value to 
 the church. It is dominant in the minds of 
 all who truly comprehend the gospel as 
 taught by Christ. But in the minds of many 
 it is kept like conscience, under restraint. 
 Many keep conscience in subjection to pub- 
 lic sentiment or custom, and do not allow 
 this moral sense to exercise its rights. They
 
 3 2 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 do the same in matters of Christian belief 
 and thought. They allow purely cJnirdi in- 
 fluences to smother their personal convic- 
 tions in matters of religious thought. Such 
 are not free. Now the gospel of Christ sets 
 men free. It removes the darkness and re- 
 veals the truth that is to save men. It lib- 
 erates the captive and sets the prisoner free. 
 " If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye 
 shall be free indeed." John 8: 36 Bunyan 
 calls his best character in his " Pilgrim's Pro- 
 gress," " Christian." Now Bunyan was a Bap- 
 tist, and to have followed out his church 
 affiliations He should have called his leading 
 character " Baptist." But that would not 
 answer his purpose. It would have circum- 
 scribed the usefulness of his great book. It 
 would have robbed the book of its universal 
 appreciation, and limited its sphere of doing 
 good. But he laid aside sectarian bias and 
 gave the hero of this famous allegory that 
 title which clearly sets forth to men the 
 deep, settled view of his own heart as to 
 name, and the world has accepted the work 
 of his pen. In every gospel sermon where 
 men plead with men to turn from their sins 
 unto Cod, the appeal from all evangeical pul-
 
 The Nam? Christian. 33 
 
 pits, is to become "Christians." The invi- 
 tation to become a Christian is invariably and 
 without qualification made by gospel minis- 
 ters in their appeals to the unconverted. It 
 is only when men are urged to join the 
 church, that denominational adjectives are 
 used. Usage sanctions this name. It comes 
 out like stars in the rifts of clouds, uncon- 
 scious of itself, and revealing what is behind 
 all sectarian titles. There is a common 
 sense of things, all bathed in true religious 
 life, that shows convictions covered by de- 
 nominational restraints. 
 
 History sustains the claim to this name as 
 the proper title for the church of Christ. 
 Profane writers, who rank as standard au- 
 thority, when they refer to the history of 
 the gospel church, call it the Christian 
 church. Josephus, Ant. 18:3^3, employs 
 this language : " Now, there was about this 
 time (A. D. 33) Jesus, a wise man, if it be 
 lawful to call Him a man, for He was a doer 
 of wonderful works, a teacher of such men 
 as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew 
 over to Him both many of the Jews, and 
 many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ ; 
 and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the 
 3
 
 34 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 principal men amongst us, had condemned 
 Him to the cross, those that loved Him at the 
 first did not forsake Him, for He appeared 
 to them alive again the third day, as the di- 
 vine prophets had foretold these and ten 
 thousand other wonderful things concerning 
 Him ; and the tribe of Christians, so named 
 from Him, are not extinct at this day." As 
 an example of profane historians I quote the 
 first sentence in Gibbon's Decline and Fall 
 of the Roman Empire : " In the second 
 century of the Christian Era, the empire of 
 Rome comprehended the fairest part of the 
 earth, and the most civilized portion of man- 
 kind." That is the idea that pervades the 
 history of civilized nations of nineteen cen- 
 turies. Christianity is the one religion that 
 engages the attention of the historian and 
 calls forth words of praise from most skep- 
 tical pens. Ecclesiastical history treats the 
 subject as the history of the Christian church. 
 There starts with Christ a new period in the 
 history of the world, and it gathers strength 
 as it comes on from Bethlehem, with the babe 
 over whose birth the heavenly host sang 
 " Glory to God " and to whom the wise men 
 bowed and presented their gifts of gold,
 
 The Name Christian. 35 
 
 frankincense, and myrrh ; on by Gethsem- 
 ane, and Calvary, and Joseph's new tomb, 
 and the ascension, down through the blood 
 of martyrs and brotherly love to this present 
 age. This history in its life and its blessing 
 for the nations has had its power in this 
 grand fact. Whatever divides this idea into 
 fragments Weakens the saving force of this 
 new life. 'The church in its aggregate life 
 
 ft* 
 
 and work ought to keep this one idea be- 
 fore the world. There is no saving influence 
 outside of this. Take this .out of any de- 
 nomination and there would not be enough 
 left to save one soul. But some might ask, 
 " Why is it then that you, as a people, do 
 not succeed better and save more souls?" 
 The answer is plain. The large bodies 
 around us are not in sympathy with us. 
 They look upon us as the Jews did upon 
 Christ. The Jews prevented Christ from 
 doing what He might have done with their 
 sympathy and prayers. The doctrine of 
 Christ required the surrender of many forms 
 of Jewish thought and practice. The posi- 
 tion held by the Christians pleads for a sur- 
 render of sectarian names. Men are un- 
 willing to recognize such a plea. But such
 
 36 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 a surrender involves the loss of no principle 
 that has in it any gospel power or saving 
 force. If all denominational titles were sur- 
 rendered, there would still remain the same 
 fundamental doctrines of this religion, and 
 the same demands of gospel life. All that 
 would be lost in such a course would be 
 wordly honor, and fame. It might be the 
 great Hudson losing her identity in the At- 
 
 *i> 
 
 lantic ; but she would be all the purer for 
 that. That is what all need to lose them- 
 selves in Christ. All thought, and love, and 
 work of God's people should be for Christ 
 and the salvation of souls. But with many 
 gospel ministers they do more work for their 
 church than for the head of the church. 
 They refer all their labors, all their thoughts, 
 all their efforts to this one aim of building 
 up the interests of their church. God de- 
 mands of us more than this. 
 
 This inquiry would be incomplete if it 
 failed to refer this matter to the word of 
 God. That is the source of all things to the 
 church. It is a revelation of God's will to 
 man. It is higher in authority than usage, 
 or history, or the acutest moral sense. It is 
 final as authority for man in all matters of
 
 The Name Christian. 37 
 
 faith and practice. This word seems to 
 sanction the name Christian, and this ac- 
 cords with what has been written before. 
 The comment of Matthew Henry on Ephe- 
 sians 3:15, sustains this view : "The univer- 
 sal church has a dependence upon the Lord 
 Jesus Christ; of wJiom the whole family in 
 heaven and earth is named." The Jews were 
 wont to boast of Abraham as their father; 
 but now Jews and Gentiles both are denom- 
 inated from Christ; so some. While others 
 understand it of the saints in heaven, who 
 wear the crown of glory, and saints on earth, 
 who are going on in the work of grace here. 
 Both the one and the other make but one 
 family, one household : and from Him they 
 are named Christians, as they really are 
 such ; acknowledging their dependence upon, 
 and their relation to, Christ." The prophet 
 Isaiah, in chapter 43:7, in speaking of the 
 church and the relation of her members to 
 God Himself, says: ''even everyone that is 
 called by My name." Dr. Adam Clark in 
 his comments on Acts 11:26, says: "It is 
 evident they had the name Christian from 
 Christ their Master; as the Platonists and 
 Pythagorians had their names from their
 
 38 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 masters Plato and Pythagaros. Now, as 
 these had their names from those great mas- 
 ters, because they attended their teaching, 
 and credited their doctrines; so the disci 
 pies were called Christians, because they 
 took Christ for their teacher, crediting his 
 doctrines, and following the rule of life laid 
 down by him. We are told in first Peter 
 this : " If any man suffer as a Christian, let 
 him not be ashamed ; but let him glorify 
 God on this behalf." (i Peter 4:16.) In the 
 notes on Acts 1 1:26, by Jacobus, there is the 
 following: "Christians. Now that Jews 
 and Gentiles were to be gathered into one 
 church and communion, it was ordered in 
 God's providence, that the body of believers 
 should receive a new name, not national, 
 but universal, and equally good for all peo- 
 ple and all times; where there is neither 
 Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircum- 
 cision," &c., (Col. 3:11.) The fact is here 
 recorded that the Disciples (or followers 
 of Christ,) were first called Christians here 
 at Antioch, where the first Gentile church 
 was established. This name could not have 
 been assumed by themselves, because it is 
 used only twice in the New Testament be-
 
 The Name Christian. 39 
 
 sides this, and in a way to imply that it was 
 a term of reproach and for which they v/ere 
 called to suffer, (i Peter 4:16. ch. 26:28.) 
 Nor could it have been given to them by 
 the Jews, for they -would not thus have ac- 
 knowledged the Messiahship of Jesus by ap- 
 plying the term Christ (or Messiah) to His 
 disciples. It was doubtless given to them 
 by the heathen as a suitable name for dis- 
 tinguishing this body who were more and 
 more prominent as followers of Christ, and 
 would naturally be known by a name that 
 should signify their relation to Him". The 
 term itself seems to be rather of Roman 
 than Greek origin. Yet it was doubtless 
 also by the Divine ordainment that this 
 should come to be their name, and the word 
 signifying called, elsewhere means called by 
 God, or by Divine direction. (Math 2; 12, 
 22; ch. 10:22 ; Heb. 8:5; 11:7.) This was 
 more than ten years after Christ left the 
 earth. They accepted this name, however 
 reproachfully intended, and they gloried in 
 it ; and often when threatened before magis- 
 trates their only answer was, " I am a Chris- 
 tian." The church at Antioch was the first 
 Gentile church. The gospel of Christ was
 
 4O Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 to embrace all, both Jews and Gentiles. Per- 
 haps this is why this name was not given 
 when the first converts were made. The 
 universal purpose of the gospel was to be 
 settled before the church was named. God's 
 purposes have often been carried forward by 
 what was sin for men. The treatment 
 Joseph received from his brethren was 
 wrong, and yet the purpose of God was ful- 
 filled in this man. " But as for you, ye 
 thought evil against me ; but God meant it 
 unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, 
 to save much people alive." (Gen. 50:20.) 
 Judas sinned in betraying his master and 
 yet it did not prevent the purpose of God. 
 " But all this was done, that the Scriptures 
 of the prophets might be fulfilled." (Matt. 
 26:56.) Let it be granted, then, that this 
 name was given by those who had no pur- 
 pose of doing service for the church in An- 
 tioch, yet no doubt it resulted in the fulfill- 
 ment of the Divine purpose concerning His 
 church. When Paul made his defence be- 
 fore Agrippa a deep impression was made 
 upon the king. Said he to Paul: "Almost 
 thou persuadest me to be a Christian." And 
 Paul replied : " I would to God, that not
 
 The Name Christian. 41 
 
 only thou, but all that hear me this day, 
 were both almost and altogether such as I 
 am, except these bonds." (Acts 26:28.) 
 Agrippa felt the force of Paul's argument, 
 and still he was unwilling to accept Christi- 
 anity. He could not deny and he would 
 not accept. But this shows that he knew 
 the term that distinguished God's people. 
 The King felt it and used it and Paul in- 
 dorsed it. This name has ever been the one 
 despised of men. And yet it ever presses 
 its claims upon honest hearts. It asserts its 
 significance in all pulpit appeals, in gospel 
 work, in the history of twenty centuries, and 
 in the word of God. The gospel is to the 
 nations life and peace. The Christ in His 
 official capacity is all in all to the church. 
 Through Him the family of God is saved. 
 From Him the family of God is named. 
 Around Him the elect shall gather and re- 
 joice in their eternal home. Before Him 
 they shall stand arrayed in robes of white. 
 At His feet they shall cast their glittering 
 crowns. They shall be like Him, for they 
 shall see Him as He is. They shall reign 
 with Him in heaven, and He will be the 
 light thereof. It will be the same family in
 
 42 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 heaven that Christ has upon earth. There 
 will be no change in their character or their 
 name. All that men can hope, is to enter 
 heaven as they leave the world. There is no 
 work nor device in the grave. As the tree 
 falls, so it must lie. Heaven is the final 
 dwelling-place of the family of God. No 
 man can come unto the Father, but by 
 Christ. That name which relates the par- 
 doned to Christ, teaches the world that Jesus 
 is the Christ, distinguishes the people of 
 God from the world, removes the obstacles 
 in the way of brotherly love, makes all the 
 good in religion grow out of its head, re- 
 veals the origin and end of religion to men, 
 preserves the only name given among men 
 whereby we must be saved, is the one most 
 worthy as a title for the church. This name 
 is not claimed as the property of one society; 
 it is claimed that it is the name by which 
 all should be called. The conclusion already 
 reached prepares for one of two views: 
 
 1. That if a name has been given by Di- 
 vine direction for God's church, then that is 
 Christian. There is no other that has such 
 claim to Divine authority. 
 
 2. That if God approves names chosen by
 
 The Name Christian. 43 
 
 men, then a society of believers has the 
 right to adopt this name of their own choice. 
 The name is claimed therefore by right 
 under 2 and by divine authority under I. 
 All other names will be unworthy a place in 
 heaven. This name, Christian, would be 
 appropriate in that bright realm. When the 
 sun, and moon, and stars shall fade out in 
 obscurity, the Lamb of God will light the 
 kingdom wherein dwell the redeemed when 
 names now luminous with a brightness that 
 outshines the sun and stars shall fade away 
 in the distance, and revolutions and historic 
 changes shall bring in others in the centuries 
 yet unborn, the name Christian will shine 
 on with a steady and increasing brilliance 
 that shows the shining way to God. Hu- 
 man hearts will cling to it, and human love 
 will gather around it, and conscience will 
 own it, and history will embalm it, and God 
 will defend it, because it binds the church 
 to Himself.
 
 44 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 RULE OF -FAITH AND PRACTICE. 
 
 The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments a Sufficient 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. By Rev. J. P. WATSON, 
 Troy, Ohio. 
 
 The Church, like the world, was built by 
 Jesus Christ. This Church, too, was built 
 on Himself, for He declares " On this Rock 
 will I build My Church." (Matt. 16: 18.) 
 
 The Apostles, through the ability which 
 inspiration afforded them, are the expoun- 
 ders and illustrators of the Church in its 
 historic fact and its general, moral doctrine. 
 Christ and the Apostles appealed to the Old 
 Testament Scriptures as the law and testi- 
 mony for the confirmation of what they 
 taught and did. Following this rule, the 
 Scriptures of the New Testament, the au- 
 thority of which is largely established by 
 the teachings of the Old Testament, should 
 be and have been universally appealed to 
 by the Church of Christ, for the confirma- 
 tion of its teachings and practices. 
 
 Than the Holy Scriptures, no chart and 
 no compass have been given the Church of 
 our Lord, from heaven. That the Church
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. 45 
 
 needs other chart or compass, would be 
 very difficult of proof. 
 
 And yet, in the face of this apparent truth, 
 very many denominations, embracing very 
 great multitudes of honorable and intelli- 
 gent Christian scholars within them, virtu- 
 ally, and to our judgment emphatically, con- 
 tend that alone and unsupplemented by 
 human additions or expositions, summaries 
 or declarations, the Scriptures are not a suf- 
 ficient rule of faith and practice. While 
 making this anomalous and astounding dec- 
 laration, both by word of mouth and practi- 
 cal illustration, they hold forth to us a little 
 book, denominated a creed, discipline, or 
 articles of faith, saying, ".this book is a suf- 
 ficient rule of faith and practice." Of 
 course they would not say, " This alone, 
 without the Scriptures, is sufficient." But 
 if we grant them this benefit, they cannot 
 honestly and will not boldly affirm, if their 
 action in formulating the creed means any- 
 thing, that, "The Scriptures alone are suffi- 
 cient." At best, their position is, " The 
 Scriptures alone, as prepared by Jesus and 
 his Apostles, are insufficient, but with the ad-
 
 46 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 dition or association of the human and unin- 
 spired creed, they become sufficient." 
 
 This is most wonderful honor for the creed, 
 but who can fail to see that the declaration 
 and action are wonderfully dishonoring to 
 the Scriptures? 
 
 By this action, for aught we can see to 
 the contrary, the creed, as a rule and guide 
 in faith and practice, is elevated above and 
 pronounced superior to the Holy Scriptures, 
 that law and testimony of heaven. By 
 this action, the Scriptures are not simply 
 relegated to a second place by all the creeds, 
 but their inferiority or secondary impor- 
 tance, is proclaimed by each of the creeds. 
 
 The devotees of^no one creed will say of 
 any other creed than their own, " it comes 
 nearer to the Bible than our own." The 
 most exalted rank is held by each, in the es- 
 timation of its particular devotees, so that 
 the Scriptures occupy at best, the loivest rank 
 as a rule and guide. There are more than two 
 hundred creeds extant, as the professions of 
 as many divisions of the general Church and 
 the Scriptures are pronounced inferior to 
 each and all of them. If any one creed is
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. 47 
 
 admitted to be better than the Scriptures 
 alone, who shall say that each of all is not ? 
 
 Admitting the wisdom and correctness of 
 or creed-friends, we are forced to the con- 
 clusion, that, while Prophets and Apostles, 
 supplemented in their endeavors by the 
 present and inimitable Christ, all failed*mis- 
 erably in formulating a sufficient rule and 
 guide in faith and practice the very end 
 apparently, which they sought to attain. 
 Any and every uninspired conclave of feeble 
 men have proceeded with ease and accom- 
 plished this work with facility. 
 
 Although immensely in the minority and 
 confessedly inferior in scholarship, the Chris- 
 tians are forced to take issue with this posi- 
 tion and conclusion. 
 
 In this discussion we shall seek to show : 
 
 1. That the CREED as a rule and guide 
 is INSUFFICIENT. 
 
 2. That the SCRIPTURES as such a rule and 
 guide ARE SUFFICIENT. 
 
 The insufficiency of the creed is shown, 
 I. By the number of them extant. 
 They who formed the second creed pro- 
 claimed thereby the insufficiency of the 
 first, while each subsequent formation was a
 
 48 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 proclamation of the insufficiency of the pre- 
 ceding. 
 
 Surely no one is so well qualified to speak 
 of the insufficiency of the creed as those 
 who have tried them, and if by the process 
 of the new formations all preceding forma- 
 tions are pronounced insufficient, it would 
 be presumption to ask implicit faith and 
 confidence in the new and untried one. 
 
 Great Britain boasts of 150 varieties of 
 Protestantism, each one of which has a 
 creed differing from all others. No one body 
 of the?e people thought the Scriptures an 
 adequate rule and guide, and no one feels 
 that the creed of either other body would 
 prove adequate to their wants. Here we find 
 universal rejection and condemnation of the 
 other man s creed, which amounts with all to 
 a rejection and repudiation of all the creeds. 
 This looks like a pretty strong verdict against 
 the creed as a whole, even by that innumer- 
 able multitude which insists on our adopt- 
 ing the creed. 
 
 Presbyterianism can boast of 50 distinct 
 divisions under its name, and at their Ecu- 
 menical Council, held in Philadelphia in 1883,
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. 49 
 
 thirty-two of these divisions were repre- 
 sented. 
 
 Each division of this many-headed people 
 feels that its creed (for each is supplied with 
 a separate creed), is a rule and guide suffi- 
 cient ; but they share not this feeling, with 
 reference to the creed of either other di- 
 vision. 
 
 Moreover, the very wise and sufficient 
 creeds of this shamefully divided body of 
 Christians were so unlike and antagonistic 
 indeed, that during that general convention 
 not once was the name of Jesus heard in 
 song, nor could they agree to celebrate to- 
 gether the sufferings and death of their Lord 
 and Master at the Communion table. Is not 
 the sufficiency of the creed best seen, after all, 
 in leading the brotherhood both away from 
 Christ and from each other? If the creed 
 does not, better than the simple Scriptures, 
 lead the soul to Christ and bind the heart of 
 brother to brother, wherein shall we see its 
 superiority as a rule to the Scriptures, or 
 its sufficiency in any respect? Instead of 
 being a means of union, the creed has proven 
 itself a wall of separation, and if, as a rule, 
 it is sufficient in faith and practice, the faith 
 
 . 4
 
 50 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 to which it conducts is hardly that of Christ 
 (else Christ has many faiths), nor its prac- 
 tice that of brotherly love and Christian 
 courtesy. 
 
 That the creed is insufficient is further 
 seen : 
 
 II. In the badness of t lie spirit to which it 
 leads. 
 
 We would not say that the phraseology or 
 spirit of the creed is malicious, but history 
 and the opinions of eminent men are both 
 at fault, if the creed does not lead to and 
 beget an unbrotherly, oppressive and vindic- 
 tive spirit. If it diminishes brotherliness, or 
 in the least fosters and feeds the passions 
 and flames of condemnation and persecution, 
 then its value for good has been overstated, 
 and its repudiation as a moral agency in the 
 hands of Christian men cannot be too em- 
 phatic. 
 
 In City Hall, New York City, Jan. 30, 
 1876, the Rev. James Poindexter affirmed 
 that not less than 70,000,000 of men had 
 been slaughtered in the name of Christ in 
 the effort to make them subscribe to, and 
 observe, religious creeds. If this is truthful, 
 or if the 7Oth part of it be true, then I sub-
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. 5 1 
 
 mit a second to the motion of another, that 
 the creed be bound in red. Accepting the 
 minimum amount of the truth of this asser- 
 tion, what a fearful commentary is it on both 
 the insufficiency and the absolute evil of the 
 creed as a moral influence and agent. "It 
 has been said," remarks Dr. Beaumont, 
 " that not less than 50,000,000 Protestants, 
 at different times, have been put to death 
 by Papists. What an army ! What seas 
 of blood have been shed ! If their bodies 
 were piled in one heap, that heap would be 
 bigger than any mountain in the world." 
 If these 50,000,000 had subscribed to the 
 Papal creed, how many of them would have 
 perished? If subscription to the creed of 
 Rome would have saved their lives, as be- 
 yond reasonable question it would have 
 done, did not the non-subscription of it cost 
 them their lives? In other words, was not 
 the creed, or the spirit which it inspired in 
 its devotees, responsible for the slaughter of 
 these millions? If Rome had no creed 
 but the Bible, yielding to each the privilege 
 of the personal interpretation thereof, would 
 those persecutions unto death have trans- 
 pired? The answer must be a negative one,
 
 52 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 and thus illustrates the vengeance of that 
 spirit awakened by the creed. 
 
 Between 1553 and 1558 Queen Mary led 
 more than 200 chiefs of the Protestant party 
 to the stake in England. Would either one 
 of these chiefs have perished if he had re- 
 nounced his own and embraced the creed of 
 Mary's Church? How inexorable is the 
 spirit of the creed, and what torches it has 
 lighted to illumine its way of progress in the 
 earth ! Discarding the light of the Word* 
 it has led its followers by the light of fagot 
 across many nations and around the world. 
 
 While the spirit of Protestantism is less 
 severe, because more enlightened, it has, nev- 
 ertheless, made an altar of its creed innu- 
 merable times, whereon it has castigated 
 and slaughtered myriads of protesting vic- 
 tims. 
 
 The word persecution, as used by differ- 
 ent denominations between themselves, 
 which the light of history in smallest meas- 
 ure only too painfully reveals as a fact, would 
 have been sheathed by the surrender of one 
 creed and the adoption of another, or better 
 yet, by the surrender of all creeds and the 
 adoption of the Bible alone.
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. 5 3 
 
 That the creed as a rule is insufficient, ap- 
 pears : 
 
 III. In that it discourages free thought and 
 important investigation. 
 
 It is a form of infallibility. The people 
 may change but the creed never does. If the 
 people are not satisfied with the old creed 
 they are at liberty to form a new one. The 
 mind and heart will open, but the iron ribs 
 of the creed will not stretch, and he who 
 would have more liberty must seek a larger 
 house. Infallibility is the voice of the creed, 
 whether Protestant or Catholic, and it is 
 quite as honorable and admissible in the one 
 as in the other. A great hue and cry is made 
 over the Pope's assumption of infallibility, 
 but the work of every Protestant council 
 that ever formulated a creed has been marked 
 infallible as well. The creed may possi- 
 bly manifest some measure of thought, but 
 it most certainly discourages, if it does not 
 absolutely forbid, further thought. The 
 council, they say, went prayerfully to the 
 Bible for their creed, but they are utterly un- 
 willing that any others should, and if they 
 persist in doing so, excommunication is the 
 penalty. The nobler mind w///thinkand for-
 
 54 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 mulate its own faith, but if it does, and persists 
 in proclaiming it to the world, the loss of 
 church-fellowship must result. 
 
 If the creed lessened free thought only 
 with reference to human speculations, it 
 would not be so bad, but it does more and 
 worse, by far. 
 
 If it does not turn the mind away from 
 the Bible, it begets within the man the old 
 Catholic conviction, that he cannot under- 
 stand it of himself. 
 
 Why should he, for his doctrine, study the 
 Book, when he may not understand it and 
 which it took a council of wisest theologians 
 to expound? If it does not turn a man from 
 the Word, he will approach it with his mind 
 warped and narrowed by stereotyped opin- 
 ions. He will accept from the Word only 
 such truths as his creed approves, and his 
 creed becomes thus the key of the Word's 
 interpretation. In the light of this argu- 
 ment, we cannot see but the creed is a bar 
 to free investigation and enlarged moral in- 
 telligence ! Free Bible study will not lead 
 to uniformity of doctrinal belief. The creed 
 is intended to do this, and to a large extent 
 it will. Thus its spirit is unlike that of the
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. $ 
 
 Word and antagonistic to it. It enervates 
 the mind by thinking for it. or relieving it 
 from the responsibility of thought and is 
 thus antagonistic to human progress. 
 
 The creed is insufficient, in that 
 
 IV. // leads to an untruthful expression. 
 
 " An honest man is the noblest work of 
 God," one has said. No one will question 
 that the Bible leads to honesty of expression. 
 We are emphatically of the opinion that the 
 unyielding creed does not and cannot lead to, 
 or suffer honesty, in tltc heart's expression. 
 Whenever the creed-church is true to 
 itself, and thus honest in its own action, it 
 will require a personal endorsement of its 
 creed by the member it receives to its fellowship. 
 That it ever deviates from this rule, does 
 not prove its liberality, but its absolute dis- 
 honesty, and beside, in receiving a member 
 who disbelieves its creed, as it often will, // 
 zvinks at and encourages a dishonest expres- 
 sion in that member. 
 
 Both of the above acts would be dishon- 
 orable in simply a moral man, or in a merely 
 moral institution. Nine times in ten, the 
 member to be received will consent to the 
 truth of the creed, before the church or the
 
 56 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 examining board, even if he does not under- 
 stand the meaning of the creed, or if, in un- 
 derstanding, he disbelieves it in whole or in 
 part. In a majority of cases, the creed is 
 not understood, and in a majority of the 
 balance, it is not literally believed. For a 
 church to accept the assent of the mind to 
 an uncomprehended statement, is shameful, 
 and for it to accept such affirmation when 
 untruthful, is little better than wickedness. 
 When a place within the church is at the 
 price of honor and manhood, it is too dearly 
 won, and when the church is ready to reject 
 the man who honestly differs from a certain 
 creed, while accepting the Bible as a fact 
 from God, it certainly is not worthy to call 
 itself the Fold of Jesus or the Church of 
 Christ. That the creed, while professed, is 
 not an honest expression with a large por- 
 tion of the laity, has illustration in a state- 
 ment of " The Methodist" a newspaper of 
 New York city, in 18/8. It says: "We 
 have discovered 1,000 families in Brooklyn, 
 that have left the M. E. Church for other 
 denominations, and 980 of these families as- 
 signed as the reason of their departure the 
 changeablenessof the pastorate." Now, these
 
 Rule of faith and Practice. 57 
 
 families turned away from the creed of 
 Methodism, which was their avowed doc- 
 trinal belief, and embraced another and con- 
 tradictory creed, without any change in their 
 doctrinal convictions. If they were honest 
 in saying "the Methodist creed is our be- 
 lief," they were not honest in adopting the 
 antagonistic creed of another denomination. 
 But as with the laity, so is it with the clergy. 
 In 1878 there were 500 applications on file 
 with the Bishops of the Reformed Episcopal 
 denomination, from clergymen of other de- 
 nominations, for positions in their ministry. 
 These gentlemen would all doubtless con- 
 tinue to represent the doctrinal faith of their 
 respective denominations, until they could, 
 with financial safety, pass over to the arena 
 of a new and another faith. 
 
 It may be said that the difference between 
 the creeds of the different denominations is 
 so slight, that layman or minister can pass 
 over from one to the other, even without 
 change of belief and without any compro- 
 mise of honor or honesty. But this is not 
 the truth. If the differences of creeds are 
 so slight and unreal, why may not union be 
 effected through minutest compromises and
 
 58 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 concessions. The differences of the creeds 
 are sharp and radical, and such a thing as 
 dovetailing one into the other is wholly im- 
 possible. The creeds will not blend, but the 
 hearts of the people would do so were it not 
 for the creeds. 
 
 Whenever a ministerial defection occurs, 
 the press of the suffering body proclaims a 
 change of faith, the which, if sincere, unfits 
 the man for remaining and makes his depar- 
 ture both necessary and desirable. Do the 
 different denominations proclaim the indis- 
 tinctness and littleness of their dividing lines 
 and assure their ministers and membeis that 
 they can consistently and easily pass over 
 into the embrace of other denominations? 
 They ought to know if the differences are 
 so slight. Would to God they would so 
 talk, and the dividing lines, for a fact, would 
 soon disappear. Radical differences are 
 proclaimed as a fact, however, and these dif- 
 ferences are magnified for effect. The sepa- 
 rating creedal walls are without open gates 
 from one camp into another, nor are those 
 walls as low as some imagine. 
 
 V. Tke Holy Scriptures are a sufficient 
 rule of fait Ji and practice.
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. 59 
 
 We thus conclude, 
 
 i. From their inspiration. 
 
 This, certainly, is a very essential element 
 of the word, and the grandest claim that can 
 be made for it. Such a claim will be made, 
 probably, for no creed extant, and if there is 
 any value in inspiration, then, by so much 
 as this, at least, is the Bible better than the 
 creed. Of their inspiration, let the Scrip- 
 tures speak for themselves. 
 
 Paul says, "All Scripture is given by in- 
 spiration of God." (2 Tim. 3:16.) Peter says, 
 " This Scripture must needs have been ful- 
 filled, which the Holy Ghost spake by the 
 mouth of David." (Acts 1:16.) And David 
 for himself, says, "The Spirit of the Lord 
 spake by me, and His word was in my tongue," 
 (2 Sam. 23:2.) Paul confirms David's testi- 
 mony of himself, (Ps. 95:7,) by saying, 
 " Wherefore, the Holy Ghost saith to-day if 
 ye will hear His voice harden not yourheart." 
 (Heb. 3:7.) Peter says, " For the prophecy 
 came not in olden time by the will of man, 
 but holy men of God spnke as they were 
 moved upon by the Holy Ghost." (2 Peter 
 1:2 1.) These declarations cover the inspira- 
 tion of both the Old and New Testaments,
 
 60 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 which, together, constitute the Christian's 
 rule of faith and practice. By consent of 
 all, the creed is \\ithout inspiration or di- 
 vine authority. The Scriptures, on the tes- 
 timony of David, Peter, Paul and Jesus, 
 come to us enstamped and sealed with both. 
 We say, "Our rule and guide are sufficient 
 because inspired." The creed-devotees say, 
 <l Our rule and guide are more nearly suffi- 
 cient, although uninspired" 
 
 The sufficiency of the Scriptures further 
 appears : 
 
 2. In tliat wJiicJi the Sacred Writers claimed 
 f/icm to be. 
 
 David says, "Thy word is a lamp unto my 
 feet and a light unto my path." (Ps. ) 
 Solomon says, " For the commandment is a 
 lamp and the lau> is a light." (Prov. 6:23.) 
 David further says, " O send out Thy light 
 and Thy truth: let them lead me; let them 
 bring ma unto Thy holy hill, and to Thy tab- 
 ernacles." (Ps. 43:3.) Jesus tells us what 
 David's " truth " is : "Thy word is truth." 
 (John. 17:17.) Hear David further, "The/^w 
 of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." 
 (Ps. 19:7.) 
 
 Surely, for a traveller over a road untrod-
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. 61 
 
 den and in a way often dark, nothing could 
 prove more valuable than a light and a. lamp. 
 The perfection of the Scriptures as an illum- 
 ing agency, both for the heart, the way 
 of life and the cradle of final rest, even the 
 creed-monger and lover will not contend 
 against. It would be like audacity, how- 
 ever, for a Christian to say, " My creed is a 
 lamp urtto my feet and a light unto my path." 
 Then, more can be said for the Bible than 
 the creed. David sought for no creed as a 
 guide and rule in faith and practice, and who 
 will say that beside the Scriptures he needed 
 any? Is the way darker before us, or more 
 difficult than before David, that we need 
 more light than he had ! It is not darker, 
 nor more difficult, and yet, with the New 
 Testament added to the Old, we have more 
 than double his light. Strange that we 
 should not be content with this! He was 
 willing to be led by the Holy Scriptures, and 
 they did lead him to rest, security, devotion 
 and salvation. Can the creed lead to more 
 than these? What they did for David they 
 would do for any other person, and securing 
 what David did, what can we want beside ? 
 If the Scriptures are " perfect, converting
 
 62 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 the soul," will they be more than perfect, or 
 do more than convert the soul, or indeed 
 more easily convert the soul, with the creed 
 added ? By the voice of the Old Testament 
 the Scriptures area perfect lamp, light, laiv, 
 commandment, guide and converting agency. 
 What more could we wish them to be, and 
 what can be more? The creed cannot be so 
 much; therefore the creed is a less perfect 
 rule and guide than the Bible. But open the 
 New Testament and listen to Jesus : "Search 
 the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have 
 eternal life : and they are they which testify 
 of Me." (John 5 : 39.) 
 
 If the Scriptures give eternal life and re- 
 veal Jesus to the soul, do they not, in these 
 two particulars, do more than the creed? 
 Can we want more than Jesus and eternal 
 life? And who will say that we cannot have 
 them without the creed? If the Scriptures 
 alone lead to Jesus and give eternal life, then, 
 thus far, they must be a sufficient and per- 
 fect rule of faith and practice. Where is 
 the wisdom or right in substituting the 
 creed for them ? What man will venture to 
 apply the above quotation to the creed? 
 Hear Paul : " Thou hast known the Holy
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. 63 
 
 Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise 
 unto salvation through faith which is in 
 Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by in- 
 spiration of God, and is profitable for doc- 
 trine, for reproof, for correction, for instruc- 
 tion in righteousness: that the man of God 
 may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto 
 all good works." (2 Tim. 3: 15-17.) What 
 a wonderful statement is the above, and 
 who would seek its modification ! Here, the 
 simple Scriptures, without the help of the 
 creed, make the man wise unto salvation, 
 perfects him in character, and fully furnishes 
 him in good works. Have they not proven 
 their sufficiency in these three directions? 
 Has the creed proven its sufficiency in either 
 one of these directions, or can it do so? If 
 it has not and cannot, why boast of its su- 
 periority or sufficiency? The very things 
 the Scriptures do for the man he needs to 
 have done for him, and if they will not do 
 this work better with the creed than without 
 it, then the creed is not needed to make him 
 wise unto salvation, perfect him in'character 
 or qualify him for good works. Is the creed 
 a better instructor, reprover, corrector, or in- 
 doctrinator than the Bible, or is it as good?
 
 64 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 If not, then in seven particulars, justhere, it 
 is far short of, and less helpful, than the 
 Scriptures. It would be difficult to indicate 
 one desirable thing in which the creed \s bet- 
 ter than the Scriptures alone, or the tithe as 
 good, or one thing wherein the creed makes 
 the Scriptures more perfect as an agency. 
 What good use the creed can serve, or for 
 what one thing it is a sufficient guide in 
 faith and practice, I fail to see or know. If 
 it will do for the man one tiling which the 
 Bible alone cannot do one thing which the 
 man, to the perfection of his character and his 
 moral effectiveness needs to have done, then 
 I should yield it some little measure of res- 
 pect. Until then, I can only loathe it for its 
 false claims and evil fruits. 
 
 We will see Scripture sufficiency further, 
 in that, 
 
 3. They were the only rule of faith and 
 practice with the Primitive Church. 
 
 As with the primitive Christian Church, so 
 was it also with the Jewish Church : " They 
 have Mo.s'es and the Prophets ; let them hear 
 them." (Luke 16:29.) God gave the Jews 
 the Old Testament for a guide, and they were 
 content. To the Old, he has added the New
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. 6$ 
 
 Testament as a guide for the Christian 
 Church, but they are not content To these 
 Old Scriptures the Bereans appealed (to no 
 creed), for " they searched the Scriptures 
 daily, whether those things were so." (Acts 
 17: II.) It would be difficult to prove that 
 Moses, Jesus, Peter, Paul, John or James, 
 ever appealed to any other standard than 
 the Scriptures as a rule and guide in moral 
 faith and practice. If the creed can show 
 a better rule for the government of conduct 
 than Jesus gave in Matthew 18:15 17, 
 then we will admit that it possesses a virtue 
 heretofore undiscovered by us. As to what 
 constituted the rule of faith with the Apos- 
 tles, we refer the reader to the Pentecostal 
 occasion and to the personal cases of the 
 Eunuch, Cornelius, Lydia, the Jailor and 
 Saul. Surely these disciples and the early 
 churches to which they belonged wjere not 
 left without a sufficient rule of faith and 
 practice, and yet who will claim that they 
 were supplied with, any form of creed, or 
 any rule whatever, save the teachings of the 
 sacred New and Old Testament writers. 
 The simple fact that the Scriptures were the 
 only rule or guide in the Mosaic and Apos- 
 5
 
 66 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 tolic churches, and that no semblance of a 
 creed is discoverable until about 100 years 
 after the death of John, and that even those 
 then formed were without binding authority 
 according to most eminent authority, must 
 go far to demonstrate both the sufficien'cy of 
 the Scriptures, and that no other rule and 
 guide was intended for the Church of Jesus. 
 
 The sufficiency of the Scriptures alone 
 will appear : 
 
 4. In their Moral or Regenerating Power. 
 
 That the Bible is a converting agency has 
 been affirmed by Paul to Timothy, and that 
 alone it is such an agency, and thus sufficient 
 as a guide to regeneration, will appear from 
 a few illustrations following: In Rio Novo, 
 Brazil, a man obtained a copy of the Bible, 
 which he read to his Cath.olic neighbors, and 
 its spirit so touched their hearts that they 
 sent to. Brotas for a missionary. On his ar- 
 rival he found 200 converts ready for church 
 organization, and these conversions were the 
 fruit of that one Bible alone. 
 
 Another instance: An East Indian, who 
 had been a priest of Budhism for forty years, 
 picked up a leaf from the Gospel of John, 
 which so interested him that he sought and
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. 67 
 
 obtained a copy of the New Testament. 
 After reading it, he said : " I will follow 
 Jesus." He read it to his wife and children 
 and they believed and bowed to Jesus. He 
 then gathered the town people and read it 
 to fhem, winning many of them to Christ. 
 This all occurred before they had ever been 
 visited by a missionary. 
 
 Again : In Japan, in 1860, a Bible was left 
 in Souda by a traveller. Not until 1875 was 
 the place visited by a missionary, and then, 
 as the fruit of that Bible, he found a band 
 of Christians ready for organization. The 
 Bible alone converted, saved, transformed and 
 christianized these people. Whoever heard 
 of such a work resulting from the creed 
 alone, or even of a single conversion through 
 its instrumentality?" 
 
 During the Abysinian war a number of 
 Bibles were left by the soldiers among the 
 natives. They resulted in the conversion of 
 1 20 persons, among whom were 33 Moham- 
 medan priests. They were driven out by 
 the natives, and sought the protection of the 
 British flag. 
 
 At Kooz Oglook, an Armenian village, 
 the Rev. Mr. Goss, on a visitation, was ill-
 
 68 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 treated and finally driven away. He left 
 behind him a single copy of the Bible. Ten 
 years later a second visitation was made, and 
 it was found that 30 families had become 
 Christians through the agency of that one 
 Bible. 
 
 Even in Christian lands the Bible shows 
 the same remarkable energy as a converting 
 agency. Lord Lyttleton was converted 
 from pronounced infidelity by reading the 
 wonderful story of Saul's conversion. Fin- 
 ney, the distinguished revivalist, is an illus- 
 tration of the same truth. As an uncon- 
 verted lawyer, he would not have a copy of 
 the Bible about until finally, to perfect him- 
 self more fully for his professional duties, 
 he purchased a copy, in order to acquaint 
 himself with the Institutes of Moses. This 
 study led to his conversion and the changing 
 of his profession. 
 
 These illustrations amply manifest the 
 moral efficiency of the Scriptures unaccom- 
 panied by the creed, and show conclusively 
 that "the Sword of the Spirit, which is the 
 Word of God," has an edge quite as keen as 
 that claimed for it by the Apostle.
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice, 69 
 
 The sufficiency of the Scriptures is shown 
 further : 
 
 5. In their universal adaptedness. 
 
 There is not a nation known to us which 
 cannot take the Bible into the folds of its 
 heart and get therefrom the needed moral 
 consolation, instruction and correction. As 
 it was with the early Christians Jews, 
 Greeks and Romans so is it yet to all men 
 everywhere. As one has said : " The Bible 
 is the only world-book " and such it most 
 truly is. It has been called " the English- 
 man's book," but is far more than this : " // 
 is mans book" in the most universal sense. 
 
 Goethe remarked : " The Bible is not only a 
 popular book, but it is the book of the peo- 
 ples the more the ages shall progress in 
 culture, the more shall the Bible be used as 
 the foundation and as an instrument of that 
 education which forms truly wise men." 
 
 General Grant said recently : " To the influ- 
 ence of the Bible we are indebted for all the 
 progress made in true civilization, and to 
 this we must look as our guide in the fu- 
 ture." 
 
 General Putnam once remarked : " The 
 Bible is the most wonderful book I ever
 
 7O Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 heard of. It has something fdr everybody 
 and for all occasions." 
 
 Certainly all that is said here for the Bible, 
 any creed-loving minister would endorse and 
 emphasize, but what one of the above things 
 can he say for his creed ? Is the creed of 
 Methodism, which is just as perfect as any 
 creed, as fully adapted to the wants of the 
 people* morally as is the Bible ! If they 
 were told that they must give up their 
 Bible or their creed, would they not, ten 
 thousand times over, prefer to give up the 
 latter? By yielding their creed they might 
 cease to remain Methodists in some respects, 
 but having the Bible left, would they there- 
 fore cease to remain Christians? As the 
 Bible is dearer to them than their creed can 
 be, so to remain Christians is infinitely bet- 
 ter than to remain simply as Methodists. 
 Dispossession of his creed would not un- 
 christianize the man, but without his Bible 
 he would soon lose sight of his Christ. Now 
 the Bible, our Methodist friends would tell 
 us, is perfectly adapted to their wants. But 
 would not the Presbyterians, Baptists and 
 Lutherans all tell us that the Bible is as per- 
 fectly adapted to their wants ? Is either creed
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. 7 I 
 
 of these denominations as perfectly adapted 
 to the wants of all the rest ? And if all had 
 to agree on any one creed, or the simple Bi- 
 ble, as their rule of faith and practice, would 
 there be a moment's hesitation in the choice ? 
 Certainly not ! Then, is not this decision to 
 be accepted as a judgment by all in favor of 
 the Scriptures alone over any other creed 
 than their own creed ? And as this judg- 
 ment, of course, is a repudiation of each creed, 
 does it not elevate the Bible as a rule and 
 guide above all the creeds? 
 
 Now, then, all creed-denominations differ 
 from the Christians in just one particular. 
 They cacJi would prefer the Bible alone to any 
 creed than their own, while the Christians 
 would prefer the Bible alone to any creed what- 
 ever ! While the Christians say: " the Bi- 
 ble is a sufficient rule of faith and practice," 
 the 200 or more creed-denominations say: 
 " the Bible and our 200 creeds are a suffi- 
 cient rule of faith and practice." Does 
 either one denomination say of the creed of 
 any other denomination, " // is a sufficient 
 rule of faith and practice?" Does not each 
 creed-denomination say to every other creed- 
 denomination : "Your creed is not a suffi-
 
 72 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 cient rule and guide." Then taking the tes- 
 timony of all denominations, do we not find it 
 fully confirmatory of the position of tJie Chris- 
 tian that no creed is a sufficient rule and guide 
 in faith and practice ? We have not tried 
 the creed, but while all creed-bodies virtually 
 decide against the creed in its sufficiency, 
 save as formulated by its own hand, would 
 it be wisdom in us to turn from the Scrip- 
 tures to the creed ? 
 
 Bible sufficiency is further manifested in 
 that: 
 
 6. Most enlightened judgment pronounces 
 in favor of this truth. 
 
 Coleridge says : " The Bible is the only 
 adequate organ of humanity. It has gone 
 hand in hand with science, civilization and 
 law." If the Bible will answer as " the or- 
 gan of humanity," to which claim all de- 
 nominations will consent, then is it not suf- 
 ficient as the organ of a single denomina- 
 tion ? Will that do for the whole which 
 will not do for a part? All denominations 
 together, in any capacity, will accept noth- 
 ing else. This certainly is a warm and 
 blessed verdict in favor of the grand old 
 book. We would think that he who could
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. 73 
 
 command an immense army ought to have 
 no trouble in commanding a small division 
 of that army. 
 
 -"The Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing 
 but the Bible," was the motto of the Refor- 
 mation. This, without modification, is the 
 motto of the Christians. Whoever thought 
 of challenging the wisdom of the Reform- 
 ers in the adoption of this motto? Would 
 to God they had been content to abide by 
 it alone^and forever ! Are the Christians to 
 be blamed, or are they not safe in adopting 
 the motto of the Reformation? We have 
 tried it for seventy-five years, and it has led 
 us on to no rocks as yet. If the Protestant 
 world will accept our invitation to try it with 
 us, we will soon again be back in the palmy 
 days of the Reformation. Chillingworth, 
 the grandly eloquent minister of the Epis- 
 copal church, could go as far as the Chris- 
 tians have gone in at least his word-of-mouth 
 proclamation. "The Bible the Bible the 
 religion of Protestants.'.' He did not say, 
 "the Bible and the creed," or "the Bible 
 as interpreted by the creed," but " the Bi- 
 ble" (and nothing else) "the religion of 
 Protestants." Does the creed add to the
 
 74 Five Cardinal Princip les. 
 
 religion of the Bible, or make that religion 
 any better? Is not the religion of the Bi- 
 ble in its faith and practice all-sufficiency? 
 What more than this all-sufficiency can we 
 have, or reasonably wish ? 
 
 Lonza, Ex-Prime Minister of Victor 
 Emanuel, of Italy, once remarked : " The 
 Divine Book which proclaims the abolition 
 of slavery, universal brotherhood, peace on 
 earth, benevolence to the poor, etc., ought 
 to have power to meet the utmost needs of 
 the State, and to be the creed of our entire 
 humanity." Thus eminent men unfurl the 
 banner of the Scriptures inscribed " The 
 Organ of Humanity" " The Motto of the 
 Reformation" '* The Religion of Protestants" 
 and " The Creed of Humanity." Let any 
 one of the creed-denominations unfurl such 
 a banner over their own creed, and all the 
 other creed-denominations would ridicule 
 the act with a laugh of scorn ! If the creed- 
 denominations would unite in protestation 
 against, and ridicule of, this assumption by 
 any one of their creed-bound fellows, is it wis- 
 dom to pronounce the Christians unevangeli- 
 cal, when they really but imitate the full ex-
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. 75 
 
 ample of all in their denomination of such 
 unwarrantable assumptions ? 
 
 Finally, the sufficiency of the Scriptures 
 appears in that : 
 
 7. They will do more for the Church than 
 the creed can and far more ^vithout the creed 
 than with it. For the creed, it is claimed 
 that it will assure soundness of faith, give 
 plain expression to that faith, protect against 
 dangerous elements ai>d bind the people more 
 closely together. To be better than the Scrip- 
 tures, it ought to do all of these things, and 
 if it does do them then the creed should be 
 substituted for the Scriptures as our creed- 
 denominations insist. 
 
 If, however, the creed will. do neither of 
 these things as well as the Scriptures, then 
 surely the Scriptures should be substituted 
 for the creed, as a rule of faith and practice, 
 as the Christians insist. Soundness of faith 
 is very desirable and the true faith the 
 Scriptures claim to set forth (and all creed- 
 denominations admit that they do,) in the 
 language which the Holy Ghost teacheth. 
 Is not the Holy Ghost a safe and sound 
 teacher? Have our creed-friends found a 
 safer and sounder teacher or teachers in
 
 76 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 certain uninspired and erring men, that have 
 met as councils, in different ages of the 
 world? Do the Armenians say that these 
 councils, when Calvinistic, have been sounder 
 and safer than that council of the Apostles, 
 with Christ" as its Head? Will the Calvin- 
 istic friends say the same of Armenian coun- 
 cils? Will Protestants say the same of Cath- 
 olic councils? or Catholics the same of Pro- 
 testant councils? Each repudiating the 
 authority, safety, soundness^of the other, to 
 whom shall we turn, that we may have sound- 
 ness of faith? The Scriptures teach God's 
 Fatherhood, man's brotherhood, Christ's 
 Messiahship, the quickening and consoling 
 power of the Holy Ghost, the necessity of 
 resgeneration, baptism, the reurrection and 
 the final judgment, together with the return 
 of Jesus as all admit. Do the creeds teach 
 any more than these doctrines, or these doc- 
 trines in a sounder and safer form ? If a 
 man believes in these doctrines, is he not 
 sound in the faith ? and if he gets them first- 
 handed from the Bible alone, is he not just 
 as safe and sound in matters of faith as if 
 he took them second-handed and in un- 
 scriptural language, from the creed? Who-
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. 77 
 
 ever accepts the Scriptures as his rule of 
 faith, believes all these doctrines, and is, 
 therefore, sound in the faith. Such a man 
 does not need the creed, so that it is not 
 true that the creed assures soundness of faith. 
 Nor does the creed more plainly illustrate the 
 man's faith than the Scriptures. " We can- 
 not tell what you believe," the Christians 
 are often told ; therefore you should adopt 
 a creed. Most ridiculous and yet most 
 common, is this assertion. But we answer, 
 " Can you not tell what Paul believed and 
 John and Peter and James? Did they ac- 
 commodate your squeamish notions by pre- 
 senting you with a creed, wherein was con- 
 densed in some other than Scriptural lan- 
 guage their peculiar doctrinal ideas? When 
 we say, " We believe the teachings of Paul, 
 John, James, Peter and Jesus, are we not as 
 definite as they were?" And when you say 
 " We cannot tell what you believe," when 
 we make their word our belief, do you not 
 charge these writers with indcfiniteness and 
 ambiguity? Affirm any one thing which 
 the Bible, in its own language affirms, and 
 in that very language we will give you our 
 belief and teaching. Are you not unreason-
 
 78 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 able in demanding that we repudiate the 
 plain, Bible teaching and adopt for your ac- 
 commodation the ambiguous and unscrip- 
 tural language of an uninspired and un- 
 authorized creed ? We appeal " to the law 
 and to the testimony." We will not be driven 
 from the Bible alone, for it is the only for- 
 tress behind which the soul is safe. 
 
 If 1,000 men arise and proclaim their belief 
 in exactly the same language, and that lan- 
 guage not Bible language, it would look as 
 though they had learned their doctrines in the 
 school of human masters, rather than in the 
 school of Christ and his Apostles. We are 
 asked, but we are not yet ready, to exchange 
 the latter school for the former. If the creed 
 givessuch plain expression to Christian faith, 
 why do they state that faith in 200 ways, no 
 two of which are alike ? Does Paul differ from 
 James, or Peter from John ? or either one 
 from Christ ? And yet, these men whom 
 we are asked to follow, that we may plainly 
 state our faith to the world, strangely disa- 
 gree in their statements of faith? Thus the 
 creed fails in two points, and in these its 
 claims are manifestly false. But we are told, 
 " The creed will protect your Church against
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. 79 
 
 dangerous elements. Shall we protect our- 
 selves against Methodists, Baptists, Luther- 
 ans, Presbyterians? Are these dangerous 
 elements for the church? Or is any man 
 dangerous who loves God with all his heart 
 and his neighbor as himself who accepts 
 Jesus as his Saviour and the Bible as God's 
 Word to his soul ? 
 
 It surely cannot be the character of the 
 Christian which is an element of . danger, 
 against which we should guard, nor indeed 
 his faith, if he draws it directly from Christ 
 and his Apostles? We invite to our fellow- 
 ship Christian men, because Christ himself 
 has entered the throne of their hearts and 
 would readily open the gates of heaven to 
 them. Do the creed-denominations fill their 
 churches with a better class of men than 
 Christians, and find men robed with a better 
 character than Christian character? Do 
 they dare claim that, in point of character, 
 their men and women are better and holier 
 than the men and women of the Christians? 
 If they have not a better class of people, in 
 what respect does their uninspired creed 
 protect them against dangerous elements, 
 that our inspired Scriptures do not ? But
 
 8o Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 surely, " The creed will bind the people more 
 closely together, than the Scriptures alone." 
 Ah ! this is the most extravagant and un- 
 tenable claim of all ! 
 
 The Bible alone will show its sufficiency 
 by binding the people together and to Christ, 
 as no creed can. If' a man be a Christian, 
 is he not a branch of the Vine? and can 
 there be a relationship closer to Christ than 
 that of the branch to the Vine ? Moreover, 
 is next the relationship to another branch of 
 the same Vine just as close as that of either 
 branch to the Vine itself ? By this argument, 
 then, is not the one branch of the True Vine 
 just as closely related to another branch of 
 the same Vine as to that vine itself? Can 
 the creed more closely or intensely cement 
 or bind the Christian to Christ or his fellow- 
 Christian, than he is already bound by the 
 Scriptures and the Holy Ghost? Does not 
 every denomination consent that the regen- 
 erated young convert is in Christ, and that 
 his love, as a youthful disciple of Jesus, is 
 perfectly intense for all his Master's dear 
 children ? But what does he know of the 
 creed, or what thought has he bestowed 
 upon it? It has had no agency in his re-
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. $i 
 
 generation, or in binding his heart, with such 
 disinterested devotion, to the followers of 
 Jesus. Can the creed-monger, with a shadow 
 of truth in his heart, look into the face of 
 the young convert and say in the language 
 of the above claim, " TJie creed will bind 
 your heart more closely to tJie family of Christ 
 than it is already bound by the Bifile and the 
 Spirit? There would not be a particle of 
 truth in such an assertion, nor is there more 
 in the exact language of the claim, as stated 
 above. 
 
 But let us press the argument further, 
 in the light of historical fact. Methodism 
 started on its (in many respects blessed 
 career) as one, but who can easily number 
 the divisions of Methodism to-day? Has 
 the creed held the Methodist family to- 
 gether? Had they taken the Bible alone, 
 Methodism would be one to-day! Is united 
 Methodism better than divided Methodism? 
 The efforts for the unification of Methodism 
 indicate that they think so. Then are the 
 Scriptures alone better for Methodism than 
 the creed. That which the Bible could have 
 prevented the Bible can best undo. We 
 6
 
 82 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 commend it to our good Methodist friends 
 in their commendable effort at unification. 
 
 Presbyterianism started as one, but to day 
 the general body has 50 heads, each one of 
 which is crowned with a creed. The creed 
 has failed, manifestly, in binding together 
 the family of Presbyterianism? 
 
 Has the* binding and cementing power of 
 the creed been any better with the other de- 
 nominations? Why commend to us the 
 creed, as a binding force in Christian fellow- 
 ship f or a M God's family, when it utterly 
 fails to bind together in oneness a small 
 fraction of that family? With our eyes on 
 miserable failures of the creed in this direc- 
 tion, it hardly seems less than ridiculous 
 audacity to press upon us the same pitiful 
 agency as a means to a stronger and more 
 fervent union! If the Bible alone" is insuffi- 
 cient as an agency of union, for what is the 
 creed more fully sufficient and remarkable 
 than as a wedge to divide and mangle the 
 Church of Christ ! How different the ex- 
 perience of the Christians ! With the Scrip- 
 tures alone as their rule of faith and practice, 
 they began life 75 years ago. They have 
 never suffered a division in their history and
 
 Rule of Faith and Practice. 83 
 
 are as heartily united in their work, faith 
 and fellowship as any people, or any branch 
 of any people, on earth to-day. The Bible 
 has not divided us, nor is it likely to do so, 
 but it has bound us in one blessed fellow- 
 ship, as it would the universal Church, if the 
 creed was thrown to the winds or given to 
 the flames. The Church is in a shattered, 
 bleeding condition to-day, expending more 
 of its moral force and substantial means in 
 fostering and nourishing its divisions than 
 in performing its legitimate work of con- 
 verting the world. If Christ organized but 
 one Church and did not provide for a second, 
 then the fujlest union and co-operation of 
 that one Church is desirable and obligatory ! 
 On no one creed can it unite its scattered 
 forces. On the Bible alone and under the 
 banner of the Cross, with Jesus as the only 
 leader, there could be no difficulty in the 
 way.
 
 84 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 CHRISTIAN CHARACTER THE 
 TEST." 
 
 By REV. J. W. OSBORN, Ph. D., Swansea, Mass. 
 
 That " Christian character is the Qnly test 
 of fellowship " is uniformly regarded as one 
 of the fundamental principles of the com- 
 munion of churches known as CHRISTIANS. 
 
 In the book entitled the " Principles and 
 Government of the Christian Church," pub- 
 lished by the authority of the " General Con- 
 vention " " composed of representatives from 
 all the Christian Conferences in the Southern 
 States," is a direction that " in the organiza- 
 tion of a church," among the articles of 
 agreement to be signed, shall be one stating 
 that " Christian character, or vital piety, is 
 the true Scriptural test of fellowship and of 
 church membership." In the chapter on the 
 " Principles of the Church," in the same 
 volume, is a statement in these words, vary- 
 ing slightly from those just quoted : "Chris- 
 tian character, or vital piety, is a just, and 
 should be the only, test of fellowship, or of 
 church membership."
 
 Christian Character the Test. 85 
 
 However plain a proposition may be, an 
 occasional re-statement is necessary, both to 
 draw attention anew to the truth enunciated, 
 and to adjust its expression to varying 
 modes of thought. Different communities 
 view a subject in different aspects, and it 
 must be so presented as to be adapted to 
 the apprehension of all. And in successive 
 generations the evolution of thought must 
 at every stage be met by a fresh presenta- 
 tion of the principle to be taught. 
 
 " Spiritual things are spirituallydiscerned." 
 The ability to understand a statement in- 
 cludes the capacity to conceive the fact or 
 principle concerning which the statement is 
 made. 
 
 Of education and culture, a gentleman 
 blind from his birth, remarked that " the word 
 'red' seemed to him to signify something 
 like a cane ; " and the word ' green ' some- 
 thing like the music of an orgaa." Some men 
 attach a vague meaning, or a significance 
 radically false, to language, which for the 
 comprehension of other men, is sufficiently 
 explicit. If there is no moral infirmity or 
 spiritual obtuseness to prevent a clear per- 
 ception, there may be misapprehension re-
 
 86 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 suiting from the necessary ambiguity of lan- 
 guage. Perhaps for this reason, an alterna- 
 tive expression is used in the thesis 
 " Christian character, or vital piety." 
 
 The word " Christian " atid the phrase 
 "Christian character" are used with great 
 latitude of meaning. 
 
 Sometimes men are styled "Christians" 
 because they live in a land where Christianity, 
 instead of Mahomedanism or Paganism, is 
 generally regarded as the true system of re- 
 ligion. And there are many advantages in 
 living in a community where Christian con- 
 ceptions of what is manly and becoming 
 pervade society to a degree sufficient not 
 only to secure the enactment of laws de- 
 signed to restrain if not reform the criminal, 
 to protect the weak from the strong and un- 
 scrupulous, and to unite order with liberty; 
 but so to promote honesty, benevolence and 
 purity, that one seldom needs the protection 
 of law. In such a state of society the worst 
 man, though he may utterly repudiate the 
 claims of Christianity, and treat its truths 
 with bitter scorn, enjoys a multitude of ad- 
 vantages due to its beneficent influence : if 
 in prison he is far more fortunate than
 
 Christian Character the Test. 87 
 
 though a prisoner in any other land. Though 
 he may forget God, the Gospel affords him, 
 unconsciously, blessings without number 
 and beyond price. But his advantages may 
 fail to make him morally better; they may 
 possibly make him worse. The fact that 
 one's birthright involves great privileges 
 may not prevent him from selling it, even 
 for a " mess of pottage." Opportunity is not 
 " Christian character." Among all forms of 
 religious belief, it is probably true that Protes- 
 tant Christianity, as deducted from the New 
 Testament, alone recognizes a distinction, 
 broad, deep and radical, between a merely 
 nominal or national religion, and personal 
 piety. In the absence of contrary evidence, 
 it is assumed that every Moslem is a "true 
 believer," every Roman Catholic a "faithful 
 son of the church." But the New Testa- 
 ment treats religion as character ; and char- 
 acter is individual. 
 
 In some instances men are regarded as 
 Christians merely because they are not guilty 
 of gross violations of morality, according to 
 the particular ideal of the community con- 
 cerned : an ideal varying as the tempera- 
 ture of the zones, and fickle as the winds.
 
 88 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 The conception of character underlying the 
 assumption is negative; but in morals, as 
 elsewhere, "nature abhors a vacuum." Char- 
 acter is positive. 
 
 To suppose that one becomes a Christian 
 merely by participating in religious ceremo- 
 nies, is to confound rites with righteousness: 
 as did those who plotted the death of our 
 Saviour, but would not enter Pilate's judg- 
 ment hall, lest they should be defiled, and 
 unfit to eat the passover. The character 
 developed in habitual performances regarded 
 as sacred may be either that of a hypo- 
 crite who deceives others, or of a formalist 
 who deceives himself. 
 
 Christian character is sometimes regarded 
 as an accumulation of creditable deeds. 
 Good actions must never be decried ; the 
 world needs more, not less, of them. No 
 infidel ever harmed the church of Christ as 
 it has been injured by those who "profess 
 that they know God, but in works deny Him, 
 being abominable, and disobedient, and unto 
 every good work reprobate." But generous 
 actions may spring from ungenerous mo- 
 tives; the kiss of pretended affection may 
 be given by a Judas. Not long ago, the
 
 Christian Character the Test. 89 
 
 Superintendent of a Sunday School, who 
 was also habitually a participant in prayer 
 meetings, was convicted of fraud, and com- 
 mitted to prison. After his mask was so 
 suddenly removed, he declared that he never 
 believed in the religion he professed. He 
 had pretended to be converted and to be 
 very zealous, because in the church with 
 which he united there was a wealthy gentle- 
 man who took much interest in worthy 
 young men, and established several in busi- 
 ness; and this imposter hoped to secure 
 similar help. Felix often communed with 
 Paul, hoping the prisoner would offer a bribe 
 for his freedom. 
 
 Good deeds may be the indices of Chris- 
 tian graces, a strong and lofty pyramid, 
 built up of " living stones " and resting on 
 the " Rock of Ages." To the faith which 
 constitutes the Christian, may be added 
 "virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, 
 godliness, brotherly-kindness, charity." Or 
 a character may resemble a cairn, which, 
 in some countries marks the spot where a 
 murder has been committed and the victim 
 buried ; a heap of stones carelessly tossed 
 together without order ; worthless pebbles
 
 go Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 over a decaying corpse the memorial of a 
 crime. 
 
 That which is built up from without is 
 artificial and mechanical ; a genuine religious 
 character is an organism. The dead branch 
 may serve as a rod ; only the living branch 
 grows ; the Power that caused Aaron's rod 
 to bud alone can impart life to the dead. 
 
 Facts pertaining to Christianity may be 
 perceived with no more moral responsive- 
 ness than is involved in the perception that 
 the tides flow and the grass grows. Grand 
 truths essential to the Gospel as the revela- 
 tion of God to man, and the recognition of 
 God by man, that God is love, and that 
 He sent His Son to save men from the 
 power and guilt of sin, may convince the 
 understanding, and yet no more awaken the 
 slumbering soul than does the assurance 
 that " a whole is equal to all its parts." The 
 " golden rule " may be accepted by the 
 reason as the true principle of conduct, and 
 yet have no more effect upon the hardened, 
 selfish heart than does the "rule of three." 
 The seat of character is deeper than the in- 
 tellect. And yet religion is not mere feeling. 
 Love is not emotion but devotion.
 
 Christian Character the Test. 91 
 
 The winters of some portions of our 
 Northern States are occasionally interrupted 
 by " thaws." The snow dissolves, the ice 
 melts, the frost "leaves the ground;" a 
 stranger would suppose that spring had 
 come. But a single night brings back all 
 the rigor of winter. The " cold waves " of 
 air from polar regions bind up the streams, 
 and harden the earth like a rock. So there 
 are men (affected perhaps by the example 
 of others), whose hearts seem ready to 
 yield to the beams of the Sun of Righteous- 
 ness : their icy natures appear to melt ; 
 but soon the wintry blasts rage with all 
 their former violence. When the soul in 
 reality yields to the power of the Sun, "the 
 winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the 
 flowers appear on the earth, the time of the 
 singing of birds is come." 
 
 By " Christian character," when specified 
 as the " test of fellowship," is not meant 
 mature spiritual development. The apostle 
 who urges growth " in grace and the knowl- 
 edge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" 
 is speaking "to them that have obtained 
 like precious faith with us." As the mother 
 nourishes and protects the infant, so the
 
 92 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 church receives those who are " babes in 
 Christ ; " and within its pale they "grow up 
 in Him." 
 
 To attempt to fix the conditions of fellow- 
 ship in such way as to require a certain de- 
 gree of improvement in propriety of man- 
 ners, or of spiritual growth, would be im- 
 practicable. It would be impossible to de- 
 termine the size of the cairn in one case, or 
 the height of the pyramid in the other. 
 The qualifications for admission must be re- 
 cognized more distinctly and definitely. 
 
 By " Christian character " is meant THAT 
 CHARACTER WHICH IS IMMEDIATELY AT- 
 TAINED IN THE EXERCISE OF SAVING FAITH 
 IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.- 
 
 The exercise of faith involves the surren- 
 der of ourselves to Him, including not only 
 repentance, but obedience and trust ; if we 
 yield ourselves to the Lord, we heed alike 
 His precepts and His promises. 
 
 Impenitence is the refusal to surrender 
 our will (that is ourselves) to Christ. Hence 
 He said to some who rejected Him, "Ye 
 WILL NOT come to Me, that ye might have 
 life ;" and He gave assurance of the highest 
 knowledge to " any man that WILLETH to
 
 Christian Character the Test. 93 
 
 do God's will." In the choice of the "good 
 part " the human will is both actively and 
 passively devoted to the Divine will. In 
 the Lord's Prayer we are taught to say " Thy 
 ivill be done in earth as it is in heaven." We 
 pray that God's will may be done BY our- 
 selves and all men. In the garden of Geth- 
 semane our Saviour used the same lan- 
 guage, " Thy will be done ; but here it is 
 modified by the words preceding " If this 
 cup may not pass from me except I drink it." 
 As His disciples, we, even though "the flesh 
 is weak," desire that God's will be done IN 
 us ; or as expressed in the familiar verse 
 
 " Thy will be done, though in mine own undoing." 
 The choice of God's will as the rule of 
 life is MAN'S ACT. But more than this is in- 
 volved in "passing from death 'unto life." 
 When Solomon dedicated the temple to the 
 Most High, He accepted it, and it was filled 
 with His glory. As a "temple" the Chris- 
 tian is dedicated to the Lord's service, and 
 the Holy Spirit accepts and fills that temple. 
 As light supersedes darkness, so the Divine 
 Presence in the devoted heart dwells where 
 before earthly and sinful loves had supreme
 
 94 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 sway. The affections are renewed by the 
 grace and power of the Saviour. 
 
 So that " Christian character or vital piety " 
 is not merely man's voluntary submission to 
 the will of God ; it is the product of the unre- 
 sisted operation of the Divine Spirit on the 
 heart. " As many as received Him, to them 
 gave He power [the prerogative] to become 
 the sons of God." They are " born of God." 
 " Vital piety " is not the result of the gift of 
 a new nature, but of being " partakers of the 
 Divine nature." There is no delay in the en- 
 trance of the Holy Spirit. Simultaneously 
 with the removal of the obstruction, the 
 sunlight which bathed the outer wall, illu- 
 minates the room. The penitent surrender 
 of the will to God secures forgiveness; and 
 forgiveness must of necessity be instanta- 
 neous. 
 
 But, although the Lord knows zvhen the 
 door of the soul is open to receive Him, and 
 instantly enters, it may be long before men 
 are convinced that the " wicked man has 
 turned away from his wickedness." Even 
 the disciples suspected the genuineness of 
 the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, until Bar- 
 nabas, that " Son of Consolation," inter-
 
 CJiristian Character the Test. 95 
 
 posed to satisfy them that their former per- 
 secutor was " a new man in Christ Jesus." 
 As soon as the Christian church has reason 
 to believe, " in the judgment of charity," 
 that one is " born of God," it bids him wel- 
 come as a member of the " household of 
 faith." 
 
 The declaration that Christian character 
 "is the test of fellowship and of church 
 membership," implies that all who are re- 
 garded as worthy of " fellowship" as follow- 
 ers of Christ, are also fit to be members of 
 the church. While z. formal distinction be- 
 tween such " fellowship " and " church mem- 
 bership " is recognized, no moral difference 
 is acknowledged. If one is a Christian, he 
 is not only to be loved and trusted as such 
 outside the door of the church, but within it. 
 
 The objection is sometimes urged that the 
 churches of the Christian connection have 
 no way of determining whether an applicant 
 for membership possesses a Christian charac- 
 ter. And it must be conceded that it is not 
 as easy to decide that a man has a "clean 
 heart" as it is that he has clean hands ; or 
 that he loves God as that he has confessed 
 to a priest. It may readily be proved that
 
 96 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 a candidate for admission to the Lord's 
 table has been immersed in water, when " the 
 washing of regeneration and the renewing 
 of the Holy Ghost " may not be obvious. 
 If merely ritualistic conditions are regarded, 
 it is easy to determine who may, and who 
 may not, be admitted to the privileges of 
 members of the church. But as regards the 
 special objection urged, on the point where 
 the difficulty lies, the churches of the Chris- 
 stian connection do not differ, in any res- 
 pect whatever, from such other evangelical 
 churches as rigorously apply doctrinal tests. 
 In one case, Christian character alone is the 
 criterion; in the other Christian character 
 and belief in certain doctrines. If one has the 
 duty of deciding whether a candidate pos- 
 sesses the requisite spiritual qualification, 
 the other has that duty, and the additional 
 task of determining whether the applicant 
 (in many cases a person of immature years, 
 or of habits of mind totally unfitted to dis- 
 cuss abstract themes) has correct opinipns 
 on points of doctrine concerning which the 
 best, the most learned and the wisest of men 
 widely differ; perhaps on subjects including
 
 Christian Character the Test. 97 
 
 the "things which the angels desire to look 
 into." No church has exclusive possession 
 of spiritual mercury, to separate the pre- 
 cious gold from the worthless dross. 
 
 As an incidental aid in determining one's 
 spiritual fitness for admittance to the church, 
 the applicant might, without violation of the 
 principle propounded, be questioned on 
 those truths universally recognized as essen- 
 tial to the Christian religion. And doctrinal 
 tests are regarded as objectionable when ap- 
 plied to opinions concerning which men of 
 acknowledged piety differ, and not to truths 
 in which they agree. VITAL ORTHODOXY is 
 involved in " vital piety." 
 
 To guard against the danger of a mis- 
 guided and false application of the principle 
 of tolerance now under discussion, it may be 
 necessary to remark that the arrogant and 
 offensive dogmatist, who vehemently urges 
 his pet theories to the annoyance of the 
 brethren, as distinct from the faithful and 
 affectionate presentation of religious truth 
 in its various aspects and applications, can- 
 not claim admittance to the church on the 
 ground of " Christian character." He ha- 
 7
 
 98 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 bitually violates the "golden rule," and the 
 precept to " follow after the things which 
 make for peace, and the things whereby one 
 may edify another." 
 
 Respecting the " ordinances " of the church, 
 it may suffice to remark that Christian char- 
 acter is the title alike to baptism and the 
 Lord's Supper. These ordinances are evi- 
 dently designed as helps to the Christian in 
 living a devoted life. The memory of the 
 Lord Jesus is precious to all who serve Him ; 
 and the communion service makes vivid the 
 conception of His love and sacrifice. The 
 value of the observance does not depend on 
 any antecedent ordinance. Who could im- 
 agine our Saviour reproving a "weak" dis- 
 ciple for REMEMBERING HIM, or for seeking 
 by the help of the memorial supper to 
 realize more clearly His words of grace and 
 His power to save from sin? The question 
 concerning the relative order in which the 
 two ordinances should be observed, is of no 
 more significance than the child's query 
 "Shall I kiss mamma before or after I say 
 'Good morning?" The ordinances are of value 
 simply as they serve to express and increase
 
 Christian Character the Test. 99 
 
 the heart's devotion to the Lord ; and any 
 merely mechanical, formal or arbitrary ad- 
 justment of them must tend to rob them 
 of their power to bless the soul. 
 
 " The cardinal principles of the Christian 
 church" are intimately related. Logically, 
 they stand or fall together. As a sect that 
 rejects Him who is "the only Head of the 
 Church " cannot with propriety assume His 
 name, so those who decline "party names" 
 should welcome to their particular spiritual 
 household all who "are of the household of 
 God." 
 
 The Convention, by an ample statement 
 of the " Sentiments of the Church," at once 
 indicates the doctrine that is usually preached 
 by Christian ministers, and to some extent 
 guards its purity. With an evangelical min- 
 istry and a regenerate membership, no fear 
 is felt of " false doctrine, heresy and schism." 
 
 The substance of this paper, written in 
 compliance with a request to define "What 
 we, as a. Church, mean by the declaration 
 that 'Christian character, or vital piety, is a 
 just, and should be the only test,' " may be 
 thus briefly stated : Christian character as
 
 ioo Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 instantaneously attained in the exercise of 
 true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, by a 
 spiritual birth effected by the power of the 
 Holy Ghost, is the essential prerequisite for 
 admission to the ordinances and fellowship 
 of the Church.
 
 Private Judgment. 101 
 
 PRIVATE JUDGMENT, THE RIGHT 
 AND DUTY OF EVERY BELIEVER. 
 
 Sermon by Prof. MARTYN SUMMERBELL, M. A., 
 of New York City. 
 
 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said : 
 " We ought to obey God rather than men." (Acts v : 29.) 
 
 When the Christian Church in America 
 advances, as one of its cardinal principles, 
 the doctrine of the right of private judg- 
 ment in matters of opinion, it is simply re- 
 peating one of the fundamental principles 
 of the Protestant Reformation, and also re- 
 affirming the declaration of the Apostles, 
 when summoned before the Sanhedrin for 
 preaching Jesus " We ought to obey God 
 rather than men." Somewhere, humanly 
 speaking, a final appeal in matters of reli- 
 gious debate must lie. 
 
 In the judgment of the Apostles, and in 
 ours, that high tribunal is, not the Sanhedrin, 
 supreme authority for the Jewish hierarchy 
 though it be ; not a bench of bishops clad 
 with Apostolic powers as legitimate succes- 
 sors and representatives of the Apostles ; 
 not an infallible Pope, lording it over God's
 
 IO2 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 heritage with ex catJiedra ecclesiastical ful- 
 minations ; not any man, nor any body of 
 men, acting in their own authority or by au- 
 thority of others, but simply and only the 
 conscience of the individual believer, as it 
 hearkens for the voice of God, and rever- 
 ently endeavors to obey his word. Believ- 
 ing that .right there, in the individual con- 
 science, resides the court of last resort, the 
 Christian Church, in common with all Prot- 
 estants, asserts private judgment to be the 
 right and duty of every believer. In expla- 
 nation of this principle we will consider the 
 view of the Christian Church respecting pri- 
 vate judgment and the methods of its exer- 
 cise, so far as these affect the churches and 
 individual Christians. 
 
 " We must obey God rather than men," say 
 Peter and the other apostles. Please observe 
 the nature of this protest and the grounds on 
 which it rests. Peter and the others have 
 come to open conflict with the highest au- 
 thority known in the Jewish nation. The 
 great Sanhedrin, which has full charge of all 
 religious affairs, which settles all disputes, 
 which punishes with stoning, with behead- 
 ing, with hanging or with burning, has com-
 
 Private Judgment. 103 
 
 manded them not to speak or teach in the 
 name of Jesus. 
 
 It now accuses them of contempt for its 
 august decree, and complains that they have 
 filled Jerusalem with their doctrine, with 
 evident intention of making the Holy City, 
 and the Sanhedrin itself, guilty of the blood 
 of Jesus. The charge is explicit and grave. 
 If substantiated, it implies on the part of 
 the Apostles a disregard for the religious 
 convictions of their countrymen, as well as 
 scorn for the Sanhedrin itself, which sways 
 civil and ecclesiastical powers, and resistance 
 to which, in Jewish eyes, combines sacrilege 
 with high treason. What shall they answer? 
 We listen and catch the substance of their 
 plea " We must obey God rather than 
 men." 
 
 Here by implication we find a claim that 
 God speaks to men, and to individual men. 
 In some way the Divine Will penetrates the 
 secret places of their hearts. They have 
 felt God's power, heard His speech, and real- 
 ized the momentum of 
 
 " Truths that wake 
 
 To perish never." 
 
 So fixed is their assurance that it was God
 
 IO4 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 talking with them, that they are constrained 
 to relax their customary submission to au- 
 thorities, and to expose themselves to every 
 trial and every terror of persecution, rather 
 than ignore the evident will of the Almighty. 
 They must uphold the truth as God has re- 
 vealed it to them. So they affirm and re- 
 affirm "We must obey God rather than 
 men." 
 
 Now God speaks to men in various ways. 
 Some truth he makes known through the 
 intuitions. Advanced philosophers now 
 claim that there are moral intuitions, as well 
 as those of time and space. We know that 
 effect follows cause, and so also we know 
 that a grateful response to a kindness is 
 right, and that neglect and ingratitude are 
 wrong. We know that the whole is greater 
 than any of its parts, and equally well we 
 know, and in the same way, that moral res- 
 ponsibility involves freedom. Sin to be sin, 
 sin which weighs us down, is not the sin 
 which we are compelled to commit, but the 
 sin which we choose to commit. The good 
 man of the house, who defends his domicile 
 from a burglar, is not guilty when he shoots 
 the intruder. Because he acts under com-
 
 Private Judgment. 105 
 
 pulsion, the voice within his soul commends 
 him, and the innate sense of justice, as crys- 
 tallized in common law, sustains him. 
 
 And God speaks to men through sense 
 perception. A universe stretches before the 
 thinking soul, vast, complicate, and yet in 
 every part ruled by exact principle, which 
 some call law, but which those who walk 
 with God perceive to be the will and direc- 
 tion of the Creator. Out of this universe 
 of spaces and forces and worlds and living 
 creatures, and man made in the image of 
 God, stream influences which, as the soul 
 wills, may move it toward good or toward 
 evil. From this outer world come appeals 
 to passion, lures toward self-centred greed, 
 and incentives to vaulting ambition. From 
 the same outer world come also combina- 
 tions of form and color and useful purpose, 
 which rouse the soul to appreciation of de- 
 light in beauty; associations which become 
 incentives to tender and unselfish affection ; 
 views of order and adaptation and correla- 
 tion of plan and accomplishment through- 
 out the creation of matter and mind, which 
 insensibly lead up from admiration for the 
 works of nature to a devout reliance on na-
 
 106 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 ture's God. The charm of the summer land- 
 scape, the voice of the birds in forest and 
 meadow chanting their morning psalm, the 
 cool hush of evening, when the starry 
 heavens invite to peaceful meditation on 
 man's weakness as a child of the dust, and 
 his infinite majesty as a child of God, the 
 moral questions which agitate our social 
 world, summoning us to decide for justice 
 against oppression, for righteousness against 
 iniquity, for truth against lies ; all these are 
 Divine voices, summoning the soul to cast 
 off its shackles and stand in all its possible 
 glory as heir of eternity. 
 
 But chief of all, God speaks to man in His 
 Son and in His Holy Word. The Apostles, 
 as disciples, sit at Jesus' feet. Wonderful 
 the effect of His presence on all who ap- 
 proach Him. Rude officers of the tem- 
 ple, sent to apprehend Him, return saying, 
 " Never man spake like this man." Under 
 His teaching the toilers of the sea become 
 fishers of men Christ's love in their hearts, 
 God's word on their lips. They follow 
 not cunningly devised fables, but are eye- 
 witnesses of His majesty. All the divinity 
 in their souls, pledge of their kinship with
 
 Private Judgment. 107 
 
 God, responds to Christ's gentleness and 
 purity and truth. 
 
 By the wisdom which illuminated the 
 darkest problems, and by the power which 
 ruled the bodies and souls of .men, they 
 recognized Him as the Messiah long sought, 
 the Son of the living God. After His res- 
 urrection and ascension, if ever a doubt 
 had beclouded judgment, the outpouring of 
 the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost 
 swept 'it away. What He had declared to 
 them was the teaching of God. They 
 could not gainsay it. They could not 
 bury it out of remembrance. Though all 
 all courts should enjoin them, and all thrones 
 command them to silence, they are con- 
 strained to say " We must obey God rather 
 than men." 
 
 In the centuries, however, since Christ has 
 ascended to glory, God speaks to man most 
 clearly by His Holy Spirit through the Scrip- 
 tures. These embody so much of His pur- 
 pose as He has determined to disclose. They 
 reveal the course of His gracious providence 
 in the history of nations and men. They 
 establish the basis of moral and civil law. 
 They declare His purpose of amazing grace
 
 io8 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 in the gift of His Son, by whose life, and 
 death, and resurrection, sinners have promise 
 of redemption and everlasting life. Surely 
 this Bible is a light that shineth in a dark 
 place, until the day dawn and the day-star 
 arise in your hearts. Speak of diversity ; 
 sixty-six books go to its making, involving 
 all styles from the simple speech of shep- 
 herds to the profoundest thoughts that surge 
 in the mind of a Job, an Isaiah, a Paul or a 
 John in the rapture of his apocalyptic vision ; 
 and yet from the initial Beth, in the first 
 book, to the Nn final in the last, there 
 breathes one moral purpose, one Divine aim 
 in helping humanity, one thought of God as 
 man's best friend and father. Test this state- 
 ment as closely as you will. Make it a study 
 to learn what thought of morality and Deity 
 prevails where this book is read and be- 
 lieved, and what, where it is driven out of 
 common life and common mind. Where it 
 is not read you shall find morality at a low 
 ebb, honor a term of empty fuss and swag- 
 ger, virtue a pretence, and God and heaven 
 names to swear by in every breath. But 
 where this book is read and loved, lying and 
 trickery are hated, men can trust their feL
 
 Private Judgment. 109 
 
 lows in deed or in word, and life and reli- 
 gion become sacred under the conviction of 
 God's searching knowledge of iniquity, and 
 His certain recompense for goodness. 
 
 And all these voices of God speak to the 
 individual man. The world within and the 
 world without to me are darkness until God 
 brings me light. The Apostles in the lesson 
 were responsible for the truths which God 
 had set in celestial radiance before the eyes 
 of their soul. Remark this in this convic- 
 tion of the revelation of Christ. Peter was 
 convinced of Christ's Messiahship. As God' 
 had traced with his finger the Ten Words on 
 Moses' stone tables v so he had written this 
 knowledge of Christ on Peter's heart. 
 " Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona," said 
 Jesus, " for flesh and blood hath not revealed 
 it unto thee, but my Father, which is in 
 heaven." Others had seen the Lord, had 
 witnessed his miracles and heard His gracious 
 words, but all these things God had set in 
 order in Peter's soul, so that he beheld the 
 Saviour's glory. It is much the same with 
 all the varieties of truth through which God 
 speaks to us. Here is this Bible. How rare 
 the book. And it is most rare in this, that
 
 I IO Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 as we read it God brings us continually to 
 richer treasures of knowledge. The famous 
 Dr. Kennicott was thirty years writing his 
 commentary. It was his practice to ride out 
 with his wife on pleasant days, when she 
 would read the portion of Scripture on which 
 he was preparing the comment. At last the 
 book was done, the last page written. As 
 usual they take their daily ride. 
 
 " What book shall I take to-day, Doctor?" 
 asks his faithful wife. 
 
 " Oh ! " said he, " Let us begin the Bible." 
 After thirty years of closest scrutiny it was 
 still full of interest, possibly replete with 
 profounder interest than ever before. 
 
 So Luther studied the Bible diligently and 
 assiduously. He pursued a special investi- 
 gation of Romans and Galatians. With his 
 mind intent on the Sacred Word he goes to 
 Rome. As yet old associations and teach- 
 ings cramp his intellect and fetter his judg- 
 ment. Yonder is Pilate's staircase. The 
 story goes that it has been translated by 
 miracle from Jerusalem to Rome, and that 
 those marble steps were trodden by our 
 blessed Lord, when he was led into Pilate's 
 judgment hall. Pilgrims in Rome from every
 
 Private Judgment. ill 
 
 part of the world believe the fable, and so 
 crawl up the staircase on their knees. Lu- 
 ther believes and acts with the rest, only he 
 climbs but half way. See him there, pain- 
 fully mounting, like a slave bowed under a 
 burden. Superstition crushes him down. 
 But see ! he rises. He stands upon his feet. 
 He turns and hurries like a man down the 
 stair. How now, brother Martin ? God has 
 spoken to him. As it had been the voice of 
 an angel this text flashed upon his mind, 
 " The just shall live by faith ;" and God then 
 and there taught him its application, that he 
 was not to trust for salvation in dead works, 
 or in penance, or in mortifications of the 
 flesh, but only in faith in the Son of God. 
 That was God's revelation to Luther's soul, 
 God's enforcement of Biblical truth to set 
 him free from the bondage of error. 
 
 In reference to all these teachings of God, 
 in reference to general truth, and especially 
 in reference to truth as it is revealed in Holy 
 Scripture, it is the doctrine of the Protestant 
 Reformation, and a doctrine particularly 
 emphasized by the Christian Church, that 
 the interpretation of truth by private judg- 
 ment is the right and duty of every believer.
 
 1 1 2 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 On this very point hinges the question 
 between Protestanism and Romanism. The 
 practice of Rome through all the years since 
 the growth of the Papacy has been to rely 
 upon the Scriptures and tradition. The Bible 
 was the regula fidei, the rule of faith : but so 
 only as it was interpreted by the fathers and 
 the church. The true faith, according to 
 Rome, is not the faith which the believer 
 reads for himself in the Word of God, but 
 what the great councils in creeds and de- 
 crees declare the Bible to teach ; or what 
 the Pope, sitting in Peter's chair as vicege- 
 rent of Christ, pronounces to be the faith of 
 the church. 
 
 So reads the creed of Pope Pius IV: "I 
 also admit the Holy Scriptures according 
 to that sense which our holy mother, the 
 Church, has held, and does hold, to which it 
 belongs to judge of the true sense and inter- 
 pretation of the Scriptures. Neither will I 
 ever take and interpret them otherwise tljan 
 according to the unanimous consent of the 
 fathers." 
 
 With similar reliance on tradition the 
 Council of Trent denounces every one who, 
 "co.ifiding in his own judgment, shall dare
 
 Private Judgment. \ 1 3 
 
 to wrest the sacred Scriptures to his own 
 sense of them," and proceeds to declare it is 
 the right of holy mother church " to judge 
 of the true meaning and interpretation of 
 Sacred Writ." 
 
 Luther, Calvin, Zwingle, and all the Re- 
 formers met this position with the challenge 
 of absolute contradiction. They charged 
 that to entrust the church with the right to 
 decide for the believer what the Bible teaches 
 would stultify conscience, and subordinate 
 the Bible to the church. Instead of this 
 the Bible should be supreme, controversies 
 should be decided, not by Bible and tradi- 
 tion, but by Bible only, and believers should 
 seek its meaning not from the parish priest, 
 but from diligent study of the book itself as 
 interpreted by the Holy Spirit. This is the 
 theory of Protestanism, which all the great 
 symbols state in enequivocal terms. The 
 Augsburg Confession, 1530, beside quoting 
 various Scriptures to substantiate the right 
 of churches to refuse submission to bishops, 
 who teach or determine anything contrary 
 to the gospel, quotes from Augustine : 
 " Neither must we subscribe to Catholic 
 bishops, if they chance to err, or determine
 
 1 14 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 anything contrary to the canonical divine 
 scriptures." 
 
 The Formula of Concord, 1576, begins 
 with this unmistakable language: "We be- 
 lieve, confess and teach that the only true 
 rule and norm, according to which all dog- 
 mas and all doctors ought to be determined 
 and judged, is no other whatever than the 
 prophetic and apostolic writings of the Old 
 and of the New Testament." 
 
 The First Helvetic Confession, 1536, 
 states the doctrine briefly but clearly I 
 translate from the parallel Latin and Ger- 
 man document, Art. 2: "These holy and 
 sacred Scriptures shall be interpreted and 
 explained by themselves only, under the 
 guidance of faith and love." 
 
 The Westminster Confession, which de- 
 votes its first chapter to an exhaustive dis- 
 cussion of Holy Scripture, in the roth Arti- 
 cle, uses this explicit language : " The Su- 
 preme Judge by which all controversies of 
 religion are to be determined, and all de- 
 crees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, 
 doctrines of men and private spirits, are to 
 be examined, and in whose sentence we are
 
 Private Judgment. 115 
 
 to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit 
 speaking in Scripture." 
 
 Thus church after church, breaking away 
 from the thraldom of the papacy, asserted its 
 independence. In every case the appeal lay 
 to Scripture and conscience. As Schleier- 
 macher draws the distinction : " Protestan- 
 ism makes the relation of the individual to 
 the church dependent on his relation to 
 Christ ; Catholicism, vice versa, makes the re- 
 lation of the individual to Christ dependent 
 on his relation to the church." 
 
 Of this latter arrangement the Reformers 
 would have none. Their final plea was an 
 explicit declaration of the Word of God, no 
 matter what the Church had said. With re- 
 freshing uniformity they denied the right of 
 any person or persons, singly or collectively, 
 individually or officially, to interpret that 
 book for any believer so as to bind his con- 
 science. Contrariwise they affirmed that 
 God had invested every Christian with the 
 right to search the Scriptures for himself, and 
 moreover, lays it upon him as a sacred trust 
 to investigate and establish the grounds of 
 his individual faith. 
 
 Protestants claim that private judgment
 
 Ii6 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 is a right because of the glorious freedom of 
 the Christian faith. Through all the gos- 
 pels and the epistles rings the triumphant 
 song of liberty in Christ. Old things are 
 passed away ; the cumbrous law, the com- 
 mandment of death, the subjection to place 
 in the temple worship, and to time in the 
 set festivals, and to form in an ironclad 
 ritual, and to a man in the priest standing 
 at the altar, demanding that all who ap- 
 proach God shall send their petitions through 
 him ; and behold, all things are become 
 new; a new temple, the retreat of a true 
 heart in which God dwells by his Spirit, a 
 new church in which every believer is him- 
 self a king and a priest unto God, a new law 
 under which sacrifices are not the blood of 
 bulls and goats, but the spiritual sacrifices 
 of love and faith and penitence and broth- 
 erly kindness, and a new relationship in 
 which man no longer stands apart from God, 
 but draws nigh by a blessed faith, trusting 
 in but one Mediator and Intercessor, Jesus 
 the eternal Son of God. This glorious 
 freedom releases from all spiritual subjuga- 
 tion. When men attempt to govern the 
 church by an infallible law, or by an in-
 
 Private Judgment. 117 
 
 fallible pope, the Christian declares the 
 attempt usurpation,, and resists it. If 
 they meet in councils and interpret his 
 faith for him he hesitates, he compares 
 their teaching with the Bible, and if to his 
 mind it is error, he rejects it. He has this 
 privilege. He is a free man in Christ. 
 
 Private judgment is a right moreover from 
 the necessities of the case. Religion is of 
 all things individual and personal. Patriot- 
 ism, family affection, public spirit, all these 
 affect other men. So religion affects other 
 men, but not primarily. It begins with God, 
 and its relation to other men is secondary to 
 this, which is always chief. Into this rela- 
 tionship with God all outside influences that 
 enter with pretended authority are intrusion 
 and meddlesomeness. " Every one of us," 
 exclaims St. Paul, " shall give account of 
 himself to God." With noble scorn he asks 
 of those who question and disturb the 
 brethren : " Who art thou that judgest 
 another man's servant? to his own master 
 he standeth or falleth." Because man must 
 answer for himself he must decide for him- 
 self. He cannot plead at the judgment that 
 he went astray because he was led astray by
 
 1 1 8 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 the church, or by the minister or by the 
 creed. The responsibility of his soul's sal- 
 vation rests with himself, and it is his right 
 to know for himself from the Word of God 
 if, or if not, he is following the upward path. 
 Private judgment is a right which is con- 
 firmed by Holy Scripture. Nowhere is it 
 written that God's word is addressed to the 
 exclusive control of the priesthood, or of 
 the church, to be doled out to the people as 
 the authorities may decide expedient. In 
 place of that it is given to the people, and 
 they are strictly commanded to search and 
 know the truth. God through Isaiah de- 
 clares " If they speak not according to 
 this word it is because there is no light in 
 them." Jesus commends the Rabbis who 
 search the icriptures, and St. Luke praises 
 the Bereans, as " more noble " than those of 
 Thessalonica " in that they received the 
 word with all readiness of mind, and 
 searched the Scriptures daily whether these 
 things -were so." So again, the epistles are 
 directly dedicated to the brethren. Look 
 up their inscriptions and you find them writ- 
 ten, not to councils and conferences and 
 minister's associations, but " to the saints,"
 
 Private Judgment. 1 19 
 
 "to the called of Jesus Christ," "to the 
 beloved of God" and "to the faithful in 
 Christ Jesus." 
 
 And this right of private judgment of 
 Holy Scripture, which frees the people from 
 the dictation of ecclesiastics, is further es- 
 tablished since the Bible, far from permit- 
 ting teachers and preachers to consent to- 
 gether to decide what the people shall be- 
 lieve, authorizes the people to judge for 
 themselves the teaching of their teachers, 
 whether it be according to the word of God. 
 
 When the Rabbis refused to acknowledge 
 his Messiahship, Jesus turned to the peasants 
 of Galilee to decide between him and the 
 lawyers, warning them meanwhile against 
 the leaven of the Scribes and Pharisees, and 
 against false prophets, who were to be dis- 
 cerned by their fruits. So St. Paul wrote to 
 the Thessalonians of prophesyings ; " Prove 
 all things, hold fast that which is good." 
 Here is intimated the double process of 
 private judgment ; first, a rule of comparison 
 by which good is to be determined, i. e., the 
 Holy Word ; and, second, an untrammelled 
 conscience, capable of making judgment and 
 of rejecting error. Another instance, if
 
 I2O Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 anything still more positive, appears in the 
 admonition to the Galatian brethren, who 
 were directed to investigate the claims of 
 Apostles: "Though we or an angel from 
 heaven," says St. Paul, "preach any other 
 gospel unto you than that which we have 
 preached unto you, let him be accursed." 
 The Galatians are to test their teacher? by 
 the gospel. If the teachers teach the word, 
 well. If they deny the word as it is recog- 
 nized by the consciences of the brethren, 
 then they are to have no countenance. A 
 direction to the same purport occurs in the 
 epistle, where St. John advises: "Beloved, 
 Delieve not every spirit, but try the spirits 
 whether they are of God : because many 
 false prophets are gone out into the world." 
 Private judgment consequently is a right, a 
 right which every believer should maintain, 
 and which he should permit no man, nor 
 any body of men to abrogate or infringe. 
 
 But private judgment is more than a right, 
 it is the duty of every believer. This is 
 true first, of all, because the Bible, being ad-. 
 1 dressed to all, should be heeded by all. We 
 may look upon Holy Scripture as God's 
 message to his people. Now when I receive
 
 Private Judgment. 121 
 
 a letter from a friend I read it for myself 
 and form my own opinion of my friend's 
 feelings and desires. If it is written in a 
 foreign language, I may engage some person 
 to translate it for me, but I would not be 
 obliged to him, if, in place of translating my 
 whole letter, he should give me a scrap here 
 and a scrap there, telling me that these con- 
 tained all that was of importance. My re- 
 spect for my friend, my respect for myself 
 would demand the whole letter. Is it not 
 the same with God's message to His chil- 
 dren? It is given us as a whole, and even 
 if we cannot read it in the original tongues, 
 we can read it in good translations, and we 
 owe it to our Heavenly Father, who has 
 honored us by committing it to our charge, 
 to read it and to understand it as a whole, 
 bestowing on its perusal our best judgment, 
 and suffering no man to interpose anything 
 whatever in its place. 
 
 And private judgment is a duty also, since 
 by its exercise only can we arrive at a rich 
 and intelligent comprehension of the Word 
 of God. With Biblical study, as with other 
 pursuits, we are interested most, and we 
 learn most in that to which we have devoted
 
 122 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 time and diligent labor. Second-hand knowl- 
 edge of Scripture, like all second-hand knowl- 
 edge, is pretentious ignorance. How shall 
 you prepare your son for a counting house? 
 Will it suffice to provide him lecturers who 
 shall tell him about penmanship and book- 
 keeping and figures? Even admitting that 
 the lecturers proposed were the very best, 
 and would teach approved principles only, 
 you would require something far more prac- 
 tical. The mind cannot be filled by a force 
 pump. Boys learn by digging out princi- 
 ples, practicing penmanship, keeping books 
 by single and double entry, and working out 
 the problems in fractions and interest and 
 proportion and mensuration. And by the 
 same practical law he will grow wise in 
 Sripture who compares Scripture with Scrip- 
 ture, analyzing, arranging, re-arranging and 
 judging doctrines and opinions according to 
 his best understanding of what God would 
 teach. Who does anything less than-this, 
 when he can study the Bible, is guilty of 
 starving his own soul. 
 
 And still again, private judgment is the 
 duty of every believer, since, as we have be- 
 fore seen God, speaks through his Word,
 
 Private Judgment. 123 
 
 and the message, reaching the believer, is 
 God's very own, the signification of which 
 he must himself finally determine; with, I 
 grant, the aid of all resources at command, 
 and yet with his own conscience, in the light 
 of the Holy Spirit, as final arbiter. 
 
 Lord Macaulay, in one of his essays, wisely 
 remarks: "There are two intelligible and 
 consistent courses which may be followed 
 with respect to the exercise of private judg- 
 ment, the course of the Romanist who in- 
 terdicts private judgment because of its in- 
 evitable inconveniences, and the course of 
 the Protestant, who permits private judg- 
 ment in spite of its inevitable inconve- 
 niences." 
 
 Lord Macaulay admits no middle course. 
 There is no middle course. It must be 
 either conscience answerable to God or 
 else conscience answerable, mediately or 
 immediately, to the priest. No need 
 to annul the law to betray it. Tyrants can 
 tyrannize under the most republican of re- 
 publican forms of government by interpret- 
 ing the laws at their option. And the Bible 
 can be made inoperative, while it is seem- 
 ingly honored, by men, who, usurping au-
 
 124 Pi Cardinal Principles. 
 
 thority in its interpretation, actually assume 
 the authority which belong to Scripture 
 itself. 
 
 The Apostles in the lesson felt this 
 thoroughly. Why not refer their heaven- 
 sent message to the scrutiny of the Great 
 Sanhedrin ? These greybeards were wise, 
 were learned, were after some sort conscien- 
 tious; but to have trusted their judgment 
 finally would have been to obey men rather 
 than God. 
 
 It is the same when I bring my Bible to 
 any ecclesiastical body and abide by its dec- 
 laration of the meaning. If I rest upon the 
 decision of conference, convention, synod or 
 council, and abide by it when my conscience, 
 from the light shed from the page of the 
 Bible, teaches me otherwise, I betray my 
 stewardship, I obey men rather than God. 
 This I cannot do. This you cannot do. 
 We must read the Scriptures for ourselves, 
 in the light of the best helps which the age 
 can furnish, with the counsel of the wisest 
 teachers to be obtained ; but after all has 
 been said, duty compels the final decision of 
 faith to rest with the individual conscience.
 
 Private Judgment. 125 
 
 In this there can be no option. "We must 
 obey God rather than man." 
 
 The Christian Church, which teaches the 
 right and duty of private judgment, recog- 
 nizes that so large a right involves care and 
 discretion in its exercise. As a rule without 
 exceptions, privilege multiplies obligations. 
 If Christ mercifully endows his disciples with 
 the blessed boon of Gospel liberty, it is not 
 that every man shall be a law unto himself, 
 the Bible is the standard of faith and prac- 
 tice ; not that men shall degrade liberty to 
 license, the tenderness of Christian love is 
 still to restrain disorders; not that the peace 
 of the church shall be -endangered, but in- 
 stead, that all, taking the same law, and 
 drawing nearer to God, may recognize their 
 common brotherhood in Jesus.^, 
 
 Exercising their right of private judgment, 
 therefore, believers will consider the unity 
 of Scripture. God gives them the Bible as 
 a whole. 
 
 In and through all there must be harmony, 
 not confusion ; agreement, not contradic- 
 tion. A true interpretation of God's Word, 
 therefore, will not be hasty, but one which 
 compares book with book, passage with pas-
 
 126 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 sage, and so reaches what I may term the 
 heart of Scripture rather than its husk, and 
 the spirit rather than the letter. 
 
 The believer exercising private judgment 
 will also hold fast to the proportion of Scrip- 
 ture. Some truths God has revealed plainly. 
 They stand out on the general background 
 of revelation like the brightest stars in the 
 azure sky. It is safe for the Christian to 
 believe that God has emphasized what He 
 desired to emphasize, and that it has pleased 
 Him to leave in comparative obscurity what 
 He reveals partially. And it is safe also to 
 follow this scale of scriptural proportion in 
 teaching and preaching. We can insist on 
 the general acceptance of what God has 
 made very plain in His Word ; and if, beyond 
 that, He has made something quite plain to 
 us, let it be plain to us ; but the attempt by 
 any person to coerce the conscience of 
 others, where the Bible is silent, or where its 
 expressions leave room for honest difference 
 of opinion, is to be resisted by good Protest- 
 ants and Christians as Peter resisted the San- 
 hedrin, and as Luther resisted the pope. 
 
 Private judgment, however, should not be
 
 Private Judgment. 127 
 
 exclusive. To be judgment it must tra- 
 verse the whole field that is in debate. In 
 the broad sweep of questions and probabil- 
 ities it will place much stress on the general 
 faith of Christians. It may at once be con- 
 ceded that individually they hold countless 
 errors, but if God speaks to them, and if 
 they drink faith from the pure fountain of 
 Scripture revelation, the chances greatly 
 favor that when they are agreed they are 
 agreed upon the truth. A message that con- 
 flicts with the universal faith of Christendom 
 must not complain if it is treated like a sus- 
 pected character. It may be held with great 
 certainty of conviction, but that it is unique, 
 discordant, erratic, seems to indicate that it 
 is from the devil. When that man at Po- 
 casset believed that God had directed him 
 to sacrifice his child, the common sense of 
 his Christian neighbors and of the village 
 pastor would have taught him that such an 
 impulse was from beneath, and not from 
 above. 
 
 And furthermore, private judgment, claim- 
 ing so much for itself, will grant to others 
 all that it asks. Private judgment knocks at
 
 128 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 the door of the local church. It holds opin- 
 ions which it has a right to hold, gained 
 from independent investigation of the Bible. 
 The church, truly Christian, breathing the 
 spirit of apostolic charity, makes the Bible 
 its only rule of faith, and Christian character 
 its only test of fellowship. What is the ac- 
 tion of the church regarding private judg- 
 ment, which holds some opinion not gen- 
 erally accepted by the membership? If it 
 is merely opinion, if private judgment is 
 really private, if it is a question of belief in 
 the retreat of an earnest Christian's soul, 
 what has the local church to do with that ? 
 The brother has listened to truth as it has 
 come to him. Perhaps like Apollos he may 
 in time learn the way of God more perfectly. 
 But if he be truly Christian, if he respects in 
 others what he requires for himself, in the 
 Christian Church Christ has set an open 
 door which no man shall shut. 
 
 But suppose again that private judgment 
 is not private ; suppose it to be heedless of 
 others, demanding all rights and granting 
 none ; suppose it to be noisy, quarrelsome, 
 ferocious and inclined to force its idiosyn-
 
 Private Judgment. \ 29 
 
 cracies in season and out of season ; at once 
 in such case the question is taken out from 
 the simple investigation of private judgment 
 to the larger question of the peace and pos- 
 sibly of the existence of the church. No 
 one doubts the right of the brother to his 
 convictions, but the church will ask itself 
 earnestly whether a quarrelsome and pugna- 
 cious disposition is consistent with Christian 
 character, and further, if the peace of the 
 church will not be promoted by permitting 
 him to ventilate his bellicose peculiarities 
 elsewhere. Is not the life more than meat, 
 the body more than raiment, the whole 
 church more than a single man? Is it prof- 
 itable to set the house on fire so that a 
 stranger may warm his fingers? He cannot 
 ask it. Should he ask it he should expect 
 refusal, and cannot murmur so long as it is 
 courteous, that it is inflexibly firm. 
 
 This, then, is the position of the Christian 
 Church in the interpretation of Scripture ; 
 declaring always that private judgment is 
 the right and duty of every believer; ex- 
 pecting in consequence that its membership 
 will exhibit diversities of opinion, but trust-
 
 1 30 Five Cardinal Principles. 
 
 ing always, while the spirit of the Master is 
 cherished, and while brethren obey God 
 rather than man, speaking what seems to 
 them truth in love, that all will "grow up 
 into Him in all things which is the head, 
 even Christ."
 
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