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BELLEVILLE : PRINTEI* AT THE ONTARIO BOOK ANJJ JOB ROOM, OPl', CITY HALL 1884. Q\ B) FHIN i^ ,.vr- ■'i«V't;.,te-'^,.,-.-iig:M;-y^^;..-i..^Y, , j^|- | . l| iij riSiMMim TT ''Hf ' om'^Mom Q^mmmm — AND — vwvwvAA \.M.\.> ^!KR5S5' ^Sf^* ^^^\ ^^Sft\ ^^^^ "^ A SERMON By Rev, J. R. JAQl ES, D. O., Ph. !>., President of Albert vonege, Belleville, Ontario. [D'Hirrrrd in Bruhi, StroH MdhodU Church, Bellt'mUe, Sunday Mornimj, April 27th, ISS4.] PUBLISHED BY THE CONG BEG A TIOX, BELLEVILLE : PRINTED AT THE ONTARJO BOOK AND JOB ROOM, OPP. CITY H-VLL 1884. L IbTS 30.13 r i i 9U < I \ ci t V a d (. r ' 1 I i U r t I V SIEjID! -AND- LIBERTY. TtXT : — Eanmtiy cciiUud /or the faith once delh end unto the Saints. — jfudejrd. The word "faith" in this text means "creed" or "con- fession of faith." It is agreed that the word "faith" here means the objeet of faith, or the fundamental truths of the Gospel. For this faith we are exhorted to "eainestly contend." There are now, as in the days of Jude, " certain men crept in uaawares," (or "privily' as the revised version i-eads) "ungodly men," who deny this "faith" or "creed" and all faith and all creeds. Of these men there are two classes : first, "liberal Christians," so cahed, who deny the only Lord Jesus Christ, and, secondly, infidels of every grade and Agnostics, who deny not only "our Lord Jesus Christ," but the "only Lord God" and all religious truth. Now, "Liberal Christianity," and "Agnosticism," while craftily withholding a creed or confession of faith, yet have a creed, written or unwritten, for which they contend with with a zeal worthy of a better cause. A fundamental tenet in their creed is the rejection of all creeds. Have we not during the last week in this city, heard the outcry against church creeds by one who required columns of a daily paper to unfold his private personal creed ? The objections against church creeds, expressed or sup- pressed, may be summed up in a few words. 96372 First among the expressed objections it is said : (i.) Tiiat church creeds are hostile to individual lib- erty, and oppressive. (2.) That creeds are useless, because it is no matter what we t)f^lieve inwardly, if we only act right outward- (3.) That church creeds are, in many cases, inconsis- tent with each other and with truth. (4.) That church creeds check improvement by fixing and fossilizing religious beliefs. . (5,) That beliet in creeds and not virtuous conduct is made a condition of church fellowship and ot final salva- tion. (6.) That belief in any creed is neither rewardable nor punishable — that is, it has no moral quality ; for belief of demonstrated truth can have no merit, because it is ne- cessary ; and disbelief of undemonstrated truth can have no demerit, because it, too, is necessary. The suppressed objections against creeds may be stated as follows : (i.) That religious or theological truth is not infallibly known, has no solid basis of ceititude on which a creed may be fuonded. (2.) Orthodox Christianity can best be abolished by abolishing the orthodox churches ; and the orthodox churches can best be abolished by abolishing the creeds on which, as a doctrinal basis, these churches are found- ed. To meet these objections, we propose to show that the use of church creeds is innocent, rational, scriptural and necessary. Here we remark that the opposition is not so much against a particular creed, as "creeds" or "dogmas" in general. They ma}' affirm or even prove that a certain * t / creed contains some error without proving fhcir position, viz : That creeds, as sucli, arc wrong and miscliievous. We may admit that some creeds contain some mixture of error without admitting tliat creeils, as sucli, are wrong. Hence, without invalidating our position, we invite tlie opposition to i)oint out and attnck theerrorsof cur creeds. We are more than willing to admit and rectify an\' error of our creed which they may detect and expose. Dut, mark, the objections are against "creeds," — all creeds, whether true or false ! l''lse, why all tliis tirade against creeds and dogmas, as such ? (i.) We have a natural and political right to adopt and propagate a church creed. This abstract right, at least, we hope will be granted us. That man is a strange advocate of "lil)eral" Christianity or •'Freedom," who denies us the right to adopt and pro- pagate what we consider an important and vital religious truth or creed. We have heard it said by George W. Curtis, the giaceuil rhetorician, but graceless theologian, that church creeds are enslaving and oppressive in their effects ; that they have as good a light to "dogmatize" at Rome as to "dogmatize" at Geneva, or Princeton, or Westminster, or Andover. But let us see whether creeds deprive the people of their "liberties.' Like all men— 'liberal' chunh men, or 'Agnostics' not excepted— I have a rel'gious belief or creed. Now, have I not a right to put it in a written form as an individual confession of faith ? When I find another man who be- lieves as 1 do, have we not a right to enter into partner- ship to enjoy and propagate cur common creed ? And when we find other men to the number of hundreds, or thousands, or tens of thousands, who agree with us, have we not all a right to assemble on the same theologi al platform and enter into partnership. Or, in other words, have we not a right to organize a church ? For what is a church, in the lower sense, but a partnership between men having a common religious creed ? In this whole process, observe, there is no force used, no "liberties" are violated, no rights invaded. Why then, all this tirade against creeds ? In embrac- ing and defending a creed, we exercise a right not denied us in other matters. A creed is sujjposed to be the state- ment of a fundamental religious doctrine, to defend which is no more infringement of persorial freedom than to hold and defend the fundamental principles or axioms of any secular science. If as members of a scientific organization* or literary society, or political party, we have a right to adopt, record, and defend our common prmciples, plat- form or creed, we claim the same right as members of the church. It the opposition will grant us even this right, we shall at least have a fair field for the fight. (2.) A common creed, ivritten or unwritteri, isaneces- (tasy basis avd bond of Clnttch fellowaliip and organiza- tion. To perpetuate Christianity on the earth, we must have churches, or organizations of individuals. These indivi- dual elements of the organization must be attracted and cemented by some common principles. These common principles are of the nature of a creed, No society, secu- lar or religious, can organize, thrive, and endure, unless there be at its foundation some common creed or platform of common principles, as a basis and bond of union. We defy the ehai pions of I iberalism or Agnosticism to make the experiment ! For proof of our position we appeal to all history, to common observation, and to common sense. ! ) f to ( ! ^ f i f (3.) The vurietifis ufcrce^ls meet the vnr'u'tics of Juiman character. In this view, it is not necessary to assii;ne tli.U dilTerent creeds are inconslst*^rU with each other, or with triiti), but that they present different aides of truth. Church creeds are destined to harmonize in the future much more tiian at present. l>ut the creeds of the various orthodox churches do not uoiv differ materially from each other or from scriptural truth. They are the doctrinal views of thinkers occupying different stand[)oints and viewing dif- ferent sides of the same truth. For example, human salvation is a great Scri[)tural truth, one side of which exhibits Divine Sovf.rfignty^ the other side, human freedom, thus giving rise to two views, one Calvanistic, the other Arminian. But there is a side of truth in both views. Now there will doubtless ever be someconstitutionally disposed to magnify Divine sovereign- ty, and others constitutionally disposed to magnify human freedom. Thus we may expect Calvinists and Arminians will not cease to be in the world. Nor are these diversit- ies of creeds without their beneficent effect — nay, even perchance, a Providential design, in attracting diverse minds by one or the other poe of the same truth. (4.) The re-statement of Scriptural creeds is needed from time to time, to meet new exigejicies in the history of the Church. New statements of old truths are needed to antagonize new errors, new vices and new dangers. This change or growth of creeds is a necessary result of the change and growth of error and sin among men. Accordingly we find that the growing heresy of Arian- ism had to be met by new articles of belief, in the year 325, in what was called the "Nicene Creed." When, in 8 the latter part of the same century, the divinity of the Holy Spirit was denied by some, this rising heresy was m'*t, in a general Church ('ouncil, by restating, recording and pubUshing the Scriptural do:trine touching this all- impcrtant subject. Then, when the church had become corrupt, and the Protestant movement began, it was neces- sary for the Protestants to issue a creed — called the "A^ugsburg Confession ot Faith" — to meet and answer the misrepresentations of enemies, and to define authorita- tively the distinctive tenets of the Protestant Church. And w^hen amid the light of Protestantism, errors and heresies began to grow and spread, new articles of faith were need- ed to check these new errors and heresies. Indeed, the necessity of such creeds for such purposes, has been so generally admitted, that they have scarcely needed defence till these "last days.'' Moreover, if a church is established in Chi la, or India, or any other heathen country, a creed must be adapted to the circumstances and exigencies of that particular church, by presenting conspiciously the testimony of the Bible against the sin of idolatry and the sins of pagan- ism. (5.) A creed exhibits to the world in a concise and con- nected fonn, a summary of doctrines most important and vital, but scattered throughout the Bible. The Bible is not written in a convenient shape to an- swer the purposes of a creed. The most vital truths are presented in the Bible, as the most vital truths are pre- sented in nature — not grouped and classified, but scattered and fragmentary, though in both cases, harmonious and divinely beautiful. No one department of nature makes a complete revelation of truth. On no single leaf, nor stone, nor shell, nor star, do you find an analysis or table 9 y of the esy was :cording this all- become s neces- led the iwer the thorita- ch. And heresies re need- eed, the been so defence r India, idapted rticular / of the pagan- nd con- int and to an- ths are re pre- attered us and makes af, nor r table i rt ol contents of nature s great volume. While the orbs ot heaven above discourse of sublime themes, the flowers be- neath preach from their tiny pulpits lessons of tenderness and love. While the dazzling sun symbolizes that light, "which no man can approach unto, " the glow worm too has its eloquence for the tutored soul. You cannot dig so deep in the earth but that you find some new book or leat of nature's great library for man. With microscopic eyes, you cannot soe so far into the infinitely small, nor with telescopic eyes see so far into the infinitely great, as not to find some new lesson recorded in the handwriting of God. Now, as the man of science gathers from all the realm of nature all these divinelessons, and groups them into systems of truth, so the man of theology gathers from all the realm of Scripture its Divine lessons and groups them into systems of truth — or, it you please, a creed, that all men may conveniently see the loil-scught gems of Truth. If, then, it is objected that the Bible is a sufficient creed, without any human summaries or systems, we reply, that on this principle, nature is a sufficient text-book with- out any human sciences — which principle, cairicd to its logical results, would end all human progress and carry man back to the dark ages. (6.) A correct Christian creed is the germ of all correct Christian character. "As a man thinketh so is he," is a maxim of profoundest philosophy. A correct or incorrect external life is but an inward belief or creed acted out and rendered visible. Character is but a creed crystallized and concrete. The Church has ever felt the need of creeds carefully prepared, solemnly adopted, and earnestly maintained, not only as a safeguard against erroneous views, but as a safeguard 10 against erroneous lives. Error in the head tends to error in the heart, and both tend to error in action. (7,) A Christian Creed, published and expounded, tends to educate and elevate the masses up to its high standard. Words are things ot power, because words are ideas or th-jugh's, and what but ideas or thoughts are the latent forces that elevate man to all the heights of civilization, or degrade him to all the depths of barbarism ? The simplest creed that contains the germ of a correct Christian theology is more mighty to elevate the human soul, than all the philosophy of all human sages and moralists of all ages. But all truth vitalizes and exalts the human mind. Any vital truth stated in terse words, whether it be re- ligious, scientific, or political truth, it recorded, published, defended, explained and applied, has in it a force that tells on the destiny of man more than the massing and march- ing of the mightiest armies. Ideas or thoughts — not Pre- sidents or kings govern the world. "Knowest thou not,' says Milton, "that truth is mighty next to the Almighty ? " As an illustration of this great principle, some of us have seen the effect of a lew written words in the tragic history of slavery on this continent. ^Slavery was intro- duced and maintained in the United States by a creed — a perverse creed — conceived in blind ignorance, false phil- anthropy and godless political economy. And finally slavery was undermined and abolished by a creed. That creed was the "Declaration of Independence," which, however objectionable to us in some respects, contained some sublime truths. That creed, printed and published, read and re-read, quoted and applied, and heard from press, pulpit, and platform, had more to do with the shap- ing of public sentiment and of politial parties, than all the plots of politicians, an(" all the plans of statesmen. Take one article of this national "Confession of Faith," that 11 Is to error uied, tends andard. e ideas or the latent vilization, m ? The Christian ;ouI, than lists of all lan mind, it be re- )ublished, that tells id march- -not Pre- ;hou not,'' mighty ?■' ome of us the tragic was intro- creed — a false phil- id finally d. That ," which contained )ublished, eard from the shap- m all the n. Take th," ihat t speaks of human equality and of God-given rights of man: " We hold these truths to be self evident : — That all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Crea- tor with certain inalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." These are wonderful words. Say not that no beam oi Divine light came to the mind that uttered these Divine thoughts ! How the sound of these potent words has rolled like eloquent thunder from State to State, from East to West and from North to South, till dull is the ear that has not heard it ! Nor was there thunder alone in these words. There was lightning in them, and the lightning has struck, shiver- ing iron bonds (for lightning loves to strike iron) till the last slave is free ! This is the effect of a political creed, illuminating, energizing and inspiring the peopie, and burning in their hearts, till it burned its way out in terri- ble action. We believe the ''Declaration" hastened eman- cipation a who'e generation. But the creed of the church, and particularly the Metho- dist Church, hastened the same grand consummation. Note the effect of a single fragment of a creed on Slavery in the Methodist P'.piscopal Church of the United States. In the "General Rules" of the Church, which are of the nature of a Creed, were found a few simple words, seem- ingly very innocent, on the subject of slavery. Among the things forbidden is ^Hhe buying and selling of mev^ women, and children, •with the intention to enslave them.'' There it stood in the "Discipline" of the ('hurch for nearly three quarters of a century, by its God given logic and all-persuasive rhetoric, anchoring the storm tossed Church to the Rock of Eternal Truth. How "Conserva- tive" men and -'border" men quibbled and winced and struggled ! But there was the the principle of imperish- 12 able truth recorded as a part of the Church Creed or Discipline and there it staid, preaching and persuading, i'lvincible as an armed angel of light, till at last, with its two-edged sword, it cut the quivering Church in twain from the A.tlantic to the Rocky Mountains. Thus ever has it been and ever will it be. A great scriptural truth, adopted and recorded by the assembled Church ever exerts, and must exert, a , otent influence on the theories, lives and destinies of men. W ho may esti- mate the mighty influence of the creeds of the Christian churches, as heaven's aitillery, aimed at the follies and crimes of individuls. communities and nations ? (8.) To reject all Creeds, religious and s^ciilnr^ rather than liberating and Uheriilizing man, as is clnini-'d, plunges him into darkness, doubt, absurdity rnd barbarism. Nothing but lofty creeds, religious, political and scien- tific, clearl}' defined and strongly maintained, can keep men from droppmg back into ignorance, superstition and barbarism. What is it to reject all creeds but to reject all beliefs ? And what is it to reject all be'ief, V)ut to deny all certitude ? And what is it to deny all certitude, but to deny that man has moral eyes to see moral truth ; or, that having eyes, there is no truth to see ? And what is all this but to deny man's moral responsibility, ■ nd to license all folly, all sin, and all blasphemy ? The sure way to degrade a man, and to send him reeling down toward ruin, is to insinuate doubts respecting all religious tf aching and teachers and all moral truth ; while the sure way to lift a man up from degradation, \?> first to make i im believe so\x\QXh\Tg — believe it intensely and steadfastly. Doubt is weakness — doubt paralyzes the will and is the mother of all evil. No one can estimate the mischief wrought by the New Academy of i\thens in propagating the doctrine of doubt. 18 ,, Carneadcs, the founder of the New Academy, was a pro- fessed and profersional doubter on all ([uestions of right and wrong, justice and injustice, iruth and error. Having been sent to Rome as an Ambassador, he attracted great attention and admiration by a splendid oration on the sub- ject of "Justice," All Rome was stirred by the magnifi- cence of liis Rhetoric, Logic and Ora'.ory. And so he was invited to deliver a second oration. Whereupon he gave an e(|ually brilliant address, eulogizing injustice, and showing that expedieney is better than justice — using arg- uments the most specious and elocjueu'C the most charm- ing and irresistable to prove his positions. At this point in the proceedings, noble Cato,ever zealous for the morals of the ]:)eop1p, became alarmed, believing that the public mind would be corrupted by such an exhibition of [)laus- ible arguments for immorality and injustice, as well as for moraHty and justice. He accordingly moved in the Senate that Carneades be expelled from Rome as a dangerous man. And Cato was right. The greatest calamity of a })eople is not fire, or plague, or famine, but doubt resi)ect- ing the sanctity and majesty and eternity of Truth and Right. Our City Council then was right in refusing last week the use of the City Hall t(>a blasphemous trifler and Apos- tle of Doubt. Let any calamity come upon us rather than the calamity of douf)t and suspicion respecting the sanctities and verities of our Holy Christianity ! (9.) To reject all Creeds, written lutd unii'ritfeii, and yet retain mmiJiood, is impossible. They who affect to discard all collective creeds, them- selves contend for seme private creed. Now before they exhort us to leject our creeds, let them be consistent and reject their cwn. But will they throw away their creeds ? Do they not conterd as earnestly for tlieir creeds as we 14 for ours ? Even Theodore Parker, the prince of creed- killers, could not liuow away his creed, without throwing away himself. He had his religious creed in the fonn o f unwritten religious intuitions — "instinctive intuitions'' as he called them. Nor did he fail to lut'lte and puhlisii his "intuitions,*' and contend, w'th all his might for this written creed or "Confession of Faith;" thus doing the very thing a,i,'ainst which he continually hurled the shafts of his fiery rhetoric. (lo.) A creed adopted by the aKsemhled wisdom of th& Church, is more likely to be trustworthy than the creed of an ind'vidual, tkou.^h h ■ ■ e a mhr'ster and theologian. We have seen that the people reed some brief state- ment of the central vital doctrines of the Bible. Shall this statement be made by the individual minister .'* But he may be unskillful and unsafe in analyzing Bible truth and constructing a creed at once scriptural and adapted to the exigencies of the times. For while the power to instruct and edify the Church is not a r re gift, this power of analyzing and generalizing is a rare gifi. Moreovei in, dividuals are often eccentric. Large bodies are seldom eccentric. The consP(juence is that in those so-called "Christian" churches, in which there is no formal creed, minister and people become vague in their views of sav- ing truth, and degenerate into inextricable confusion of doctrine. An erratic, audacious, self-conceited, imprudent and dogmatic minister — unchecked by any confederated church authority, or solemnly announced creed, can do more harm than can be successfully antagonized by ten ministers who are his superiors in everything but his audacity. (ii.) Written creeds are authorized by Scripture, pre- cept and example. 15 In the early history of the Church, a special cnse oc- curred in which it became necessary for the Church at Jerusalem to adopt and publish a creed or dogma, in order to check certain growing heresies res[)ecting the rights and duties of Jews joining the Christian church. Paul and Barabas >\'ere commissioned to carry the "degrees', — [original "dogmata,'' or "dogmas," so much decried by our "liberal ' friends] to the various churches in Asia Minor. If it be objected that this creed was the more defensible because issued by ins[)ired apostles, it must be remembered that the whole bcnly of elders or Church authcrities w-ere in session with thf> apostle, and were equally concerned in this issuing of a creed. Indeed, this '^eems designed as a precedent for the Church to guide in all similar cases of heresies which are liable to occur in the history of theChurch. Moreover, the Apos- tle Paul, II Tim. 1:13, tells Timothy to ho d fast ^'tlie form of sound words.'" The word ^^hyputyposin" — here render- ed "form" — means a "sketch'' or "outline," and is the very word usi d by the classic writers to designate the "out- line" or "compend" of any system of philosophy or theo- logy. Such a form or compend, we have seen is neces* sary, and is alluded to in other places in the apostolic writings. That such a form or creed '^ as used by the apostles is, moreover, rendered probable from the indis- putable fact that such creeds were used in theearliest and purest period of the history of the church. And it is by no means improbable that the creed now called the "Apostles' Creed" grew out of the forms used by the Apostles themselves, and that though changed, it yet contains substantially what Paul, Peter and John "once delivered to the saints." (12.) Bdief in a cretd is, -in the Scriptures made the otsdiite co7idition of per tonal salvation. nmni U'i The Church is commanded to go into all the world, " preach the gospel to every cieatnre,'" and to ''teach all nations" — not tiie minutiae of Bible history and doctrine, but the grand "outline," the "lorm of sound words" — the central, saving truths of the gospel. And then it is added: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned !" Skeptics may wince and disimte about the injustice or absurdity of this won- drous promise and this supremely dreadful threat — but there it stands ! — sculptured m the very rock of eternal truth ! 'I'his is the testimony of a single text, and might leave loom lor doubt in a skeptic's mind. But invoke all the evangelists, all the apostles, and the Lord himself, as witnesses, and you hear Irom their lips and pen, in a thousand varied forms, the same tremendous truth : "Be lieve and live !" "Disbelieve and die 1" The need of belief in a creed, then, is proved by the Scri[)lure but the sime need is proved by reason, experience, and common sense, for (13.). In ma kin !i a belief in a cee.i thus vilai, hy ec/ioing the mcful jvoi-tis of our Li)i;i, '^ he that l>cli• d united ." wf do hut announce a principle that finds its perfect pa<-allel in tempo) al concerns. Belief of and in a creed is necessary to self-preservation. Science, physiology, political economy — all human philos- ophy — have developed principles (or creeds) which men must believe or die ! Science has found creeds written on the tissures of the human body, written on the human mind, and written on all nature about us, which men must believe or suffer the penalty, physical, intellectual and national. Belief is a necessity of our nature, and is the first step to *> ard a rescue from every peril. When a man has a disease — deadly, if not cured- -the first step toward a cure is to believe he has the disease, lie must believe or die ! the world, ''teach all id doctrine, words" — the 1 it is added: ved, and lie :s may wince of this woii- threat — but ;k of eternal t, and might Lit invoke all d himself, as id pen, in a :ruth : "Be s proved by I by reason, koing the a~vfnL ned.^'' wi do but penal concerns. ^reservation, iman philos- ) which men ieds written \ the human :h men must [^Uectuai and le first step man has a )ward a cure ieve or die ! i: Wlien he is told ot a remedy absolutely infallible, if taken immediately, he must believe or die ! Now this disease of the body fitly sybolizes the disease of the sou! ; this remedy fitly symbolizes the all-healing gospel, in which men must trust or die. This principle is universal ; belief is the ft it step out of every peril and every evil, physi al, intellectual or nat- ional. When the intemperate man is wasting with alcoholic diseasj, even the anti-creed "liberal'' Christian will not hesitate to read or tell to him the creed of temperance and then insist that he must believe or die ! When a man, wasting with intellectual and phyj:ical indolence, hears the secular gospel of labor, he must be- lieve or die ! When a people spread over a continent, hear freedom's sublime creed, they may hesitate and doubt, but they must believe or die ! When a nation hears the voice of heaven-born justice as she proclaims her solemn creed, that nation must believe or die 1 Who has not heard the muttering thunder of ihe oppressed peoples of earth as they voice the holy creed ot freedom and of justice ? Let Tyrants and Oppressors beware ! for they must believe that creed or die ! (14), A C/n istian Creed mixed wit Ji some ernrr — is bet to' than skeptic- ism mixed with some truth. Granted, that no other foundation than Christ can be laid ; granted, that a man building on this foundation a creed containingany "wood, hay and stubble"of error, shall be 'scarcely saved," saved as "through fire ; " better be on the rock Christ Jesus, with a creed containing some sectar- ian "wood, hay and stubble," than to build "gold, silver and precious stones," on the sandy foundation of skeptic'sm 1 Better be "scarcely saved" than not saved at all I "Give me a creed that shows me the Almighty Saviour, =¥" T 16 though it!)e 'as through a ^lass darkly,' " rather thin the most gorgeous philosophy that reveals no Christ. One faint ray of light from the hallowed Cross is worth more to light my feet in the path to iiumortality, than all the light of all human wisdom. May Cod help us to believe and be saved for His Name's Sake I Amen ! -vej^TJ^ itlier th in tlie hrist. >oss is worth tality, than all | javed for His