| Show y AND heterodoxy beery ry reader of ecclesiastical history jar with the bitter and long essm out controversies of the dark J middle ages as they were called vat I 1 casuists monks of the several mac and protesting zealots zealous vied with ther other in speculating formulating eating theories so threadlike thread like er gence and so profound in many that ment mentality ity fairly revelled bevelled revel led in ull theories and subtle dis no such as neither affected iu ty bt spiritual life or the mental of any save the initiated of the alfi antic tic appeals were made to aradi to trie the fathers of the church and aies es to the scriptures which were made of private interpretation 16 making of confusion more con it is even possible that had veen tween the results of his he S have concluded as he did in reto meat which said he if it toy my brother to offend I 1 will eat ire meat while the world stands ight have said lf if my writing atles ep to the churches has caused ther other to be offended I 1 will write jre while the world stands antt Is that tomes of comment of item of explanation of deductions deluged christendom I 1 bradies br aries evoked mental acumen bed sects and promoted division ml the writings of any other man F ake days of father adam W strength ability money learn ilive each iluff suffered ered exhaustion and force intent and meaning of lArf of Pau listic origin are as of an enigma as dark and mys I 1 as they were in ages long since 1 religion He ligion heis has been nearly ay an imaginary conclusion a ly has haa been created as false and pauls ideas as possible and tacal warfare and contradictory rite have created more contention woodshed shed than all other contro e combined lay there Is warfare but it la Is dis ekr it to ie less heated less dependent technicalities or translations s to ignore abstruse and probably with exceptions as and less leas assertive 1 the old condition there Is tian to speak of essentials tt essentials to exercise a eral I 1 char charity ltv which uncertain dual or sectarian decision halt half lee eg that some other person or have some truth or be near t after all v to is a growing idea that the ament in man to is a funda and irremovable characteristic c bedded in the constitution of acy there must be in the divine ity provision for its proper culta and inevitable expansion ideas sen to be a gigantic factor for M and if as henry ward said aid it to Is important that man it Is equally important fe should believe aright to cor ite unbelieving drift there has tw ifor many years ears an earnest in f authority an living alatary aWa tary on the new testament lores so as to determine the biet from the enduring the intent writer the existent coexistent co condi dmd to eliminate from modern thoughts and counsels patr time and age to both writ ser r of those invaluable apts e ideas associated with early y were official perma ring ng eternal they bore the fattal 1 of authority they were hy by signs and wonders they meeting all conditions all all time there was no dubiety 1 these when first promulgated 4 IX an there need benone be none now if the scanty fragments axe are considered tn in their true light a brief historically dictated research so plain are these basic principles that a wayfaring man though a fool need not err therein A vast amount of interested speculation of rivalry in schools of polemical warfare and contradictory conclusion have arisen because neither side had claimed or invoked that revealing light and spirit which would have beert been the end of controversy later personal or organized supremacy dictated on the field of battle the articles of compromise which were to end discussion and make the lion lay down beside the lamb the assumption of authority was partially silenced by law confiscation was the rebound from the thunders of the vatican the dicta of the pope and the arrogance so called of the mother church protestantism in vain assumed to array itself in the meretricious garments of the olden rule but alas the very principle of protesting placed the clergy and the laity on the same basis and hear the church gradually became belittled and nearly ne a ri ar obsolete sects multiplied under the abused unauthorized and disintegrating theory of private judgment until hundreds have essayed on n specious pretext and unmistakable craze to make for themselves and those similarly affected a so called church one truly their very own 11 the love of notoriety fame influence power money has been each in turn the master key in irresponsible hands fitting into the complicated wards of demand weakness and igno ignorance rance even good desire love of right I 1 the hunger of the soul the innate longing for god and truth securing full oft a willing aff affiliation illation with that moral and financial support which tells its own story not only of yearning but of gullibility also and the working of uni seen influences which seldom acknowledged are yet real and tangible in all 11 the history of mankind it is customary now for this diversity of presumed religious teaching and theory to distinguish between the orthodox and the heterodox of the christian world these terms have been much abused and often misapplied churches have denounced their neighbor churches individual teachers in individual churches have denounced tried and expelled teacher after teacher for heresy the court of appeal deciding according to accepted standards such as confessions and articles of faith the writings of their founders and from catechisms catechi sms rubrics ru brics discipline etc these standards are mainly man made mad e and have nothing greater than human hum EM endorsement as an illustration the old wesleyan organization insists that the ministers alone are orthodox who preach the ideas enshrined in wesleye We commentaries and his first five volumes of sermons Ben and the trust deed of chapels precludes in england preaching different from this under the penalty of confiscation new light in science new light on religion new light on the scriptures or truths therein not already adopted into said standards are heterodox and in fact de barred the calvinistic church bars bare itself by the institutes of calvin the presbyterian in great part by its catechi catechism ern and confession of faith the episcopal by its thirty nine articles including its prayer book and rubrics as issued by authority and every church and vent icle every sect large karge or small erects its standard of truth thith and doctrine which however none may augment dispute or repudiate or doing so they are no more accounted orthodox but as heterodox heretics and outside the pale from this conclusion there needs no particular appeal but is it not true that they all claim to be christiana followers of christ and exponents of christianity they think it unjustifiable censure to question ther their orthodoxy to comment on their diver divergence kence from and infidelity to the author and fl finisher nisher of the christian system the christian faith they are less concerned about divergence from historic christianity as found in the records on every pulpit cushion of the land than on denial of some insignificant article j or dogma or discipline of the church espoused it if these churches were half i as tenacious of their historic masters teaching of the institutions he ap pointed the order he gave the spirit he promised the organization he es the absolute authority he held they would no more be like the soldiers at the cross who divided hla his raiment among them and cast lots tor for his vesture if religious teachers were arraigned for heresy for rejection jofh this standard for disobedience to these requirements for lack of the spirit of inspiration for the assumption of an tho dhority thorl rity ty for rejection of vital truths truthe for dispensing at pleasure or by see tarlan command with things eternal there would be such a fluttering and scattering of clerical pretenders as has never been seen since satan and one third of the hosts of heaven were cast out for the their I 1 r I 1 lack ac k of fl fidelity dell ty an and d th that a t spirit of rebellion which questioned the wisdom and authority ot of the lather of all it cannot be said that there to Is an orthodox christian church in all the land if scrupulous harmony with the new testament is to be the standard of comparison reformer after reformer has endeavored to approximate nate to that ideal that product of authoritative revelation by the son but all have signally tailed failed it was reserved by divine wisdom and eternal intent in the dispensation pensa tion of the fullness of times to restore the original orthodox system by which man can attain to eternal life and while there is no disposition to impeach the honor or learning or devotion of thousands of clergy and laity there is vastly more reason for saying now as one of the great churches said centuries ago that men have departed from the truth them the world has become heterodox by heaping to themselves teachers having ito itching ears who have turned the truth into fables having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof th ereo from such the disciples of old were exhorted to lurn turn away |
