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Show REV. GOSHEN AND NONESSENTIALS NON-ESSENTIALS OF FAITH Continuation of Review and Criticism of Con- ' gregational Pastor's Relation to Modern L'nbelief. (Written for The Tnrermountaiu Catholic.) In reviewing the new unbelief preached from a Christian pulpit in this city, tin; object of ihe writer was not to rind fault with the pastor for his novel Christian doctrine. I'mler the rule, which is his guiding principles. m Protestant miiiisirr could take exception to his views, for his private opinion of what in essCntij,l iun non-esscntia! u as good as that of those who may differ from him very radically; for has he not the Bible and his private pri-vate judgment to sustain his views '. The question cannot be settled by appealing tr the Bible, for Ilev. Goshen claims the authority of the Bible as interpreted by hi- private illumination. illumina-tion. They cannot, appeal to tradition, because tradition, taken as a whole, condemns those who differ from Mr. Goshen as much as it condemn him. Will they allege that Mr. Goshen erred in not following the tradition of the past ."00 yean in rejecting so many articles of faith that were always al-ways considered a fundamental part of the Christian Chris-tian faith? To do so would require a rule of judgment. judg-ment. What is the rule ( Private judgment '. But this could be no standard of judgment, or if assumed as-sumed as such, it makes Mr. Goshen's private judgment, of equal worth to those who may differ from him, when he says: "The doctrine which shall be preached from this pulpit will be first of all a modern one." His faith is measured by the long-established long-established principle, namely, his private judgment, judg-ment, and this in turn must conform to his faith, all of which, as say the logicians, is moving in a vicious circle, and out of that circle it is impossible impos-sible to get. But. we come down to the "essentials and non-' essentials, "and ak if what the pastor terms nonessentials non-essentials are to be regarded at all as matters of faith? He answers no; mid the reason alleged is because ihcy.do ..pot Ciuforni to modern thought. But that is no reason why certain doctrines should be termed non-essentials. It is nor a question of reason at all. as the" finite is incapable of judging judg-ing the infinite. Will he appeal to the Bible? If so, nowhere from Genesis to Revelation will he find a text of Scripture declaring or implying that cer-i cer-i tain articles of faith are non-ess; nt ials. i The articles of faith, which he proposes to reject as non-essentials, are either revealed or not. If revealed, he is not free to reject them, since all 'that God reveals must be accepted as essentials, notwithstanding all the claims of "modern thought, progress and enlightenment" to the contrary. If not revealed, they could not. be articles of faith in any sense,, since man is bound to believe only what God reveals. Again it may be asked, by what rale does Mr. Goshen distinguish the essentials from the nonessentials non-essentials '. His private judgment? This will not do. inasmuch as it is a question of faith, which rests ultimately on supernatural authority, and not on man's private judgment. Kev. Mr. Goshen will have but few essentials "which will conform to the ideas of enlightened men and women of today, to-day, not to the dogmas laid down by theologians a century or more ago." They are specified. "It will require of the people but few essentials, a belief be-lief iu the fatherhood of God and a love for mankind." man-kind." Ingersoll would not' object to that broad church platform on which the pastor proposes to build "the church of Christ." Yet the Scriptures make faith in Jesus, the Son of God, indispensable indispensa-ble to be saved. If the essesntials are intended to meet the wants of the enlightened.- are we to conclude con-clude by inverse reasoning that all who believed Jesus to be cmisubstantial to the Father, as taught in the Xieene creeds were and are unenlightened? ' Ivev. Goshen discards the idea of Jesus being the second person of the ever-adorable Trinity, ami like the Unitarians would make him the son of Joseph Jo-seph and Mary. Yet St. Paul, after his conversion, conver-sion, rested his whole faith on the divinity of , Christ. "If Christ be not risen, then is our faith vain." This divine power by which he gave life to his own body is certainly something more than "the fatherhood of God," which supposes all men &o share in the divinity. Yet the former is non-essential, whilst the latter is the only essential required to be a member of the church of Christ. The human race for twenty centuries has been in bondage, and the world in darkness, when they believed that Jesus Christ saved the world in Calvary, Cal-vary, that he died to redeem man from the curse of the law. and raised them to a new life. Emerging from the bondage ami darkness of the past and under the progressive enlightenment of the age, all that must be now said of Christ is that he was a teacher of wholesome truths and an exemplar of a good and virtuous life. A new X-ray of religious light has penetrated through all the mystic darkness of past ages, and through its brilliancy wc learn that, '"the divinity of Christ is a non-essential when considered as an clement in the life of Christ." "Only two of the gospels gos-pels mention the fact of the immaculate conception." concep-tion." We arc not aware that any of the gospels allude to the matter, and whilst we are willing to give Mr. Goshen credit for honesty and sincerity, we must tell him that .he does not understand the sense in which "immaculate" is applied. He confounds con-founds it with supernatural. Immaculate concep- ? tion means to be conceived without original sin which was inherited from our first parents. A3 Bev. Mr. Goshen discards the fall of our first parents, par-ents, the inheritance of their disobedience, he must believe that all children are immaculately conceived. con-ceived. The angel told Mary that in becoming a mother the conception would be supernatural. "The IIolv Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most llich shall overshadow thee. And therefore, also, the Holy which shall be born thee shall be called the Son of God." Luke, 1-33. ' But "all this was a small matter to the apostle as to whether his coming was miraculous or not, l Iard it matters less to the enlightened people of today." to-day." Uow know you the. minds of the apostles, .Mr. Go. hen. - You surely will not claim to have-.. monopolized all the enlightenment. There are, ! many enlightened persons who consider what you II term a matter of little or no importance the very. I" foundation on which the Christian edifice rests. , St- Paul so considered it, and so do all who make , any pretensions to be Christians, But you "are II too bufy trying to live the life he taught to discuss dis-cuss the unimportance of his coming." "Why call it unimportant. Are you the judge of what is im-S im-S portant. To be such you must produce your credentials, cre-dentials, showing that you are authorized to dedde r what is important and what is unimportant. You will fall back on enlightenment, but reason cannot I be the judge in matters of faith, which is a divine i I - virtue, by which we firmly believe all that God has I - taught. What then is your rule for deciding what I is important and unimportant, essential and non- 3 c essential, fundamental and non-fundamental.? If 8 L you can give such a rule, and one that will be satis factory to all, you will then be a source of real enlightenment, en-lightenment, and be conferring a favor cm humani-e humani-e ty that will endear your name to posterity. -v (To be continued.) |