"THE CRASH OF CREEDS."

Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 33, 10 February 1890, Page 3

"THE CRASH OF CREEDS."

QUESTION CONSIDERED IN ITS SOCIAL ASPECT.

At the Temperance Hall last night tho Rev. E. B. Gulliver lectured on tbo "Crush of Creeds," considered in its social aspecb, He said thab many of those present had. probably read Lord Lytton's " Last Days of Pompeii," and would remember his graphic description of the catastrophe which overwhelmed the cities, of Pompeii and Her. culaneum in the year 79. Then, as now, the cone of Vesuvius had towered for centuries harmless over the lovely Bay of Naples, and none realised the nearness of the impending ruin; sotneominousrumblings had been heard, indeed, but they passed unheeded, until on a day when the pleasureloving inhabitants were gathered in the amphitheatre intent on their cruel sports, tho horrified spectators saw through an opening in tho awning the column of smoke and Tiro rising from the mountain, and in a .few hours the ruin was complete. The picture given by Lord Lytton may Serve as an emblem of what takes place from time to time in other fields—in the fields of faith and of social life. Going back through the pages of history we saw that revolutions and reformations were presaged and foretold by murmurings of dissent and discontent which were little heeded, and repressed or ignored by the governing powers; but these murmurings indicated the working of forcee in the mind of man which at last found vent in the revolutions snd reformations which changed tho face of society. In our ewu day we could hear plainly enough the murmurs which foretell the approaching crash of creeds. It was not only professed unbelievers who foretolU the storm, but from the ranks of Christianity itself they saw step forth man after man declaring that tho day of creeds and dogmas was ended. They saw men like Bishop Colonso, Dean Stanley. Mr I-laweis and Mr Voysey rejecting the fetters of the past, and claiming the right to place religion above dogma, and to revise their creeds and recast their formulas by the light of the knowledge of today. Nearer home they had the Rev. Charles Strong building up a churck of the future in direct antagonism to the creeds and dogmas of tho past. Such a change as was thus indicated could not occur without fa'freaching effects. New ideas wero working in the minds of men, bub only the future conld tell tho ultimate result. When Fuiton and Watt experimented with steam, they could little dream of She full powers of the mighty agent they were calling into existence ; but now the forco they evoked is turned and harnessed to take tho labour of the world on its tireless shouldcis. When tho spasmodic contraction noticed in the leg of a frog gave the first hint of the power of galvanism, who could guess thab in that phenomenon lay the clue to the wondors to be afterwards revealed by Wheutstone in the telegraph and Edison in the telephono ? We see new that from the simple ideas of tho first discoverers of those natural forces have sprung results which have changed altogether the conditions of human life, but there are still mightier changes impending. The sound of the throb of the steam engine, and the click of tho telegraph, had grown familiar, but those who listened could hear another sound, as of the rising tide ; it was the low moan of Socialism circling tho world ; it was the voice of man in his might protesting against conditions and creeds grown obsolete and intolerable. We read every day o? the endless conflict of seltish interests, of strikes and lock-ontp, Ol trusts and combinations of all sorts. Ti)C3S things chow the desperate efforts made , by the nations to adapt themselves to the changed conditions of life, an;] when to those we add the mental ferment which forebodes the crash of oroeds, we may well feel that the coming years ore fraught wjth mighty issues-:. What was the thought bhat followed naturally on the vise of the words "I believe?" They would find thab bhe use of those words naturally entailed tho use of the words "I condemn." It was not by chanco that the Athamisian Creed closed with the thought of damnation. We saw Christendom marching for centuries under bho banner of tho Cro3- U , bub from the days of its greatest power clown to the present time its record is a record of persecution, often traced in letters of blocd. Here, where we should most expect to find gentleness, self-sacrifice, and love, we find the air dark with the smoke of conflict, simply because some used the words "I believe " in one sense, while othere used the same words in another sonbe. The story of the Inquisition, of the persecutions carried on in the Netherlands by the Duke of Alva, and the whole dark history ot religions strife taught tho same lesson. The fatal words "I believe" were at the root of the evil. Conld we for a moment suppose that such results would have followed if tho Governments and people had tried ia give practical effect to '7/ie teachings "of the Sermon on bho jVI ounfc, instead of disputing as to what ihey did, or did not, believe about "the Teache.r ?" The world would have had a better history today but for this evil use of the words "I believe," but wo must not confound the '" belief" which defines, disputes, and condemns, with the " faith " which trusts and aspiree and loves, for thab is quite another matter. Nothing had so blasted the face of the earth as the fettering system of " creeds." What right had we or any man to impose on another some particular form of words, however beautiful or accurate it might seem to us? We know that the same things appear under varying aspects to different people; the very iiowers and leaves bear one aspecb to the artist and another to the farmer, and yet another aspect to the naturalist. \Yo know all this, and yet we insist that our fellow-creatures shall express their " belief " about things in their very nature incomprehensible and nndefinr.blein identical words for ever. Could we think thab Christ would ever have set forth such a document as the Athannsian Creed ? We felt that something was needed to replace the dogmas of the past, and guide our thoughts to God. Wo could not think that mankind would over be content to live without religion. Wo'look around and see various ideas brought forward to keep religion alive amidst the crash of creeds, such as positivism, agnosticism, etc., and we need not fear that tho spirit of true religion, which bids us live for humanity with faith, lovo and hope for the future, will fail to find fib expression in the changeful times that lie before us.