THE CHURCHES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 272, 10 August 1908, Page 4

THE CHURCHES.

J«y. J, CIPSON SMITH'S BOOK. ''

DEFENCE,OF ITS ORIHODOXY. Tho Itev. J, Gibson Smith, whose recent book, "The .Christ of the .Cross/'...has.been alleged to be -unorthodox,' ispoke at\St, Andrew's Church, last, evening jsn "My relation's to tlio doctrinal .standards .of the Presbyterian Church." v He that he was not one of those-, who thought' t&at' creeds should 1)6 rashly dispensed with. His own Church creed had checked so often the tendency to error in his mind, that when at last . he. came to a question in. regard to which hie could"'by''rfb" possibility bring'iimself to feel .t&at the«reed' ( was really right/be knew'that it-was no light and--easy task that lie liad to face when he 'set'out to prove that there was..a "more truly Scriptural of expressing \t-he triith' .than :that which : the creed had • adopted:;' It' Was : not'lihtil Tie'had gone throiigh a long and . laborious process examination .of >authorij' ties ; and thef- 'Scriptures,: - not; until he had . roached' an assured .conviction that. w)iere h? . differed from tho .weed,; the Scriptures ;aiso differed froin the.creed, that.he began to-feel himself under compulsion to write-his'book; One of-the charges.against mm-was. that lie did not writo and publish his" book twenty years ago, but twenty years ago ho could have no more .written his boot thah_be could havo cast a mountain'unto the sea. It was his " profound respect and revcrchce tor. tho :dflc■trinal standards of the Church that made him seek td be-perfectly sure'of his ground-before , seeking to short"that in some'respects he was ;: compelled 'by, Scripture,- reason, and cml- . science .to differ from them. He had published , his' boolc just an «oonjas;eyer : he>c<niklwrite it,'and however"long a-.-time 116 might have , .'spent: in he tcltimpelled lie tlicl not wait so long ;.- as to pass from ltndtr the control of the General Assembly oftheTresbyterian-Churoh; His - ecclesiastical status at; v. the present \ moment was entirely, in: thejiahds of that : Assombly. . '■ - The S l ®. standards •of- the .iPresbytenan; .Church, k had been 'by somo":\yriters .'to jthe:;l ress;.extraordinarily exaggerated. ■ "I:have.beenytold ■ that I am- a Unitarian. I have, been told ', that -my book; is .not a Contribution to the - theologica.l literature-.of tho Atoncmtoit,}but an attack, and a very fierce attack, on the /Atonement'" itself-,Y- ; l ;: been told that I cannot sing such hymns-as 'Rock of Ages, .>' Cleft- for Me/ 'or 'When 'i Survey_ the Wondrous Cross, or 1 Just as I am without one plea'-—nor yet let anyone else sing them: I confess I was scarcely prepared for such huge,'.'such monstrous,; such ufc terly inexplicable misunderstanding -as these statements imply.' •'■ I have been, an evangelical Christian from my "3 r outh -up, and I am an' evangelical Christian now—much more decided/and convincedly so now than I was 20 years ago. I can-enter into every word of tho hymns referred to, with all my heart and soul. There is no'single expression in . - one of them that I'would 'wish'to change Or . modify.' They: express'-for me in beautiful language such ns I could not myself command that feeling ,of entire and _ utter dependence upon the crucified Christ as my one and only Saviour from sin, which is the . : sacred bond that binds all Christian hearts together. I will yield to* no man in the > wholo Church in regard to the deep desire that I liave to confess, before the;, wholo world, if. I could,-Jesus Christ as my Lord and God and Saviour. And to be told that Icannot sing those hymns, ; that. I cannot let others sing , them, simply fills me with profound; amazement,, 'T ask jmyself 'With what kind of a veil before his face did the. man who arrived at such .conchy Bions read my book.' " He had yet another cause for amazement. .That-oxplanatiqn of-the Cross,''which ho had : set -forth in his-book he had called tlio "propitiatory": theory of tho Cross. Ho had defined propitiation'as a • medium or channel by which the holy mercy of God might flow forth. ,'to jinful -meh, -without-any loss of holiness.; '•Jfwas fairly open to anyone to'challenge this definition of the word : propitiation, but was -it fairly open to a brother minister, in reyiew- •' irig tho book 'in-the Church's magazine, to completely ignore the fact that he claimed to be setting forth Christ as tho propitiation for sins in any sense whatever, and on the contrary- to writo in such a fashion, that:nd ; honest man could fail to draw ths- inforenco; that he absolutely .and entirely , denied that Christ was the .propitiation , for , sins at all." ' : Real Divergence from Standards.'. i In answer to the question, ''A\Tieroin : sists'" my -real' diveigence from tho doctrinal . standards pf the Presbyterian Church?" Mr. Smith said his position in brief was this:— , "1. That I stahd frankly and fairly in , - opposition to much of. the; theology published .in ; their books; by . Presbyterian , theologian's in the - past, and no.one: will havo • any, difficulty in establishing from my book that there is such opposition, , for it is most-freely acknowledged . and . manifested. " 2Mhat there .is some divergence be- ' iween,my position and that, of the West- ! niinstqr .Confcssion taken apart froni; tho " Declaratory Act,"but not nc.arly sq much divergence here ,iis in tho case-of| the ; Presbyterian theologians. ' ' • ' ; :' •' ",3. That, -.between my'" jiositioh 'and I ; that qf • -the>Westminster Confession as 1 modified by th'e • Declaratory Act thoro - is no opposition{at all, for I accept every : - Tyord: of tho Declaratory i • whole .heart and soul. '■ ! 'Ah{l, .4.' ;i ThAt- i,when -my- -position is ; compared with-that of the Scriptures,

then the Scriptures. aro found . to support mo -through//and-..through, and it • is my opponents' wh6~will.be found to ;. have .tho- weight of authority'.against / - them."'-"- - ■ ' . i " • " v ; "With regard to tho theologians," Mr. Smith j declared> after a reference .to', their; beliefs,-'"'-my position "is'"'thatrinany "in the past and som(j; : in the- present are against, mo (in rejecting the expiatory theory) j but', on the otho.' hand somo in .the.-past and a; great and ,growing'; number,'in , the'present, aro with mo, while a number have their position obscured by continuing to use glcl ! words; afton having evacuated: them 'of all : thoir .old - meatiing." ;With regard to the Westminster; Confession, taken apart from the Declaratory Act,.lie stated .that his whole;criticism in the pearlier - part 1 of : iiis • book 'iwas directed' againsfetho; expiatory .theory defined as satis-; "retributive"''justice; >"Thp mo-'nient-.-any theologian'consents ;tor leave out' the "word .'retributive, from his description of tliojultico .thatiwiiS:satisfied.oil.tho Cross,, I have no." longer,-any controversy with him."! And .the remarkable-fact was that the West-: minster Confession nowhere defined the jus-! ticc. that'was!, satisfied on the Cross as rotri-' butive justice.;, ,Hc the slightest doubt that if-'the Westminster divines had wlfethoj oraiot |hey;mea|it "rotributive justice, to a mail'they would Tiavo daici'that they*did. i. ..Ilus'.fact remained that ; they?.did : riot:put tho' narrowing, restricting adjective ir\tb their-'creed,! and lie' could . ascribe their refraining to .do so. only to their 'instinctivo'-'lbjalty to Siiripturo expressions. .He . . could say that Christ; died to . satisfy ,;God'ij?ju6tice (ill.the wide sense of the term),, "and hfeVcbiild also say that Christ died tq.pre- . pare the vvay for tho ultimate manifestation ;of .God's retributive, justice 'in tho Final Judgment towards those who should , .finally reject-Hi? mercy in tlio Cross. The doc-trine.-which • said that Jesus, -in dying,, endured: the \frath of Godj while found in'both Catechisms, was not found in tho Confession 'of Faith. In respect of this point, ho regarded the two Catechisms as having gono beyond-the teachings of Scripture.,-But if' ho thought so, so\ also . apparently, did tho Confession of' Faith. The Declaratory Act had his entire adherence. , l . .V : , ; t ,- Effect of Misapprehension. In conclusion, Mr. Smith said ho was persuaded that a largo amount of the hostilo criticism which his book had pvbked came from a misapprohongion of the position whicli ho occupied. Ho 'denied nono of the great Christian truths, but. affirmed them-all with his whole heart and soul.; "Havo I then, being an evangelical Christian all my days, done a wrong" thing in remaining in an evangelical ,church as ope of its ministers? Have I done a wrong thing in seckingVto let everyone, .clearly, understand . the eskct

'? senso in •whichyl 'uso the words that I do < uso".froin Jtße pulpit^by publishing my book. 1 Have' I been .i traitor to tho Church in sayiUg'.tor.theChurclC'in that book: Una is my understandi|ig' ! .of tho saving work of tho 'Saviour? Tell mo wliero I am wrong, and, if ■ convinced,. I. am willing to bo set right; wihllo ifN.tiiicoirvihc,gd, and .unable to convince you;- aiid' A iio ! room can bo found for -mo, I lira willing to .seek some other inedii -.urn for.'conveying my view of the trntli than •.a medium''of'tf Presbyterian pulpit. Dol : deserve to be held yp before the community I as a traitor , and .a coward and a breaker of vows because I havo done theso things. Well it may there .are some men "who'can find treachery and cowardicp in ! such conduct, Init I can only say that if thoro are, they live at tho opposite end of '.tho. from'that whic|j. I 111stated that 110 had re- ■ jreirtS 'letters -ifroih: all parts of tho, Dominibn, not a 'few of them from ministers of tho Church, expressing gratitude for tho help his 'book bad given them. MODERN THEOLOGY AND RELIGION. ' At tho Church last evening, before a;/crowded . congregation, . Dr. Tudor Jones tlio subject of would Jesus say of'- our ..Theology and .Religion.'" The. .preacher stated that traditional theology- built upon data of the past had failed to / give;.'a true construction ot the higher re&t&UsUip's ;of .man to tho universe, to God;':td";iiwse]f, and to his fellows. Theology the of the medieval had . been IGi b. behind by other mental "constructions which tho Church had failed to take into consideration. The„/<jsult. ji£}(l:. beqii' a fearful cleavage between theology: arid, modern culture, and _until a tliorough inversion of things took place ■ there was'at/solutely no - hope for the Church bping fi guide in intellectual perplexities. Th6'preacher'snid that Jesus would condemn ; oiir living upon mental constructions of tho "liast'.' He' did "'condemn' such a process in His own 4W'...Thfi.only true theology-as a synthesis, built ;Out of the factors of tho knowleclgo of the present.' It was thus only that ,we ;Could have ~o theory of life which would bo workable and which would solve tho manifold problems of life. , Dr. Tudor Jones pointed out-tho distinction between •theologj' and rpligion; and stated that religion was of far more, importance than theology, lieli''giori belonged to'tho deepest needs and as : pjrations of. the hum<m mind alid spirit; v/llilst' 'theology""w'as tho. giving of' an intellectual account- of these. The only true intellectual account, ho claimed, was-that of the present- Man to-day must make some contribution to 'the intellectual theories of life; . Instead, of-. that Jesus- would find us largely'living on''tile thoughts and experiences'of > a peoplo of a thousand years ago. He would call us out. of our intellectual idleness, our moral-timidity, our lethargy, our distrust in tho future progress of the world, and He would make us dive into tho depths of our own'being and unfold the deeper pos"sibilites of our natiite, so that all the higher relationships of life could bo accomplished by us in cvbr better way, and the. new creations'of higher qualities take places. ,We hee"ded. a'revival in our theology-. Moil and °Women; were • tired:.:-of word-spinning, and longed- for the true and good and noble things that would the human mind aiid heart. : ,

THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. . ..Miss C. W. Christie, New" Zealand section organiser of the Theosophical Society, gave an . address , in the/Municipal Concert Chamber last evening on the subject "Am I my Brother-'s Keeper?"'- Miss' Christio is an able and pleasing lecturer, and hor address was a very interesting exposition-of the doctrines. of thcosophy. She' declared that it •was inconsistent to' admire development of intellect-, and at ;tho same time- call.a man ;who\-deyelope'dj psychic qualities either a fraud or a'fool,. She admitted, that - the'world b:wcd'-"a. "great.-, deal to ..tho scientists,!..the materialists, for their inventions. -After referring to the different keynotes of successive great. religions of the world,- she affirmed, that.' in'.-ma-ivf there was a ' conscious--.ness'that-; underlay , the consciousness' of the mriivcrse," and--that; all life was continuous. This it'was wliicli -explained the survival and 'increase 'of moral Virtues,' even though the ;mcn 'in "whom they were exemplified were trodden under in'life's Struggle. Christianity had for centuries allowed the teaching of a 1 continuous' earthly life to slip into tlio background, a'licl .be'- covered with the' accretion 'of man-riiade' creeds and dogmas. In Jjiejcontinuity.., of Jifo, _ however, lay the oxplauation :of much social misery and crimo. We were all our brothers'' keepers, because th'i; characters 1 formed by one generation-''-we're the characters with which another generation started their -bxistenco. Mr. Hardie Shaw presided.