CREED AND CHARACTER.

Waiapu Church Times, Volume I, Issue 1, 1 July 1907, Page 3

CREED AND CHARACTER.

Otoe of the most oft-repeated fallacies amongst unthinking people is that it does not matter what a man believes. On some points of a purely academic nature this may be true. It may not matter much whether we believe that Napoleon was a greater general than the Duke of Wellington. But on other points our belief affects our conduct considerably. Queer views concerning honesty cause some people much trouble. An incorrect opinion concerning the nature of what we suppose to be medicine may rob us of life. Our opinion of a man may be unjust, and may do him much harm, especially if we repeat it to

others, as we are too apt to do. And we must argue on the same plane when we enter the sphere of religion. What we belieye has a potent effect on our character and on our welfare. Varying views are being taken just now as to the Person of Christ. And we are told that the precise view which we take of bur Lord's Person and of the mode of His Being does not matter much. But we form a different impression when we read the story of our Lord's life m the four Gospels. Our Lord put a searching question to the Pharisees who had been plying him with awkward questions, propounded with the obvious purpose of placing Him m a difficulty.' He asked them, "What think ye of Christ?" The question would of course convey to their minds a different meaning from that which it would convey to our own. To us it would bear the same meaning as the question, " What thing ye of Jesus' ?" The latter question would suggest to them thoughts of deception and imposture. But the former would carry their minds from the Person of our Lord to that of the Messiah whom they expected. But for us the one question would mean much the same as the other. And it may be seen from the Gospels how the answer which was given to the question affected the lives of those who formed their own opinion. Some said of our Lord, "He deceiveth the people." Such persons we may readily imagine would join m the demand for His crucifixion without concern. Happily this notion is not entertained by any thinkers now. Our Lord had no motive to lead Him to deceive the people. Moreover, no promise or prediction of His has ever been proved untrue. There were others who said of our Lord: "He is; a good man." We hear the same view expressed today, often m patronising- terms. But we do not find m the Gospels that such a view, as this produced any marked improvement m the lives of the persons who expressed it. It may not have drawn them out m open hostility to our Lord,

but it left them where they were. So to-day those who take this view are not led on to great devotion to our 7 Lord, and we may even ask whether such a view is tenable at all, and whether St. Augustine's terrible alternative is not true : " Nisi Deus, non bonus." Our Socialistic brethren had their prototypes m our Lord's days. The people of His own country asked, '■' Is not this the carpenter's Son ?" ' The significant remarks follow : " They were offended m Him,". "He "did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief." So to-day the exploitation of our Lord's name m the interests, of Socialism does not bring its advocates nearer to God. Other shades of belief about our Lord's Person are recorded m the Gospels, but only one calls for special mention here, though it is fair to say that Herod's belief that our Lord was St. John the Baptist risen from the dead caused terror to his guilty conscience. We come to the view taken by St. Peter and his fellow-disciples : "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." That was the view which transformed the lives of the humble followers of the Saviour. That was the view which, when presented to the world, alone proved capable of regenerating men and of stimulating them to lives of devotion and self-denial. Amidst the unsettlement produced by novel interpretations of theology perplexed minds may reassure themselves by a study of what transpired m our Lord's earthly lifetime. A review such as we have indicated may be sufficient to satisfy them. Tested by its fruits, the old theology is very far from breaking down. But let the votaries of it see that it is given full scope m their own lives. Its limitation by a life of carelessness or selfishness will tempt men to doubt its power. The victories of the past will not suffice. The world which is told to look to these alone will say that the system is effete and outworn. It is for us to show its living power. The mighty works which it has done elsewhere we must be able to show men m their own country and m their own time. If our • view of Christ has no appreciable effect upon our own conduct we may fear lest our convictions may be more fancied than real, or lest this great subject does not occupy m our minds the position which its importance deserves. Surely our cry should -be: .'"Lord, to whom shall we go?. Thou hast ' the words of eternal life*." .