{"1": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3620", "width": "2468", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.\\nChap Copjiiglit No.A_3\\nUNITED STATES OF AMERICA.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "OUR FIRST CONGRESS", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "Our First Congress\\nCONSISTING OF\\nADDRESSES ON RELIGIOUS AND THEOLOGICAL\\nQUESTIONS, DURING THE FIRST CONGRESS\\nOF THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST, HELD\\nIN ST. LOUIS, APRIL 25-27, 1899.\\nEDITED BY\\nJ. H. GARRISON\\nEditor Christian-Evangelist\\nSt. Louis\\nCHRISTIAN PUBLISHING COMPANY\\n1900", "height": "3535", "width": "2202", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "35386\\n72799\\nLibrsiry of Con ^ree\\nTwo CopjES Received\\nJUL 26 1900 I\\nCop^ght entry\\nSECOND COPY.\\nOeliverfld to\\nORDER DIVISION,\\n3 ^900\\nAUGL\\nCopyrighted, 1900\\nBy Christian Publishing Company", "height": "3491", "width": "2273", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "Contents.\\nPAGE\\nPreface 7\\nIntroductory Address 11\\nI. The Vai,ue of Theology. Edward Scribner\\nAmes 18\\nII. The Cry, Back to Christ. Haley 55\\nIII. The Cry, Back to Christ A Review.\\nB. Briney 85\\nIV. The Cry, Back to Christ A Review.\\nW. J. Lhamon .100\\nV. Crucial Points Concerning the Holy\\nSpirit. R. T. Mathews Ill\\nVI. Crucial Points Concerning the Holy\\nSpirit A Review. JV. E. Ellis 151\\nVII. Crucial Points Concerning the Holy\\nSpirit: A Supplementary Statement.\\nE. N. Calvin 171\\nVIII. Organization and its Adjustment to the\\nPresent Needs of the Church. Allan\\nB. Philputt 189\\nIX. Organization and its Adjustment to the\\nPresent Needs of the Church A\\nReview. W. E. Richardson .211\\nX. Enrichment of Public Worship Among\\nthe Disciples. Ida Withers Harrison 223\\n5", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "preface*\\nIt was one of those charming summer days,\\ncharacteristic of Macatawa Park, on Lake Mich-\\nigan, at the close of our annual interdenomina-\\ntional Assembly there, in August, 1898, that a\\ndozen or more ministers of the Disciples of\\nChrist, together with their wives and some other\\nlay members who chanced to be spending their\\nvacation there, chartered a small steamer and\\nsailed up Black Lake to Point Superior for a\\npicnic and a social visit. There on a timbered\\ntongue of land jutting out into the lake, with\\neither side washed by the rippling waves, and\\nunder the cool shade of the spreading oaks, we\\nsat and talked of those things in which we all\\nfelt the deepest interest the welfare of our own\\nreligious movement.\\nAmong other things presented for our consid-\\neration was the propriety of holding a Congress\\nsomewhere, at some time during the ensuing\\nyear. Such a convocation had been suggested\\nmany times before, but the move had never\\ntaken definite or decisive form. It was urged,\\nat this little lake-side gathering, that there were\\na number of questions which needed to be care-\\nfully and thoughtfully discussed among us, and\\nthat there was no time at our annual missionary\\n7", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "8 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nconventions for such discussion. Besides that,\\nit was agreed that many of these questions would\\nhardly be germane to a National Missionary Con-\\nvention, even if there was time for their discus-\\nsion.\\nAfter the foregoing considerations, and others,\\nhad been duly weighed, it was voted unanimous-\\nly that it was expedient to hold such a Congress,\\nand that this informal meeting, made up of rep-\\nresentatives from several states, should issue a\\ncall for it. After a little further conference, St.\\nLouis was selected as the place, the latter part\\nof April as the time, and a committee was ap-\\npointed to arrange a program, issue the call and\\nmake all needful arrangements for the Congress.\\nThe committee did its duty to the best of its\\nability, and the First Congress of the Disciples\\nof Christ was the result.\\nThe success of our First Congress exceeded\\nthe expectation of the most sanguine, even of\\nthose who called it. The attendance was large\\nand representative. The papers were worthy of\\nthe men who prepared them and of the themes\\nthey treated. The discussions were earnest,\\npointed, and yet strictly parliamentary. The\\nspirit of fraternity and freedom which prevailed\\nwas delightful, and to many it was a needed sign\\nand assurance of our future progress and pros-\\nperity. It was a splendid illustration of the", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "PREFACE. 9\\nraotto, In essentials unity; in opinions liberty;\\nin all tilings charity.\\nIt was the general feeling among those who\\n;attended the Congress that the leading papers at\\nleast should be published in a permanent form,\\nand it is in response to this request from many\\nwho heard them, and from many others who\\nwere not privileged to hear them, but who wish\\nto keep in touch with the best thought of the\\nbrotherhood, that they are now presented to the\\npublic in this volume. It is hoped that the in-\\nterest with which they were received in the\\nCongress is prophetic of the wider interest they\\nwill awaken in the larger public to which they\\nare now offered. Editor.\\nSt. Louis, Feb. 15th, 1900.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "Introductory Hddrcse**\\nBrethren: It is my pleasant duty, as Chair-\\nman of the first session of this our first Congress\\nand of the Committee on Program, as well as a\\nresident of St. Louis, to call the Congress to\\norder, and to extend to you a very cordial welcome\\non behalf of the churches and brethren in this\\ncity. It is a great pleasure to us all to have you\\nwith us as our guests during the sessions of this\\nCongress, and we shall be delighted to do what\\nwe can to make your stay among us both pleasant\\nand profitable. The freedom of Jthe city and of\\nour homes is yours.\\nI wish to congratulate you upon having real-\\nized an honor to which so many of our fellow-\\ncitizens have aspired in vain, viz., your election\\nas members of Congress. Nor is the honor less\\nbecause you are here to consider, not the polit-\\nical issues of the day, but the great questions\\nwhich, in one form or another, belong to all\\ntime, because they have to do with the funda-\\nmental and enduring needs of men in the higher\\nranges of their being and nature. As I look over\\nthis large audience present at the opening session,\\nand representing so many States of the Union, I\\nBy J. H. Garrison, who presided over the first session,\\nand acted as general chairman of the Congress.\\n11", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "12 OUR FIE.ST CONGRESS.\\nfeel that the wisdom of the call for this Congress\\nhas already been fully vindicated.\\nIt is altogether fitting and proper, brethren,\\nthat we who have championed the cause of relig-\\nious liberty, and who owe our existence as a\\nreligious movement to a revolt against the\\ntyranny of human creeds and ecclesiasticisms,\\nshould hold such a Congress as this for the free\\nand unfettered discussion of those questions\\nwhich are attracting the attention of the\\nthoughtful men of our time. Holding fast to\\nthe deity and lordship of Jesus Christ, as the\\ntrue object of faith, we can freely express our\\nopinions and conclusions concerning these dis-\\nputed questions without fear of that theological\\nodium which has been so often used to suppress\\nfreedom of thought. Trained as we have been\\nto do our own religious thinking and to give a\\nreason for the faith that is in us, we may safely\\nanticipate a season of delightful, intellectual and\\nspiritual intercourse during the sessions of this\\nCongress.\\nWe do not know of any city in our beloved\\ncountry where the first Congress of the Disciples\\nof Christ could have been more appropriately\\nheld than in this great metropolis on the bank of\\nthe Father of Waters, the imperial city of St.\\nLouis. Not to mention the fact that it is the\\nhome of the Christian-Evangelist, whose honor\\nit was, many years ago, to suggest such a Con-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 13\\ngress, St. Louis is at the heart of this great\\nUnion of States, being near the center of popu-\\nlation and also the center of the membership of\\nthe religious body represented in this Congress.\\nIn such a center, surrounded by such a member-\\nship, the Congress is sure to find a congenial\\natmosphere, both climatically and religiously\\nspeaking. In the name of our churches, our\\nministers, our citizens, we bid you a cordial wel-\\ncome to St. Louis and to our first Congress. In\\nthe year 1903, during the World s Fair, celebrat-\\ning the Centennial of the Louisiana Purchase,\\nwe hope to welcome to St. Louis another session\\nof this Congress which shall be even more\\nlargely attended than this one.\\nThe first session of the Congress, over which I\\nam called to preside, is to be devoted to The\\nHistory of Doctrine. The paper to be read is\\non The Value of Theology. I need scarcely\\nremind you that the study of God his being,\\ncharacter and will is the very highest of all\\nstudies. Because the Disciples of Christ have\\nnever formulated their theology into a creed,\\nbut have always distinguished between theology\\nand the faith, it may have seemed to our relig-\\nious neighbors, and even to some of our own\\nnumber, that we attach little importance to the-\\nological study. This would be a wrong conclu-\\nsion, however. From Alexander Campbell to\\nthe leaders among us to-day, clear thinking", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "14 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nabout God and his revelation to men has been\\nheld in high esteem, and we, no less than others,\\nhave had our theological system, though we have\\nnever sought to impose it on others as a test of\\nfellowship or a condition of membership. In\\nthis lies the great distinction between the Dis-\\nciples of Christ and other religious bodies. We\\nhave never regarded our theology as finished and\\nready for being stereotyped. We believe there is\\nvastly more to be learned yet about God and His\\nway with men than has yet been found out, and\\nwe prefer to hold our minds in readiness to re-\\nceive the new light as fast as it breaks out of\\nGod s Word.\\nIt gives me great pleasure now to introduce to\\nyou Prof. Edward S. Ames of Butler College,\\nIrvington, Ind., who will present a paper on\\n*The Value of Theology.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "I.\\nThe Value of Theology", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nI.\\nCbe Value of ZhcoXosy.\\nTHERE is great diversity of opinion as to the\\nvalue of theology. Very extreme state-\\nments, both for and against it, might be quoted\\nfrom prominent religious leaders. Such a tabu-\\nlated list of opposing views, however, would\\nafford little real help to a man who seeks to\\ngive the subject earnest consideration. There is\\nscarcely any topic upon which similar difference\\nof opinion does not exist, but that does not\\nhinder us from having opinions, from being\\nrepublicans or democrats, imperialists or anti-\\nexpansionists, realists or idealists. There is no\\nresting place in any matters of human interest\\nfor the man who tries to settle important prob-\\nlems by asking simply for a catalogue of the\\nnames on either side. The questions of conse-\\nquence always challenge the thoughtful man to\\nan investigation of the case upon its own merit.\\nThis is true of the question as to whether the-\\nology has any value. The fact that men differ\\n2 17", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "18 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nabout it is no sufficient excuse for dismissing it\\nwithout a hearing. Rather is it a reason why\\neach man should think it over for himself with\\ncandor and carefulness. Every one who is\\nawake to the movements in present-day thought\\nis brought face to face in some way with the\\nnew interest in theology. Instead of being\\nutterly banished from the world, it is seeking to\\nclothe itself anew in the language of the times,\\nand sooner or later will urge its claims for rec-\\nognition. Neither are the advocates of a new\\ntheology a feeble folk. They are among the\\nscholars of all countries. To show what weight\\nof learning and influence is cast on the side of\\nthis science to-day, one has but to make clear\\nthe meaning of the work of such men as Princi-\\npal Fairbairn and Canon Gore in England,\\nSabatier in France, Pfleiderer in Germany,\\nGeorge A. Gordon and Henry Van Dyke in\\nAmerica. It is noticeable that pastors and\\npractical religious workers are giving promi-\\nnence to these problems. There is a serious-\\nness, even an anxiety, betrayed in the writings\\nwhich indicate that for them the situation seems\\nto involve the very foundations of religion.\\nThe feeling is clearly expressed that the old\\nstatements are already exploded, and practically\\ndiscarded. With Calvinism dead and many\\ntimes buried, these who have survived it may\\nwell inquire whether theology itself has also", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "THE VALUE OF THEOLOGY. 19\\nperished or whether another mighty system is\\nlikely to arise. The whole Christian world can\\nnot but be vitally concerned with this alterna-\\ntive. Under these circumstances the funda-\\nmental question is, What is the value of the-\\nology? The question is not what is the value of\\nthis or that system, but what is the value of any\\nsystem whatsoever? It is analogous to the in-\\nquiry whether science in general, not this or that\\nscience, has any value. In other words, it is\\nconceivable that a man should be dissatisfied\\nwith all the particular theories of physics with\\nwhich he is acquainted, and yet be convinced\\nthat physical science is a possible and important\\nfield of knowledge.\\nTheology may be defined as the science of God\\nand of divine things. It attempts to think out\\nclearly and to put into systematic form the\\nknowledge which man possesses of the Divine\\nBeing and his relation to the world. It includes,\\ntherefore, such subjects as the relation of God to\\nnature and to human life. The doctrines of sin\\nand of the atonement, of miracles and revela-\\ntion, of a future life and its rewards and pun-\\nishments, these and related subjects constitute\\nthe material with which the science of theology\\ndeals. The special departments of theology\\nneed not be considered here except to point out\\nthe relation of Biblical and S3^stematic theology.\\nBiblical theology investigates the Scriptures in", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "20 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\norder to set forth in an orderlj^ way the teaching\\nof the different writers upon the various sub-\\njects considered, care being taken to interpret\\neach writer in terms of his time and circum-\\nstance. Sj stematic theology, on the other hand,\\nbuilds upon these results, and seeks to translate\\nBiblical truth into the language and experience\\nof the present age. Systematic theology in-\\ncludes among its materials, therefore, not only\\nthe revelation of God in the Bible, but also that\\nrevelation which he makes of himself in nature\\nand in the progressive development of history.\\nThe physical sciences, social institutions and\\nvarious world religions, all the forms and prod-\\nucts of human activity are made contributors to\\nthe final view, under the conviction that, in some\\nway or other, every department of human life\\nreveals the nature of God and of his wonderful\\nways. Systematic theology, therefore, sets for\\nitself no less a task than that of bringing to bear\\nthe whole field of modern knowledge and experi-\\nence in the interpretation of the idea of God\\nand his relation to humanity.\\nIt is important to note the relation in which\\ntheology stands to religion. They are neither\\nidentical nor entirely separate, but may be\\nthought of as related in the same way that the-\\nory is related to practice or science to art. Sci-\\nence is the knowing and art is the doing, and in\\npoint of time, art is much older than science.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "THE VALUE OF THEOIvOGY. 21\\nFor example, ethics is the science of conduct,\\nbat human conduct had been going on for cen-\\nturies before a definite science of ethics arose.\\nLike^Yise men did not have to wait until a sys-\\ntem of logic was devised before they could\\nthink, and think correctly. As Locke says, it is\\na mistake of the scholastics to suppose that God\\nmade a two-legged animal and left it to Aristotle\\nto make him rational. In the same way religion\\nis as old at least as the historic age of man,\\nwhile theology as a science is relatively a mod-\\nern affair. Religion is the active attitude in\\nwhich the individual worships, propitiates or\\nserves the deity. It is the communion of the\\nindividual with the universal Being. Theology,\\non the other hand, inquires into the existence,\\nnature and attributes of the object of religious\\nadoration, and into the methods of mediation\\nand redemption. There is thus sought a trans-\\nlation of the immediate experience into con-\\ncepts, into scientific knowledge. The same rela-\\ntion may be illustrated in terms of theory and\\npractice. The theory is a statement in clear,\\nlogical form of the processes, laws and worth\\nof the practice.\\nTheology as a science or theory does not arise\\nby accident, but is the natural and necessary\\nproduct of man s intellectual activity. Man is\\nby nature a thinking being. The image in which\\nhe is created is characterized by infinite wisdom", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "22 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nand knowledge. The normal individual, what-\\never the stage of his development, reflects more\\nor less upon the meaning of life and its infinite\\nsource. The di:fference between the Hottentot and\\nthe sage of civilization is not that one theorizes\\nand the other does not. The difference is in the\\nextent and consistency of their theories. It is\\nalmost a commonplace now-a-days to say that it\\nis not a question as to whether one shall have a\\nphilosophy of life or not, but the only question\\nis whether or not one s philosophy is good or\\nbad. The same applies equally to theology.\\nThe only thing of interest is as to the kind of\\ntheology, is it a cheap, second-hand edition,\\npicked up at random and perhaps unconsciously,\\nfrom among the vagaries of men? Or is it a\\ntheology bought at first hand by careful study\\nand thoroughly scientific investigation? Some\\none may reply to this that he is certain of his\\ntheology, for he gets it out of the Bible itself.\\nIt would be just as much in point and just as\\ntrue for such an one to say that he knows the\\nsky is blue because he just looks at it and sees\\nthat it is so. Of course the sky looks blue, but\\nit is blue for a seeing eye, and if the eye is color\\nblind, or if one wears colored glasses, then the\\nsky may not be blue. In any case, the condition\\nof the organ determines vision. The same is\\ntrue in reading the Bible. It means more to one\\nthan another, and something different to all. The", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0028.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "THE VALUE OF THEOLOGY. 23\\nadvocates of the most diverse views have ap-\\npealed to it for support. Royalist and demo-\\ncrat, slaveholder and abolitionist, prohibition-\\nist and moderate drinker, woman suffragist and\\nanti-woman suffragist, Calvinist and Arminian\\nthe opponents on every great moral and religious\\nquestion have sincerely appealed to the one\\nBook as their authority. And as we look back\\nupon such controversies, the particular texts\\nand passages are recalled which seemed to lend\\nsupport to each contestant. It is possible for\\nthe historian to see these warring parties in the\\nperspective of centuries, and to explain it all by\\nthe different points of view which they occu\\npied, that is, by the different interpretations to\\nwhich they were naturally led. This process of\\nreflection goes on more or less clearly and con-\\nsciously in every man and in every denomination\\nto-day. Some wish to cut the knot by prohibit-\\ning men from thinking in matters of religion,\\nbut that is obviously impossible. The only\\nalternative is to do more and better thinking, to\\nfrankly confess that we all have our theology in\\nsome form or other, and then proceed to develop\\nand correct it to the best of our ability. Any\\nview which tries to separate religion from theol-\\nogy, as though they were two distinct and abso-\\nlutely separate things, presents the appearance\\nof a man who tries to lift himself off the earth\\nby his own boot-straps. That is, he proposes to", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0029.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "24 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nabolish all theological theory by a specific theo-\\nry, which he tries to think is no theory at all.\\nHe unconsciously brings in at the back door\\nwhat he has just dismissed by the front door.\\nThis phenomenon of a theology gotten up for\\nthe express purpose of discarding theology alto-\\ngether may furnish much instruction, and even\\namusement, to the man who reads history with\\nhis eyes open.\\nIt is important to notice here that although\\nthere is some sort of theology wherever there is\\na spiritual religion, yet the two are not identical.\\nThe intellectual system of doctrines is only a\\nstatement of the meaning of the religion, and it\\nis not the religion itself. The value of such a\\nsystem of doctrines is to be understood in terms\\nof the relation of science and art. The science\\ndraws out in definite form the principles upon\\nwhich the art proceeds. Theology seeks to ex-\\nplain the central facts of religion, and to em-\\nphasize their relative importance. Its value\\nmay be summarized by saying that it helps\\nreligion to understand itself, to distinguish the\\nessentials from the incidentals, to free historical\\nreligion from its excrescences. For instance,\\nreligion was at one time apparently in danger\\nfrom the scientific theory that the earth is not\\nflat but spherical, and that this planet is not the\\ncenter of the solar system.\\nMany people to-day seem to be very anxious", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0030.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "THE VALUE OF THEOLOGY. 25\\nfor their religion, when science tells us that\\nwhales throats are not large enough to admit\\nJonah, or that it is not likely that men ever\\nlived to be hundreds of years of age, or that the\\nhuman race itself, like all other forms of life on\\nthe globe, has come into existence through the\\nprocess of evolution. We all have a profound\\nconviction that none of these things can really\\nendanger permanently the foundations of relig-\\nion, but we also have a natural and justifiable\\ndesire to understand how the well-attested\\nresults of science are to be fitted into a view of\\nthe world which will also give due recognition\\nto the facts of the Christian religion. Even\\nmore than this is demanded by the religious con-\\nsciousness. It is demanded that the new views\\nof nature which science brings us, shall, when\\nthey are established, reinforce and deepen our\\nspiritual lives, and make it possible, in the light\\nof all the facts, to say openly and with convic-\\ntion, like the psalmist of old, but with even\\ngreater significance, The heavens declare the\\nglory of God, and the firmament showeth his\\nhandiwork. Any less thorough-going attitude\\nthau this weakens and narrows the religious\\nnature. Men cannot long be whole-souled and\\nenthusiastic about a religion which trembles\\nevery time it looks into the eye of an anthropoid\\nape, or which feels compelled to assert that\\nreligion is only a matter of feeling, and hence", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0031.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "26 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nhas no interest in the new heavens and the new\\nearth which science has discovered in this cen-\\ntury. Nor are such problems entirely peculiar\\nto the present time. Every age in the Christian\\nera has had its Newtons and its Galileos. In\\nfact we claim it is the glory of Christianity that\\nit cultivates such fine types of men. Every age\\nhas accordingly been compelled to some degree\\nto restate its theology, and thus to enable the\\nreligious spirit of man to feel itself at home\\nin the midst of a changing and growing world.\\nIn general, then, it may be said that the value of\\ntheology consists in the progressive restatement\\nof the nature of God and his relation to the\\nworld, in terms not only of a better knowledge\\nof the Bible, but also in terms of a better un-\\nderstanding of physical nature and the course of\\nhuman history.\\nThis belief in the necessity and importance of\\ntheology is not entirely new in the history of the\\nDisciples of Christ. It is commonly understood\\nthat the Disciples have given little attention to\\ntheology, and it is sometimes claimed that they\\nhave none. Some might even contend that their\\ndistinctive characteristic is that they discard\\nspeculation altogether, and simply take the\\nScriptures, especially the New Testament, as\\ntheir statement of religious truth. Nothing but\\na thorough history of doctrine among the Dis-\\nciples can adequately determine these matters.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0032.jp2"}, "33": {"fulltext": "THE VALUK OF THEOLOGY. 27\\nbut even a superficial view reveals many in-\\nteresting things in connection with the topic\\nunder discussion. It is true that the leaders of\\nthought have violently opposed much of the\\ntheology current in popular thought. Particular\\ndoctrines were denounced on every possible\\noccasion. Human speculations were apparently\\nheld in contempt, but yet there is danger of a\\nmisunderstanding concerning these things. Is it\\nnot true that their denunciations were hurled at\\ntheological systems, not in themselves, but as\\nbonds of fellowship? They were contending for\\nindividual liberty in the interpretation of the\\nBible, and hence were thoroughly incensed at\\nthe practice then common of imposing creeds\\nupon individuals by church authority as terms\\nof salvation. Not creeds as such, but creeds as\\nbonds of union not theological systems in them-\\nselves, but as conditions of church membership,\\nwere the objects of attack. Theology, in their\\njudgment, was a matter of mere opinion, and\\nhence belonged to the individual. So long as it\\nwas held as one s private view, and not made a\\ncondition of fellowship or an occasion of strife,\\nthere was no objection. In fact, Alexander\\nCampbell boasted that the ground upon which\\nhe stood was so catholic that men of all per-\\nsuasions and of all denominations and prejudice,\\nwere united with him in one community, upon\\nthe simple confession of faith in Christ. Among", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0033.jp2"}, "34": {"fulltext": "28 OUR FIRST CONGRKSS.\\nthem he says are found those who had been\\nEomanists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Meth-\\nodists, Baptists, Restorationists, Quakers, Ari-\\nans. Unitarians, et cetera. And these per-\\nsons, he continues, of so many and so contra-\\ndictory opinions, meet weekly around the Lord s\\ntable.\\nMr. Campbell had his own doctrinal convic-\\ntions, which he did not hesitate to set forth at\\nlength in his publications, and he by no means\\nrestricted himself to the phraseology of the\\nBible in doing so. Thus he discussed freely the\\ndoctrines of inspiration, in connection with\\nwhich he held that God taught man directly, vive\\nvoce, how to talk, and that the Holy Spirit gave\\nthe writers of the Scriptures the very words\\nas well as the ideas. He held the view that the\\nonly notion men ever had of God was first re-\\nvealed through the Hebrew Scriptures, and that\\nall the ideas of the Deity found among other\\npeoples were more or less true reproductions of\\nthat given to the chosen race. In like man-\\nner his views of the operation of the Holy Spirit\\nin conversion, of the nature of the Godhead and\\nthe relation of the three persons in the Trinity,\\nof a future life, of the ordinances, church organ-\\nization, all of the usual problems of religion\\nare freely considered. His theology is easily\\nrecognized as modified Calvinism, and he him-\\nself understood it to be such, although he pre-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0034.jp2"}, "35": {"fulltext": "THE VAIvUE OF THEOLOGY. 29\\nferred not to have it labeled. It was the name\\nrather than the substance of Calvinism which he\\nhe rejected. At one time he declared his con-\\nvictions in the customary form of the formula\\nof the confessions of faith. Among these arti-\\ncles are the following: 1 believe in one God as\\nmanifested in the Father, the Son, and the Holy\\nSpirit, who are therefore one in power, nature\\nand volition. I believe that every human being\\nparticipates in all the consequences of the fall\\nof Adam, and is born into the world frail and\\ndepraved in all his moral powers and capacities.\\nSo that without faith in Christ it is impossible\\nfor him, while in that state, to please God. I\\nbelieve in the right and duty of exercising our\\nown judgment in the interpretation of the Holy\\nScriptures. It was only when such statements\\nwere misused that he objected to them. Mr.\\nCampbell indicates in many passages that he\\nfavors the freest theological speculation so long\\nas it is held as a merely individual matter. His\\nattitude is well expressed in these words: Let\\nmen think as the}^ like on any matters of human\\nopinion and upon doctrines of religion, provided\\nonly they hold the Head Christ and keep his\\ncommandments. (Mem. 2-519). That he him-\\nself was fond of such speculations is evident to\\neven the casual reader. In a lecture to one of\\nhis classes in Bethany College upon the subject\\nof theology, he said, Theology, in its proper", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0035.jp2"}, "36": {"fulltext": "30 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\namplitude and significance, is the most ineffably\\nsublime of all the sciences of earth or heaven.\\nIt presents to us Grod in everything and every\\nthing in God.\\nThe same general standpoint is maintained by\\nIsaac Errett. In his tract entitled Our Posi-\\ntion, he presents the particulars in which we\\nagree with, and those in which we differ from our\\nreligious neighbors. This is nothing more nor\\nless than a popular summary of the theology\\nwhich is characteristic of the brotherhood. It\\nis intended as a concise presentation of the main\\ndoctrines generally held among the Disciples.\\nBut it is not a creed in the sense of an authori-\\ntative document, since it ne^^r received any offi-\\ncial indorsement. In fact there was no official\\nbody who could sanction it in a way to make it\\ncorrespond in that respect to the creeds of other\\ndenominations. Yet the real significance of this\\nfamous tract is that it is a statement of the\\naccepted theology. It defines our position, pre-\\nsents our plea, and throughout uses synonyms\\nfor the usual phraseology of such publications.\\nIt is only a very superficial view which cannot\\ndiscover that in reality it is our theological posi-\\ntion, our doctrinal plea, and our specific theol-\\nogy which is here set forth. If one examines the\\nteaching in detail, he finds that it is practically a\\nrestatement of the theology current among evan-\\ngelical churches at the time, with such modifica-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0036.jp2"}, "37": {"fulltext": "THE VALUE OF THEOIvOGY. 31\\ntions as are necessary to show the particular\\nfeatures upon which the Disciples of Christ\\nplace distinctive emphasis, or hold unique doc-\\ntrines.\\nOne reason why the Disciples have been able\\nto appear less theological than some other de-\\nnominations is because they have accepted, for\\nthe most part, views which are common to all\\nevangelical Christians. Theological controversy,\\non this account, has had a narrow range and has\\nbeen occupied with questions such as the ordi-\\nnances, which could be treated mainly from the\\nlinguistic or historical sides. The fundamental\\ntheological problem concerning the nature of\\nGod has never been brought into serious, or at\\nleast original, consideration. It was quietly ac-\\ncepted under the traditional forms. There were\\nonly relatively minor principles which the broth-\\nerhood ever had to consider in anything like\\nan independent manner. These concerned the\\ninterpretation of the authority of the Scriptures\\nwith reference to polity and liturgies. The con-\\ntroversy over the missionary societies and instru-\\nmental music was sufficiently intense to mark a\\ndistinct epoch in the historical development, and\\nto effect, to all intents and purposes, a division\\nof the forces into progressives and conservatives,\\naccording as the spirit or the letter of the Bible\\nwas made the rule of conduct. At the present\\ntime the division of sentiment upon this line is", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0037.jp2"}, "38": {"fulltext": "32 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nonly felt as a sort of inertia in the whole body,\\nwhile the conservative party no longer is able to\\nsustain any vital or life-like contention.\\nFrom these few references to the history\\nof the Disciples it is evident that the value of\\ntheology appears in a practical and half-con-\\nscious way. But in reality every doctrinal state-\\nment, such as Errett s Our Position, and\\nevery debate of Alexander Campbell s, is a con-\\nfession that there is great importance in a clearly\\nformulated and well defended statement in\\npropositional form of what are considered tne\\nessential doctrines concerning the fundamental\\nfacts of the Christian religion.\\nThe form in which theology presents itself in\\nthe history of the Disciples brings out with strik-\\ning clearness the relation in which the reflective\\nactivity, particular doctrines, and creeds stand to\\neach other. The speculative process arises out\\nof the inquiring, questioning nature w4iich be-\\nlongs to all men. It shows itself in the develop-\\nment of all orderly, systematic knowledge of sci-\\nence and philosophy. It is inevitable that this\\nsame reflective tendency should show itself in\\nreference to the facts and experiences of relig-\\nion. The products or results of this speculative\\nprocess are presented in the form of the particu-\\nlar doctrines of individual thinkers. Accord-\\ningly the history of doctrine presents the various\\ntypical systems of theology which different men", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0038.jp2"}, "39": {"fulltext": "THE VALUE OF THEOLOGY. 33\\nhave worked out. These systems are known\\nusually by the names of their authors, as those of\\nAugustine, Pelagius, Luther, Calvin or Armin-\\nius. The creed arises when a council or synod\\nor other representative body accepts a particular\\nset of doctrines as an expression of divine truth.\\nThe individual doctrines thus officially pro-\\nclaimed are called dogmas. With reference to\\nthe speculative process it has been shown that\\nit is universal and necessary to all thinking men,\\nbut Christendom is divided into two parties over\\nthe further question as to whether individual\\nmen shall be left free to think out conclusions\\nfor themselves or whether they shall be obliged\\nto reach certain definite conclusions in their\\nthought. Protestantism holds to the former,\\nCatholicism to the latter. The fundamental\\nprinciple of Protestantism is that the individual\\nshould be absolutely free in his reflection upon\\nreligion and all other subjects. The only condi-\\ntions which anyone expects him to fulfill are\\nthose of all scientific inquiry, namely, adherence\\nto fact and to the laws of thought. But he is\\nnot even held to these by any ecclesiastical\\nauthority. Catholicism tends to require that all\\nspeculation shall issue in support of the dogmas\\nof the church. The Roman Catholic Church\\npractically calls upon the individual to relin-\\nquish his particular views in deference to the\\nconclusions of councils and popes. And this is\\n3", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0039.jp2"}, "40": {"fulltext": "34 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nnot an inconsistent position from the standpoint\\nof the Eoman Church. The church claims that\\nthe voice of council and of pope is the voice\\nof God, and that therefore the decrees thus\\nannounced have divine authority.\\nThe Protestant, on the other hand, denies\\ntheoretically that the Church has any right to\\nidentify its dogmas with the will of God, and\\nexalts, in opposition to the ecclesiasticism, the\\nWord of God as contained in the Bible, and in-\\nterpreted by the individual. The fact that\\nProtestantism has not been true to its lofty prin-\\nciple, and has often fallen into the Catholic\\nerror of exalting the authority of an ecclesias-\\ntical body into the place of the Bible, does not\\nlessen the significance of the principle itself.\\nIt is true that since the days of Luther, Protest-\\nants have often lost sight of their guiding star,\\nbut they have steadily moved toward the goal of\\nthe Bible and the Bible alone, in the words of\\nChillingworth, as their only rule of faith and\\nconduct. As to what the specific teaching of\\nthe Scriptures is, they allow evrey man to judge\\nfor himself. From this standpoint, therefore,\\nthe Protestant churches cannot consistently pro-\\nmulgate creeds in the sense of completed and\\nperfect systems of divine truth. They can at\\nmost endorse certain doctrines as setting forth\\nthe most acceptable interpretation of the relig-\\nious experience thus far obtained. But the very", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0040.jp2"}, "41": {"fulltext": "THE VALUE OE THEOLOGY. 35\\ngenius of Protestaatism favors a continual de-\\nvelopment of theology in order to gain a more\\nand more adequate statement of religion in\\nterms of the thought of each age. It favors the\\nconstant exercise of thought, of inquiry, of\\nfurther elaboration of the content of the Chris-\\ntian faith. It recognizes the transient character\\nof all specific doctrines as theoretical state-\\nments, and constantly revises them in the light\\nof new knowledge and experience. For the\\ntrue spirit of Protestantism, truth lies open like\\nthe spreading lines of an angle. Religious faith\\nhere presents itself as an inexhaustible field,\\nwhich the mind of man may progressively inter-\\npret, ever with new meaning, but never with\\nperfect completeness. This transformation and\\nenrichment of theology may be seen as a vital\\nprocess both in its historic development and in\\ncontemporaneous thought. The doctrine of the\\natonement furnishes a typical example. This\\nfundamental fact of the Christian religion is set\\nforth from time to time in terms of various\\nsocial conditions. Anselm reflected upon the\\natonement in terms of commercial relations.\\nMan owed a debt greater than he could pay, and\\nChrist pays it for him. Anselm proceeds from\\nthe standpoint of the laws of his time governing\\nindebtedness, and is also influenced by the pre-\\nvalent ideas of chivalry. Abelard advances the\\nmoral theory of the atonement, which, in con-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0041.jp2"}, "42": {"fulltext": "36 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\ntrast to the commercial view, makes the atone-\\nment such a manifestation of Christ s infinite\\nlove as breaks down the heart of the sinner and\\nleads him to repentance. Judicial theories are\\npresented in the covenant theology and also in\\nthe system of Grrotius, who was himself an emi-\\nnent jurist. It is evident that all these views\\nget their distinctive form chiefly from the social\\nor political conditions of the time, or from the\\nmolds of thought into which their authors have\\nbeen cast by their daily occupations. While no\\none view is an adequate statement of the great\\nfact of Christ s death, yet each contributes some\\nhelpful factor to a many-sided and therefore\\ntruer doctrine of the atonement.\\nAll the other facts of religion undergo chang-\\ning explanations as time goes on. Sabatier, in a\\nmost suggestive little volume on the Vitality of\\nDogma, likens the growth in doctrines to the\\ngrowth of language. Words have a life of their\\nown quite analogous to that of animals or plants.\\nEach dialect, so long as it is spoken, is in\\nmotion, and it may be said that the intensity of\\nits life is identical with this power of evolu-\\ntion. It is the same with the dogmas of a\\nchurch, which form likewise a living organism,\\nand which are, if rightly considered, only a kind\\nof theological language by which the consciuos-\\nness of the Church or the piety of its members\\nreveals itself outwardly, and grows stronger by", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0042.jp2"}, "43": {"fulltext": "THE VALUE OF THEOLOGY. 37\\nthis self-revelation. It is only in the\\ncompilations which go by the name of books of\\nSymbolics, that we find dogmas in their state of\\nfixity, in a form of irreproachable and frozen\\northodoxy. But watch them in the daily prac-\\ntice of individual or public piety; listen to the\\nprayers which rise from hearts moved by feeling;\\nnote what each believer finds in them or adds on\\nhis own account to these venerable and custom-\\nary expressions of religion; catch them in their\\nflight, so to say, in popular sermons, in the\\nteaching of the young in daily practical appli-\\ncations, and you will be quite surprised to find\\nthese apparently hieratical formulas so easy, so\\nundulating, so rich in meaning and in shade, so\\nsusceptible of so many interpretations.\\nIf this freedom of thought, which is the pride\\nof Protestantism, is justifiable, then theology is\\nat the same time established as the natural and\\nnecessary result. Theology simply means the\\nresults of thorough-going and systematic think-\\ning upon divine things. It is distinguished from\\nthe every-day thought of the plain man in\\ndegree, not in kind. Like all scientific thinking,\\nit seeks to take account of the whole range of\\nfacts, and to attain consistency and clearness in\\nthe midst of a great wealth of details. Its value\\nas an interpreter of religion will depend alto-\\ngether upon the success with which it explains\\nthe facts of religion in relation to the facts of", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0043.jp2"}, "44": {"fulltext": "38 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nthe whole life. In the very nature of the case,\\nthen, there will be no ultimate and absolute unity\\nof theological doctrines among Protestants.\\nAny system will have wide acceptance and\\nendure to the extent to which it commends\\nitself to the thought and religious spirit of indi-\\nvidual men. Different systems will continue to\\nexist side by side, commending themselves to the\\ndiffering culture and experience of different\\nclasses. It is essentially the spirit of Catholi-\\ncism, as already stated, to form a sect upon\\nevery particular system of theology. And just\\nso far as Protestantism has expressed itself in\\nmutually exclusive denominations, just to that\\nextent it has been untrue to its historic princi-\\nple and has returned to the standpoint of Cath-\\nolicism. It is possible, and indeed, let it be\\nhoped, the prevailing conviction is, that the dif-\\nferent evangelical bodies of Christians so far as\\nthey are really separate at all, are so only in the\\nsense of different schools of theology, each\\nattracting to itself those whose convictions\\npresent religion to them under that particular\\ndoctrinal form. In fact, any individual who be-\\nlongs to a given denomination for any other\\nthan doctrinal reasons would evidently just as\\nwell belong to any other denomination, if. social\\nand practical consideration permitted.\\nPerhaps it may be asked. What, then, is to be\\nunderstood by union? Well, it may be answered,", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0044.jp2"}, "45": {"fulltext": "THE VALUE OF THEOLOGY. 39\\ncertainly not a doctrinal union. That, as every\\nthinking man knows, is an impossible and unde-\\nsirable thing. It never can be effected, and if\\nby any chance it should come about, it would be\\nfollowed in time by another Lutheran reforma-\\ntion. We are not at all in doubt as to what kind\\nof a union Christ designed for his followers.\\nHe himself describes it as a spiritual union,\\nsuch as exists between himself and the Father.\\nFor human beings, at least, this may be realized\\nas a practical fellowship of service, a co-opera-\\ntion in the bonds of love for the relief of the\\nworld s suffering and the banishment of sin.\\nIt is repeated on every hand these days that\\nJesus did not ask men to accept a proposition,\\nbut to accept himself. So far as we know, he\\nalways asked men to follow him, and left the dis-\\ncussion of theology to moments when they were\\nshut up in ships upon the sea, or had time to\\ntake a little excursion into the mountains. Men\\nin all ages need comfort and encouragement\\nand inspiration to higher ideals, and the vast\\nmajority, if not all, get these things through\\npersonal relations. It is perfectly true that\\ntheology is not something to be preached in it-\\nself, but it is also true that if preachers were\\nbetter theologians than they are, there would be\\nless doctrinal preaching than there is to-day.\\nWhen you say that Christ, and not theology,\\nshould be preached, you state a profound truth;", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0045.jp2"}, "46": {"fulltext": "40 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nbut that statement is a doctrinal statement, and\\nis not itself the message to be preached to the\\nsinning world, however much it needs to be said\\nto preachers themselves. In other words, min-\\nisters have yet to learn that theolog}^ stands to\\nthe work of preaching the gospel very much in\\nthe way that the science of painting stands to\\nthe actual work of making a picture. The high-\\nest works of art are the embodiment of the\\nclearest and truest principles of drawing, color-\\ning and expression, and they must be known to\\nthe artist, but he does not trouble the soul hun-\\ngry for beauty with all the details of his study.\\nIn like manner the world wants the best and\\nmost life-like picture of Christ, but it is only\\nsecondarily interested, if at all, in the way in\\nwhich that picture is presented to it.\\nNowhere has theology been denounced more\\npersistently than in the pulpits of the Disciples\\nof Christ, and, strange as it may seem, nowhere\\nhas theology been heard more. The result has\\nbeen, as our religious neighbors have often dis-\\ncovered, that we have been conspicuous for argu-\\nment and a doctrinal plea more than for the\\npractical deeds of the Christian life. In fact, it\\ncan be easily shown that the union which exists\\namong the Disciples to-day is more a theological\\nthan a religious union. It matters little in what\\npart of the country or in what social class a Dis-\\nciple is found, he holds almost invariably to a", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0046.jp2"}, "47": {"fulltext": "THE VALUE OF THEOLOGY. 41\\ncertain formula of religion, especially if his\\nviews are likely to be overheard by the brethren.\\nHe often has more fear of being judged by the\\nirresponsible and intangible court of public\\nopinion, than men of other days have had of\\nbeing brought to trial before tribunals, of which,\\nwhatever else might be said, it was yet true that\\nthey preferred definite charges and gave some\\nexplanation of their sentence. After seventy-\\nfive years of pleading for Christian union, is it\\nnot true that there is a great lack of a spiritual,\\npersonal union, such as was no doubt prayed for\\nby our Lord? If union is to commend itself to\\nthis practical age, should it not bind the local\\ncongregation in a fellowship filled with forbear-\\nance and helpfulness? Could it not reasonably\\nbe expected that neighboring churches would\\nco-operate for evangelistic and missionary work?\\nAbove all, would there not be such a common\\nsentiment of service and mutual consecration as\\nwould express itself in national and world-wide\\nmovements throughout the brotherhood in be-\\nhalf of Christian progress? Hundreds of\\nchurches are torn by internal strife. In these\\nchurches everybody is sound in the plea, but\\nmany are conspicuously lacking in that charity\\nwhich suffereth long and is kind, which beareth,\\nbelieveth, hopeth, endureth all things. Three\\nthousand churches, in good standing and full\\nfellowship, never have lifted a finger in union", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0047.jp2"}, "48": {"fulltext": "42 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nwith their brethren to do the world-wide work\\nof the Master whose disciples they claim to be.\\nDifferent excuses and explanations are offered\\nfor this lamentable condition, but I submit that\\nit is chiefly due to the fact that these churches\\nhave been taught a doctrinal rather than a prac-\\ntical, personal union. History shows that relig-\\nious bodies, like individuals, exhibit definite\\ncharacteristics, and it also shows that, like\\nhuman beings, they bear the marks of their early\\ntraining through life. The Presbyterian is intel-\\nlectual, the Methodist zealous, the Quaker\\npeaceable, the Episcopalian elegant, and these\\ndistinctive features were prominent in the\\nfounders of their respective denominations. If\\none thing marks the typical Disciple more than\\nany thing else, perhaps it is independence. This\\nindependence has shown itself in protest against\\ncreeds, in the unsocial life which the Disciples\\nhave led as regards other denominations, and in\\nthe intense individualism which has governed\\ncongregations, to the great detriment of all\\nco-operative undertakings. Union among the\\nDisciples of Christ becomes actual and efficient\\njust to the degree to which a vital, personal fel-\\nlowship supplants a mechanical theological\\nscheme of salvation as the basis of church life.\\nJesus plan was to win men to himself first and\\nteach them doctrines afterward. Is not that\\nsuggestive for the church to-day? Instead of", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0048.jp2"}, "49": {"fulltext": "THE VALUE OF THEOLOGY. 43\\npresenting to a weary and fainting world a\\nproposition about Christ, it would be far more\\nappropriate to tell the simple story of his love,\\npaint a picture of his face, or, above all, repro-\\nduce him in a concrete life of service.\\nStrange as it may appear, it is theology which\\nis helping the church to understand this. Such\\na statement will doubtless be unintelligible to\\none who identifies all theology with Calvinism,\\nbut an acquaintance with the new spirit which is\\nalready transforming the old doctrines will beget\\nconfidence. The old theology has been unable\\nto withstand the flood of new life which has\\npoured into modern religious thought. The\\ninstrument of this quickening spirit has been a\\ncritical inquiry into the sources and history of\\nthe Christian religion. Exegesis, Biblical study,\\nand the history of doctrine have been pursued in\\nour day with an unparalleled thoroughness and\\nfruitfulness. The most conspicuous result has\\nbeen to show the vast discrepancy which has ex-\\nisted between the Biblical teaching and the old\\ntheology with reference to the person of Christ.\\nThat theology had lost sight of the human side of\\nChrist s nature. It exalted the divine nature of\\nChrist so that it seemed impossible any longer to\\nhold to his earthly existence as a genuine reality.\\nAfter interpreting the life of Christ through\\nabstract metaphysical ideas of God, the theologi-\\nans felt the necessity of harmonizing with their", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0049.jp2"}, "50": {"fulltext": "44 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nviews the teaching of the Scriptures concerning\\nthe earthly life of Jesus. Two methods were\\nadopted for this purpose. One abandoned the\\nbelief in the real and natural humanity of Christ\\nand held it to be only an empty semblance of\\nhuman life, a sort of apparition. The other\\nheld that the two natures existed in the person\\nof Christ side by side, totally distinct, but in\\nsome occult way gave the appearance of a single\\nlife. Even modern theologians defend such\\nhypotheses. One represents the body of Christ\\nas miraculous in its freedom from sickness, its\\npower over animals, its exemption from the\\nnecessity of death. Dr. Shedd, in his Dogmatic\\nTheology, says: The divine nature had its own\\nform of experience, like the mind in an ordinary\\nhuman person, and the human nature had its\\nown form of experience, like the body in a com-\\nmon man. Dr. Henry Van Dyke, in comment-\\ning upon these views, shows their total inade-\\nquacy. He says: If we accept this picture\\nof Christ, the manhood of Jesus fades, retreats,\\ngrows dim and shadowy The Son of\\nGod behind that veil is beyond our reach. The\\nSon of man, whom human eyes beheld and\\nhuman hands touched, is not the real, living veri-\\ntable Savior, but only the form, the garment, of\\nan inscrutable life. And if in our dire confu-\\nsion, our reasoning faith still succeeds in hold-\\ning fast to the Eternal Logos, our confiding faith", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0050.jp2"}, "51": {"fulltext": "THE VALUE OF THEOLOGY. 45\\nis maimed and robbed by the loss of that true,\\nnear, personal, loving, sympathizing Jesus, who\\nwas born of a woman, suffered under Pontius\\nPilate, was crucified, dead and buried. He is\\ngone from us as certainly as if the Pharisees had\\nspoken the truth when they said that his dis-\\nciples came by night and stole him away.\\nFor centuries, here and there, pious hearts\\nhave revolted against that lifeless theology and,\\nlike Erasmus, longed to see the Christ pure\\nand simple implanted within the minds of men.\\nThroughout the Reformation period the demand\\nfor the simple life of the Son of man grew in\\nstrength, and eagerly seized upon the discoveries\\nof modern scholarship. Biblical study finally\\nsucceeded in a reverent and eager quest for the\\nmaterials from which to reconstruct a picture of\\nthe real Christ, in his human as well as in his\\ndivine life. The Christ of the New Testament,\\nas thus understood, comes close even to the\\nhumblest side of man s daily life. He labors for\\nbread, he grows by the discipline of adversity.\\nHe weeps, is tempted, is lonely and disap-\\npointed. He confesses ignorance, asks for in-\\nformation. He gives no hint that he is leading\\na double life. In like manner, throughout the\\nEpistles he is the self-humiliated, tried and\\ntested, emptied and beggared, though at last\\nglorified. Son of God. It is this rediscovery of\\nJesus in his complete humanity that explains", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0051.jp2"}, "52": {"fulltext": "46 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nthe fresh life of religion at the present time.\\nTo sa} that modern thought is Christo-centric is\\nnot a sufficient description of this renovating\\nprinciple. In a sense, all systems of theology\\nhave exalted the Person and Work of Christ.\\nWhat is demanded to-day is the exaltation of the\\nDivine Christ, who is also thoroughly human,\\nwho appears as a man among men, and who\\nattracts disciples by the surpassing genius and\\nperfect development of the same nature which\\nthey experience in themselves.\\nThe task which a new theology finds already\\nsuggested is to take this central fact of the con-\\ncrete life of Christ, and make it the determin-\\ning principle in the restatement of the whole\\nfield of systematic theology. As yet the work-\\nmen have been gathering the material for the\\ngreat achievement of a constructive epoch.\\nHeretofore, painstaking scholarship has been\\nrequired. Now, the thinker, the systematizer is\\nneeded. The period of criticism is now seen to.\\nhave rendered an incalculable service in over-\\nhauling the foundations and in testing every\\nelement which may be employed in the total\\nstructure. And what has been done in Biblical\\nresearch has been paralleled in other lines which\\nare tributary to the vast edifice which is designed\\nby the constructive spirit of the new age into\\nwhich the religious world of our day is rapidly\\npassing. Science and literature, history and art,", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0052.jp2"}, "53": {"fulltext": "THE VALUE OF THEOLOGY. 47\\nwill furnish substantial pillars and appropriate\\nornaments for this temple of truth. At the\\npresent time these rich fields seem to lie quite\\nkpart from each other and from the problems of\\ntheology in particular. And this fact of their\\nseparation is perplexing to the religious life. It\\nis no longer possible for thoughtful men to\\nreturn to the double truth of the early mod-\\nern period. They cannot be satisfied with a\\nreligion which shuts itself up from the labora-\\ntory of the physicist, or from the discoveries of\\nthe geologist. In some way these various de-\\npartments of established truth must be reduced\\nto a unitary universe in which the Holy Spirit of\\nreligion may feel itself at home. Otherwise\\nthere will continue to be enormous waste and\\ndistressing friction through the apparent antag-\\nonism of different, but equally indispensable,\\nsides of human life. This demand for a the-\\nology which will effect a synthesis of all the\\ndiverse elements without sacrificing any truth is\\na marked characteristic of current religious lit-\\nerature. The following is a representative utter-\\nance from a leading theologian: We feel sure\\nthat theology, in time, must and will vindicate\\nits claim to be considered as an essential factor\\nin the intellectual life of man, by adapting itself\\nto the changed conditions, and producing even\\nmightier works by the new methods than those\\nwhich it produced by the old. But along with", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0053.jp2"}, "54": {"fulltext": "48 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nthis confidence in the final achievement of the-\\nology there is a profound sense of the greatness\\nof the undertaking. Dr. Gordon, in his admira-\\nble book, The Christ of To-day, puts it thus:\\n**What manner of man must he be who is to\\ngive epoch-making expression to the new con-\\nsciousness of Christ, it is not difficult to imag-\\nine. He must know the method of physical\\nscience, and be in sympathy with its great gener-\\nalizations he must be at home in the kingdom\\nof thought, familiar with the noble and fruitful\\nideas in philosophy, a companion of the imperial\\nthinkers of the race; he must have at his\\ntongue s end the salient facts of Christian his-\\ntory, and the fundamental conceptions and dis-\\ntinctions of historic theology; he must be a\\nmaster of the new Biblical learning, widely and\\ndeeply versed in the classical literatures of the\\nworld, and able to work in the consciousness of\\nthe true interpretation of the religions of the\\nworld; and in addition to all this he must have\\noriginal power.\\nThe value of such a comprehensive, construc-\\ntive theology is assured from two of its main\\ncharacteristics. In the first place, it proposes\\nto use the mind of Christ as revealed in the New\\nTestament and in the life of the Church, as the\\nmedium through which to interpret the idea of\\nGod and his relation to the world. In this way\\na safeguard is provided against abstract and", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0054.jp2"}, "55": {"fulltext": "THE VALUE OF THEOIvOGY. 49\\nlifeless speculations. A standard and a method\\nare thus provided which promise to save theol-\\nogy from the besetting sin of a one-sided intel-\\nlectualism, and to give proper place to the feel-\\nings and the will.\\nSecondly, such theology is less likely to\\nobtrude itself into the domain of religion. By\\nits constant emphasis upon the fact that Chris-\\ntianity is the religion of personality, it is likely\\nto avoid the frequent error of the past of allow-\\ning theology to forget its secondary position and\\nto attempt to identify itself with the religion\\nwhich it serves merely as an interpreter. Such\\na theology may be hailed as the ally and defender\\nof the simple, ancient gospel of our Lord and\\nhis apostles.\\nIn conclusion, then, it may be said, theology\\nis a natural and necessary product of the rea-\\nsoning powers of man, directed to the all-\\nimportant problems concerning God and his\\nrelation to the world. It is consequently char-\\nacterized, like all science and knowledge, by con-\\nstant growth and development. Whenever this\\ngrowth is arrested by any cause, so that a partic-\\nular theological system outlives the spirit of the\\nage from which it arose, then it becomes a hin-\\ndrance and an obstacle to Christian progress.\\nIt is the distinctive insight of present day relig-\\nious thought to realize that theology is by its\\nvery nature progressive, and therefore that par-\\n4", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0055.jp2"}, "56": {"fulltext": "50 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nticular systems are relative to given periods and\\ntypes of thought. But it is also true that hand\\nin hand with this clear, historical knowledge of\\nits development, the value of theology is newly\\nappreciated. Heretofore it has been felt that if\\nsystems changed or were suspended, they were\\nthereby shown to be false and worthless. Now\\nit is being understood more and more that these\\nsystems are of surpassing value just because\\nthey speak the message of each age, and inter-\\npret the fundamental facts of Christianity, in\\never new and richer forms according to the new\\nideas and spirit characteristic of the times. It\\nis therefore noticeable that the value of theology\\nfor our own particular day and generation\\nappears best in the special task which it sets for\\nitself. This task has been outlined by a recent\\nwriter as follows: Theology is trying at the\\npresent time honestly to take account of the\\ngreat convictions of our own age, and by\\nmeans of them to make the great abiding truths\\nof Christianity real to this generation. It there-\\nfore seeks to be personal, and to insist upon a\\nrecognition of the whole man in all his faculties\\nand powers, and in all his moral and spiritual\\nrelationships; it seeks to be Biblical, depending\\nupon the historical revelation of Grod in the\\nlives and work of the holy, inspired men of the\\npast; it seeks to be more historical, striving to\\nknow more and more the ways of God in his", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0056.jp2"}, "57": {"fulltext": "THE VALUE OF THEOLOGY. 51\\nprovidence over the nations of the earth; it\\nseeks to be more scientific, searching the deep\\nthings of God in the forces of nature, in all\\ntheir scientific variety and beauty it seeks to be\\nsocial, remembering that the great command-\\nment, first above all others, because it includes\\nthem, is the commandment to love. But while\\nmodern theology seeks thus to be personal,\\nbiblical, historical, scientific and social, it seeks\\nabove all to be Christian, supremely Christian.\\nHe that has seen Christ has seen the Father.\\nOther foundation can no man lay than that\\nwhich is laid, which is Jesus Christ. And\\nthis is life eternal, that they should know thee,\\nthe only true God, and him whom thou didst\\nsend, even Jesus Christ.\\nEdward Scribner Ames.\\nNote. The discussion which followed this paper was led\\nby Dr. Albert Buxton, Chancellor of Add-Ran University,\\nand C. C Rowlison, who presented no papers, and was partic-\\nipated in by a number of other volunteer speakers. There\\nwas very general unanimity in the positions of the paper.\u00e2\u0080\u0094\\nEditor.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0057.jp2"}, "58": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0058.jp2"}, "59": {"fulltext": "II\\nThe Cry Back to Christ.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0059.jp2"}, "60": {"fulltext": "SECOND SESSION.\\nThe evening session of the Congress was devoted to the\\npopular subject of education. President E. V. Zollars, of\\nHiram College, presided, and the address was by President J.\\nH. Hardin, of Eureka College, on College Endowment.\\nThis address has been published elsewhere. The discussion on\\nthis subject was led by President Clinton Lockhart, of Chris-\\ntian University, and Prof. W. P. Aylsworth, of Cotner Uni-\\nversity. The former emphasized the need of large endow-\\nments based on the demands of modern education; the latter\\npointed out the value of making the best use of such facilities\\nas we have, while waiting for the realization of larger things.\\nSeveral others took part in the discussion, calling attention\\nto the fact that, whatever might be the case in other depart-\\nments of Christian work, we were certainly behind others,\\nand far behind our ability, in the matter of college endow-\\nments. It was felt by the friends of higher education that\\nthis session was an exceedingly valuable one, in the informa-\\ntion elicited and the enthusiasm generated by the address and\\nthe discussion.\\nTHIRD SESSION.\\nThe Third Session of the Congress was presided over by D.\\nR. Dungan, LL. D. of St. Louis, and the general topic for\\nconsideration was Biblical Study. The chairman made\\nsome introductory remarks pertinent to the topic under con-\\nsideration, and introduced J. J. Haley of Cynthiana, Ky.,\\nwho read the paper which follows, on The Scope and Signi-\\nficance of the Cry, Back to Christ, in Modern Religious\\nThought. The reviews of this paper were by J. B. Briney of\\nMoberly, Mo., and W. J. Lhamon of AllegheDy City, Pa. The\\nformer spoke from notes which were afterwards vsrritten out\\nfor this volume. A very courteous discussion followed in\\nwhich several participated.\\n54", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0060.jp2"}, "61": {"fulltext": "Zhc Cry, Back to Christ:\\nIts Scope and Significance in Modern Relig-\\nious Thought.\\nTHE strange mixture of religious and political\\ninterests that clustered about the Sanctu-\\nary of Waters at Csesarea Philippi, in the\\nfirst century of the Christian era, may be seen\\nin rich profusion upon the ancient coins of the\\ntown, which DeSanly has reproduced. On one\\ncoin we have the pipe of Pan, on a second coin\\nPan leaning on a tree and playing a flute, on a\\nthird the mouth of the sacred cavern, with a\\nrailing in front of it, and Pan within, again\\nleaning against a tree, playing the flute; on\\nothers the laureled head of Apollo, a pillared\\ntemple, and inside the figure of Poppsea, Nero^s\\nwife, whom he first kicked to death and after-\\nwards raised to divine honors; various emperors\\nwith their title Divus and the town s own title\\nCsesarea-August, Sacred, and with Rights of\\nSanctuary under Paneion. This shows an\\namalgamation of the two systems of religion,\\nGreek and Roman, and that Pan was worshiped\\nin the grotto, whose niches still bear his name,\\nwhile divine honors were paid to Caesar in the\\n55", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0061.jp2"}, "62": {"fulltext": "56 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nwhite temple that stood perhaps on the cliff\\nabove the site of the present Mohammedan shrine\\nof St. George.* While both of these sanctuaries\\nwere open and men worshiped side by side the\\nforces of nature and the incarnation of political\\npower, Jesus came with his disciples to Csesarea\\nPhilippi, and here on heathen ground, as far away\\nfrom Jerusalem as he could get, he drew from\\nPeter the central and crucial proposition of his\\nreligion, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the\\nliving God. It is a matter, therefore, of arrest-\\ning significance, that a spot bearing the symbols\\nof the apotheosis of the Gentile spirit in a tem-\\nple erected to Csesar by the flattery of a Herod\\nshould have been chosen to emphasize the claims\\nof the Master upon the faith of mankind, and\\nthat the first clear confession of Christ s Divine\\nSonship should be made near the shrine where a\\nfellowman was already worshiped as God.\\nThese were the two religions that were soon to\\nenter into a deadly conflict for the possession of\\nthe world, and they had this element in com-\\nmon, their representative symbol was the per-\\nsonality of a man, and they responded to the\\nlonging of the age for the embodiment of\\nauthority, they worshiped a fellowman as God.\\nMen bowed the knee to the bust of an emperor\\nHistorical Geography of the Holy Land, by George\\nAdam Smith. Page 476.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0062.jp2"}, "63": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 57\\nbecause the reigning Caesar was the incarnation\\nof political and social power, the dispenser of\\nits largesses and its gifts to his flatterers and his\\nfavorites, reigning in glory to-day, but superseded\\nby another to-morrow; but they adored the\\nChrist for his own eternal sake. He was the\\nKingdom, the Religion, the Truth, and every\\nthing lay forever to men in his character and in\\nhis love. The emperor compelled allegiance by\\nhis rank, his splendor; his power, but Christ\\nturned from the symbol of all this to his cross\\nand sacrifice, changing the center of the world s\\nfaith from incarnate selfishness and badness to\\nincarnate goodness and love.\\nHere, then, on the neutrality of pagan soil,\\nfar away from orthodox Jerusalem, where the\\nancient Semites worshiped the Baalim, the\\nGreeks adored Pan, and the Romans bowed the\\nknee to Caesar, we catch the first clear accents of\\nthe distinctive and fundamental truth of Chris-\\ntianity. Nor must we forget that great Her m on\\nis looking down upon this scene, perhaps the\\nvery reach of the mountain that witnessed the\\ntransfiguration, and heard the voice from the\\nexcellent glory, and the Jordan is bursting up\\nfrom the base of the mountain, the sacred river\\nthat witnessed the first divine acknowledgment\\nof Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Thus\\nnature, the history of religions, and the history\\nof man, all conspire to make this rock-based", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0063.jp2"}, "64": {"fulltext": "58 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\ntown the most appropriate place in the world for\\nthe new faith of humanity to first enunciate its\\ncharacteristic truth.\\nWhat was the destiny of this truth, and what\\nis our relation to it? As the Kiver Jordan is\\noften upon our lips in the language of religious\\nsymbolism, it may not be amiss for me to make\\na slightly new use of it in illustrating the course\\nthrough history of the truth of Peter s confes-\\nsion, which, strangely enough, is strikingly anal-\\nagous to the course of the Jordan through Pales-\\ntine to the sea. Eight or nine miles from its\\nsource, the river finds its way into Lake Huleh.\\nThirty miles farther south it glides over its own\\ndelta into the Lake of Galilee, belted by Greek\\ninfluence and commerce in the time of our Lord.\\nDisentangling itself from this body of water, in\\nwhich it seems for a time to be lost, it flows still\\nin a southerly direction through the crevice of\\nan old ocean bed, a deep, yawning ditch in the\\nearth, descending in less than a hundred miles,\\nthrough jungled banks and a poisoned atmos-\\nphere, nearly 1300 feet below its surface, empty-\\ning itself into the Dead Sea, to which there is\\nno outlet except by evaporation. Breaking out\\nat the base of Hermon, where other religions\\nhad found sanctuary, the Jordan of pure Chris-\\ntian truth found its Huleh in Judaism, and its\\nLake of Galilee in Greek philosophy and the\\nbeginning of the pagan reaction, and then", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0064.jp2"}, "65": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 59\\nopened the great ecclesiastical ditch of Roman\\nlegalism and pagan sacerdotalism, through\\nwhich the Jordan of divine truth, constantly\\ndropping below the high level of its source, at\\nlast found its way into the Dead Sea of the\\nPapacy. There it stopped, except that the name\\nand truth of Jesus were barely kept alive in the\\nworld by a thin evaporation from the Dead (Sea)\\nSee of Rome. The fundamental religious\\nproblem of our own day is the way back to\\nCsesarea and the source of the Jordan, is the\\nneed of a fresh baptism of theology in the\\nsources of Christianity, that thus we may cut a\\nnew channel for our theological Jordan that it\\nmay find its way no more into the Dead Sea of\\npriestcraft and superstition.\\nThe men who live to-day have great reason to\\ncongratulate themselves that the characteristic\\nand crowning joy of this new time that looks\\ntoward the dawn of the twentieth century, is the\\nre-discovery and re-coronation of Jesus the\\nChrist, the Son of God. The new feeling for\\nChrist, which will be satisfied with nothing less\\nthan his reinvestiture with supreme spiritual\\nauthority, is the growth of nearly a century s\\ntravail of thought and investigation.\\nThe Leben Jesu of Strauss in 1835, awoke\\nthe Christian world from its dreams to study\\nthe reality of history. Never did so many able\\nmen devote themselves to the study of Christ;", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0065.jp2"}, "66": {"fulltext": "60 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nNeander, Ewald, Tholuck, Harless, Engelhardt,\\nEbrard and Hase, took up the life of Jesus and\\nexposed the mistakes of Strauss. The Jesus of\\nhistory emerged from the sepulchre of specula-\\ntion in which he had been entombed, with\\nclearer and clearer light upon his face, much\\nbetter known through this greatest controversy\\nof modern times. The interest in Christ for a\\nlong season simply absorbed the critical world,\\nand it has continued to this hour. Notable lives\\nof Jesus multiplied. Napoleon suffered eclipse\\nthrough the intenser interest in Jesus. Schenkel\\ncame forward with his character-sketch of\\nJesus, and made him out a German radical of\\nthe most pronounced type Renan came forward\\nnext to make of him a Parisian impressionist;\\nwhile Keim and Riggenbach and Pressense and\\nWeiss and Beyschlag andNosgen have conducted\\ncriticism into quieter and truer paths. The\\nchurch of Rome has also contributed a notable\\nlife of Jesus to the series; I refer, of course, to\\nthat of Father Didon; while English scholar-\\nship has given in Farrar s, Geikie s and Eders-\\nheim s brilliant volumes that help us greatly in\\ngetting back to Christ. Another great help has\\njust been provided by M. Tissot in his marvel-\\nously illustrated Life of our Lord Jesus\\nChrist.\\nThe Ritschlian school in Germany, by far the\\nmost influential theological movement of the", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0066.jp2"}, "67": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 61\\ncentury, has been an important helper in the\\nreturn to historic Christianity in the person of\\nits founder. The positive principle of Ritsch-\\nlianism is the historical person and revelation of\\nJesus Christ, the founder of the kingdom of\\nGod. Ritschl strikes a true note when he tells\\nus it is time that the mind of the church was\\nrecalled from abstruse theologies and scholastic\\nrefinements of doctrine to the fresh, living\\nimpression of Him whose life and work are the\\nfoundation of her whole structure. While to\\nthis German thinker is largely due the wide-\\nspread reversion to the idea of the historic\\nChrist in theology, there is one fatal limitation\\nin his system which will bar it from sympathetic\\ncontact with evangelical Christianity, it stops\\nwith the crucifixion. It emphasizes the histor-\\nical but negatives the supernatural revelation in\\nJesus Christ. It raises the cry, Back to Jesus,\\nbut it has no living Christ. A system of religion\\nwhich has no empty tomb and no risen Savior,* is\\nitself empty, and not destined to rise to the\\nexalted level of the New Testament faith. But\\nstill, Ritschlianism, in its great affirmative prin-\\nciple, the historical persou of Jesus Christ, the\\ncenter and source of revelation, the foundation\\nof Christianity and the kingdom of God its most\\n*Since this was written a book has appeared by the most\\nauthoritative writer on Ritschlianism, in which he affirms the\\nbelief of Ritschl in the resurrection of Christ.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0067.jp2"}, "68": {"fulltext": "62 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nvital expression, is true and helpful as far as it\\ngoes.\\nProfessor A. B. Bruce of the Free Church\\nCollege in Grlasgow, a follower of Ritschl, as\\nfar as I have indicated him to be correct, said in\\nan address at a Reunion Conference in Switzer-\\nland, that he owed his present knowledge of\\nJesus, under God, to the disruption of the\\nScotch Kirk fifty years ago. That ecclesiastical\\nrupture, with its accompanying bigotry and bit-\\nterness, revealed to him the intrinsic weakness\\nand unsatisfactory character of the actual church,\\nand drove his sensitive mind from the sorrowful\\nreality to the ideal, from the church to the\\nkingdom of Grod, from the clergymen to Christ.\\nHis discovery of Jesus and the kingdo m,\\nalthough at the cost of catastrophe and pain,\\nwas a blessed experience to him, and to multi-\\ntudes of others, for no living writer has done so\\nmuch, through his numerous books, to acquaint\\nus with the mind of the Master, as he himself\\nreveals it in the Gospels. It was borne in upon\\nthe mind of Professor Bruce as the sorrowful\\nand calamitous fact of religious history that for\\nwhole centuries together the personal Christ of\\nthe Cgesarean confession, the real Jesus of the\\nparables and the miracles, had been lost the\\nworld as empty of his spirit as the tomb of his\\nbody after he had risen from the dead lost in\\nthe church, lost in the cloister, lost in sacra-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0068.jp2"}, "69": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 63\\nments, lost iu creeds, lost in controversy, and\\nlost, even in the Bible. The world has had plenty\\nand to spare of the ecclesiastical Ch rist of Latin\\nChristianity, the metaphysical Christ of Greek\\nChristianity, the dogmatic and theological\\nChrist of Protestant Christianity, but all too\\nlittle of the historic. Messianic, personal Jesus\\nof the Gospels and the kingdom of God, the\\nliving and loving and reigning Christ of the\\nthrone.\\nDr. Bruce, in his ^Training of the Twelve,\\nThe Kingdom of God, The Parables of\\nJesus, *The End of Revelation, and the last\\npart of his Apologetics, or Christianity De-\\nfensively Stated, has given us a many-sided\\nportraiture of Jesus along the lines of his self-\\nrepresentation in the evangelical narratives,\\nthat has made a profound impression on the\\nreligious life of Scotland and the English\\nspeaking world. And the unprecedented circu-\\nlation on both sides of the Atlantic of Mr.\\nSheldon s book, **In His Steps, or. What Would\\nJesus Do? has immensely broadened and deep-\\nened and popularized the cry for the return to\\nChrist in the actualities and all the phases of\\nhuman life.\\nThe fathers of our own movement built far\\nbetter than they knew when they insisted that\\nthe Confession at Csesarea Philippi was the\\ncharacteristic and peculiar truth of Christianity,", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0069.jp2"}, "70": {"fulltext": "64 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nthe only creed of the church, and the only con-\\nfession of faith the Apostles required in order\\nto baptism and fellowship in the body of Christ.\\nUpon the central truth of the incarnation in the\\npersonality of Jesus, and the need in modern\\ntimes of the divine creed which the Messiahship\\nembodies, we have based our plea for a return\\nto the Christ of the New Testament. Walter\\nScott s Great Demonstration was the first\\nbook written in the English language on the re-\\nturn to Christ. The Christological renaissance\\nwas just beginning in Germany, but at that time\\nhad not been heard of in this country. Walter\\nScott s great discovery was not baptism for the\\nremission of sins, nor a kind of pedagogic clas-\\nsification of the elements of the Gospel, but the\\nplace of Christ in his own religion. He insisted\\non going back, not to Rome, not to the apos-\\ntolic fathers, not to the Christianity of the\\nfourth century as set forth in the Nicene creed,\\nnot to Jerusalem simply or chiefly, but to Csesa-\\nrea back to Peter s confession, back to the\\nindestructible rock, back to the personal, his-\\ntoric Christ of the inspired Gospels, back to the\\nsimple but comprehensive creed of the New Tes-\\ntament church, back to the fount of religion\\nimdefiled, before the stream was polluted by\\nGreek metaphysics, Roman imperialism and\\nProtestant sectarianism. The chief difficulty in\\nthe way of a thorough-going comprehension of", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0070.jp2"}, "71": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 65\\nthe scope and significance of this plea on the\\npart of its advocates, has been the reformation\\ndogma of inspiration, which, practically, places\\nEcclesiastes, Chronicles and Jude on the same\\nlevel of authority, if not importance, with the\\nwords of Christ in the Gospels. The motto,\\nThe Bible and the Bible alone the religion of\\nProtestants, has been an unfortunate one for\\nProtestantism, for it signifies to the average\\ntheologian an apotheosis of the Bible that puts\\nthe Book in the place of the Man. The cry\\nBack to Jerusalem, has tended from the first\\nto shunt the Christ position on to the side track\\nof Jewish literalism that neutralizes more than\\nhalf the force of the original plea. Jerusalem\\nin poetry and song is the City of the Great\\nKing, and the prototype of the capital of the\\nNew Empire of God in the Millennium, but in the\\nstern reality of history it is the symbol of the\\nfiercest type of intolerance and dogmatism. It\\nstoned the prophets, crucified the Redeemer,\\npersecuted the Church, and stood, till removed\\nby the providence of God, an impassable barrier\\nto the manifestation of the kingdom. We may\\npause here long enough to listen to Peter s ser-\\nmon, to get fast hold of the new coming of the\\nHoly Spirit, and to gather a few lessons from\\nthe life of the infant church; but we must\\nhasten out of the stifling air of an intolerant\\nlegalism and a fanatical conservatism, and hie\\n5", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0071.jp2"}, "72": {"fulltext": "66 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\naway to catch the refreshing breezes of Hermon,\\nand to quaff the pure, crystal waters at the\\nsource of the Jordan in Csesarea Philippi.\\nThe old Jerusalem gospel idea that we\\nmust come this side of Pentecost to learn the\\nconditions of salvation, is thoroughly pernicious\\nin several respects. This cuts off the vital\\nstream of teaching from the mouth of Jesus con-\\ncerning the kingdom of God, when it suits the\\ninterpreter to cut it off in the making out of his\\nmechanical theory of salvation. It cuts off the\\nSermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, the Para-\\nbles, those incomparable spiritual discourses in\\nthe fourth Gospel delivered in the Temple\\nCourts, which contain our Lord s own exposi-\\ntion of the way of life, or there is no such way.\\nJohn Calvin s construction of the cry Back to\\nChrist, was the Augustinian interpretation of\\nthe epistle to the Romans. Some of us construe\\nthe return to Christ to be a return to the Acts of\\nApostles, and this signifies a certain interpreta-\\ntion of its examples of conversion. This is right\\nas far as it goes, but it does not go far enough or\\ndeep enough. Calvinists may return to the\\nRomans, and we may go back to the book of\\nActs, and neither of these documents will be\\ncorrectly interpreted unless we go farther. It is\\nfrom the standpoint of the mind of Jesus that\\neverything going before and coming after must\\nbe interpreted and applied. Jesus explains", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0072.jp2"}, "73": {"fulltext": "THB CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 67\\neverything, and then everything explains him,\\nbut this order must not be reversed, or nothing is\\nexplained. The first and fundamental necessity\\nis the return to the mind of Christ, to his way of\\nlooking at God and the world, to the spirit of\\nChrist, the teaching of Christ, to the Sermon on\\nthe Mount, the beatitudes, the parables, the con-\\nversations, the Galilean ministry, his last utter-\\nances in the Temple Court at Jerusalem, the\\nethics of eternal life, and I use this last phrase\\nas the nearest approach to the expression of my\\nconception of the Christianity of Jesus, and all\\nthis without sacrificing or minimizing either the\\ncross or the new birth.\\nThe return to Christ, then, which the modern\\nposition contemplates, is the absolute and un-\\nqualified acceptance of the personal Jesus, the\\nDivine Man of the Rock of Csesarea Philippi, as\\nabsolutely the only Savior and spiritual Master\\nof the world whom we are bound to follow.\\nWhat does this involve?\\nThe weakness of Christendom has been its\\nsubstitutions for Christ which have been made\\nto supersede him in popular faith and devotion.\\nThe intelligent student of religious history has\\nnot failed to observe that the priest, the church,\\nand the Bible have often bulked more largely in\\nthe faith of men than the Master himself and\\nthese have been easily made to lend themselves\\nto the perversions of priestcraft, ecclesiasticism", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0073.jp2"}, "74": {"fulltext": "68 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nand bibliolatry. Priestcraft is an abuse of the\\nministry, ecclesiasticism is an abuse of the\\nchurch, and bibliolatry is an abuse of the Bible,\\nand these abuses have been set up as idols in\\nthe temple of religion, ancient and modern, as\\nsubstitutes for Christ. Three things, therefore,\\nmust be earnestly considered as falling within\\nthe scope of the return to Christ.\\n1. We must come, in the first place, to the\\nprophetic as distinguished from and opposed to\\nthe priestly conception of religion. It is a fact\\nmade clear beyond the possibility of reasonable\\ncontroversy by the evangelic narratives, that\\nChrist was in the prophetic, but not in the\\npriestly succession, except in a purely spiritual\\nsense. I heartily agree with Sir Walter Besant\\nthat the English race is indebted to John Bun-\\nyan for two magnificent truths which he burnt\\ninto the souls of men, but Bunyan himself was\\nindebted to his New Testament for these truths.\\nFirst, the direct responsibility of every man to\\nGod. Secondly, Christianity does not want and\\ncannot have a priest. Every man is personally\\nresponsible to his Maker; there cannot, in the\\nnature of things, be any human go-between.\\nGod reigns; he is like a sphere whose center is\\neverywhere, and circumference nowhere. Priests\\nstand in the way of human knowledge of this\\nmighty spiritual fact; they are the products of\\nconventionality and superstition, and the great", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0074.jp2"}, "75": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 69\\necclesiastic structures built round the priest are\\nthe work of human hands. The first thing that\\nChrist does for a man is to tear away these hin-\\ndrances inherited from Paganism and Judaism,\\nand open a way of free access for the soul to\\nGod, teaching him, in the joy of a new found lib-\\nerty, that there is one Mediator between God\\nand man, the Man Christ Jesus. In listening to\\nPere Hyacinthe, the illustrious representative of\\nthe old Catholic movement in Europe, at the\\nReunion Conference at Lucerne, some years ago,\\nI was struck with the fact that he used language\\nvery similar to that which is constantly upon the\\nlips of our own people. He spoke of going back\\nto the Apostles, and of the restoration of the\\nApostolic Church, but his position when ex-\\nplained turned out to be, back to the post-Apos-\\ntolic fathers, back to the fourth century, back to\\nthe Nicene creed, back to the sources of Greek\\nand Latin Christianity, and this signifies thus:\\nthe Apostolic interpretation of Christ, the post-\\nApostolic interpretation of the Apostles, the\\nNicene interpretation of the post- Apostolic fath-\\ners, and the Roman Catholic interpretation of\\nthe traditions and dogmas of the Nicene docu-\\nments but this instead of being the way back to\\nCsesarea is the plunge of the ecclesiastical Jor-\\ndan into the Dead Sea of the reaction to Juda-\\nism and Paganism. The third and fourth cen-\\nturies were the most corrupt and corrupting", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0075.jp2"}, "76": {"fulltext": "70 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nperiods in the history of Christianity. It was\\nthen that the old sacerdotal trappings and\\npriestly externalisms came trooping back in\\nswarms into the church, from which Christ had\\nexpelled them, and most unhappily for mankind,\\nthey came to stay. The people of these cen-\\nturies who became Christians were not prepared\\nto understand a religion purely spiritual and\\nethical in its character. They had never seen\\nanything of the kind, and they could not con-\\nceive of a religion without a temple, an altar, a\\npriesthood, a ritual, without sacrifices, ceremo-\\nnies, sacred places, and sacred persons, and\\nsacred seasons, and without losing all of the new\\nthey began unconsciously to read the old back\\ninto the new. From the analogies of the old\\nreligions, a process quite easy to understand,\\nthey came to think of the apostle, the prophet,\\nthe presbyter, as a priest, and they could not\\nthink of a priest without thinking of a sacrifice,\\nand they could not think of sacrifice without\\nthinking of a temple and priest, sacrifice, tem-\\nple brought back the old Pagan and Jewish ideas\\nwhich have held sway for many a dreary century\\nin the Christian Church. The New Testament*\\nby a plausible artifice, could be made to lend\\nitself to the support of this paganized concep-\\ntion of the Christian religion. The epistle to\\nthe Hebrews interprets the Christian faith in\\nterms of the Jewish temple and priesthood. Its", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0076.jp2"}, "77": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 71\\nlanguage is borrowed from, the sacrificial system\\nof Judaism, but with a new and larger meaning\\nread into it. The New Testament writers, being\\nJews, naturally and almost necessarily employed\\nthe phraseology of the old religion, but they used\\nits terms in an accommodated sense with a new\\nspiritual significance. If you take up your New\\nTestament and read the terms priest, altar,\\ntemple, sacrifice, blood, in the old lit-\\neral, sacrificial sense, you Judaize Christianity,\\nand find yourself in the very heart of a full\\nblown sacerdotalism; but if you pour into these\\nwords the new spiritual meaning of Jesus Christ\\nyou Christianize Christianity, you spiritualize\\nand ethicize your conception of the gospel, you\\nbring yourself at once into sympathy with the\\nreligion of faith and freedom rev^ealed by the\\nDivine Spirit to apostles and prophets. Jesus\\nrevolutionized religion in freeing it from the old\\npriestly conception. He himself was no priest\\nin the accepted meaning of the term, and per-\\nformed none of the recognized priestly func-\\ntions. His Apostles, in like manner, offered no\\nsacrifices, wore no sacerdotal garments, and\\nnever called themselves, or were called by oth-\\ners, by the priestly titles. The primitive church\\npresented to the world for the first time the sub-\\nlime spectacle of an equality of privilege before\\nthe Eternal. Christ s work of mediation was\\npurely a spiritual function, figuratively repre-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0077.jp2"}, "78": {"fulltext": "72 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nsented by reference to the sacrificial phraseology\\nof the old dispensation. In respect to the so-\\ncalled priesthood of all Christians, Peter gives\\nus a key to the interpretation of all that class of\\nfacts: *Ye as living stones are built up a spir-\\nitual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spir-\\nitual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus\\nChrist. Until the priestly idea of religion, in\\nall its forms of manifestation, is driven out of\\nmen s heads and supplanted by the prophetic\\nconception, which asserts as its primary doctrine\\nthe right and privilege of every man to fulfill the\\nholiest and most imperial of his duties that of\\nknowing and believing the God who made his\\nreason, of worshiping and serving the God who\\nspeaks in his conscience without this and the\\nwhole prophetic ideal of life and conduct real-\\nized in Christ and set forth in his teaching, it is\\nimpossible for men to understand Jesus Christ\\nand the truth concerning him.\\n2. In the second place, this return to Christ\\nof which I am speaking, means the substitution\\nof Christianity for Churchianity, the spiritual\\nand practical for the ecclesiastical interpretation\\nof religion. Not that we are to despise and repu-\\ndiate the church, but that we are to come to the\\nchurch through Christ, interpreting it through\\nthe Mind of the Master, and not by the reverse\\nprocess of coming to Christ through the church.\\nThere is more importance than at first sight", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0078.jp2"}, "79": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 73\\nappears in this distinction. There are millions\\nof Christians who are in the habit of looking at\\nChrist through the church, or their particular\\nsection of the church, instead of looking at the\\nchurch through Christ, and this fills the wide\\nstretching space of difference between a Church-\\nman and a Christman. The Churchman puts the\\nchurch in front of Christ. He sees the organi-\\nzation, the creed, the ritual, the offices, the\\nusages, its outward history; the institution fills\\nhis eye and Christ is out of sight. He is a dog-\\nmatist in the Douglas Jerrold sense that dogma-\\ntism is puppyism come to maturity. The Chris-\\nman puts Christ in front of the church, above it\\nand beneath it; this illuminates and purifies the\\ninstitution, spiritualizes its fellowship and makes\\nit a fit dwelling-place for the infilling and out-\\nshining of God by his Spirit.\\nThe historic church has been from the first\\nimperfect and open to criticism. There are\\ngreat dark stretches of history where it has been\\noftener a hindrance than a help to Christianity.\\nThere is nothing on which people are so sensi-\\ntive, nothing on which there is a wider and more\\nhopeless divergence of opinion among Christians\\nthan the church. It is altogether a delicate and\\na difficult question to deal with. But are we not\\nall substantially agreed concerning Christ? Is\\nhe not the absolute Monarch of our realm? And\\nsince the saving power of God and the source of", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0079.jp2"}, "80": {"fulltext": "74 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nauthority in religion reside in him alone, need\\nwe agree in anything else in order to mutual tol-\\nerance and Christian fellowship? If we under-\\ntake to say that all a man has to do is to come to\\nthe church, we have taken in hand a very diffi-\\ncult problem, for he will at once ask us what\\nchurch, and what do you mean by the church?\\nThis will lead to explanation and discussion, and\\ninvidious comparisons, and soon we will find our-\\nselves plunging and floundering in the turbid\\nstream of ecclesiastical controversy, and let me\\nconfess with sorrow, that church history, to me,\\nis neither pleasant nor profitable reading. More-\\nover, if we are to depend for the solution of all\\nour religious problems on the teaching of the\\nchurch, what a tremendous amount of learning\\nand leisure will be required to disentangle the\\nskein of history and to trace the tortuous lines\\nof the historical growth and development of doc-\\ntrine. I have neither time nor ability, and why\\nshould I go to the fathers when I can go to\\nChrist? Will any Christian deny that Christ is\\nbetter able to explain the fathers than the fathers\\nare to explain Christ? And why should any man\\nbe confused and distracted by the lo heres and\\nlo theres of what Canon Hammond has called\\nPollychurchism, w henthe clear ringing accents\\ncan be heard above the storm of the One Infalli-\\nble Voice? I feel that every thoughtful man\\nmust agree with Dr. Fairbairn, that we of this", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0080.jp2"}, "81": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 75\\nage are better able to distinguish that Voice than\\nany other Christian century since the first. We\\nknow more of the historic Christ to-day than\\never men knew before since he was here. As\\nthe result of investigation and criticism the real\\nChrist of history stands before the modern mind\\nmore clearly and luminously than he has ap-\\npeared to any other since the apostolic age.\\nThe happiest and most hopeful sign of the times\\nis the symptom here and there manifesting itself\\nthat the church is beginning to marshal its forces\\naround the central fact and figure of history, the\\nadorable person of our Divine Redeemer; and\\nwhen this movement has been far enough ad-\\nvanced to reach the standpoint of Csesarea Phil-\\nippi, all our church problems will be compara-\\ntively easy of solution. Under Christ the church\\nmust not regulate Christianity but Christianity\\nmust regulate the church. The church is not\\nthe head of Christ, but Christ is the head of the\\nchurch, and hence we must interpret the church\\nthrough Christ, and not Christ through the\\nchurch.\\n3. Another point involved in the issue before\\nus is the personal supremacy of Christ over the\\nliterature of revelation by which a knowledge of\\nhim is conveyed to mankind. As many Protes-\\ntants make a Savior of the Bible, as Roman\\nCatholics make a Savior of the church. Bibli-\\nolatry and ecclesiolatry sin in the exaltation of", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0081.jp2"}, "82": {"fulltext": "76 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nthe media of our knowledge of Christ above\\nChrist himself. The Bible is the organ of reve-\\nlation, the church is the organ of the H0I3 Spirit\\nand the purchase of Christ s blood, and both are\\n23recious and indispensable; but the man who\\ncomes to the Bible and insists on looking at\\nChrist through a preconceived interpretation of\\nthe book, learned by rote, rather than at the\\nBible through the mind of Christ, is putting the\\nfruit before the root and starting in the way\\nthat makes narrow dogmatists instead of broad-\\nminded and generous-hearted Christians. It is\\ntrue that our first knowledge of Christ is derived\\nfrom the Bible, and equally true that no man\\ncan adequately understand the Bible except he\\nread it through the mind and from the stand-\\npoint of Jesus. There are men who insist on\\nexplaining Christ through the Old Testament in\\nplace of interpreting the Old Testament through\\nChrist. It is scarcely possible to imagine a\\ngreater mistake. If, for example, you burden\\nyourself with Old Testament difficulties when\\nyou begin to reason with the unbeliever, you will\\nfail of your purpose to bring him to Christ by\\nthat road. I have for a long time been under\\nthe distinct impression that we make a serious\\ntactical blunder in loading the non-Christian in-\\nquirer with assumptions and theories of inspira-\\ntion and Biblical infallibility upon the threshold\\nof his inquiry into the merits of the Christian", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0082.jp2"}, "83": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 77\\nrevelation. He starts in that case with the very\\ndifficulties that have made him a skeptic, and\\nthat predispose him to a prejudiced investiga-\\ntion. If we laid these evangelic narratives be-\\nfore him, and said, make a careful, candid and\\ncritical study of these biographical fragments of\\nthe great Person, take nothing for granted, as-\\nsume nothing as proven or disproven, disengage\\nyourself from the entangling meshes of church\\ntheories of inspiration and Biblical inerrancy;\\nstudy these histories and this Person on their\\nown merits, and tell us candidly what you think\\nof the portrait and the painting. Instructions\\nlike these would disarm prejudice and predispose\\nthe mind to an impartial and truth-seeking inves-\\ntigation, which, as a rule, could have but one\\nresult. If you start men with Christ they will\\nstay with him, but if you start them at a distant\\nstandpoint seriously handicapped and burdened\\nwith difficulties, the very difficulties that have\\ncaused their troubles, the chances are they will\\nnever find their way to him. If you should listen\\nto an infidel orator hurling his negative criti-\\ncism at the Christian faith, nine cases in ten\\nhe would be engaged in the congenial task of\\npicking holes in the Old Testament. He would\\nlabor with might and main to sheet home to the\\nChristians God the direct responsibility of every\\nshady transaction and every questionable sen-\\ntence in the Book, forgetting, of course, that", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0083.jp2"}, "84": {"fulltext": "78 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nthe Old Testament is a record of a progressive\\nrevelation, that its different portions were many\\nhundreds of years in course of writing, and that\\nduring the whole of this time God was revealing\\nhimself more and more fully to mankind, try-\\ning to express eternal things in mortal speech.\\nHave any of us been able to realize what a diffi-\\ncult thing it must have been for God to reveal him-\\nself to man at all, except in a very indefinite and\\ngeneral way? It is extremely difficult for the\\nwisest men to get fresh ideas into people s heads.\\nDr. Dale, of Birmingham, who preached to one\\nof the most intellectual audiences in England,\\ndeclared that it took him fifteen years to famil-\\niarize the minds of his people with a new con-\\nception. Mr. Gladstone has testified to the\\nimmense difficulty which he had of getting the\\naverage Englishman to understand a new pro-\\nposal. Our own experience goes to show that it\\ntakes at least fifty years of incessant hammering\\nto get one leading truth well into the public\\nmind; and when it becomes familiar and well\\nunderstood, new light calls for further change,\\nand we begin again to hammer, breaking up the\\nold and ramming in the new, and so the hammer-\\ning process, like Tennyson s brook, goes on for-\\never. As God s thoughts are not as our thoughts,\\nwe can readily understand how hard it must have\\nbeen all through the ages of revelation for God\\nto make himself intelligible to man. As a result", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0084.jp2"}, "85": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 79\\nthe moral standard of the New Testament is so\\nmuch higher than that of the Old, when the dis-\\nciples desired to imitate Elijah and call down fire\\nfrom heaven to consume their enemies, Christ\\nrebuked them sharply, declaring that it would be\\nwrong for them to do what Elijah did in the\\nearly dawn of revelation. The end explains the\\nbeginning and not the beginning the end. We\\nmust not suppose, however, when we come to\\nthe New Testament, that it is superior to Christ,\\nor in any sense displaces him as the ultimate\\nauthority in religion. The New Testament is\\ninvaluable to us and fundamental to Christianity,\\nnot because it contains a mass of infallible dicta,\\nbut because it conducts to Christ. We must not\\nlook at Christ primarily through Paul or John or\\nPeter, but at them through him. The Epistles\\ndo not explain the Gospels. The Gospels explain\\nthe Epistles. Christianity means Christ as he\\nexplains himself, and not as others explain him.\\nThe consciousness of Christ is the revelation\\nof God, and Christ best explains for us his own\\nconsciousness. The supreme question now is,\\nWhat did Christ think of himself? where do\\nChrist s own views come in? are they really over-\\ntopped and vitiated by the teaching of the apos-\\ntles? This question is forcing itself more and\\nmore to the front. Is the teaching of Christ a\\nrudimentary form of Christianity which the\\nother transcended, or was it a perfect form", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0085.jp2"}, "86": {"fulltext": "80 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nwhich they only supplemented? Christ fre-\\nquently spoke of his own words in terms of\\ngrandeur which it would be difficult to surpass.\\nIn his own eyes he was the sovereign prophet of\\nhis teaching. Christ claimed to himself the\\nposition of a teacher far above all those who\\npreceded him, and still more did he place him-\\nself above all who came after him. There could\\nbe no more emphatic warning against placing\\nthe apostles on the same level as the Master.\\nFrom the point of view of the old doctrine of\\ninspiration, the objection might be used, and I\\nhave often heard it, Why should the words of\\nJesus be considered more important than the\\nrest of the Bible? Even from the old point of\\nview, that objection can be met with a decisive\\nanswer. It is true, in one sense, that all parts\\nof Scripture are equally important, because they\\nare parts of a whole, which would be mutilated\\nif any of those parts, even the smallest, were\\nabsent. But of the whole revelation none can\\nbe compared to the words of Jesus.\\nBy some this contrast, however, is carried\\nfarther, and it is proposed to convert the teach-\\ning of Christ into a standard with which to crit-\\nicise and correct the rest of Scripture. For-\\nmerly the whole Bible was looked upon as the\\nsingle authority. At first the Old Testament\\nwas dropped and the New Testament adopted.\\nAnd now the narrowing process is carried f urth-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0086.jp2"}, "87": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 81\\ner, and the contention is made that the author-\\nity is not the New Testament as a whole, but the\\nteaching of Christ alone, and some have gone so\\nfar as to exclude all the teaching of Christ\\nexcept the Sermon on the Mount. This is the\\nposition taken up by Dr. John Watson in The\\nMind of the Master, and by Count Tolstoi in\\nnumerous books. But Jesus expressly said that\\nafter his death he would speak through his\\ninspired apostles in continuation of his own\\nteaching. The only question, therefore, is the\\nharmony of the apostolic interpretation with\\nthat of the Lord himself. For a long time the\\nreturn to Christ meant a violent reaction against\\nPaulinism, or rather against what was mistaken\\nfor the teachings of the apostle. That was the\\nprice we had to pay for emancipation from the\\ntyranny of scholastic Protestantism, which only\\nallowed Christ to be approached through Paul.\\nBut now there are distinct evidences that we are\\ncoming nearer to a condition of equipoise. A\\ncalmer judgment is affirming the immense im-\\nportance of the man who saved Christianity\\nfrom degenerating into the private creed of a\\nJewish sect. Quite a library of works on Paul\\nhas appeared of late, and the fertile theme\\nseems to be inexhaustible. Renan, Pfleiderer,\\nSabatier, Beyschlag, Stevens, Cone, Lyman\\nAbbott and others, have set forth different\\nphases of the great apostle s life and work. The", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0087.jp2"}, "88": {"fulltext": "82 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\npeculiarity of this newer study of Paul is that it\\nis all carried on in the historical spirit, not\\nwith a view to establish dogmatic theology, but\\nin order to understand the man and his ideas.\\nThe result is a general consensus of the best\\ncritical opinion, that Paul s contribution to\\nChristianity as a spiritual, universal religion is\\nsecond only to that of his divine Master.\\n4. A fourth point can only be mentioned;\\nthere is no time for its discussion. It is the most\\nvital point of all. The return to Christ involves\\nfundamentally and necessarily an immediate\\napplication of the ethics of Jesus to modern\\nlife. It is this consideration in Mr. Sheldon s\\nlittle book, What Would Jesus Do? that has\\nstirred the whole English-speaking world as no\\none book has ever stirred it before. It has\\nhelped men to realize that the ultimate concern\\nof Christianity is not to propagate metaphysical\\northodoxy, but to work out a moral reformation\\nand to reconstruct society on sounder principles.\\nThis new study of the Savior has brought us\\nface to face with the problem that the great\\nneed is straightforwardness and courage in ap-\\nplying Christianity to the conduct of business\\nand the regulation of sociaUpolitical affairs.\\nThe ethics of eternal life must be applied to\\nindividual character, and the church must make\\nthis the most vital part of its message. Dogma-\\ntism and bigotry can no longer do duty for Chris-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0088.jp2"}, "89": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 83\\ntian love and good morals. Polemic religion is\\nplayed out. Controversial Christianity is a back\\nnumber, except in the backwoods. The nar-\\nrowness and bitterness of the sectarian spirit are\\ngiving way to the sweetness and light of the\\ngospel of the Cross. We are learning, under\\nChrist, to displace the metaphysics of the creeds\\nwith the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount,\\nand the altruism of the judgment scene in the\\ntwenty-fifth chapter of Matthew. Fighting\\nstress is now laid, not on the difference between\\ntweedledum and tweedledee, but on the differ-\\nence between a life of sin and a life of right-\\neousness. A return to the Logia has taught\\nus that Christianity is a law, a life, a spirit, a\\ncharacter, and not shallow theories about specu-\\nlative trifles. Thanks to investigation, criticism,\\nresearch, and the freedom of the modern spirit,\\nour convictions are growing deeper, our ideals\\nhigher, our spirit is better, our faith is stronger,\\nwe understand Jesus Christ more profoundly,\\nand may we not say the united kingdom of\\nheaven is at hand?\\nThe whole substance of the divine plea for the\\nreturn to Christ is this: In every thing and in\\nall things, make Christ the starting-point, the\\npath-finder, the source of authority, the revela-\\ntion of God, the ideal, the judge, the interpre-\\nter, the Prophet, Priest and King. It was on\\nthis conception of Him that the apostles", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0089.jp2"}, "90": {"fulltext": "84 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nfounded the Church and proclaimed the king-\\ndom of God. This is my gospel, it is the only\\ntheology, if I may call it such, I have ever pro-\\npounded or ever expect to propound. I have\\nfound in it the solution of all my difficulties, the\\nanswer to all my questions, the satisfaction of\\nall my desires, the joy of my own heart, the in-\\nspiration of my life, and I do not hesitate, there-\\nfore, to commend it with all confidence and\\naffection to others. As I have grown older my\\ncreed has become shorter. At the last revision\\nit stood thus, and having found bed rock it will\\never stand: My faith looks up to thee, thou\\nLamb of Calvary, Savior Divine.\\nJ. J. Haley.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0090.jp2"}, "91": {"fulltext": "Zhc Cry Back to Christ/^\u00e2\u0080\u0094 H Review.\\nLEAVING the many good and strong points in\\nthe paper that has just been read to speak\\nfor themselves, I proceed at once to the task of\\nan adverse critic, kindly pointing out what\\nseem to me to be material defects in Brother\\nHaley s essay.\\n1. That Christ chose the region of Csesarea\\nPhilippi as the place where he elicited from\\nPeter the central and crucial proposition of his\\nreligion for the reason implied in the paper,\\nlooks like a strained, unwarranted and unreas-\\nonable assumption. Just what is meant by **the\\nneutrality of pagan soil is by no means clear.\\nThe essayist points out the fact that it was a land\\nof idolatry in its grosser forms, and therefore\\nit was not a country of religious neutrality. It\\nwas a place where the Semites worshiped the\\nBaalim, the Greeks adored Pan, and the Romans\\nbowed the knee to Caesar, and these things and\\nthe truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of\\nthe living God, are certainly not congenial. I\\ndo not think that Jerusalem was as repellant to\\nJesus as it seems to be to Brother Haley. The\\ntrue and living God was known and worshiped\\n85", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0091.jp2"}, "92": {"fulltext": "86 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nthere, and many sacred and hallowed memories\\nclustered about it; and in view of religious\\ncharacteristics I can see nothing that would have\\ndrawn the Master as far away from Jerusalem\\nas he could get, into a land where men wor-\\nshiped side by side the forces of nature and the\\nincarnation of political power. There would\\nbe some consistency in our essayist s contention,\\nif Christ had told the apostles to tarry in\\nCsesarea Philippi till endued with power from\\non high, and had said that repentance and\\nremission of sins should be preached in his name\\namong all nations, beginning from Csesarea\\nPhilippi. That he meant to disparage Jerusa-\\nlem by selecting a land of idolatry as a more\\nfitting place to make the first announcement of\\nthe central truth of the gospel, and then se-\\nlected the slighted and dishonored city as the\\nradiating center of his kingdom, seems extreme-\\nly improbable.\\nJerusalem may be the City of the great King in\\npoetry and song, but it is also in Scripture the\\ncity of prophecy in connection with Christ and\\nhis kingdom, and he who slights that city in his\\nsearch for Christ will not find the Christ of\\nsacred history. For out of Zion shall go forth\\nthe law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusa-\\nlem. This law and this word of the Lord are\\nfor the purpose of showing forth Christ in his\\nfullness. The Christ that Peter confessed at", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0092.jp2"}, "93": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 87\\nCsesarea Philippi, was a very small Jewish Christ\\nwhom the apostle afterwards forsook and de-\\nnied. The winds from Hermon, laden with the\\ncold, chilling conception of Christ which the\\nJews (including Peter) entertained, dwarf him\\ninto very small proportions as compared with\\nthe Christ that the Holy Spirit revealed on Pen-\\ntecost. It requires Zion and Jerusalem to put\\nlife and warmth and power into the Christ of\\nHermon. We must go to Jerusalem to find the\\nChrist who shows us an empty tomb and pre-\\nsents himself as alive from the dead. We must\\nstand upon Zion within the enclosure of Jerusa-\\nlem, if we would hear the voice which assures us\\nof this all-important fact: Let all the house\\nof Israel know assuredly that God hath made\\nhim both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye\\ncrucified. Zion is really the Mount of final,\\npermanent and complete transfiguration, in\\nwhich for the first time we behold Jesus in his\\ntrue Christhood and Lordship. Standing upon\\nthis summit we witness the rising of the Sun of\\nRighteousness, the warmth of whose rays melts\\naway the snows of Hermon, and whose glorious\\nlight dissipates the darkness that resides in the\\nshadow of the northern mountain. In the light\\nthat glorifies the top of the mountain of the\\nLord, and amid the gentle, warm and congenial\\nzephyrs that fan the face of the City of the\\nGreat King, we see the Christ of Hermon and", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0093.jp2"}, "94": {"fulltext": "88 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nCsesarea Philippi expand into the Christ of Zion\\nand Jerusalem. Thus we are enabled to see the\\nGreat World-Christ instead of the Jewish Christ\\nthat dwelt in the mind of Peter when he made\\nhis confession. That Christ would be meaning-\\nless and powerless without the supplemental\\nChrist of Pentecost and Jerusalem.\\nThe reason it gives Brother Haley the shivers\\nto contemplate Jerusalem is found in the fact\\nthat he fails to discriminate between the two\\nJerusalems, the Jewish Jerusalem and the\\nChristian Jerusalem, the fleshly Jerusalem and\\nthe spiritual Jerusalem. It was the Jewish Jeru-\\nsalem, the fleshly Jerusalem, that stoned the\\nprophets, crucified the Redeemer and persecuted\\nthe Church. The Christian Jerusalem, the spir-\\nitual Jerusalem, had neither part nor lot in these\\nmatters. In the fleshly Jerusalem are heard the\\njangling voices of the Pharisees, the scribe and\\nthe priest; there are seen the mockeries of a\\nmerely formal religion; there is heard the shout\\nof the mob that cries, Away with Him Crucify\\nHim! there is seen the bloody hand of perse-\\ncution that wastes and scatters the Church. But\\nin the Christian Jerusalem, the spiritual Jerusa-\\nlem, we see the glory of God and the beauty and\\nsweetness of a spiritual brotherhood in Christ\\nJesus there we hear the song of mercy and par-\\ndon there we behold, the wonderful works of\\nthe Lord as he magnifies the name of his Christ;", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0094.jp2"}, "95": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 89\\nthere we discover the way of life and salvation\\nas illuminated by the light that shines from the\\nface of the Son of God; there we feel the thrill\\nof the joy and satisfaction that are born of the\\nassurance that God hath made him both Lord\\nand Christ. If we linger in the proper Jerusa-\\nlem there is nothing to blight, nothing to chill,\\nnothing to dwarf, nothing to alarm. We need\\nnot go to Hermon at all, for the Holy Spirit has\\nbrought Hermon down to Mt. Zion, and given it\\na new significance and a new beauty, and now,\\nas never before, we can see Christ as the fairest\\namong ten thousand, and the One altogether\\nlovely. In Jerusalem we find the Christ of hope,\\nthe Christ of promise, the Christ of glory, the\\nChrist of salvation. A Christ that has not\\npassed through the grave, that did not go into\\nthe heavens, that was not made both Lord and\\nChrist, that did not send forth what the people\\nsaw and heard in Jerusalem, is not the Christ\\nwhom the soul needs. Select the right Jerusa-\\nlem, and in her lap you may rest with perfect\\nsecurity.\\n2. I am acquainted with no old Jerusalem\\ngospel idea which says that we must come this\\nside of Pentecost to learn the conditions of sal-\\nvation, nor do I know what Brother Haley means\\nby that remark. Very sure I am that we must\\ncome this side of the empty tomb of Christ to\\nfind a direct and plain statement of the condi-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0095.jp2"}, "96": {"fulltext": "90 OUR FIRST CONGRKSS.\\ntions of salvation. He that believeth and is\\nbaptized shall be saved, is Christ s own declar-\\nation on this subject, and this is the law that\\nwas to go forth on Mt. Zion. If we would under-\\nstand this matter we must come to Pentecost,\\nfor then the first offer of salvation was made\\nunder this commission. Repentance and remis-\\nsion of sins were to be preached among all\\nnations in the name of Christ, beginning from\\nJerusalem; and if the idea of going to Pente-\\ncost to find out how to be saved is pernicious,\\nthen the teaching of the Master himself is per-\\nnicious. Just how going to Pentecost cuts off\\nthe vital stream of teaching from the mouth of\\nJesus concerning the kingdom of God, is\\nknown only to those who are wise above what is\\nwritten. Surely the Holy Spirit never said any-\\nthing on or after Pentecost that is inconsistent\\nwith anything that Christ said before Pentecost.\\nHe who finds a full and complete way of salvation\\nproclaimed before Pentecost, cuts off the Com-\\nmission from the mouth of the Savior, and dis-\\nallows the speech of the Holy Spirit on Pente-\\ncost. What the Spirit then said is just as\\nauthoritative and binding as anything that\\nChrist ever uttered in person. The idea of\\npitting one portion of Scripture against another\\nis thoroughly pernicious, and equally pernicious\\nis the idea of constructing a theory of salvation\\nupon what Christ said in person, and then", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0096.jp2"}, "97": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 91\\ntwisting what he said through the Spirit after-\\nwards, into harmony with that theory. If Christ\\ntaught a full and complete way of salvation for\\nan alien sinner in the Sermon on the Mount, in\\nthe parables, in the conversations, in the Gali-\\nlean ministry, in his last utterances in the Tem-\\nple Court at Jerusalem, etc., what is the mean-\\ning of the Commission, in which he conditions\\nsalvation on faith and baptism? and what is the\\nmeaning of the language of the Spirit who con-\\nditions the remission of sins on repentance and\\nbaptism?\\nThat *some of us construe the return to Christ\\nto be a return to the Acts of the Apostles is\\nnews to me. There are those who think that\\nthe book of Acts must be used in getting back\\nto Christ, but surely no one holds that the ter-\\nminal point is in Acts. That document is simply\\none of the gateways that lead to Christ, and he\\nwho leaps over it, or goes around it, will not\\nfind the real Christ, the Savior of the world.\\nFrom Acts we first learn that God made Jesus\\nboth Lord and Christ, and in Acts we find the\\nfirst proclamation of repentance and remission\\nof sins in the name of Christ. It is true that\\nActs will not be correctly understood without\\nthe Gospels, but it is equally true that the latter\\nwill not be correctly understood without the\\nformer. Christ is in Acts as well as in the Gos-\\npels, and we see some features of him there", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0097.jp2"}, "98": {"fulltext": "92 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nthat we do not see so clearly here. It is correct\\nto say that everything must be interpreted from\\nthe mind of Christ, but how do we get acquainted\\nwith the mind of Christ? Does the only avenue\\nof access to Christ s mind lie through the Holy\\nScriptures? The notion that our first knowl-\\nedge of Christ is derived from the Bible, im-\\nplies that there is a second knowledge of Christ\\nthat is derived from some other source. This\\nidea is dangerous in the extreme. It opens a\\nway for all kinds of wild vagaries and unbridled\\nfanaticism. This conceit has done more to par-\\nalyze the Bible and cause it to be regarded as a\\ndead letter, than almost anything else. This\\nimplied **second knowledge is perhaps the\\nfather of the spirit that characterizes high re-\\ngard for the Bible as bibliolatry. This vague\\nand indefinite something, that comes from do\\none knows where, is to revise and correct the\\nwritings of the apostles, through whom *we\\nmust not look at Christ primarily. Here our\\nessayist seems to contradict what he says about\\ngetting our first knowledge of Christ from the\\nBible. Dictionaries have led me to suppose\\nthat primary means first.\\nThe tap-root of this doctrine seems to me to\\nbe about this: One forms an idea of Christ\\nfrom a second knowledge of him, derived\\nfrom some other source than the writings of the\\napostles, and then makes that idea the standard", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0098.jp2"}, "99": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 93\\nby which the sacred writings are to be inter-\\npreted. This is what Universalism and Unita-\\nrianism do. The former sees in Christ an un-\\nconditional Savior of the world, and interprets\\nPaul and Peter and John accordingly. The\\nlatter sees in Jesus a mere man, and the apos-\\ntolic writings must bend to this theory. Kenan\\nand the whole rationalistic school of teachers\\nappear to occupy this ground. Is it possible for\\nBrother Haley or me to have a better under-\\nstanding of the mind of Christ than the apos-\\ntles who had the Spirit to guide them into all the\\ntruth? He shall take of mine and show it to\\nyou, said the Master to the apostles concerning\\nthe Spirit. This means that the Spirit was to\\nreveal the mind of Christ to the apostles, and\\nthat they might not err he told them that it\\nwould not be they who would speak, but the\\nHoly Spirit speaking in or through them. I do\\nnot believe that any knowledge of the mind of\\nChrist that does not come through the Script-\\nures is trustworthy. If he is not interpreted\\nthrough the Scriptures, he will be misinter-\\npreted.\\n3. If it is a mistake to insist on explaining\\nChrist through the Old Testament, it is a much\\ngreater mistake to insist on interpreting Christ\\nthrough a theory of that book, which some men\\nare doing. A theory is constructed concerning\\ndate and authorship of parts of the Old Testa-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0099.jp2"}, "100": {"fulltext": "94 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nment, and then Christ is explained in his use of\\nthose documents by such theory. As thus ex-\\nplained, either his knowledge must be limited,\\nor he is forced to sanction egregious errors in ac-\\ncommodation to a popular mistake. This is thor-\\noughly pernicious. If the Old Testament is to\\nbe interpreted through Christ, Moses wrote the\\nPentateuch, for he says, Moses wrote of me.\\nIf the Old Testament is to be interpreted through\\nChrist, and not Christ through the Old Testa-\\nment, then the prophet Daniel wrote the book\\nof Daniel, for he says that the abomination of\\ndesolation was spoken of by Daniel the\\nprophet. If this principle is sound, Jonah was\\nthree days and three nights in the whale s\\nbelly, for Christ so declares. Interpreting the\\nOld Testament through Christ is a good rule\\nunless it is to be modified by some such clause\\nas when it suits me. The essayist is alto-\\ngether correct when he indicates that you should\\nnot burden yourself with Old Testament difficul-\\nties when you begin to reason with the unbe-\\nliever. But suppose the unbeliever burdens you\\nwith the difficulties a certain school of critics have\\nthrust upon the Old Testament, and begins to\\nsing the song of errancy, ungenuineness, mis-\\ntakes, etc., that he has perhaps learned from\\nyou. Then you find yourself hors de combat and\\nhoist with your own petard. Many unbelievers\\nknow much more about these difficulties than", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0100.jp2"}, "101": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 95\\nthey know about the Bible, for they are not\\ncribbed, cabined and confined. When you\\nfind an unbelieving mind that has not been prej-\\nudiced and poisoned with critical difliculties, the\\nthing to do is to present Christ as he appears in\\nthe Gospels, with the distinct understanding that\\neverything he says therein is true, and that\\neverything that the writers say about him is\\ntrue. The literature that is to reach and influ-\\nence the young mind in the Sunday-school\\nshould not be burdened with these difficulties.\\n4. I am not sure that I fully know the mind\\nof Bro. Haley as regards the church, but his\\nwords seem to me to unnecessarily and wrongly\\ndisparage that divine institution. If he would\\ndiscriminate between the church of the New\\nTestament and the church of subsequent history,\\nwhat he says would be unobjectionable. He\\nseems to laud and exalt the Kingdom of God\\nwhile depreciating the Church of God. The\\nNew Testament church is the Body of Christy\\nand the kingdom of heaven, and I do not see\\nhow you can discount one without discounting\\nthe other. Christ died for the church, and it is\\nordained that unto the principalities and the\\npowers in the heavenly places might be made\\nknown through the church the manifold wisdom\\nof God. The church of God should not be\\ndisparaged, for it is of equal importance with the\\nkingdom of God; yea, it is the kingdom of God.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0101.jp2"}, "102": {"fulltext": "96 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nI am unable to see the justice of lumping **the\\napostolic interpretation of Christ in with the\\npost-apostolic interpretation of the apostles,\\nthe Nicene interpretation of the post-apostolic\\nfathers, and the Roman Catholic interpretation\\nof the traditions and dogmas of the Nicene docu-\\nments, and throwing them all overboard as\\nequally worthless. If, having received the\\nSpirit to guide them, the apostles did not inter-\\npret Christ correctly, we may despair of ever\\ngetting a correct interpretation of him.\\n5. The paper seems to betray some confusion\\nof thought as to the relative importance of the\\nwords of Christ and those of the apostles. The\\nsupreme question now is. What did Christ think\\nof himself, where do Christ s own views come\\nin, are they really overtopped and vitiated by\\nthe teaching of the apostles? This question is\\nforcing itself more and more to the front.\\nWith whom is this the supreme question? and\\nwho is forcing it to the front? If such a ques-\\ntion is being agitated I am in blissful ignorance\\nof it; nor do I believe that there are those who\\nare contending that Christ s views are over-\\ntopped and vitiated by the teaching of the apos-\\ntles. If so, they deserve the scorn of all\\nChristians. Is the teaching of Christ a rudi-\\nmentary form of Christianity which the others\\ntranscended, or was it a perfect form which they\\nonly supplemented? The paper seems to deny", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0102.jp2"}, "103": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 97\\nthe first hypothesis and affirm the second. I am\\nnot able to see how that which is perfect can be\\nsupplemented. A supplement is **an addition to\\nanything, by which it is made more full and\\ncomplete. The teaching of Christ is not **a\\nrudimentary form of Christianity, but a per-\\nfect part of a s^^stem that was not perfected till\\nthe Holy Spirit came and did his work; if so,\\nthe work of the Spirit was superfluous. He\\ncame to complete something, and not to supple-\\nment something that was already complete,\\nwhich is an impossibility.\\nWhat is meant by the declaratiou that Christ\\nplaced himself **above all who came after him\\nis not clear. If the reference is to authority, the\\npoint is well taken, for all authority was given\\ninto his hands. But the context indicates that\\nin teaching Christ put himself above all that\\nshould come after him. This makes him put\\nhimself above himself, for Bro. Haley himself\\nsays that Jesus expressly said that after his\\ndeath he would speak through his inspired apos-\\ntles in continuation of his own teaching. It is\\ntrue, then, that whatever Christ taught through\\nhis apostles is just as high and just as important\\nas anything that he ever taught through his own\\nperson. In view of this, what becomes of the\\n**emphatic warning against placing the apostles\\non the same level as the Master? The teach-\\ning of XDhrist and the teaching of the apostles\\n7", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0103.jp2"}, "104": {"fulltext": "98 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nare not two teachings, but two parts of one and\\nthe same teaching, Christ being the teacher all\\nthe way through. No invidious distinctions\\nshould be made between the teaching of Christ\\nand that of the apostles.\\n6. Polemic religion is played out. Contro-\\nversial Christianity is a back number except in\\nthe backwoods. These statements look strange\\nin their polemic and controversial setting, for\\nthe paper bristles with controversy, and I pre-\\nsume that those who are conducting a crusade\\nagainst controversial Christianity will have to\\nbe understood about thus: My controversy is\\nall right, but your controversy is all wrong.\\nOpposition to controversy is itself controversy.\\nBut are the statements true? If so. New Testa-\\nment religion is played out, and apostolic\\nChristianity is a back number except in the\\nbackwoods. Christ himself was a master in\\ncontroversy, and Paul was an expert in polemics.\\nHow then does David call him Lord? is a\\nsample of the Master s incisive controversy.\\nPaul disputed, controverted in the synagogue at\\nEphesus for three months, and then transferred\\nthe disputation, the controversy, to the school of\\nTyrannus and carried it on for two years and\\nhe was in a constant controversy with the Jewish\\nteachers, who taught a corrupt form of Chris-\\ntianity. Indeed, the New Testament is a\\nhistory of one of the hottest controversies that", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0104.jp2"}, "105": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 99\\never agitated the world and the history of the\\ngospel from then till now is a history of contro-\\nversy. Polemic religion gave us the Lutheran\\nReformation, and controversial Christianity gave\\nus our own restoration movement, and some of\\nus are now occupying feathered nests that were\\nbuilt by the hands of polemic religion. We\\ncan certainly afford to use decorous respect in\\nreferring to the men and the methods that have\\nmade us what we are and given us what we have.\\nIt is not nice to fling mud at the bridge that has\\nbrought us over. Truth has always had to make\\nits way in the world through conflict and con-\\ntroversy, and the mission of Christianity is to\\ncontrovert everything that is wrong; and a\\nChristianity that is not controversial is inane\\nand puerile.\\nWith many of Bro. Haley s positions I am in\\nhearty accord, and I close this review with a\\nthorough indorsement of what seems to be his\\nfundamental thesis, namely: The return to\\nChrist, then, which the modern position con-\\ntemplates, is the absolute and unqualified ac-\\nceptance of the personal Jesus, the Divine Man\\nof the Rock of Csesarea Philippi, as absolutely\\nthe only Savior and spiritual Master of the\\nworld whom we are bound to follow. This,\\nhowever, is not so very modern.\\nJ. B. Briney.\\nL.ofr", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0105.jp2"}, "106": {"fulltext": "Cbe Cry Back to Christ/ H Review;\\nTHE cry Back to Christ is inevitable; his-\\ntorical and literary criticism have made it\\nso. Historical and literary criticism are inevita-\\nble; the inductive method has made them so.\\nThe inductive method is inevitable; common\\nsense and the progress of man have made it so.\\nThe deductive method was not progressive. It\\nwas an intellectual tread-mill. Its premises,\\nsyllogisms and conclusions, the latter becoming\\nthe premises for other syllogisms and conclu-\\nsions, went round and round, like a log in a\\nwhirlpool. Thirteen centuries of deductive phi-\\nlosophy misnamed theology left the world\\nwhere Luther found it religiously, and where\\nBacon found it empirically. Macaulay likens\\nthe centuries dominated by this method to such\\nof the matrons of Ancient Rome as refused to\\nbear children, disdaining to be fruitful that they\\nmight be beautiful.\\nThis paper can scarcely claim, to be a review of J. J. Haley s\\npaper on the subject, Back to Christ, since this was written before\\nits author had seen that. No material change has been made in it\\nsince Mr. Haley s excellent paper appeared. Its production proceeded\\nwholly from what the writer deemed to be the merits of the subject\\nitself, and from his previous knowledge of Mr. Haley s position. Of\\nthat position Mr. Haley himself was kind enough to pronounce the\\npaper an excellent summary. W.J. Lhamon.\\n100", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0106.jp2"}, "107": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 101\\nHowever, this method was not entirely fruit-\\nless. Though it refused to improve agriculture,\\nand harness steam and lightning to the mills\\nof men, and sweeten domestic relations, and\\npopularize education, and turu monarchies into\\ndemocracies, and on the ruins of slavery build\\nfraternity, and replace pagan altars with com-\\nmunion tables though it refused to do such\\nthings, it did breed dogmatism; it stood as the\\nfoster-mother to sacramentalism, and from its\\nlap have gone forth the damnation clauses of\\nthe Holy Roman symbols, together with such\\nimpossible creeds as are now trying to get them-\\nselves partially revised or wholly forgotten.\\nThe deductive method did not rebuke the In-\\nquisition, did not abate priestcraft, did not\\nemancipate the popular mind, and did not free\\nus from a vast mass of unwholesome tradition.\\nWith the advent of the inductive method came\\nour reverence for facts as against theories, for\\nhistory as against speculation, for deed as\\nagainst dogma, for investigation as against tra-\\ndition, and for Christology as against theology.\\nWith the advent of the inductive method we\\nhave made a complete about-face, and we\\nhave hit upon a whole new world. We esteem\\nfacts, when we can get at them, as legal tender,\\nand we have lost all reverence for count of holy\\nnoses. We have dethroned tradition and we\\nhave enthroned .investigation. What we call", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0107.jp2"}, "108": {"fulltext": "102 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nhistorical criticism is but the inductive method\\napplied to history, and what we call literary crit-\\nicism is but the inductive method applied to lit-\\nerature, and what we call Biblical criticism is\\nbut the inductive method applied to the Bible.\\nEverything must go into the crucible of this\\nmethod. What is dross is bound to be burned\\naway; the gold will abide. In the crucible of\\nthis method tradition means little and dogma\\nmeans nothing. Thank God it is so. We want\\na Bible that can stand on its own merits pre-\\ncisely as Shakespeare does, or Whittier, or the\\nmultiplication table. If the Bible is vulnerable\\nby reason of its intrinsic feebleness or falseness,\\nno theory of inspiration, no traditional canon-\\nicity can save it. If the Bible is false, inspiration\\ncannot make it true. If it is true the inspira-\\ntion of it is a secondary matter. By its assured\\ntruth or falsity, and not by its assured inspira-\\ntion, it must stand or fall. All theories of in-\\nspiration are on trial quite as much as the Bible\\nitself, or even more so, and very likely we shall\\ncome at last to believe that the book is inspired\\nbecause it is true, rather than it is true because\\nit is inspired. Possibly we shall find that it is\\neasier to reach the inspiration of it by way of the\\ntruth of it, than the truth of it by way of the\\ninspiration of it. In any event the question of\\ninspiration is secondary, the question of historic\\nverity is primary.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0108.jp2"}, "109": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 103\\nAs regards the New Testament, the above is\\nbut saying in other words that Matthew, Mark,\\nLuke, John, Peter, James, Jude and Paul are on\\ntrial not as inspired writers, but as historians,\\nand as brother men. As brother men, historians\\nand witnesses to Christ they must be received if\\nat all, and not at all as legislators, or dicta-\\ntors, or creed-formulators, or dogmatists of any\\nsort. Brother men to the rest of us that is the\\nsuperscription they bear, and we infer that their\\neccentricities, foibles and deficiencies are cousins\\nto our own. They rise not above the level of\\nthe human, they belong to our category; they\\nstand in the light of Jesus and cast such shadows\\nas we do. Our measuring-reeds are not too\\nshort for them, they fight in our defective\\narmor and, in short, we who have thrown off\\nall traditionalism, who have revolted from all\\ndogmatism, who have taken seriously to heart\\nthe solidarity of humanity, will not bow to them.\\nI speak in all this as seeking to express in a few\\nbold words the spirit of our times. This age will\\nnot conjure even with the superlative nathe of\\nPaul until it has had reasons for doing so. If,\\ntherefore, we are to have authority it must come\\nfrom a source higher than the human if we are\\nto have a revelation reaching beyond reason, it\\nmust proceed from one more reasonable than\\nourselves; if we are to have an infallible cap-\\ntaincy, the one in whom it rests must fight in an", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0109.jp2"}, "110": {"fulltext": "104 OUR FIRST CONGRKSS.\\narmor that neither Saul nor David can wear; if\\nwe are to bow the knee, it must be to one not of\\nour category. The cry, Back to Christ, is\\ninevitable, and it is the only saving cry.\\nBut how are we to get back to Christ except\\nby the infallible writings of these men? This is\\nthe crux to the whole matter. We must reach\\nour infallible Christ through the hypothesis of\\na fallible medium, and thereafter, if ever, prove\\nour medium to have been infallible. The pro-\\ncedure maybe a strange one, but it is a neces-\\nsary one, and not an impossible one. It may be\\na dilemma, but Christ helps us out of it. His\\ncareer was such that the very shadows cast by\\nthe defects of his representatives are indicative\\nof his perfections. The New Testament writers,\\nhowever human and fallible they may be upon\\nour hypothesis, enshrine for us in their produc-\\ntions a character that is superhuman and infalli-\\nble so that when we behold the moral manhood\\nof Jesus towering into Godhood, we find our-\\nselves constrained to say, This sun is perfect,\\nthough he shines through our fog. And yet\\nfurther we are compelled to say, This fog of\\nours did not create this perfect sun. And\\nfurther still and at last we find ourselves say-\\ning, Perhaps this perfect sun will yet dispel\\nthis hypothetical fog of ours much of it, if not\\nall of it.\\nThe recovery, therefore, of the historic Christ", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0110.jp2"}, "111": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 105\\nmust be by the way of a medium hypothetically\\nfallible, and if the medium is ever shown to be\\ninfallible, it must be by the way of the recovery\\nof the historic Christ.\\nSuppose, now, that the historic Christ has\\nbeen recovered, and I, for one, verily believe it,\\nwhat follows?\\n(1) This historic Christ is to us not merely a\\nmetaphysical one of three, he is vastly more\\nthan the Christ of the Trinity.\\n(2) He is not merely a far-away, first century\\nbeing, he is the risen, the ascended, the now\\nregnant Christ.\\n(3) He is not merely the subject of specula-\\ntive thought, to be cabined, cribbed and confined\\nand defined by a formidable array of infinitudes\\nand syllogisms. He transcends all that.\\n(4) Nor is he merely, in the eyes of the scien-\\ntific method, a fact among facts, or a fossil\\namong fossils, classified, labeled and shelved.\\nHe is infinitely more than a rare and interesting\\nspecimen and we who are reverent must rebel\\nagainst his treatment as such, by a dwindling\\nclass of hyper-higher critics.\\n(5) This recovered historic Christ is, and is\\nseen and felt to be, the Word made flesh,\\nwhose glory is the *glory as of the only begotten\\nof the Father, full of grace and truth. He is the\\none who in his brotherhood reveals God s Fath-\\nerhood, and who seizes vitally upon our human", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0111.jp2"}, "112": {"fulltext": "106 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nkinship, throwing over the lowliness of our\\nhumanity the halo of his divinity.\\n(6) He is the constructive Christ this recov-\\nered historic Christ. He builds around himself\\na whole world of superlative ethics and inerrant\\ndidactics and supernatural benefactions. And\\nall these things are becoming to him, they fit\\nhim precisely as our own lowly words and works\\nare befitting to us. Nay, having Christ we re-\\nflect that such ethics, such didactics, such mira-\\ncles are natural to him, and are to be expected\\nof him. Then we say in the deepest soul of us,\\nthe record is true Jesus did naturally walk on\\nthe waves, and still the winds, and feed hungry\\nthousands with bread that grew in his hands,\\nand heal blind eyes, and raise the dead, and rise\\nfrom the dead. We expect such a record of\\nsuch a man. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John\\nunite in bringing us the expected record. We\\nare therefore convinced of their truthfulness,\\nand thus our recovered Christ has recovered for\\nus our precious records. He is the constructive\\nChrist, and around him there rises the whole of\\nthe New Testament literature, filled with his\\nthought as the eye is with light, and throbbing\\nwith his love as the heart throbs with blood, and\\ninstinct with his promised Holy Spirit as the\\nhuman body is instinct with its own soul.\\nFinally, to get back to Christ is to get back\\nthe Christ himself, and the literature that", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0112.jp2"}, "113": {"fulltext": "THE CRY, BACK TO CHRIST. 107\\nhe inspired, and the life also, and the church\\nthat are the children sprung from the travail of\\nhis soul.\\nThe salvation of the present and the hope of\\nthe future have conditioned themselves upon\\nour complete severance from dogmatism and\\ntraditionalism, and upon bringing the living\\nChrist face to face with living men and women\\nseating him in their homes; introducing him to\\ntheir societies and electing him at their polling\\nplaces.\\nOur great poets are at least potential higher\\ncritics, and they are thorough-going Christolo-\\ngists. Such souls as Whittier, Longfellow,\\nTennyson and Browning have insight. They are\\nseers. They do not go limping on the crutches\\nof logic. They scorn dogmatism, for it clips the\\nwings of their inspiration. They find value in\\nwritten forms only in proportion to the living\\nideals throbbing there. For them the word that\\ndoes not inspire is not inspired, and to them that\\nbook only is ideal that has an ideal soul in it.\\nThe man in the book must be more than the\\nbook, and he it is who must transmute its letters\\ninto inspired and inspiring life. In the spirit of\\nscience they seize upon facts, and in the spirit of\\nprophecy they make them vital, till whole val-\\nleys of dry bones rise up clothed in flesh, and\\nare thrust forth among men, conquering and to\\nconquer.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0113.jp2"}, "114": {"fulltext": "108 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nIt is in this spirit that Whittier warns us\\n**back to Christ, crying,\\nOur Friend, our Brother and our Lord,\\nWhat may thy service be?\\nNor name, nor form, nor written word,\\nBut simply following thee.\\nIt is in the same spirit that Tennyson, bereft\\nof his friend, and travailing in sorrow, finds com-\\nfort in Christ, through whom incarnate truth\\nenters at last our lowly doors\\nAnd so the Word had breath, and wrought\\nWith human hands the creed of creeds\\nIn loveliness of perfect deeds,\\nMore strong than all poetic thought;\\nWhich he may read that binds the sheaf,\\nOr builds the house, or digs the grave\\nIt is in the same spirit that Browning finds\\nhope for all the mad King Sauls of earth.\\nTis the weakness in strength that I cry for! my flesh that\\nI seek,\\nIn the Godhead! I seek and I find it. O Saul it shall be\\nA face like my face that receives thee; a Man like to me.\\nThou shalt love and be loved by forever; a Hand like this\\nhand\\nShall throw open the gates of new life to thee!\\nSeethe Christ stand!\\nW. J. Lhamon.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0114.jp2"}, "115": {"fulltext": "V.\\nCrucial Points Concerning the\\nHoly Spirit.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0115.jp2"}, "116": {"fulltext": "FOURTH SESSION.\\nE. W. Darst, of Chicago, was chairman of this session.\\nThe general subject was City Evangelization. Twenty\\nminute addresses were delivered by J. A. Lord, editor of the\\nChristian Standard, on The Urgency of City Evangelization;\\nCongregational Selfishness, by George F. Hall, Decatur,\\n111.; Heroic Methods of City Evangelization, by F. G.\\nTyrrell of St. Louis; Resources for City Evangelization,\\nby G. W. Muckley, of Kansas City; the A. C. M. S. by B.\\nL. Smith, Cincinnati; The Pastor s Relation to City Evan-\\ngelization, by B. Q. Denham, of Tonawanda, N. Y. These\\naddresses were all able and spirited, but most of them were\\nunwritten and do not appear in this volume.\\nFIFTH SESSION.\\nW. T, Moore, LL. D., of Columbia, Mo., presided and made\\nan introductory speech on the subject of the evening, which\\nwas Literature. Prof. W. D. MacClintock, of the Univer-\\nsity of \u00e2\u0080\u00a2Chicago, being introduced, delivered an exceedingly\\ninteresting and suggestive address on The Value of Litera-\\nture in the Training of the Teachers of Religion. He was\\nfollowed by B. O. Ay les worth, of Denver, Colo., and Mrs. L.\\nW. St. Clair, of Columbia. These addresses, with the excep-\\ntion of that of Mr. Aylesworth, were unwritten, and none of\\nthem appear in this volume.\\nSIXTH SESSION.\\nThe chairman of this session was W. B. Craig, Chancellor of\\nDrake University, and the subject for consideration was\\nTheology. After a happy introduction, he introduced R.\\nT. Mathews, of Newport, Ky., who read the paper which fol-\\nlows, on The Crucial Points Concerning the Holy Spirit.\\nHe was followed by F. N Calvin, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin,\\nin a supplementary statement on the same subject. W. E.\\nEllis, of Nashville, Tenn., then reviewed the original address.\\nThe discussion which followed these carefully prepared papers\\nwas one of the most interesting of the whole Congress.\\n110", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0116.jp2"}, "117": {"fulltext": "Crucial points Concerning the Roly\\nSpirit\\nT BELIEVE in the Holy Spirit. This confess-\\n1 ion of the great catholic creed is receiving,\\nin our day, a new, notable accentuation. What is\\nthought and said concerning the Holy Spirit, let\\nit be observed at once, does not run into the like\\nof either a fad or a hobby. The thought on the\\nsubject is too wide and serious for any mere\\nspeculator to advertise himself by novel views.\\nWhat especially distinguishes the revival of in-\\nterest in this matter, is its unpolemical, its rev-\\nerent, its intensely practical spirit. We may\\nnotice this interest in new books that have ap-\\npeared in the last decade or two. We may see\\nit in the study of men of God gathered in some\\nspecial conference. There is impressively ap-\\nparent a minimum of wordy debate, and, in-\\nstead, a maximum of quiet, intent thinking and\\npraying over this master truth of the Word\\nof God. The history of doctrine, in its long\\nevolution, has never exhibited a riper time\\nfor a wholesome understanding of the Script-\\nure teaching concerning the Holy Spirit nor\\nmore pointedly shown the necessity that, if\\none essays to bring out of his treasure things\\n111", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0117.jp2"}, "118": {"fulltext": "112 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nnew on the subject, he must present them in a\\ntruly logical connection along with things old.\\nIt must still be the old doctrine of prophets and\\napostles, if in new lights and lessons old in\\nsubstance, new in elicitation; old in content,\\nnew in application; the old doctrine always the\\ntest of every new light elicited and every new\\nlesson applied.\\nBut what are the conditions and reasons that\\ngo to make a fresh study of the Holy Spirit so\\ntimely, and that call for a study positive,\\nthorough, full, suited to this day and generation?\\nThe answer lies in the fact, speaking generally,\\nthat the present age is singularly open, as never\\nbefore, to the whole revelation of God. The\\nScriptures speak significantly, In the fullness of\\nthe time God sent forth his Son. It is no\\nstrain nor fancy to see that there is also a pro-\\nfound sense in which this fullness of the time\\nrepeats itself as regards the sensitiveness and\\nopenness of man to receive more completely this\\nmanifold revelation of God. Of course, there\\nis no progress possible at all for man except in\\nthe providential leading of God. It is only in\\nthe light of God that man sees any light on\\nanything as the psalmist sang, In thy light\\nshall we see light. But in this age man s\\nknowledge has grown from more to more in\\nthe knowledge both of the world around him and\\nthe world within him, in the knowledge of", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0118.jp2"}, "119": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 113\\n^Nature and in self-knowledge, until a remark-\\nable condition has resulted in his scientific study\\nof universal truth. To-day particularly, strik-\\ningly, in the fullness of the time, the truth of\\nthe universe is making itself felt on its Grodward\\nside, is making itself felt on its manward side,\\nin a constant meeting of the two sides in the\\nconsciousness of the age.\\nFor instance, is it an age in which Humanita-\\nrianism is both a plea and cult? It is also an\\nage in which Theism stirs its questions and mul-\\ntiplies its books on the largest scale. But is it\\nan age in which Theism is burningly discussed\\nwhether there be a God, and, if there be, wheth-\\ner he is knowable? It is equally an age in which\\nHumanitarianism is a very gospel, with its deep\\nconcern for man s humanity to man. On the\\nGodward side, consequently, we hear a varied\\ndiscussion concerning Deity. There is an intense\\nstudy or emphasis of God as a Father. There\\nis, at the same time, an increasing interest in the\\nfact of his historical incarnation in his Son. On\\nthe manward side, we see man s lordship over\\nthe earth more and more ambitious. There is a\\ntriumphant course of proud science in its mas-\\ntery of the secrets of Nature. There is a steady,\\nonward victory of democracy in society.\\nBut the full fact of this interest equally in the\\ndivine side of truth and in the human side, is\\nnot stated until it is also said that the two sides\\n8", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0119.jp2"}, "120": {"fulltext": "114 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nare increasingly studied in their vital relations\\nto one another. Look where one will, there is\\nseen this two-fold concern in all truth to-day.\\nFor instance, at one extreme in the realm of\\nthought, is seen a meeting point of God and\\nman in Science: Science inevitably looks up\\nthrough Nature to Nature s God, in the inquiries\\nof the Agnostic as well as of the Theist. At\\nthe other extreme, in the realm of activity, is\\nseen a meeting-point of God and man in mis-\\nsions: missions have become world-wide in the\\ngrowth of international commerce and politics.\\nAll between these extremes are, one after an-\\nother, the meeting-points of God and man in\\nthe consciouness of the age. Is it literature?\\nThe poet s finest song is not of saddest\\nthought, but ever of man s knowing God\\nand living forever; and the novelist who por-\\ntrays most strikingly the tragic experiences of\\nmortals, blends in singular pathos the heart s\\ndoubts and aspirations. Is it education? Edu-\\ncation begins anew, and begins aright, as it leads\\nthe child to think by doing, and in all its thought\\nand work to worship God. So of philanthropy,\\nof socialism, of penology, or if there be any other\\nconcern of humankind. The meeting points of\\nGod and man were never more open, more rec-\\nognizable, more fraught with intensely practical\\nissues, than in the thought and experience of\\nthe present age.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0120.jp2"}, "121": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 115\\nNow, it is precisely here that the Scripture\\ndoctrine concerning the Holy Spirit has for us\\nits momentous significance. According to the\\nScriptures, the agency of the Holy Spirit in the\\nsalvation of men is supremely concerned with\\nthe incarnation of God in his Son. The Holy\\nSpirit s office is exercised in the Gospel of Deity\\nand Humanity perfectly united. The historical\\nlife of the Son of God, including his death and\\nresurrection, constitutes the material for the\\nwork of the Holy Spirit in the progress of the\\nGospel. At every step, at every stage where the\\ninfluence of the Holy Spirit has its normal exer-\\ncise in human salvation, there the historical life\\nof Jesus Christ fact, doctrine, example, pre-\\ncept, promise is still powerful as it makes for\\nthe perfect union of God and man. Always,\\nalways, the ideal of human salvation the\\nsalvation of individuals, the salvation of the\\nrace is man s life sensitive to God s life at\\nevery point, open to God s life on every side, so\\nas to be filled unto all the fullness of God.\\nThe history of redemption is that man, in the\\nblood of the cross, is not only redeemed from\\nthe guilt and power of sin, but is redeemed so\\nto live till all attain unto the unity of the\\nfaith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God\\nunto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the\\nstature of the fullness of Christ.\\nThis agency of the Holy Spirit, with its", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0121.jp2"}, "122": {"fulltext": "116 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nabundant fruitage, is unquestionably clear in\\nthe course of the gospel in the apostolic minis-\\ntry. In the light of the apostolic ideal it be-\\ncame necessarily the need of the Church of\\nChrist to appreciate this all-sided office of the\\nHoly Spirit. The long evolution of Christian\\nhistory has had the meaning of its travail in the\\nendeavor to read all human life according to the\\nlife of the Son of God, and to live that life in\\nthe power of the Holy Spirit. From time to time\\na significant fact has not been wanting, namely,\\nthat there has been a study, or an emphasis,\\nmore or less fruitful of good, on the Holy Spirit.\\nEven when this Scripture doctrine has been sub-\\njected to error or disproportion, there was still\\nthe sign that it was making itself felt in agita-\\ntion, and was growing in the mind and heart of\\nthe Church for some practical good. For in-\\nstance, Montanism, in the second century, may\\nhave been wildly notional; or Mysticism, in the\\nMiddle Ages, may have been one-sidedly spirit-\\nual; or Pietism, in the seventeenth century,\\nmay have been narrowly practical; or Wesley-\\nanism, in the eighteenth century, may have been\\nunduly emotional. Nevertheless all along from\\nMontanus to Wesley, the doctrine has gone on\\ndeveloping itself in the apprehension of the\\nChurch, whether in the elimination of errors or\\nin the deposit of truth, until to-day, as never\\nbefore, God s people are ready to be filled with", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0122.jp2"}, "123": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 117\\nthe Holy Spirit, because to-day, as never before\\nsince the Apostolic ministry, the life of man is\\nopen on all sides to the light and life of God.\\nThe practical good of a thorough study of the\\nHoly Spirit to-day is that a clear view of this\\ndoctrine may help to bring together, healthily, all\\nthe needs of man and ail the blessings of God.\\nBut the focus of this benefit, as a study of the\\nsubject will increasingly disclose, lies just where,\\nso often in the past, the most, unhealthy repre-\\nsentations of Christian doctrine and Christian\\nlife have always had, and always will have, their\\noccasion; namely, in the maladjustment of the\\ndivine and the human, the supernatural and the\\nnatural, the inward and the outward. A true\\nappreciation of the blessings of the Holy Spirit\\nalways finally involves a healthy correspondence\\nof spirit and form in Christian thought and liv-\\ning. It is an astute criticism of Faber, I can-\\nnot think of one heresy which has not come\\neither from a disunion of the interior and exte-\\nrior, or a dwelling on one of them to the\\nneglect and depression of the other. This\\njudgment can be verified enough in historical\\ntheology to give it the credit of a true generaliz-\\nation. Its trueness is notably plain in the views\\nand exercises of certain periods as regards the\\nHoly Spirit. It ought to be the hope of our day\\nthat all this new interest in the Holy Spirit may\\nhave its richest fruitage in a clearer knowledge", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0123.jp2"}, "124": {"fulltext": "118 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nof the fine, deep relations between all truth and\\nall life, especially between the life of the senses\\nand the life of thought, more especially still be-\\ntween form and spirit as presented in the Chris-\\ntian religion. If a disunion of the interior\\nand the exterior does not go the length of here-\\nsy, it always does lead to one-sided thinking and\\ndwarfed living. It is the very genius and glory\\nof Christianity that it corrects, and transcends\\nall violent disruption between the interior and\\nthe exterior in religion, and discloses the living\\nrelation between Nature and Spirit in the uni-\\nverse. This vital, healthful comprehensiveness\\nof Christianity is indeed impressively summar-\\nized in the sound words, one Body, one Spirit,\\none Hope, one Lord, one Baptism, one God and\\nFather of all a formula which will ever be the\\ncrucial test of all thinking and teaching on the\\nHoly Spirit.\\nThis living theme, therefore, is altogether\\nworthy of a place in the discussions of a church\\ncongress. The entire time of such a conference\\nmight be spent profitably in its consideration.\\nBut in the present hour it may be found wise\\nand helpful to select intentionally a few aspects\\nof this broad subject, and to bring these under\\ncritical review. Again and again in theo-\\nlogical study the best method is to seize on the\\ncrucial points of some weighty doctrine, and to\\nendeavor to understand these in their truth and", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0124.jp2"}, "125": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 119\\nbearings, and thence to follow their logical rela-\\ntions to other truth and their practical results in\\nlife. With this purpose before us, let us essay\\nto understand some Crucial points concerning\\nthe Holy Spirit, as our understanding of these\\nwill necessarily determine our understanding of\\nthe rest of this important doctrine.\\n1. The Personality of the Holy Spirit.\\nThis is a decidedly crucial point. Every stu-\\ndent of the subject observes that, inevitably, in\\nall consideration of the Holy Spirit, the point\\ncomes up whether the Holy Spirit is a self-con-\\nscious person or merely an impersonal influence.\\nThe importance of this determination bears, it\\nwill be found, on some of the most practical\\nmatters of the gospel mission and the gospel\\nlife. It becomes really thus important and prac-\\ntical because the full truth concerning the Holy\\nSpirit affects all other truth of God s revelation\\nof himself to men, and, accordingly as we grasp\\nthese relations, whether in incipient faith or in\\ngrowing knowledge, will determine both our\\nthought and our experience as religious beings.\\nWhat, therefore, saith the Scripture? Let\\nthis be our treasure for consultation, what-\\never our theory of revelation or inspiration. All\\nwho accept the Bible as a record of God s reve-\\nlation of himself must come to this law and tes-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0125.jp2"}, "126": {"fulltext": "120 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\ntimony, if they would have in them either a light\\nfor knowledge or a lam^D for duty.\\nTo bring to a focus at once this question of\\nthe personality of the Holy Spirit, let us not\\nquote only some Scriptures of the A. V. or of\\nthe R. v., especially of the R. V., where the\\nnote of personality is altogether distinct in the\\nEnglish. Such a one is Rom. 8:16, The Spirit\\nhimself beareth witness with our spirit; or\\nRom. 8:26, The Spirit himself maketh inter-\\ncession for us. We are to remember, of course,\\nthat dispute seemingly might be justified over\\nthe fact that, in these passages, the pronoun in\\nthe Greek is neuter gender. But let us turn to\\nour Lord s farewell discourse to his disciples;\\nand here again and again there is to be seen an\\nindubitable emphasis of personality in the very\\nGreek pronouns. He shall teach you all\\nthings (John 14:26); He shall bear witness\\nof me (15:26); When he, the Spirit of truth,\\nis come (16:13); He shall glorify me (16:14).\\nEvery time here the Greek pronoun is in the\\nmasculine gender, and, as Greek students will\\nrecognize, the specially emphatic pronoun,\\neheinos.\\nBy no law nor reason of interpretation can\\nthese personal pronouns be explained as only a\\npersonification of an impersonal influence. In\\nthe expression of actual personality here we can\\nfind nothins: inconsistent nor absurd. In the", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0126.jp2"}, "127": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 121\\nuse of these personal terms there is no plain de-\\nparture from the facts and phraseology concern-\\ning the Holy Spirit elsewhere in the Scriptures.\\nNor is there at all any vivid play and interplay\\nof imaginative sights or sounds or actions, such\\nas universally are attributed to matter, or even\\nto spirit when personified. On the contrary,\\nevery sentence of our Lord concerning the office\\nof the Holy Spirit is notably plain, direct, actual,\\nfactual, with the idea of self-conscious per-\\nsonality.\\nUnquestionably these Scriptures are the\\nstrongest proof-texts of the personality of the\\nHoly Spirit. Their light irradiates the dozens\\nand dozens of other Scriptures in which his per-\\nsonality is taught either explicitly or implicitly.\\nSuch are Acts 10:20, Separate me Barnabas\\nand Saul; 1 Cor. 2:10, The Spirit searcheth\\nall things, yea, the deep things of God; 1 Cor.\\n12:11, The one and the same Spirit, dividing to\\neach one severally even as he will; Eph. 4:30,\\nAnd grieve not the Holy Spirit, in whom ye\\nwere sealed unto the day of redemption. But\\nespecially does Christ s emphasis of the Spirit s\\npersonality agree with those two well-known pas-\\nsages in which, fully and formally, the Father\\nand the Son and the Holy Spirit are associated\\nin a unity of name and blessing (Matt. 28:19\\nand 2 Cor. 13: 14). This striking use of the\\nname of the Holy Spirit, in the baptismal for-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0127.jp2"}, "128": {"fulltext": "122 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\ninula, is undoubtedly the Hebrew style of refer-\\nring to the essential person of the Spirit.\\nEqually does the supplication for the Spirit s\\nblessing, in the apostolic benediction, denote his\\nco-ordination with God and Christ as a person in\\nthe bestowal of grace. These two passages\\nalone, not to refer to others, logically evince the\\nthe scripturalness of the old creed in its confes-\\nsion of the Holy Spirit, who together with the\\nFather and the Son is worshiped and glorified.\\nThe worship of the Holy Spirit, of course, is\\nscripturally sound, not as sometimes heard in the\\ncant and rant of Protestant revivals, but, as a\\ntrue, logical inference, together with the Father\\nand the Son. Thus, by our very manner of\\nsound speech, as, for instance, in the precious\\nhistoric doxology, not being wise beyond what is\\nwritten, we may be wise in what is written, with\\nscriptural propriety and proportion.\\nThe scriptural estimate of the personality of\\nthe Holy Spirit has immensely practical conse-\\nquence in religious thought and life. Let us\\nconsider the chief concern of this truth in the\\npresent day. To-day there is a burning focus of\\ninterest on the subject of personality person-\\nality, both of man and of God; not only what\\npersonality is, but especially the practical issues\\nof man s personality in relation to the personal-\\nity of God. If self-conscious determination\\nconstitutes the essence of personality, it is easy", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0128.jp2"}, "129": {"fulltext": "THE HOIvY SPIRIT. 123\\nenough to see how all-important this fact be-\\ncomes in man s manifold life.\\nTo state the matter philosophically, man is, on\\nthe one hand, organically related to Nature on\\nthe other hand, he is organically related to\\nSpirit. Whatever he is rationally, his thinking\\nhas its organ in a sensuous brain; whatever he\\nis physically, he is a creature who looks before\\nand after, and whose thoughts wander through\\neternity. Given this twofold condition, it is\\nthe oflSce of reason in man to realize this ideal\\nunity of Nature and Spirit in the self-conscious-\\nness of personality.\\nTo state the matter scripturally, man is de-\\npendent on God, he is responsible to God, in\\nthe obedience of faith. Given this twofold con-\\ndition, it is man s salvation to work out this ex-\\nperience of dependence and responsibility in\\nfellowship with God not far-off, in whom man\\nlives and moves and has his being.\\nBut if self-conscious determination constitutes\\nthe essence of personality, then, as the whole his-\\ntory of human thought abundantly proves, man\\ncan know, for his highest good, his self-con-\\nscious, self-determinative personality, only in\\nvital, organic relation to the personality of God,\\nagainst either a drear Agnosticism or a fatalistic\\nPantheism.\\nIt is in relation to this supreme need of man,\\nin winning his own soul, that the doctrine of the", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0129.jp2"}, "130": {"fulltext": "124 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nHoly Spirit, as self-conscious and self -determina-\\ntive, is vitally important. Man, in the bondage\\nand guilt of sin, all the more needs a God\\ncloser than breathing, nearer than hands or\\nfeet. So has God come close to us, as he was\\nmanifested in the flesh; but so has he come\\ncloser still, as he was justified in the Spirit.\\nThe splendid truth of the Bible has its climax in\\nthe revelation of God in Christ; but the power\\nof this historic revelation henceforth has its\\ncourse in the presence and agency of the Holy\\nSpirit. But the office of the Holy Spirit, accord-\\ning to the Scriptures, is always connected not\\nonly with the Incarnation and Sacrifice of the\\nSon of God, but especially with the relation of\\nthe risen Lord to the gospel of salvation. The\\ngospel of salvation throbs with personality, in\\nheaven and on earth. The doctrine of the Holy\\nSpirit s personality, therefore, as he operates\\nthe historic gospel in co-operation with the\\nFather and the Son, is thrice important:\\n1. The Holy Spirit, as self-conscious and self-\\ndeterminative in operating the blessing of salva-\\ntion, illumines, invigorates, intensifies man s per-\\nsonality in self-conscious communion with God.\\nIn man s dire extremity, there may be ignorant,\\ninarticulate prayer; or, in view of his ideals, there\\nmay be noble living and fruitful service. Either\\nway, and always, according to the Scriptures in\\nwhich is set forth the most intimate influence of\\ni", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0130.jp2"}, "131": {"fulltext": "THE HOIvY SPIRIT. 125\\nthe Holy Spirit on man s spirit, we see deep,\\nrich experiences which can be fully interpreted\\nonly in the light of a unity of self-conscious, self-\\ndeterminative personality between the two.\\n2. The Holy Spirit, as self-conscious and self-\\ndeterminative in operating the blessing of salva-\\ntion, represents and conserves the Biblical idea\\nof the one true God, and of God s relation to\\nman as man s Creator and Savior. In the light\\nand life of this doctrine, God is alwa3^s personal,\\nnot some unknowable power not ourselves,\\nand man is always personal, accountable, capa-\\nble of knowing and communing with God.\\n3. The Holy Spirit, as self-conscious and self-\\ndeterminative in operating the blessing of salva-\\ntion, vitally correlates the historic gospel with\\nthe obedience of faith. In this vital operation\\nin which man as a dual being is concerned nec-\\nessarily with sense as well as spirit, the Holy\\nSpirit, mediating the blessing of the historic and\\nliving Lord, unites truth and message, doctrine\\nand life, word and sacrament, in the essential\\nrelation of self-conscious intelligence between\\nthe Spirit of God and the spirit of man.\\nBaptism in the Holy Spirit.\\nIt is a matter for deep regret that this point\\nof the Scripture doctrine concerning the Holy\\nSpirit has been the occasion of such raging con-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0131.jp2"}, "132": {"fulltext": "126 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\ntroversy. It is to be regretted all the more that\\nthis hot debate has been mixed up with evan-\\ngelism, and has engendered both errors of doc-\\ntrine and errors of practice. We cannot be\\ntoo careful in measuring every line of the\\nWord of God on this point, while remem-\\nbering] Trench s golden counsel to interpret\\nScripture primarily in the light of its grammar,\\nand let the doctrine take care of itself. Amid\\ncloudy vagaries there is so often a temptation to\\ndissipate them by unconsciously explaining away\\nthis or that Scripture in the interest of some\\nfancied harmony of truth. When we are led to\\ndo this, then, as Jowett says, we had as well\\nshut our grammars and dictionaries and draw\\nlots for the sense. Let our study of baptism in\\nthe Holy Spirit be a clear, straightforward in-\\nduction of the Scriptures that teach it. Then\\nwe shall be all the better able to refute errors of\\ndoctrine and cure errors of practice in our posi-\\ntive elicitation of the entire truth on the subject.\\nOn certain aspects of this crucial point there\\nhave been and can be no differences of opinion.\\nWe all agree that, according to the Scriptures,\\nit was to be a distinctive feature of the mission\\nof Jesus to baptize in the Holy Spirit. We all\\nagree that such a baptism occurred on the Day\\nof Pentecost and in the house of Cornelius.\\nBut then we begin to disagree on the matter;\\nand the point of disagreement is whether bap-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0132.jp2"}, "133": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 127\\ntism in the Spirit occurred only thus twice, or\\noftener, and especially whether it may be ex-\\npected to-day.\\nLet us not pause over the Scripture in dis-\\npute I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all\\nflesh (Acts 2:17) whether its meaning was\\nexhausted on the Day of Pentecost and in the\\nhouse of Cornelius. Nor let us care just now\\neither to affirm or to deny that certain miracu-\\nlous effects of this baptism prove necessarily\\nthat it was limited to these two occasions. Let\\nus examine the Scriptures whether there is the\\nfact or the truth further of baptism in the Holy\\nSpirit, either in explicit statement or by logical\\nimplication. If there is, then let the doctrine\\ntake care of itself, while we endeavor to elicit\\nits whole, exact meaning, without anxiety that\\nsome fancied harmony of doctrine will be sacri-\\nficed, or that certain practical dangers will be\\nengendered.\\nLet us accordingly examine the following\\nScriptures\\n1. 1 Cor. 12:13, For in one Spirit were we\\nall baptized into one body, whether Jews or\\nGreeks; and were all made to drink of one\\nSpirit. The Revised Version here is tellingly\\naccurate. It states a definite fact of the past.\\nIt affirms that fact of a totality of persons. The\\nfact is simply, unambiguously described as a", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0133.jp2"}, "134": {"fulltext": "128 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nbaptism in the Spirit, and as a draught of the\\nSpirit.\\n2. 1 Cor. 6: 11, And such were some of\\nyou but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified,\\nbut ye were justified in the name of our Lord\\nJesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God. It\\nis rather strange that this explicit Scripture has\\nbeen neglected in the big controversy on this\\nsubject. But the exact rendering of the Re-\\nvised Version now brings it forward as an indis-\\nputable proof-text of baptism in the Spirit.\\nPaul is revealing the secret of the marvelous\\nchange for good in the lives of his Corinthian\\nconverts. They were washed, that is, bap-\\ntized, not only baptized but sanctified, not\\nonly sanctified but justified, all in the\\nname of the Lord Jesus Christ, and baptized,\\nsanctified, justified, in the Spirit of our God.\\nThe glowing affirmations of their conversion\\nhang together in a vital connection with the\\nLord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.\\n3. Titus 3: 5, 6, Not by works done in right-\\neousness, which we did ourselves, but according\\nto his mercy he saved us, through the washing of\\nregeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,\\nwhich he poured out upon us richly, through\\nJesus Christ our Savior. Here again the Re-\\nvised Version is priceless, with its accurate, del-\\nicate revisions. In their light the logical pro-\\npriety, if not necessity, of inferring here also", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0134.jp2"}, "135": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 129\\nbaptism in the Holy Spirit, stands out all the\\nclearer. Which he poured out upon us richly\\nthese words so tally with Acts 2: 17, I will\\npour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh, that,\\nalong with the explicit wording of 1 Cor. 12: 13\\nand 6: 11, just considered, they may be regarded\\nnot only a literary felicity, but a doctrinal land-\\nmark concerning baptism in the Holy Spirit.\\n4. Eph. 5: 18, And be not drunken with\\nwine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the\\nSpirit. So also this Scripture. It is the doc-\\ntrine of a complete occupancy of life with the\\nHoly Spirit. The very contrast with the influ-\\nence of wine, to denote the abundant, pervasive\\ninfluence of the Holy Spirit, logically justifies\\nthe conception as baptism in the Spirit, both\\nfrom a literary as well as from a doctrinal point\\nof view.\\n5. John 7: 38, 39, He that believeth on me,\\nas the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall\\nflow rivers of living water. But this spake he\\nof the Spirit which they that believed on him\\nwere to receive: for the Spirit was not yet\\ngiven; because Jesus was not yet glorified.\\nThe figure impressively exhibits the overflowing\\nblessing of the Holy Spirit flowing into the\\nbeliever and filling him, flowing out of him and\\ncopiously refreshing others. To describe the\\nblessing as baptism in the Spirit, is altogether\\ntrue and accurate.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0135.jp2"}, "136": {"fulltext": "130 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\n6, Eph. 3: 14-19, Tor this cause I bow my\\nknees unto the Father, from whom every family\\nin heaven and on earth is named, that he would\\ngrant you, according to the riches of his glory,\\nthat ye may be strengthened with power through\\nhis Spirit in the inward man; that Christ may\\ndwell in your hearts through faith to the end\\nthat ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may\\nbe strong to apprehend with all the saints what\\nis the breadth and length and height and depth,\\nand to know the love of Christ which passeth\\nknowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the\\nfullness of God. All of divine revelation, all\\nof human salvation, are in this sublime prayer.\\nThe deepest capacities of the Christian heart\\nare searched; his widest experiences are in-\\ncluded; his loftiest attainments are idealized.\\nStrength, faith, love, knowledge in the unity of\\nman s perfect character, as this is perfected and\\nfilled with the riches of the glory of the triune\\nGod Father, Son and Holy Spirit all, all are\\nhere. Again the Holy Spirit and the glorified\\nChrist are pictured together. The certainty of\\nthe historic faith, the assurance of the personal\\nexperience these appear in their healthy unity\\nand the Spirit s office in the disciple, through\\nthe process of salvation in its vital unity of\\nlight and love, is ever filling the disciple unto\\nall the fullness of God. Nothing short of bap-\\ntism in the Holy Spirit, fact and figure, can rep-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0136.jp2"}, "137": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 131\\nresent the marvelous blessing. The crucial\\npoint, therefore, of baptism in the Holy Spirit,\\ncertainly simplifies itself in view of these six\\nScriptures. In these, baptism in the Spirit is\\ntaught in the first two passages, explicitly; in\\nthe other four, implicitly. If we confined our\\nstudy to 1 Cor. 12: 13 and 6: 11, there would\\nconfront us a plain statement of baptism in the\\nSpirit, beyond the day of Pentecost, beyond the\\nhouse of Cornelius. Let us not straightway\\ndeny this explicit doctrine, or begin to explain it\\naway in answer to some supposed requirement\\nof interpretation. The doctrine can take care\\nof itself against every difficulty of interpreta-\\ntion, whether you and I are successful in solving\\nthe difficulty or not. The doctrine can take care\\nof itself against every danger of practice,\\nwhether you and I are wise in avoiding the\\ndanger or not. We can do nothing against the\\ntruth, but for the truth, says Paul, in his splen-\\ndid hyperbole. You and I may lose much good,\\nand may do much harm by our wrong teaching\\nof truth and our vrong application of it; but\\nthe truth itself always at last prevails over our\\nmisteaching and malpractice. The Scriptures\\nemphatically teach baptism in the Holy Spirit\\nbeyond the day of Pentecost, beyond the house\\nof Cornelius. Let us hear it, and receive it,\\nand understand it, not deny it nor explain it\\naway, but make the most of it for our practical", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0137.jp2"}, "138": {"fulltext": "132 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\ngood, while we learn to explode errors, and solve\\ndifficulties, and avoid dangers, and cure mis-\\nchievous waj^s of evangelism.\\nFor instance, is it difficult to understand why\\nmiraculous effects do not follow every baptism\\nin the Spirit? There need be no difficulty here.\\nIn the light of the Scriptures, it is plain enough\\nthat miracles were an incidental or temporary,\\nnot a necessary nor permanent accompaniment\\nof baptism in the Spirit. Or, is there a ques-\\ntion, what, then, about the one baptism of\\nEph. 4: 6? which is it, and how then more than\\none? There need be no difficulty here. The\\none baptism of Eph. 4: 6 is the one bap-\\ntism of the Grreat Commission. Indeed, it is\\none baptism in 1 Cor. 12: 13 and 6: 11. But\\nthe one baptism in water is none the less,\\nwhen rightly received, baptism in the Spirit.\\nThe abundant presence of the Holy Spirit does\\nnot annul the baptism in water. Neither bap-\\ntism in the Spirit, nor baptism in sorrow, nor\\nbaptism in fire, which the Scriptures also teach,\\nevacuates the one baptism in water of its\\nmeaning of unity. It is not one baptism as\\ncounting times nor excluding other exercises\\ntermed baptism, but one baptism in its richly\\nunifying purposes and effects in evangelism.\\nThe one baptism in water does not lose its\\nunity of meaning and phrase because it is also a\\nbaptism in the Spirit, or because there may be", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0138.jp2"}, "139": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 133\\nalso a baptism in sorrow, or a baptism in fire, or\\na baptism in the Spirit.\\nThe really serious concern about baptism in\\nthe Spirit is a practical one. The doctrine has\\nsuffered caricature and perversion in evangelism.\\nBaptism in the Holy Spirit has been looked at in\\nan abstract, isolated way. Sinners have been\\nexhorted to pray for and expect it, in passiv^e\\nwaiting, wholly aside from obedience to the gos-\\npel. Consequently the promise of salvation has\\ngot mixed up with how one feels, and certain\\nelectric sensations have been described as the\\nsign of pardon and acceptance with God. But\\nthis error and malpractice are not to be cured\\nby false exegesis and false logic. The sover-\\neignty of the Holy Spirit in evangelism must be\\nduly recognized. If the gospel, with its facts,\\nits precepts, its promises, is not to be ignored\\nwhen the Holy Spirit is in view, neither are the\\npresence and agency of the Holy Spirit to be\\nignored as the gospel is in progress. We are to\\ncure or prevent the extravagances of revivalism,\\nnot by explaining away nor ignoring a present\\nbaptism in the Spirit, but by preaching all the\\nmore insistently the gospel of grace, instructing\\nand exhorting sinners to obey it, while we also\\nare careful to explain the rich, varied meaning\\nof baptism in the Spirit, and especially to cor-\\nrelate it soundly with the message of faith and\\nthe obedience of faith.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0139.jp2"}, "140": {"fulltext": "134 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nIn a positive light, therefore, we should intel-\\nligently and devoutly make all that the Word of\\nGod so obviously makes of baptism in the Holy\\nSpirit. Let us not pervert the truth in error or\\nmalpractice. Let us not make a hobby of the\\ntruth and ride it in the pride of self-conceit and\\nself-deceit. How are we finally to regard it\\naright in the light of the Word of God? What\\nis its whole secret, in view of which Ave may see\\nits meaning at once in summary and detail?\\nBaptism in the Holy Spirit is a luminous figure\\nof speech, to denote the superabundant in-fluence of\\nthe Holy Spirit in salvation.\\nIt is a figure at once simple and rich. It is a\\nsimple figure of a rich fact. It is a figure, not\\ntechnical, but poetical; not abstract, but vital\\nbecause the fact is illimitable and immeasurable.\\nIt is a free and fluent figure of speech, to picture\\nthe suberabundant influence of the Holy Spirit,\\nwhether in revelation, or regeneration, or re-\\nnewal, or enduement, or administration. It is\\npre-eminently the figure to describe this super-\\nabundant influence of the Holy Spirit at any or\\nevery stage of his office in man s salvation.\\nWhen a pagan fell down in the presence of the\\nCorinthian Church, and worshiped God, declar-\\ning, God is among you, indeed, such over-\\nwhelming conviction may well be called bajDtism\\nin the Holy Spirit. When the humble con-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0140.jp2"}, "141": {"fulltext": "THE HOIvY SPIRIT. 135\\nfessor, convicted of sin and believing in his\\nheart on Jesus, says with the mouth from the\\nheart, Jesus is Lord, and says it, as Paul\\nteaches it can be said, only *in the Holy Spirit,\\nsuch heartfelt confession may be fittingly pic-\\ntured as baptism in the Holy Spirit. When the\\ncandidate, in the water of the one baptism, a\\npenitent believer, is baptized into the name of\\nthe Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy\\nSpirit, this obedience of faith recalls at once\\nthe very verse of Scripture, In one Spirit were\\nwe all baptized into one body, whether Jews or\\nGreeks, whether bond or free; and were all\\nmade to drink of one Spirit. Nay, this climax\\nof obedience in the one baptism, even as it\\nsums up and consummates all faith and blessing\\ngoing before, at once becomes the type, the\\nideal, the secret of all faith and blessing coming\\nafter; and the blessing of the Holy Spirit re-\\nceived there, scripturally termed baptism in the\\nHoly Spirit, may be renewed daily in prayer and\\nservice, if we have the faith to seek more and\\nmore the fullness of the gift of the Holy Spirit,\\nedifyingly conceived and expressed as baptism in\\nthe Holy Spirit. Nay, further, this measureless\\npresence of the Holy Spirit, of whose fullness\\none begins to receive in regeneration^ of whose\\nfullness one continues to receive in reneival the\\nmeasure of one s faith, the measure of one s\\nreception one receives more capaciously still in", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0141.jp2"}, "142": {"fulltext": "136 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nenduement, as one not only seeks it for some un-\\nselfish service of others, but seeks it especially\\nalong with other servants of Christ in the mani-\\nfold administration of the offices and gifts of\\nthe body of Christ.\\nSuch, according to the Scriptures, is the mean-\\ning, the large meaning, of baptism in the Spirit\\nhis measureless presence in his operation of sal-\\nvation. It is not an exceptional nor transient\\ninfluence for just one end. It is not even a reg-\\nular, permanent influence just for one effect.\\nAs it is measureless, so is it not to be singled out,\\nisolated, identified with only a particular step or\\nstage of salvation. On the other hand, it is\\nconcurrent with the whole of salvation a meas-\\nureless presence of the Spirit himself in operat-\\ning salvation, received by man more and more\\nfully in an increasing faith. It may have a crisis\\nor an emphasis in one s experience; still it is\\nceaseless and measureless in operation, with\\nmanifold purposes and results in the process of\\none s salvation.\\nIII. Method of the Holy Spirit s Operation in\\nSalvation.\\nThe debate over baptism in the Holy Spirit\\nhas been only a part of the larger controversy\\non the method of the Holy Spirit s operation in\\nsalvation. Let no one say that this is a needless", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0142.jp2"}, "143": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 137\\nsubject for study. It is a decidedly crucial point\\nfor more than one reason. Our view of the\\nmethod of the Holy Spirit s operation in salva-\\ntion will not only affect our evangelism, but it will\\nnone the less certainly determine the temper and\\ntone of our spiritual life. If we have not a\\nscriptural understanding of the matter, we shall\\nfind ourselves either absorbed morbidly in\\nthought and talk about the Holy Spirit, or\\nplainly silent in either testimony or prayer. The\\nfull appreciation of the Scripture concerning\\nthe Holy Spirit especially requires us to correlate\\nsoundly his person with his office in man s salva-\\ntion. On this critical point concerning the Holy\\nSpirit s method in operating human salvation,\\nthere has been an oscillation between two errors.\\n1. There is the error of mysticism. It has\\nshown itself in various phases. Sometimes it\\nhas been a habit of the devotee to disregard the\\nsenses, even to deny any reality to what is seen\\nand heard, to become wholly absorbed in what\\nthe mystic calls direct visions of God and direct\\ncommunications with him. Historically, it has\\nsubserved good in counteracting barren dogmas,\\nburdensome rites, scandalous immoralities. In\\ncertain provincial circuits, it has uttered ex-\\ntreme language about the condition of the sin-\\nner. It has represented him as dead in tres-\\npasses and in sins as Lazarus was in the grave.\\nIt has disowned Sunday-schools or missionary", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0143.jp2"}, "144": {"fulltext": "138 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nsocieties, or any agency concerned with teaching\\nthe Bible to children or preaching the gospel\\nto the whole creation. It has notably voiced\\nsuch phrases as only a book-religion, *mere\\nhistorical gospel, the word a dead letter.\\nIt has affected to commune with God, or to\\nreceive salvation, in what it calls the direct,\\nimmediate operation of the Spirit, separate and\\napart from the word of the truth of the gos-\\npel, the latter thus far needless or impotent.\\n2. There is the error of rationalism. It has\\nshown itself in various phases. Sometimes it\\nhas been a habit of the skeptic to disregard a\\nsupernatural revelation, even to deny the need\\nof a voice from heaven or a vision in a cloud, to\\njudge one s self able, in independent exercises\\nof reason, to know Deity and duty and immor-\\ntality, and self-sufficient in working out one s\\nown salvation and destiny. Historically, it has\\nsubserved good in counteracting tyrannous creeds\\nand exclusive hierarchies. In certain provincial\\ncircuits it has uttered extreme language about\\nthe condition of the sinner. It has represented\\nhim as naturally able to hear and receive salva-\\ntion without any need of an initiative influence\\nof God in the ability. It has magnified human\\nagencies, schools, societies, services, programmes,\\nways, means, personalties, individualities, meth-\\nods of work and mannerisms of the worker. Its\\nutterances are on record, either in print or in", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0144.jp2"}, "145": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 139\\nmemory, such as, The Holy Spirit has finished\\nhis work in inspiring the apostles and leading\\nthem into all truth; and now we must use sim-\\nply moral suasion to induce sinners to obey the\\ngospel. Indeed, there have been more extreme\\nutterances in a more colloquial style. The\\nNew Testament is all the Holy Spirit there is to-\\nday; The Spirit has left a will of blessing for\\nsinners; it is on file in the clerk s oflice in Jeru-\\nsalem, where they can go and read and comply\\nwith its conditions and enjoy its privileges.\\nFinally, to rebut the mystical notion that the\\nSpirit operates in salvation separately and apart\\nfrom the Word of Truth, it has affirmed the mis-\\nleading negation that the Spirit operates to these\\nends only through the Word.\\nNow, it is soundly scriptural to confute th^\\nerror of mysticism by appealing to Scripture\\nupon Scripture that teaches the operation of the\\nHoly Spirit in salvation through the word of\\nthe truth of the gospel. When sinners are left\\nin sad suspense for weeks and months concern-\\ning salvation, it is a great privilege to show them\\nthe Scriptures that teach the agency of the\\nSpirit in closest union with Word and Gospel\\nenlightened by the Word (Psa. 119: 130), begot-\\nten through the Word (1 Pet. 1: 23-25), sancti-\\nfied by the Word (John 17: 17), edified by the\\nWord (Acts 20: 32). It can be proved incon-\\ntestably that the salvation of sinners, in the", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0145.jp2"}, "146": {"fulltext": "140 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\napostolic ministry, was too constantly exhibited\\nin certain intimate connection of the Holy Spirit\\nwith the word of the truth of the gospel to\\njustify any procedure that practically silences or\\nmuffles the voice of the gospel, with its facts to\\nbe believed, its precepts to be obeyed, its prom-\\nises to be enjoyed. It is a momentous triumph\\nof evangelism for one to be able to preach the\\ngospel in this way, knowing the Scriptures and\\nthe power of God.\\nBut while we make void this error of mysti-\\ncism, we cannot be too careful against establish-\\ning the error of rationalism, as regards the\\nmethod of the Holy Spirit s operation in salva-\\ntion. The crucial point, where this error may\\nget a foothold in our understanding, may be ex-\\nhibited in one s habitual conception of the rela-\\ntion of the Holy Spirit s presence to his method\\nin operating salvation. Is it simply a presence\\nof record in the Scriptures, true and intelligible\\nin the narration, but a record, a memory, a tra-\\ndition of the past only, good for argument and\\nproof of facts, but a history only? or is it still\\na living force of itself, as live and real as when\\nthousands of sinners, pierced to the heart in\\nwhat they heard, cried out for relief? Is it a\\npresence in the gospel like water gathered in a\\ncistern, or like water flowing out of a fountain?\\nIs it a presence in the Word like the echoes of a\\nvoice, echoes only, where the original speaker", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0146.jp2"}, "147": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 141\\nnot only is silent, but must let the word go forth\\nout of his mouth, himself henceforth both inac-\\ntive and ignorant whether the word shall not\\nreturn unto him void, or accomplish that which\\nhe pleases, or shall prosper in the thing whereto\\nhe sent it? Is it a presence in the truth simply\\nlike the presence of a human spirit, where the\\nteacher of a truth may be wholly unconscious of\\nthe way and struggle of the truth he has taught,\\nas it runs in noontide glory or is darkened in\\nmidnight ages of error, as it is crushed to earth\\nor arises again in God s eternal years? Critic-\\nally, crucially, this is the point is the presence\\nof the Holy Spirit, in his scriptural office of\\noperating salvation, historical only, or eternal;\\ntraditional merely, or continuous; unconsciously\\npassive, or consciously active; a mechanical iso-\\nlation from the person of the Spirit, or a dyna-\\nmic influence forever in the purposes and energies\\nof his being?\\nThe crucial point, therefore, for both thought\\nand life, is to conceive and cherish aright, script-\\nurally, the presence of the Holy Spirit himself in\\nrelation to his method of operating salvation.\\nThe very foundation of this sound, scriptural\\nconception is the fact that his presence is eter-\\nnal, continuous, consciously active, a ceaseless,\\npotent influence in Christian doctrine and Chris-\\ntian life. Holding fast this conception, we are", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0147.jp2"}, "148": {"fulltext": "142 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nthen prepared to correlate his presence with his\\nmethod in operating salvation.\\nHere again we may begin to understand this\\nrelation in view of a familiar controversy on the\\nsubject. It has often been a debate whether the\\nHoly Spirit, in his office of conversion and sanc-\\ntification, operates on the human soul indi-\\nrectly or directly, mediately or imme-\\ndiately, only through the Word or separately\\nand apart from the Word. There could not be\\na more needless debate in religious matters.\\nIt is possible at all only as each opponent en-\\ndeavors to express absolutely, in the language of\\nthe senses, what pertains to the sphere and\\nactivity of spirit. A full examination of the\\nScripture doctrine will show that such terms as\\nmediately or immediately, applied to the\\nHoly Spirit s office in salvation, cannot be used\\nin a rigid, exclusive sense of di:fference. Rather,\\nit will be seen that the Scriptures teach a neces-\\nsary relation of the Spirit s person to the\\nSpirit s office in man s salvation, so that the\\nterms mediately or immediately must find,\\nnot contrariety, but harmony of meaning as re-\\ngards the Spirit s operation.\\nThe Scripture doctrine, therefore, concerning\\nthe Holy Spirit, again and again represents and\\nemphases the person of the Spirit as truth. In\\nthe words of Jesus (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13),\\nnotably, he is the Spirit of truth. According", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0148.jp2"}, "149": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 143\\nto the Apostle John, to quote the exact language\\nof the Revised Version, The Spirit is the\\ntruth (1 John 5:8). Words cannot more plain-\\nly teach the essential unity of the Spirit s per-\\nson and the Spirit s office. Word s cannot\\nmore plainly teach that the office of the Spirit\\ninheres in and grows out of his very nature as\\ntruth.\\nParticularly must we appreciate this delicate\\nScripture use of truth in relation to the two\\nother Scripture terms, word and gospel.\\nEvidently Truth is the more comprehensive,\\nmore appropriate term to characterize the person\\nof the Spirit. Truth includes Gospel, which ex-\\npresses the good news of salvation. Truth in-\\ncludes Word, which denotes the revelation and\\nrecord of the will of God in the Bible. But\\nTruth includes also the revelation of God in\\nthe starry heavens above and in the moral law\\nwithin, in each hint of nature and in the still,\\nsmall voice of conscience. Truth, more than\\nGospel or Word, is a term of Spirit, the very\\nterm to express the profound unity of the Holy\\nSpirit s person and office in salvation The\\nSpirit is the truth.\\nHealthily, beautifully, impressively indeed, do\\nthe Scriptures set forth this vital relation of the\\nSpirit himself to his office. They say significant-\\nly, not responsible for the errors of mysticism,\\nWhither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0149.jp2"}, "150": {"fulltext": "144 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nshall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up\\ninto heaven, thou art there. If I makp my bed\\nin Sheol, behold, thou art there. If I take the\\nwings of the morning, and dwell in the utter-\\nmost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand\\nlead me, and thy right hand shall hold me (Psa.\\n139:7-10). They say significantly, not responsi-\\nble for the errors of rationalism, This is he\\nthat came by water and blood, even Jesus\\nChrist; not in the water only, but in the water\\nand in the blood. And it is the Spirit that bear-\\neth witness, because the Spirit is the truth (1\\nJohn 5:6, 7). Thus, according to the Script-\\nures, the Spirit of God is everywhere in pagan\\ntwilights, in Jewish moonlights, in Christian\\nsunlights. He understands man s thoughts, he\\nsearches out man s paths, he besets man behind\\nand before he strives with man according to\\ntruth, in Nature, or Law, or Gospel. Thus, ac-\\ncording to the Scriptures, his presence in pagan\\ntwilights of conscience, or in Jewish moonlights\\nof psalm and prophecy, becomes a larger, a fuller,\\na measureless presence in the sunlight of the\\nGospel of the Son of God s love. Here, most\\nsignificantly of all, his presence becomes power\\nin vital relation to the Incarnation, the Recon-\\nciliation, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. His\\npresence, eternal, continuous, potent, as exer-\\ncised in his office, is truly described as the law\\nof the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0150.jp2"}, "151": {"fulltext": "THE HOivY Spirit. 145\\nTo understand soundly, therefore, the Holy\\nSpirit s method in operating salvation, to guard\\nagainst both mysticism and rationalism, we must\\nbe careful to hold together his person and his\\noffice in the light of the Scripture unity The\\nSpirit is the truth. The trite phrases of debate,\\ndirect operation, or indirect operation,\\nmediate presence or immediate presence,\\nused as exclusive definitions, cannot scripturally\\nrepresent the Holy Spirit s presence and agency\\nin salvation. Equally in the light of the Script-\\nures and in the light of the philosophy of spirit,\\nthe Holy Spirit s presence and operation in sal-\\nvation are at once immediate and mediate at\\none and the same time, mediate and immediate.\\nStated scripturally, the presence of the Holy\\nSpirit, self-conscious, self-determinative, in oper-\\nating salvation, is immediately related to the\\nword of the truth of the gospel. The imme-\\ndiacy of the Spirit s presence and power is in\\nand through the word of the truth of the gos-\\npel. His mediate operation through the word\\nof the truth of the gospel involves necessarily his\\nimmediate presence in the word of the truth\\nof the gospel. In one sentence, the full rea-\\nson of the Holy Spirit s immediate presence\\nvitally in his mediate operation, as the law of\\nthe Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, making men\\nfree from the law of sin and death, is that it is\\nthe presence of the Spirit of life who, in\\n10", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0151.jp2"}, "152": {"fulltext": "146 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\npresence and operation, is the truth (Rom.\\n8:2; IJohn 5:6).\\nStated philosophically, the presence of the\\nSpirit, anywhere, everywhere, is essentially a\\npresence of intelligence or truth, and necessa-\\nrily a presence of law. His essence is light, his\\nnature is intelligence, his manifestation is truth,\\nhis operation is law. So is his presence imme-\\ndiately related to all the reason and thought of\\nthe universe, whether of mind infinite or mind\\nfinite. It is none the less a true immediacy of\\npresence because of it may be truly predicated a\\nmediacy of relation or operation. The mediacy\\nof his operation is not to be conceived nor cher-\\nished, to the exclusion of the immediacy of his\\npresence. His immediate presence and his\\nmediate operation bear to one another an ener-\\ngetic relation. The mediacy of his operation is\\nin and of the immediacy of his presence the\\nimmediacy of his presence fills and feeds the\\nmediacy of his operation. His mediate opera-\\ntion flows from his immediate presence; his im-\\nmediate presence becomes the law of his mediate\\noperation. In one sentence, the mediacy of the\\nSpirit is really his immediacy viewed according\\nto his person his essence light, his nature intel-\\nligence, his manifestation truth, his operation\\nlaw as the glory of the sun is beheld in each\\nsmall, far-off ray, each small, far-off ray the\\nmediation for human, finite eyes, of the glory", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0152.jp2"}, "153": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 147\\nwhich nevertheless outshines and passes beyond\\nthe horizon of our wondering gaze.\\nSuch are the crucial points concerning the\\nHoly Spirit the personality of the Spirit, bap-\\ntism in the Spirit, the method of the Spirit s\\noperation in salvation. The Holy Spirit is not\\nan impersonal influence, but a person self-con-\\nscious and self-determinative. His presence in\\nthe Christian economy is baptismal in measure\\nand power. His operation of human salvation,\\nthe office of self-conscious, self-determinative\\nSpirit, measureless in his presence, is in organic\\nunity with his nature as the truth, and thus\\nbecomes the law of the Spirit of life in Christ\\nJesus.\\nIn view of these conclusions of this essay on\\nthe Holy Spirit, two cardinal lessons may be\\ndrawn.\\n1. The sound interpretation of the person\\nand office of the Holy Spirit in salvation will\\nexert both an enlightening and a steadying influ-\\nence in the progress of the Kingdom of God in\\nthis age. These meeting points of God and man\\nin the consciousness of this age we cannot be\\ntoo wise nor diligent in knowing them and cor-\\nrelating them for the good of all. The influ-\\nence of the Holy Spirit in his measureless pres-\\nence, scripturally understood and cherished, will\\nenable us to live by all sides of our being, in the\\nhealthy unity of Nature and Spirit. Right there", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0153.jp2"}, "154": {"fulltext": "148 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nthe Holy Spirit concentrates his operation,\\nagainst frigid deism, against blincl pantheism,\\nagainst airy mysticism, against vapid rationalism.\\nHis one great aim is to bring the life of Jesus\\nChrist and the life of man into the perfect union\\nof body and soul. If he bears witness with our\\nspirit that we are children of God, he also makes\\nthe body a temple for his presence. The two\\nsacraments, baptism and the Lord s Supper, are\\nthe symbols of the Holy Spirit s operation of\\njoining man in holy fellowship with the risen\\nLord. All life thence becomes sacramental\\nunder the influence of such a presence. Fire-\\nside and shop and market and field and\\nthoroughfare, the merchant s counter and the\\nstudent s desk, the private closet and the public\\nsanctuary, all have in them the promise and\\npotency of the Holy Spirit s presence. So shall\\nwe avoid Romish sacerdotalism; so shall we\\navoid Protestant provincialism. So in this age\\nof expansion of environment and thought, when\\nNature reveals her subtlest forces, when society\\nbecomes more intensely self-conscious with the\\nideas of liberty, fraternity, equality, shall we be\\nwise and strong, under the influence of the Holy\\nSpirit, to reproduce the life of the Son of God\\nthat died, yea, rather that was raised from the\\ndead, who is at the right hand of God, who also\\nmaketh intercession for us.\\n2. The sound interpretation of the person", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0154.jp2"}, "155": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 149\\nand office of the Holy Spirit in salvation should\\ntest us whether we are making the most of his\\nblessing practically for our individual good.\\nThere is not a duty nor a promise, not an experi-\\nence nor a blessing, of the Christian life, but,\\naccording to the Scriptures, is vitally connected\\nwith the presence of the Holy Spirit. Notably\\nis his presence expressed or implied in the hid-\\nden motives and woful needs of human life.\\nWhy hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the\\nHoly Spirit? (Acts 5:3); Grieve not the Holy\\nSpirit (Eph. 4:30); We know not how to\\npray as we ought; but the Holy Spirit himself\\nmaketh intercession for us with groanings which\\ncannot be uttered (Rom. 8: 26). These Script-\\nures unquestionably set forth the presence and\\noperation of the Holy Spirit, self-conscious and\\nself-determinative, with whom we have to do.\\nThe practical question then is, as we read the\\ndoctrine, as we interpret the doctrine, does the\\ndoctrine have its sound influence in all our\\nthinking and living? One test alone is decisive.\\nNot slighting either Word or Sacrament, do we\\nfind ourselves not indifferent nor silent concern-\\ning the Holy Spirit himself? As we seek to live\\nin the Spirit, are we all the better enabled to\\nrealize his blessing because we correlate soundly\\nhis person and his office, and speak of him freely\\naccording to his law and testimony?\\nLet the memorable apostolic exhortation", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0155.jp2"}, "156": {"fulltext": "150 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\n(Eph. 4: 3-6) be the fitting summary of this\\nessay. It is the classic Scripture on the sub-\\nject, as it emphasizes the unity of the Spirit.\\nThat rich phrase, the unity of the Spirit, sig-\\nnificantly contains all of the Holy Spirit s person\\nand his manifold operation in salvation. Giv-\\ning all diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit\\nin the bond of peace. One Body and one Spirit,\\neven as ye were called in one Hope of your call-\\ning: one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God\\nand Father of all, Avho is over all, and through\\nall, and in all.\\nR. T. Mathews.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0156.jp2"}, "157": {"fulltext": "Crucial points Concerning tbc Roly\\nSpirit 3 Review.\\nTHE essay is a vigorous treatment of this very\\ninteresting subject. I commend highly the\\nspirit of the paper, and ask for it a most\\nthoughtful reading, for it is the product of a\\nscholarly mind on this vitally important theme.\\nThe writer is an independent thinker, fearless in\\nexpressing himself, but is no dogmatist. He has\\nboldly written what he has said in the search for\\ntruth, in the conscientious belief that he is right.\\nFrom investigation we have nothing to fear.\\nTruth is the end we seek. Let it be had at any\\ncost. A more difficult subject is not presented\\nin holy writ, nor is there one more in need of\\nthorough investigation and profound handling.\\nThe subject is timely, the paper well written, its\\nspirit commendable. In this, as in all questions,\\nlet us be sure that our conclusions have the sanc-\\ntion of the Scriptures. The Word of God is our\\nfinal court of appeal on all subjects pertaining\\nto life and salvation. Beyond its teaching we\\ndare not go. From its pages much may yet re-\\nmain to be learned. The Bible is our pillar of\\ncloud by day, our pillar of fire by night. Let\\nus not seek to be wise above what is written. It\\n151", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0157.jp2"}, "158": {"fulltext": "152 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nis a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our\\npath. It reveals all we know of God and Christ\\nand the Holy Spirit. Therefore our investiga-\\ntion of this subject must be scriptural iu order\\nto be sound. If not scriptural, it will be all\\nsound and no sense.\\nThe essayist finds three crucial points in\\nthe subject.\\n1 The Personality of the Holy Spirit.\\nThis is a crucial point. We have heard so\\nmuch about the influence of the Holy Spirit that\\nwe are apt to forget that he is actually a person.\\nThere is a tendency to regard the Holy Spirit as\\nan emanation flowing from the Father or the\\nSon, and not to think of him as a distinct per-\\nsonality. It is easy to think of the Father as a\\nperson, and it is no hard matter to look upon\\nthe Son as a person. The names Father and\\nSon, are associated in our minds with actual,\\nliving persons. But when we come to deal with\\nthe Holy Spirit we find his acts are so separated\\nfrom everything that appeals to sense, and so\\nmuch that is mysterious has been attributed to\\nhim, and the terms in which his operations have\\nbeen expressed are so unintelligible, that it is\\ndifficult indeed to conceive of him as a person.\\nWe need to strip this subject of its mystical\\naspect as far as we can, and look at it in the\\nlight of reason and Scripture teaching, and not", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0158.jp2"}, "159": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 153\\nlose ourselves in the fog in which the subject has\\nbeen shrouded by various writers and speakers.\\nThe Holy Spirit is not simply an influence, or an\\nemanation, or a something flowing from the\\nFather, but is as much an actual person as either\\nthe Father or the Son. The two Scriptures, the\\napostolic benediction and the baptismal formu-\\nla, quoted and commented upon by the essayist,\\nforcefully teach his personality. If the Holy\\nSpirit were only an influence, why mention him\\nin relations so important? Then we find the\\nHoly Spirit making his appearance on the day\\nof Pentecost and at the baptismal waters when\\nJesus was baptized. Cloven tongues as of fire\\nis the manifestation of him on one occasion, on\\nthe other he was seen as a dove descending and\\nlighting upon Jesus. An emanation simply, or\\nan influence, could not make an appearance.\\nWe cannot see an influence, nor an emanation,\\nnor an attribute. The fact of an appearance to\\nmortal eyes and an appeal to mortal sense indi-\\ncates personality. We find very substantial evi-\\ndence of his personality also in the fact that the\\nattributes or characteristics of a person are\\nascribed to him. In 1 Cor. 2: 11, *For who\\namong men knoweth the things of a man, save\\nthe spirit of the man, which is in him? even so\\nthe things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit\\nof God. Here the Holy Spirit is represented\\nas understanding and knowing. Is it possible", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0159.jp2"}, "160": {"fulltext": "154 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nfor a mere influence or emanation to have\\nknowledge and understanding? Are not these\\nattributed to persons only? And in 1 Cor. 12:\\n11, we find the power to will ascribed to the\\nSpirit. But all these worketh the one and the\\nsame Spirit, dividing to each one severally even\\nas he will. Knowledge, understanding, will,\\nare not attributed to an influence, but belong to\\npersons. We find, too, that sensations are\\nascribed to the Holy Spirit. In Eph. 4:30,\\nGrieve not the Holy Spirit. Acts 7:15, Ye\\ndo always resist the Holy Spirit. Acts 5:9,\\nYe have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of\\nthe Lord. It cannot be possible that an eman-\\nation or an influence can be grieved, tempted,\\nresisted. These attributes belong to persons\\nonly. The Holy Spirit is also represented as an\\nactor. In Gen. 1:2, The Spirit of God moved\\nupon the face of the waters. The germs of\\nlife, from which all being sprang, were implanted\\nby him. Thus he is seen to be the giver of both\\nphysical and spiritual life. Only the possessor\\ncan be the life-giver.\\nThus it will be seen that we heartily concur\\nwith the essayist as to the personality of the\\nHoly Spirit, but must dissent from his conclu-\\nsions that the Holy Spirit is therefore to be wor-\\nshiped. This conclusion is unscriptural.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0160.jp2"}, "161": {"fulltext": "THE HOIvY SPIRIT. 155\\n2. Baptism in the Holy Spirit.\\nAt this point our lines of thought diverge, and\\nfrom his conclusions we are compelled to dis-\\nsent. I agree with the essayist that it is a mat-\\nter for deep regret that this point of the\\nScripture doctrine concerning the Holy Spirit\\nhas been the occasion of such raging controver-\\nsy. I also believe that we cannot be too care-\\nful in measuring every line of the Word of God\\non this point, leaving the doctrine to take\\ncare of itself, and not to give way to the\\ntemptation to dissipate by unconsciously ex-\\nplaining away this or that Scripture in the inter-\\nest of some fancied harmony of truth. But\\nmay I modestly suggest that the essayist has\\nfallen into the very error against which he warns\\nus? And this arises from a failure to keep\\nclearly in mind the differences in the meaning\\nattached in the Scriptures to the various expres-\\nsions concerning the office and work of the Holy\\nSpirit. There are diversities of gifts, but the\\nsame Spirit (1 Cor. 12:4). And He divides\\nto every man severally as he will (1 Cor. 12:\\n11). He has also a Scripture expression to de-\\nfine each special office. Some of these mani-\\nfestations are limited in their bestowment to\\ncertain periods of time and for certain specific\\nends. Whether there be prophecies they shall\\nbe done away, whether there be tongues they\\nshall cease, whether there be knowledge it shall", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0161.jp2"}, "162": {"fulltext": "156 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nbe done away (1 Cor. 13:8), because the end\\nfor which they were given is reached. When the\\nwork is finished for which the special endow-\\nment was made, the promise ceases to be in\\nforce.\\nThe methods of his manifestations may be\\ndifferent at different times, according to the\\ncharacter of the work and the conditions under\\nwhich it is to be accomplished. That particular\\nmanifestation of the Holy Spirit, known in the\\nNew Testament as baptism in the Holy Spirit,\\nhad its origin, in so far as our knowledge ex-\\ntends, on the day of Pentecost. The specific\\npower which came with this manifestation of the\\nSpirit, was the power to testify miraculously\\nwith tongues in order to confirm the truthfulness\\nof the speaker and the divine origin of the mes-\\nsage. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a tech-\\nnical expression used in the New Testament only\\nin connection with the power to witness miracu-\\nlously, as for instance, by speaking with tongues,\\nand hence is specific in meaning, and if we to-\\nday read it into our vocabulary as descriptive of\\nthe Spirit s work now, we must give to it a dif-\\nferent meaning from that given it in the New\\nTestament, since no one claims now to be able to\\nspeak with tongues, or to attest his message by\\nmiracle. To say that this is an incidental or\\ntemporary, not a necessary nor permanent accom-\\npaniment of baptism in the Spirit, is to assume", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0162.jp2"}, "163": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 157\\nthe very point at issue. It merely expresses the\\nessayist s own opinion. It has not the force of\\nan argument. In a careful study of the Script-\\nures concerning the Holy Spirit, we find that his\\npermanent work is twofold, that of Comforter\\nto the child of God, and that of Keprover to the\\nalien. We find, also, that there is a twofold\\nmanifestation of the Spirit by which to express\\nhis temporary work, that is, baptism in the\\nSpirit and the miraculous gifts of the Spirit.\\nThese are all gifts of the Spirit for different\\npurposes. The gift of the Holy Spirit as a Com-\\nforter is promised to all who believe and obey\\nthe gospel. The gifts of the Spirit, that is,\\nmiraculous gifts, is also specific, and means a\\npower of the Spirit conferred through the special\\nagency of the apostles, the act of bestowment\\nbeing the laying on of the apostles hands. (Acts\\n8: 14-17). Philip, the evangelist, could lead the\\nSamaritans to Christ and baptize them into\\nChrist, whereupon they received the gift of the\\nHoly Spirit. But the presence of an apostle is\\nneeded to impart the miraculous gifts of the\\nSpirit. So Peter and John came down from\\nJerusalem for that purpose. There is, then, no\\nconnection between the one baptism of the\\ngreat commission and the miraculous gifts of the\\nSpirit, which would lead us to conclude that the\\nlatter always follows the former. Men may serve\\nChrist perfectly without these gifts. Miraculous", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0163.jp2"}, "164": {"fulltext": "158 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nendowments were divine provisions for tempo-\\nrary exigencies in the development of the\\nchurch. Since they were given only by the lay-\\ning on of the apostles hands it is plain that we\\ncannot claim his presence now in this extraord-\\ninary way. There are four instances in the New\\nTestament of the miraculous bestowment of the\\nSpirit. These are recorded in Acts 2:4; 8: 17;\\n10: 44, 45; 19: 6. In two of these it is known as\\nbaptism in the Spirit. This special manifesta-\\ntion of the Spirit was bestowed without the im-\\nposition of the hands of an apostle, and so it\\nseems to be distinct from other miraculous gifts\\nin that it was bestowed by Jesus alone, without\\nthe intervention of human agency. Baptism in\\nthe Spirit was not for the purpose of cleansing\\nfrom sin nor solely for the purpose of empower-\\ning for service, only in a special sense of the\\nmeaning of the word service, but is a tech-\\nnical expression used to convey the idea of spe-\\ncial power imparted by Jesus alone for the accom-\\nplishment of a specific end, and the presence of\\n\u00e2\u0096\u00a0the power in each case was made evident by the\\nability to testify miraculously by speaking with\\ntongues. Now if this evidence is lacking and\\nthe power is not forthcoming, it seems incon-\\nsistent to use this expression as applicable to the\\nwork of the Holy Spirit to-day, if we would call\\nBible things by Bible names. The Scriptures\\nwhich the essayist uses to sustain his position,", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0164.jp2"}, "165": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 159\\nare, to say the least of them, doubtful as to their\\nbearing upon this point. A doubtful exegesis of\\nany passage is not to be accepted when it contra-\\nvenes Scripture text. He quotes first, 1 Cor.\\n12: 13: In one Spirit were we all baptized into\\none body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether\\nbond or free, and were all made to drink of one\\nSpirit. This is not the technical expression,\\nbaptism in the Holy Spirit, for which we con-\\ntend. Baptism in the Holy Spirit was not to\\nintroduce into the one body. The Corinthians\\nwere baptized in water into the one body. The\\napostles at Pentecost were baptized into the one\\nbody before they were baptized in the Holy\\nSpirit. In their case the two acts are separate\\nand distinct. Those of the household of Corne-\\nlius were baptized in the Holy Spirit before they\\nwere baptized into the one body. From which\\nit will be seen that the two acts, baptism in the\\nHoly Spirit, and baptism into the one body, are\\nseparate and distinct in the only two cases on\\nrecord where baptism in the Holy Spirit is\\nspoken of at all. In order to accept the con-\\nclusion that baptism in the Holy Spirit is for\\nevery disciple of Christ to-day, there must be\\na specific Scripture given which states that fact,\\nor it must be shown by logical deduction that\\nbaptism in the Spirit is a condition of entrance\\ninto the one body common and necessary to all\\nbelievers. The terms of entrance into the one", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0165.jp2"}, "166": {"fulltext": "160 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nbody are specifically stated by the Master him-\\nself in the fundamental law of the kingdom of\\nGod. The one body, in the passage under con-\\nsideration, must refer to the body of Christ, the\\nchurch, the kingdom of God. Baptism in the\\nHoly Spirit is not found in this fundamental law\\nas a term of entrance into the one body. This\\nphrase, **In one Spirit were we all baptized into\\none body, cannot, therefore,refer to baptism in\\nthe Spirit in the scriptural use of the term, since\\nit states a condition which is common to all in\\nentering the one body. We must, therefore, find\\nits meaning in the terms of entrance as expressed\\nin this organic law.\\nHe quotes again from 1 Cor. 6: 11: But ye\\nwere washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were\\njustified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,\\nand in the Spirit of our God. It is a gratuitous\\nassumption to identify this as baptism in the\\nSpirit. I again emphasize the fact that baptism\\nin the Spirit is a technical phrase used to indi-\\ncate a specific, temporary work of the Spirit ia\\nthe introduction of the gospel.\\nThe use of Titus 3: 5, 6, involves the same\\nerror as the above. He also quotes Eph. 5: 18,\\nAnd be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot,\\nbut be filled with the Spirit. This is the point\\nat issue. Filled, in this use of the word, means\\nfulfilled to accomplish. It means to have the\\nSpirit, in all his fullness, as a Comforter. The", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0166.jp2"}, "167": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 161\\nman who is doing his life work normally is\\nSpirit-filled. It would be erroneous to say that\\nthis is the same as the extraordinary enduement\\nat Pentecost. In defining the work and office of\\nthe Holy Spirit, the expression be filled with\\nthe Spirit (one specific gift or work of the\\nSpirit) is as distinct in meaning from baptism\\nin the Spirit (another specific gift or work of\\nthe Spirit) as baptism in the Spirit is from *the\\nmiraculous gifts of the Spirit, a specific gift\\nwhich was imparted by the laying on of the apos-\\ntles hands. The infilling of the Spirit is for the\\npurpose of empowering for service. It endues\\nus with power, not to work miracles, but to work\\nfor Christ in the spread of the gospel and the\\nsalvation of men. The essayist would add to\\nthe strength and value of his paper were he to\\nmake the distinction between filled with the\\nSpirit, and baptism in the Spirit, both of\\nwhich are specific in meaning, but each convey-\\ning a different idea and expressing a different\\nwork of the Spirit. One is permanent, the\\nother temporary. Nor is this a mere quibble\\nover words. If we insist on using the phrase\\nbaptism in the Spirit as applicable to the\\nwork of the Spirit to-day, we are forced to give\\nto it a different meaning from that given it in the\\nScriptures. If we do this it will have as many\\nmeanings as there are schools to define it. It\\nmay mean anything or nothing, and will become a\\n11", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0167.jp2"}, "168": {"fulltext": "162 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nloose expression, as it has already done, without\\nany definite meaning other than a vague concep-\\ntion of some mysterious power which is to come\\nupon those who are to receive it, accompanied by\\ncertain electric sensations which find expression\\nin different ways, varying with the temperament\\nof the individual. If the phrase retains its orig-\\ninal meaning it can not apply to the work of the\\nSpirit as he manifests himself to us now. The\\ncurse of denominationalism arises from a mis-\\nconception of the office and work of the Holy\\nSpirit. Its cure will be found in rightly divid-\\ning the word of truth and measuring its every\\nline of teaching concerning the Holy Spirit.\\nThe follies and fads that are mixed with evan-\\ngelism, which retard the progress of the king-\\ndom of God on earth, and tend to mystify and\\nmislead the minds of intelligent students of his\\nWord, have originated in almost every case from\\na misconception of the Holy Spirit in his various\\nmanifestations and functions, confounding the\\ntemporary and the permanent. The baptism\\nin the Spirit is a gift separate and distinct from\\nthe gift of the Spirit as a Comforter, which gift\\nis promised to every obedient believer. It is\\nalso difiPerent from the extraordinary gifts of the\\nSpirit, which were imparted by the imposition of\\nthe apostles hands. It is different from being\\nfilled with the Spirit, an expression to indicate\\nthe more complete work of the Comforter. A", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0168.jp2"}, "169": {"fulltext": "THE HOIvY SPIRIT. 163\\nvessel may be filled with water without being\\nimmersed in it. It may be immersed in water\\nwithout being filled with it. It may be both im-\\nmersed in and filled icith water at the same time.\\nThe two expressions, baptism in the Spirit,\\nand filled with the Spirit are not synonymous.\\nA man was baptized in the Spirit when Christ\\nJesus sent the Spirit upon him in such profusion\\nas to completely control him and give to him\\npower that is superhuman, the evidence of which\\nwas the ability to testify miraculously by speak-\\ning w^ith tongues to prove the truthfulness of\\nthe message and the divine origin of the mis-\\nsion. A man is filled with the Spirit when he\\nknows God s will as revealed in the Scriptures,\\nand gives himself unreservedly to the Spirit\\nwhose words it contains. The baptism in the\\nSpirit is a miracle not dependent upon the con-\\ndition or character of the individual. The filling\\nof the Spirit is his blessed permanent work, sub-\\nject to the mental and spiritual conditions of the\\nindividual himself. The extent of our ignorance\\nof God s Word and of our failure to submit our-\\nselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit who re-\\nveals that will, measures our lack of being filled\\nwith the Spirit. Hence we are responsible to\\nGod if we are not filled with the Spirit, but no\\none is responsible if not baptized in the Spirit.\\nGod alone is responsible for this. The Holy\\nSpirit has a plan for work. His different offices", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0169.jp2"}, "170": {"fulltext": "164 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nare expressed by different phrases. He divides\\nto every man severally as he will. He convicts\\nof sin. He sheds abroad the love of God in the\\nheart. He helps in prayer by strengthening our\\ninfirmities. He is available for edification, for\\nservice, for holiness. The needful thing to-day\\nis a ministry, a church, filled with the Holy Spirit.\\nBut let us not confound this precious ministry\\nwith the baptism in the Spirit, which was for a\\ndifferent purpose, the end of which has been\\nsecured.\\n3. Method of the Holy Spirit s Operation in\\nSalvation.\\nHere again mysticism has triumphed over dis-\\ncernment in the author s treatment of the\\nmethod of the Holy Spirit s operation in salva-\\ntion. He has permitted his theory of baptism\\nin the Holy Spirit to mystify his conception of\\nthe Spirit s method of operation in salvation.\\nIn order to a clear understanding of the method,\\nlet the special function of the Holy Spirit, called\\nbaptism in the Holy Spirit, be eliminated.\\nThis will clear our vision and simplify our study.\\nIn such an investigation we ought to move along\\nthe line of well certified facts. We are not war-\\nranted by scriptural facts, in reference to bap-\\ntism in the Holy Spirit, to admit it as a factor\\nessential in the conversion of sinners or the\\nsanctification of believers. Therefore, it must\\nbe eliminated from our study of the Holy Spir-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0170.jp2"}, "171": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 165\\nit s method of operating in salvation. The facts\\nthat the Holy Spirit operates in effecting salva-\\ntion, and that he operates through the specific\\ntruth of the gospel to this end, are conceded.\\nThe universality of this fact in every case of\\nconversion and sanctification recorded in the\\nNew Testament, places this proposition beyond\\ncontroversy. This luminous truth has made\\nevangelism intelligible and has been potent in\\ndispelling the clouds of mysticism, and has given\\nto the world the highest type of spiritual life.\\nThe two errors mentioned by the essayist\\nmysticism and rationalism indicate ex-\\ntremes of thought, each containing partial truth,\\nwhich is the most dangerous kind of error.\\nThese errors have found representatives among\\nthe unintelligent or unconverted, but have found\\nno advocates among intelligent disciples of\\nChrist. Hence the expressions quoted in the\\npaper are incompetent as premises for a general\\nconclusion. They are expressions put into the\\nmouth of the advocates of the truth by their\\nenemies, or extorted from them in the heat of\\ndiscussion.\\nFrom these two errors thus meeting each\\nother, the essayist comes to the following con-\\nclusion, quoting his own words: Finally, to\\nrebut the mystical notion that the Spirit oper-\\nates in salvation separately and apart from the\\nWord of truth, it (rationalism) has affirmed the", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0171.jp2"}, "172": {"fulltext": "166 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nmisleading negation that the Spirit operates to\\nthese ends only through the Word. The propo-\\nsition which he here calls a misleading nega-\\ntion, has passed through the crucible of the\\nkeenest investigation and has not been found\\nwanting. Without a single fact in connection\\nwith any conversion recorded in the New Testa-\\nment, or a single statement of the inspired\\nwriters to the contrary, we must still hold with\\nthe fathers as a truth, that the Holy Spirit oper-\\nates in salvation not without the Word of truth.\\nMr. Campbell, in affirming this proposition,\\nspeaks as follows: (Campbell and Eice Debate,\\npage 723.) *Thus we have all the authority of\\nthe Bible with us in our views of spiritual and\\ndivine influence. A spiritual or moral or crea-\\ntive power without the Word of God is a phan-\\ntom, a mere speculation. It receives no counte-\\nnance from the Bible. In his closing address\\non this subject, he speaks as follows, (page 745):\\nI believe the Spirit accompanies the Word, is\\nalways present with the Word, and actually and\\npersonally works through it upon the moral\\nnature of man, but not without it. On page\\n747, he speaks again as follows: Now I ask\\nMr. Rice to bring forward one single case of any\\none being converted to the Lord without the\\nWord being first heard and believed! If the\\nsalvation of the world depended upon it he\\ncould not give it. It is, then, so far as the New", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0172.jp2"}, "173": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 167\\nTestament deposeth, idle and worse than idle, to\\ntalk about sanctification or conversion without\\nthe Word and Spirit of God. They are always\\nunited in the great work. No one is converted\\nby the Word alone nor by the Spirit alone.\\nSo that, as far as sacred history goes,\\nthe Spirit of God never did operate without the\\nWord. He also says on page 748, So that it\\nappears in fact, indisputable, that the Spirit of\\nGod rather follows, and in no case precedes, the\\nprogress or arrival of his Word. We have\\nthe history of man in the four quarters of the\\nworld, in attestation of this most significant and\\nmomentous fact. Not one single\\nthought, idea, or impression truly spiritual, can\\nbe heard from any man in Christendom not bor-\\nrowed from the Holy Book, directly or indirect-\\nly. On page 750 he says further: My thir-\\nteenth argument consists in that most sublime\\nand impressive fact, that God nowhere has oper-\\nated without his Word, either in the old creation\\nor in the new. In nature and in grace, God\\noperates not without his Word. He never has\\nwrought without means. He has, as far as earth s\\nannals reach, and as the rolls of eternity have\\nbeen open to our view, never done any thing\\nwithout an instrumentality. The naked Spirit\\nof God never has operated upon the naked\\nspirit of man, so far as all science, all revelation\\nteach. Abstract spiritual operation is a pure", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0173.jp2"}, "174": {"fulltext": "168 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nmetaphysical dream. There is nothing to favor\\nsuch a conceit in nature, providence or grace.\\nThese quotations from an author so eminent,\\nare abundantly sufficient to invalidate, so far as\\nhuman authority can, the contention of the es-\\nsayist as expressed in the following language:\\nHe says, It has often been a debate whether\\nthe Holy Spirit in his office of conversion and\\nsanctification operates on the human soul indi-\\nrectly or directly, mediately or immediately, only\\nthrough the Word or separate and apart from\\nthe Word. There could not be a more needless\\ndebate in religious matters. The essayist\\nwould turn the thought on this question back-\\nwards a hundred years, and repudiate as unnec-\\nessary and wasteful the work of giving the ra-\\ntional, scriptural conception to the religious\\nworld of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit s\\nmethod of operation in salvation. Mr. Camp-\\nbell, the Christian thinker, whose exposition and\\ndefense of this doctrine has molded the thought\\nof our time and exerted an influence upon the\\nreligious life of the age equal to or above that\\nof any man in this century, let us believe, did\\nnot live nor work in vain. The essayist says\\nfurther, Thus, according to the Scriptures, the\\nSpirit of Grod is everywhere, in pagan twilights,\\nin Jewish moonlights, in Christian sunlights.\\nHe strives with man according to truth\\nin nature, or law, or gospel. Thus, according to", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0174.jp2"}, "175": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 169\\nthe Scriptures, his presence in pagan twilights of\\nconscience, or in Jewish moonlights of psalm\\nand prophecy, becomes a larger, a fuller, a meas-\\nureless presence in the sunlight of the gospel of\\nthe Son of God s love. He says also, Equal-\\nly, in the light of the Scriptures, in the light of\\nthe philosophy of Spirit, the Holy Spirit s pres-\\nence and operation in salvation are at once im-\\nmediate and mediate. The fact that all truth,\\nwhether found in pagan twilights or Jewish\\nmoonlights, or in heathen consciousness, or\\nHebrew history, may benefit the world, is not\\nhere called in question, because not vitally re-\\nlated to the subject. The theme under consid-\\neration is The method of the Holy Spirit s\\noperation in salvation through the Christ. The\\nmethods of his operation, if operating at all, in\\nany other salvation, is not within the scope of\\nour discussion, and must be left entirely within\\nthe domain of conjecture. The inference of the\\nessayist that the Holy Spirit operates in salva-\\ntion aside from the Word of truth, as seen in the\\nuse of such terms as immediate, direct,\\netc., can not be accepted in the light of script-\\nural facts and historic conclusions. We have no\\nconfidence in any conversion not wrought by the\\nSpirit of God through the Word of truth. Any\\nseparation of Spirit and Word in operating in\\nsalvation is an injustice to both. The theory of\\nthe essayist leads to indefiniteness in religious", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0175.jp2"}, "176": {"fulltext": "170 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nconception, mysticism in faith, and correspond-\\ning deformity of life. Any theory which does\\nnot develop a robust Christian consciousness, a\\ndefinite, intelligent faith, and a symmetrical\\nChristian character, is, to say the least, incom-\\npetent. The contentions of the essayist as to\\nthe unity of the person and the office of the\\nSpirit can not receive our endorsement. The\\nSpirit s person is larger than, and distinct from,\\nhis office. His very personality implies this.\\nWe believe that the Scriptures relied upon do\\nnot sustain the inference when subjected to a\\ncorrect exegesis.\\nIn conclusion, we cordially agree with the\\nessayist in the value of a correct conception of\\nthe doctrine of the Holy Spirit, believing that it\\nwill greatly advance a scriptural evangelism and\\nenrich the spiritual life of disciples of Christ.\\nW. E. Ellis.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0176.jp2"}, "177": {"fulltext": "Crucial points Concerning the Roly\\nSpirits\\nA Supplementary Statement.\\nIT is evident to my mind that the last word\\nconcerning the Holy Spirit has not yet been\\nspoken. There never was a time when there\\nwas so much unrest and anxiety; desire to know\\nmore, express more and feel more upon this\\nquestion, than within the last few years. Scarce-\\nly any other theological question is eliciting more\\ncareful study or inspiring more new books.\\nThe leading paper shows very careful thought\\nand preparation, and is well worthy of the at-\\ntention which it will no doubt receive from you.\\nMy instructions from the committee do not\\nrequire me to review the leading paper, nor\\nwrite a critique upon it. It is rather our duty,\\nas leaders, to bring this theme as fully as possi-\\nble before you, and leave it for you to review\\nand criticise. Hence, my paper will be rather a\\nsupplement to the leading paper than a review\\nof it.\\nHe has presented the theme from the exeget-\\nical and philosophical standpoints. I wish to\\nlook at its practical side. His presentation is\\n171", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0177.jp2"}, "178": {"fulltext": "172 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nfrom the viewpoint of the pulpit and the plat-\\nform, the theologian, the philosoher, the\\nscholar.\\nMy presentation will be from the position of\\nthe pew, the work-bench, the counting-house\\nand the drawing-room. He deals with a theory;\\nI wish to deal with the application of that\\ntheory.\\nFor his purpose, I suppose that his classifica-\\ntion is satisfactory. However, it seems to me\\nthat the time has come for a new classification\\nin our study of this important question. The\\nold classification has been fought over so long\\nand so hard that it has almost come to have a\\ntechnical meaning, and the very mention of it is\\nsuggestive of lengthy discussions, wrangles and\\ncontentions.\\nIf I were writing a volume, I would make a\\nvery different classification from the one I shall\\nuse here. For a general and voluminous classi-\\nfication, I would consider the following to be\\ncrucial points in the study of the Holy Spirit\\n1. His Personality.\\n2. His Relation to God and the Christ.\\n3. His Relation to the World.\\n4. His Relation to Man.\\nUnder the last, as a subordinate classification\\nof crucial points, I would consider:\\n(1) His relation to the alien sinner.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0178.jp2"}, "179": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 173\\n(2) His relation to the disciple learning the\\nway to the Master.\\n(3) His relation to the saint, or obedient dis-\\nciple.\\nOwing to my limitations in time, I shall in this\\npaper consider only the last of these subdivisions.\\nFor the present study, I regard the crucial point\\nin the doctrine of the Holy Spirit to be:\\n1st. A realization of the Holy Spirit.\\n2d. A realization of the realization of the\\nHoly Spirit.\\nIs it not a fact that the experience of the\\nChristian world measures far below its theories\\nand teachings concerning the Holy Spirit? It\\nseems to me that one of three things must be\\ntrue:\\n1. Our teachings are not sustained by the\\nBible promises; or,\\n2. The Bible promises are not true; or,\\n3. The Christian world is living far below\\nits privileges and possibilities.\\nDoes the Bible teach that there is a Holy\\nSpirit, self-conscious, who is interested in us,\\nwho cares for us, whose mission is to help, com-\\nfort, witness, seal, strengthen and pray for us?\\nThe leading paper has shown that the Bible\\nso teaches. Then some important questions arise\\nDoes the experience of the Christian world\\ncorrespond with this teaching of the Bible? If\\nnot, why not?", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0179.jp2"}, "180": {"fulltext": "174 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nIf there be such a Holy Spirit, self-conscious,\\none of the Godhead, thoughtful, helpful, regard-\\nful of me and my interests, with me and dwell-\\ning in me, should I not have other evidence of\\nthe fact than simply a testimony from without?\\nAre all the truths and facts concerning the Holy\\nSpirit simply matters of careful and critical\\nexegesis? Or is the Holy Spirit a personal exist-\\nence who is able to testify in his own behalf? If\\nthe Holy Spirit has a mission for man, with man\\nand ill man, may we not reasonably expect that\\nhis presence shall be experienced? That there\\nshall be evidence of that presence derived from\\nour own consciousness? After all, may there not\\nbe more ground for the idea of feeling in re-\\nligion than we have been wont to admit?\\nIn our study of the limitations of the Spirit,\\nlet us consider carefully whether God has lim-\\nited him so that he cannot make his presence\\nknown to us except by a correct exegesis of the\\nScriptures, or whether we by our actions are\\nlimiting him, and in this way preventing his\\nbecoming to us an actual experience. This, to\\nmy mind, is the real battle-ground. I care little\\nfor a war of words. It matters little to me\\nwhether you call it a possession of the Spirit, an\\nenduement of the Spirit, an overwhelming of\\nthe Spirit, or a baptism in the Spirit.\\nThe important thing to me is to know whether\\nthere be any Holy Spirit promised, and whether", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0180.jp2"}, "181": {"fulltext": "THE HOIvY SPIRIT. 175\\nthat promise has been fulfilled in me. Does he\\nactually dwell in me, and help me? If not, why\\nnot? It seems to me that we have had quite\\nenough of fine-spun theories and intellectual\\nanalyses on this subject. The thing we need now\\nis the experience, if such is to be had. If we\\nhave it for ourselves, then we may show others.\\nIf it is not to be had, then we must readjust\\nour interpretations of the Bible, for any inter-\\npretation that will not stand the test of practi-\\ncal application must be faulty, and of little\\nvalue. He is certainly promised to the Christian\\nin a way that the world has him not. But the\\nw^orld has the Word, and the teaching of the\\nWord; then in what other sense may he be the\\nChristian s possession unless it be in a blessed\\nexperience of which the world knows not?\\nLet us suppose a man on a journey. He is\\npromised that he is to have with him a guide,\\ncompanion, comforter, helper. Suppose he\\nnever knows anything more of the companion\\nthan the promise. He never sees him, hears\\nhim, nor in any way realizes his presence. You\\nask him if he has a companion with him, and he\\nanswers, Yes, I suppose so; I have the prom-\\nise of one. But you ask, Have you realized\\nhis presence or help in any way? He says,\\nN-n-no, not exactly. But you insist, Has\\nhe comforted you at any time, has he really", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0181.jp2"}, "182": {"fulltext": "176 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nhelped you in any way? He replies, I can t\\nsay that he has, etc., etc.\\nIn a case of that kind, you would soon come\\nto one of three conclusions:\\n1st. There was something wrong about the\\npromise; or,\\n2d. There was something wrong about his in^\\nterpretation of it; or,\\n3d. There was something wrong about him.\\nThat he was in some way responsible for the\\nabsence of the promised friend.\\nApply this thought to Christianity of to-day.\\nAssuming all the people in our churches to be\\njust as honest and frank as the Ephesians men-\\ntioned in Acts 19:2, let us apply Paul s ques-\\ntion, Eeceived ye the Holy Spirit when ye be-\\nlieved? I fear that a large number would be\\ncompelled to answer, **We have not so much as\\nheard whether there be any Holy Spirit. Some\\ncould say that they had read something about it,,\\nor had heard it mentioned.\\nANOTHER TEST.\\nBut, says one, We have a test by which we\\ncan determine the presence or absence of the\\nSpirit. By their fruits ye shall know them;^\\nNow the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace,\\nlongsuffering, gentleness, meekness, temperance,\\npatience, etc.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0182.jp2"}, "183": {"fulltext": "THB HOLY SPIRIT. 177\\nIt must be true that wherever the Holy Spirit\\nof God is, there are love, joy, peace, longsuffer-\\ning, temperance, patience, etc.; but is the con-\\nverse true? that wherever love, joy, peace, long-\\nsuffering, temperance, patience, etc., are found,\\nthat this is proof positive of the presence of the\\nHoly Spirit?\\nIf this be true then we must readjust our exe-\\ngesis of the passages that refer to lioio we obtain\\nthe Spirit, and iclio may have the Spirit s pres-\\nence.\\nFor we find many people who have not obeyed\\nthe gospel, and who do not pray for the Holy\\nSpirit; who, indeed, do not believe in any such\\npersonality or indwelling, and yet they have love,\\njoy, peace, longsuffering, etc.\\nIt seems to me that we are forced to one of\\nthree positions:\\n1st. To a readjustment of our interpretation\\nof the Scriptures on this subject; or\\n2d. Accept the rationalistic view; or\\n3d. Begin a new crusade for a larger spiritual\\nexperience than we have ever yet enjoyed. This\\nis to be done by first opening our own hearts for\\nan infilling; then we may carry to the multitudes\\nwhat but few Christians have ever yet enjoyed\\na kind of after-Pentecostal experience.\\n12", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0183.jp2"}, "184": {"fulltext": "178 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nWHY THIS SPIRITUAL DEARTH?\\nIt cannot be that God has promised the Holy\\nSpirit to us and then limited him so that he can\\nnot fulfill the promise. It is contrary to all the\\nrevelation that we have of the Holy Spirit, to\\nsay that he is regardless of us. Then it must be\\nthat the limitation is on our part.\\nJesus told the woman at the well, that if she\\nhad asked of him he would have given unto her\\nliving water, after drinking of which she would\\nnever thirst again. It was right there, flowing\\nall about her, and yet even the Master was lim-\\nited from giving it to her, because she was not in\\nproper condition to receive it. May it not be\\nthat we are to-day where she was?\\nIn all of God s dealings with man he recog-\\nnizes his free agency. It was four thousand\\nyears before the Christ came because the world\\nwas not ready to receive him. When he came he\\nnever compelled any one to accept him. Can it\\nbe possible that after his coming and sacrifice\\nhis Holy Spirit has been limited in his work for\\ntwo thousand years more, because the world is\\nnot ready to receive him?\\nJesus teaches this same lesson in that rebuke\\nto his own countrymen who rejected him I tell\\nyou of a truth many widows were in Israel in the\\ndays of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three\\nyears and six months, when great famine was", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0184.jp2"}, "185": {"fulltext": "THE HOIvY SPIRIT. 179\\nthroughout the land; but unto none of them\\nwas Elias sent save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon,\\nunto a woman that was a widow. And many\\nlepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the\\nprophet; and none of them was cleansed saving\\nNaaman the Syrian (Luke 4: 25-27).\\nThe historian tells us that Jesus did not\\nmany mighty works in Nazareth because of their\\nunbelief.\\nThe New Testament teaches that we may\\noppose, resist, grieve, drive away, quench and\\nblaspheme the Holy Spirit.\\nThese things being true, may it not be also\\ntrue that we have the key to the solution of\\nthe problem of spiritual decline that has so long\\npuzzled earnest, thoughtful men? An important\\nquestion:\\nWho is responsible for this state of affairs?\\nLargely^ the ministry.\\n1st. The Evangelists.\\n2d. The Pastors.\\n1st. Much evangelism has been to depreciate\\nthe work of the Holy Spirit. I have heard\\nmore sermons telling what the Holy Spirit does\\nnot do than I ever heard telling what he may do.\\nBut, says the objector, They have success.\\nTrue, an intellectually strong man, or a man\\nof force and method may get people to come\\ninto the church; and many may, and I fear often\\ndo, join just as they join a club or a lodge by", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0185.jp2"}, "186": {"fulltext": "180 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\ncomplying with the outward conditions without\\nthe spiritual birth.\\nIntellectual and physical results are produced,\\nbut not spiritual. They need spiritual powder\\nbehind the ball to drive it home, to produce\\nspiritual results.\\nMay it not be that the reason why so much\\npreaching falls lifeless upon so many in our\\naudiences is because the preacher and the mem-\\nbers are barren of any rich experience of the\\npresence of God s Holy Spirit?\\nThe people come to the services asking bread,\\nand they get a stone. They come seeking life,\\nand they find a dead body. The stream rises no\\nhigher than the fountain head.\\nHow can men lead others to the store-house\\nof the bread of life if they have never been there\\nthemselves? They can not lead up to the foun-\\ntain of the water of life who have never tasted\\nit. They who have never seen it cannot point\\nothers to the spiritual light.\\nHow many converts go down into the water\\nrealizing a birth both of the water and of the\\nSpirit? Too many have failed to impress all\\nthat is involved in Jesus teaching on regenera-\\ntion.\\nBORN OF THE WATER AND THE SPIRIT.\\nThere are two extremes relative to this doc-\\ntrine", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0186.jp2"}, "187": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 181\\nThe Mystics make it all Holy Spirit baptism.\\nThe Rationalists leave out all practical ideas\\nof the Holy Spirit s part. Some churches have\\ntoo many Mystics.\\nBut I fear that we have too many Rational-\\nists who have been born of the water only.\\n2d. The second responsibility for this condi-\\ntion of affairs is to be found in our pastoral\\nteaching.\\nThe churches are not nurtured to experience\\nthe Holy Spirit.\\nI wonder how many pastors among us have\\never given their congregations a careful, sys-\\ntematic study of the word of God upon this sub-\\nject presenting it in simple language so that\\neven the lambs are fed. I wonder how many\\nbelieve and have realized from experience all\\nthat is involved in such promises as these\\n1. In one Spirit were we all baptized into\\none body.\\n2. He shall be in you.\\n3. How much more will your Father in\\nheaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask\\nhim?\\n4. Be not drunk with wine, wherein is riot,\\nbut be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5: 19).\\n5. Ye were washed, ye were sanctified, ye\\nwere justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus\\nand by the Spirit of our God (1 Cor. 6: 11).\\n6. The kingdom of God is righteousness,", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0187.jp2"}, "188": {"fulltext": "182 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\npeace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17).\\n7. Now the God of hope fill you with all\\njoy and peace in believing, that you may abound\\nin hope through the power of the Holy Spirit\\n(Rom. 15:13).\\n8. The Spirit helps our infirmities, for we\\nknow not what we should pray for as we ought;\\nbut the Spirit also himself maketh intercession\\nfor us with groanings that cannot be uttered.\\nAnd he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what\\nis the mind of the Spirit; because he maketh\\nintercession for the saints according to the will\\nof God (Rom. 8:2H, 27).\\n9. And because you are sons, God has sent\\nforth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, cry-\\ning Abba, Father (Gal. 6:6).\\nThe scientific is the method to be applied\\nhere; that is, Let each one test for himself.\\nO taste and see that the Lord is good, is\\nespecially applicable to our churches to-day.\\nToo many have not even tasted of the Spirit,\\nmuch less been filled with the Spirit.\\nWould we be filled with the Holy Spirit? then\\nlet us take God at his word, and prepare a place\\nfor him. When we are prepared for his recep-\\ntion, let us invite him in.\\nMy thought can be best expressed here in the\\nlanguage of that inimitable little work by J. M.\\nCampbell of Chicago\u00e2\u0080\u0094 4/ ^er Pentecost WhatT", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0188.jp2"}, "189": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 183\\nThe Heavenly Father gives the Holy Spirit\\nto them that ask him, not to them who agonize,\\nbut to them who ask; and he gives an increased\\nmeasure to them who ask for more.\\nWhen the soul s mouth is opened wide, God fills\\nit. The hope is cherished that a new\\nera of spiritual power is about to break upon us.\\nIt cannot come too soon and come it will just\\nas soon as the church, appreciating the glorious\\npossibilities of the present dispensation, begins\\nto draw upon heaven s reserved resources.\\nIs it any wonder that the life of the church is\\nfitful, that her love languishes, that her zeal de-\\nclines, and that her power decays, when she per-\\nsists in waiting for God instead of waiting upon\\nGod? Her brightest hope has come to be that\\nshe might be mercifully blest with an occasional\\nvisitation of the Holy Spirit, when what is\\nneeded to raise her out of her lethargy and\\nweakness, and spiritualize all of her activities is\\nnot a movement of the Holy Spirit toward her,\\nbut a movement on her part toward the Spirit;\\nnot a fresh outpouring, but many a fresh inpour-\\ning of the Spirit. Christians are not to pray for\\nthe advent of the Spirit; they are to pray that\\ntheir eyes may be opened to his presence they\\nare not to pray for his descent, but for his in-\\nhabitation; they are not to agonize to bring him\\nnear, they are to recognize his nearness: they\\nare not to seek him in the heavens, but in their", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0189.jp2"}, "190": {"fulltext": "184 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nhearts; they are not to set themselves to obtain\\nhis power as a gift ungranted, they are to receive\\nin larger abundance the gift of power already\\ngiven they are not to expend their labor in en-\\ndeavoring to induce the Lord to make over to\\nthem a new inheritance, they are to fulfill the\\nconditions necessary to immediate entrance\\nupon and complete possession of the wonderful\\ninheritance which is already theirs.\\nThe trouble about obtaining increased spirit-\\nual power is not with the Spirit, but with our-\\nselves. What we need is increased power of\\nspiritual appropriation. The Spirit is as really\\nwith us as Christ was with his disciples during\\nhis incarnate state. As the mighty power which\\nmoves through all things, and by which all\\nthings are moved, he is ever at work in our be-\\nhalf; and what we have to do is to bring our-\\nselves in connection with him, and keep in con-\\nnection with him.\\nCONCLUSION.\\nIn conclusion, I would say that to us the cru-\\ncial point in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is\\nour attitude toward the Spirit. What the church\\nneeds to-day, both in the pulpit and the pew, is\\na new adjustment of its relations to the Holy\\nSpirit. We need to understand that the low\\nplane of our living may be, after all, the solution", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0190.jp2"}, "191": {"fulltext": "THE HOLY SPIRIT. 185\\nof the problem concerning the Spirit, that has\\nconfused so many for so long a time.\\nMay it not be that when we shall have com-\\nplied fully with the scriptural conditions of\\ncleansing, and then go up into the mountain, as\\nMoses did, and spend more time with God,\\nwe, too, might come down with shining faces?\\nLet us all Taste and see that the Lord is good,\\nfor blessed is the man that trusteth in him.\\nF. N. Calvin.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0191.jp2"}, "192": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0192.jp2"}, "193": {"fulltext": "VIII.\\nOrganization and its Adjustment\\nto the Present Needs of the\\nChurch.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0193.jp2"}, "194": {"fulltext": "SEVENTH SESSION.\\nThis session was devoted to Church Organization. B.\\nB. Tyler, Colorado Springs, Colo., presided, and at once in-\\ntroduced A. B. Philputt, of Indianapolis, who read the paper\\nwhich follows on Organization and Its Adaptation to the\\nNeeds of the Church. He was reviewed by W. P. Richard-\\nson, of Kansas City, in the paper which follows, and by\\nGeorge A. Miller, of Covington, Ky., whose address was\\nfrom notes, and does not appear here. The discussion which\\nfollowed was exceedingly interesting.\\n188", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0194.jp2"}, "195": {"fulltext": "nil.\\nOrganization and Its Hdjustment to the\\npresent J^eeds of the CburcK\\nOUR first question is concerning the purpose\\nof the church. All will agree that in\\nsome way humanity s hope stands or falls with\\nJesus Christ. If his programme is not success-\\nful there is no rival to take its place. But is\\nhis work essentially bound up with an organiza-\\ntion? Many will question it. The outward, vis-\\nible church is not to-day held in the highest\\nesteem. Some say that it has as often hindered\\nas helped the influence of Christianity; that it\\nis not essential to salvation, and that in the\\nprocess of evolution it may all but disappear.\\nWe, of course, hold this view of the question\\nto be wrong, and find the reason for its preva-\\nlence, partly, in the divided condition of Chris-\\ntendom. The argument that will justify a divided\\nchurch will justify an individual in his notion\\nthat it makes little difference whether he belongs\\nto any.\\nBefore discussing details of organization let us\\ndecide that there is such a thing as the outward,\\nformal, visible church, given to us of God, hav-\\ning the high sanctions of heaven about it, and\\n189", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0195.jp2"}, "196": {"fulltext": "190 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\ndesigned to be kept inviolate and unbroken for\\nall ages, as the channel through which salvation\\nshall come to the sons of men. The great open\\nsore of Christendom is division the highest\\ndesideratum is Christian unity.\\nIf the Savior s aim were to rescue one here\\nand there from the wreck of a crumbling and\\nperishing world, little need would be felt for the\\nstudy of organization. But this conception of\\nsalvation Jesus disavows. It is not a question of\\ngoodness. Men may be good in the church or\\nout of the church. It is a question of a man s\\nattitude towards Christ s purpose of bringing\\nthe kingdoms of this world into subjection to\\nhimself. Every man has a mission to his fellow-\\nman. The church has a mission to the whole\\nworld.\\nIt is a significant fact that whenever individ-\\nuals come to feel deeply any of the ills of\\nhumanity, they effect an organization at once\\nfor their alleviation. It is through organization\\nthat large purposes are carried out. This has\\nbeen called the age of individualism, says Dr.\\nFrank Crane, of Chicago, and the human unit\\nhas been emphasized in our thoughts of business,\\nof politics and of religion, until the fabric of\\nhumanity sometimes seems likely to fall apart.\\nAnd yet I doubt if there ever was an era in\\nwhich men were more inseparable than they are\\nto-day. There is no more a private opinion, but", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0196.jp2"}, "197": {"fulltext": "ORGANIZATION. 191\\nonly a huge public opinion, and we care not\\nwhat the one thinks, but what the mighty all\\nthinks. There is talk these days about saving\\nneighborhoods, cities, countries and races.\\nThe spirit of individualism which has hitherto\\noperated in the civil as well as the religious\\nworld is fast running its course. In politics the\\nday of organization has come. The single man\\ncounts for little. In business, concentration is\\nthe rule. In education it is the same way. Dis-\\ntrict schools are getting fewer and larger. Great\\nendowments are pushing the small colleges into\\nstill narrower limits. The widespread interest\\nin church union looks in the same direction.\\nProtestantism, with all its extremes and eccen-\\ntricities, has not entirely lost the idea that salva-\\ntion is in some way bound up with the church.\\nFor what we call salvation is a process that must\\nbe wrought out in this world, and in part\\nthrough human agencies. Christians live in an\\nactual world, says Dr. McConnell, and if they\\nare to accomplish anything it must be by the\\nsame kind of methods which are necessary in\\nthis world. As things go here, even divine pro-\\ncesses can only be effected by the use of machin-\\nery. God is practical. He undertakes nothing\\nwithout tools.\\nNow the kingdom of God proposes the re-\\ndemption of humanity. It is to cleanse and save\\nmen from their sins. It is to lay hold of body,", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0197.jp2"}, "198": {"fulltext": "192 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nsoul and spirit, and sanctify them. It is to go\\nunto the uttermost parts of the earth with the\\nstory of redeeming love. Such things cannot\\nbe done without suitable organization. Govern-\\nment is fostered by what we call the state.\\nHuman affections are preserved and refined by\\nthe institution known as the family. And the\\nprocess which includes these and many more is\\nthe function of the church.\\nAs a body of Christian people, we are at the\\nthreshold of what many believe to be larger\\nthings. We certainly stand face to face with\\nsplendid opportunities. There is reason to fear\\nthat the church is not fully meeting the demands\\nof the times. The battle of Waterloo was fought\\nwith the same kind of weapons as the battle of\\nBlenheim, a hundred years before. But this is\\na century of progress, of steam and electricity,\\nof wireless telegraphy and the motor cycle. The\\nchurch should not use the methods of fifty years\\nago. Her plans and forces should be modern-\\nized. Her enterprises are, in a measure, dis-\\ncredited, because she is facing modern problems\\nwith antiquated methods. It may be well that\\nshe has largely surrendered the matter of educa-\\ntion to the State and to large private munifi-\\ncence. The church was once the almoner of the\\npoor, giving succor to those in distress, and aid\\nto the widow and the orphan. Public and pri-\\nvate charities and fraternal orders now do this.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0198.jp2"}, "199": {"fulltext": "ORGANIZATION. 193\\nand in giving up this she has surrendered a cita-\\ndel of power. Foreign missions are discredited\\nby some, who claim that the forces of commerce,\\nwar and government are the real factors in the\\nuplifting of degraded peoples. But if the\\nchurch should once enter upon the business of\\nforeign missions on a scale commensurate with\\ntheir importance, this criticism would be well\\nanswered. And until she can command vastly\\nlarger resources her capacity for great undertak-\\nings will continue to be doubted. But the prob-\\nlem is quite as much how to use as how to get,\\nand if the unused resources of the church were\\nonce called out we should be surprised at the\\nresult.\\nIf we are to consider the proper adjustment of\\norganization to the needs of the church, a begin-\\nning should be made, I think, with the local con-\\ngregation. Here rest all the obligations in mini-\\nature that belong to the universal body, and out\\nof the local church must grow the larger plans\\nand purposes of the brotherhood.\\nWhat, then, should be its organization? The\\nNew Testament presents no complete scheme as\\ndivinely authorized, either by Jesus or his apos-\\ntles. The earliest churches took the form sug-\\ngested by their environment in Jewish, Greek or\\nRoman territory, and these varying types were\\napproved by the apostles, because the special\\nform was not essential to the validity of the or-\\nis", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0199.jp2"}, "200": {"fulltext": "194 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nganism. There was the bare semblance of an\\norganization in Jerusalem at first. The mission-\\nary spirit so filled the hearts of the people that\\nthey gave themselves to telling the story. Their\\nassurance was so strong, their fellowship so\\nsweet, that they felt little need of outward\\nbonds. The new wine was in new bottles. The\\nproblem was simple. When the company of\\nbelievers multiplied, however, and the events of\\nPentecost began to recede, new conditions arose.\\nNo one seemed to have any oflicial status at first.\\nThe apostles were the leaders more because of\\ntheir peculiar relations to the ascended Lord\\nthan from any formal selection by the people.\\nThey did not rule as ecclesiastics. Later on,\\ncertain of them, as Peter, John, and especially\\nJames, are spoken of as pillars in the church,\\nbut they had simply come to it on the grounds of\\npre-eminent fitness. The relation of the Twelve\\nto the church at large was much more distinct\\nand official. As need arose, men were called out\\nfor special service, as, for instance, the seven\\ndeacons, though Luke does not call them dea-\\ncons, who were appointed to look after the\\nadministration of alms. This did not interpose\\nany barrier from higher ministries, if they were\\ncompetent, for among them Stephen and Philip\\nbecame famous as ministers of the Word. In\\ngeneral, the older men would have charge of\\nthings, and so the term elder finds a place in", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0200.jp2"}, "201": {"fulltext": "ORGANIZATION. 195\\nthe speech of the developing church long before,\\nin my judgment, it designated an official relation.\\nIn Acts 15 23, Luke speaks of the apostles and\\nelder brethren, showing their unofficial charac-\\nter. No reference is made to elders in Paul s\\nletters to the Galatians, Romans, or even the\\nCorinthians. In the latter, first epistle, Ste-\\nphanus is referred to as one to whom they should\\nbe in subjection, as he and his house had set\\nthemselves to minister among them, and the\\napostle urges that they be in subjection to such\\nas do this. The statement in Acts 14: 23, where\\nmention is made of Paul s appointing elders and\\ndeacons in every church in Galatia, will, of\\ncourse, have to be reckoned with, but that is\\nanother story. The service of bishops was at first\\nvoluntary, and when the need of appointment\\nwas felt, they naturally selected those that had\\napproved themselves.\\nIn the second century the church shows an\\nadvanced stage of organization. Ecclesiasticism\\nis plainly growing up. Deacons are the assist-\\nants of the bishops and the two offices are no-\\nwhere sharply distinguished. The ruling bishop\\ndevelops into a functionary with special powers,\\nand we have the Episcopacy as a direct out-\\ngrowth of the Presbytery. Paul, in Eph. 4 11-13,\\nsummarizes the active agencies of the apostolic\\nchurch as follows: And he gave some to be\\napostles, and some prophets, and some evangel-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0201.jp2"}, "202": {"fulltext": "196 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nists and some pastors and teachers. The prin-\\nciple of adaptation is here most obvious. The\\nNew Testament precedent gives full warrant, I\\nthink, for such adjustment as the needs of a\\ngiven time or place may demand. Paul more\\nthan once went to the utmost limits of expedi-\\nency, as, for instance, when he told the brethren\\nat Corinth to have their women keep silence in\\nthe churches. In a large way, of course, the\\nmethods of the church are the same in all ages\\nbecause the aims are the same, and deep down\\nhuman nature and human needs are the same.\\nThe changes pertain only to details of method.\\nThe point I urge, so far as New Testament prece-\\ndent is concerned, is that there is no hard, fixed\\nform of organization set forth as divinely author-\\nized to be made perpetual. The church is a liv-\\ning organism, and in a living organism there is\\nalways a change in order to accommodate itself\\nto new conditions. Any attempt to keep a pre-\\ncise form handed down from the past is likely to\\nbe attended with disaster to the living spirit\\nwithin. Church history illustrates this again\\nand again. Zealous partisans are even to-day\\nholding on to forms that are against the spirit of\\nthe age, and a part of the strength of the church\\nis thus locked up behind old and useless contro-\\nversies. There should be the fullest freedom in\\nthe reconstruction of church machinery and the", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0202.jp2"}, "203": {"fulltext": "ORGANIZATION. 197\\nlargest employment of forces for the advance-\\nment of the cause.\\nLooking, then, at the average congregation to-\\nday, do we see a highly organized and effectual\\ninstrument for doing Christian work? It is\\ngranted that the preaching is well done, your\\nessayist will make no criticism of that. But\\nthere are four things that are not well done, and\\nthese four things I will mention in order, begin-\\nning with that wherein there is the most serious\\nlack.\\nFirst. The teaching function is not well pro-\\nvided for.\\nSecond. The benevolences of the church are\\nnot well looked after.\\nThird. The pastoral work is inadequately\\ndone.\\nFourth. The evangelistic pressure is not uni-\\nform and healthful.\\nLet us consider these in order. The teaching\\nfunction of the church is of necessity entrusted\\nlargely to the Sunday-school. The pulpit, of\\ncourse, is a factor, but didactic preaching is not\\npopular. The sermon must be full of snap and\\ntire and illustration. The teaching of the Script-\\nures in the home is almost a thing of the past.\\nParents have given it over very largely to the\\nSunday-school. Now, the modern Sunday-school\\nis a bright and beautiful thing and a great bless-\\ning to the church. But it does not, and cannot,", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0203.jp2"}, "204": {"fulltext": "198 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nunder present conditions, supply the teaching\\nfunction. Look for a moment at secular educa-\\ntioD. In the last twenty-five years the public\\nschool system has grown with wondrous strides.\\nIts methods are abreast of the age. A high\\nschool course to-day aifords a training better\\nthan the college course did when some of us\\nwere boys. Specialists give themselves not only\\nto the study of methods, but to the study of\\npupils. At what age should a child take up a\\ngiven study, and at what pace should he be car-\\nried through it. Education may fairly be called\\na science. Every faculty is trained. Every\\nsense is cultivated. It seems to me that the\\nteaching function in the church should receive\\nnew emphasis. The high importance of this\\nmatter grows out of its necessary union, of in-\\nstruction of the intellect with the training of the\\nconscience and the will. Surely here is a field\\nfor the trained specialist. Little attention has\\nbeen given to it as compared with that which\\nsecular learning has received. Between the pul-\\npit and the Sunday-school is a place for such a\\nman. The teaching force in our Sunday-school\\nis recruited from the ranks of busy people, who\\nare often less competent than willing. They\\nhave little time for the preparation of their\\nwork, and avail themselves of all convenient\\nnotes and comments upon the lesson, snatching\\nthem up hurriedly and forgetting them as soon", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0204.jp2"}, "205": {"fulltext": "ORGANIZATION. 199\\nas they are done with. The modern Sunday-\\nschool does not by any means meet the demands\\nof the church. It is weighted down with pre-\\nliminary exercises in order to make it attractive,\\nand but a short time is really given to the study\\nof the lesson. With a man capable of training\\nthe teachers, and in other and larger ways stim-\\nulating the interest of the people in the study of\\nthe Bible, a great advance could be made in this\\ndepartment of the church. And with the man\\nwould come better methods and multiplied op-\\nportunities in different directions, for the train-\\ning of the church in the things that ought to be\\nknown. We have not yet, as a people, sufficient-\\nly appreciated the possibilities that lie in this\\ndirection. Christ has a relation to childhood,\\nand the church should make sure of the chil-\\ndren. Their religious training should begin\\nearly, along lines suited to their age, and the\\nsame development and laws of teaching observed\\nin their religious education that have proven so\\nrational in secular education. We need trained\\nteachers. There is wonderful interest in a live,\\ncritical unfolding of the Scriptures. Along this\\nline lie great possibilities. Bible institutes,\\nspecial courses, catechetical classes, Bethany\\nEeading Courses, are all practicable with a\\ntrained man to organize and properly adjust\\nthem. But it will require expenditure of money\\nand re-adjustment of methods.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0205.jp2"}, "206": {"fulltext": "200 OUR FIRST CONGRESS:\\nIn the second place, the benevolences of the\\nchurch need attention. I include under this\\nhead all raising of money for current expenses,\\nmissionary objects, and charitable purposes. I\\ndescribe three-fourths of our churches, if not\\nindeed all of them, when I say that the giving is\\nunequal, and that anything that could be called\\nliberality is confined to a small per cent, of the\\nmembership. The subject of money is thought\\na delicate one, and it is touched upon very gin-\\ngerly. Our congregations need education upon\\nthis matter. Not simply a deliverance now and\\nthen from the pulpit, but a personal contact\\nwith those who have to do with the money side\\nof the church, who shall make them acquainted\\nwith the needs and desires of the church, who\\nshall acquaint them with the good their money is\\ndoing and may do, and personally interest them\\nin giving. We can double our offerings for all\\npurposes in any congregation the moment some\\nmethod is adopted which shall bring the matter\\nfully and fairly before all the members. The\\ntime will come, I think, when we shall have done\\nwith methods of raising money other than by\\nplain scriptural giving.\\nIn the third place, the pastoral work of the\\nchurch is not well done. And by the pastoral\\nrelation I mean a close acquaintance with every\\nfamily and individual, their peculiar circum-\\nstances and needs, what they are and where they", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0206.jp2"}, "207": {"fulltext": "ORGANIZATION. 201\\nare, and wherein, if at all, they are remiss in\\ntheir religious life. Of course those who are\\nsick or in trouble are to be visited, those who\\nare indifferent and careless are to be labored\\nwith, and the unruly are to be warned. The\\ntrue pastor is one who locates any evil or neglect\\nupon the part of the church, and addresses him-\\nself at once to its removal. It should be his\\nstudy to keep all, as far as possible, in sympathetic\\nrelations with one another and with the church.\\nHe must be a wise, politic, clean, man and one\\nwhose presence in the home inspires confidence\\nand love. In this department alone, if it should\\nbe studied and developed as it ought to be, there\\nis full work for one man. It cannot possibly be\\nwell done under the present plan of putting all\\nthe work of a congregation upon one man.\\nIn the fourth place, the growth of our\\nchurches should be more steady and uniform.\\nEvangelistic zeal breaks out too much in spots.\\nIt is altogether intermittent. There is a marked\\nimprovement going on, however, in this direc-\\ntion among us. The bringing in of those that\\nare without should be always kept in hand, and\\nwhilst there are times and seasons in this work,\\nas in any other, there should be no long periods\\nof dearth, when the church seems to have gone to\\nsleep. When people are turning to the Lord,\\nthe spiritual tides run high and a sanctifying in-\\nfluence goes on, unlocking all the springs of", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0207.jp2"}, "208": {"fulltext": "202 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nChristian service. Let the Lord add daily to\\nthe church such as should be saved. Now the\\ngreat element in evangelistic work is the per-\\nsonal one, and the reason that it is not better\\ndone is to be looked for in the utter inadequacy\\nof our forces. In all of these matters which I\\nhave mentioned, unless we can get some new\\nleverage, some larger grasp of the situation, some\\nadvanced step in methods, in other words, some\\nreadjustment in organization to meet the com-\\nplex demands of a local work, things will go on\\nabout as they are. Our ministry is consecrated,\\nintelligent and effective. But as long as one\\nman is given four men s work, yea, four differ-\\nent kinds of men s work, it will be rare that\\nsuperior excellence shall be attained along any\\nline. Taking now the city congregation as a\\ncriterion, when the number of people included\\nin it and the amount of money invested by it are\\nconsidered, the visible returns are small. If the\\nchurch is to leaven society, if it is to sweeten\\nand recast the environments of men, it must\\nbrace itself for larger things. The aggregation\\nof people into cities and towns affords splendid\\nopportunities, but presents deadly perils. There\\nis nothing finer than the modern city. It is the\\ncenter of taste, of culture, of many of the\\nhighest refinements of life. There all the forces\\nof progress focus themselves. It should be\\nmade the citadel of rio^hteousness. The modern", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0208.jp2"}, "209": {"fulltext": "ORGANIZATION. 203\\ncity has produced new ways of living and a new\\ntype of man. The imperial desire and demand\\nof the present time is, that the gospel of Christ\\nshall hold and mold the great centers of life.\\nThe living truths of Christianity must be applied\\nto these complex social conditions. But to\\nchange conditions, we must first change men.\\nLet the old controversies be relegated to the\\nrear. Let old methods and prejudices give way,\\nso far as need be, to this new crusade. As well\\nuse old war-ships in our modern navy, or old\\nmuskets in our modern infantry, as cling to\\nold methods when they can no longer serve.\\nMany of our city churches have grown largely\\nby accretion. The country and village churches,\\nGod bless them, have converted the people and\\nsent them into the cities by hundreds. These\\nhave gone into the churches of the city, bring-\\ning strength and piety and character. But there\\nis one defect the city church of to-day has prac-\\ntically the methods of the country church.\\nWith all that is fine with this large element that\\nhas come in, there go certain prejudices that\\nplace limitations upon the city church. They\\nare suspicious of that which seems to minister to\\npride, extravagance or expensiveness. Their\\nideas of giving are gauged by what they have\\nbeen used to. They do not readily adjust them-\\nselves to the needs of a progressive city work.\\nPatience and persistence, therefore, are required", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0209.jp2"}, "210": {"fulltext": "204 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nto educate them to that liberality in money and\\nmethod which the field requires.\\nNow I believe that the time has come for the\\nlarge church and the multiple force. Why so\\nmany small churches, each starving in order to\\nstarve a little more, each straining every nerve\\nto wring money from poor people to pay sala-\\nries and carry heavy mortgages? Why, when\\nwith all this trouble the work, as a rule, can be\\nbut poorly done? There is no chance for spe-\\ncialists, and the tide of spiritual power is often\\nat a low ebb. The public is asked to maintain\\nfar too many churches, and as a lesult all for-\\nward movements are handicapped.\\nThe public is not getting the worth of its\\nmoney with so many small meeting-houses, each\\nloaded with debt. I know the pathos, the hero-\\nism, and sometimes the success with which a\\nsmall congregation grows into a large one. I\\nknow also that a church must be small before it\\ncan be large. But the majority of congregations\\nwhich I know, that were small twenty years ago\\nare small to-day. The policy of our multiplying\\nsuch is a bad one. Plant new congregations, of\\ncourse, but do it wisely and with a view to rapid\\nand large growth. A church wishes to send\\nforth surplus money and influence in the realm\\nof benevolence and missions. Its hands are tied\\nby home necessities. Each church, if normal,\\nought to be large. Have a college of trained", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0210.jp2"}, "211": {"fulltext": "ORGANIZATION. 205\\nworkers, so that every interest educational, be-\\nnevolent, evangelistic should be looked after,\\nand financial shortage avoided. In brief, if one\\nhas a sane idea of what a church is meant to do,\\nand what it could do if its strength were not\\ndrained by so many pigmy efforts and held down\\nby such petty methods, he can easily see how far\\nthe modern church has drifted from the ideal.\\nThe genius of our age is concentration. The\\nlarge church, with a number of workers, can do\\nmore with far less money, and do it better, than\\nmany small churches. The large church will up-\\nhold broad ideas and develop broad, construct-\\nive men. It would be safe-guarded from one-\\nman power and strong enough to defy the whims\\nof any clique. Public worship could be main-\\ntained with the dignity which modern culture\\ndemands. Uniformity and liberality would be\\nassured in its benevolence, while mission schools\\nand preaching stations could be kept up to suit\\nthe demands of its large parish.\\nA few great religious centers, such as I have\\ndescribed, would cover a whole city more effect-\\nually than is done under the present method.\\nIn any large city you can see numbers of old\\nchurch buildings abandoned, the congregations\\nfollowing the people like the Tabernacle in the\\nWilderness. Let us have temples, rather, to\\nwhich the tribes go up, and whose lights are as\\nsteady as the North Star. This is advocated only", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0211.jp2"}, "212": {"fulltext": "206 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nas a step forward in cities where we are strong\\nenough to do it. It is not offered in any sense\\nas a suggestion opposed to a wisely-directed city\\nmission w^ork.\\nWhat is called the Institutional Church need not\\nhere be considered, further than to say that where\\nthe conditions call for it, it is right and proper.\\nEvery church should adapt itself to its field.\\nMethods must be determined by environments.\\nIf night classes, reading-rooms, kindergartens,\\netc., can be the means of bringing young people\\nunder the influence of the gospel, they are per-\\nfectly legitimate. But in the very nature of\\nthings, the Institutional Church cannot exist\\nvery numerously, for these things are all better\\ndone by secular and benevolent agencies. A\\nchurch building should be one of the most ac-\\ncessible places in the town, and might, with\\nprofit, be kept open every day in the week,\\naffording opportunity for sociability and recrea-\\ntion.\\nAs to the organizations for general work, I\\nfeel less competent to speak, except to say that\\nsimplicity should be aimed at. Whether our\\npresent organizations are final, or whether an\\narrangement which involves only one, or at most\\nfewer agencies, is feasible, I am not, perhaps, in\\nthe best position to judge. I confess, however,\\nthat I can see no sound business reason for per-\\nmanently continuing three or four organizations", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0212.jp2"}, "213": {"fulltext": "ORGANIZATION. 207\\nto do what we are assured by all, is really one\\nwork. What radical difference is there between\\nhome and foreign missions, church extension,\\netc., that they should have separate boards,\\nseparate days, separate programs? It would sim-\\nplify matters much if there were only one socie-\\nty, one convention, one board, one set of com-\\nmittees. The State missionary organizations are\\nbeing articulated with the national work, and\\nthis is right. There should be still closer unifica-\\ntion extending also to city mission boards. A\\nwise and impartial consideration could then be\\ngiven to all interests, and any appearance of\\nrivalry between them avoided.\\nOne thing I am sure of, and that is, that the\\nchurches are beginning to wince under the mul-\\ntiplicity of appeals. If it were practicable, it\\nwould be better to have one treasury, one chan-\\nnel, through which all monies should flow.\\nSome of our people mistake what is really but\\nemulation on the part of our different interests\\nfor rivalry. They get the notion, which I feel\\nsure is a wrong one, that ambition to excel goes\\nso far sometimes as to warp judgment and dis-\\ncretion. The work is one, and I believe should\\nbe presented under the simple and general head\\nof missionary work. Looking the situation\\nsquarely in the face and taking a long view of it,\\nmore education and less importunity would be\\nbetter. Our people become confused amid so", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0213.jp2"}, "214": {"fulltext": "208 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nmany appeals, wherein urgency outruns their\\ninformation and sympathy. Let all devices,\\ncatch phrases, and decoying traps be done away\\nwith, and people asked to do plain giving. Set\\nthe standard high, make large claims on the\\nground that the Master hath need, and then\\nshow results. I believe such a course will be, in\\nthe long run, conducive to larger offerings, and\\nin keeping with the dignity of these great pur-\\nposes of the church.\\nAnother thing in connection with our mission-\\nary organizations that has seemed to me worth\\nmentioning, is this: They are, somehow, not\\nclose enough to the people. The effort to in-\\ncrease the attendance of business men at the\\nconventions is a worthy one. It would be desir-\\nable, I think, to bring about a vastly larger rep-\\nresentation of our churches in the annual gath-\\nerings, and make it an official representation.\\nLet the leading policies of the boards be deliber-\\nated upon, discussed and decided by such a body\\nof delegates. As it is, the churches seem out of\\ntouch with the boards, and have little or nothing\\nto do in determining their course of action. I\\ncannot say that things would be more wisel}^\\ndone, but they would be more representatively\\ndone. The churches would be committed to the\\npolicy in a fair and open way, and we could go\\nbefore our congregations and say that these\\nmeasures which we are asked to support pro-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0214.jp2"}, "215": {"fulltext": "ORGANIZATION. 209\\nceed from a large and representative Dody. In\\nother words, could we not have a delegate con-\\nvention? The idea would gradually prevail\\namong the churches, and it would be considered\\nan honor and a privilege for one to be chosen to\\nrepresent his congregation in such a body. The\\nchurch, in a sense, is a democratic institution.\\nIt is but fair and consistent that those who are\\nasked to give money and support measures,\\nshould in some way have an influence in deter-\\nmining what is to be done. I know that, as at\\npresent organized, there is a theoretical submis-\\nsion of matters to the people. We say that the\\nconvention voted so and so, but you all know\\nhow much that means. Thorough discussion and\\ndeliberate decision are rarely seen upon the floor\\nof the convention. If we had a strictly delegate\\nbody, open to representation from every congre-\\ngation, we should have a deliberative body. The\\nchurches would then feel a responsibility that\\nthey do not now feel in missionary matters. We\\nneed in our councils the wisdom and piety of\\nmen and women from all walks of life.\\nWe need also, and shall need it more and\\nmore, something like the Congregational or Bap-\\ntist council, a body of limited but recognized\\nauthority, which may be summoned for special\\npurposes. Our congregations and our ministry\\nhave suffered for the want of such a tribunal.\\nBelieving, as I do, in the principle of evolu-\\n14", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0215.jp2"}, "216": {"fulltext": "210 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\ntion, I look for such development of methods as\\nwill suit the best interests of our cause. It is\\nnot easy to forecast what will work and what\\nwill not. Everything must be tried in the cruci-\\nble of experience. Certain it is that no trick of\\norganization, no neat adjustment of machinery,\\nwill make up for lack of unity and devotion to\\nthe great work of Christ. Men count for more\\nthan organization. The church needs large-\\nminded, constructive men to-day to face the\\nproblems of the new century; and that she\\nneeds them is assurance that she will have them.\\nThis is pre-eminently an institutional era, and I\\nbelieve our beloved church will emerge from it\\nwith such organization as its ever-enlarging\\nmission requires.\\nAllan B. Philputt.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0216.jp2"}, "217": {"fulltext": "Organization^ and its Hdaptation to the\\npresent ]Seeds of the Cburcb*\\n3 Review*\\nIT is impossible for me to review, in any proper\\nsense, the address we have just heard, since\\nit was not placed in my hands in advance of its\\ndelivery. I can only offer a few remarks, there-\\nfore, by way of opening the general discussion\\nof the topic.\\nThe Church of Jesus Christ is a living organ-\\nism, and will therefore create its own form of\\noutward organization. We need not anticipate\\nits receiving a fixed and rigid form in advance\\nof its development as a spiritual force among\\nmen, but rather that its external organization\\nwill assume the type most in harmony with the\\ndivine and world-wide purposes for which it\\nexists. The supreme end for which the church\\nwas created is the salvation of the human race\\nthrough the ministry of the Christ. To bring\\nChrist to the world and the world to Christ is\\nher only mission. Not her own, but his glory,\\nhis authority, his righteousness, his infallibility,\\nare to be proclaimed and emphasized. Chris-\\ntianity, rather than churchianity, is what the\\nworld needs. Dr. Fairbairn, in the preface to\\n211", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0217.jp2"}, "218": {"fulltext": "212 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nhis great work, The Place of Christ in Modern\\nTheology, says: Theology as well as astron-\\nomy, may be Ptolemaic; it is so when the inter-\\npreter s church, with its creeds and traditions,\\nis made the fixed point from which he observes\\nand conceives the truth and kingdom of God.\\nBut theology may also be Copernican and it is so\\nwhen the standpoint of the interpreter is, as it\\nwere, the consciousness of Jesus Christ, and\\nthis consciousness where it is clearest and most\\ndefined, in the belief as to God s Fatherhood\\nand his own Sonship. Theology, in the former\\ncase, is geocentric, in the latter, heliocentric;\\nand only where the sun is the center can our\\nplanetary belief s and churches fall into a system\\nwhich is but made the more complete by varying\\ndegrees of distance and differences of orbit.\\nLike the Greeks on that notable feast day, the\\nworld yet asks of Jesus disciples, Sir, we\\nwould see Jesus; and the more effectually the\\nChurch can hide herself behind her divine Lord,\\nthe more readily will her message be received.\\nThe power of the gospel is not mechanical, but\\nvital, and depends not upon the peculiar polity\\nof the church, but upon the potency of the in-\\ndwelling Christ. Organization is not primary,\\nbut secondary, and the legislation of the New\\nTestament has to do with the fundamentals of\\nthe inner life and motive, rather than the acci-\\ndentals of the outer form and methods. God", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0218.jp2"}, "219": {"fulltext": "ORGANIZATION. 213\\ngives instinct to the insect, bird and beast, and\\ntheir activities follow the invariable and monot-\\nonous round of their natural impulses. But to\\nman he has given reason, and his activities are\\nto be guided by the ever-changing and advancing\\nideals by which he is led up the heights of pro-\\ngress unto glory. The organization of the\\nprimitive church followed the line of its great-\\nest need and fullest opportunity; and the church\\nof to-day should not hesitate to modify its\\npolity and methods to meet the needs and oppor-\\ntunities of this wonderful age. Without enter-\\ning into specific and minute details, I would sug-\\ngest three particulars in which the church of\\nto-day might well readjust her methods of work,\\nAvith whatever changes in her form of organiza-\\ntion this might make necessary.\\n1. We need a more efficient supervision of\\nboth churches and ministers. The primitive\\nchurch enjoyed the oversight of the apostles\\nand their immediate assistants, and even then\\nsuffered from disorderly congregations and dis-\\nreputable ministers. It is not surprising that we\\nare thus troubled, with our total lack of general\\noversight and our false ideas of the absolute in-\\ndependency of the individual church and preach-\\ner. What we have lost, in numbers and power,\\nby this gigantic blunder, eternity alone can re-\\nveal. And our million members to-day are\\nexerting but a tithe of their proper influence.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0219.jp2"}, "220": {"fulltext": "214 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nbecause they are not united in spirit and effort.\\nWe have all the members of a body, but they\\nare not fully articulated. We are so fearful of\\nan ecclesiastical tyranny that we are dangerously\\nnear to individual anarchy. We exalt the local\\nchurch as if there was no universal church.\\nWe need to examine again the statements of the\\nNew Testament concerning the church in its\\nlarger scope, and to study such passages as Acts\\n9: 31 in the Revised Version, So the church\\nthroughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria\\nhad peace, being edified and, walking in the fear\\nof the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy\\nSpirit, was multiplied. There is a fellowship\\nof the gospel that overleaps the bounds of the\\nlocal congregation, and we are all, without re-\\ngard to geographical boundaries, members one\\nof another. The welfare of every church is\\nthe concern of every other church, and the rep-\\nutation of any one minister of the gospel affects\\nthat of all his brethren. Pastorless churches\\nand churchless pastors ought to appeal to the\\nwhole body, and the remedy for the deplorable\\nconditions now prevailing in many quarters is\\nonly to be found in some method of supervision\\nwhich shall bring these two suffering classes to-\\ngether. Christ has ordained that men shall be\\nsaved by the foolishness of preaching; but\\nhow shall they hear without a preacher? and\\nhow shall he preach without hearers? Our", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0220.jp2"}, "221": {"fulltext": "ORGANIZATION. 215\\nMethodist brethren have solved the problem by\\ntheir system of itineracy, which, with all its de-\\nfects, is so vastly superior to our lack of all\\nsystem, as to put us to shame. Until we adopt\\nsome kind of intercongregational co-operation,\\nfor a similar direction of our ministry, we will\\nfind no relief from the growing embarrassments\\nthat now beset us. If our churches and preach-\\ners within any given territory would mutually\\nagree to be directed in the choice of pastors and\\ntheir support by some central authority, chosen\\nby themselves, such as a superintendent or evan-\\ngelist, or a committee of brethren, the wisdom\\nof such a course would be quickly proven. I\\nhere and now declare my readiness to enter into\\nsuch an agreement with my brethren of the\\nstate or district in which I labor, and to submit\\nto the authority of their representative, going or\\nstaying as I may be directed, and as may seem\\nto be for the best interests of the cause of our\\nLord and Master. I am aware that this sug-\\ngestion will be unwelcome to many good men\\namong us, but I am also aware that the most\\nviolent denunciation of this principle will come\\nfrom those irresponsible and unworthy men\\nwhose presence in our pulpits is a disgrace to the\\ncause of the Savior whom they profess to\\npreach. The most ardent advocates of absolute\\nindependency are likely to be those whose occu-\\npation would begone with the beginning of their", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0221.jp2"}, "222": {"fulltext": "216 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nresponsibility to their brethren. Philip of\\nMacedonia offered peace and protection to the\\npeople of Athens, if they would deliver up their\\norators to him. When Demosthenes heard it\\nhe said, That s what the wolf said to the sheep,\\nGive me your watch dogs and I will protect\\nyou! The wolf is hardly a consistent pleader\\nfor the freedom of the sheep.\\n2. We need a more general and generous fel-\\nlowship in Christian service. Christianity is a\\npartnership, and each disciple is called on to in-\\nvest all his capital in the common enterprise.\\nSome way must be found to enlist all the church\\nmembers in the work of the Lord. Meroz must\\nnot be recognized as worthy of fellowship unless\\nshe will come up to the help of the Lord against\\nthe mighty. The burdens of the local congrega-\\ntion must not be borne by the faithful few.\\nThe unfaithful many must be included in the\\nservice or excluded from the circle. And the\\ngeneral work of our brotherhood must be shared\\nby all our churches. It is a shame that the ap-\\npeals of our various missionary boards are ignored\\nby thousands of our congregations and preachers.\\nIt ought to be a stigma upon the fair fame of a\\ncongregation calling itself Christian, that it does\\nnothing for the salvation of the world outside of\\nthe meager effort made in its immediate commu-\\nnity for that will generally be the more meager\\nas it does less for world-wide enterprises. Any", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0222.jp2"}, "223": {"fulltext": "ORGANIZATION. 217\\nmodifications in our missionary methods that will\\nhelp to bring about such a reform as I have in-\\ndicated, should be hailed as an advance step.\\nPersonally, I believe that the further unifica-\\ntion of our missionary agencies, by combining all\\nin one society, with its separate boards or com-\\nmittees for such particular oversight as may be\\nnecessary, would do much to simplify our mis-\\nsionary cause in the minds of the brethren, and\\nwin their confidence and support.\\n3. We need such changes in our methods of\\nwork in the local congregation as will increase\\nthe volume and improve the quality of the per-\\nsonal service of Christians. We must reach the\\npeople by getting closer to them. We need not\\nlonger arms but more willing feet. It must not\\nbe expected of the hard-worked pastor that he\\nshall do all the looking after weak and sick\\nmembers and strangers. Christian men and\\nwomen ought to count it a pleasure to share\\nin such a work as this. If they are busy helping\\nthe preacher, they will hardly have time to think\\nof criticising him. The working church usually\\nkeeps its preacher many years. Much of the\\npastor s time ought to be given to directing the\\nactivities of the members. When one plan of\\nwork has been used long enough, it ought to be\\nabandoned without regret, and a better one\\nadopted. Plans are not like wine you cannot\\nalways say, The old is better. The free", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0223.jp2"}, "224": {"fulltext": "218 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nBody of Christ ought to refuse the yoke of bond-\\nage to outgrown customs, and adopt such meth-\\nods of work as wisdom approves. The facts of\\nthe gospel can never be changed; t he principles\\nof Christianity are eternal; the two solemn and\\nsignificant ordinances of the church embody\\ntruths that forbid their change from the ex-\\npressive mold in which their divine Author has\\ncast them. But in all other things the church is\\nat liberty to exercise her judgment, under the\\nguidance of that Spirit whose presence and\\npower are the peculiar inheritance of the saints.\\nIn the matter of organization, then, the church\\nowes it to herself and to the world to adopt such\\nforms and use such methods, from time to time,\\nas will best produce the result for which all her\\nactivities are called forth. And, as the living\\nman develops according to the inner life and its\\ndaily enlarging necessities, so the church of\\nJesus Christ will change its outward appearance\\nwith its stature, while ever retaining its likeness\\nto Him who is the tj^pe of all true holiness; and\\nwill find its constant task and inspiration in\\nstriving to attain to the measure of the stature\\nof the fullness of Christ. Just as the soul s\\nprogress is marked by constant change and up-\\nward advancement, until it at last reaches the\\ngoal in full and happy union with God in\\nheaven.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0224.jp2"}, "225": {"fulltext": "ORGANIZATION. 219\\nBuild thee more stately mansions, O my soul!\\nAs the swift seasons roll;\\nI/cave thy low-vaulted past.\\nLet each new temple, nobler than the last,\\nShut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,\\nTill thou at length art free,\\nleaving thine outgrown shell by life s unresting sea.\\nW. F. Richardson.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0225.jp2"}, "226": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0226.jp2"}, "227": {"fulltext": "X.\\nEnrichment of Public Worship\\nAmong the Disciples.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0227.jp2"}, "228": {"fulltext": "EIGHTH SESSION.\\nH. O. Breeden, of Des Moines, Iowa, was chairman of this\\nsession, and the subject for the evening was Christian Wor-\\nship. After a brief introduction on the subject, Dr. Breeden\\nintroduced Mrs. Ida Harrison, of Lexington, Ky., who read\\nthe paper wnich follows on The Enrichment of Public Wor-\\nship Among the Disciples. The discussion which followed\\nthe paper was wholly voluntary, but was very suggestive and\\nprofitable. The general chairman of the Congress then took\\ncharge of the meeting, and called for very brief speeches from\\nmembers expressing their appreciation of the Congress. Sev-\\neral brief but happy talks were made. God Be With You\\nTill We Meet Again, was sung, a closing prayer was offered,\\nand the First Congress of the Disciples of Christ was ended.\\n222", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0228.jp2"}, "229": {"fulltext": "Cbe Snricbment of public dorsbip\\nHmong tbc Disciples^\\nCHILDREN and people in a low stage of men-\\ntal and moral development are most easily\\nreached through the senses. The eye, in partic-\\nular, is the great thoroughfare from the outer\\nworld to the inner man, and sight and touch are\\nthe main avenues by which impressions are con-\\nveyed, not only to the mind, but to the spirit.\\nWe find this principle in the base of the kinder-\\ngarten idea the object lesson is the means by\\nwhich truth and knowledge are impressed on\\nbrain and heart. The same rule seemed to\\nbe the foundation of the Jewish form of wor-\\nship; the people of the time of Moses, and of\\nmany generations after Moses, were not able to\\ngrasp pure and abstract ideas of the Deity, and\\nso there was given them a religious ceremonial,\\nrich in rite and symbol, by which the great\\ntruths of their duty to God and man were taught\\nto them; it was a religious kindergarten for this\\nrace in its religious childhood. We know that\\nthis ritual was admirably adapted to the age and\\ngenius of the people, and that it finally educated\\nthem up to the idea of the one true and living\\nGod, all-powerful, invisible, and so prepared\\n223", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0229.jp2"}, "230": {"fulltext": "224 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nthem for the coming of the Redeemer of the\\nworld.\\nBut we also know that this formal religion had\\ncertain dangers connected with it, which resulted\\nin a class like the Pharisees, who laid stress on\\nexternals, rather than on the truths the} symbol-\\nized. The same tendency in man, which is the\\nreason of usefulness of prescribed forms of\\nworship, is also a cause of peril and that is the\\ntendency of poor human nature to grasp what is\\nvisible and tangible rather than what is unseen\\nand spiritual. You remember that our Lord\\nreproached those formalists of his day for mak-\\ning so much of little matters of observance, and\\nsaid they passed over the essentials of the law^\\nlike judgment, mercy and the love of God\\nand that at another time, he sternly rebuked\\nthem for their ostentatious practice of outward\\nforms, and making them obligatory on the Jews\\nas matters of conscience or teaching them as\\ndoctrines, as he expressed it.\\nAnd there is not only this disposition to em-\\nphasize the form of worship rather than the\\nspirit of worship, but these forms are not in-\\nfrequently the cause of fierce controversy. The\\npresent ritualistic agitation in England, about\\nwhich we read so much, shows how a great\\nchurch can be torn in two mainly over matters of\\nritual. This agitation, as far as I can gather,\\nseems to be a continuation of the Oxford, or", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0230.jp2"}, "231": {"fulltext": "ENRICHMENT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 225\\nTractarian movement early in the century, when\\nmobs gathered and riots ensued, and legal con-\\ntests arose over the use of certain vestments, of\\nlights, of the eastward position of the clergy, of\\nthe placing of the altar, the burning question of\\nthe ornaments, rubric, and numerous other mat-\\nters of form. The excitement to-day is bearing\\nfruits in such unseemly spectacles as the vicar of\\none church charging at the head of some of his\\nflock against an opposing church during hours of\\nworship, in immense mass meetings, where, we\\nare told, five thousand were turned away from\\nthe doors, in monster petitions to queen and\\nparliament, and in many other unlovely and un-\\nchristian proceedings. Of course we under-\\nstand that it is the dread of Romish doctrines\\nbehind these various rites that is causing much\\nof the agitation, but the fact remains that many\\nof the Ritualistic clergymen, both in the present\\nand in the Tractarian movement, claim loyalty to\\nthe English church, and merely insist on their\\nright to use decorous and beautiful forms, and\\ntheir use of them is creating a disturbance that\\nmay result in a religious revolution.\\nBut because ritualism in worship has been a\\nfertile cause of danger, not only along the lines\\nindicated, but in many other ways, yet that is\\nnot a legitimate argument against the wise use\\nof simple and flexible forms. Some of the\\ngreatest material blessings we have are among\\n15", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0231.jp2"}, "232": {"fulltext": "226 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nthe most dangerous and destructive forces in\\nnature, such as fire and electricity. We must be\\ncertain we know enough about them to use them\\naright, and must use proper precautions against\\ntheir destructive tendencies, and then these de-\\nstroyers become blessings. And so, I think we\\nneed not fear to use such helpful forms in wor-\\nship as silent prayer on entering the church, re-\\npeating the Lord s Prayer in concert, the audible\\namen at the end of prayer, and responsive read-\\nings of selected passages from the Bible. The\\nrebuke of our Lord to the ritualists of his day\\nwas that they taught as doctrine the com-\\nmandments of men; whenever we make inflexi-\\nble and unchangeable rules for worship, and\\nimpose them as doctrines on the church, then\\nwe are in danger of bringing the sting of that\\nstern reprimand on ourselves but I cannot see\\nhow the use of such simple forms as I have in-\\ndicated, when they are matters of choice by the\\ncongregations, and not imposed by any authority,\\nwould compromise any principle or endanger the\\nfaith of the weakest. The homely command of\\nthe apostle to the Corinthian Church, to conduct\\ntheir worship with decency and order, seems\\nto involve pre-arrangement and the practice of\\nsome forms.\\nI suppose there is no one before me to-night\\nwho is not thankful that our churches have not\\ninherited that apple of discord, a historic liturgy.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0232.jp2"}, "233": {"fulltext": "ENRICHMENT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 227\\nThe truth has made us free. With a great price\\nour fathers in the faith purchased it for us, and\\nwe should rejoice in it, as we do in the personal\\nfreedom won for us by our forefathers in the\\nRevolution. Yet, have we not sometimes made\\nthat very freedom an occasion of stumbling?\\nIt is often noted in reforms, that the reformer\\nwho goes too far sometimes creates a spirit of\\nrevolt against the truths he proclaims; the sense\\nof justice is violated by intemperance of word\\nand deed, and the unthinking often fall back\\ninto the pit from whence they were digged. The\\npendulum that swings too far east will go back\\na corresponding distance west. I sometimes\\nfear that we have gone a trifle too far in our\\nopposition to prescribed forms of worship, and\\nso have produced in some a craving for the rest-\\nfulness and outward reverence of ritualism. It\\nmay be I have been more on the alert since I\\nwas asked to write this paper, but a number of\\ninstances have come to my notice of people who\\ncomplain of a lack of quietude and devotion in\\nour churches; in a few instances I have known\\nof Disciples of Christ who attend other\\nchurches because the atmosphere in them is more\\nhelpful to worship. It is true, these are gener-\\nally young members and weak members, but we\\ndo not wish to be a cause of offense to the poor-\\nest saint. I don t believe we lay quite as much\\nstress on the meeting-house idea now as we", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0233.jp2"}, "234": {"fulltext": "228 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\ndid some 3 ears ago, aud I think it is a happy\\ndecline. We have come to the conclusion that\\nthe people of our brotherhood are firral} in-\\ntrenched in the idea that the body of believers\\nis the church, and not the house where they\\nmeet, and that we can build beautiful and com-\\nfortable houses for worship without leading any\\none into the error of thinking that there is any\\nessential sanctity in places. I trust we shall\\nsoon go a step farther, and lay more emphasis\\non devout demeanor when we meet in the house\\nof God for public worship.\\nA subject like The Enrichment of our Pub-\\nlic Worship, necessarily implies the need of\\nsuch enrichment. I have talked with several\\nrepresentatives of the pulpit in my part of the\\nworld, and they fortified me in the belief that\\nthere is such a need. One of the oldest preach-\\ners in Lexington, the honored president of our\\nForeign Missionary Society, wrote me these em-\\nphatic words: It is a notorious fact that our\\ncongregations in this land are not as reverential\\nand devotional in the house of God as they\\nshould be; many do not understand the matter,\\nand need to have their attention called to it. I\\nshall take these words of one of our wise lead-\\ners as my text, and shall diffidently offer some\\nsuggestions looking to a greater spirit of rever-\\nence in our worship.\\nI would sav that one of our first needs on that", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0234.jp2"}, "235": {"fulltext": "ENRICHMENT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 229\\nline is to create an atmosphere of stillness and\\nsilence in the house of God. The Lord is in\\nhis holy temple let all the earth keep silence.\\nWhere two or three are gathered together in\\nmy name, there am I in the midst of them.\\nSurely when we enter the place where prayer and\\npraise are wont to be made, where we invoke the\\nname of the Most High and claim the promise\\nof his presence, the sacred proprieties of the\\nplace require a stillness of body, a hush of\\nspeech that we rarely see in one of our congre-\\ngations. Instead of that, is it not the rule,\\nrather than the exception, at the beginning of\\nworship to hear a rustling of many garments, a\\nwhispering of many voices? How hard to quiet\\nthe spirit to the right frame for worship in such\\nan unquiet atmosphere Our spirits are so de-\\npendent on our bodies, and our bodies, in this\\nhigh-strung generation, are such electric, ner-\\nvous machines, so responsive to surrounding in-\\nfluences, that thoughts will wander and be dis-\\ntracted, and what should be a heavenly hour is\\nwasted. In the text, The spirit indeed is will-\\ning, but the flesh is weak, have we not more\\nthan an intimation that the spirit is largely de-\\npendent for its helps or its hindrances upon the\\nbody in which we dwell?\\nI believe one of the ways of helping to attain\\nto a devotional quietude, is the practice of silent\\nprayer on first entering the church. It enables", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0235.jp2"}, "236": {"fulltext": "230 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nthe worshiper to still his own heart by asking\\nGod s help; it also protects him from thought-\\nless comments and greeting of those sitting near.\\nYou may say, Why bring this up at this meet-\\ning? Let those who like offer silent prayer, and\\nthose who dislike such a form refrain from it.\\nThe trouble is, if part of a congregation prac-\\ntice it, and part do not, those* who do, make\\nthemselves remarked and conspicuous by it, and\\nso shrink from what would be a helpful com-\\nmunion. In our church in Lexington, the\\nwomen who attend the woman s prayer-meet-\\ning resolved that they would each offer silent\\nprayer at the beginning of the service. We did\\nso for a while, but we were only about thirty out\\nof a congregation of one thousand, and we soon\\nbecame so conscious of comment and criticism\\nthat we lost the benefit of it, and gradually had\\nto abandon it. It would have to be of general\\nobservance before it would be a helpful service\\nto the worshiper, and have a quieting eifect on\\nthe congregation.\\nOur good minister has lately instructed his\\nushers to keep late-comers in the rear of the\\nchurch, and not seat them during the reading of\\nthe Scripture lesson. The distractions to mind\\nfrom people coming in during the invocation, or\\nprayer, or Bible-reading, are certainly hindrances\\nto a worshipful frame of mind. It is getting to\\nbe considered bad form to enter a concert-room", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0236.jp2"}, "237": {"fulltext": "ENRICHMENT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 231\\nduring the progress of a musical number.\\nWould it be too much to hope for such an ideal\\nin church decorum, that late comers would\\nalways wait in the rear until prayer or Bible\\nreading was finished?\\nSt. Paul speaks of saying Amen in the church\\nat the giving of thanks. Surely we need not\\nfear to practice it then it gives the congrega-\\ntion a participation in the prayers that seems\\nmost fitting. And why should we not at times\\nparticipate with the minister in prayer, by re-\\npeating the Lord s Prayer in concert? When\\nour Master gave it he evidently meant it for the\\nuse of a number together, for he uses the plural\\nthroughout, When ye pray, say, Our Father, lead\\nus not into temptation, whereas when directions\\nwere given for private prayer, it is, Wlien thou\\nprayest, enter into thy closet, and so on. Certain-\\nly it would enrich our prayer service to have the\\nwhole body of worshipers repeat together often\\nthis most divine and perfect form of prayer.\\nAnd I can see no rational objection to the peo-\\nple sharing in the Bible-reading with the minis-\\nter. The responsive reading of appropriate pas-\\nsages from the Word of God is certainly a\\nprofitable and beautiful form of worship; we\\nuse it in our Sunday-school, and the teachers and\\nscholars join in it heartily, and make it a help-\\nful part of our service. The only machinery\\nneeded are Bibles in the pews as well as hymn", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0237.jp2"}, "238": {"fulltext": "232 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nbooks, and a leader to face the congregation.\\nSurely an ideal in worship is to have the wor-\\nshipers participate with the minister in it, and\\nif we use these simple and becoming forms of\\nsilent prayer, the audible amen, the Lord s\\nPrayer in concert and responsive readings from\\nthe Bible, we shall have taken along step toward\\nthat much-desired end. We are often accused\\nof making much of the sermon and little of the\\nworship in our church service. Would it not be\\nwell to remove the cause of that criticism by\\nmore careful attention to the details of worship\\n(whether along lines indicated in this paper, or\\nin ways suggested by those who shall follow me)\\nand so raise the worship to as high a plane of\\ndignity as the sermon?\\nA great preacher says, In hymns and psalms\\nwe have a universal ritual; it is the theology of\\nthe heart that unites men. The art of singing\\ntogether is one that is forever weaving invisible\\nthreads about us. And the same high author-\\nity testifies to the value of good hymns in gen-\\neral, and of one hymn in particular, by saying,\\nI would rather have written Jesus, Lover of\\nMy Soul, than to have the fame of all the\\nkings that ever sat on earth. That hymn will go\\non singing until the last trump brings forth the\\nangel band, and then I think it will mount up on\\nsome lip to the very presence of God.\\nNo one will question that music is one of the", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0238.jp2"}, "239": {"fulltext": "ENRICHMENT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 233\\nimportant parts of worship. It is that part in\\nwhich all join and that part that most perfectly\\nvoices the element of praise. I count that its\\nquieting, uplifting effect on the worshiper is one\\nof its primary functions. No one who has been\\nso fortunate as to see an audience of thousands\\nunder the spell of the sublimest of oratorios,\\nThe Messiah, who has seen them rise as one\\nman and join in the final chorus, can fail to bear\\nwitness to the elevating power of music, and\\ncan doubt but that it is one of the great means\\nby which the soul soars upward to the feet of the\\nGreat Father. We have a familiar illustration\\nof the power of music in the service for the\\ndead. How often have we listened dry-eyed to\\nprayer and Holy Writ, but when the sweet and\\nsolemn strains of the hymn floated out, tears\\nhave streamed down every face. It has a lan-\\nguage that speaks more eloquently than the\\ntongue of any man. Haydn, when an old man,\\nmade his first journey to England. Mozart ex-\\npressed anxiety to him lest his ignorance of the\\nEnglish language should mar the pleasure of his\\nvisit. My language, said the old musician, is\\nunderstood all the world over. Music is the\\nuniversal speech which appeals to the universal\\nheart of man it is the utterance of what is un-\\nutterable in words the voice of the soul s life.\\nCreation began with music, when the morning\\nstars sang together; it greeted the birth of", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0239.jp2"}, "240": {"fulltext": "234 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nChrist when the angelic hosts sang to the listen-\\ning shepherds. Our lives begin with the cradle\\nsong, they close with the funeral anthem. We\\nknow not whether there will be speech after the\\nmanner of earthly speech in heaven, but we do\\nknow that song set to strains from heavenly\\nharps will be there, and that is a speech we can\\nall understand.\\nIf music have this power over body and spirit,\\nhow important that we should use it to its best\\nand fullest in our church service. I take it for\\ngranted that we are all agreed that the most per-\\nfect song service is that in which the whole\\nchurch can join, so I shall not enlarge on con-\\ngregational singing. Neither shall I emphasize\\nthe use of the organ in worship, because, happi-\\nly, the dispute over its use is passing away, and\\nit is only at rare intervals that we now hear\\nechoes of what was once a bitter controversy.\\nIt has been practically demonstrated that the\\nsound of the organ in our churches was not the\\ndeath knell of congregational singing, as some\\nof its opponents darkly predicted. In point of\\nfact, in a town I know, where one of the large\\nchurches has an organ and one has not, the\\nchurch without the organ has more of what we\\ncall special choir singing than the church with\\nthe organ. If ever an instrument was created\\nfor a special purpose, the organ seems to have\\nbeen especially designed for religious music. To", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0240.jp2"}, "241": {"fulltext": "ENRICHMENT OF PUBLIC WORSPIP. 235\\nfail to use an instrument so peculiarly fitted for\\ndivine worship, whether alone, in voluntary or\\nprelude, or as the background and harmonious\\ncomplement of the human voice in song, would\\nseem to be a willful neglect of opportunity.\\nIn addition to the organ, played by one not\\nonly a skillful musician but a sincere Christian,\\nI think music in our churches needs two things:\\n1. A higher poetic standard for the hymns\\nwe use.\\n2. A higher musical standard for the tunes\\nto which they are set. For acceptable song be-\\nfore the Lord, we should indeed crave perfect\\nmusic set to noble words.\\nIn the reformation wrought by our church\\nfathers, song and hymn did not play the impor-\\ntant part they did with Luther in the sixteenth\\ncentury and with the Wesleys in the eighteenth.\\nThe sermon and the debate were the means by\\nwhich the evils of sectarianism were attacked,\\nand the desirableness of Christian union was ex-\\ntolled. Luther s psalms and hymns gave wings\\nto his teaching; they became so popular they\\neven found their way into the Catholic Church,\\nso that a Romanist said in alarm, The whole\\npeople is singing itself into the Lutheran doc-\\ntrine. Luther s great hymn, A Mighty Strong-\\nhold is Our God, became the Marseillaise of\\nthe Reformation. Charles Wesley sang the doc-\\ntrines of Methodism into the hearts of believers.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0241.jp2"}, "242": {"fulltext": "236 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nHis Jesus, Lover of My Soul, and Love\\nDivine, All Love Excelling, did as much to\\nreach the heart of his day as the eloquence of\\nWhitfield or the administrative genius of his\\nbrother John.\\nThe fact that the sermon rather than the\\nhymn played the leading part in our reformation,\\nmay account for the little stress we have laid on\\nhymns as a means of grace. They furnish the\\nbest devotional reading that we have; next to\\nthe Word of God, they give comfort to the sor-\\nrowing and guidance to the perplexed. It is\\nimportant that we have the best hymns in our\\ncollections on that account, as well as on ac-\\ncount of the leading part they bear in our wor-\\nship. I have never seen a collection of hymns\\nfor the use of our churches that has satisfied me.\\nThose that I have seen fail to give us some of\\nthe lyrics that voice the perfect flower of spirit-\\nual aspiration. I fail to find those two old\\nhymns that have come down to us from the sixth\\nand eighth centuries, and that possess poetry as\\nwell as piety, **Art Thou Weary, Art Thou Lan-\\nguid? and 0, Sacred Head, Once Wounded.\\nI have never seen in our collections that beauti-\\nful hymn of Charles Wesley, Come, O Thou\\nTraveler Unknown.\\nThis century has been peculiarly rich in hymn\\nwriters, but we lack a number of their jewels of\\nsacred song in our collections, such as Prof.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0242.jp2"}, "243": {"fulltext": "ENRICHMENT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 237\\nBlackie s Angels Holy, High and Lowly; Miss\\nDowdney s funeral hymn, Sleep On, Beloved,\\nSleep, and Take Thy Rest; Miss Procter s I\\nDo Not Ask, O Lord, That Life May Be a Pleas-\\nant Eoad; Mrs. Alexander s There is a Green\\nHill Far Away, and others by Mrs. Browning,\\nAdelaide Procter, Christina Rosetti, and writers\\non Avhom I have not space to dwell.\\nBut I do find in use among us, as well as\\namong other religious bodies, hymns that seem\\nutterly unworthy of a place in public worship.\\nThe growing use of congregational singing, and\\nthe ever larger part taken in worship by our\\nyoung people and children, have made the hymn\\nwith the refrain very popular. That it is a noble\\nform no one can doubt who has heard Baring-\\nGould s Onward, Christian Soldier, or Miss\\nHavergal s I Gave My Life for Thee, or many\\nof Bliss and Sankey s songs. But that it has\\nbeen put to base uses no one can fail to note\\nwho listens to much of the degenerate jingle\\nthat masquerades under the name of Gospel\\nSongs. How many of them are merely taking a\\npopular phrase and twisting it into mechanical\\nrhymes, without meaning or devotion! Did you\\never think how often the good phrases, Over\\nthe River, and Whiter than Snow, and The\\nSweet By-and-By, have been reproduced, until\\nthey were purely perfunctory and threadbare?\\nI counted eight songs in one collection that w^ere", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0243.jp2"}, "244": {"fulltext": "238 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nbuilt up on Whiter than Snow, and seven that\\nhad as their base Some Day, or Some Sweet\\nDay, or Some Happy Day. There is a re-\\nfrain to a gospel song we often sing that always\\nbrings to my mind the Psalmist s prayer, Lord,\\nkeep thy servant from presumptuous sins; it\\ntells of when the saved of earth shall gather over\\non the other shore, and announces in confident\\nand oft-repeated chorus, When the Roll is\\nCalled Up Yonder, I ll Be There. To say the\\nleast, it seems premature for sinning, stumbling\\ncreatures to make public proclamation of that\\nfact. There is one song we used to sing at every\\nrevival in our part of the country, but is happily\\nnot in our later collections; it is the one where\\nthe newly converted believer is represented as\\nsaying\\nMy old companions, fare you well,\\nI will not go with you to hell.\\nI do not believe it is possible to wed doggerel to\\nnoble music. If the words be only jingle, the\\nmusic will be only jingle. Musical critics say\\nthat one reason Italian opera never attained to\\nthe dignity and meaning of that of Wagner and\\nother German composers was because their text\\nwas lacking in intellectual quality and nobility of\\ntheme. The eagerness with which great musi-\\ncians of our day have used the Faust theme\\nthat noble theme of the struggle, both in the", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0244.jp2"}, "245": {"fulltext": "ENRICHMENT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 239\\nvisible and invisible worlds, between the powers\\nof good and evil for mastery of the human soul\\nshows the value they set on a noble text.\\nMuch of the music set to our popular hymns\\nis trash of the purest kind. There is a wealth\\nof divine music ready for our use, written by the\\ngreat masters who looked on their art as a sacred\\ntrust, given to them from above. Handel said\\nwhen he wrote the Hallelujah Chorus, I did see\\nheaven open before me; Haydn wrote at the\\nbeginning of all his compositions, To the glory\\nof God, and put at the close, Praise the\\nLord; and Mozart wrote, I have God always\\nbefore my eyes. There is plenty of music by\\nthem and by their peers fitted for congrega-\\ntional singing, so that the unlearned in music,\\nthough guiltless of knowledge of note or bar,\\ncan join therein; and there is being written, all\\nthe time, music that is worthy of being wedded\\nto the sweetest and loftiest of our spiritual\\nsongs.\\nI believe that when we have set a higher stand-\\nard for our song service, both in words and\\nmusic, we shall have taken a long step toward\\nenriching our public worship.\\nI have said before that we are often charged\\nwith making too much of the sermon and too\\nlittle of the worship in our service; but there\\nis one ordinance that Disciples observe every\\nSunday that is the very acme the climax of", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0245.jp2"}, "246": {"fulltext": "240 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nworship the Holy Communion. As far as I\\nknow, we are the only people who celebrate\\nthe Lord s Supper every Lord s day the only\\npeople who meet for the breaking of bread on\\nthe first day of every week.\\nWe are often reminded that the frequent ob-\\nservance of this memorial endangers its solem-\\nnity and efficacy by making it common. We\\nshould be constantly on the watch that this\\nobservance, which is both a memorial of the dead\\nChrist and a communion with the living Christ,\\nshould never be formal and perfunctory but\\nshould be a blessed hour spent on the heights of\\ncommunion, of grateful meditation on the love\\nwhich laid down a life for us, and in examina-\\ntion of our hearts, with a penitent purpose to\\nput away the sins that separate us from him. I\\nwish some of the brethren present, who are bet-\\nter versed in our church history than I am,\\nwould give the reasons for so often placing the\\nconduct of this service in the hands of the elders,\\nrather than with the minister of the church.\\nIs it not a fact that a change from the one who\\nhas presided in all the previous services to an-\\nother person, is apt to distract the minds of the\\ncongregation at a moment when the thoughts\\nshould be turned within in examination of our\\nown hearts, and upward to Him who alone can\\nmake them clean? In most instances the new\\nleader feels that he must make some introduc-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0246.jp2"}, "247": {"fulltext": "ENRICHMENT OE PUBLIC WORSHIP. 241\\ntory remarks often in the shape of a kind of\\nreview of the sermon just closed. Very often\\nthe best of elders has no gift for public speech,\\nand he suffers and his hearers suffer while he\\nstruggles through what has been imposed on him\\nas a duty. Sometimes a good elder, faithful in\\ncomforting the sick and ministering to the\\nneedy, is lacking in a sense of the eternal fit-\\nness of things. Some of you know of a dis-\\ntressing occasion, when a beautiful new church\\nwas filled with a great crowd, and the good old\\nelder, whose turn it was to officiate at the Lord s\\nSupper, as soon as he took his place at the table,\\nburst out in one of the loudest and most discord-\\nant voices ever heard into Alas, and Did My\\nSavior Bleed, and sang it through, while the\\ncongregation sat in helpless misery through it\\nall!\\nIt is given to very few to say the solemn and\\nuplifting word at this sacred time. The utter-\\nance of prayer, the voice of song, the words of\\nHoly Writ, are the only words we want; all\\nother speech is apt to jar then. I have often\\nwished that some of our leading brethren would\\narrange selected passages from the Bible for use\\nat our communion service passages that could\\nbe either used responsively by minister and con-\\ngregation, or could be read by the minister\\nalone and that would help us to reach that\\n16", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0247.jp2"}, "248": {"fulltext": "242 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nframe of mind so beautifully expressed by Bonar\\nin his Communion Hymn:\\nHere, O my Lord, I see thee face to face.\\nHere would I touch and handle things unseen;\\nHere grasp with firmer hand the eternal grace.\\nAnd all my weariness upon thee lean.\\nWhile I was writing this paper, I saw com-\\nments in two of our secular papers on the dis-\\nregard of the benediction in many of our\\nchurches. The writers deplored the fact that\\nwhat should be most beautiful and solemn was\\nspoiled by the congregation struggling into over-\\ncoats and overshoes, and clutching for hats and\\numbrellas. I know you will grant that this was\\na just criticism, and that the benediction, instead\\nof being the close and climax of a sacred ser-\\nvice, is too often the preparation for an unseem-\\nly rush to get out of the church. But while the\\ncongregation seem to be the erring ones, yet,\\nwith all due respect for this gathering, I believe\\nthe minister is often at fault, too. Items of\\nbusiness, forgotten announcements, are often\\nsandwiched in between the doxology and bene-\\ndiction, and the spirit uplifted by communion\\nand song is abruptly jerked back to practical\\ndetails, and the closing blessing loses its effect.\\nThe communion, the parting praise song, tlio\\nbenediction, should each be a successive step on\\nthe ladder of praise; to insert anything irrele-\\nvant is to break what should be a sacred ascending", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0248.jp2"}, "249": {"fulltext": "ENRICHMENT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 243\\nseries, and to rob the devout worshiper of the\\nparting promise of the presence of God, of\\npeace, of love, of grace a humble foretaste of\\nthe final blessing, Well done, good and faith-\\nful servant.\\nFor any minister to make the **benediction\\nthat follows after prayer degenerate into the\\nmere formality of repeating a changeless form,\\nis to cheat his people out of a goodly heritage.\\nThere is a wealth of benedictory forms in the\\nsacred writings which have power indeed to\\nquiet the restless pulse of care. I counted\\ntwenty-five beautiful benedictions found in the\\nEpistles alone, to say nothing of those in the\\nOld Testament, especially that peerless one\\ngiven by the Lord himself for blessing the chil-\\ndren of Israel:\\nThe Lord bless thee and keep thee;\\nThe Lord make his face to shine, and be gracious unto thee:\\nThe Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee\\npeace.\\nOur Lord, wearied with his journey, resting\\nalone by a well-side at noon, told a nameless,\\nsinning woman the greatest of all secrets about\\nacceptable worship. The essential of worship,\\nhe said, was not the place, it was not the gor-\\ngeous temple ritual, it Avas the spirit of the wor-\\nshiper. The true worshiper must worship the\\nFather in spirit and in truth. Here we have the\\ngreatest need for enriching our worship the", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0249.jp2"}, "250": {"fulltext": "244 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\nhumble, penitent, believing heart, hungering\\nand thirsting for righteousness, answering the\\ndivine Come unto me of Him who is both the\\nbread of life and the water of life. A clear call\\nto this age, as it is to all ages, is to lift our ideals\\nof personal piety ever higher. The noble watch-\\nword of this generation is service; nearly every\\nearnest member of our church is asking, *Lord,\\nwhat wilt thou have me to c?o.^ The pent-up\\nenergies of an inert past are finding avenues for\\nusefulness on every side doors of opportunity\\nare opening everywhere, not only to the strong\\nman trained for work, but to the women who\\nare already becoming a great host, to the young\\npeople, even to the little children. How im-\\nportant that now of all times, our standards of\\nholy living and holy dying should be of the\\nhighest. Paul exhorted his son in the faith to\\nbe sanctified, meet for the Master s use, pre-\\npared for every good work. The workman, in\\norder to do good work, must have tools bright\\nand sharp. We expect our Master to use us;\\nhow should we strive to be meet for his use?\\nOf what exalted piet}^ and purity should we be,\\nof what lowly childlikeness, of what strong and\\nsteadfast spirits, what patience, what gentleness!\\nI do not believe our Master can any more use us\\nfor good works unless we are meet for his use,\\nthan he could do mighty works in the city where\\nthere was unbelief. The high tide of spiritual", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0250.jp2"}, "251": {"fulltext": "ENRICHMENT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 245\\ngrowth must throb through all our work and our\\nworship, or both will be cold and fruitless.\\nIt has struck me that our people are great-\\nly lacking in devotional literature. I do not\\nthink we want to foster the introspective, ana-\\nlytical spirit of by-gone days, when the Chris-\\ntian spent the best part of his time contemplat-\\ning his own vices and virtues and speculating on\\nthem, but we want more books that strike true\\nnotes of spiritual aspiration, where a busy\\nworker can find a chord that shall make his day\\nharmonious, where the poor soul, blinded and\\nbewildered with sorrow or pain, can find help,\\nwhere the weak can find strength. These things\\nare all in God s Word, but many are busy, or\\nblind, or ignorant, and do not, or will not, seek\\nfor themselves. Some of us were preparing\\ncases of books for a traveling library in the\\nmountains of Kentucky some time ago, and on\\ninquiry as to the kind of books wanted, found\\nthere was a great demand for devotional books,\\nwhich was a surprise, coming from that special\\nfield. There is a great demand everywhere for\\nbooks that tell simply and sincerely how to be\\ngood.\\nThat the pulpit should often exhort to that\\nholiness without which no man can see God,\\ngoes without saying. In the church where they\\nhope to enrich the worship, this theme must\\noften be repeated. And there should be no com-", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0251.jp2"}, "252": {"fulltext": "246 OUR FIRST CONGRESS.\\npromise of ideals; the only goal to which the\\nChristian is pointed should be the prize of the\\nhigh calling of God in Christ Jesus. The only\\npattern held before him must be that heavenly\\nand irresistible one which draws all men to it\\nwhen lifted up. In order to permanently enrich\\nour worship, all the worshipers must belong to\\nthat elect class whose uplifted eyes are looking\\nto Jesus, whose yearning hearts are trying to be\\nlike him, and whose firm faith comforts them,\\nthrough all their struggles and failures, that\\nthey shall be like him in that blest day when\\nthey shall see him as he is.\\nIda Withers Harrison.\\nFINIS.", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0252.jp2"}, "253": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0253.jp2"}, "254": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0254.jp2"}, "255": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3313", "width": "2051", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0255.jp2"}, "256": {"fulltext": "JUL 36 till\\nDeacidified using the Bookkeeper proces\\nNeutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide\\nTreatment Date: April 2006\\nPreservationTechnologie\\nA WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATIC\\n1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive\\nCranberry Township, PA 16066\\n(724)779-2111", "height": "3577", "width": "2334", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0256.jp2"}, "257": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3535", "width": "2318", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0257.jp2"}, "258": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS\\nmill iiiiiiiiiiii H\\n017 524 971\\n-v ^iv^^\\n^XJ^ ^^i\\nim\\n151\\nB\\nS^N^f\\nC\\nkw\\n^^^v\\n^^y^\\\\^v(^\\n\u00e2\u0096\u00a0^wf\\n^s\u00c2\u00ab;^\\nSs\\nV s!\\n11\\n1\\nw^\\n%Si\\nh", "height": "3735", "width": "2379", "jp2-path": "ourfirstcongress00garr_0258.jp2"}}