“THE CRASH OF CREEDS.”

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 449, 26 February 1890, Page 4

“THE CRASH OF CREEDS.”

MR GULLIVER AT THE TEM- • PERANCE HALL. Auckland, Feb. 24. At the Temperance Hall last night the Rev. E. H. Gulliver delivered his third and concluding lecture on “The Crash of Creeds.” He said that he had at first intended to embody in this course a description of some of the systems of thought which have been put forward to replace the creeds which were passing away, more especially the. system of August Comte, which was known as “ Positivism,” and the philosophy of Herbert Spencer ; but each of those systems would require a special course to do it justice, and he would therefore defer them for the present. The real importance of religion did not rest in the particular dogmas men might hold. Religious dogma lay altogether outside of our common He. We might be utterly unable to form any clear mental picture of what we meant by “God,” or the “immortality of the soul,’"' but the vital importance of religion lay in its effect in shaping our ideas of duty. We had now reached this position that either the old ideas of duty were insufficient to meet the new conditions of life, or the conditions of life are now so different from what they used to be, as to necessitate a revision of our ideas of duty. We knew by sad experience that a man could not make a living in modern business if lie carried out the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. The result was that our religion had become a nominal one, and was laid asido during the week with our Sunday coats. Two things were essential, truth and knowledge. At the time of the Reformation a follower of Erasmus was asked, “ What is to absolve you bad Christians?” The reply was “ Study and Truth,” and our answer must be the same. These were of the first necessity. New discoveries wero constantly being made which touched vested interests and caused differences of opinion. It was useless to appeal to popular prejudice with regard to them. Knowledge and study in the spirit of truth were alone competent to deal with them. Vve have seen that the history of Christian creeds has been a history of continuous warfare under the pretended banner of the Prince of Peace, and that the use of the words, “ I believe,” has been always followed by the use of the words “I condemn.” Let us not fear the loss of the creeds ; they are going, and indeed, have gone, and with them will go one of the chief obstacles to the harmony and brotherhood of man. The process of parting with old beliefs must necessarily have its bitterness for those who have grown up in them, but for our children it will be much easier, and we need not fear that wider, truer, and nobles ideas will fail to take their place. One of the most stirring incidents of the battle of Waterloo occurred at the close of that memorable day. The British army had lain all day along the ridge of a hill, springing to their feet again and again to resist the successive charges of the French cavalry, and then lying down fiat to escape the deadly volleys of the artillery. Napoleon had made his last charge, and his veteran guards had been finally repulsed, when Wellington, raising his hat, signalled the advance of the whole line, and in the enthusiasm of the moment it was seen that even the wounded, who could bub limp joined in the rush with which the British army swept down on the defeated foe, and the day was won. We, too, form, as it were, part of a great army, and if we do our duty, though the fight be long, and many may fall in the battle, yet those of us who survive may hope to join in the general advance which will carry the banners of truth to victoi’y.