423 imposing any fata lity or necessity on men’s actions, or any way infringing free agency. I Believe in th e u tte r inability of any hum an being to work out his own salva tion, w ithout the constant aids of the Spirit of all grace. I Believe in those g reat peculiarities of the C hristian Religion, a Resurrec tion from the dead, and a day of Judg ment. I Believe in th e universal Providence of God; and leave to Epicurus, and his more unreasonable followers in modern times, th e inconsistency of believing th a t God made a world which he does not tak e th e trouble of governing. I Believe Religion to be a m atter, not of dem onstration, bu t of faith . God requires us to give credit to th e tru th s which he reveals, no t because we can prove them , bu t because he declares them . When the mind is reasonably convinced th a t the Bible is th e Word of God, the only rem aining duty is to receive its doctrines, w ith full confi dence of th e ir tru th , and practice them , w ith a pure heart. I Believe th a t th e Bible is to be un derstood and received in the plain and obvious meaning of its passages; since I cannot persuade myself th a t a Book intended for the in struction and con version of th e whole world should cover its tru e meaning in any such mystery and doubt th a t none b u t critics and philosophers can discover it. I Believe th a t th e refinements and subtleties of hum an wisdom are more likely to obscure th an to enlighten the revealed will of God; and th a t he is the most accomplished Christian scholar who h ath been educated a t the feet of Jesus and in the College of Fishermen. I Believe th a t all tru e Religion con sists in th e h e a rt and affections; and th a t th erefo re all creeds and confes sions are fallible and uncertain evi dences of evangelical piety.
THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
Daniel Webster’s
Bible Confession
The following is a confession of faith w ritten by Daniel W ebster to his pastor in 1807. It ring s tru e to those funda mentals which, if believed in more widely today, would settle th e grave problems qf church and sta te th a t are confronting us. I Believe in the existence of A lmighty God, who created and governs the whole world. I am ta u g h t th is by th e works of n atu re and th e word of Revelation. I Believe th a t God exists in th ree persons: th is I learn from Revelation alone. Nor is it any objection to th is belief, th a t I cannot comprehend how one can be th ree, or th ree, one. I hold it my duty to believe, no t w hat I can comprehend, or account for, b u t w hat my Maker teaches me. I Believe th e Scriptures of th e Old and New Testam ents to be the will and word of God. I Believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. The m iracles which he w rought establish, in my mind, his per sonal authority, and render it proper for me to believe whatever he asserts. I believe, therefore, all his declarations, as well when he declares him self to be th e Son of God, as when he declares any o th er proposition. And I believe th e re is no other way of salvation th an th rough th e m erits of his atonem ent. I Believe th a t things past, present and to come, are all equally present in th e m ind of Deity; th a t w ith Him th e re is no succession of time, nor of ideas; th a t, therefore, the relative term s past, present and future, as used among men, cannot, w ith stric t pro priety, be applied to Deity. I believe in the doctrines of foreknowledge and pre-destination, as thu s expounded. I do not believe in those doctrines, as
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter