T H E E l N G ’S B U S I N E S S
June 1924
343
The Church and the Creed and the DutjJ of Church Officers An Address Delivered by th e R t. Rev. Philip Mercer Rhinelander, D. D., LL. D., D. C. L. Bishop o t Pennsylvania a t th e 139th Annual Convention of th è Diocese Ei ECENT notorious events giSs? J |j have forced th is mat- H te r to th e front. Much r *■' -vl hag happened to shock and distress all right-m inded Christian people. Yet shocks, rightly diagnosed the case, may be the means of cure: may bring life out of death. But if the doc to r’s orders are forgotten: if his formulas and medicines are al tered: or his advice ignored, the patient may die who m ight have lived. Here is a strong, sterling mesasge from a soldier of Christ. His sword is out of the scabbard, and he strikes sturdy blows in de fense of the Apostles’ Creed. He shows that the Deity of Jesus Christ is the core of the Creed. This article will be printed in tract form, and can be had from Biola Book Room. though painful, may he salutary. They may rouse us out of cul
pable and dangerous indifference: out of a false and blind security. God g ran t it'm a y be so in th is case. F o r this m atter of th e Church’s Creed is absolutely crucial. We neglect it a t our sp iritual peril. And we all, clergy and laity alike, have been grossly negligent. That is the reason why, when attacks are made upon th e Creed; when its im portance is denied and even ridiculed; when its plain mean ing is diluted or distorted by shallow sophistry or by pseudo-science; th a t is why we know not where to tu rn or what to answer: th a t is why there is so much wild and foolish ta lk : so little calm and clear facing of th e issue. We have been caught off our guard. We have been thrown into confusion and dismay a t th e very point where our lines should have been most closely ordered: and our defence most sure and impregnable. I say the question of th e Church’s Creed is crucial. F o r if the Church disown her Creed, she cuts off th e very life blood from her h eart: she severs th e arteries through which the grace of God flows in. T hat is literally true. And, th a t being true, it follows th a t if any of th e Church’s officers disown th e Church’s Creed, eith er in private faith or public teaching, while yet retain ing office, they are not m erely guilty of the breach of a most sacred tru s t which they have sworn to keep inviolate: they are also responsible in God’s sight for the sp iritu al d isaster th a t must follow to th eir own flocks first, and through them to the Church a t large. These are strong words and I am justified in using them only on one condition: only, th a t is, if it be really tru e th a t the Creed is vitally im portant to the Church. But is th a t tru e? The Creed is a formula, a set of sentences, so many words. How can a formula be vital? How can mere words save life? Well, let us see. In this case illu stration will help us more than argument. Now it is most certain th a t life or death may hang upon a word, they often do. A sign-post, for example may mean, h as often meant, to a lost traveller, th e difference between food, warm th, shelter, safety on th e one hand: and hunger, cold, exposure, danger on the other. Deface it, conceal it, break it down: and you take away his hope: you rob him of his chance. A stroke or two of paint, a word or two in print, bring life: th eir absence* death. Or take a chart: giving the soundings: showing th e rocks and reefs: m arking th e channel w ith its lights and buoys. A ch art will guide a ship to port w ith all souls safe. But tam per w ith it, m ark it wrongly, te a r it up, and th e best skill of helmsman counts for naught and the ship goes on th e rocks. Or, coming closer, a physician’s orders for his patient: the prescription which he w rites and leaves behind him: .the treatm en t he advises: these, if he has skill and has
Now the Church’s Creed is like a sign-post: like a sea- ch art: like a medical prescription. It points the way to God. It m arks th e course to steer by from th ia worid to the next. It tells us how we may be healed, and pass from sin to holiness, from death to life. The B irth of th e Creed And it does all this, and claims au tho rity to do it, in the name of Jesus Christ. It all comes from .H im and-leads to Him. It all depends on Him. The Creed speaks, of Jesus Christ in every single syllable. Look a t its history. See where it came from. There is no need of scholarship, or scientific training, ■or critical acumen. He who runs may read. Turn the pages of the New Testam ent: th e Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles and th e Epistles: and see it taking place under your very eyes. F irs t came th e impression made by th e ir new M aster on th e devout, plastic, simple- minded Jewish artisan s who were His first disciples Then came th e ir expression of the impression which. .He -had made on them : th eir account, th a t is, of w hat He had come to mean to them. They found in Him guidance, healing, ligh t and life. He grew to be to them Lord, Saviour, Judge: th e ir all in all. There was no lim it to His influence, authority, sufficiency for all th eir needs. And then, one day, they said so: they spoke it out: they w rote it down: P eter first, at Caesarea Philippi: then doubting Thomas: then John and Jude and Jam es: and th e au th o r of the Epistle to the Hebrews: and Paul: and Stephen and every other Apostolic w riter and confessor. The whole New Testament from end to end is bu t th e record of it and the witness to it. F aith became vocal: love found expression: though t pu t on words. So the Church’s Creed was born: for worship and for witness: for praise and propaganda. T hat is its origin and history. The Deity of Jesus Christ is indeed the core and centre of the Creed, b u t it is so because it was first the core and centre of th e faith of which th e Creed is th e symbol and expression. The first disciples found Him, th eir Lord and Master, doing for them what God alone can do: being to them what God alone can rightly be. He did the work of God: He played the p art of God: He took the place of God. And so they called Him God, and made the Creed. And mark you, it is no exaggeration to say th a t th e first disciples made th e Creed as we now have it: as the Church has held it ever since. For it all comes— the whole of it— in its sho rter or its longer form— it all comes, every syllable and word of it, from th a t g reat discovery*,- fr6m th a t trem endous affirmation, th a t Jesus, the man of Naza reth , is none other th an the Son of Gpd. There was no Creed before th a t g reat discovery was made. And in the Church’s Creed th ere was nothing really new inserted afte r wards. F o r the Creed is not a string of detached sen tences: it is one whole. It is articu lated : th a t is, made up
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker