Recently in the "N Y Evening Journal," Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis, Pastor of the Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, expressed himself very honestly in respect to the inalienable right to mental freedom of every human being; but while he stands free, with no lack of individual freedom, as soon as he joins sect, party, or club, thenceforth personal liberty is restricted to the declared or understood principles or tenets or doctrine of the party to which he owes allegiance.
We cannot too highly commend Dr. Hillis' pronouncement on this subject. It is exactly right and should be recognized and followed by everybody. But if it were followed there would be a great revolution along religious lines. It would mean, when applied to Christianity, that every Christian would examine the creed to which he has assented either actively or passively, and would recognize his responsibility accordingly. If the creed did not fully represent his faith he would promptly renounce that creed and find one that he could agree with, or else resume his personal, individual liberty of thought. It will not do to say that creeds are no longer believed by three-fourths of their adherents; for those three-fourths are stultifying themselves by their dishonesty in even tacitly acknowledging the creeds they do not believe. Not only would the ranks of the ministers thus be thinned out fully three-fourths, but likewise the membership in all denominations, we believe basing our judgment upon confessions to this effect freely made everywhere by clergy and laity.
Here are the manly words of Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis on this subject extracted from his recent article in the "New York Evening Journal":
"As an individual, every man has a right to absolute liberty of thought on every subject. Second, as a teacher, every man has a right to absolute liberty of teaching so long as anybody will listen to him; but, third, whenever a man accepts an overture to become the representative of a political society, State government or religious body, he voluntarily resigns some of the details of his personal liberty [HGL48] when he pledges allegiance to the code and creed of the institution."
"For example, when the Governor takes the oath of allegiance to the Constitution, what he does as Governor is determined by a pre-existing code, for the people of the State have done the governor's thinking in advance. Whenever the individual Governor finds that he cannot carry out the decree of the people as expressed in their Constitution, he must resign his position, to maintain his honor and preserve his liberty of thought."
"When a man joins a church and accepts its creeds, he surrenders some of the details of his personal liberty, and whenever he decides that the creed in general is no longer in a reasonable sense fairly representative of his view, to maintain his personal liberty he must resign his position, in all honor and fairness."
The above honest and courageous expression from the Pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church of Brooklyn some understand to be a hint that Dr. Hillis is about to resign as Pastor. It is assumed that the above is merely an advance statement showing his reasons therefore. It has long been noticed by his friends and the public that Dr. Hillis' sermons clearly show that he does not believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, nor that Jesus had a miraculous birth, nor that He is the world's Redeemer in the sense of satisfying Justice for the sins of the world. Indeed, his sermons seem very clearly to show that he does not believe that man ever fell from the image of God, but rather, along Evolutionary lines, he seems to believe and teach that our race is rising from monkeyhood to manhood by an Evolutionary process, which has been maintained from the first, and in which redemption would have no place.
As for his profession along these lines, we were handed copies of Dr. Hillis' sermons published in the "Brooklyn Eagle," with the following extracts marked. The Scripture quotations in brackets, are ours:
"The Answer – to the question, What is it to be saved? depends upon the way in which man in lost. If man is lost in ignorance, he will be saved by books, by schools and study. If man is lost in poverty, he will be saved by industry and thrift. If the youth is lost through sickness, he will be saved by rest, food and exercises, etc." (The Scriptures say that all are lost through Adam's disobedience. 1 Cor. 15:21, 22)
"First of all, we must sweep away the misconception of salvation, based upon the vengeance and wrath of God. Hardly less grievous is that misconception of salvation that is based upon the fictitious fall of man in Adam. (Compare St. Paul's statements in Rom. 5:12 and 5:19 as follows: 'As by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned'; 'as by one man's disobedience (Adam's disobedience) many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one [Jesus] shall many be made righteous.')"
"Men in their folly and ignorance charged God with imputing Adam's sin to his descendants, and making this river of corruption to flow on and on for six thousand years."
Undoubtedly many will regret it if Dr. Hillis vacates his present charge; nevertheless, all must concede the honesty and logic of his own argument on the subject and are bound to admire honesty, even though it be a little delayed.
Dr. Hillis' words are being freely quoted in the newspapers as follows:
>"No Assembly or Conference need worry about defending the truth. The truth in the Bible defends and protects men and shall prevail."
No one must think, after reading the above words, that Dr. Hillis by them is denying his previous declarations for years to the effect that the Bible is full of inconsistencies and inaccuracies and not in any sense the inspired Word of God. We hold no authority to defend Dr. Hillis and to prove the consistency of this last statement with previous ones; but for the sake of those who are confused on the subject we offer a suggestion. We presume that Dr. Hillis, by the above quotation, means that whatever truth there is in the Bible defends and protects men and shall prevail, in the very same sense that whatever truth there is in Dickens' or Shakespeare's writings defend and protect men and shall prevail. Unfortunately, there are many wise and good men of our day who are taking this same stand that Dr. Hillis takes. They could clip out a few passages here and there in the Bible which they would pronounce good and helpful, just as they would pick out a few passages from the Koran or from any other book, heathen or Christian.
In our humble opinion the work of Higher Critics in Colleges and in the chief pulpits of the civilized world is a terrible destruction, subversive to the "faith once delivered to the saints." With the loss of faith in the Bible there is a loss of a God to the majority. Only the few are able to think of God abstractly as the great Creator and Upholder of all things. Only a few can reason upon matters, that He must be All-wise, All-powerful, All-just and All-loving. And even these must feel perplexed to know why a gracious Creator would fail to give some explanation of His will and purpose in human creation.
The masses surely need the Bible and they need assistance in understanding it. It seems a pity that our so richly endowed colleges and seminaries are busily engaged in destroying faith in the blessed Book which has exercised such a power for good in the world. It seems a pity, too, that young men sent to college by devoted parents can get their education only in conjunction with a loss of such faith – sproutings as they receive at the home fireside.
There is a soul hunger, however, which neither Darwin nor Huxley nor the Higher Critics can satisfy. And with the growth of Higher Criticism we note the growth of graft and dishonesty, from the highest circles to the lowest from the life insurance exposures of a few years ago to the manifestation of political corruption on every hand. Surely men and women without God, without Christ, without religion, without a "faith once delivered to the saints," are much more likely to succumb to temptations than when they believed in the All-seeing Eye and in the promises to the faithful recorded in the Scriptures. [HGL49]
God declares, "My people perish for lack of knowledge." Civilization has brought to millions of people power to read and incentive to reason. Consequently, there never was a period in the world's history when correct knowledge of God was so greatly needed by so many people. In the ignorance and lethargy of the "Dark Ages" people thought less, either of good or bad. Now is the time when there is a special need for a clear, explicit, harmonious understanding of the Bible, and we have it. Now, as St. Peter said, We are able to give an Answer – to every man that asketh of us a reason for the hope that is in us. But, alas! that so many have gone the way of unbelief and Higher Criticism and are using their talents to destroy the Bible and to undermine faith in it. Alas, too, for those who still maintain their reverence for the Bible and continue to wear the creed spectacles of the "Dark Ages" which distort and discolor all the precious promises, as well as threatenings, of God's Word! Now is the time to make use of the wonderful assistances that God has given us, both in the study of His Word and in the teaching of it to others, that it may be seen in its beauty and harmony, its simplicity and strength. Thus seen, no other book in the world can compare with the Bible.
To such as have not seen the consistency and beauty of God's Word we recommend a careful and prayerful reading of a book entitled "The Divine Plan of the Ages." It is from the pen of the well-known Pastor Russell of Brooklyn Tabernacle, who, according to newspaper reports, has recently consented also to serve the London Tabernacle about one-third of each year. He charges no royalty to the publishers of his books, but insists, on the contrary, that they shall be sold at barely cost price. Some of these peculiarities of his are sneered at by his enemies, but, nevertheless, to many these facts commend the Pastor, his sermons and his books. He certainly conceals nothing respecting his own faith. And he certainly has lifted a great cloud of fear and doubt from the minds of many and thus helped them nearer to God, to the Bible and to holiness. Perhaps we cannot do better here than to quote the words of a deceased editor of the Atlanta Constitution, Mr. C T Smith. Reviewing one of Pastor Russell's volumes, "The Divine Plan of the Ages," in his Journal, Mr. Smith said: -
But it is impossible to read this book without loving the writer and pondering his wonderful solution of the great mysteries that have troubled us all our lives. There is hardly a family to be found that has not lost some loved one who died outside the church outside the plan of salvation, and, if Calvinism be true, outside of all hope and inside of eternal torment and despair. We smother our feelings and turn away from the horrible picture. We dare not deny the faith of our fathers, and yet can it be possible that the good mother and the wandering child are forever separated? forever and forever?
"I believe it is the rigidity of these teachings that makes atheists and infidels and skeptics makes Christians unhappy and brings their gray hairs down in sorrow to the grave a lost chid, a lost soul!"
"This wonderful book makes no assertions that are not well sustained by the Scriptures. It is built up stone by stone, and upon every stone is the text, and it becomes a pyramid of God's love, and mercy, and wisdom."
"There is nothing in the Bible that the author denies or doubts, but there are many texts that he throws a flood of light upon that seems to remove from them the dark and gloomy meaning. I see that editors of leading journals and many orthodox ministers of different denominations have endorsed it and have confessed to this new and comforting light that has dawned upon the interpretation of God's Book. Then let every man read and ponder and take comfort, for we are all prisoners of hope. This is an age of advanced thought, and more thinking is done than ever before men dare to think now. Light, more light is the watchword." C T Smith ("B Arp").
This wonderful book is in its fourth million, so doubtless it is unnecessary to advertise it; nevertheless we should not wonder if it is in the libraries of many of our readers who are not aware of its priceless value; it is a valuable Bible key.