186 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



coming in of this better theology, there are three things which may 

 enable us to answer hopefully. 



First, the tolerance, which has been mentioned as one of the con- 

 ditions under which we live, makes the path smooth before us. That 

 which some have dignified by the name of " The New Reformation " 

 has, we may hope, passed its stage of contention. The facts and views 

 which have been set forth in this paper are not opposed by any solid 

 array of party opinion, but rather find men in all parties who admit 

 them. The ground, therefore, has been cleared, and the building has 

 to be erected. The chief point on which our energies must be expend- 

 ed is Church history. This study, in its larger sense, embraces almost 

 the whole field. The study of Scripture itself is mainly the study of 

 the historical development by which the Church was prepared and 

 founded. The study of dogma can not be profitable unless its history 

 be known, and its various phases taken in combination with the cir- 

 cumstances of the time. And the knowledge of the progress made in 

 the past is the surest guide for the future. History, therefore, is the 

 frame in which all theological study must be set ; and the knowledge 

 of facts, their co-ordination and their significance, is that to which all 

 theological students must turn their attention. We need not give up 

 the hope of a full Christian philosophy, nor delay taking the initial 

 steps toward it. But at every turn we are dependent on a knowledge 

 of the path, which is as yet but imperfectly explored. 



It may be asked, secondly, whether the introduction of these views 

 will demand any great alteration in the formularies and practices of 

 the Church. It is, indeed, desirable to give liberty, since tender con- 

 sciences are fettered by any sense of bondage ; and irritation, or need- 

 less pain, or incapacity, or in some cases hypocrisy, are the result. The 

 clergy should not be required to make any subscription at all, but 

 should simply be subject to the law of the system under which they 

 serve. In the Church services some greater facilities for substitution 

 and omissions would be desirable under the sanction of a competent 

 local authority ; and a document like the Athanasian Creed, which, 

 where intelligible, recalls the age of controversies and condemnations, 

 should not be read in the public services. But the chief adaptations 

 of the old to the new must be made by thoughtful men for them- 

 selves ; and the key to them will be found by going below the letter 

 and seizing upon the real meaning of the assertions made, and trans- 

 lating them into practice. If the divinity of Christ is identified with 

 his moral supremacy as a spiritual power ; if the atonement means to 

 us self-sacrifice, and faith a confidence in the divine righteousness ; if 

 absolution is the authoritative assurance of God's forgiveness ; if elec- 

 tion is the endowment of a few to be the leaders of the rest in Chris- 

 tian devotion, we shall not find any great difficulty in the language of 

 the prayers and the other formularies in any of the Christian denomi- 

 nations. 



