Discourses and Reviews Upon Questions in Contraversial Theology and Practical Religion (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1868. Excerpt: ... ON THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF INSPIRATION. The Professor of Theology in the Andover Seminary will excuse us, we trust, if we postpone his claims, for a while, to the less agreeable task of dealing with adversaries who are assailing us with weapons far different from those which he uses. With this re mark to guard against even a momentary misapprehension, we shall take up the matter of our thoughts ab origine. One of the evils of controversy, is, that men are driven by it into extremes of opinion. The sound and sober conclusions at which they arrive in calmer times, are made to give way to extravagant positions, injurious to the minds of those who hold them, injurious to the cause of Christianity, and favourable only to the attacks of its enemies. Inquiry is pursued under many undue biases indeed, but especially under the bias of a wish to put opponents and adversaries in the wrong. New tests, not only of practical religion, but of Christianity itself, are set up, in order to exclude unwelcome opinions from the ground of our common faith, and the maintenance of such opinions from the credit of cherishing its virtues. It is of some importance, at such times, to look to the foundation of our faith, and to call to mind its most judicious and able defenders, to point to the old and firm landmarks and standards, in order to show that these periodical freshets of theological zeal, which bear away "the wood and the hay and the stubble," are not powerful enough to remove those landmarks and standards;--to show that they will spend their force and pass away, and leave all that is weighty and strong in our religion, just where it was before. We say it is of some importance. It is not of such importance as if we were defending the very ground of our faith and hope. It ...