A History of the Moravian ChurchHutton, J. E. (Joseph Edmund)
Religion
A History of the Moravian Church
Hutton, J. E. (Joseph Edmund)
Moravian Church -- History
accurate definition, and they used their theological terms in a broader
and freer way. For example, take their definition of faith. We all know
the definition given by Luther. "There are," said Luther, "two kinds of
believing: first, a believing about God which means that I believe that
what is said of God is true. This faith is rather a form of knowledge
than a faith. There is, secondly, a believing in God which means that I
put my trust in Him, give myself up to thinking that I can have dealings
with Him, and believe without any doubt that He will be and do to me
according to the things said of Him. Such faith, which throws itself
upon God, whether in life or in death, alone makes a Christian man." But
the Brethren gave the word faith a richer meaning. They made it signify
more than trust in God. They made it include both hope and love. They
made it include obedience to the Law of Christ.
"What is faith in the Lord God?" was one question in the Catechism.
"It is to know God, to know His word; above all, to love Him, to do His
commandments, and to submit to His will."
"What is faith in Christ?"
"It is to listen to His word, to know Him, to honour Him, to love Him
and to join the company of His followers."[31]
And this is the tone all through the Catechism and in all the early
writings of the Brethren. As a ship, said Luke, is not made of one
plank, so a Christian cannot live on one religious doctrine. The
Brethren had no pet doctrines whatever. They had none of the distinctive
marks of a sect. They taught their children the Apostles' Creed, the
Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the Eight Beatitudes, and the
"Six Commandments" of the Sermon on the Mount. They taught the orthodox
Catholic doctrines of the Holy Trinity and the Virgin Birth. They held,
they said, the universal Christian faith. They enjoined the children to
honour, but not worship, the Virgin Mary and the Saints, and they
warned them against the adoration of pictures. If the Brethren had any
peculiarity at all, it was not any distinctive doctrine, but rather
their insistence on the practical duties of the believer. With Luther,
St. Paul's theology was foremost; with the Brethren (though not denied)
it fell into the background. With Luther the favourite court of appeal
was St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians; with the Brethren it was rather
the Sermon on the Mount and the tender Epistles of St. John.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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