Elijah the Tishbite. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. VMackintosh, Charles Henry
Religion
Elijah the Tishbite. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. V
Mackintosh, Charles Henry
Theology
Thank God it is not so. He, blessed be His name, has not confined
Himself within the narrow limits of any school of doctrine, high, low,
or moderate. He has revealed Himself. He has told out the deep and
precious secrets of His heart. He has unfolded His eternal counsels,
as to the Church, as to Israel, the Gentiles, and the wide creation.
Men might as well attempt to confine the ocean in buckets of their own
formation as to confine the vast range of divine revelation within the
feeble enclosures of human systems of doctrine. It cannot be done, and
it ought not to be attempted. Better far to set aside the systems of
theology and schools of divinity, and come like a little child to the
eternal fountain of Holy Scripture, and there drink in the living
teachings of God's Spirit.
Nothing is more damaging to the truth of God, more withering to the
soul, or more subversive of all spiritual growth and progress than
mere theology, high or low--Calvinistic or Arminian. It is impossible
for the soul to make progress beyond the boundaries of the system to
which it is attached. If I am taught to regard "The five points" as
"the faith of God's elect," I shall not think of looking beyond them;
and then a most glorious field of heavenly truth is shut out from the
vision of my soul. I am stunted, narrowed, one-sided; and not only so,
but I am in danger of getting into that hard, dry state of soul which
results from being occupied with mere points of doctrine instead of
with Christ. A disciple of the high school of doctrine will not hear
of a world-wide gospel--of God's love to the world--of glad tidings to
every creature under heaven. He has only gotten a gospel for the
elect. On the other hand, a disciple of the low or Arminian school
will not hear of the eternal security of God's people. Their salvation
depends partly upon Christ, and partly upon themselves. According to
this system, the song of the redeemed should be changed. Instead of
"Worthy is the Lamb," we should have to add, "and worthy are we." We
may be saved to-day, and lost to-morrow. All this dishonors God, and
robs the Christian of all true peace.
We do not write to offend the reader. Nothing is further from our
thoughts. We are dealing not with persons, but with schools of
doctrine and systems of divinity which we would, most earnestly,
entreat our beloved readers to abandon, at once, and for ever. Not one
of them contains the full, entire truth of God. There are certain
elements of truth in all of them; but the truth is often neutralized
by the error; and even if we could find a system which contains, so
far as it goes, nothing but the truth, yet if it does not contain the
whole truth, its effect upon the soul is pernicious, because it leads
a person to plume himself on having the truth of God when, in reality,
he has only laid hold of a one-sided system of man.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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