Modern Skepticism: A Course of Lectures Delivered at the Request of the Christian Evidence Society
Religion
Modern Skepticism: A Course of Lectures Delivered at the Request of the Christian Evidence Society
Church of England; Skepticism; Skepticism -- Controversial literature
Dr. Newman, in his Essay "On the Development of Christian Doctrine,"
takes a somewhat different view. He speaks of the development of
an idea as follows: "When some great enunciation, whether true or
false, about human nature, or present good, or government, or duty,
or religion, is carried forward into the public throng and draws
attention, then it is not only passively admitted in this or that form
into the minds of men, but it becomes a living principle within them,
leading them to an ever-new contemplation of itself, an acting upon it,
and a propagation of it. Such is the doctrine of the natural bondage
of the will, or of individual responsibility, or of the immortality of
the soul, or of the rights of man, or of the divine right of kings, or
of the hypocrisy and tyranny of priestcraft, or of the lawfulness of
self-indulgence.... Let one such idea get possession of the popular
mind, or the mind of any set of persons, and it is not difficult to
understand the effects which will ensue."[62] Taking this view, there
is manifestly a difficulty in determining whether an idea has been
rightly or wrongly developed, whether the growth be wholly from the
root or partly parasitical; and the prime intention of Dr. Newman's
book is to supply tests of genuine development, and to apply them in
one particular case; but I wish it to be perceived that whether we take
this wider view, or the stricter one which I endeavoured to present
to you just now, it is essentially necessary to regard development as
the exhibition in a new unfolded form of that which already existed in
another.
When therefore we speak of development with reference to God, we must
regard Him as the developer, and His eternal purposes as the thing
developed: the point which I have to bring before you with reference to
its bearing upon the faith of Christians, and the unbelief of those who
scruple to be regarded as disciples of Christ, is the gradual character
of the process by which God has developed His purposes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account