Regeneration: Being an Account of the Social Work of The Salvation Army in Great BritainHaggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider)
Religion
Regeneration: Being an Account of the Social Work of The Salvation Army in Great Britain
Haggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider)
Great Britain -- Social conditions; Salvation Army
This was one of those who remain. I say all honour to such noble
souls, for surely they are of the salt of the earth.
NOTE ON THE RELIGION OF THE SALVATION ARMY
The religious faith of the Salvation Army, as I have observed and
understand it (for little has been said to me on this matter), is
extremely simple. It believes in an eternal Heaven for the righteous
and--a sad doctrine this, some of us may think--in a Hell, equally
eternal, for the wicked.[8] Its bedrock is the Bible, especially the
New Testament, which it accepts as true without qualification, from
the first word to the last, troubling itself with no doubts or
criticisms. Especially does it believe in the dual nature of the
Saviour, in Christ as God, and in Christ as man, and in the
possibility of forgiveness and redemption for even the most degraded
and defiled of human beings. Love is its watchword, the spirit of love
is its spirit, love arrayed in the garments of charity.
In essentials, with one exception, its doctrines much resemble those
of the Church of England, and of various dissenting Protestant bodies.
The exception is, that it does not make use of the Sacraments, even of
that of Communion, although, on the other hand, it does not deny the
efficacy of those Sacraments, or object to others, even if they be
members of the Army, availing themselves of them. Thus, I have known
an Army Officer to join in the Communion Service. The reason for this
exception is, I believe, that in the view of General Booth, the
Sacraments complicate matters, are open to argument and attack, and
are not understood by the majority of the classes with which the Army
deals. How their omission is reconciled with certain prominent
passages and directions laid down in the New Testament I do not know.
To me, I confess, this disregard of them seems illogical.
The motto of the Army is 'Salvation for all,' and, as I have hinted in
these pages, it has a sure conviction of the essential persistence of
miracle in these modern days. It holds that when a man kneels at the
Penitent-Form and 'gets converted,' a miracle takes place within him,
if his repentance is true, and that thenceforward some Grace from on
High will give him the power to overcome the evil in his heart and
blood.
It believes, too, in the instant efficacy of earnest prayer, and in
the possibility of direct communication by this means between man and
his Maker.
Here is an instance of this statement. While inspecting the Shelters
in one of the provincial cities, I was shown a certain building which
had recently passed into the possession of the Army. The Officer who
was conducting me said that the negotiations preliminary to the
acquisition of the lease of this building had been long and difficult.
I remarked that these must have caused him anxiety. 'Oh, no,' he
answered, simply. 'You see I had talked with the Lord about it, and I
knew that we should get the place in the end.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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