Sermons Preached at Brighton: Third SeriesRobertson, Frederick William
Religion
Sermons Preached at Brighton: Third Series
Robertson, Frederick William
Church of England -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 19th century
In order to understand this more fully, let us take a few instances.
There is a difference between _truth_ and _veracity_. Veracity--mere
veracity--is a small, poor thing. Truth is something greater and
higher. Veracity is merely the correspondence between some particular
statement and facts--truth is the correspondence between a man's whole
soul and reality. It is possible for a man to say that which, unknown
to him is false; and yet he may be true: because if deprived of truth
he is deprived of it unwillingly. It is possible, on the other hand,
for a man to utter veracities, and yet at the very time that he is
uttering those veracities to be false to himself, to his brother, and
to his God. One of the most signal instances of this is to be seen in
the Book of Job. Most of what Job's friends said to him were veracious
statements. Much of what Job said for himself was unveracious and
mistaken. And yet those veracities of theirs were so torn from all
connection with fact and truth, that they became falsehoods; and they
were, as has been said, nothing more than "orthodox liars" in the
sight of God. On the other hand, Job, blundering perpetually, and
falling into false doctrine, was yet a true man--searching for and
striving after the truth; and if deprived of it for a time, deprived
of it with all his heart and soul unwillingly. And therefore it was
that at last the Lord appeared out of the whirlwind, to confound the
men of mere veracity, and to stand by and support the honour of the
heartily true.
Let us apply the principle further. It is a matter of less importance
that a man should state true views, than that he should state views
truly. We will put this in its strongest form. Unitarianism is
false--Trinitarianism is true. But yet in the sight of God, and with
respect to a man's eternal destinies hereafter, it would surely be
better for him earnestly, honestly, truly, to hold the doctrines of
Unitarianism, than in a cowardly or indifferent spirit, or influenced
by authority, or from considerations of interest, or for the sake of
lucre, to hold the doctrines of Trinitarianism.
For instance:--Not many years ago the Church of Scotland was severed
into two great divisions, and gave to this age a marvellous proof that
there is still amongst us the power of living faith--when five hundred
ministers gave up all that earth holds dear--position in the church
they had loved; friendships and affections formed, and consecrated by
long fellowship, in its communion; and almost their hopes of gaining a
livelihood--rather than assert a principle which seemed to them to be
a false one. Now my brethren, surely the question in such a case for
us to consider is not this, merely--whether of the two sections held
the abstract _right_--held the principle in its integrity--but surely
far rather, this: who on either side was true to the light within,
true to God, true to the truth as God had revealed it to his soul.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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