The Christian Faith Under Modern SearchlightsJohnson, William Hallock
Religion
The Christian Faith Under Modern Searchlights
Johnson, William Hallock
Modernism (Christian theology)
While Royce's exposition of sin and grace is full of suggestion and
insight, it is more philosophical than Biblical. Thus at important
points the contrast between Paul and Royce's interpretation of Paul is
very striking. Royce hints at the divinity of the community, while Paul
asserts the divinity of Christ. Royce says, Be loyal to the community,
while Paul would say primarily, Believe in Christ and be loyal to Him.
"Loyalty to the personal Christ," says a reviewer of Royce's work, "has
been (and surely is) even a more vital element in Christianity than
loyalty to the community."[205] Royce would say that by the grace of the
community we are saved; while with Paul the Saviour is personal and it
was the vision of Christ, not of the community, that transformed his
life.
205: H. Rashdall in _Mind_, N. S. 91 (July, 1914), p. 411.
Again it is not easy to read the doctrine of the beloved community and
of the community as the source of grace into the words or the spirit of
the teaching of Jesus. The attempt, however, is made. In the parable of
the Prodigal Son, the voice of the father, who is "for the moment simply
the incarnation of the spirit of this community,"[206] is said to be the
voice of the family, welcoming the wanderer; and the joy of the father
is the joy of the family in his return. If this be so the father should
have said, "The family fellowship is restored," instead of saying, "This
my son was dead and is alive again."
206: "The Problem of Christianity," I, p. 353.
Even Royce's Old Testament illustration from the story of Joseph, where
we find a grievous betrayal and then a deed which leaves the community,
in this case the family, richer in love and more united in heart than if
the deed of betrayal had not been done, does not support Royce's
principle that the ideal community is the saviour and the source of
atoning grace. The story to be illustrative should have been reversed;
Joseph should have been the betrayer and destroyer of the family life,
and then the brethren unitedly by their love and ingenuity should have
won him back.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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