CHURCHES WITHOUT DOGMAS.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:1 SIR,—Mr. R. Russell, in his letter in the Spectator of June 12th, is anxious to have Christian Churches without dogmatic teaching. On examining the alternative basis of Christian associations which Mr. Russell offers, I find that he is no more able to construct a Church without dogmas than the Apostles of the Christian faith. Mr. Russell proposes to. animate Christian associations by a "Christian spirit," and if he will examine the meaning of both these terms, "Christian" and "spirit," he will find they carry implica- tions of dogma. What is " spirit " ? Is it not an accepted belief that such an unseen entity lies behind all phenomena of action and thought ; and what is this but dogma F Mr. Russell further objects to the Christian dogma of the Incarnation as carnal and material. But Mr. Russell will find, if he thinks a little deeper, that his idea of Church associations is attended by embodiment and incarnation. In the very notion of spirit there is involved the idea of relation to form and embodiment. That is not material. It is the dramatic, the artistic expression of the resources of spirit. Your critic, objecting to mental belief as the ground of Church union, holds that "spirit" is the true basis. But who ever heard of " spirit " without thought.P. You cannot get your Christian association without harmony of spirit that involves harmony of thought, and harmony of thought is unity of knowledge. Both thought and spirit must be Christian to make even Mr. Russell's Church. It is rather hard on all the thinkers of the Christian Church, from. Paul to Canon Gore, to say that "no teacher of the Incarna- tion has a clear idea of it in his own mind." I maintain that the great teachers of the Catholic Church have had. as clear a conception of the Incarnation as they have hail of the relation of mind and body in their own life,—not an exhaustive, absolute conception, but a clear, working idea certainly. What do we mean by the Incarnation of our Lord but that his historic life and person were the revelation in time and space of the character and righteousness of God F" If we wish to know the character of the Supreme and Eternal Father, and his relations with men, we look into the acts, conduct, purposes of Jesus Christ, and we find in them mirrored the dispositions and will of God. This is the practical side of the Incarnation for us. The deeds, dis- positions of Christ are not those of a mere man, they are the self-revelation of the Infinite Mind of God. How it comes. about that the life of Jesus has this unique authority, which. the Catholic Church has ever affirmed, is another question, partly clear, but still more mysterious and inconceivable.
The inspired Apostles of the New Testament saw in the- perfection of Christ's humanity and his whole comical pur- poses and relations the proof that in him there was a unique and supernatural union of the divine and human, making up one Personality by virtue of which Christ could be Re- deemer, Atonement, Sovereign, the final and absolute reve- lation of God to the universe. This is the teaching of the great historic creeds of Christendom. The acceptance of this teaching solves many problems. The denial of it in- volves difficulties, contradictions, perplexities without number. Instead of separating the Deity from humanity, this teaching. is the only means of our knowing God, and of offering him obedience and worship.
It is involved in the very idea of God's Fatherhood. Once accept a true idea of God's paternal character, and Sonship and Incarnation necessarily follow. If he is Father there must be Sonship. If he is perfect Father there must be perfect Sonship. The pledge of the completion of our sonship and. that of the race is the perfect divine Sonship of Christ. These truths are as capable of scientific treatment and verification as any truths of natural science. As of old so now there are- millions of Christians who can declare : "We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding that we may know him that is true."
Mr. Russell thinks that the axioms and postulates of science- are transient and alterable. Kant long ago taught us that the fundamental laws of the mind which condition all our knowing are as fixed and unalterable in themselves as the laws of the material world. If these laws were not universal there could be no knowledge and no progress. The dogmas of Christianity are only specimens of other dogmas and postulates
that must be accepted as the basis of knowledge and conduct. —I am, Sir, &c.,
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