The Curse of Conventionalism

Bücher

Angebote / Angebote:

Excerpt from The Curse of Conventionalism: A RemonstranceIn committing the following ideas to paper, I do not pretend to anything new, but seek only to reveal some of my graver thoughts, and some misgivings which trouble me, and which will not fail to bespeak your attention and sympathy. Perhaps I am more shocked than shaken but the longer I live, and the more I think and learn (and maybe I differ somewhat from many of my brethren in trying to learn more than I try to teach), the more concerned am I that we are getting behind the time - that we do not recognise more clearly the paramount importance of reconciling dogma with discovery, our aspirations with new truths, and, above all, our practice with our principle. I am pained that we are slow to allow that, as finite beings, with finite conceptions, our ideas about the Infinite must ever be imperfect, indefinite, and at the same time progressive that fashion of thought must change, like all other fashion, though not causelessly or suddenly, but by natural transitions, which startle only those who fail to watch their constant progress. The Great Problem, though all unchanged, will doubtless present ever-varying aspects, as time casts new lights and shades - something like the summer cloud, which, against the background of infinity, seems, from our finite standpoint, ever changing, though (for all its vague suggestive forms) it is ever the same. And there is also a shifting cloud that always more or less obscures the spiritual atmosphere which takes a forbidding form to-day. It is not, perhaps, without its silver lining, but I wish to draw some of its darker shadows, as they present themselves to me.What are the most ominous signs affecting ourselves that I, as a clergyman, note P That our ¿ocks have grown thinner. That our hold upon them is less and ever lessening. That the old faith is being boldly challenged.And the causes seem to be That the world has progressed, while we have not. That, being out of date, we are also out of touch. That neither what we practise, nor even what we preach, bears any true resemblance to what Christ taught.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.