There is no 'medium' possible; and all
the attempts, as those of Baxter, though no more required than "I
believe in God through Christ," prove only the mildness of the
proposer's temper, but as a rule would be equal to nothing, at least
exclude only the two or three in a century that make it a matter of
religion to declare themselves Atheists, or else be just as fruitful a
rule for a persecutor as the most complete set of articles that could be
framed by a Spanish Inquisition.
For to 'believe,' must mean to believe aright--and 'God' must mean the
true God--and 'Christ' the Christ in the sense and with the attributes
understood by Christians who are truly Christians. An established Church
with a Liturgy is a sufficient solution of the problem 'de jure
magistratus'. Articles of faith are in this point of view superfluous;
for is it not too absurd for a man to hesitate at subscribing his name
to doctrines which yet in the more awful duty of prayer and profession
he dares affirm before his Maker! They are therefore in this sense
merely superfluous;--not worth re-enacting, had they ever been done away
with;--not worth removing now that they exist.
5. The characteristic contradistinction between the speculative
reasoners of the age before the Revolution, and those since, is this:
--the former cultivated metaphysics, without, or neglecting, empirical
psychology the latter cultivate a mechanical psychology to the neglect
and contempt of metaphysics.
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