them live so that they will be presentable to an average congregation. It will then be a matter that has entered the very life and soul of the preacher and taken possession thereof so as to form a living doctrine. Because it is living, it is practical. It is believed with the whole soul. And because it is so believed it will be preached. And when so preached it will edify.

VII.

THE CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY OF THE FUTURE.

BY REV. A. S. WEBER, D.D.

Christian theology is the systematized expression of the truths of the Christian religion. Such theological expression being a human product, always bears the marks of man's imperfection. His limitations in the knowledge of truth in general and of Christian truth in particular, as well as his limitations in the power of interpreting and coordinating them in a system leaves, necessarily, defect and incompleteness in his work. Hence the dissatisfaction with which systems of theology have ever sooner or later met. Hence also, the constant renewal of effort to improve upon previous systems so as to make them if possible approximate somewhat more closely to the demands of enlightened reason, and the needs and temper of new times.

In the recent past theologians have been particularly active in their endeavors to restate in more adequate form the doctrines of the Christian faith. There has been special cause for this activity. The steady growth of modern scientific knowledge; the widely increased acceptance of the theory of ascent from a lower to a higher stage as the explanation of history; the investigation of comparative mythological and religious systems; the results of biblical criticism; the more exacting standards of proof introduced by the so-called historical methods of our day in distinguishing between fact and fable; and the large numerical increase of those who have the confidence and intelligence to exercise independent, individual judgment all these have had a share in bringing about changes of thought and opinion that have profoundly altered large portions of belief, thus not simply inviting but compelling the revision of many theological formulas.

Hardly any of the great Christian doctrines have escaped modification under the influence of these modern movements in

thought. The conception of God, the doctrine of the Trinity, the nature of the Incarnation, the person of Christ, the theory of the fall, of sin, of death, of the atonement and of eternal salvation-all have felt the touch and quickening power of a new life, and under it been more or less transformed. This progressiveness of thought is of course in harmony with a thoroughgoing Protestant idea of the function of faith which implies the necessity of ceaseless development of doctrine no less than of life. Given its full sway that idea allows no blinding traditionalism under the guise of fidelity to the past to impede the forward movement of soul which cannot live without progress, and which as related to theology shows itself in new scientific expressions or formulations of the truths it holds, and of the doctrines it teaches. McCaulay in a well-known passage represents theology as "hermetically sealed" against "Progress, man's distinctive mark alone." But his representation is very unfair to the strictly Protestant conception of theology, which holds with a Latin poet "that there is nothing so dangerous, because nothing is so revolutionary and convulsive as the strain to keep things fixed, when all the world is by the very law of its creation in eternal progress." Protestantism accepts the dictum of Herbart that "the truth lies before us, not behind us," and therefore looks forward, not backward. It always expects "more light to break not only from "the Holy Word," but under the guidance of the Eternal Spirit from history and science and personal experience as well. "Immer nur auf dem Wege, niemals am Ziel," as Professor Duhm, of Basel, describes the live theologian, theology itself, when keyed to true spiritual life, is not a stationary or finished science, but one so thoroughly vital as to be forever dissatisfied with its own highest thought and knowledge, and ever pressing on to loftier and worthier conceptions of God and of His relation to man and the universe.

To a certain order of mind this forward movement, this unsettling revision of ancient and long-accepted doctrinal statements, has brought great distress and anxiety. Those belonging to that order are not simply deeply disturbed by present conditions of

religious faith as expressed in modern form, but that which they expect in the future fills them with serious misgivings, almost overwhelms them with dismay. Is there valid ground for being so apprehensive as to the future outcome of present tendencies in thought? Are the indications of moral and religious life resulting from doctrinal teaching so portentous? Are present-day theologians in their efforts to carry out to a logical conclusion the principles of the Protestant Reformation, establishing the fallacy of those principles? Are they hastening on the day when the heroic men of the sixteenth century shall stand convicted of error, and be then regarded universally as they now are by our Roman Catholic brethren? Not for a moment can we bring ourselves to think so. On the contrary, as seen from what has already been said, we belong to those who look hopefully toward the future, who see ground for rejoicing in what is regarded as true progress in the expressions of the religious faith of to-day as compared with those of the past, and who greet with feelings akin to enthusiasm the dawn of the future which promises achievements in Christian thought worthier of both God and man than, those for which the present day is as yet prepared.

Among the more prominent characteristics or outstanding features of the theology of the future there are several which notwithstanding one's consciousness of the limitations of theological prevision, present-day tendencies enable one with some confidence to forecast, and to which, without incurring the charge of assuming the rôle of a prophet, one may perhaps venture, in justification of the optimism just expressed, to call attention.

1. As to spirit the Christian theology of the future will be constructive, hospitable and devout. Its constructive spirit will manifest itself in conserving with utmost fidelity the unquestionable truth of all previous theologies. Gladly and gratefully will it use the same to preserve the continuity and consistency of true progress. In doing so its eyes will not be closed, however, to what in the elaborate confessional systems of earlier centuries does no longer answer to the demands of a living Christian consciousness. It will seem iconoclastic in dealing with exploded theories such,

for instance, as the traditional ones of "Theopneustia," of the Canon, of the Fall, of Death, and of absolute divine sovereignty, plans and decrees. Cherished idols of that sort which have so long been desecrating the temple of human thought must be cast aside before the truth in purer form and nearer the equivalent of the spiritual reality can command the reverence of those who approach its sacred shrine. Some branches of systems existing today through which the sap of life is no longer pulsing must be lopped off, and others overgrown with the leafy foliage of doubtful tradition must be pruned. But to call this destructive is to misunderstand both the spirit and purpose of the process. It is the only method for purifying and enriching the fruitfulness of the tree of Christian thought. It will probably make the creedal list of facts to which the coming theology will subscribe somewhat shorter than those to which our forefathers were, or we are, accustomed to assent. It will lessen the lateral boundaries of belief, but its increase in depth and height will do immeasurably more than compensate for that.

This spirit of conserving the truth of the past will be aided and advanced by the hospitality with which theological thought in the future will welcome truth into its service, no matter what the channel through which it comes from the Source of all truth. The theologies of the past, and the greater portion of those of the present, have used almost exclusively the Jewish and the Christian Scriptures and individual experience as the source of their material. That of the future will recognize the widely extended domain of human knowledge which the later studies and discoveries of the nineteenth century have handed down, and it will draw upon this in the development of the new system. The results of the study of comparative religion, of physical sciences, of scientific criticism, of biology, of history, of anthropology, of psychology, of the universal religious intuitions, feelings and experiences these and many more, together with the sacred writings of the Old and New Testaments, will be laid under tribute by the theology of to-morrow.

Not only will it tolerate or welcome truth from these various