p. 3 | Editorial by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Oct 19, 1905

Editorial.

By Editor

Vital Orthodoxy

In this time of discussion about creeds and doctrines it should be remembered that power for holy living does not come from a mere intellectual assent to an orthodox form of doctrinal statement. Sound doctrine is essential to a sound Christian experience, but this sound doctrine must be believed with the heart as well as with the head. “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness.” We must not only advocate the perpetuity of the law of God, but through our faith in the divine Mediator that law must be written in our hearts. In our teaching of the nature of man we should not only show that “the dead know not anything,” but we should also remember that the living are wholly dependent upon God for knowledge, since “all flesh is grass,” and that “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” The doctrine of the coming of the Lord is more than an argument to prove from the prophecies that the second advent is near; this is incomplete apart from the blessed truth that “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us,” and that in the person of the Holy Spirit he has come to be with his people according to the promise, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” There is no power unto salvation in a theory, even though it be a theory of the truth. It is “the power of an endless life” which is essential for a genuine Christian experience. Sound doctrine wrought into the life and revealing itself in the fruits of righteousness—this is vital orthodoxy.

The Exalting Heathenism

It is to be expected that the heathen will be strengthened in their heathenism by the success of the Japanese in the recent war with Russia, but why should Christians encourage the present tendency to place Christianity and heathenism on the same level by calling attention to the “practical Christianity” of this idolatrous nation? Is it an evidence of “practical Christianity” to be able to fight like devils? Is skill in military tactics an evidence of “practical Christianity”? Is utter disregard of human life an evidence of “practical Christianity”? Some excellent moral maxims can be found in the teachings of Buddha and Confucius, but shall we look to India and China for lessons in “practical Christianity”? This leads us to inquire whether there can be “practical Christianity” without Christ, and if so, why need we send the gospel of Christ to the heathen? There was a time when the defenders of the faith were very jealous for Christianity as an exclusive religion, but we seem to have come upon strange times. There are some conclusions which inevitably follow from the teaching that every man, regardless of the question of personal faith, is a temple of the Holy Ghost, but they lead directly to the exaltation of heathenism,