Pulling In on the Rope by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Sep 5, 1912

Pulling In on the Rope

By F. M. W.

THE history of the church of God has witnessed the coining of many church creeds. Too many times the adoption of these creeds has shut off further investigation of the truth. The church has said to its members: “Thus far shalt thou go and no farther. This creed is the embodiment of all truth.” This, however, could not be justly said of any system of religious faith ever yet adopted by any church in this world. The truth of God is progressive. Just as long as God is higher than man, there will be new revelations of divine truth; there will be new mysteries to be searched out, deeper depths to be fathomed, and higher heights to climb. The Word of God is a great storehouse of wisdom. It speaks of mysteries into which even the angels of God desire to look. These mysteries are infinite, and in their fulness will require an infinite age for their comprehension.

Speaking of creeds, the Northwestern Christian Advocate of July 31, 1912, says:—

All human creeds are both right and wrong. No church is altogether right, nor is it totally in error. We husk our corn, thrash our wheat, crack the nuts of the trees, and from them take the essential kernel; we peel our apples, pare our potatoes, and—sort our creeds.

Fire a shotgun at the bull's-eye of a target; the bell will ring, but the whole target is pocked with misdirected shot. Only a few went home. Fire a church creed at the bull's-eye of truth—put every article in it, take fair aim, and let them go. Two or three missives reach the mark; the clear bell of truth will ring out in response; the church applauds: “We alone are the bearers of God's truth.” But hush! Any other denomination could have done the same thing. And look, will you, at the marks of error made by those false articles that failed in their course. The whole target face is disfigured, and some even missed it altogether. But sometime, in that fond future, the future of our dreams, we shall bind the false in our creeds and burn it like tares, while the truth shall be gathered into the garner of human hearts made ready to receive it.

While we should earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints; while we should be careful that scientific reasoning and speculative theories do not lead us away from the cardinal doctrines of God's Word, we should seek to know, as far as possible, all of God and of his truth. From the things which we now know to be his truth, we should reach out continually into the great unknown, seeking by the guidance of the Holy Spirit to learn more of God and of his great plan of the ages.

Dr. Lyman Beecher at one time gave to a graduating class of divinity students this sensible advice:—

Young men, beware of speculation. I myself sometimes engage in it; but before wading out into the great sea of the unknown, I find some old stump of a doctrine by the seashore that has withstood the winds and waves for centuries, and make fast to that. Then I cautiously venture out. There may come along a breaker, and I may be swept off from my feet. I may not know where I am, but I know where that stump is, and I pull in on the rope.

So in our faith and Christian experience we should settle in our own minds some things once for all. We should settle it that God is true; that the Scriptures are his revealed word to man; that the great cardinal doctrines of salvation through Jesus Christ, the perpetuity of his holy law, and other great fundamental truths, are forever settled in our faith, even as God's word is settled in heaven. And we should not permit the enemy through speculations or theories to lead us into that which would contradict or weaken these great principles. If anything comes into our lives that seeks to do this, and we find ourselves losing our bearings, let us pull in on our rope, and get back to the great standard of all truth,—the blessed Word of God.

F. M. W.