Popular Infidelity of the Day.
By John Charles Ryle
It is not Atheism I fear so much in the present time as Pantheism. It is not the system which says nothing is true, so much as the system which says everything is true. It is not the system which says there is no Saviour, so much as the system that says there are many saviours, and many ways to peace. It is the system which is so liberal, that it dares not say anything is false. It is the system which is so charitable, that it will allow everything to be true. It is the system which seems ready to honor other religions as well as that of our Lord Jesus Christ; to class them all together, and hope well of all those who profess them. It is the system which will smile complacently on all creeds and systems of religion—the Bible and the Koran—the Hindoo Vedas and the Persian Zendavesta—the old wives' fables of Rabbinical writers and the rubbish of Patristic traditions—the Racovian Catechism and the Thirty-nine articles—the revelations of Emanuel Swedenborg and the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith: all are to be listened to; none are to be denounced as lies. It is the system which is so scrupulous about the feelings of others, that we are never to say they are wrong. It is the system which is so liberal, that it calls a man a bigot if he dares to say, "I know my views are right." This is the system which I desire emphatically to testify against and denounce. What is it but a sacrificing of truth upon the altar of a caricature of charity? Beware of it, if you believe the Bible. Has the Lord God spoken to us in the Bible, or has he not? Has he shown us the way of salvation plainly in that Bible, or has he not? Has he declared to us the dangerous state of all out of that way, or has he not? Gird up the loins of your mind and look the questions fairly in the face, and give them an honest answer. Tell us that there is some other inspired book besides the Bible, and then we shall know what you mean. Tell us that the whole Bible is not inspired, and then we shall know where to meet you. But grant for a moment that the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible, is God's truth, and then I know not in what way you can escape the conclusion that sincerity alone will not save your soul. From the liberality which says everybody is right—from the charity which forbids you to say anybody is wrong—from the peace which is bought at the expense of truth, may the good Lord deliver you!—Rev. J. C. Ryle.