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Source: Church History Vol. 3 Chapter 34 Page: 647 (~1872)

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647 deprecating the just indignation of any. However, while fearless against antagonism, whether proper or erroneous, we have a desire to commend to the thoughtful and the prudent, the wise and true, and in fact, to all within the fold, a careful weighing of the principles involved, that a more extended and better assimilation of theory and practice may be had in the church.

"From the standpoint from which we have chosen to regard the situation, we cannot but observe that the gospel forms the basis upon which the entire situation is built; nor can we successfully define present hopes, expectations, and duties, unless we shall first briefly define what we understand the gospel to be, and what was and is promised through it.

"We understand the gospel to be the offer of everlasting life, the means by which it is available to man, and the law of its perpetuation. That it takes all these to make up the sum of 'glad tidings, good news, full of great joy,' needs no labored effort to make plain, as it is sufficiently apparent upon the face of the statement itself.

"Of all that man may believe as connected with, or growing out of, the mission of Jesus Christ, there are, somewhere, lines of demarcation, more or less clearly defining what a man must believe in order to be saved. The question then, How much must be believed? will be presented to the mind of an inquirer, to whom the great sum of good, eternal life, is offered by the gospel; nor is it inconsistent to presume that this will be followed by the almost equally pertinent one of, How little may be believed, and an individual be saved? Perhaps no man ever believed too much truth, or had too strong a confidence and trust in God and Christ; but grave doubts may be entertained whether there are not many thousands who have believed too little. With many of these last, there is reason to believe, there exists a strong desire to be saved; but thinking that they are required by the Christian to believe too much, they have discarded the whole plan as presented and now believe too little. If there could be, to them, a point of belief, not too remote,

(page 647)

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