OUR FAITH AND THE FAITH OF OTHERS
At one time many of our lectures were devoted to taking certain doctrines commonly held in the world, proving them to be wrong, and offering the Scriptural truth in return. The Doctrine of the Trinity, the Immortality of the Soul, the Personal Devil and others were in this class. Closely related were the lectures in which a passage which others used as proof of their errors was selected for exposition, notably " The Father's house of many mansions "41 and "A ransom for all."42 Others in the same general class selected some other religious body and submitted its teaching to examination, such as: " Is Spiritualism scriptural? ", " Who are the Jehovah's Witnesses? "

These lectures need to be carefully used. There is no advantage in teaching people an error in order to show its falsity. Though there may be occasions when we can exploit a local stir by protagonists of one or other of these doctrines, and bring the Truth's claims to the fore by challenging the error, such lectures are not now as useful as they were. Particularly as to the latter, so many people are now totally ignorant of the teaching of the Bible on any subject whatever, that it is very questionable whether we need begin by drawing their attention to passages they might never have thought of using, in order to show them that if they did, they would be wrong! So with doctrines: the Immortality of the Soul stands in a class apart as still, though in a vaguer way than before, one of the most widespread errors of doctrine, but on the question of the nature of the Godhead, where so few have the remotest conception of the doctrine of the Trinity, it does seem a peculiarly oblique approach to truth to set up the error first and then demolish it.

A very important point arises here. On what the Bible does teach we ought to be specialists, and our positive teaching, coming from a diligent study of the Word, should approach perfection in its truth. But there are so many things that the Bible does not teach, including all the errors with which Christendom abounds, that the most encyclopedic memory could not contain them all. Yet we must know them if we dare to speak about them. It ought never to be possible for the stranger to say, " You Christadelphians must think that other people believe some funny things," though it has been said with some truth. We ought not to put in people's mouths a belief they do not hold, and then condemn them for it. We ought not to be able to find in Christadelphian writings, or hear from our platforms, untutored allusions to churchmen believing in " one Triune Father " (which they assuredly do not).

Indeed, on this last matter, since it is almost certain (and very much to be hoped) that the young preacher's outlook upon the Godhead will mature greatly as his experience grows, we shall be very well advised to confine our early teaching to what is true about the Son of God and Son of Man, and be sparing in our comments on what is false. The doctrine of the Trinity does certainly contain false teaching about the nature of Jesus, and maturity will not lead us there, but silly, slighting remarks about the word " incomprehensible " in the Athanasian Creed43 are no way either to rebuke error or arrive at truth.

Positive preaching must be our aim. A right presentation of the teaching of Jesus is bound to rebuke the doctrine of inherent immortality; it must show that the Devil means the agent of sin, whether in ourselves or in some other man or woman; it cannot fail to reject the " kingdom beyond the skies," the " reign of grace in the heart " or " the church militant " as substitutes for the real Kingdom of God ; the " christening " of infants cannot withstand the faithful presentation of Bible Baptism.

Of course, particularly when we know that a false belief or wrong practice is widespread, we may point the lesson by rebuking it as we present the Truth: the wrong ideas of life beyond death and infant baptism are cases in point. When we know that Christendom is as radically astray as ever it was, we may tell it so as we show it the way to the truth in Jesus. The advice set out here is no invitation to compromise, but it does try to give our message the positive emphasis it ought to have. "The Spirit of the Preacher" ought to have shown clearly enough that we are not out to prove ourselves right over the dead bodies of our opponents, but to show a bright truth to lighten their darkness and lead them to life.