Joseph Estlin Carpenter
Published: 2015-06-26
Total Pages: 29
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Excerpt from Christianity in the Light of Historical Science Gentlemen, - The College which resumes its work to-day, ' exists for the purpose of promoting the study of religion, theology, and philosophy, without insisting upon the adoption of particular doctrines.' This principle is of much wider application than is commonly supposed. In this country, it is true, the conception of religious fellowship without limitation of doctrine or definition of creed has been the inheritance only of an inconspicuous group of churches, which have found three small Colleges sufficient for their needs. But it is also the basis of the Theological Faculty of a great modern University like the Victoria University at Manchester. Early in the last century it became the guiding principle of the Divinity School of Harvard University, the oldest of the American foundations, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. And it provides the field for the whole religious life of the Protestant Churches of an entire European State, the Federation of the Swiss Cantons. Among a robust and energetic people political freedom resulted in a remarkably thorough adoption of religious freedom also. Thirty-one years ago at Geneva the last vestiges of dogmatic control were swept away; and the Church Constitution declared that 'any minister may preach and teach freely on his own responsibility, nor may this liberty be restricted either by confessions of faith or by liturgical formularies.' The Theological Faculty of its University is no less free. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.