The Danger of Feeling and Experiences

"The idea that Christianity is a form of feeling, a life, and not a system of doctrine, is contrary to the faith of all Christians. Christianity always has had a creed. A man who believes certain doctrines is a Christian. If his faith is mere assent, he is a speculative Christian; if it is cordial and appreciating, he is a true

Christian. But to say that a man may be a Christian.without believing the doctrines of Christianity, is a contradiction. A man may be amiable or benevolent, without any definite form of faith, but how is he to be a Christian? The idea...that a man maybe be a Christian although an atheist or pagan, destroys all distinction between truth and falsehood; between God and idols. between good and evil...It is one of he fundamental principles of the Bible, that truth is as essential to holiness as light is to vision. Hence, on the one hand, the reception of truth is made essential to salvation, and on the other, false doctrine is denounced as the source of sin and the precursor of perdition. (Charles Hodge, 1857)


Evangelicalism Divided, Iain H. Murray, The Banner of Truth Trust, 2000, p. 15