INTERVIEW WITH A. CAMPBELL 2

AN INTERVIEW BETWEEN ALEXANDER CAMPBELL AND THE CHRISTIAN LEDGER. R.D.Ice
[This is from my church bulletin. It is an addendum to the longer article.]

LEDGER: Elder Campbell, you speak of religion as a binding back of man to God. That is, that man has become estranged from God by sin, and that God Himself did something about this.

CAMPBELL: I wrote in the "Christian System" of man as he was, man as he is, and man as he ought to be. The Bible certainly develops this theme. Before Creation, God, who knows all things, had prepared a religion (re-ligio) to bind back broken man to his God. "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:" Ephesians 1:4

But the Accuser has tried to defeat this purpose. "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." 2 Tim. 3:5 A religion without a Saviour whose pre-existence is beyond doubt, without a high priest, an altar, a victim, a sacrifice, an expiation, an atonement, is no religion for fallen, ruined, guilty man. A religion without a Holy Spirit, different [separate, distinct] from his gifts and graces; without an advocate, a counselor, and a comforter, is not suited to the genius [inspiration, motivation] of human nature, nor to the conditions of our present existence.

But a religion which demonstrates alike the justice, the mercy, and the grace of God in the gift of his only begotten and well beloved Son, and of his Holy Spirit, which reveals to us a glorious immortality, founded upon the resurrection of the Messiah, and his death as a sin offering, gives glory to God in the highest, establishes peace on earth, and prompts good will to every human being. May the Lord guide us into all truth!

LEDGER: Elder Campbell, you are noted for slogans.

CAMPBELL: Slogans can be useful as a logo to signify complex truths. Some we used are the following.

Let THE BIBLE be substituted for all human creeds;
FACTS, for definitions,
THINGS, for words;
FAITH, for speculation;
UNITY OF FAITH, for unity of opinion;
THE POSITIVE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, for human legislation and tradition;
PIETY [Christian living), for ceremony;
MORALITY, for partisan zeal;
THE PRACTICE OF RELIGION, for the mere profession of it;
--and the work [of reformation] is done.

LEDGER: Thank you for your response. We will consider these things and try to underestand your mind. May God bless you.