Christ and Christianity - 1833 Author:William Johnson Fox Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SERMON III. CHRISTIANITY DEFINED. ACTS X. 36. THE WORD WHICH GOD SENT UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. What is Christianity? There are few questions to w... more »hich persons professing to be well-informed on the subject will give a greater variety of answers than are given to this. Some make it consist in a system of church authority to be obeyed, and others in a system of doctrines to be believed. Of what that church authority is, they give different accounts, varying from the absolute mastery of an infallible Pope to the responsible administration of Elders elected by the whole community. Those who place Christianity iu doctrins are equally divided. The Unitarian often says, that Christianity consists of the tenets of the Divine Unity and benevolence; the mission of Christ; the resurrection of the dead; and a righteous judgment. Another calls these mere naturalism or little more, and says, that the peculiar and essential truths Vol. i. 3 of the gospel are the trinity, original sin, satisfaction by the death of Christ to divine justice, the influence of the spirit, and eternal election. There is a question prior to the discussion of all these discordant accounts; and that is, whether Christianity, strictly and properly so called, be a system of doctrine or discipline at all? And whether it be not rather a fact, or a series of facts; from which, indeed, certain doctrines may be deduced, and to extend the moral influence of which certain discipline may perhaps be usefully exercised, but which is, in itself, distinct from both. It is certainly to be regretted that many who call themselves Christians, and many who deserve the honor which that appellation may convey, for they exemplify the goodness it implies, should give such various and such vague answers to a question whic...« less