PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Fundamental Doctrines of the Christian faith
Torrey, R. A. (Reuben Archer), 1856-1928 · 84,531 words · 139 reading sections
Part 1
Transcriber's Notes: Words in italics in the original are surrounded by _underscores_. Words in bold in the original are surrounded by +plus signs+. A complete list of corrections as well as other notes follows the text.…
36 wordsSECTION 2R. A. TORREY
Author of "How to Bring Men to Christ," "What the Bible Teaches," etc., etc.…
14 wordsSECTION 3NEW YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
_Copyright, 1918, By R. A. Torrey_ _Printed in the United States of America_…
13 wordsSECTION 4PREFACE
The author of these sermons has had a feeling for a long time that the great need in our churches in this day is systematic indoctrination. He put his theory into practice last winter in his own church, and these sermons are the result. We were having a great many accessions to our church. In the two years of the churc…
303 wordsSECTION 5CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE I INSPIRATION, OR TO WHAT EXTENT IS THE BIBLE INSPIRED OF GOD? 11 II THE CHRISTIAN CONCEPTION OF GOD, OR THE GOD OF THE BIBLE AS DISTINGUISHED FROM THE GOD OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND THE GOD OF …
42 wordsSECTION 6VII THE DEITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT 144
VIII THE ATONEMENT: GOD'S DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT VS. UNITARIAN AND CHRISTIAN SCIENCE DOCTRINES OF THE ATONEMENT 162…
18 wordsSECTION 7INSPIRATION, OR TO WHAT EXTENT IS THE BIBLE INSPIRED OF GOD?
"For no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit."—2 Pet. 1:21. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unt…
605 wordsSECTION 8I. THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN APOSTLES AND PROPHETS DIFFERENT IN CHARACTER FROM HIS WORK IN ALL OTHER PERSONS
The first thing that the Bible teaches on this point and claims for itself is, _that the work of the Holy Spirit in apostles and prophets, in the various human authors of the different books of the Bible, differs from His work in other men, even in other believers in Christ_. It teaches that the Holy Spirit imparts to …
864 wordsSECTION 9Part 9
II. TRUTH HIDDEN FROM MEN FOR AGES, AND WHICH THEY HAD NOT DISCOVERED AND COULD NOT DISCOVER, BY THE UNAIDED PROCESSES OF HUMAN REASONING, HAS BEEN REVEALED TO APOSTLES AND PROPHETS IN THE SPIRIT The second thing taught in the Bible regarding the inspiration of the Apostles and Prophets, the inspiration of the various…
469 wordsSECTION 10III. THE REVELATION MADE TO THE PROPHETS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS INDEPENDENT OF THEIR OWN THINKING
The third thing that the Bible makes perfectly clear as to the inspiration of the Prophets and Apostles is, that _the revelation made by God through His Holy Spirit to the Prophets was independent of the Prophets' own thinking, that it was made to them by the Spirit of Christ which was in them, and that they themselves…
689 wordsSECTION 11V. THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS THE REAL SPEAKER WHO SPOKE IN THE PROPHETIC UTTERANCES
The fifth thing that the Bible teaches regarding the Inspiration of the Prophets and the Apostles and their utterances, is that _the Holy Spirit was the real speaker in the prophetic utterances, that what was said or written was the Holy Spirit's Word that was upon the Apostle's tongue, and not the word of the Prophet …
888 wordsSECTION 12Part 12
It is sometimes said that Paul taught in his earlier epistles that the Lord would return during his lifetime, and that in this matter he certainly was mistaken. But Paul never taught in his earlier epistles, or any other epistles, he never taught anywhere, that the Lord would return during his lifetime. This assertion …
288 wordsSECTION 13VI. THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE APOSTLES GAVE NOT ONLY THE THOUGHT, BUT THE WORDS IN WHICH THE THOUGHT WAS TO BE EXPRESSED
The 6th thing that the Bible makes clear as to the inspiration of the apostle and prophets is that, _the Holy Spirit in the Prophets and Apostles gave not only the thought but also gave the words in which the thought was to be expressed_. We find this very clearly stated in 1 Cor. 2:13: +"Which things also we speak, no…
624 wordsSECTION 14Part 14
Furthermore, the more carefully and minutely one studies the _wording_ of the statements of this wonderful book—the Bible—the more he will become convinced of the marvellous accuracy of _the very words_ used to express the thought. To a superficial thinker the doctrine of Verbal Inspiration may appear questionable or e…
682 wordsSECTION 15VII. ALL SCRIPTURE IS INSPIRED OF GOD
The seventh thing that the Bible makes plain regarding the work of the Holy Spirit in the various writers of Scripture, is that _all Scripture, that is everything contained in all the books of the Old and New Testament, is inspired of God_. We are distinctly taught this in 2 Tim. 3:16, 17. Here we read, "+All Scripture…
597 wordsSECTION 16VIII. THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD
The eighth thing that the Bible teaches concerning the extent of the inspiration of its writings is that _because of this inspiration of Prophets and Apostles, the writers of the Bible, the whole Bible as originally given becomes the absolutely inerrant Word of God_. In the O. T. David says of his own writings, in 2 Sa…
978 wordsSECTION 17II
THE CHRISTIAN CONCEPTION OF GOD, OR THE GOD OF THE BIBLE AS DISTINGUISHED FROM THE GOD OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND THE GOD OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY "God is Spirit."—John 4:24. "God is Light."—1 John 1:5. "God is Love."—1 John 4:8, 16. Our subject this morning is "The Christian Conception of God, or The God of the Bible as…
842 wordsSECTION 18Part 18
The God of what is called "Modern Philosophy" is "The Absolute," and by "The Absolute" is generally meant a cold abstraction and not a clear, definite and warm personality Who loves, grieves, suffers, and Who works intelligently for others. And oftentimes the God of modern philosophy is not only "_in_ all things" but _…
219 wordsSECTION 19I. GOD IS SPIRIT
First of all +"God is Spirit."+ This we read in our first text: John 4:24, +"God is Spirit."+ You will note that in your Bible, both the Authorised and Revised Versions, you read, +"God is a Spirit."+ But there is no indefinite article in the Greek language, and wherever it is necessary in the English translation to fi…
794 wordsSECTION 20Part 20
That God in His external form, though not in His invisible essence, is _seeable_, is also clear from Acts 7:55, 56, where we read: +"But he+ (i.e., Stephen), +being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see t…
935 wordsSECTION 21II. GOD IS A PERSON
The next thing that the Bible teaches about God is that _God is a person_. That is to say He is a being who knows, feels, loves, hears prayer, speaks, acts, a being who acts intelligently upon us and upon whom we can act. While God is in all things, He is a personality distinct from the persons and things in which He …
885 wordsSECTION 22III. GOD'S PRESENT RELATION TO THE WORLD AND TO MEN
We turn now to a consideration of the present relation of this Personal God presented to us in the Bible, to the world He has created and to the men whom He has created. 1. In the first place we find that _God sustains, governs and cares for the world He has created. He shapes the whole present history of the world._ …
724 wordsSECTION 23Part 23
The God of the Bible is to be clearly distinguished not merely from the God of the Pantheists who has no existence separate from His creation, but also from the God of the Deists who has created the world and put into it all the necessary powers of self-government and development and set it going and left it to go of i…
230 wordsSECTION 24THE CHRISTIAN CONCEPTION OF GOD—THE INFINITE PERFECTION AND UNITY OF GOD
"God is Light."—1 John 1:5. "God is Love."—1 John 4:8, 16. "With God All Things are Possible."—Matt. 19:26. "His Understanding is Infinite."—Ps. 147:5. We are to consider again to-day the Christian conception of God. We saw a week ago to-day that God is Spirit, that God is a person and that God has a personal inter…
97 wordsSECTION 25I. THE INFINITE PERFECTION OF GOD
The next thing to be noted about the Christian conception of God is, that _God is perfect and infinite in all His intellectual and moral attributes and in power_. 1. First of all, fix your attention upon our first text: +"God is Light"+ (1 John 1:5). These three words form a marvellously beautiful and overwhelmingly i…
265 wordsSECTION 26Part 26
In Job 42:2 we read these words of Job, when at last he has been brought to see and to recognise the true nature of Jehovah: +"I know that thou canst do all things and that no purpose of thine can be restrained."+ In Matt. 19:26 our Lord Jesus says: +"With God all things are possible."+ Taking these passages together, …
882 wordsSECTION 27Part 27
_The exercise of God's omnipotence is limited by His own wise and holy and loving will._ God _can do_ anything, but _will do_ only that which infinite wisdom and holiness and love dictate. This comes out, for example, in Isa. 59:1, 2: +"Behold, Jehovah's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy…
917 wordsSECTION 28Part 28
4. _God is also absolutely and infinitely holy._ This is a point of central and fundamental importance in the Bible conception of God. It comes out in our first text: +"God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."+ John when he wrote these words gave them as the summary of +"The message which we have heard from God…
910 wordsSECTION 29Part 29
7. There is one other thought in the Christian conception of God that needs to be placed alongside of His omnipresence and that is His eternity. _God is eternal. His existence had no beginning and will have no ending, He always was, always is and always shall be._ God is not only everywhere present in space, He is ever…
359 wordsSECTION 30II. THERE IS ONE GOD
One more fact about the Christian conception of God remains to be mentioned and that is: _There is but one God_. The Unity of God comes out again and again in both the Old Testament and the New. For example, we read in Deut. 4:35: +"Jehovah he is God. There is none else beside him."+ And in Deut. 6:4 we read: +"Hear O …
899 wordsSECTION 31THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST
"Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, What think ye of the Christ? whose son is He?"—Matt. 22:41, 42. The question that our Lord Jesus here puts to the Pharisees is the most fundamental question concerning Christian thought and faith that can be put to anybody in any age…
873 wordsSECTION 32I. DIVINE NAMES
The first line of proof of the absolute Deity of our Lord Jesus is that _many names and titles clearly implying Deity are used of Jesus Christ in the Bible, some of them over and over again, the total number of passages reaching far into the hundreds_. Of course, I can give you only a few illustrations. Turn with me fi…
761 wordsSECTION 33II. DIVINE ATTRIBUTES
But there is a second line of proof that Jesus Christ was God, a proof equally convincing, and that is, _all the five distinctively Divine attributes are ascribed to Jesus Christ, and "all the fulness of the Godhead" is said to dwell in Him_. There are five distinctively Divine attributes, that is five attributes that …
782 wordsSECTION 34III. DIVINE OFFICES
But we do not need to rest the case here. There is a third unanswerable line of proof that Jesus Christ is God, namely, _all the distinctively Divine offices are predicated of Jesus Christ_. There are seven distinctively Divine offices. That is to say, there are seven things that God alone can do, and each one of these…
588 wordsSECTION 35IV. STATEMENTS WHICH IN THE OLD TESTAMENT ARE MADE DISTINCTLY OF JEHOVAH, GOD, TAKEN IN THE NEW TESTAMENT TO REFER TO JESUS CHRIST
The fourth line of proof of the absolute Deity of Jesus Christ is found in the fact that _over and over again statements which in the Old Testament are made distinctly of Jehovah, God, are taken in the New Testament to refer to Jesus Christ_. We have not time to illustrate this at length, but will give but one illustra…
299 wordsSECTION 36V. THE WAY IN WHICH THE NAME OF GOD THE FATHER AND JESUS CHRIST THE SON ARE COUPLED TOGETHER
The fifth line of proof of the absolute Deity of our Lord is found _in the way in which the name of Jesus Christ is coupled with that of God the Father. In numerous passages His name is coupled with the name of God the Father in a way in which it would be impossible to couple the name of any finite being with that of t…
234 wordsSECTION 37VI. DIVINE WORSHIP TO BE GIVEN TO JESUS CHRIST
There is a sixth line of proof of the absolute Deity of our Lord Jesus. Those already given have been decisive, each one of the five has been decisive, but this, if possible, is the most decisive of them all, and that is, that _we are taught in so many words that Jesus Christ should be worshipped as God, both by angels…
563 wordsSECTION 38VII. INCIDENTAL PROOFS OF THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST
The six lines of proof of the Deity of Jesus Christ which I have given you leave no possibility of doubting that Jesus Christ is God, that Jesus of Nazareth is God manifest in a human person, that He is a being to be worshipped, even as God the Father is worshipped; but there are also incidental proofs of His absolute …
773 wordsSECTION 39Part 39
Conclusion: There is no room left to doubt the absolute Deity of Jesus Christ. It is a glorious truth. The Saviour in whom we believe is God, a Saviour for whom nothing is too hard, a Saviour who can save from the uttermost and save to the uttermost. Oh, how we should rejoice that we have no merely human Saviour, but a…
303 wordsSECTION 40JESUS CHRIST A REAL MAN
"And the word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth."—John 1:14. "Who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being …
634 wordsSECTION 41I. THE HUMAN PARENTAGE OF JESUS CHRIST
First of all, _the Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ had a human parentage_. We read in Luke 2:7, +"And she+ (i.e., Mary) +brought forth her first born Son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."+ Here we are told that our Lord Jesus Christ, …
339 wordsSECTION 42II. THE HUMAN PHYSICAL NATURE OF JESUS CHRIST
But not only did Jesus Christ have a human parentage, He had a human physical nature, a human body. This comes out in the first of our texts, +"The Word Became Flesh,"+ and in Hebrews 2:14 we are taught +"Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also+ (i.e., our Lord Jesus also) +himself in like manne…
697 wordsSECTION 43III. SUBJECT TO HUMAN LIMITATIONS
But the reality and completeness of our Lord's human nature comes out not only in the fact that He had a human parentage and a human body: we are also clearly taught that, while as God he possessed all the attributes and exercised all the offices of Deity, as a man He was subject to human limitations. 1. _He was subje…
804 wordsSECTION 44Part 44
3. _He was also, as a man, subject to limitations in the way in which He obtained power and in which He exercised power._ Jesus Christ obtained the power for the Divine work that He did while here upon earth, not by His incarnate Deity, but by prayer. We read in Mark 1:35, +"And in the morning, a great while before day…
401 wordsSECTION 45IV. THE HUMAN RELATION OF JESUS CHRIST TO GOD
The completeness of the humanity of Jesus Christ comes out in still another matter, and that is, the relation that He bore to God as a man was the relation of a man, so that God was His God. He himself says to Mary in John 20:17, +"Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the father: but go unto my brethren, and sa…
668 wordsSECTION 46Part 46
But some one may ask, "How shall we reconcile the Bible doctrine of the true Deity of Jesus Christ with the Bible doctrine of the real human nature of Jesus Christ, the doctrine that He was real God with the doctrine that He was equally truly man?" The answer to this is very simple. Reconciling doctrines is not our mai…
887 wordsSECTION 47Part 47
In Matt. 16:16, 17, we read, +"And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my father who is in heaven."+ Here is a clear declaration by Jesus Himself of …
693 wordsSECTION 48THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
"The Communion of the Holy Ghost."—2 Cor. 13:14. Our subject this morning is "The Personality of the Holy Spirit." No series of sermons upon the Fundamentals of our Christian faith would be complete without a sermon on the Personality and Deity of the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Personality of the Holy Spirit is …
173 wordsSECTION 49I. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
1. _The Doctrine of the Personality of the Holy Spirit is of the highest importance from the standpoint of worship._ If the Holy Spirit is a person and a Divine Person, and He is, and if we do not know Him as such, if we think of the Holy Spirit only as an impersonal influence or power, then we are robbing a Divine Per…
842 wordsSECTION 50Part 50
3. _The doctrine of the personality of the Holy Spirit is of the highest importance from the standpoint of experience._ Thousands and tens of thousands of Christian men and women can testify to an entire transformation of their experience through coming to know the Holy Spirit as a person. In fact, this address upon th…
144 wordsSECTION 51II. FOUR LINES OF PROOF OF THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
There are four separate and distinct lines of proof of the Personality of the Holy Spirit. 1. The first line of proof of the Personality of the Holy Spirit is that all the distinctive marks or characteristics of personality are ascribed to the Holy Spirit in the Bible. What are the distinctive characteristics of perso…
616 wordsSECTION 52Part 52
(4) We now turn to a most remarkable passage—Rom. 15:30. +"Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me."+ What I wish you to notice in this verse are the words "_The love of the Spirit_." It is a wonderful t…
604 wordsSECTION 53Part 53
(5) Turn now to a passage in the Old Testament. Neh. 9:20. +"Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst."+ Here both intelligence and goodness are ascribed to the Holy Spirit. This passage does not add anything to the thought…
596 wordsSECTION 54Part 54
(6) Now turn to Eph. 4:30. +"And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."+ Here grief is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. In other words, the Holy Spirit is not a mere blind impersonal influence or power that comes to dwell in your heart and mine, but a person, a person who love…
881 wordsSECTION 55Part 55
(2) Now turn to Rom. 8:26 +"And in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought but the spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered."+ Here the Holy Spirit is represented as doing what only a person can do, praying. The Holy Spirit is not…
454 wordsSECTION 56Part 56
3. The third line of proof of the personality of the Holy Spirit is that _an office is predicated of the Holy Spirit that could only be predicated of a person_. Look for example at John 14:16, 17. Here we read, +"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever, ev…
1,604 wordsSECTION 57Part 57
In this thought is also the cure for insomnia. Did any of you ever have insomnia? I did. For two dark, awful years. Night after night, I would go to bed, almost dead, as it seemed to me, for sleep, and I thought I would certainly sleep as I could scarcely keep awake; but scarcely had my head touched the pillow when I k…
783 wordsSECTION 58Part 58
In this same precious truth there is a cure for a broken heart. Oh, how many broken-hearted people there are in the world to-day, especially in these days of war and bloodshed and death! Many of us here have lost loved ones. Many more of us in all probability will during the months that are just ahead of us. But we nee…
518 wordsSECTION 59Part 59
But it is in our Christian work that the thought comes to us with greatest power and helpfulness. Take my own experience. I became a minister simply because I had to, or be forever lost. I do not mean that I am saved by preaching the Gospel; I am saved simply on the ground of Christ's atoning blood and that alone; but …
1,248 wordsSECTION 60Part 60
4. But I must close. There is another line of proof of the personality of the Holy Spirit, but we have no time to dwell upon it. This line of proof is that a treatment is predicated of the Holy Spirit that could only be predicated of a person. In Isa. 63:10 we are taught that the Holy Spirit is rebelled against and gri…
370 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.