DEAD ORTHODOXY
'He hated dead orthodoxy with a perfect hatred. "The living dog" of an earnest though faulty revivalism was in his opinion better than the "dead lion" of a heartless orthodoxy. Truth no doubt is truth; but the letter killeth: it is the spirit that giveth life. Water is water; but better surely is a cupful from the living well than a pitcherful from the stagnant pond. Dead orthodoxy is but the maker of decent graveclothes for dead souls. At best the teacher of lifeless doctrine is but the master tailor of pharisaism. Some men worship the truth of God instead of the God of truth. Dead orthodoxy is the worship of truth, and is the most subtle of all kinds of idolatry...Our evangelist was grieved to see men splitting hairs while souls were perishing. Are the disciples nodding and sleeping while the cause of Christ is bleeding at every pore? Are men piously wagging their heads because the Lord's work is nailed to a cross? Alas! it is even so.'
Duncan Matheson The Scottish Evangelist. Page 251.
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