Rudolf Gwalther on dangerous zeal

[Reformed Covenanter]

Nobody should trust in his zeal for religious matters to the extent of believing that good intentions will automatically lead to right actions. Unless our zeal is controlled by the Word of God it will do more harm than good. The person who is addicted to superstitions and false doctrine will be a determined enemy of the truth and will probably turn out to be a fierce persecutor of those who worship it. That kind of zeal derives from an excessive devotion to ancestral traditions.

It is characteristic of such traditions of people that they invent a different God from the one who really exists but who appears to be close enough to ours that he takes pleasure in the things that we glorify. Before long, mixed forms of worship appear that are defended on the ground of their antiquity, the example of the masses and above all on the authority of their ancestors, which is sacrosanct for many and from which it would be wrong to depart. If they see other people who think and believe differently, they start to hate them and think that they should not be allowed to do anything, because they are considered to be enemies of religion and very dangerous people. ...

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Rudolf Gwalther on dangerous zeal

Nobody should trust in his zeal for religious matters to the extent of believing that good intentions will automatically lead to right actions. Unless our zeal is controlled by the Word of God it w…

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