Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-11-06
but of the spirit of Jesus and in the hearts

VI "udG uOeS He Spedh VI Iu0 LQ1nRS
he had commanded them. Cali power is
given to me in heaven and in GARTH
Going, therefore, teach ye all nations hap
tizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" He
commanded them to go forth, not to this
section or to that section, not to this tribe
or to that tribe, but to all nations and to
all tribes, They were to teach the things
that he had taught to them, and not only
to teach them but to see that they were
observed. They were to teach, One Church,
A Universal Church, and an Apostolic
Church One Church, as there was but one
Lord, one Faith, and one Baptism A
Universal, Or Catholic church, and not a
local church, q narrow-minded church, a
circumscribed church. The unity Of the
church was the pillar of the truth. AS
Faith was one SO was the church. Many
men Of many minds. Error was MANIFOLD
and mutab!e. Truth was one and immu-
table. Truth was essentially one. God
could not contradict his works. He was
Truth. He could not contradict Himself.
Jesus was Truth itself. If he had COM
manded his Apostles to go forth and preach
many and conflicting dogmas, some true,
and some false, he was human after all,
and not God the Saviour. But blessed be
his name forever he was Truth, and he gave
it to his APOSTLES to teach unto all men, to
believe in the unity Of that Church which
contained the doctrine Of their master to
them, and through them to their success
sors. There was such a thing as human
religion Rational religion, Unitarianism,
Congregationalsm, and others too numer-
GUS to mention. Divisions could be made
in these human religions, but the religion
of God knew no division, was, and is, in
capable Of division. It is essentially One
as God is One.
It is universal, Catholic 1t is every
where. The word means that,-Kata,
through, on account Of, unto, even 10, and
clos, the whole, or universal. In this
| country it is plain enough that our cere-
monies are the same, our dress, &c. But
let any citizen of Wilmington go to South
America, go to England, France, Ger
maIy, Switzerland, anywhere, every where
ho will find it the same. A stranger will
| be 4 stranger in all places when abroad
bub when he enters the church in
! any country he feels that lie is not
stranger there. Why do we have our
prayers in Latin Simply because unity
demands that, universally demands that.
It was from the first. It will be to the end
If we were TO follow custom in this thing
where would We stand to-day What Ian
guage Of the present was the language of
the past ? They have all changed. They
are changing. The language Of the church
is what it was from the first. In every
country the mass is celebrated in that
tongue. In our prayer books the Latin is
there, and the opposite page or section is
it's translation to suit every language. Our
costume is a matter of talk. This stole,
worn as badge of honor or of power by
the Romans, and especially by the Roman
orators, was adopted by the church and be-
came an emblem of those orators which
were to go forth and continue teaching the
mysterious doctrine and the Incompetent
sible dogmas of the Crucifed. If we were
to follow the fashion we would be like the
ladies, continually changing the dress. We
prefer to cling to the old, fearing that in
losing the form we might lose some of the
substance. It was never dreamed of by
Christ or his Apostles that local church
be preached. The preaching was to be
heard in all lands, and by all tongues.
The Roman See was founded by the
Prince of the Apostles, and of one calling
himself an Apostle of God, Paul. Thence
radiated the grace, and ramiied the doc
trine, that converted and saved thousands.
Where would We be to-day had our fore
fathers not been brought into the pale of
the church by the Bishop OF Rome Would
we not be the children of Pagans and pa
gans ? As strange as this may sound to
some there has never been any people, or
any tongue converted from heathenism
and barbarism by any other than those sent
out from the Mother See, and by the su-
preme Bishop. or Pope. Patrick was sent
to the Irish by the Pope Celestin. Patrick
was not then term Of reproach. It was
Romes proudest and noblest title. The
Franks were later brought in by the con-
sion of Clovis, baptized by the Bishop Rem
igeus. Gregory sent Augustin to England,
who converted the fierce Saxons. Ger
many, Switzerland, Scotland, every nation
or State of the world adopted the doctrine
of Jesus as taught by Rome.
The deluge of barbarism which swept
down from the North and carried desola
ton and destruction with it, obliterated
every trace of civilization from the face of
Italy, and indeed of all Europe, but
it did not sweep the teachings of the
poor fishermen. God always chooses the
weak things Of the earth to confound the
strong. God is for them who will be
against them. Jesus will not be with them
for period. He will be with them all
days-paSeiS henoerais-unto the consum-
nation of the world. He will be every