Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-11-27
CHRISTIANITY as AFFECTED RY
TUE QUESTIONS OF THE DAY.
A Sermon,
Delivered by w. J. Ellis, at 81. Anne's
Church, EdgefeId, Sunday, Nov. "a.

Delivered by w. J. Ellis, at 80. Anne,s
Church, EdgefieId, Sunday, Nov. "a.
By manifestation Of the truth commanding
ourselves TO every mans conscience in the sight
of God.-II Cor, iv, 2.
THAT there are some opinions officially pro-
fesssd and others tacitly he'd even, by many Of
the public teachers or religion, the former of
which they virtually reject, and the latter Of
which they never make manifest in their open
ministrshons, is q fact which most observing
persons VIII be ready enough TO admit; and to me
Il has ever appeared, that the habit thus form ed
as regarding certain things as premature, and
cOncesiing them carefully from the ears Of the
mulutude, is proceeding calculated beyond al
most all others TO destroy moral earnestness and
self-respect in the teacher and 70 shake all spon
famous confidence in the hearers. Better even
20 incur the charge OF rashness from the few
honesty in the minds OF the msny.'-J. d. Nor
ell.
During the ''late unplessantRess" was lock-
ed in frsm all new knowledge, and kept too
much engrOssed by the war 70 have leisure or
ability to let consciousness deal with those be-
fore received facts and conclusions which seem
ed 70 bear on traditional beliefs. Coming to
Tennessee found myself in very hard meta
physical war, which concerned both the Church
and theology. soon made up my mind that
while that view of christianity which made ''the
Church" mean the clergy, and the sacraments
TO be the beginners and sustainers OF spiritual
life and character, was, in its germs, ante-Ni-
cene 1t was certainly anti-christian and radical
ly opposed TO the principles OF the English he
formation. But it seemed to me that unless
some quasi miracle took place, the Episcopal
Church would be brought into subsection 10 that
doctrine. Convinced that there was no hope of
a successful fight against it, I thought it my
duty to retire from the ministry. But the Bish-
ops and other ministers whom advised with,
with great earnestness said was wrong; that l
ought 20 fight it out on that line; that my duty
was TO stay in the church and there oppose the
evil. yielded the more readily to their
advice because believe that neither of the t. o
prominent schools Of thought In the church
would long remain prominent if real earnest free
thought was brought to bear on them, and /
hattered myself that 1 saw glimpses Of time
coming when ''the survival of the fittest" would
be ''the survival of the best" and when accord
ingly that idea of christianity which / had
would be the dominant one in the church.
When left Christ Church 1 was moved by
these considerations. I felt that it would be
vrone Tor me to remain there unless could tell
the poor and those in moderate circumstances
that there was just as free and glad welcome
there for them as for the rich. If my views had
been acceded to then, meant to meet the more
intellectual Of the parish and leave it to them
whether or no should remain and give theolo-
gical matters such free handling from the pull
pit as advancing thought required. If they
would not be willing for me to do so, would be
more than willing to 80 where might have lei
sure to read and reflect. 1 could not follow the
advice of a lady friend who when 1 talked with
her of my mental troubles said that my first duty
was TO my family and that if ny getting slong
well EBQulEeu ecclllLR dSrGul " OODttluCS MulCu
1 disbslieved 1 ought to give this assent.
Nor could / do as clergyman who,
when showed him an article
which sssmed a complete smasher Of "the Mo-
saic Cosmognoy," said, as q pleasant way Of
getting round the subject, that he would have
TO consult his bishop about it. There was no
help for me but in reason and conscience. 1
hesitated about coming to st AIMS, but 1t Is
hard for one not 70 let his wishes influence his
Judgment. Ny mother, who, IL she had a fault,
died before l was old enough to know that she
had one, dedicated me to the Office and work of
minister. To her 1 suppose owe 1t that my
idea or Christianity was that 1t was simply the
love and initat ton of Christ, and that theolOgi-
cal dogmas were not Of its essence; hoped that
the clergy, being clear headed and truth loving
would s1On abate their theological dogma fer
vOr Ii seemed TO me that the new light which
was b ing thrown upon church and upon theo-
logical subjects, was so clear that il could not
fail but that the clergy would generally welcome
its al rent and would be glad 70 let its eulgence
do its perfect work. 1 proceed to give the rea-
sons for my hopes:
The Protestant Episcopal Church had its ORR
gin from the Church of England. Its organic
being and its organic law are essentially the
same. In the Church of Rome all power is in
JhC clergy, derived ultimately from the bishops in
council, and now from the Pope. In the Church
of England all power is derived from the people.
At the reformation it was not the Bishops and
Presbyters, but the Parliament, which abolished
the then existing spiritual power. All the
bishops with only one exception, were opposed
to the change. The priests were, almost every
o
way; and there never has been a time when the
clergy, as a whole, were not in favor of keeping
on in the old way. 1t was the z srliament which
set forth the liturgy and enacted the Articles of
Belief" The Conyocation had generIlly to con-
tent itself with looking on in dismay at the do
ingS Of Parliament; It coald not add syllable
or = comma to the liturgy or the articles. The
clergy would vastly have preferred the old ser
vice and the old doctrines. 1t was the Parlia-
monitor the Crown, Law authority derived its
power from the Parliament,-that displaced the
old bishops and put In new ones The priests
generally were not displaced, because they be-
came obedient TO the faith when they saw OppO-
sItiOn 10 IL was vain. The priests held their iiy-
ings and the bishops their sees, by the authority
of the Parliament and on condition of using a
liturgy and subscribing to articles which the
Parliament set forth on the sole authority of its
private Judgment That body abolished, sane
toned or introduced usages, retained the EplscO-
pate and the three orders because they thought
Holy writ or the general veal required it, and
deferred 90 the teachings of councils" because
they thought it reasonable to believe tn at those
living 80 much closer 10 the apostolic age were
better able TO understand the meaning of the BIZ
BILE. En- dOctrinal matters they consulted the
theOlOgians Just as in legal matters they did the
iurists. The Difference they paid was just that
we all pay to knowledge, to genius, to experience
in every department of thought "All the citi-
Eeus OF England were regarded as spiritual be-
ings as we'd as temporal beings, having spiritual
as well as temporal duties. Parliament was the
representative of the whole as civil and as spir-
itual beings, and its duty was TO legislate for the
which created the church OF England reposed on
the gEand, the noble idea that the whole people
were at once citizens aud christians, and that in
framing their laws they were legslating for the
whole Of human life; that religion had no Sep
araUo province either in the individual man or in
the collective state; that its presence, its power
and authority pcrvaded the whole being OF man,
every act, every thought, every detail of his ex.
istence. truer, heller, more glorious con-
ceptiOn OF the christian religion cannot be
found. The church was an organization
1rnr mad for the WhOla ayprAQRtR n
christians living in one society religious and
secular in oDe.'-(Price.) The parliament
framed the Church OF England out of the pre-
existing materials so far as they could be had and
used. The Bishops, etc, were fuDctionaries of the
STATE for religious, as the judges, etc, were
functionsries of the State for civil uses. Each
class the relig icus and the civil had its peculiar
mode of being invested with its functions, and
this mode was, as far as possible the same as had
been used afOretime, and so what is called the
succession was kept up.
The Parliament sought 10 express he vie,Os and
sypipathiss Of The people an so far as they t0ouId
ccnfist 1cith lsatiOhGt prosperity. While the ar
tcles were werded TO keep from lhhuentlei posi-
lions those who we're opposed to separation from
Roms-subscription to them being only required
from such persons, the Liturgy was suffered to re-
tain incongriOus elements so that persons OF
different views and sympathies might worship
together, But soon traditional orthodoxy minus
papa.isR was found 20 be too narrow a basis and
some ws1tcd more, some less sacerdotallsm, some
more ra'ionality, so-as was required by the ann
OF PsrlArnent, which was to express the con-
science sot Of this or that class of religious folk,
but of - psopJs-the basis of the Church had to
he evid~t, and this was done by its gradually
beoom'N rsctt understanding that the articles,
the slSs& 20 which declared his belief in ''each
and evsSE OF them were simply Etarticles of
psAns;" f7sd that Affirming ones s'assent and con-
seni y q cad everything the PRAYER Book con-
tasSs, y ant simply that he approved of il as a
wtsss recent period all such expressions
ware foF ssAfly done away with and now there is
n Sonn4 SsstvSSD the sense and the words of
f1&eripfOI.