Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1874-12-10
The Protestant Division In France.
fFrom Paris Cor Of NeH York Timesl

lfrou farls COr, OF New YORK TiNes
The reformed Protestant Church Of France |.
just now in the midst Of u crisis, tile extrsm
gravity of which must soon become apparen
throughout the world. The followers o
Luther and of CALVIN are divided by = fats
schism, and there is every prospect OF speed,
separation OF the two sects comprising the Re
formed Church. The germs Of the proAen
troubles have been long i'll existence. Up t.
| !he past few years, however, tho trouble,
have had doctrinal character (; to-day they hay,
passed from the religious domain to purely I'D
miniatrative ground.
There are shout 600, 900 protestsnts in Franc.
-250, 900 Cslvinists, $780, 900 Lutherans or Lib
erals. The latter are led by such pastors n
IN New York, and these men claim that the re-
ligion OF Calvin is not up to our age, and
rot In accordance with the revelations Of modern
science and the progress Of knowledge. They dc
not believe In the divinity Of the Scriptures and
call Christ the philosopher carpenter Of Naxa.
retll, great man, beyond all doubt, but moi
| the Son of God. Morally, or ethc-llq speaking
tl,sy accent 1is toAclings, bit ~ ouua. = ~
that dc ~ God, the Bon Of God, or oven lnsp3su6
lhey do not believe in revelation, miracles, or III
the divine character Of the Bible. It will be seen,
therefore, that there was = very wide gap be-
tween the two parties in the Synod, but thanks
TO M. duizot, orthodoxy carried tile day by l
think, about four votes.
The Pope is Catholicism, it is said here, and
al who refuse obedience to HIM are Protestants.
Every man who frankly declares himself Pro-
testant is entitled to respect but iu is evident
that this cannot satisfy the laws. II N. Co.
qnerel and his partisans would only meet and
come to ali understanding, and state what their
belief is, special religion could be founded, and
that could be rsorgsnized by the State but to
profess their dlrtr. .nes and yet cali themselves
Reformed ProtestGnts Ia AZ absurd IA for Cstho.
lies to protest and yet call themselves Catholics
The world laughed At Pere Hyacinthe when lie
tried to stand upon this illogical ground, 1t ia
true that $50, 900 liberal Protestants have had to
submit to 25O,0o0 Calyinists, but how il
that 10 be avoided There must be some
sort OF an organization, 4 cyettO, regular ar
uces OF faith, and all administration of
some sort: The only palpabe thing, 40 far ~
the State lis concerned, is tile credo of Guizot,
voted by the General Synod, and two sets OF
laws for two different parties in the same church
is manifestly impossible. But although the
Synod voted the articles OF faith presented by
lnlzot, it did not dare to make them obligatory.
However, in very short time, the Executive
Committee appointed by the Synod took it upon
themselves to say that they did not recognize
any Protestants but those who had subscribed
70 this confession OF faith. The Importance Of
this will appear when we reflect that Catholic
minister OF public worship rejoicing in the di-
VISIONS OF tho Protestants, may legally take tile
ground that no man is a Protestant, and under
the regime OF the law made for that cutie, I'M
less ne belongs to u local church that has sub
scribed to the proceedings Of the General Syn
cd
This NJ DeClement has done. The Liberals
lett the synod protesting against the tyranny Of
the minority which. by the trick of calling votes
by conslstorles, had triumphed over clear ma
lority of 100000; and subjected them to the
doctrines OF CALVIN, under penalty Of expulsion
from the Reformed Church. They proceeded
with their elections al usual but when they
sent the documents to the Minister he replied
that these elections were all illegal, that they
could not be recognized by the State, and that
all pastors receiving pay from the budget Of
public worship must subscribe to the credo Of
the synod.
This is a quarrel, and it is now question as
what can be done. II the Liberals do not turn
Calynists, the number OF Professionals in France
recognized by law will be reduced $50, 900. II
they do submit now that Guizot has gone-how
long will it take to repeat the results Of the syn
cd, and reduce Calvinism to subjection that
must be far more hateful to tho orthodox than
that OF the Church Of Rome2 There must be .
recognized Protestant organization. Will it be
in tho hands Of the Rationalists whose
church Voltaire must be saint-or in the hands
Of the followers Of Calvin? In the latter cass
the church goes back two centuries in the form
or II will explode like a brilliant piece Of pyro-
technics and the sparks OF grand faith will
tighten up the sky of the future for moment
only to be lost a moment later in the dark clouds
OF uncertainty and doubt.