Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-01-30
MISCELLANEOUS.
PapaI In1aI1tbility and BishOP
Becker.
10 EIitor of Ule Commercial :

!, aid of the st. Vincent de Paul Society, has
given to outsiders an opportunity OF hearing him
ON the recent decree Of the Vatican. His theme
WAS Papal Infallibility Once within his com.
Portable ediice, with the biting frost shut out it
was pleasant to note tho improvement upon sim
liar structures of Continental Europe, devoted
to the service of his communion - cold, musty,
almost presidential in their stately grandeur.
The good bishop goes to the EXTREMIST verge
Of Ultramontanism. He stands on the highest
clevation-the Pixies Peakin nubibus-in the
very clouds. II WAS something, indeed, for a
doubter to hear his crisp, didactic words demand
ing for the church OF Rome lineal descent, and
by this succession the sole right to enunciate a
dogma,-a leading Christian TRUTH to which the
whole world must adjust itself, or else, as lie
said, be damned and lost, claiming that "whrt
good men outside the Romish Church-pure and
conscientious men--had started sects, " they were
no other than mere benevolent societies that
A Merchants Exchange, Board OF Trade,
bankers or brokers' association, the Supreme
Court itself, were OF such.
The bishop announced that he Bishop Becker,
might sin with the deepest guilt, ''as numerous
popes had sinned-as st. Peter had sinned,"-
and yet the very succession thus conferred upon
his church gave to him, and to them, an uninter-
rupted continuance HI vicar OF dod-clean and
uiepotted. very conHoling doctrine, II accept
cd one might say, for the atmosphere of Brook
lyn-and for Plymouth Church in particuar-just
at this time.
Asking that we, his hearers, should receive
the Pope as plenary Justification, as st. Peter
incarnato in Succession, st Peter himself in the
very iles he remarked, In Il little while tho
casaways' would all be seeking tho true fold,"
and that in time Gladstone and even Bismarck
himself might be numbered with the faithful.
Tho context of the lectuie was the sequel to the
DISCOURSE e-infallibility was prerogative de-
rived from succession, and its sequence
1t will be confessed the bishop has scarcely
shown himself equal to the breadth and depth OF
a.. TIa ~ vat Hal
tlore are large bodies in his church who regard
the church AZ administered, not in the interest Of
universal humanity, but for the benefit of few
Italian families. IL he willing to meet this issue
and combat it where 1t il found to be wilful
ob-tncionistY lie must know that the ecclesi-
a-cal spirit no longer inspires the policy of ma
tons. Is he prepared as a shepherd Of his flock
Ia smooth the way for tho change? In the pend
ng contest between Science and Religion, where
antiquity and legitimacy conflict with truth, can
he accept the truth, lot it lead him where it
may?
Ilis church, in fact all churches,--are being
silently reformed. 1t is not the discussion Of
doctrines before synods and councils and prosby-
teries that the world now demands. The need is
that we ahonld forget church matters, and COM
prehend the solemn trial through which every
creature has to pass, who IL called to the exercise
of liberty with its specific practical difficulties,
Its temptations, and its trials. We can well af-
ford to hand over to the awful stiffness Of me-
Blect all doubtful doctrines, that they may go
down into an oblivion that knows no waking
The Pope, n good and venerable man him
sef, must see - his Successors will yet know -
that tho :" true church" is measured by its pocu
mary and political insignfcance, and that there |
no stability, secure and absolute except in the
depths of the conscience, where the moral senti-
m2nt ID blended with the voice of God.
Neither did Bishop Becker, we think, properly |
interpret the Papal collision with European |
craftsmanship, since Its loss of temporal power.
When the Pope divides territories and gives to |
the bishops local titles, the old leaven of |
Professionalism will arise The hierarchy will |
encounter opposition, but this need not prevent |
the Papal institution from being established Its |
members hold their civil and political rights
equally with others, under the protection
OF the common law, and the bishops may bear
their titles in tranquility. The Pope himself
has never been freer. He may apostrophize
peoples or governments, with all the majesty
and haughtiness he ever possessed M tempor-
nj sovereign. He is unassailable, and need fear
nothing. There is temptation to practice
reprinas on his domains. The religion itself is
part of tho common society whilst it respects
the civil law which protects it. 1t s certainly
tho highest statesmannhip to declare that there
liz no more certain way OF prolonging theologi-
cal strifes than for state authority TO decide up
on them Here il the extent of Bsmark's and
OF Gladstones offence, and of Count Cavour,
ltaly's greatest statesman.
10 IL plain that tho religion of the future will |
bo one of live issues; ever seeking something
better As each succeeding generation unfolds
AMI relates anew tho story OF redemption, it will
be slmplitied and made simpler, until it 10 mar
rowed within the limits of the Sermon on the
Mount. jesus instead of drawing his doctrine
from the State or from the schools, was Il living
contradiction of all that surrounded him. Then,
clerical bodies, when dominant and powerful,
were covetous and grasping. So they are to-
day.
Great communities of Christians accept James
"a servant of God and of the Lord jesus
Mathew and John to be the rock of N H. saliva
IN th.. afnuA all Il,
woman of samara at Jacobs well" is priceless
legacy The well il dried up. but the well of liv-
ING water springs eternal. 'Where two or three
are gathered together in my namo, there am
IN the midst of them, is to them succession it
il their infallibility. "Pure religion and I'M
delled before God the Father is to visit the
iatheress and widows in their atcton, and
keep himself unepotted from the world" is a
llsrnbook to multitudes.
The church Of the future will be an economi-
cal church. 1t will meet, face to face woman
tnfranchised compulsory education AZ part
OF the political system, freedom to think, free
schools, freedom to talk. Celibacy will be swept
away, and the holy state of marriage accepted.
Religious houses are OF the past. The question
must arise which Count Cavour settled
~ ltaly,1Can large bodies of stall
waft, healthy men, - or women ether,-
property live apart from the body potic and
draw subsistence from tho weat Of other brows
Then there il merchandise of the pulpit sold
al temples at auction and otherwise, which
VIII III The future be overthrown and cast out.
Tho coming church, accepted of God, and as the
friend of man, will regard proselytism religion
measured by numbers-as stratagem of the
hierarchy utterly selfish. Christianity takes
notice of the individual only as immortal
eltd, not as a fractional part of multitude.
1t is incredible how little standing room there
Is for tho author of Christianity himself, within
the portals of any church. Clearly the sceptre
OF Jesus was the Divine moralities-
AS determination of social life. Every believer |
needs only to be confident that supernatural
power dwells within him to direct him. 1t ID the
triumph of tile soul over the senses. Its work
will be rapid enough for him who wishes most |
good to the most
some one has said that in the future there will |
he but two roads-Iome and Quakersm. Well,
II il to be narrowed to this-if the covenant OF
grace in an lslamism TO arrest all movement, |
wrtnng with the victim who seeks freedom |
from brute force that crushes him - then |
The moral truths which constitute the life Of |
Cirlst-the principles and ideas of the New Tes- |
tament-its spiritual equaty-a resstless force |
ever tending to it's own realization - toiH con- |
lner If this is Quakerism, Rome may well af- |
inrd to exchange for it a imperfect infalbity |
Which inherits the seeds of its own dissolution.
Bishop Becker's address was scholarly and cru |
ute delivered with the impressiveness of entire
conviction. Sitting facing the cherished en- |
9lems of his churcli-pictures, atar-pieces, can
uies IN rows, lit-the image, ,-transfxed in clay |
or wood,-of Him, the Divine Lawgiver, the Re- |
NluI