The Portland daily press., 1878-12-02
PULPIT AND PLATFORM.
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

HiSIohf OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
The first of series of sermons on this in
teresting subject was preached at st. Stephens
Church Sunday afternoon by the rector, Rev.
Mr.. Dalton. Thess, II: Is. The subject OF
this series of sermons, said the preacher, is
evidently very important one, yet like many
important things is too generally neglected.
The prevalent ideas respecting it are, to say the
least very vague, where they are not quite
erroneous. Thus many date all the Christianity
in the world of any interest to US, or value to
others from the sixteenth century. That is to
say, many regard all between that century and
the first as of no account or positively perDici,
ous But this is dangerous aswell as preJudlced
opinion. Christianity is religion founded on
facts-it is aud ever must b essentially az
historical religion, one that can be traced
through all the centuries of its history back 10
its ack owledged first teacher ana founder.
That which / propose to do, sad the preacher,
is to divide this history into periods or clearly
defined eras, exhibiting the salient features oil
each nothing extenuatlDg setting down nothing
in malice, bat speaking the truth in love. shall
coefine myself almost wholly to indisputable
points, and shall be careful to contend only
for tina truth, quite willing that you shall draw
your own conclusions as to ceremonial laws and
doubtful disputations.
For the sake of convenient handling and
with due regard to the actual order of events,
L shall divide the history into three periods,
viz: the Primitive, Papal and Protestant The
first third OF this history we call the Primitive
period or era of six hundred years, an era of
boundless activity, crowded growth, great
events and crowned with marvellous success.
But even this primitive era must be subdivided
into three lesser .eras. each of which has
marked characteristics. We will call the first
the Apostolic, the second that of the earlier,
and the third that of the later Fathers.
The age of the Apostles is happily well
known to Protestants, ana no labor is spared to
make it familiar. And with good reason our
guides dwell on this chapter of church history.
for no subsequent age has equalled it in insprs-
tior, authority, activity or success. Bat it does
not follow that subsequent ages should bs
ignored or summariy dismissed with wave
of the hand intended to bar out all further con.
of their claims to respectful atten-
ton The Apostles of Christ preached the
Gospel aud founded churches in the principal
cities Of the Roman Empire, and by their
successors Christianity was carried to the
various quarters, the Infant church was
unmoested bv the civil power till the reign of
MIRO, A. D. 64 After Neros persecution, the
onurch had rest till A. D. "a, under Domi ian.
The prosecutions down to Constantine are
generally reckoned as ten, too large a number
ii general prosecutions are meant, too small
ii only local Onrs are included.
The membership of the church was compar-
ativelg pure, as it was frequently necessary in
that age for Christians to suffer the loss of all
tblags, including the shedding of their blood.
The bearing of this fact is Obvious. A de-
spsed aud prosecuted sect has no attractions
for the worldly, ambitious, or insiDcere. The
worship was simple, and Consisted of Scripture
reading and expositions, common prayer and
praise, with the celebration of ths Lords Sup
per. Liturgies were 10 general use Baptism
was the initiatory rite, universally received and
immersion the form, applied chiefly to adults
la the first century, bat equally to infants in
the secoud and all subst quenJ centuries, on the
ground of being au Apostolic tradition, aud ia
armony with ChrIsLs institution. Laymen
L,ok an active and Influential part in church
affairs; and from the beginning Of authentic
church history, we read of "three orders" in
the ministry. No City had more than one
bishop, though it might have many presbyters
aud edifices. Thus Ignatius was bishop of
Antioch, Polycarp "a disciple of St. John) of
Smyrna, IreI ans Of Lyons. A bishop was
orinaus inter pares as to the other clergy, but
Zach BISHOP was officially equal to any other
bishop. The bishops of other cities could and
lid differ from the bishop of Rome, and dis
puted with him on perfectly equal terms. In
this age fourished Clement Tsrtulllap, C,
ptiap, Origen and Justin Martyr. There were
also heresies schisms and sects 10 those days,
such as the Nazsreues. the Eb ouites toe
Nova.ians, the Doce es, aud the Gnostics
lays, were of one heart and one mind, mem
o-rs Of one visible church which was called
Catholic or universal, because it included, held
md guided the great body of believers, nine
enths, perhaps, Of those who in that age "prn-
essed and called themselves. Christians The
)nly doctrual test or symbol was ''the Apos-
les Creed, the shortest, simplest and sorest
II all creeds, return to which wouli heal
most of the modern divisions among Chr 3tians.
In brief. this was the heroic age Of the
oh onhi han
.qualled since, and whose illustrIous viz
,ues, sacrifices and works constitute an nesti-
nable treasure, the common heritage of Chris
tendon.
PAYsoN MEMORIAL CHURCH.
Rev DR.. Mason of Fryeburg supplied the
sacred desk at the Paysou Memorial church
and preached two able sermons.
His text in the afternoon was from Solomon's
Song, chapter 2, first to fourth verses inclusive
No portion of the Old Testament is less read.
Il is SO highly fguratiye that Christians turn
fsom s as and REGARD a
,ond the reach of the common mind. If, how
,ver, thera il drapery it is because there are
Itch experiences for which no common Ian
,uage is fitting; like jewels IN casket, its
metaphors and poetic imagery one the fit set
ing for the rare gems. This particular chap
tor abounds in imagery of peculiar beauty, the
theme being Christ and the object to set Him
forth SO attractively as to touch some heart
that vibtates to the poetry OF its description.
Man has become God's enemy. God would
win him back to friendship and hence inspires
Solomon with pen dipped in heavenly dews
to present Jesus in way calculated to disarm
enmity and take hold If some heart by the
strategy of divine love-to present Him yelled
behind such attractive figures that the sinner is
lured on by the beautiful description and in
sensibly won.
Ths Song as studied and analysed is da-
logue Jesus is speaker al frs, the church or
believer replying No representation could b.
SO we'll calculated to attract the Israellte. The
couGtry around and its productions gave point
aad beauty to this description to him Just as
Jesus drew ,ne of his beautiful illustrations
from the lily at the wayside. Jesus is repre-
seCted as worthy and the true believer or
church becomes like Him, bearing at last even
such fruit as Himself. The contrast here is
wrought out that as the lily appears in greater
loveliness among the thorns go also the believer
and church amid the wckedLess of the world.
Having thus seen the true meaning OF the
text let US drop the allegory and see the real
Every true Christian feels there is none like
Christ InIS is q M lLer CI Tie lul6li6CV,
but of the heart. He has the witness 10 him.
self; be would as soon disbeliese his own exis-
reuce as to believe there could be one equal TO
HIM Let as pass from lhe Old Testament
prophecies and see the record of the life Of
Christ. To those who will look at this no adj
ded word IS needed. There is bat one aim in
all the records, to show Christ By Himself.
There is no varnisb, no attempt at coloring no
circumstance is added beyond the plain facts,
all leading to the unavoidable conclusion that
the historians were truthful men, and that
Jesus was beyond the human race. His hu-
mauity was like ours bat was free from he d..
Element of sin and brings HIM near and enables
US to sre mora clearly divine things, As you Look
upon the man Christ Jesus, perfect 10 His Ob9d-
ence to the laws Of nature and to God and con-
trastHim with the wrecks sin has strewn in Efo's
track everywhere, there is surely something
for sinners to admire. Then as you look upon
HIM as God man, you may not demur or
wonder at the text EXPIRE ssing his winning
ways. The grand d fficulty with the unb5liever
is that he shuns Christ, turns his back on the
scenes that display His goodness and mercy.
He will not sit down among that group of
mothers bringing their tender children that
Christ may display the depth of His tenderness
in blessing them he does not look upon Jesus
dining with the publican and listen to His
gracious teaching and to that woudrous an
nouncement Of His great mission to save the
lost; ne will not go with HIM to learn that no
personal suffering retards His willingness to
help; he will not be found at the cross and see
His eve lighting uDOn the mother that hire