The Columbus journal., 1879-02-19

TRANSLATED BY c. C. 81

fty.
The pure antithesis to Theocracy
is found in the Chinese political
system.
Even in Israel facts have been
shown, that piety in the eccle siasti-
cal form must degenerate.
In the eyes of the aristocratic
classes Catholicism must CONNIE nd
itself as a most useful religion.
Most men fancy that there is no
deep ond inner Enthusiasm and Love
except such as is fanatical and fan
tdstic.
Plurality of religions. The rest
of heathenism is the religion of ma
ture, the Hellenic religion is the
s-umdn religion.
Very many, who only stand in q
very loose relation to the Protestant
Church, cleave with all earnestness
| to Professionalism.
Protestant Christianity is still in
its early infancy. No wonder then,
if it is still busy with its A. B. C's.,
and knotcs precious little.
Mohammed is the first great his
torical interposition of Divine prov
idence against the absorption Of
Christianity in ecclesiasticism.
The Reformation is so essentially
the one great deed of Germany, that
it for long time cost her the hearts
blood of her existence as nation.
In reading Rothe's political apho-
risms, it must always be born in
mind that he writes as citizen of
moDarchial German state.-C. C. S.
While the State comedies to its
Catholic subjects freedom of relig-
ion, il is always implied in this, that
it can only do so with this limita-
tion, that it does not give up the
essential character Of a State.
Are we then to believe that at the
Reformation, the Lord Christ, who
brought it about, did not have more
comprehensive and far reaching
thoughts than Luther and Zwingle,
through whom he brought it about?
As soon as any one ceases to re-
gard the conventional forms Of
Pietism as the essential tokens of
Christianity itself, his con fidence in
the exclusive or even pre-eminent
Christianness of this begins to wa
yer.
The Reforiners had in mind to 90
back to the original form of Christ
ianity, that is, to one that had al
ready had its day,-the historical
Increment of the Reformation, on
the other hand, aims at an entirelv
hO" soi III vi NuIlSlldultH.
Because Christianity in the eccle-
sidsttcat form must degenerate, on
this account the Lord Christ him
self, so long as Christianity still
retains the ecclesiastical form, al
lows the other religions to subsist
for the present alongside of it.
Had the Reformation of the 10Th
century prevailed universally, it
would have rendered the eccIesiaSti-
cal form of Christianity eternal, and
a breach of the Christian Church
(upOn which. however, everything
depended at that epoch) would have
been avoided.
In our days we need above all a
neW Paul, new apostle Of the Gen.
tiles, able to persuade unconscious
Christians OF their Christianity, and
by this means to persuade at the
same time our JeUtsh Christians of
the unchristianness of their legal,
that is, conventional Christianity.
If the Catholic Church CATER hav-
ing for 500 years again and again
submitted to the most thorough
going mutations) can no longer
change her form i'm the all-trans.
forming course of history, she must
make up her mind to suffer the nat
ural and inevitable consequences of
this.
The more fanatical Ultramontan-
ism shows itself, the more is it in.
cumbent upon us Protestants to
exercise the utmost equitableness in
our judgment of Catholicism, in Or
der to maintain Christian fellowship
with that large part of Catholic
Christendom, which is yet free from
fanaticism towards us.
The relation of the state TO the
Catholic hierarchy will only be
capable of being placed on the right
footing when the collective national
will shall have actually become the
controlling force in the state, i. e.
when it shall, at some time hereaf-
ter, have democratic constitution.
Luther is Prophet, which Twin
gle and Calvin (without, however,
derogating from their dignity and
significance) are not. In Luther
Christian history starts once again
in definitely new epoch as Church
history. The Swiss Reformation
soon allows itself TO be also drawn
| infn fhfo Al