, 1880-10-17

, I650-S1XTEEN PAGES
part nor lot IN any kingdom Of God; 80 lons. in
3 the reeetip eatiaeaEIng 81 5ato te divorce between
come more and more complete.
| u would be tnexcusabie here, not to saw .cfth
eiasss that there are oIergymen and ministers
| oatspoken, who have the full courage Of thoir
| snonVacnons en and express them stron91y. But the
SOD, Manning. Lynch, y f 6oienso ~ kobsrt kobert-
have suffered IN Silent % o6soursss e1ess a1e pso19 wea
wtS afsces efe ef
chnrrn With which he is connected, he may ex-
t nec1 mercllcss persecution, and Is sure to learn
sihle. one who leaves the old landmarks and d.
vErgea from the Traditional lines. 1t is not at
~ a.. tsnrpristnx with the facts Of history which
ne De9lhu4 and the facts of experience which iie
around, that those who are nnshackied from bib
iaolatfy and emanciPated from puipit-dogmat-
organized embodments Of Christianity. "a coms sn'
| posed largely Of the timid, the creduious, The
| abnormally devout the bigoted, and those VINO,
| apprntsfng their value for social monetary. or
! political purposes, remain Ia them and use Them
foitt fot tne,r nwn personal 9dsancement suttten
| round IN e1'cry book OF the Bible, mental
sprrender Or articles, creeds, and confes-
slons. as inadequate when they aru not
as de!usiye and often dangerous, can only re-
| suit In diminished confidence IN the organized
@e0namunities @ which maintain and defend them
al No man OF the world, who has sufficient cult
ure to gauge the mental condition OF the time.
ana VINO has had commensurate experiences
people think and talk about, can doubt that tho ,s
great ma1ority-of men ut any rate--look upon
churches as failures, cven when they do not re-
& the human ce II fae The 20 &c chuFeh de
uounces and lectures the World and the World
| rather desplses and avoids the Church
e ar aee asea fw9
in the title Of this article The word Church
1s employed in no technical sense. nor Is it linn
widest and most con, ,prehenstve sfguitcatiou. It
1s intended to include every form OF the Chris
tlan faith; from the venerable. stately, and
ornate system OF Roman Catholicism, to the
newest, narroWest, and most dogmntic coterie
or plymouth Brethren: The Church, In fact.
st Stands Tor all Who profess aud call themselves
Christians, who on that ground are associated
together, who draw sharp line Of separation
between themselves and the rest Of the human
they believe certain doctrines-because they
think they have passed through certain emo
nonal experiences, or because they hare COM
they have established kind OF claim upon je~
hoyah, are elect" and 't8avcd.'
The Church, In this aggregate aspect, is COM
fnfallible Pope, Cardinals bishops, priests cler-
gymen, ministers, membcra commandments. No
one who knows Christian churches can doubt
fhat there are IN them some Of the Afrpest,
brotheriicst, bravest human souls" There are
those who walk humbly with the God In whom
they believe, M s: and sincerely with their fellow
put forth sclf-deny1uR labors. On the other
hand. no one can deny that there are In the
orits: There are. those who stand before an
omnlscienr God, in whom they profess to be-
ieve, with lies 10 their right hn1d, and BY false
prctense OF piety deceive their fellow men.
They. are correctly typiied by that Snug
pray, and, in hts arrogant self -concelt, thanked
Of his order: trusted in himself that be was
The word World" is used generally for
those who stand nloof from Organized Christian
societies: Those, however, who are specially
contemplated, are they who remain without the
pale, NOT because they w.llfully refuse to be-
l1eve what Is necessary to entrance, but because,
IN honest-heartedness they cannot accept tho
dogmss or conform to the usages Of the
ssashss a ws as
they arc FROM the professedly religious They
arc not those WHO are spoken Of as the
fashion, those who aro addicted to rice 'raa ana
crime are handed over to ''the besh and the
devil. And yet. oddly enough. the Church re-
hopefully than those Of the profane and de-
bauched. A gay Lothnrio will, it Is supposed,
see the error Of bis way. repent, and be con-
vcrtcd; but moral nnbeliever who Cannot pat
ter a shibboleth he does not believe or UNDER
stand, and will not associate himself with a
church, is held to hare a very slender chance OF
hope Of getting into Paradise
In the meantime, Just in the proportion that
s Is o1ns% dh Ss s to n he n 9t
ranks. At the same time, 1t is both superficial
and false to suppose that ahstenuon
70 % bo 'enrolfed with church IN members IN
*dtcatas increasing righteousness. Many
q >%heated pulpiteer" accuses the age Of
tlon as materia1istic, scoling, and goddess He
who has any true insight into its mental condi-
ton knows this to be . libel It is no exagEera-
ton to say that muftitudes who give no outward
evidence Of the slightest interest In religion
really IN the solitude OF their own hearts rever-
entity, ponderlng religious questions: To any
one, too, whose perception is not dinmed by
prejudice, our best Hte1ature-books. aerials,
and newspapers-bears its witness to the in
sT s ct ah as es aa eaaga %9d
systems does not imply loss Of interest in the
great problems OF existence, nor In the relation
Of man TO the unknown! Philosophy pursues
inquiries III the presence Of the idea, at least Of
God, and with detinit reference to the Bible.
The theories advanced the conclusions drawn,
may be wrong, but they are not dishonesty
wrong. Some of the criticisms upon supersti-
ton are, no doubt, severe; some Of the rebakes
tenets Of current theology are scathing. but
they have the ring OF sincerity and the accent
Of conviction There are tconoclasts and hlus-
ttI9sI5s uU5t t%AlA4IkLNS DAt Ao AAAoS AAAGSo
be bigot who does not admit that the great In
tellects Of the age are addressing themselves to
the study OF the natural and the supernatural,
with the single DESIRE to discover" What Is
truth?"
Naturally at this point the question arises.
how 1t comes to pass that the s>Church"
IS losing the "World": or, rather, that
so many drift over to the World. be-
cause they apparently do not wish to Identify
themselves with the Church. Some answer has
been nlroauy given in the mauifest unrest and |
uncertainty which prevail. Undoubtedly, how
ever, the number, the diversity, and the rivalry
Of the Christian sects account for much OF the
alienation which exists. Even where the study |
has weakened faith in the Bible as the only in !
spited book in the world and ia the rhaumaturBy
ct the Scriptures as entitled to implicit belief,
there would still be strong Influences TO secure
outward recognition Of Christianity II there
were homogeneity among its professors Instead
of unity however, there fs d{scord. Even the !
most crcdulous seeker for truth must be puz-
zled to understand how supernaturAlly-
revealed religion clalming to be ths
only on8 and F1aG can be susceptl-
Bile OF SO muny nntagonistdc tnterpreta-
ism each presents to neophytes solid front and [
u compact body. Christianity, however, dis
PLAYS q set Of separate and often hostile camps
The teaching Of Christ ts parted among bis sects
rs his vesrure was divided alu0nE the soldiers
vino cructtied him. Not only Is there Au absence
of federation among those "wh0 profess and cAll
themselves Christians" " but they denounce eacd
other as deceived aud deceivers, and warn those
who arc fleeing from wrath to come, or are
seeking n God, against entering any fold but !
their own 1t is not denied that there are many
all F}HF