New-York tribune., 1881-09-25
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

81 Chicago last Sunday. DIR. Swing fhomght that
H the theological storms of the nineteenth CEN
N @ @nury pore put talnt resemblance to those of
past times. an the olden times" he said.
q when hereto was led along toward the
place OF death, he was insulted by supersti-
Y t9uS MOP which often prayed that curses ght
81 iolloW nm foteveT; but in our era, when n
q theological court adjourns, judge Jury, counsel
4 ana accused, and the friends OF all go home
y sinillng to eat the best food they can find and
q 70 sleep The best sleep they. can coax out of the
IuiVnltles OF the pillow Continuing, he
/, thought that "men will differ in opinion as
i0ng as the human race shall continue on earth
Inc, ne race Is an lnquiring one, and we can never
y nope that the time will ever be seen when an
lnqulrlng minds will reach the one result. Not
= by any possibility can difference of Judgment
q disappear from the temple of God. Debate
VIII VIII 6e as lasting as society: But this deba te
3 VIII diminish in quantity because with the
& advance OF the mind men will lose interest in
s. small questions, and theology has been rich i'm
q small matters" DR.. Ryder, of st. Paul's Uni
Il VeIsallst Church, believed that DR.. Thomas
should have withdrawn from the Methodist
denomination as soon he found himself at
Z variance with it, and not have forced the
matter to public trial. His conclusion was
!hat thls trial emphasizes what III many WAYS
Jls made evident. The progress of religious
thought cannot be arrested. Theological in
Qnlry VIII go forward. The danger, nndoubt-
edly, lies in the tendency to extremes, and in
! TIE disposition to give the popular approval to
men and measures, simply because they oppose
the existing orders. There is very little about
GOT the ideas which seem TO be hailed with so
much joy when labelled with some other de-
9nomlnatlonal name, are rs familiar TO us as the
\ faces OF lifelong friends"
4 No SYMPATHY WITH HEREsY.-If DR.. Thomas
aeXpcctcd 10 receive the sympathy of other de-
nominations I'm the course he has taken, he will
aploDably nnd himself disappointed. The COM
ihents OF the organs OF the different religions
bodies show that he cannot look for snpnort TO
4 ne Evangelical Churches. The Obserr,r Saws
Ithat however wide the latitude allowed to
4 Ireachers within tt standards, il wouid be
aabsurd to suppose that "A man may push the
s fundamental doctrines aside and preach a new
lSlgl9n OF his own Invention with the prestige
sol christian minister" The language of The
4 1thFiSfl0n IRteHIgencer is unmiStakabe it|
. says: No, DOCTOR You have not acted like a
q man IN TINS matter. You have insisted on re-
tanning the prestige of Il vcncrated name and
vast organization, while you knew yOu were
lncuicatlng doubts of its most cherished beliefs
y ana assuming Its very bUlw IUu have
y : luSlstc9 upon staying where you were no longer
wanted, SIMPLY because you yourself wanted to
q stay, and thought they ought to conform to
syour doubts rather than their own convictions
= ANA You have come to grief" The Boston
q " dtchmdh "conglatulates the MethodiSts upon
4 thelr hdcity IN maintaining the teachings of
q ne Scripture, even at great cost" The only
Z lIhng that surprises me CoRgregddORGiiSt about
4 the case Is " why such men as Dr. Thomas and
others like hm in other Evangelical denonina-
Mons, II they have given up the ancient faith,
5and are actively engaged to the best of II cir
ability IN pulling down its walls and undcrmin-
Aihg It's bulWarks dc not leave its ranks of tlcr|
own accord and openly join the ranks of those
with whom really they fIternize.'
THE BAMPToN LECTURE CONTROVERSY
4 lhe controversy aroused in England by the
i hampton lectures delivered in 1850 by thel
Rev. Edward Hatch is discussed by writer in
me National BAPTIST. Mr. Hatch Is vice prin-
cpal OF 1t. Mary Hall, and IA distinguished
4 Greek scholar. The subject of his lectures was
4 p" The organization of the early Christian
q and tl.. l.
establish was that the development of the
organization of the Christian Churches wasl
gradual and that the elements of which that
{ organization were composed were already ex-
would render fruitless the efforts which each
separate Church has made to date back ltsl
origin to Apostolic times. Or, as the writer in
Inc Ndtohdt BAPTIST says: 1t follows, oil
course. that there Is nothing really gained by
proving that the Presbyterian politv is older
than the Episcopal, or that the Congregational
land purely democratic polity is a more. primi-
tlVe type than the Presbyterian. Such c0nclu-
sions must have been heard with mingled scorn
and conStel nation, as no doubt the bare recital
here will provoke. If the foundations bp do
siroyed, what can tie righteous dor And is it
not destroying the foundations to call in que s.
tion the Importance of apoStolicity in matters
,oi church order and government This open
abandonment of the divine right of episcopacy
must he regarded by many OF the lecturers
brethren little short of apoStasv from the
faith; and they will find small consolation in
amy other form of church polity."
"CHRIsTIAN PRESIDENTS OF TIE UNITFDI
STATES. i ndcr this heading the Rev. Fred
Icrlck u. Powers, who WAS President Gariicld'S
pastor, writes Il letter to The ErGRqcliSt from
which tins Is an extract: | suppose every
man, woman and child in the United States Of
any Information concerning the Nations his
tory, knows that General Washington was a (
Chns stlan--a member of the Episcopal Church
i have always sad, when questioned ON this \
point, that since Washington believe Mr.. Gar
field was the only active member of a Christian
|church who had been called to that position
know the elder Adams is said to have been "A
Unitarian, but whether active member oi
that commu Ion there seems To be some doubt.
The younger Adams. ! believe, was not CON
nected publicly with the Unitarian Church
The religious position of William Henry Har-
rlSon seems also uncertain. jackson and Bu-
cchanan became Presbyterians after they retired
from public llie; they were not communcantS (
OF Christian churches when called 10 the Chief
Magistracy. Andrew Johnson was connected (
with the same religious people with whom Z
people known simply as Christians or Dis
ciples of Christ ,; but he WAS not an active
Christian while President though he had made
the profession OF religion some time before his 4
elevation TO the Presidency"
THE AMERICAN BOARD OF FOREIGN MIS-
sIONs.- This organization will meet this year IN
St. Louis, October Is. The Rev. DR. Beh-
rends, of Providence, r. l., will preach the
opening sermon. Though strictly undenomi-
national the Board is composed principally of 8
Congregauonalists. The officers are: Presi-
dent Mark Hopkins of Williams College: vice
president, VIM. +. Dodge of New York secre-
taries, Drs. Clarke, Alden and Means of Bos-
ton. 1t was this Board that first sent mission
aries to the Sandwich Islands and one of the
first to send missionaries to South Africa n
There are about 100 missionaries in its employ,
one-tfth of whom are Presbyterians, the bal
ance being Congregationalists. About three