Mexico weekly ledger., 1883-08-23
tCommnnicatedl
WAR AGAINST EVIL PRACTICES.
Nh. q.

NAL AdAAN0I kSAA
NO. 3.
The distinctive features OF the
Church, - taught by Alex.
ander Campbell, Barton w. Stone,
John T. johnson, Walter Scott and
was . return 10 the literal
practice Of the primitive church In
all its essential features. Other men
had attempted reforms In existing
organizations, but these men said,
let US 60 back over the heads OF
Calvin, Wesley. and all
and plant our feet on print.
tive soil. To do this they must and
did discard all human creeds ~ bonds
Of union and communion among
; all forms Of ecclesiasti-
cism, as modes Of church government
and discipline, save and except that
alone which Of necessity belonged to
every separate congregation; al.
councils, whether local or document
cal, were discarded, a. tending to
consolidation Of unwarranted powers
in the hands Of q few designing men
who are ever on the alert TO promote
self-interest. The Bible, and the
Bible alone, was to be the only rule
Of faith and practice. When these
simple rules were presented TO the
people fifty. sixty, or seventy years
ago, they were in such marked con-
trast to the benighted schools Of party
then obtaining, that people accepted
them As Aromatic truths, and, for
the first time in the history Of the
church for seventeen centuries, the
world saw that neither Jesus nor His
apostles ever gave utterance to any
thing that looked like an ecclesiasti-
cism. The world has seen the odious
results Of consolidation - carved out
by the Romanish Church, in which
all power, both temporal and spirita-
d. is lodged in the Pope, or in him
and his council and, strange to say,
all other religious bodies, as they
have increased in power and members
have, in . greater or less degree, fol
lowed in the same footsteps. Hence
we have synods among Presbyterians
conferences among Methodists, as.
sociations among Baptist and miss,on'
ary conventions among Christians
One step at q time 10 all that dare b,
taken, but the history Of all govern
ments proves that the surest way h
overthrow is not by open revolt q
first, but insidious methods, drawing
the mind on gradually, always saying
s'there is no harm in this"
Thus has success at last beef
crowned, and truth trampled in tn
dust. Human liberty has thus beer
alternately rising and falling in th'
scale, until q half q dozen revolution
must disturb every century that tn
world is permitted to exist. Freedom
Of conscience is declared by one gen
GRAFTON, only to be overthrow by th'
next. The time has about com
when the SIMPLE, plain teaching. ono
so much boosted Of by the Christial
Church, must launch out into tn
open field Of speculation, and begil
to put on ecclesiastical airs. Tn
ministers now do not blush at tern
Reverend, and Doctor Of Divinity /
not. at all too harsh for the ears o
the more advanced.
We feel safe in saying that Ii
Christian Church has cut loose fror
its primitive moorings, and is to-da
adrift in the great sea Of ecclesiastics
adventure. What it will end In, Q
course we do not speculate about
but the most natural thing to com
to pass Is . Capitalization Of power
by which the machine can get contrt
Of the money and property Of Ii
, masses Of the church members. Ho'
; to do this, Is the question nov
5 Abuse, lampoon and pulpit satire a
1 the weapons used, with an occasions
appeal to fiattery.
:. We venture on these points, We
knowing that we invoke the wrath {
what now may be called the clergy
but Of this care nothing, for we CO..
|, tend only for the faith once delivere
, to the saints and the holy and simpl
practice of the primitive churche'
, We condemn and despise all form
a of ecclesiasticism as at war with "a
teachings Of Jesus and the apostles
subversive Of christian liberty, unio1
I peace and happiness, whether foun
> in our own body or elsewhere. "
: place devotion to King Jesus as i,
fnitely above all the dictates Of MAJ