The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-12-18

attached to the paper, the name of a representa-
tive of each branch of Methodism in the confer
ence. Permission was granted. and the paper
adopted.
Rev. f.. P. Walker was expected to present a
paper on 1.-THE place and Power of the Lay ele-
ment in Methodism," but he was not present,
and the committee on business was instructed
to have prepared a suitable paper on that SUD
iect. to be printed in the centennial volume.
The PASTORAL address of the bishops was read.
It is addressed ito the Methodist people in the
United States and Canada" 1t says:
Permit us to remind you, dear brethren,
while we extend hearty congratulations upon
success in the past, and express the profoundest
conviction that even nobler and grander achieve
men sawait us in the future; that the mission Civ
en- US by providential allotment is notyet accom-
plished. We entreat you, brethren, do not for
get that that hitherto Methodists have been dis
tinguished by the emphasis they have given the
essential doctrines of Christianity. In all
the years of our history, truths relating to God
to moral government, to Immortality, to eternal
retributions have been sacredly maintained and
asserted with great distlnctness, and we nave
held, in common with all Christian people, the
inspiration and divine authority of the script
ures, the divine origin of the church, the voca-
ton of the ministry, the value of sacraments,
and the indispensableness of earnest NOR
rality, according to New Testament standards,
and beyond all these points we have made con-
spicuous the Nervousness of sin, the necessity of
atonement, the universally of provisional re-
~demption, and the freeness of grace. Not
one of these can be discarded or dis
torted without marring the scheme of
salvation revealed in the gospel. But
even these foundation truths, however empha-
sized, will not meet the demands Of the soul,
and never could have produced the phenomena
of Methodist life and history. There are other
doctrines to be emphasized, doctrines which re
late to salvation applied as well as pro
vided-doctrines which underlie experiences
of the soul in it's emergence out
- L 81 s. -. s-+a IT, 1,ohk
and life of righteousness. The other doctrines
have been the rallying cry of Methodism in the
past, and must be in the future. They are: Re
pentance, faith. justification, adoption, the wit
ness of the Spirit, sanctification, and Christian
perfection. Out of these como all our ex
periences, all our ioyes and hopes, our inspira-
ton and zeal, and upon these are built all our
special forms and means of grace, our charities,
our benevolences, and our correctional
institutions. These doctrines, above all
and spirit to our organism and determined its
work and place in history. Take from Method
ism these doctrines of experience, or even the
emphasis given them, or confuse them by any
conceivable departure from their simplicity so
they shall become only doctrines Of
the creed, unyerihed in the soul as
the very essence of salvation, and
then our glory is departed forever. We there
fore plead with you, brethren, as you value the
purity of the church and it's power, to convert
the people and spread scriptural holiness
hold fast these doctrines as they come from the
fathers, as they appear in the Scriptures, and as
they have been evidenced by the experiences Of
the church in past ages"
The address also urges the maintenance Of
family religion. 1.-The hottest sanctuary on
earth" the address says, sis the Christian home.
Neither church, nor Surday-school can do the
work of home or become an adequate
substitute for the influence of pietyin the house
hold. See to it that the children be all taught of
the Lord with sound instructions; let the hand Of
restraint be employed, yet Will such frmness
and gentleness as to win and keep the children
as well as to hold them in subsection to author
ity."
The address speaks of the Sabbath as tia pill
lar Of Christian civilization. "A spiritual church
without a Sabbath is an impossibility. God has
consecrated onese venth of our days to rest and
worship, and the law enjOining its observance is
both positive and moral, imbedded in the Deca-
logue, enforced in the New Testament, and inter
preted and illustrated in the practice of the
primitive church. The grand march for the
conquest of all lands for Christ has
begun. The voice of the Lord
bids us go forward. We dare not accept a sec
ondary place. With our schools and colleges,
with our wealth and culture, with our social
power and our vast numbers we must have a
large share in the worlds evaneilization."
A love feast closed the proceedings of the day,
and the conference.