The sun., 1884-12-25
a9sthodist Centenary Conference.


The Methodist Centenary Confersuos u bal
timore closed on Wednesday
! THE PASTORAL
of the bishops is addressed '"To the Methods
people in the United States and Canada" Il
says: ''Permit us to remind you, dear breth.
rem, while we extend hearty congratulations
upon the success Of the past and express the
profoundest conviction that even nobler and
grander achievements await US in the future,
that the mission given Us by providennal
allotment sn,raas is not yet accomplished W.
that hitherto Methodists have been dis.
hnguished by the emphasis they have given
essential doctrines of Christianity In all the
years of our history truths relating to God, to
moral government Immortality to etern-
tanned and asserted with great distinct.
ness, and that we have held in com.
mon with all Christian people to the inspira-
tion and divine authority of the scriptures, the
divine origin of the church, and the vocation
of the ministry, the value of the sacrament,
and indispensableness of the strictest morali-
ty, according to the New Testament standard;
and that beyond all these points, we have made
conspicuous the Nervousness of sin, the neces.
sity of atonement, the universally of pro-
nounced redemption, freedom of will, and
pureness of grace. Not one of these can be
IlsCdTueu Or ulStOFteu W1tnOut manning tne
scheme Of salvation and revealed Gospel But
even these foundations of truths, however en-
phasized, will not meet the demands Of the
soul, . / never could have produced the phe-
lome.-a of Methodist life and history.
THERE ARE OTHER DOCTRINES
20 be emphasized, doctrines which re-
late to salvation applied as well as
provided, doctrines which undsrlie the
experiences of the soul in its emergence
out of the darkness and death of sin into the
light and life of Righteousness. The other doc.
trines have been the rallying cry of Methodism
in the past, and must be in the future They
are repentance, faith, justification, adoption,
the witness of the Spirit, sanctification and
Christian perfection Out of these come all
our experiences, all our joys and hopes, our
Inspiration and zeal; and upon these are built
all our special forms and means of grace, our
charities, our benevolences and our correction
al institutions. These doctrines, above all
others, have given tone and shape and spirit to
our organization and determined its work and
place in history. Take from Methodism these
doctrines of experience, or even the emphasis
given them, or overlap them with llfeless forms
and ceremonies, or mar them by human specu-
lations concerning the mode of divine proceed
ure i'll them, or confuse them by any conceiv-
able departure from their simplicity, so they
shall become only doctrines of the creed, un-
voiced Ill the soul as the very essence Of saliva
ton, and then our glory is departed forever
We therefore plead with you, brethren, as you
value the purity of the church and its power tc
convert the people and spread Scriptural hol-
ness, hold fast these doctrines, as they come
from the fathersas they appear in the Script
ures and as theyhave been attested by the ex-
periences of the church in past ages" The
address urges maintainance of family reli-
gion ''The holiest sanctuary on earth" the
address says, sis the Christian home. Neither
the church nor the Sunday school can do the
work of the home, or become an adequate SUBJ
stltute for the influence of prayer in the house.
hold. See to 1t that your children be all taugh'
OF the Lord with sound instruction. Let
THE HAND OF RESTRAINT
be employed, yet with such tirmness and gentle.
ness as to win and keep the children, as we'll
as to hold them in subjection to authority"
The address speaks of the Sabbath as pillar
of Christian civilization. "a spiritual church
without the Sabbath is an impossibility. God
has consecrated one-sevSnth of our days to
rest and worship. The law enjoining its OBJ
seryance is both positive and moral, imbedded
in the Decalogue enforced in the New Testa-
ment, and interpreted and illustrated in the
practice of the primitive church The grand
march for the conquest of all lands for Christ
las begun. The voice of the Lord bids us go
Onward. We dare not accept secondary
place. With our schools and colleges, with
our wealth and culture, with our social power
md our vast nnmbers We must have q large
share in the worlds evangelization