Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-02
THE CHURCH AND TIE PEOPLE.
IwErrrEs ron THE prsrATcn.l ]

The CHUkGH AND The PEUPLE.
rwRIrTEx ron THE prsPATcH.l
/ There. seems at.frst sight no particula
connection between Carthusians and Coven
anters, unless it is to be found in the fac
that both names begin with the same letter
| Beyond that, there seems no more actua
| likeness than ID applied in the classic con
undrum about the elephant and the brick
Why is an elephant like brickf Because
he can't climb q tree!
1t is possible however, to support almost
any absurd statement by some sort of plaus
ible argument. There was book published
| only the other day, which proved conclu
sively that the whole Old and New Testa-
ments were actually composed by Benedic
| tine monks in the thirteenth century. These
holy men sat in some secluded cloister, with
stylus and parchment, and beginning
with the first chapter Of Genesis wrote
| straight on, making it all up as they went
along, to the last chapter of the Revelation
of st. John the Divine. There never was
any Abraham nor Isaac nor Jacob, never
any Joshua nor David nor jeremiah, never
any Moses nor Malachi nor Paul. nor one
greater than them ALL The Benedictine
monks made it all up, as good Mr.. Spalding
made up the Book of Mormon, out OF whole
cloth. There were no Hebrews according
to this ingenious writer, until the tenth CEN
tury!
Evidently, we cannot believe all that We
read in books. Print is not proof. Or else
Bacon wrote Shakespeare, and the Garden
of Eden was at the North Pole and Jeru.
salem never existed.
When Monks Were Plenty in Edinburgh.
However, there is some connection be-
tween Covenanters and Carthusians. OF
a Is.>l~ h<.k~
monks and non-conformists in the fact that
John Knox was buried in ground that had
long ago been blessed by the recitation Of
monastio benedictions, and that the Solemn
League and Covenant was first publicly read
and signed in old Grayfriars Church in Edin-
burgh. One finds some difficulty in imagin-
ing monks in Edinburgh. There are plenty
of plaids and kits and tartans and bare
knees to be met in those picturesque streets,
but no cowls nor ecclesiastic gowns nor PEN
dant crosses nor tonsured heads. Still, there
was once time when monks were as plenty
in this Presbyterian Edinburgh as they are
on the canvases in the old picture gal
leries. And my contention is that the
Presbyterians have simply taken their
places; that the formidable list of religious
divisions, which fills such considerable
space in the Pittsburg directory, simply
represents similar list which would have
been needed in a medieval town when
Pittsburg was part Of the primeval forest.
For Presbyterians, and United Presbyteri-
ans, and Methodists and Baptists, write
Benedictines, and Cistercians, and Carthus-
ians, and Franciscans.
That comes about in this way. In tho
Middle Ages the monastic orders were the
refuge that men had out OF the bonds Of
ecclesiastical conformity. Human nature
does not greatly change from century to
century. Ever since our restless forefathers
colo sized Eden and got expelled out of 1t,
there have been discontented people. Re.
ligion has tendency to make men discon-
tented. There are always dissatisfied re-
lgionists who think that they are not good
enough themselves, and there are always
other dissatisfied religionists-these gener-
ally in majority-who feel that other people
are not good enough. The imperfections of
our neighbors have always vexed the
human conscience.
A Perennial Experiment.
These discontented religionists have al
ways wanted to get away by themselves
desire which their neighbors have in most
instances been quite willing to have grati-
fed. They have aspired to build up little
fenced-in heavens here and there, and to be-
gin the world over again perfectly good. All
these experiments have, of course, failed.
Last of all has come Satan also. "The devil
a monk would be-" And the other line that
rhymes with that has followed as the next
chapter in the history, ana the attempted
heaven has proved a pretty poor sort of
heaven, after all. Still, the good people have
kept on trying. I have two pieces of stone
which like to look at side by side; one from
the ruined wall Of St. Mary's Abbey, at
york, and the other from a ruined wall of
n frse IL.
who built that first wall were discontented
people who hoped to set those stones be-
tween them and an unworthy world, and to
keep the kingdom of God inside. The peo-
pie who built that second wall were discon- |
tented with the life that was lived within |
the first, and went off into the woods to try |
that perennial experiment over again.
These good malcontents of the old time, |
were all within the boundaries OF |
the one church. They were kept in by the |
wisdom of that wise medieval church, |
vidual preferences, and constructed these |
safety valves for religious discomfort |
If anyone objected to elaborate SER |
vices, and had scruples about the |
use of organs, there were the United Pres
byterian monks ready to receive him-the |
and he could satisfy his taste
and his conscience. and stay inside the one
great church. The monastic orders were
the refuge OF that nonconformist spirit |
which is forever whispering, for good or
evil, in the hearts of men. They were part |
Of the secret of the unity of the medieval |
church. They are part Of the secret to-day
Of the great successor of that church in this
and help to explain its attraction
for such various minds, and its hold upon
them. The Roman Church does not insist
upon uniformity.
Wisdom Of the Popes.
Foolish it is to try to make all people,
like the soldiers in q toy regiment, of the
same height, of the same features, Of the
same attitude. We may have our opinion of |
the medieval Popes, but they were wiser
than good many modern Protestants whose
names we are reading nowadays in the daily
papers. The effect of the Protestant policy
nonastic orders have been succeeded in
Protestant countries by the religious de-
nominations. Under a wider, WISER and
more Christian manage
nent all these various sects, with
Ill their peculiarities, would be in
GUIDED as orders in the one great united
church. The Presbyteri would be Prot
estant Benedictines, the Methodists would be
Protestant Franciscans, the Covenanters
would be Protestant Carthusians. The old
places of st. Dominic. of st. Francis Of
Assist of st. Bernard, of st. Ignatius Loyola,
would be taken by st. Martin Luther, and
st. John Calvin, and St. John Knox and st.
John Wesley. We will see that one of these
lays, after we have had enough ecclesiasti-
al trials to teach us some Christian sense.
We will see that splendid comprehension.
hat fine inclusion of all differences and all