Telegram-herald., 1891-01-22

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others On the sazne sae3ect, fxoza the
mana of various noted clarxvmen. Dr.
a,.l.at. i sA,a aa,ta, AZ rhe rhx;.ss.n
-
eh1ons aAa s1so she sHuu eoccess9
OF the late lamepted Henry Ward
Beechsr. - pastor OF Plymouth Church,
Brookiyn; 50 Ne may b eure that ~
article from sucn . man would -
worth reading.
Before calling attention 70 the article
in question. Il seems proper TO inquire
vns Is II that during eli these cen.
turles, men have been continually de-
hating this very same question:
lately heard OIL . man who said;
When ! speak OF religion ! mean
1hfssuanisyi ana when ! speak u
Christianity | mean Professionalism; ana
when SPEAK OF Professionalism ! mean
the churcn OF England such men,
OF course, never coEdescend 70 debate
the question, What Is Christianity
and We. when we ma tnat such men As
cAnor arfar ana Dr. y. Heller newton
are reading hgnts IN that very cnufcn,
We must c"hciuoe tiiat even Ia tneii
communion the question - not
YET settled. II Christianity Is
so easily understood that
way faring man, though TOOL, need
not err concerning u, why nave the
WORLDS keenest inteiiects striven IA
VAIN 10 agree upon dominion! II
Catnoicisni 10 pure Christianity, or
gained Tor offensive and defensive
warfare, tnen frotessantism is anti
Christ. II Rome alone can give us an
authoritative answer to our query,
what Is Cnristianity !? then the
multitude OF petty scots, which To-
gether compose frotesfantism, are
simply irresponsible schismaucs, ana
can give us no information Whatever;
to Rome and 70 Rome alone must the
inquirer go.
The Churoh OF England, some years
ago, made very shrewd move by
which 1t was enabled TO parry the as
saults, not only OF Rome, but OF the
Greek Church. for the Greek Church
has fully as good claim onApostollc
succession and authority as the Church
OF Rome hae) by claiming an unbroken
succession from the Apostle John
through Polycarp, his immediate dis
ciple, and down through Irenaens and
the Bishop OF Gaul!
Could the question OF unbroken
apostolic succession be settled, we then
should have to be sure that no change
or corruption OF apostolic doctrine had
ever occurred; Then we are confronted
With the further problem, what was the
pure apostolic doctrIne7 1t Is now set
tied, believe, that the so-called
"apostleic breed" is plous fabrication
OF the eighth century, founded upon
spurious sermon OF st. Augustine. and
that the apostles never had . creed, be-
ing content to have q hfel
1t seems evident that In PauPs
day the apostles themselves did not
agree as TO what the true doctrines
were. The Christianity of Peter was
different from that of Paul. james
and John do not see alike. To some
Christianity was Identical with Judaism;
to others OF the Pauline school Chris
tianity and Judaism were mutually
antagonlstlc. Thesefactsd do not trouble
me at all. Paul got his Christianity
second hand. Christ was 80 much
greater than his immediate followers.
that they constantly failed to under
stand him. At times he is utterly
disheartened at their obtuseness, and
he IS obliged to reprlmand them
sharply for their worldly ambitions.
1t seems evident, therefore, that the
apostles themselves were but poor ex-
ponents OF their Masters system. Had
he not risen from thedead, Christianity
would have persisted with HIM, as His
teachings had apparently produced so
little impression on the minds or hearts
OF his disciples, that they had gone
back to their fishing, considering HIM
and his past efforts total failure.
In order to discover what Christian
ity is, We must OF necessity, go direct
to the founder OF the system. If there
was hut enc church III all Christendom,
ana ali the priests taught ne same DOC
trines, and these doctrines had come
| down 10 us unchanged IN any particu-
lar from the days OF Christ, and we
found them so clearly set fourth IN the
| writings OF his Apostles that there
could be no possible mistake as to their
exact meaning, then an essay by Doc
tor OF DIVINITY IN the nineteenth GEN.
tury, entitled what 10 Christianity
would be absurd, but I'VE are contorted
by Q CONVECTION, as Mr.. Cleveland
| would say, which makes such an essay
not only interesting, but almost q nee
esslty. we may he sure that SUCH
scholars would not devote their best
talents to work of superogatlon. The
most learned scholars IN the world
would not have spent years IN retrans-