The record-union., 1891-10-17

Congregationalism in England. where
| the conditions are seemingly adverse.
| The answer of the correspondent to the
/ latter question is, that Congregationalism
needs the Stimulus OF controversy and op-
| preston to give it growth and vitality.
! 1T looks as if American Congregational
/ ism just needed the stimulating influences
! which English independency finds in the
! struggle with what its orators call per-
1secuting church. Anyway, it is fact
! of no little significance that the more
political form of independency which ex-
| lists in England presents a stronger front
! to the world than does the sister denomi-
nation in the States. We would not for one
moment say that Congregationalism in
| England is nothing more than a political
organization, having for its highest aim
the overthrow of the church, yet the facts
! revealed in the International Council in
| regard to independency in America, do
more than suggest that the political
character of Congregationalism at home
constitutes a most important and power
ful factor in its history. Not only does it
form the stronger part OF its aggressive
| action, but 1t gives certain cohesion,
| directness and force to a religious system
| which, when deprived Of all political as
! sociatiOnS, fails, under the most favorable
conditions, to achieve a success at all
equal to that which is reached by the
younger and less favored sects.' Various
answers might be given to the first ques-
tion proposed, more or less explanatory
/ OF the comparatively slow growth of Con-
gregatlonalism in the United States-the
| early Unitarian detection and contro-
| Yersy, the period of dallying with Pres
! byterlanlsm, which lost the great Middle
States to Congregationalism, and the ex-
clusIon from the South while slavery was
1 religious question-still the fact re-
mains that Congregationalism as polity
has not been able 70 compete with the
! more highly organized denominations
| The Baptist churches, which are largely
! Congregational in form, have, indeed, be-
come very numerous, but no one would
claim that polity, rather than ritual, ac-
counts for their growth"
On DR.. Heber Newton's Church and
Creed" the Lining Church (P. E) re-
marks: ITO sum up all this, if we COM
pare together the leading religions and
PHILOSOPHERS of the ancient world. and
extract the principal points in which thew
agree IN their speculations about God and
the soul, and if to this we add, by way of
clothing, so much of the facts of Christ's
life as Strauss, for instance, would leave
us, how far would the result differ from
the system which DR.. Newton has spent
SO many pages in expounding? Is not
the Creed, after all, rather an embarrass-
ment than otherwise? Since several of
! its clauses make statements to which we
nave no right to attach any exclusive
! meaning; since at least one is mythical,
! one IS truism, and one REQUIRES TO be
taken in nOn-natural sense: and finally,
| since the 'metaphySical' statements ex-
press very lamely, to say the least,
such doctrine as that of a modal Trim
lty-and in consideration of all this it be-
comes eXpedient to regard the Creed, on
the whole, as poetical omposition-does
It not seem like rather an unreasonable
attachment TO things just because they
are old, to cling still to such trouble
some formula"
The London Methodist Times saws:
There Is something very significant and
very pathetic in the passionate delight
! with which Mrs. Besant and her dis
! ciple, Herbert Burrows, have embraced
! tbeosophy as a deliverance from the in
! tolerable coarseness and despair of ma
1 terlallStlc atheism. The acceptance of
! spirit rather than matter as the funda-
/ mental fact of the universe is an i'm
mense step toward the truth, and has
! already eInancipated Mrs. Besant from
the foul social science into which her
| materlalistlc atheism betrayed her. No
! one doubts her intense sincerity and her
noble aspirations. We wish, however,
! that the memory of what she once
SAID about the opponents of the now
| abandoned social science could ever
! be very pleasant to her thoughts.
/ How unjust she was to them.
and how utterly wrong! Ought not that
! to make her very modest and very eau
! tious with respect to the new faith which
she has accepted from Madame Bla-
yatsky? Can she not conceive that those
of US who are disciples of Jesus of
Nazareth may possibly have a better
and wiser teacher than the disciples
Of Madame Blavatsky? 1t is quite GER
! tain that Mrs. Besant is still the victim of
/ at least one extraordinary delusion. She
actually talks of having given up Chris
/ tianity! How could she possibly give
up what she never possessed?"