St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-11-27
DIR. BAKERS BOLD WORDS.
One Minneapolis Minister not Az
f1icted with ROmephobia.

As previously announced, there were
services Of some sort in all the churches
yesterday, that is all the congregations
held services, either bv themselves or
in conjunction with some other cOngre-
CATION. In the main the sermons were
the sterotyped anksgiving day SER
mons. There was one notable excep-
ton. At the union meeting Franklin
Avenue Methodist church. Rev. Smith
Baker, of the Park Avenue COugrega-
tional church. preached strong ser
mon from the text, The thing that hath
been Is that which stall be-" He said
the main reason why the people Of this
country should be thankful is that there
is no throne here, no hereditary class.
The world Is better, freer. higher in
moral tone. Then he took up the aver
sion of some people to the church Of
Rome, and said:
''FOr one, neither sympathise with
the bitter denunciationS so frequently
uttered by many good men against her
or share in the fears concerning her evil
influence. The Roman church is never
To be conquered or won by bitter denun-
Citations or misrepresentation or I'M
charitable constructions. Bitter mis-
representations drive her people more
and more from seeing the truth and
destroy ourinfiuence for good over them.
The spirit of many addresses and ser
mons against Rome which are
now frequently heard belong
We must remember that the Roman
church is Christian church. 1t is the
fundamental truths of the gospel of its
faith. While it is neither the original
church nor the only church, it is a
church. 1t has the truth, though the
truth covered up and miSrepreSented
with uninspired, unwarrauted and use
less dogmaS. Still il is a church of
Christ which has stood for ages and will
stand for the ages to come, never 70 be
destroyed, but to be purified and pro-
teStantlZed. Every man who believes
in Christ had rather his son would
bow at the altar of the Roman
church than to have him live and die in
the hopeless darkness of atheism or in
fidelity or agnOSticiSm or rationalism.
From her bosom millions of holy souls
have gone to heaven. and within her
communion today are millions of holy.
ChrlSt-lOying men and women. We
should remember also that the Catholic
church or the last quarter Of the nine
teenth century is not the Catholic
| church OF the seventeenth century, any
more than the professionalism of Richard
St0rrs is the professionalism OF John
| Calvin. or the puritanism of
| Henry Ward Beecher is the puritanism
which hung witches. Romanism is be-
! ing Americanized hundred times faster
! than America is being ROmaniZed. Ro-
manism can never go back. Conserva-
tive as she is, her roots must feel the
/ quichening power of Christian demOc-
racy. Italy laughs at the political pre-
! tentiOns Of the pOpe-Why should
| Protestant. democratic America trembIe
at his bulls? There are hundreds of
/ thousands of ROmanists in our land who
are as loyal to stars and stripes as
/ any son of New England. But
even if they were plotting all
/ these things, there are as many
/ of the nOn-Christian classes who are
| opposed TO these things as there are
| Catholics here, to say nothing of the
force of active Professionalism. 1t is
| contrary to the spirit of the age that
| such Things as the alarmists fear could
| happen. But does not the Roman
! church oppose our common school sys-
TEN, which is our pride and hope? Yes
and no. Old Rome does: new Rome
! does not. She has more to fear from
our schools than weshave from her."