The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1892-07-09
In RELIGIONS REALM.
Expressions From the Various Re-
ligious Newspapers.
The Religious Thought of the Day as
Expressed in the Sectarian Press
Some Matters of Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.

What if the most pressing questions OF
| the present day do not represent pro-
gress, but retrogression ?" asks the La9-
I ing Church (P. E.) of Chicago. Nv hat II
the demand made upon the church in
! these criticisms is that it shall descend
! from higher to lower plane? Is 1t not
the fact that the things with which the
| present generation more and more con-
Germs itself, to the exclusion of all others,
are material, or at least temporal? The
church is virtually called upon to give
up preaching of the soul and its destiny
| OF sin and forgiveness and peace with
! God, of resurrection and judgment and
| the eternal world. Another life, where
the sorrows and inequalities and in
| Justices and losses and disappointments
of the present time shall be compensated,
and all that is dark and hopeless here
shall be made clear in the light OF the
perfect love and righteousness OF Cod
all this is 10 be relegated to the vague and
! far off realm of dreamy speculation; and
| the church must devote itself TO the 'prac-
| teal problems of the day which have it
for their chief end to make the earthly
| lives of men more comfortable and salts
factory. She is called upon TO let the
world beyond take care of itself, and to
try to make this world happier"
1.-THE movement toward Christian
unity, not in outward forms, but in
] SPIN ~ anu potbliy 10 CFlbSIlbIy uppGI-
most III every denomination" says the
Boston C0RgregdtjOHdtiSt. Even those
denominations which recognize III their
own creeds the highest authority are
reaching out eagerly for a larger fellow
ship. The Presbyterian Church, on the
one hand, while it is in constant ferment
| over its standards, has within itself q
! growing party which desires a new,
much brieter and simpler creed as repre-
sentlng its present belief, while promis-
| ing steps are being taken toward the
union of all Presbyterian bodies on the
essentials of common faith. Beyond
| this goal the real union Of all churches
on the same broad basis seems TO be at
tainable. On the other hand, the Roman
Catholic Church is showing signs of gem
uIne catholicity, both within itself and to
| those without. The writer on that body
sees a basis for unity as well as for the
union Of all in that invisible element
called the soul of the church, Even
! UnttarianS seem to be moving toward the
recognition of Christ as the supreme
manifestation of God to men. The center
of this great movement may be charac-
| teriZed as a growing disposition in each
| body to recognize all the others as genu-
Inc branches of the one church of Christ,
! that is, to acknowledge in each evidences
| of the indwelling and guidance OF the
Holy Spirit"
''The utter Indifference with which the
proposals for the external unification of
churches have been received" observes
! the WGtchHlGn Baptist of Boston
shows plainly enough that in most of the
denominations there is no desire for such
| contamination. In the Episcopal
Church the feeling prevails that separa-
ton involves the guilt of schism, and
| hence their earnestneSS TO make reunion
| as easy and practicable as possible. But
| I cnrrpCnnnlino inf hos
| closed in other religious bodies. The
same condition is indicated by the easy
| liberation of separations within the de-
nominations themselves-the existence
of from three to half dozen Presbyterian
churches, the multiplicity of Methodist
churches, of two Reformed churches, and
the like. The infinite divisibility of
Protestanism is not felt as a reproach. 1t
is scarcely conceived of as fault or re-
GREETED as a misfortune. AS long as this
| state of insensibility continues, or yet
| more, belief in the value of denOmina-
| tional competition as spur to religious
zeal, "a campaign Of education should
| precede proposals for union"
| "Every Christian church in America
| ought to feel itself under every kind of
sacred obligation, not merely to cherish,
but to manifest the brotherly spirit" ac-
| cOrding to the 4 dUd1lce Congo of Chi
cago. "The studiously free and outspoken
| manifestation of this spirit would be an
all-around benefit. Nobody would be the
| loser by 1t; ever one a gamer. AS it is
what are the facts? The first and most
| oblivious fact is, that between many of
| these great divisions there is in respect to
| their religious concerns, operations and
enterprises scarcely more communication
cultivated than there used to be between
Jews and Samaritans. This, of course.
is wholly wrong. 1t is distinctly I'M
| Christian. 1t is the worst kind of social
religious economy. On account of this ILL
| seeming mutual alienation-it is a safe
! statement-not less than one-half of the
| total religious power of the churches of
| America is lost. This loss the country
can i'll afford. 1t is hindering, it may be
| by centuries, the actual Characterization
of the world. This is not saying that
there ought to be but one form of &C.
clesiasticism. We have not in mind at
all the dream of any outward and formal
unification of all the denominations CT
churches. But it is saying and insisting
| that all organizations claiming to be
| Christian ought to manifest toward each
other and to the world, and that con-
| spicuously, the meaning of the Christ
idea of good neighborhood and true
| brotherhood"
Speaking of President Hydes article in
| the Forum on Pagan New England.U
] GIl0 NEW DIX IOSSTUCT (GfGS,l saws
1--WE are willing to admit that until read
ing DR.. Hyde's article we had not thought
of the possibility of New England's be-
coming pagan so much as Roman Catho-
| lie. Such facts-as he gives, however, are
| serious enough to cause some alarm.
The condition of the Protestant churches
| in New England rural communities. as
he portrays 1t, is humiliating in the ex-
treme, and should have the prompt and
earnest attention Of the best minds among
us. At the same time it must be born in
mind that nondescript church, one that
has no defined faith in the fundamental
doctrines of Gods Word, is not likely to
be channel through which the saving
| power of God Will reach men and women.
| We should want to hear further from DIR.
| Hyde before feeling satisfied that the creed
| he propounds would fit the case. There
is certain ambiguity about some of its
| sentences, but as his solution of the grave
| problem of which he treats is merely
| given out for consideration. and there
will be abundant opportunity for dis
| cussion of every plan before the adop-
| ton of any, we need not criticise it now.
| So far as we can at present Judge. we
! suppose that the Evangelical Alliance
might become largely useful in the direc-
| ton in which President Hyde is look
ing"
"We have already expressed our con-
viction of the mischievous fallacy and
| futility of DR.. Rainsford's scheme of
Christianized dram-shops,' says the New
York Examiner (Bapt.) "The only CO.
| gent point of his argument is the familiar
one about saloons being poor mems
club-houses.' Admitting the force of
this, it does not prove his monstrous con-
| clusion. Attractive social resorts may
exist in which no Intoxicating liquors are
sold or drunk. There is.
however, another aspect of this whole