The record-union., 1892-10-27

ure Of its strength. and the estimate
WhIcA Cod puts on ii, and not the esti-
mate tho world pats on it, is the measure
o. It's ability 10 meet the ends of Its being"
"How can any Christian man, in re-
latlons of fellowship and cooperation
with other Christians, be in any strict
sense undenominational? ?" asks the
WdtchmGn tBapt.) OF Boston. There is
sense in which every man is a deuomi-
nation in himself. Ii he holds any new
experience, any practice in distinction
from other Christians, in way to sepa-
rate MN from them, he possesses the es-
sentlal element OF denominationalism
denominations spring from those remote
and 1neradlcabIe tendencies in human
nature by which men group themselves
under some dOctrinal formula or ecclesi-
astical organization. They combine by
kind Of spiritual affinity. as fixed in its
prlnclple anc as certain in its action as
the law OF gravitation. Hence arise the
different schools OF philosophy, and vary
ing schools ofart, OF political economy, of
social science, Of finance fand business
These conflicting ideas led to the organi-
Zatlon OF opposing parties. With a COM
mon purpose, To advance the real inter-
ests OF the people and insure the stability
OF the Government, these idiosyncrasies
ofthought lead to parties, with sharply
defined antagonlsm as to the methods of
securing these great ends. The same
principles in human nature will ALWAYS
lead men. renewed by the Spirit and
loyal to the Word, into ecclesiastical
Affiliations for the conservation of what
seems to them the. trath and order set
forth in the Scripture"
The Chicago UniUersal5st criticises very
Alxrt hn .,1l
the Universalist Church." which the Rev.
X. +. Johonnot delivered before the re-
cent Universalist Convention i'll Illinois.
IL says: The address outlined what
would be regarded in Well-intOrmed cir
cles as the mission of the Unitarian
Church and not the Universalist. 1t was
in harmony with everything we know of
UnltarianIsm and with nothing we know
OF Universalism. The speaker was not at
all aggressive in his manner and as mild
as May morning in presenting his Uni
tartan theory Of the Universalist Church
OF the tuture-a theory that our church
repudiates III every essential particular.
1t declared that the doctrinal mission of
our church was accomplished; that the
view of God in his relation to man,
winch we have opposed so strenuously i'll
the past, is no longer received among in
telhgent people-a mistake of .prodigious
proportions, as anyone acquainted with
the true situation will at once rec
ognize. Biblical criticism the speaker
again declared, has shown that
the Bible is not to be accepted as a super
natural revelatiOn'--another mistake of
large proportions, as Biblical criticism
except IN a very narrow range in Ra-
uonallstic circles, has shown no such
thlng. Again we were told that the study
OF other religions has shown Christianity
not to be Il supernatural product and
Thus forces To look acaxsr Enra for
real value and authority'-a still more
vital mistake, for the study of those re-
Hglons has not reached any such conclu-
sion, except in small handful of anti
upernaturalists who are as the small dust
in the balance to the vast majority of
those who regard Christianity as its
founder regarded it, direct revelation
from God. The address contained much
more in the same line, very much of it
based on assumptions which cur Uni
tartan friends have made us familiar
with, and striking at the very vitals of
what Uniyersalists generally regard as
sound religious truth"
A somewhat uncommon note is sounded
by the New \ ork Christian IRteLAGcacer
(Ref.), which says: LET US be reasonable
and fair. All the Protestant denomina-
tlons OF the country, so far as they can,
provide churches of foreigners with pas-
Of each church. Norwegians have Nor
wegian pastors, Bohemians Bohemian,
Germans German, and so on. This is
the proper and necessary provision. And
we all seek for Scandinavian, German,
Dutch, Polish students, and those OF
other nationaIities for our theological
seminaries. How, then, can we object to
the claim of German, Polish, Italian, Bo-
hemian Romanists TO have priests, Bish-
ops, Archbishops, and in due time car
dlnals of their own nation and tongue to
minister to them at the altar and repre-
sent them in the House Of Bishops, or
any ecclesiastical legislature, council or
court? They ask only what American
Protestants give without asking to all
their churches composed Of foreigners.
Is II not, also, unwise to befriend the
Irish combination which strives to main
tain its rule over the Roman Church in
the United States We objected on the
first impulse, a while ago, to the PROPOSE
ton of Herr Cahensly, and now acknowl-
edge our mistake"