Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1892-05-28
Rc-Opening.

ST Patricll'S CathOli church, at Mt.
Savage, was re-opened by His Emil
hence, Cardinal Gibbons. Monday,
after having been closed for some time
forrepairS. The changes and improve
ments made distinguish the church as
one of the handsomest in the county.
The Cardinal addressed the con
gregation in felicitous terms. His re-
marks, though brief, were in his most
happy vein.
a sermon by Rev. j. +. Donahue, of
Washington, d. c., pastoral assistant
of Rev. V. F. Schmitt, formerly of
Frostburg. made marked impression.
His text was:
And let the peace of Christ rejoice in your
hearts, wherein also yOu are called iii one
body; let the word of God dwell in you
abundantly in all wisdom.-Col. iii.
The first fruits of the Christian religion are
peace.
When Christ was born and when He arose
the first salutations embodied the announce
ment of peace to the world.
We are instinctively searching for peace.
And vet we never reach absolute peace here.
That which we do enjoy is only measure
and foretaste of the full and perfect peace
reserved for us hereafter 1t is the legacy Of
Christ which the world cannot take away.
This peace cannot be enjoyed short of alb
solute certainty in our religious convictions
For it is given to no man to mark out and
follow original methods of reaching heaven.
These laws have been divinely communicated
and their record is in the Scriptures.
Every child of God has a right to look to
heaven for a sufficient knowledge and right
Interpretation of the record. But God has
set up in the world living teacher to pre-
serve, define and eXpound His sacred truths.
That divine teacher is His church.
To raise her above the human plane he en-
lowed her with the Holy Ghost, whose in
nuence guides in the duty of teaching all ma
tons. As the pillar and ground of the truth,
He has promised she shall live through the
ages and never fail i'll her mission.
How fortunate those who rest easily i'll the
peaceful haven of truth, and how unfortunate
those who have never discovered the true
way-who are struggling in the wild waters
of speculation, driven by every wind Of
doctrine and tossed on every wave of doubt
There they must drift until the kindly light
of Gods grace leads them to the harbor of
intalible authority.
To escape the necessity of submitting TO
the authority of the infallible church, appeal
has been taken to the Scriptures as the sole
word of God Every man, it is said, has the
Ga, l,
thereon theory of faith and rule of conduct
which the Creator must adopt as the measure
of human responsibility. This is most
strange-it is a pernicious system, for it has
made made faith impossible to multitudes
who cannot make Il critical study of the
Scriptures.
There arc three things in connection with
Holy Writ that cannot be settled except by an
infallible church--inspraton authenticity
and interpretation. Ii, therefore, the Bible
he our only teacher, what warrant have we
that its writers had the gift of inspiration?
And what warrant have we outside of a di-
vine custodian that it is an exact copy of
Gods communication The Bible has not
a living voice; its testimony is sealed in the
paper and ink on which it is written. Where
fore, if God has not provided a divine in
terpreter, then he who breaks its seal and gives
utterance to its message voices testimony
not necessarily Gods, but a meaning which
is only human meaning.
1t is deuson to claim greater freedom
from error in the study of revelation than in
other fields of mental research The tallibility
of human conclusions is apparent to every
one. So radical and startling haye been
changes of theory that the world is prepared
to part with any accepted idea, even the law
of gravitation if necessary to make room for
one seemingly better supported.
The system of religion, therefore that robs
the Scriptures of an infalible Interpreter
debases the faith that is founded Oh it. And
there is no peace to the soul that pins its faith
to any such uncertain system.
If we may judge the tree by its, fruit, the
religious movement of the 10Th century has
worked its own ruin and its history is its
worst defamer. BY teaching man to design
his own creed it has DESTROYED the unity of
faith which Christ promised should be the
distinctive mark Of His church. 1t has
broken up the people of God into warning
sects, not bound together by the charity of
the gospel, but divided by the problems of
theology" So it will continue to be until the
leaders bring the peope back to the infalibie
church to find unity where ii was lost when
the human mind rebelIed against God.
What blessed privilege we enjoy in being
the chosen ones How thankful we should
be that the light of God has fallen across our
path, May the word Of God, eXpounded by
His holy church, dwell in you abundantly.
and may you find in it a light for your lives
and peace for your souls
The sermon was the theme of much
laudatory comment by all who heard
it.