The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1892-12-24
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
Expressions From the Various Re-
ligiOus Newspapers

Expressed in the Sectarian Press
Some Matters of Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.
with the approach of the Christmas
season, the appeals for aid to charitable
enterprises of all sorts become more
numerous and more urgent" observes
the New York CiHrch6tdn Up. E.
Highly colored pictures are drawn Of
the wretchedness of various classes Of
people and the happiness that awaits
them if Well-to-do persons will only
loose their purse-strings and give gener-
ously to this or that philanthropic
scheme. Competition springs up among
the very agencies for relieving suffering
or comforting benefits, and the charitably
inclined are assured that they can save
money and at the same time do greater
amount OF good by intrusting their offer
ings to the Guild of the Busy Workers
than to the Society of Helping Hands.
Advertisements are put forth in papers
and circulars declaring that every per-
son contributing p cents to our funds
furnishes one family more with a Christ
mas dlnner'-the menu, Of course includ
ing roast turkey, cranberry sauce. and
plum pudding. All this has a genial
look and seems to betOken kind-hearted-
ness and to insure much good being done.
1t would seem unkind to suggest that it
all means not suffering removed, but
misery created by the wholesale. But
truth is much better than sentiment and
reason than impulse. And in the midst
OF a complicated civilization, and at
time of transition and change, unthink-
ing benelicence may be as dangerous as
wanton cruelty"
"The question of unity among Chris
tians is fundamentally vital" SAYS the
LiUing Cburch Up. En- Of Chicago. "No
man could be said to have the mind Of
Christ who did not depIore division
visible division (Which we have III eX-
cess)-and long for unity-visible unity,
which we have not There can be no
veritable unity Of the spirit without the
unity of the body. When the Holy
Ghost shall make men Of one mind in Il
house, they Will not want a hundred
separate denominatiOn8l structures. But
whether one tavOrS the restoration of
visible unity or justihes separatism, we
all feel kindling OF the heart when the
subject OF unity IS presented, and there is
a conscious lndispOsitiOn to subject so
sacred theme to critical treatment 1t
Is time to suggest that it may lose its real
sanctlty, however, il we relegate it
wholly TO the domain of sentiment. AS
the Bishop of Albany said in ls8s, 1T is a
somewhat invidious and odious thing TO
stand up anywhere to-day and lift a
warning voice against the danger of
making even so deep and divine a uues-
ton as the unity of Christ's BODY A
hobby, ridden some times at great risk
1t is a question whether there is not
glf,. /.
come hobby, with risks to the church
as well as to its gallant riders.'
at is a curious fact" says the Cumber-
land Presbyterian, of Nashville. Tenn.
that the churches that are furthesU re-
moved from the spirit of Christian unity
are the most emphatic and persistent in
condemning the sin of schism. the loud
estln bemOaning the divisions Of Christen-
dom. and urging the necessity OF union
The high claims of the Church Of Rome.
for instance, cut OFF its members almost
entirely from brotherly communion or
worship with other Christians. The
writer of this article was for a time called
to preside as superintendent of Sunday
school made up OF convicts in a States
prison. A Roman Catholic lady. who
came to teach a class composed Of mem
bers of her own church, asked the prison
authorities to give her a separate room for
u6T pupllS. Cue COulQ not unite with the
rest of us even in the opening and CLOSING
exercises, in singing and prayer. and the
reading of the Scripture. Thus the
church which more than any other cries
out against divisions, also insists moro
than any other in separating itself from
all others. 1t Will not yield an iota of its
claim or its peculiarities for the sake of
fraternity or union. 1t condemns schism
while it stubbornly keeps up the most
far-reaching schism that the world has
ever known. Its one plan OF union is to
abolish all other churches and enroll all
mankind as subjects of the Pope. 1t
counts it schism not to be a Roman
Catholic. Next to the Romanists. per-
haps our Episcopalian brethren are most
earnest in protesting against divisions,
saddest over the sin of schism: and yet of
all Protestants they are probably the most
persistent i'll keeping high the fences that
separate them from their brethren in other
folds"
''Some of the secular journals" saws
the New York Observer (Pres.) Com
ment upon the trials of Drs. Briggs and
Smith as If the question of the right of
private Judgment were at issue in these
cases, and few religious papers have
made, III addition, some heroic utterances
about liberty, with curious misapprehen-
sion of the real question. The simple
point to be decided in the trials is whether
these religious teachers have taught doe
trlnes contrary to the standards of the
Presbyterian Church. If they have done
so, and declare their intention to continue
thus to teach, it is clear that they do not
belong to the Presbyterian Church. 1t is
no infringement Of the right of private
Judgment for church to require that it's
ministers declare its doctrines and re-
traln from teaching doctrines which the
church does not hold. The owners of a
tree-trade journal would not hesitate to
discharge an editor who insisted upon adj
vocating protection in its columns, and a
paper devoted to protection would not al
low free-trader to use it's space to adj
vance his theories. The opinion of large
portion OF the Presbyterian Church is
that Professors Briggs and Smith are op-
posed to Presbyterian doctrine The
professors contend that this is not so, and
that thorough comparison of their
works with the Scriptures and the stand
ards OF the church will show that they
are not in opposition, but in harmony
with both. y trial is the only ecclesias-
teal means of settling the matter"
1.-THE liberty of Christian men is threat
ened, we are told" exclaims the New
York Examiner (Bapt.), land we are bid
den to stand fast IN the cause of spiritual
freedom. 1t is a thrilling battle crv.
blood has often flowed for one not half SO
good. But let us ask a question or two
before the Berserker rage CONES upon MS
and we rush to combat. Whose liberty
is threatened? Liberty to do what? is
there any man in our country whose right
is questioned to think what he chooses9
VIII any civil tribunal punish him as
long as he does not incite violence or al
tack the good name of others? Is he in
any danger of mourning any physical
pains and penalties because Of his writ
ings, as he might in Russia or in Ger
many if he offended the powers that be?