The record-union., 1892-10-27
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.

Expressed in the Sectarian Press
Some Matters of Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.
"One of the most mischievous fallacies
of recent days." says the LiUiag Church
(P. E.l of Chicago, ''is the notion that a
layman is not required to believe as
much as clergyman. But why are we
required, in the sphere of religion to be-
heve anything? What is the importance
of belief? The answer, which needs
some emphasis in this generation when
religion is being so commonly resolved
into mere subjective emotion accompa-
MED by unbriGled speculation, is briefly
this: Positive belief in certain great facts
and their relations is necessary to the
salvation of the immortal soul. The New
Testament throughout is a call first OF
all TO belief, There is a colorless defini-
ton OF religion much in vogue at pres
ent. according to which it is matter OF
complete indifference whether man be-
lieves in anything outside of what he
hnds or thinks he nnds in the phenomena
OF his own nature. But this is not the
religion of Christ. If God has revealed
lacts of His own nature, If He has had
transactions with humanity in the field
OF history, 1t Is for us men and for our
salvation. Not to accept those facts not
TO come into accord with those transac-
tions, is to exclude ourselves from that
vantage ground which God, through
Christ, has established for us. The point
then is this: There is not one class OF
thlngs revealed for the salvation Of the
iayman, and another for the priest. The
laith IS one. No more is really required
10 be believed by the latter than by the
former. The difference is not in the field
OF belief, but in the degree of knowI-
edge"
The New York Evangelist (Pres.), in an
appeal to the Synod which meets in AL
bany next week, says: ''Ihe Synod of
New York, the largest and most power
1ul Synod III the United States, if not in
the Christian world, faces an important
crisis and great opportunity. 1t is
called upon to maintain the constitutional
rights OF the Presbytery of New York
and OF the Synod of New York against
the aggressive domination of General
Assembly which, according to the pres
ent ratio OF representation, gives to the
smallest and weakest of its constituent
bodles control wholly disproportionate
to their number and their lust weight and
power. II, on the other hand, the Synod
OF New York puts up the bars, resists the
present encroachmentS upon its rights
ana stands up for the constitution of the
church, it Will show to the Christian
world that the Synod has its place and
duties and that it is determined to hold
Its place and do its work in the fear of
God. We cannot believe that the men of
central and western New York who sue
cessiully resisted ecclesiastical domina-
zion the last ,1-iII F.,;l ~.
crisis. If the Synod of New York exer-
clses its constitutional authority over its
own churches and ministers and presbV-
terles, 1t Will not permit even the General
Assembly to encroach on its Jurisdiction.
! he representatives of the Synod of New
ork stood nobiy together at Portland
ana won from the secular press recopni-
tion as the constitutional party in the
Presbyterian Church. If the Synod now
stands by its own representatives, it will
show itself to be the constitutional SYNOD
OF the church"
The New York Observer (Pres. } is not
pleased, Of course, with Bishop Potter's
article on Sunday and the Columbian
Exposition. II says: 1.-The logic is lame
ana vulnerable at many points. The
Sabbath as Bishop Potter attempts to
picture it from the life of Christ and the
sabbath as he would give it to us at Chi
Thus he says: "A true picture of them
ithe Sundays of the first Christian cen
turlesl may by anticipation be found in
the pages of the New Testament itself
where Christ is found on one Sabbath
day healing paralytic, much to the dis
gust OF ruler Of the synagogue, who
rOundly denounces him; or on another
dining with Pharisee and making this
Kindly intercourse the means OF the
loislest teaching, thus eXpressively pro-
claiming that humaner law which was To
govern men henceforth in their observ-
ance OF all holy days, whether Sabbaths
or sundays There is nothing in such a
picture that can be made the legitimate
argument for opening a museum or
World's tar on Sundays. Indeed il
rather suggests that the day be devoted
to the healing of the sick ana the inculca-
uon OF divine truth by oral teaching
Inc Savior did nothing to change or
soften the Sabbath OF the law: he sought
only to modify the Sabbath of mere hu-
man tradition. DR.. Potter aims to dis
crlmlnate between the institution of the
Sabbath Itself and its modern accretions
lie should therefore know how TO dis
criminate between Chrsts blows at but-
dens laid by Pharisaical teaching and
laws made by God"
From many things we are constantly
nearing ana seeing, we are sure that the
true elements of church strength are
greatly misunderstood, and that this mis-
understanding is working great mis-
chlet," eXclaims the Christian 4drocnte
(Meth.) OF Nashville, Tenn. ITO mistake
the elements of church strength IS to mis-
take the character OF the church, and also
To change It's character. The strength of
the church lies in its piety-all else is in
cidental, and is not of the strength of
things. In popular language a church is
called strong when its membership is
large, when it has social position. imam
cial resources; when ability, learning and
eloquenee ill the pulpit; when the pews
are filled by fashion, intelligence. money
and influence. An estimate Of this kind
Is worldly to the fullest extent. The
church that thus defines lis strength is on
the highway TO apostasy. The strength
OF the church does not consist OF any or
ali of these things. The faith, holiness
and zeal OF the church are the elements of
It's power. Church strength does not con-
sist in its numbers. Church strength is
not found in these worldly statements or
endowment, but in the endowment of the
Holy Ghost on its members. No more
fatal or deadly symptom can be seen in a
church than this transference OF its
strength from spiritual to material forces.
from the Holy Ghost to the world. The
power OF God III the church is the meas