The record-union., 1892-03-26
In RELIGIONS REALM.
Expressions From the Various Re-
ligiOus Newspapers.
The Religious Thought of tho Day as
Expressed in the Sectarian Press
Some Matters OF Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.

Ministers ana Lavmen.
The Catholic Champion (P. E.. says
The church has been freed FROM the Low
Church party by conversion: we think
she should be freed from the Broad
Church party by expulsion" 70 this the
New Aork Indepe6dent replies: In
deed! We should like TO see it tried, and
let the fun begin with Phillips Brooks,
who has just been confirmed Bishop by
the votes OF almost the entire episcopate,
except Bishop Perry OF Iowa. lie has
since his conservation done some very
improper things. He has attended d
meeting in a coat that was not black. He
has written letters on stationery bearing
a personal monogram. He has no rev
erence Tor the traditions dear to ecclesi-
astlcal mlllinerS. we doubt if he knows
! the colors proper to be worn ut the Vari-
Gus feaSts. Let US know when the eX =
pulsion is to begin. We win look down
from the gallery. But may not all this be
deluSion? Is Ii the Low Church partY,
perhaps in alliance with the Broad
Church party. which gives the latter It's
strength! is not the Low Church, the
evangelical spirit, as vital as ever, neither
dead nor sleeping! is it moi uoing its
mission work actively, spreading it work
not in st. Georges in this city only,
"i'SiN ~ iNtilbcIOlNl up tic SllNCttS-
sion OF DR.. Tying, but equally i'll Trinity
| Church, Boston, in Philadelphia, and
! everywhere just as in England it works
| through the Church Missionary Society,
and leaves the High Church Propagation
society to wall out the question why they
fail in foreign missions? We are inclined
TO the theory Of deluSion.n
st cannot be denied" admits the Bos-
ton Christian Register (Unit.), that there
are agnostic tendencies to-day which did
not exist in days OF AFFECT and more I'M
! questioned belief. Much of this agnosti-
clSm Is the natural reaction from the
authority of conceptions of God which
can no longer command acceptance. But
| the agnosticism Of the day is rather
marked by suspension Of Judgment
and waiting for further evidence than by
! positive lrreverence. Indeed. there is
some of it which, in its attitude toward
| things unknown, is but candid hesita-
ton about accepting the problems be-
You'd the Immediate range of experience.
1t is the attitude of the mind waiting for
further light and yet falling to use the
capacity for light which it has-that light
which may be kindled by the sentiments
| OF hope and faith. In one respect how
| ever, this age is distinguished by a higher
reverence than any that has preceded it,
and that is in its reverence for man. We
ind the germs OF this reverence in the
early Christian faith, and its expression
| IN the brotherhood which grew out of it.
but its development in human society, in
human laws and institutions, has been
gradual. If in this country we do not
exhibit the greatest reverence for ancient
institutions or uSageS, there is more rev.
erence here for man than under the old
institutions, which we have outgrown."
1.-THE church that best meets the needs
| of the tlmnS will il, Ct !,
and in numbers" observes the New
! York Observer (PreS.) 1.-The fittest will
take the lead. This viii be very plainly
| illustrated in New York and other large
cities, SO that the question for any de-
nomination which desires 10 gain ground
is how best TO meet the needs of the age
1t will not be done by pandering to ponu-
! lar tastes, by mere sensationaliSm, by
! methods more suggestive of dime mu-
scum than the Church of Christ. or by
| any lowering of the dignity of the GOSPEL
whatever. Nor will it be accomplished
by cutting the Bible to pieces till all that
IS dlstaSteful to the carnal mind is thrown
aside and the divine and miraculous are
! discarded and a heterogeneous mass of
beautiful sentiments anu ethical notices
is all we have III place of the Word of
God which is the sword of the spirit.
Not long since we listened to the burning
utterances OF an eloquent clergyman who
! Episcopal Churches in the land. These
| fervent words were spoken from the
platform of a well-known mission, The
duty of Christian churches toward the
masses was plainly pointed out and the
speaker concluded by saying that he
valued greatly the historical records of
| his church, but believed that the church
which would make most progress in our
city and IN the country at large would
| not be the church that, looking back
could say, Father Abraham but the
church which. looking around on the
needs OF SHINING, sorrowing, suffering
humanity, learned to say, Brother Laz-
arus.'
"A self-denying ministry is the only
Christly ministry" concludes the Chris
tidn -Adcocate Meth of Nashville
Christ put self-denial as the initial step.
His call to the apostleslip disrobed of
self, searched it out in all its secret, pom
! ular or sacred lurking places and impaled
! it by the authority of His call. What
was His ministry? In what did its es-
sence, singular force and singular beauty
consist, II not in His selt-denial? The
true ministry must track his steps. as
well as bear His cross. Self-denial
brings us into holy association with
/ Christ, for when self Is shut ont Christ
comes in. The true ministry crucifies
self, lays aside dignity and descends nat
urally and sweetly to the lowliest and
most Shaming service, as Christ did when
he washed the Disciples feet. 1t forgets
and despises money as He forgot and de-
spised 1T. 1t overcomes and renounces
! the world as he overcame and renowned
/ it. Can it be possible that the great law
/ OF self-denial that Christ applied so
sharply and so rigidly to His ministry is
! TO nnd no application, or only slight
! application, to ours? Is the disciple in
this to be above his Lord, the servant
| above his master?"
Writing on the subject of the Bible in
/ the schools, the Chicago Interior (Pres. J
1 remarks: deeply as we feel the evils of
ecclesiastical greed, we believe the six
! teenth amendment for which some of
/ our Eastern contemporaries are zeaIously
working, would prove the fire to our
present frying-pan. This proposed
amendment Is to forbid any and ali an
] preparations from the Government to
/ 'sectarlan schools or purposes. VIII the
/ brethren who wrote the proposed article
/ be so good as to define 'sectarian' for us /?
/ by the court decisions of Wisconsin the
/ Bible is Sectarian there, but by equally
/ good authority it is not sectarian in Iowa.
While in Illinois Ii is heft to each school
| board to decide whether il is or not. Sec
| tartan used to mean peculiar to one de-
nomination as against another The
/ Government itself uses this word without
rhyme or reason. Take up the reports of
| the Bureau of Education and seek to as
certain the religious status of any partic-
ular college. GU viii find Harvard put
down as 'non-sectarian' and Hamilton as
| Presbyterian. BY what authority no
man knows. Yale is put down as non
sectarian, although its charter limits it's
control 10 particular denomination. We
do not know single college in the coun-
| try that is sectarian except the Catholic.
although we are glad to know plenty of
religious colleges. But if there be any
L hinh af