Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-17

ant part of Christianity is the regulation o
the details of ritual and of government
The Romans had a genius for administra
tion. They were practical They care'
little for speculation, but great deal TO
authority, for obedience, for order. The,
delighted in arranging things, in prsscrib
ing exactly what men should do, and hov
they should believe and dress, even how
they should think, and were especially de
sirous to secure uniformity. The result o
the Roman influence upon Christianity wa
the emphasis that was laid upon the church
that is, upon the organization Of the relig
ious society.
Accordingly, as was natural, during the
Greek supremacy, while Christianity was q
religion of the East, the great purpose thai
was reached after was the settlement of tht
doctrine. The first era of church histor,
was the era of the great councils which mel
Roman supremacy, when the West became
the center of the strength of Christianity,
the great aim of the leaders ofthe Christian,
was the settlement of discipline. The
second era of church history was the era Of
the great popes who ruled over the church.
The Two Eras Of the Church
That is, for five hundred years. Christian
was accounted a good Christian in proper.
tion to the accuracy with which he was able
to recite certain philosophical definitions.
| The characteristic word of that era is the
word 'creed." Then, for a thousand years,
Christian was accounted good Christian
in proportion to his allegiance to the estab-
lished system of government. The char
acteristic word Of that era is the word
fchurch.
But to Christ, the Christian religion CEN
tered not in creed, not in q church, but in
| q character. The purpose of it was to teach
| men not SO much to think right as to do
| right Christianity, as Christ taught it, is
| profoundly ethical. 1t is not of the least
value, in his sight, to hold the Catholic
| faith whole and undefiled unless we live the
life of which true faith is the seed. 1t is
not of the least value to belong to the Apos-
tolic Church, and to obey the ecclesiastical
| authorities, unless we also and before all
else give our loving obedience to Christ
"Not every one that saith unto me Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven, but he that doeth the will OF My
Father which Is in heaven" The real voice
of the age in which we live Is "Back to
Christi
Ths Heart of the Church
Thank God for the Church, and all that
it has done for the preservation and the
strengthening of religion; and thank God
for the creed, and all that it has done tor
the emphasizing of the chief truths of re-
ligion; but thank God, chief of all, for
Christ, who is the heart of the Church and
Of the creed. Accordingly, for now these
several hundred years, we have been get
ting closer to the simplicity of Christ; we
have been putting the emphasis where He
put it, upon Christian character; we have
been learning to account all people as in
the best sense Christians who are bearing
witness in their lives to Him.
We are still remote from the ideal There
are still those who think that the most i'm
portant part of our religion is its philo-
sophical part; they put the creed in the
fore front. There are still those who think
that the most important part of our reli-
glon is its ecclesiastical part; they set the
Church in the foreground. But the num-
Der is all the time increasing who hold that
the chief part of our religion is to bear
witness in our own lives to the influence of
Jesus Christ, and to make men better. The
religion Of the future, like the religion OF
the New Testament, will be profoundly
ethical. 1t will lay stress on conduct.
The Method of Christianity.
But how is it that men are to be made
Better? The great purpose of Christianity
we have seen, but what is the ideal Chris
tian method? The secret of it is in this
word "witness" Men are to be made bet
ter by the influence of other men who are
better than they are. The source of amend
ment is IN the inspiration of example.
Reformation is accomplished by great meas
ures personited in great men. 1t is the
man who stirs the hearts of the multitude.
Let the great truth be taught by lesser
men, and it will pass unheeded. But when
the saint or the hero breaches 1t all our
hearts take fire. History, it has been said,
is but collection of the biographies of
eminent men. And that is true. The
world is moved by men.
Thus God, desiring to move the world, not
by compulsioh but by inspiration, not from
without by force but from within by per-
suading the free will Of man, was mani
Tested here among US as a man. He might
have let down great book out of the sky,
halt of it occupied with answers to our in
tellectual questions and the other half with
the details of ecclesiastical polity, half of it
creed-book and the other half drill
book. But how would that have helped us
in the hard task of living right? Instead
Of that, God clothed himself with visible
and audible personality, and so appealed to
men.
Allegiance to a Person.
Christianity is an allegiance to person.
1t is following of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is the beginning, and the middle, and
US out to be Christs. Not only to be Chris
tians, contenting ourselves with our own
growth in love and knowledge, but to be
Christs; that is, to live, as we'll as we can,
the kind of life he lived and to do, as well |
as we can, the kind of work he did. He was
q witness to the Father, and We are to be,
in our turn, witnesses to Him.
The Christian religion, then, has for its |
great purpose the bettering of men, and for |
its method the inspiration of good ex- |
ample. Accordingly, the purpose Of every
the upbuilding of Christian character. The |
ideal aim is to approach the lite of Christ. |
Everything which looks in any other direc-
tion than that is an impertinence. We |
ought to take that as the test of all the |
services We ought to measure all the ser
mons by it, ard all the singing. 1t ought |
to be our guide in estimating the value of
our work.
The Crucial Question Stated.
Will this help? 1t ought to be the
crucial question. There ought not to be
anything tolerated in any parish which can
not answer ''yes" to that question. Nor
Of us that does not answer mo-" Not that
everything will help everybody. We are
not all alike. That which does not help
one may help another. Any way to help
anybody is a good motto for a Christian
parish.
And we help by being helpers. We bear
witness to Christ not only by trying not to
say anything that we would not like to have
Him hear US say, and by trying not to
do anything that we would not like to have
Him see Us do, not only by trying to be
good Christians in the family, in business
and in society, but by laying especial stress
Upon our Christian ministry to the needs of