The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1892-01-16
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
Expressions from the Various
Religious Newspapers.
The Religious Thought of the Day as
Expressed in the Sectarian Press
Some Matters of Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.

Some Matters of Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.
! Referring to the reputed movement
| among Methodist divines in favor Of
! liturgy, the New York CHuTcbnlan lP
| E.) says: The separation of Wesley's
| followers from the Church of England
was an accidental breach which was no
! part of the purpose of that wonderful
! leader and organizer of religious revival.
| 1t was an unnatural division, and we re-
| gard its continuance as both unnecessary
and unwise. If the Methodist General
! Conference shall be led to the adoption of
! liturgical worship, it will have taken
away formidable barrier to reunion.
| The Spirit of God is mighty to overcome
| obstacles, and even to remove mountains
| of difficulty, and when the time is ripe
| for union we believe the terms can be ar
ranged without condescension or humili-
alton on the one side or the other. II is
reported that the liturgy to be urged for
adoption is that of Wesley, which diff
/ fered but slightly from that of the Estab-
! lished Church. We venture to suggest
! to our Methodist brethren that the Amer
lean Book Of Common Prayer, which has
! just been revised, would meet every re-
| quirement and prove the best practical
! solution of the question Of a liturgy for
America. We commend to the consider
| ton of the leaders of thought among the
Methodists the question whether they
! could, not, by accepting that book, which
! is perfectly free to them, help to make it
! the prayer-boOk Of all American Chris
! tians."
The Cumberland Presbyterian Of Nash
vile, Tenn, declares that the West
] minister confession is a monument OF the
! past showing what the PRESBYTERIAN
! Church formerly believed-an historic
| document rather than living creed.
| There is evidently a growing tendency in
| that church so to regard it. At least
! tWenty-siX OF the 40 presbyteries that
| have voted express their preference for
| an entirely new creed. Our PRESBYTERIAN
| brethren are thus experiencing difficulty
| IN the work OF so amending their creed as
| TO leave out what has ceased to be be-
IIeVed and TO put in the larger faith of the
| present. The work Of our own Cumber-
land Presbyterian creed-makers, both in
! 1914 and 1888, was somewhat embarrassed
! and marred by the same difficulty. They
attempt to follow the Westminster model
| too closely, hence the creed they gave US
Is too long. There are thoughtful men in
! our church who believe that we ought ut
no distant day to have a new Cumberland
! Presbyterian confession OF faith-that is,
that The truth we hold should be stated in
clearer language and briefer form, as well
as IN more logical order"
THE turning point between Chris
tlanlty and lnfidelity is the position given
to the Bible" says the Presbyterian
banner of Pittsburg, Pa. "Christianity
receives it as Gods Word, the only in
tallible rule of faith and practice. inf
deity rejects its claim to divine inspira-
ton and authority, and thus casts con-
tempt upon it and upon all who receive
the way of salvation which it makes
known. And just in proportion as the
unerrlng and absolute truthtulnesS of the
| Bible is denied is the spirit of irrever-
ence toward Gods revelation and unbe-
lief fostered. The oft-repeated assertion
| that the inaccuracies and mistakes al
legged by Drs. Briggs, Brown and Evans
to be in the Bible only concern minor de-
tails and things within the sphere of the
natural and things subject to human OBJ
Servatlon,' gives away at once the whole
| argument in favor OF its authority and
truthfulness inTegard to what is beyond
and above human observation and knOwI-
edge. For at once the inquiry comes up,
| if the Bible is in error with resDect 10
matters historical, and also as to what we
are capable Of examining and knowing
for ourselves, what evidence have we to
! believe that 1t may not be in error as to
God Himself, the incarnation and atone
ment of Christ, and many other things
pertaining to salvation of which we know
Word Of God? To answer this salts
factorily is impossible"
"Archdeacon Farrar's last book con-
tains paragraph which is being printed
in the newspapers as a sample Ofthe new
and SUMMER view which is beaming from
the modern pulpit. He says: Where
would be the popular teachings about
| he'll If we calmly and deliberately erased
from our English Bible the three words,
| ''damnation, help and Everlasting ?''
| Yet l say unhesitatingly-I say, claiming
the fullest right to speak with the author
1tY OF knowledge say, with the CALM
est and most untlinching sense of re-
spOnsibility-I say, standing here in the
| sight of God and my Savior and it NAV
be of the angels and spirits of the dead,
that not one one of these words ought to
stand any longer in our English Bible,
| Tor IN our present acceptatiOn of them
they are simple mistranslations With
out entering upon any pathological dis
| cuSsion," says the New York Observer.
| (PreS.), "We would remind all readers of
this rhetorical outburst, that the Arch
deacon is utterly mistaken if he fancies
| that he or any one else can change the
teaching of the Word of God and the con-
victions of the Christian churches by
| putting three other words in the place OF
| the three words 'damnation,' hell and
| everlasting 1t is the old story of cali
| ing SheepS tail sleeps leg, and there.
by making a sheep have five legs.
Change these words into what you will.
you have left the meaning which is de-
termined by all the words in the passage
where they occur, by all the words which
precede and follow, by all the rest of the
teachings of Gods Word relating to the
| issues included in these terms"
Replying to an article by George S.
Merriam in the Christian Register Unit,
the New York ChTjstiun Union saws
"For ourselves, we declare our profound
conviction that religious truth is not to
be arrived at by the mere study of
known and near facts Religious truth
is the product of life; or, to speak more
accurately, religious truth and life are
| one. A profound philosophy underlies
| and is expressed by Christs declaration,
L am the truth No man can see re-
Igious truth clearly except as he is him
self that religious truth. God is not a
hypothesis devised to account for the
| phenomena Of nature and of life; God is
within the soul, and the heart knows
God as it knows a friend, by the personal
! lntermingling of two lives in one. We
! must be always ready TO take this life
into the light, to bring it before
the reason, 10 subject it to critical
! analysis, to see if it harmonizes with the
! known and near facts but we do not
and cannot obtain that life by the scien-
! titic method-by study of those facts. 1t
| is not in them. Mr.. Merriam is quite
rio hot