The record-union., 1893-12-15
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
Expressions From the Various Re-
IigiOus 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 botn
Ministers and Laymen.
1.-THE higher crticism,'' says the New
York Outlook, sis doing for us in our
knowledge of the Bible what the modern
lives of Christ have done for US in our
knowledge of the Christ. They have told
the story of his human life. They have
enabled us 70 see the kind of house he
lived in, the dress he wore, the syna-
gogues he preached in, the people he adj
ministered to, the sick he healed, the civ
ilization in which he lived. They have
enabled US to see him as the man, the
teacher, the physician, the reformer, the
friend. And this clearer portrayal of the
human has not obscured the divine, but
has made it clearer than before. lie is no
longer God and man mysteriOusly joined
together, but God in man. the type and
prophecy of that day Of glory which he
came to usher in, when God will be IN all
humanity, filling it with himself So
the higher criticism helps US TO under
stand the Bible better, and to love 1t
more, because it presents it to US as a
human book, and God, not as apart from
men, speaking through them as fire.
man speaks through a speaking trumpet,
butlin them, speaking through them as
teacher speaks through his pupil, or
father through his child. This is mes
sage of the higher criticism; not that
there are errors in the Bible, but that 1t
is human book. True, if it is human,
there are errors in ii; but it is the human
ity, not merely the errors, in the Bible
which the higher eritiSm dlsclOses to us.
And this, its message, brings the Bible
nearer, and makes the meaning clearer,
and makes the divine life experienced by
it's writer's, and transmitted through It's
pages to It's readers, dearer and more
sacred"
''Not only is there more than one re-
ligion in the world, but there is more
than one Christianity in Christendom,"
says the CjtT9StidH Register (Unlt.) OF
Boston. "Every sect represents differ
ent form, and nearly every sect assumes
to have a patent on the form OF Chris
tianity it possesses. The rivalry for pre-
eminence and patronage which has been
exhibited IN controversy suggests the IL
valries of the business world-'Beware Of
limitations; this is the only genuine artl-
cle.' There is a Christianity Of formal
ism. 1t is external; it is embodied in
rites and cremOnialS. 1t is the religion
OF the cross in d symbolical or pictorial
sense. There is the Christianity OF dogma
II is an attempt to reduce the religion OF
Jesus and his successors to a series OF
propositions. 1t is religion welded into
logic. 1t is the Christianity Of the intel
lect-cold. clear, crystallized-an iceberg
of dogma, which chills more than 1t
warns. There IS the Christianity OF senti-
ment, which expresses itself in emotion.
1t eXhales in devotion rather than theOl-
ogy or dogma. Then there is the Chris
tianity which is practical and ethical. 1t
is the religion Of Jesus applied to daily
life, to the eX1gencies and needs OF So
ciety. 1t is Christianity embodied in life
and illustrated in action. The variance
between different forms OF Christianity
is as great as the difference between
Christianity and some of the other great
W world religions. Between Calvinism on
one side, with it's reckless and unmerci-
ful reprobatiOn of the majority of man
kind, and liberal Christianity on the
other hand, with its emphasis OF divine
justice and mercy and love, there is
great gulf. These two forms of Chris
tianity are absolutely Incompatible; il one
is true, the other must be false"
''It is held by some that the work of
the church should be, in the strictest
sense spiritual, having only to do with
tie saving of mems souls and their up
building in the knowledge OF the truth"
saws the New York EsrdmlneT (BaDt),
of the Gospel from the pulpit and else
where, the teaching of the Bible in the
Sunday-school, and to other services en-
braced under the general term means Of
grace Others are coming more and
more to the view that the church should
be made a center of philanthropy as well
as religious activity, in the broadeSt sense
of the term. The so-called institutional
church is the outgrowth Of this idea. 1t
is the aim of such a church to reach and
uplift every man who can, by the use of
any and every proper means, be drawn
within the circle of its influence. To this
end 1t endeaVors to minister not only to
the religious but the intellectual, social.
and, to the extent required by circum-
stances, the physical needs of the people
1t seeks to win. But this, it is sometimes
said, however praiseworthy the intention
may be, is not for church, but for
philanthropic society. IS not this, how
ever, narrow view of the subject? The
Lord of the church did not think it incOn-
sistent with His mission to the lost to
feed hungry multitude, to heal the sick,
to rescue His disciples from peril by the
sea. And it is inconceivable that he
should disapprove any loving effort by
His churches to ameliorate the SAD con-
dition of the poor, the ignorant, the suf-
fering and the degraded"
"Dr. Alfred Momerie of England tells
q reporter that he intends to lecture in
this country on THE Mischievous Effects
of Ecclesiasticism,' using 'ecclesiasticism'
in the tense of priestcraft, the substitu-
ton of dogma and ceremonialism for the
true religion, which is matter of heart
and conduct OF course" says the LiU-
ang Church p. E.) of Chicago, mo Chris
tian intends to substitute one Of these
for the other. DR.. Momerie apparently
intends to imply that orthodox Chris
tianity does this. The truth is that it
combines them both. By dogma, in the
mouth of Momerie and his school, is
meant a statement of something which is
to be believed because it is considered as
having been revealed from heaven by
Almighty God, and which would not be
known in any other way. If there has
been no such revelation, of course there
is no dogma, but if there is such revela-
ton, then the words in which it is ex-
pressed form dogma. There is no escape