The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-03-30
AUTHORITY IN THE CHURCH.


; AUTHORITY IN THE CHURCH.
/, So is the Kingdom OF God rs II man should
) cast see.l upon the earth.-Mark iv, 70.
Say what you VIII of the intellectual
tendencies Of the age in which we live
its chief characteristic within this center
of intellectual activity is the exploration
Of the mystery of true religion. This ID
true whether You so into the domain
of philosophy or pure metaphysics, OF
whether you enter the domain of history
or fiction. What is true religion? What
is true Christianity? The deathknen O:
bigotry is in that inquiry. Irejotce In
that.
1t means that this spirit of restless dis
content with anything save the real
knowledge of the real Christ and real
God must destroy bigotry not only with
in the church. but outside 1t, and in
every realm Of thought bring the world
back to the truth, the whole truth and
the truth for its own sake. And that
means the deathknell to your liberal
bigot. OF all the bigots who have had
no excuse for their existence, the most
impudent and insolent are the liberal
bigots of the order of Voltaire and the
men who have followed in his footsteps
The bigot within the so called liberal field
must keep silence, save so far as he finds
| the truth, as the bigot in the ecclesias-
teal field.
CHRISTIANITY DEFINED.
The movement now on foot within the
Presbyterian church TO sect a compro-
mise in this battle between the cham
pions of form and progress may not re-
ceive a warm response, but the very
fact OF this battle and its fierceness is an
indication that the beginning of the end
is now upon us-the beginning of the
end of an ecclesiastical power that has
asserted itself within the domain of Prot
estantism, brought over bodily from his
toric Romanism, that the world Is out
| growing, and which Is doomed as the
| ceremonies of past are doomed before
the searchlight of the truth of this age.
In the midst of this spirit of inquiry
and investigation and progress there is
a ghost from that past which rises be-
fore us and says: w hat is to become of
US if there is no church authority, no
central organization from which there
shall issue an authoritative creed? If
your critics shall undo for us the sup
posed infallibility Of the Old Testament
and of certain historic creeds, where
will men go for authoritative knowledge?
Where can we find anything that will
be real, that we can depend upon? Shall
we look to the Catholic church in its con-
tinuity of Offices, back through the diff
terent ecclesiastics who have ruled. or
shall we search in the church of Eng
land and find there something that is
stable on which we can stand, or follow
in the theology of Paul, or prefer the
theology of Peter? Shall we take the
Synoptlc gospels or take the gospel of
John? How can the world know any,
thing authoritatively If you open those
foodgates and do not establish ANYTHING
afir1natively:"
There Is but one place to go, and that
is to Jesus Christ. Christianity Is Christ.
Christ is Christianity, and the Christian
ity that cannot be squared with his per-
sonalfty Is spurious. In scores of places
In Christ's recorded words we have his
statement of this essential principle of
Christianity, and Jesus says In so MANY
words that
Christianity is q life. All claim, there
fore, of authority or historic continulty
OF authority mist be based orly upon the
possession of that life
II am come" says Christ. "that thew
may have life, and have it abundantly.
l am the vine, and ye are the branches. |
The kingdom of God is as a seed" That
Is TO say, all authority and all postulate
OF authority that may be drawn from a |
supposed historic continuity have real |
basis only as they are founded in a life
only as they are vital. Church authority |
Is real, ecclesiastical authority is real. |
only as they are part of this vital devel- |
opment. sit Is as a seed cast on the
earth. am the life. He that hath the
Son hath life. I am the vine, and We are
tne branches, and out Of me you can do
nothing. That is to say:
CONCEPTION OF THEOLOGY.
flrst-Christianity cannot consist and
never Gid consist IN the correct concep-
tlon OF any theology. Why? Theology
Is science. Christianity is a religion
ana science is one thing and RELIGION
another. The two things are no more
connected than simple mechanical con-
tr,Vance Is connected with the seed
which, In the warm earth of snring
sends up its blossoms and its fruit On
,he one hand, you have theory and intel
iecI; on the other hand, you have heart
ane practice. Theology belongs to the
question OF intellect and point of view.
sec theologically not so much what Ia
DeIofe my eyes as what is in my mind.
"a good woman was crossing the ocean
"ith her husband He looked ont and
sald, / think it is raining" She looked
out the portfolio and said: 81 don't tb;nk
,s Is. don't see anybody with umbrel-
las. She saw not so much what xvaa be-
lore her eyes as what was in her mind
, ane ner mind was projected out on
barren sea. So men see theoloo;a. -
EuoJsc1 them on the surface of the Bible.
Iheoiogy belongs to the realm of intel
ice. '.-.1 piao
preacher was preaching a sermon
me y sne inmates of an insane asylum In
Duiaio some time ago, and he at last
anne tlresome. The patients began
% get restless. Even the attendant.
GOT restless and yawned. To no nurnoaa.
1e went ON. Presently one of the ma, j
:len1s, ieaplng to her feet, pointed her
l at hum and said, You have
1919 1870 long enough, sir, long enough. >
yns OF the attendants came up and oniet.
= aer, ana ne continued his sermon. He
'alu aIIerward she must have been q re- (
naIAaniy crazy woman, but the attend
LIS never could decide whether She waa
and that was an indication az {
= y ol whether it was relapse. To him
~ was en1rely crazy because sheicams {