The Portland daily press., 1893-12-11
JESUS TEST OF pIsclpLEsHIP.
Sermon by Rev. DIR. Blanchard at Con
gress Square Church

Rev. Dr.. Blanchard delivered Il sermon
yesterday morning in Congress square
church on Jesus Test of Discipleship;
a Study of the Question of Church
Unity"
He began by referring to an inscription
on a stone in Persia now easily read,
though carved there by order OF
Darius the King more than two thousand
years ago. He would like to carve in
mems minds the texts he would use so
that these could not be obliterated
in time or eternity. The last of these
four was from John-"By this shall all
men know ye are my disciples, if ye have
love one another tor another" He then
dwelt upon the occasion OF the ermon.
A brother clergyman, whom he held N
high and affectionate esteem, had de-
clined to take part in an installation be-
cause the Universalist denomination
fellowships men who deny the divinity
of Christ and do not accept the Bible as
the authoritative word of God.
DR.. Blanchard stated fully the argu-
ment for this position. He said it was
held by many able, scholarly and noble
men. In brief, it is that the Christian
church has held that Jesus is divine
because the gospels and epistles teach
that Jesus is more than man.
DR.. Blanchard then stated the argu-
ment of the Liberal Christians. They
say the Scriptures are literature and not
the word of God. Many evangelical
scholars say the same thing. The liberal
Christians argue that each writing shall
be studied by itself. Mark has no &C.
count OF miraculous birth. Matthew and
Luke have. John declares Jesus is the
Logos The epistles teach that Jesus is
more than man. But the church existed
before there was New Testament.
Jesus did not teach the miraculous birth,
nor any doctrine of inspiration or atone
ment. He gathered disciples by teach
ing that God is the Father of all and
that all may be as one with Him. He
said "Hallowed be thy name" "Not
Lord shall enter into the kingdom OF
heaven; but he that doeth the will OF
my Father which is in heaven. By this
shall all men know that ye are my dis
ciples, if ye have love one for another. u
DIR. Blanchard then declared that if
Jesus was miraculously born, He was
not man, and that if he is not a man,
then the Christ as example and witness
of Immortality would be lost to liberal
Christians.
He said, also, that, if their position
was correct, Jesus would strongly disap-
prove, it He were on earth today, the
doctrine of His deity or of His divinity
and the practice Of praying to Him.
He asked why they who believe He is
man should not be shocked byhavingH i'm
called God as much as those who think
Him God or Goldman are shocked by
having Him.called man?
He pleaded for study of books written
by great scholars, showed that DR..
Edward Card regards the Gadorene
miracle as absurd and portentous,
and that DR.. A. B. Bruce admits that the
story of the miraculous birth is no
part OF the original records. He pleaded
finally for unity. If all sects can unite
at Thanksgiving, he wished that they
could unite at other times. He prayed
that fellow Christians might be freed
from metaphysics and get back to:Christ.
His test OF discipleship is love. "By
this-not belief in Trinity or Unity, not
belief in universal salvation or partial
salvation-By this, shall all men know
that ye are my DISCIPLES, if ye have love
for one another"