The record-union., 1893-08-05
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
Express ions From the Various Re-
lEgiOus Newspapers
The Reli RIous Thought of the Day NJ
Expr' sssed in the Sectarian Press
Some Matters of Interest to Both
Mtnif'te,rs and Laymen.

| MtnilSte,rs and Laymen.
'The discussion in the General Assem-
bly, of the Presbyterian Church on the
subject of Christian unity ought to sat
lsfy every impartial observer that the
project of union without absorption by
mutual concession, is in the last degree
chimeri' al" says the LiUiag Chnrcd tP.
e. Of Chicago. The only concessions
we are able to discern are those which
are expected of our church. She is ex-
pected . turn her back upon the past ig-
more the principles for which she has al
ways cOntended, and to assent to Drac-
tIces which she has always repudiated as
contrary to her divine stewardship. Two
things will be required of her, first that
she shall recognize the ordination of
Presby serian Bishops,' that is, shall as
sent to the proposition that ali Presby-
terrain ministers are bishops and have
been egularly and validiy ordained to
that hi gh office. Logically this involves
tho pos ltlon that the priests of the church,
members of a second order which Pres
| byterlAns do not recognize, must take a
lower place than tho resbyterian minis
tors. The second requirement is this,
that the two churches shall sit at the
comm union table, We do not say that
these propositions have been officially
proml ugated, but they emerge with per-
lect dlstuctneSS i'll the course of the de-
! pate as reported in the Washington pa
/ pers. Moreover, cover it up as we may,
tthe position expressed by these PROPOSE
uons IS a necessary and logical outcome
OF a kind Otunity which is not ABSORPTION,
! k'rpShV raiI
trained in logic not to draw the irresisti-
bic practical conclusion from the prem
lses with which we have supplied them;
! they have also too much sel1-respect to be
salts lied with any terms which do not
squarely admit the unimpeachable valid
lty OF their orders, so long as they are not
themselves convinced OF the contrary.
And no one can say that they are not en-
tirely justified in such position"
''If the phrase AN iridescent dream
can ever be nuy employed perhaps it
may be used 10 describe the hope of
chi rch unity, as that hope has assumed
sha pc III many earnest minds" says the
Cbs-tNtta7t RegiSter nit OF Boston.
within the church some good people
have come to believe that their own de-
nomination may soon absorb others or
that system of federation can be started
which Will bring the different sects under
| one organization. Outside the church
ouler good people are looking for the rise
OF wholly new non-secttrian movement
v hch Will grow to take the place now
hHld by denOminatiOnal churches. Either
OF these may be cOnSummatiOn de
vpuIy TO be wished;' and one cannot say
that either Is impossible as the outcome
OF future more or less remote. But one
can say that, in point Of fact there is not
to-day the slightest sign or trace Of
movement strong enough to bring about
/ IL,
UNITY we mean, not organic oneness, but
| unity OF the spirit, that is growing very
fast IN our day, and gives promise of most
! beneficial results. In any community
! winch may fairly call itself civilized, the
old warfare between churches of different
names is almost wholly thing of the
past. To rail against the denominations
| for their uncharitable treatment Of one
| another is to treat the exception as if it
were the rule. For the most part the va
rIous households of faith regard one an
other with great respect. 1T is not at all
uncommon to find them working to-
| gether for common purposes with entire
! agreement and good will. For the rest
| 1t IS probable that any town which sup
| ports, say, half dozen churches, is better
suited and served by them than it could
| be by one great church that would give
less room for the play OF separate individ-
! ualltles. 1t is only needed that these
! churches shall learn to leave on terms of
| mutual help and respect, and that is the
lesson they are rapidly acquiring"
The New York ChurchDan Up. F.l saws
| ut becomes worth while to ask the ques-
ton whether the scholastic type of preach
er IS, after all, the most potent in the pull
| pit. We know that the practical man Of
! affairs, the merchant, statesman or law
! yer, IS not boOkworm. He is a student
OF men and Of events. The most import
/ mt 4 I,,x;,,, =
| day were handled with amazing intiu-
ence IL England by Magee and Wilber-
| force ct neither of them relied upon
| large and ever increasing stores Of learn
| ing for his power. What they did rely
| upon, and what Phillips Brooks relied
! upon, was clear-sighted common sense.
nigh Ideal, and careful study of the
needs and aspirations OF those they ad-
| dressed. Their original vigor Of mind,
| their intellectual Independence, Spontan-
| city OF emotion were not checked or op-
pressed by the weight of learning's Ium-
| ber The principles Of the doctrine of
! Christ were less subjects for intellectual
! discussion than for earnest feeling
| When, therefore, the need is so often as
serted OF learning in a preacher, let it be
| remem bered that sometimes the spark of
| fire may be put out by the excess of fuel
! beaped up over it. Men can obtain the
| illogical information from the books that
are so rapidly accumulating, and they
need not look TO the pulpit for tine-drawn
| dlsqulsitions, for exhaustive statements.
! But strength of conviction, purity OF pur-
| pose and enthusiasm, when they appear
in preacher who knows his own mind
and his own people, produce an effect
! that is irresistible. A bOOkIess preacher
may prove himself a power where, with
all the boOk-learniDg in the world, a man
without knowledge of himself and of the
human heart may preach in vain."
The following is from the New York
Outlook: The working faith of a multi
tude is expressed III the comment once
made to Carlyle by his mother: Thomas,
the world is a lie, but God is true.' With
all his marvellous endowments CARLYLE
never got beyond this frightful contradic-
ton which has its root in atheism. There
are lies in this world because there are
men IN 1t who make and utter lies; but if
God is true the world must also be true.
The dlt1culty with most of us is that we
DelleYe as lar as we can see, and we edOubt
the rest OF the way; when we come to the
great mystery OF pain, sin, sorrow and
waste, we involve the Devil, and divide
the government OF the universe between
him and COD. This is an easy and decep-
tive solution Of the mystery: but to the
! thoughtful man 1t is no solution at all
either IN religion or philosophy. No
compromise is possible between faith and
atheism, however often theology NAV
have tried, in its intellectual blindness
and spiritual faiutness of heart, to make
one There is God, or there is not: if
there is no God, no man can think evil
enough of this world and the life men
live in it; If there is a God, nothing is too
good to believe. because. as Paul has told