The record-union., 1894-04-21
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
Expressions From the Various Re-
ligious Newspapers
The Religious Thought of the Day as
Expressed In the sectarlan Press
Some Matters of Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.

The Living Church (P. E.) of Chicago
says: Commenting on the stand our
Bishops have taken on Ministerial Re-
ciprocity,' the Ct9iStidn Inquirer says:
'Baptists' are glad. while they believe
Episcopal brethren are wrong in their
conclusions, that they have the courage
of their convictions. The most contemp-
ible people in the world are those who
adhere to a denomination without any
conscience as TO its polity or doctrines.'
Yet, OF the 300 sects, more or less, how
many claim, after the first excitement of
separation, that the distinctive princi-
pies which they represent are essential TO
the being of the church? How many of
their members have any conscience as
to what denomination they belong to?
Those who have divided the body of
Christ must bear the burden of proof.
Are they maintaining their organizations
IN the defense OF doctrines and truths
necessary to salvation, or to crafty taste
and preference, or in conformity to ira
ditions which they have never investi-
gated or questioned? If the points of
difference upon which they continue
apart are vital, they are inconsistent,
they are culpable, i'll allowing any af1ilia-
ton or reciprocity with denominations
which have their rdGSo4s IL etre in opposing
principles. If these points are not vital,
how shall they justify their separation?
Let church unity begin with those who
believe that 'one church is as good as an
other.'''
There is a conservatism which is
steadfast; there is also a conservatism
which is merely stuckfastU observes the
Christian Rpvjcfo7. IFTnir of
Zone blocks the wheels behind to pre-
vent going backward; the other blocks
the wheel in front, and so makes need
Iessly difficult and laboriOus the advance
OF humanity, which is all the way uphill.
One would transmit to the future all the
vltaIitles of the past; the other insists
that the corpse OF yesterday shall never
be buried out of sight. There is a radi-
calism which claims all the ground of the
world for the unobstructed growth of the
roots Of the tree OF life, and there is a
radicalism which plays havoc with all
roots, like the irreverent snout of swine
IN garden. If there is stupid and vul-
gar conservatism which blindly swallows
the whole mixture of good, bad and in
different, merely because it is too tinid,
too indolent, or too prejudiced to exam
Inc aud discriminate, there is also reck-
less and anarchistie radicaliSm which is
equally wanting in judicial sense, and
equally wholesome in its acceptanceS and
rejections. To prove all things, and hold
fast that is good, must be practical out
come and application Of the great COM
mandment, which enjoins supreme love
TO the Supreme Excellence. To prove
nothing, and to hold fast only what has
been clutched by chance, is the folly OF
both the extremes"
sit seems to US. in our humble judg-
ment," says the New York Christian In
tettigencer (Ref.), ''that there could be no
marked decline in the pulpit except with
q corresponding spiritual declension all
along the line. While the Church of
Christ to-day is below the standard of
what she should be, yet that line is not
beneath but rather above the previous
average. Facts do not justify the charge
of general subsistence and spiritual neg