The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-14
THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST.
The Lines Of Belief Of the Christian
Church.

Inc Points in Which It Differs From
Other Evangelical Denominations.
Rev. Mr.. Blenus Believes the Union
of Christian People is Practical as
Soon as the Correct Basis of Union
is Understood and Appreciated.
In view of what Rev. DR. Upper, of
the Baptist church of Denver, Col, re-
Gently said at a ministers association of
that city of the future union of the Chris
tian and Baptist churches under the name
of the former, and as the matter has
| caused no little comment in religious cir
Giles, Rev. T. H. Blenus, at the request of
a number of people, gives the following
brief summary outline of the position of
| the people he represents.
The Christian church, or Church of the
Disciples of Christ, has always discarded
human names and unscriptural titles, and
| doubtless will ever continue to do so, as it
| believes human names and human titles
perpetuate aud promote divisions. This
church expects no divisions in heaven, and
most earnestly contends that there should
| be no divisions among the people of God
In the world. In order to Christion union
| 1t justly urges, in all brotherly kindness,
the adoption of scriptural words and
| phrases in the declaration of scriptural
ideas, believing that this course would go
far to bringing the Lords people nearer
together.
The Christian church refuses to adopt
any human creed or confession of faith,
! because such creeds and confessions of
faith have proved themselves to be schis-
matical heretical, and subversive of
| Christian liberty, and an impeachment
to the conversion of the world to Christ,
and because they are unnecessary, as the
scriptures are admitted to be infallibly
right, and to contain all things necessary
to salvation. The Bible, and the Bible
| alone, is the basis on which this people are
striving to effect Christian union, and
they are trying to inculcate unity in
matters of faith, liberty in matters of
! opinion, and charity in all things. They
recognize the destintion between faith
and opinions, and while they are one in
faith, they never make opinions test of
fellowship.
FOLLOW THE BIBLE.
1t is their constant aim to speak when
and where the Bible speaks, and be silent
when and where the Bible is silent, and
In this way to obviate the difficulties in
the way of such union and the CONVEX
sion of the world. The Christian church
has been very much misrepresented by
uniformed and pre1udiced persons who
have condemned them without hearing.
This church is certainly orthodox in the
true sense of that term. In their faith
and general practice these people are gen
orally admitted even by their opponents,
| who use, without prejudice, the proper
means of informing themselves, to occupy
the strong vantage ground of apostolic
! christianity
The Christian church breaches a
change of heart by faith in Jesus Christ,
change of character by repentance
toward Cod and a change of state or con-
dition by baptism into Christ's death and
| into his body. Baptism is regarded "for
the remission of SINS only when it is
preceded by faith and repentance. Bap-
| tlSmal regenerati ton is not taught, but re-
| pudiated as unscriptural and opposed to
the spirit and genius of Christian faith
and practice.
No people in the world believe more
| firmly in the divinity of Christ than they
| do, and none can exalt the saviour of men
any higher, and to love God and keep his
! commandments, they regard as the whole
| duty of man and essential in order to zen
ter in through the gates into the city" of
the living God. They place equal stress
on the duties of faith, repentance, confess
| sion of Christ, baptism, calling on the
name of the Lord, prayer, public and pri-
vate worship, benevolence and every
! other commandment of the Christian dis
| pensation, and they never preach nor ad-
| NIT that some are essential and others
non-essential
ATTRIBUTED TO THE GRACE OF GOD.
But while they consider it indispensable
to love God and keep his commandments,
they do not expect to merit salvation by
| their own acts of obedience or good quail
ties. They attribute salvation to the
grace of God as the original moving cause
to the Lord Jesus Christ as the procuring
and mediatorial cause. to the blood of
Christ as the meritorious and cleansing
cause, to the spirit as the efficient cause,
to the lncorruptible word of God or the
gospel as the instrumental cause, and to
faith and obedience as the concurring
cause
They understand salvation to be as
cribed to all these causes and not to any
one alone. They believe in the existence,
the personality and the divinity of the
holy spirit. They believe that he is the
author of their conversion. They teach
that he is the abiding comforter and that
he abides in Christians. They believe
that no special divine influence, superad-
| ded to the word of God to energize is
either needed or promised. They believe
that the word of God faithfully preached
produces faith, and that where it fails to
do so, the fault is in man, in the quality
and condition of the soil, not in the lack
of energy or spiritual force in the seed.
The word is the seed of the kingdom; as
Christ taught; it converts the soul it
imparts life; it is Gods power to save.
GODS WORD NOT DEAD LETTER
The Christian church rejects all
theories which make Gods word dead
letter, and that teach sinners to expect
and await some special quickening spirit
ual power apart from it, This people at
tach no mystic, magic virtue to the bap-
tismal waters, or to the act of obedience
to this ordinance. They do not teach a
water salvation. nor have they ever done
so. Mr. Campbell, a profound scholar
and eloquent teacher of this church, more
than sixty years ago, wrote represent
atively of this matter, when he said II
have said thousand times that if a per-
son were to be baptized twice seven times
for the remission of sins, or for the recep-
tion of the holy spirit, it would avail
nothing unless his heart is changed by the
word and spirit of God"
They do not hold baptism as a cause of
forgiveness, but as one of the conditions.
1t has no connection with pardon, except
by virtue of a divine appointment. We
do not say God cannot forgive without it.
We speak only Of what is promised.
They teach that the Lords Supper is a
memorial feast and as primitively should
be observed each Lords day. They eat
and drink ana worship as they remember
the suffering Savior. They do not par