The record-union., 1894-02-17
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
Expressions From the Various Re-
ligiOus Newspapers
The Religious Thought of the Day as
Expressed In the Sectarian Press
Some Matters of Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.

Speaking of rationalism in the church,
the Living Church (P. E. of Chicago
says: Attention should not be diverted
from this turning issue by the excesses
OF high churchmen or ritualists and the
charge of 'Romanizing.' For ourselves,
we fail to see any ground for alarm in
this quarter. The sporadic utterances or
sets of an individual here and there can
not in any case be taken as indications of
the tendency of the catholic movement
in the church, whose real leaders are
well-known, and which has produced
q body of literature during many years
past which makes its aims perfectly clear
to all who choose to inform themselves.
There will always be men who will say
and do foolish things, who will show but
dim perception of the difference between
things which are vital and things indiffer-
ent, who viii indulge in extravagances
of some kind or other. But these cases
have never been found to express the
meaning OF the movement itself. Left to
be dealt with by the wisdom of their own
Bishops, they have ultimately found their
level. The 'ritualist' is likely to be al
ways with US in some form or other, and
we can deal with him IN various ways, as
has been seen in times past. But the ra-
tonalist and unbeliever in the dress of
the priest is a phenomenon which we
sincerely hope is not TO be permanent
factor. 1t is for the suppression OF this
product of the period that The forces of
all who love the religion of Christ as this
church hath received the same ought TO
be ombined. In view of this, which is a
real emergency, it will be well not TO al
low attention to be diverted from the
main issue, even though an individual,
now and then, not able to understand the
meaning of the times in which he lives,
may challenge attention by his vaga-
Ties."
Speaking of the recently published let
ters of Roman Catholic prelates on the
public school question, the National Bdp-
tiSt of Philadelphia remarks: 1T will be
observed that the replies are of various
classes. Some OF the ecclesiastics, with
honorable frankness, declare themselves
in favor of the proposed division. Others
express themselves in way perfectly
non-committal, while others still use
language to which we can attach no deli
mite meaning; those who express them
selves as opposed to the division of the
school money, do not commit themselves
III such language as will stand in the
way OF their expressing very different
sentiments hereafter. The same ecclesl-
astical judgment which compelled ST.
George Mivart to submit to the church
and to withdraw the sentiments expressed
in his articles in the Nineteenth Century
would, OF course, constrain all the eccle-
siastics in the same way. Written in be-
tween the lines Of the letters from the
Archbishops and Bishops should be the
words: unless the Pope declares to the
contrary All history testifies to two
things: First, 1t IS always the policy of
the Catholic Church to gain control over
education; the Order of Jesuits, most
crafty, most Roman of the Romanists,
has especially devoted itself to the work
of education and to making education
subservient to their church. Macaulay
has somewhere said that they have dis
covered the exact limit to which educa-
tion can be carried without danger of
emancipating the human mind. Second,