The record-union., 1895-08-17
TN RELIGIONS REALM.
Expressions From the Various Re
liglOus Newspapers.
The Religious Thought of the Day as
Expressed In the Sectarian Fress-
Some Matters of Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.


blunder," says the New York Church"aGn
(P. E. ''to postulate break IN the con-
tinuity Of the church's organic lie from
the first Whitsun Day, by regarding Inc
apostolic order as a unique and tempo
rary expediant Of the divine tounder OF
the Church; this would imply change
in the divine plan which II Is dlfncult To
account for. 1t would, moreover, ap- |
pear also to lodge the power and ell
cheney of the Christian ministry IN What
was only the accident of human opportu-
nifty. or in the individual possession OF
extraordinary attainments. and not IN
the grace of God, which must be as pow
erful to-day as it was in the day OF st.
Peter and st. Paul. The fact that the
grace of God, and not special opportunity
or supreme attainments, made st. Paul F!
what he was, St. Paul himself claims,
and the annals of the church up TO TINS |
present time have shown Us that the
same grace has been abundant in other !
strong and exemplary lives among mem-
Ders OF the Christian ministry. There Is
10 reason. therefore, for thinking tnat
the apostolate was unique order OF the
ministry, temporary eXpedlent 10 pass
away after the death OF ST. John, as lar as
regards its functions or its supernatural
power. Nor can it be shown that the
apostolate might become obsolete because
it became no longer needed"
"One of the things which our human
nature takes for granted" observes the
New York EUa1geiiSt pres. J, ''is that we
who now live and converse together, will
be alive and conscious OF ourselves and
of each other in the next world. a man
just as instinctively expects external eX-
lsteEce TO follow death as another day to
follow sleep. We believe III Immortality
because we cannot help ii. Unbelief on
this point is a matter OF education. 1t
costs great deal more to doubt and deny
the inmost confidence OF a heart on vital
matters than any one knows until he
tries. And we have little patience TO ar
que with one who has taken up the op-
posite and then asks to be converted back
to belief. The condition of mind in such
8 case is al once contradictory and un-
reasonable. First let man cease his
warfare with his own consciousness, and
then we can safely leave him to answer
the question for himself In dealing with
these matters we should simply follow !
Scripture and our own sense. Argument |
IS only a tlattering Of unreason and unbe- |
lief Let the facts alone. they neither
fight nor fly. They remain unchanged, |
unchanging for ali our fret and obsti-
macy, All the world OF man has believed
and will continue to believe, in another
world and another life. We who have
the true light are conscious Of it, it vim
dicat9s Itself in US. We are not troubled
for grounds OF our belief; we open our
eyes simply and are satisfied. We say
20 any in doubt or darkness, Come and
seep"
'In all error" says the New York out
iOok, there is some truth; in all phases
of error q witness to the truth. The fact
that the North American Indian believes
in q happy hunting ground, and the Mo-
hammedan IN a sensuOus paradise.ls is itself
an indication that the better faith of the
more spiritually developed soul is not
without ground III the universal nature
OF man. albeit his conception of what inn
mortality will bring him is doubtless
also crude, and viii give place III later
spiritual development TO higher concep-
ton. So the welI-nigh universal faith
in q spiritual world surrounding US, ex-
pressing itself in all sorts of vagaries
from the fetch fears of the African,
through the half belief in fairies, gnomes,
and nympbs of past times, to the spirit
ual communications OF our own time,
affords an Indication that there is another
and an unseen world which has some as
yet not understood relation to our world
of flesh and blood. SO the universally
of reverence, expressing itself in SO many
forms and in so widely different phases
OF experience, from the reverence OF
mere physical dread, through those OF
wonder and awe, up TO that OF adoratOn
and love, both aLtests the truthfulneSS of
the vision which has evoked this expert
ence and lends dignity to the earlier and
cruder phases by showing TO what noble
issue they inevitable grow. SO, yet
again, the worlds universal belief in
miracles-that is, in some signs Of the SUI
pernatural-should lead the philosopher,
not to class all miracles together as de-
lusiOn, but rather to look for the genuine
OF which the spurious are limitations and
COunterfeits." f"
"'Picking the Bible to pieces is not the
right way to speak of the labors of men
whose only fault Is that, having searched
the Scriptures longer and deeper than
others, they have learned more Of what
the Bible truly is and Of what il contains
than is yet known to the majority of
Christians" says the Christian Register
UniE) or Boston. "But the spread of
this new knowledge throughout the
church is inevitable. 1t is as certain to
displace whatever theories conflict with
il as any other discovery is sure 10 make
its way against the errors and half truths
that oppose it. The leaders of popular
religious thought would now much better
signify their wisdom if instead of trying
10 silence these new authorities, they
were to try to prepare for and ease what
ever shock il may cost the believing heart
10 discover that some OF its cherished
ideas must be given up and laid aside. 1t
may be said that 10 the practical, every
day Christian the new facts which Bible
study has yielded are not in themselves
of great consequence one way or the
other This is probably true. But why,
then, are good and true men being tried
for heresy simply because, these facts
having been brought to their notice, they
cannot honestly pretend 10 believe Jradl-
tiOnal statements IN opposition TO them2
The truth is that, however little tho in
teresis of practical religion may seem 10
be at stake, the most fundamental Ques-
tions az 10 the proper method and atti-
tude of Christian thought are up for SET
tlement. Now. as so many times before
our dav, it is 10 be determined how much
an ignorant majority has TO restrain in
Yesfigation ana conclusion from going
beyond what 1t is pleased 10 consider the
final limit Of knowledge"
zone very plausible theory relating to
the decrease in missionary interest and
offerings" says the Licteg Church lP. e.
OF Chicago, was presented recently by
the New York kUentRg Post. viz, that
the romance OF missions has worn out.
DOUBTLESS we have come down to the
hard, matter Of fact condition OF heatheu
life. at home and abroad; we have seen
that printing Bibles, and singing hymns.
and distributing tracts, and preaching
sermons have very little effect upon the
enormous aggregate Of heatheuism, preju-
diced in ignorance or conceitsd in learn
ing. upon which our missionary enthu-
siasm has been spent II is well for Us
TO accept this fact, and to welcome the
suggestion that the conservative and con-
structive methods in missionary work
must be more and more employed.
Without assuming TO decide the 0uestion
the LiC}Hg Church ventures an oninion
=