The record-union., 1895-01-25
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 position of the Roman Catholic
Church before the public is one of the
most striking and interesting facts of our
time," remarks the New York Observer
IPres.). sit may not be prominence de-
sired by that church, since it draws upon
1t and its methods the attention OF all
classes of critics. Even the comic papers
and humorous weeklies, rejecting public
opinion, have published cartoons in
tended to satirize the methods and expose
the aims of the church in regard to the
public schools and the control of munl-
cipal government. This church is thus
placed upon its defense and its whole
history passes in review. 1t is not strange
that Cardinal Gibbons has acknowledged
that in the fifteenth and sixteenth centu-
ries the church needed some reformation,
although he declares the efforts should
have been merely to reform and not
overthrow. At this moment, when these
questions come to the front, the publica-
tion of Mr. Froude's lectures on the life
and letters of Erasmus is most seasona-
able, and they are found exceedingly
suggestive. 1t has been the aim OF linn
lted set of historians, and especially those
connected with the Roman Catholic
Church, to bellttle or miSrepresent the
Reformation and it's causes. They have
desired to depreciate Luther and remove
some Of the stains of the papacy.
They rightly judge that if the Raforma-
ti0n is justified, Romanism is for ever
discrediIed-basing its claims on the Vi
carship of the Pope and the dogma of in
tallibility. But here comes Eroude, and
opening to our eyes the letters OF Eras-
mus let's him describe the church and the
conclusions. Froude holds no brief for
Luther or the Reformation. He gives us
merely the materials for forming our
own opinion-unbiased by his sugges-
tion."
"The New Testament is like monu-
ment built of cOnglOmerateS, and in
scribed ali over with testimonials to the
greatest fact of human history" observes
the Christian Register Unit.) of Boston.
I'VE are learning to regard it as body
of early Christian literature of varying
value, The product of honest and earnest
minds, wonderfully elevated and illu-
minated, not without true spiritual
prompting and guidance, yet also not
without intellectual and moral limita-
tions, and not without the stain of their
times When the morning Of Christi
anity dawned, there We're clouds all
around the sky. These clouds must have
made the morning all the more pictu-
rescue, but we need not cOnfound shad-
ows with the sunshine which they both
obscured and glorified. In the four Cos
pels and apostolic letters it is easy to find
elements borrowed from Ezra's compila-
tion of ancient records and conditions,
from rabbinical commentaries, from apo
calyptic writings of post-Maccabea
times, from Zoroastrian mythology, and
from Greek and Philonic philosophy.
We are no longer free TO trust these
elements as materials for the construc-
ton of dogma, or as part OF the SUBJ
stance OF faith; but they are rich illustra-
tions of the development of religious
thought, and, having passed into Ian
guage and literature, they steadily lend
themselves to the service of religious ex-
preston. T he words that represent only
fancy and dream-stuff have certain dra-
matte properties; they may serve as pig
ment and picture serve painter and poet,
or as unmeaning sounds and syllabIes
serve the musician. They may become
vehicles Of noble feeling and true thought,
or may be used as the adopted and ac-
cepted names of facts"
"Those who imbibe the views of our
new teachers come by degrees to per-
ceive that thoy are no longer Christians
in the sense in which they once under
stood that word" declares the .LiUinq
Church (P. E. of Chicago. The ancient
Gnostics harmoniZed Christianity with
man, making it special phase or an
exoteric form of something which they
deemed to be far grander and more mag
niticent. Our modern Gnostics do the
same. They corrupt the doctrine of the
incarnation into a new latter-day pan
theism, and instead of preaching humil-
lty and p9nltence, make man part of
the Divine Being. They are able to re-
tain much Christian phraseolgy and even
to reclte the creeds, though now and then
the mask is lifted, and we are told that
the literal statements of the creed do not
matter, provided that we retain certain
subtle essence of doctrine. The exter-
nal features of this theological scheme
which may serve as tests even to the un-
initiated, are, first, that it announces itself
as new but in the sphere OF the faith
what is true is not new, and what is new
is not true Second, this system holds
the creeds loosely; sometimes claiming
that it is sufficient to adhere to the letter as
magnificent cipher or 'cryptogram,'
conceallng meaning never dreamed of
by Apostles, Fathers and Councils; and
sometimes, as now in the matter of the
Virgin BIRTH holding the latter as quite
unimportant, provided what is called the
essence be maintained. 1t may well
arouse suspicion also when a system
calling itself Christian is viewed with
patroniZing tolerance by the cosmic phil
osopher who has sat at the feet OF August
Compile"
''ln its revised FORM" says the New
4ork Churcin,an (P. E.), "the prayer
book distinctly shows what it is and what
1t means. 1t shows alSo-and this is of no
small moment in missionary work -
nothing whatever of a controversial
spirit. 1t finds no fault with other
forms. 1t announces broad Christian
Verltles which are part of the heritage of
the historic church. 1t employs forms
which would have been at once recog-
nlZed and received in the upper chamber
OF Jerusalem and in the caves of Rome's
catacombs, and which have to-day no
touch OF quaintness or obsoleteness. We
do not say that in all cases the prayer
book will be successful missionary; but
IN all probability, unless there is a special
obstacle IN some particular form or arti-
Gle OF faith, no one can study it fairly
without being drawn to desire to use it.
and no one can use it much without
yielding to its spell. Human colporteurs
may be lndiscreet, human advocates gifted
lhow often?l with the faculty of stimulat-
ing opposition. The charm of the PRAYER
book in this work lies in its wonderful
balance and quiet poise. One cannot ex-
aggerate single phase of its teaching,
but there will be found on the next page
scorrective antidote."
"a Presbyterian minister can preach
in any evangelical pulpit the doctrines
that he breaches in his own,v declares the
Interior (Pres.) of Chicago, Except on
those occasions when he breaches a
clearly defined statement and defense of
our logical Calvinistic system. But this is
not regarded as so necessary in our pull
pits, for the reason that we do not re-
INn <4.,.