Birmingham age-herald., 1895-06-03
South Highlands Presbyterian Church.

The pastor, Rev. John Barbour, preached on Christian Unity" from Christ's prayer that the disciples might be one. He said
 Every Christian heart responds to this petition; and, God be thanked, there has always been a measure of this unity even between far-separated commun- ions. There has always been an under T tone of response between Christian hearts of every creed. This is not new thing in the Christian churches I have seen no little of real unity right here in Bir mingham. The only new thing about it that l know of Is that it has finally reached the prelatic churches. Between the mass of the Protestant churches there is fraternity and a cooperation that is usual and habitual and has been so for years. It is indeed matter of felc itation that the heart and conscience of prelatic Christ tendom are at last stirred. They should be frankly and affectionate- ly met, however chinerical may seem to us their plan of union. Bear in mind:
 l, This is to be spiritual union; a union of hearts and characters. If we could come to agree upon one plan of organiza ton, that would not necessarily be the union for which Christ prayed
 The variations of Professionalism are much commented on. But where is there greater unity? What sympathy is there between the Greek, the Papal and the Anglican communions? And there are irreconcilable parties in each of these.
 Would one mode of baptism make us really one? Suppose we could all be Presbyterians in form would that make us one in spirit?
 We have been asked to preach upon this subject on this commemoration of the day of Pentecost. But this is by no means a felicitous day to insist upon eX- ternal unity. The church never had less organization than it had on Pentecost, and it never had more real unity,
 2. It is to be through the truth. The days of mere authority are gone. The spirit uses the truth, and above all the word. The Bible is the only standard about which Christians can rally. It is simple, accessible, authoritative. But you say we cannot agree on the Bible. Then we are not likely to accept the writings of fathers, the records of coun- cils. the readings of Greek dictionaries.
 It must be authoritative truth that gathers us. I have less and less patience with mere agreements to unite upon this or that We will get together the sooner by each following his own convictions as to what God requires us to believe. And l feel certain that it is not by going back to simpler statements that unity is to be reached. We are not going back to anything.
 Things do not go back; they go for ward. New things come. The spirit of God is not dead. l believe profoundly in the progress of Christendom. We are not going back to the apostles creed. . The movement is not toward barrenness, ; but toward larger expressions of truth. ! To realize this, just consider that the separated church of God holds today more truth in common than the united church in the carliesa periods. The Splr- it is leading us into new truth all the time and new agreement, despite our diversity.
 B. It is to come about with the progress of true religion. A vast deal of our diff ferences 1 believe to be within the lib- erty of the spirit. So far as it is due to faults of character or disSeDsion, unity must come about with more love, more forbearance-in short, more religion; and the work of grace takes time. Now. when think of these details of faith and worship that have not been prescribed by the Spirit in the Word, more and more probable does it become to my mind that the Christian hosts will never be united into one form of organization. It does not seem to me desirable unless the church is to be thereby advanced in spir- itual character. And yet, in the spirit of