The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1895-12-12

| ouiy saying taot al enemy uatn
sown tares among the wheat while
men slept; that the tares choke tie
wheat; that Satan as an angel of
light deceiyes, If possible, the very
elect. There is no more painful ev-
idenee Of the unhealthy spiri, of the
Church Of to day than that, in pull
pit and pew, SO many of the great
est fail utterly in the face of
eighteen centuries of the Church
history to distinguish between the
Church and Christianity. and that
prominent ministers and layman
patiently lend themselves in the
the Sunday issue Of secular news
paper to the denunciation and pic:ur-
ing of a fellow-layman as hell
bound infidel, when he had declared
with emphasis that genuine Christi
anity in all our life is the one su-
preme need of these troublous times.
But such action was not surprisip
to the thoughtful. 1t is very an.
cient custom, and will be repeated
from time to time until no man can
say that "Chrlst lies, as it were,
asleep in the vesse! of the Church."
"The more spiritual and profound
historians of the Church recognize
it as a manifestation of this divine
Life flowing into human history
But this is true of the organized
Church only with important qualifica-
tons. The Life must manifest itself
in an organizations; but the organi-
zation is neither the only nor the
complete exposition of the Life"
The church has never been assured
against the entrance of the elements
alien to her, which have influenced
and dominated her.
Who shall deny that in the first
century-the pure Apostolic days
the Church at Corinth disgraced her.
self, as Fisher says, by gross moral
delinquencies; that the foolish Gala
tions bartered the liberty of the Cos
pei for a narrow Journalism; and that
the Church at Ephesus left her first
love and drifted into the widest
speculative errorsf So great, indeed,
was the Decentralization within the
first century that st. John, 'being
in the Spirit on the Lords day" and
directed to "write the things which
are and the things which shall be
hereafter" became under. the i'm
mediate voice of the Glorifed Son
of God the Church's severest critic
and accuser for all time. The best
he could say of the Church at Sardis,
for instance, which had a name t.
live but was dead.' was "thou hast
a few names even in Sardis that
have not defiled their garments" of
the Laodicean Church he said: 81
know thy works, that thou art
neither cold or hot; l would thou
vert cold nor hot; so then because
thou art lukewarm, and neither
cold nor hot, l will spew the out
Of my mouth. Because thou sayest
am rich and have gotten riches,
and have need Of nothin G; and know
est not that thou art the wretched
; one and miserable and poor and
blind and naked: l counsel thee to
!; buy of me gold refined by fire, that
thou mayest become rich; and white
garments that thou mayest clothe
: thyself, and the shame of thy naked
) ness be not made manifest; and eye
salve to anoint thine eyes that thou
mayest $780," OF the seven Churches
in Asia, only one, the Church al
J Philadelphia 'brotherly love"-re.
ceived praise without censure.
Nevertheless, the mon and the
, press that have seen fit to write very
harshly of me, have all based theil
criticisms upon the assumption thai
, the Church and Christianity are one
and the same. Against Christianity
, l have said nothing. Ihave declared
.. very positively that the Church ane
Christianity are not the same, and
purpose showing that they have no
I been through all these centuries
j Christianity is the very genius o
human freedom, while the Church
in so far as it is un-C Christly (ant
: that may be to an astonishing de
gree), is always its enemy. Ibeliev'
y with DeTocqueville, that "Bibl
? Christianity is the companion of lib
: erty in all it's conflicts, the cradle o
o its infancy, and the divine source o
J. it's claims" 1 will reverence Chris
9 and His teachings, as the founda
7 tion of all that is good in our civil
IS zation. l must not be expected
a however, to reverence a Churc]
:, which, not being His. masquerade
q rather in His name-a g1lded latter
g day illustration of the Jewish Churc
e in Christ's own time when ruled b
1t the Scribes and Pharisees; who be
II ing careful of the outside of the Gu
70 and the platter and of the tombs 4
!, the prophets their fathers had slain
q none the less devoured widow
l. houses and boasted of whited sepu
g chres though filed with dead men
1t bones and all uncleanness. Thes
q "hypocrites," as the Master calle
e them, doubtless loved their Church
a more, indeed, than they did th
teaching of Jesus or Isaiah. "
le upon them our Lord poured III
le most withering denunciation; Will
10 they in return, leaguing themselve
1t with worldly authority for advan
le age, crucifed Him, that they migl
ID hear no more of their short coming
in This same spirit has dominated tt
ID Church for more than fifteen cent
ly ries until now, the spirit that d
N mands for release mot Jesus, b1
ce Barabbas."
m Yet says the n. C. Presbyterian
IL "The Church caunot exist wltho1
IN Christ. You cannot divorce Il
Of Lamb from His bride; you cam
a. sever the Head of the Church fro
is its body-and Christ is the Head
r. the Church. There Is no such thing
~ a Christless Church." And the Chri
at tian Advocate, in this day
thought and noble aspiration, al
n, widespread disregard and oppre
Is, sion of men, serenely says: 'It
ed important that we should have
re stronger spirit of reverence for t
en- Church and her institutions. ~
ty man who goes about the count
ng and cries out against the Chur
o&