The record-union., 1895-08-24
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
Expressions From the Various Re-
liglOus Newspapers.

The Religious Thought of the Day as
Expressed in the SectarIan Press
Some Matters OF Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.
christian unity associations, pro-
grammes and conferences are quite the
order of the day" observes the L1V1ng
Church P. E. of Chicago. "They bear
witness to lust one thing, that the evils
of disunion are felt to be almost intolera-
BILE. Beyond that point there Is lIttIe
agreement A root question is whether
institutional religion, in other words.
visible church, with certain unchanged
BILE marks, is of divine origin, and hence
part and parcel of the Christian religion
as it came from the hand Of its Founder?
This question does not seem much nearer
settlement now than in the past, in the
arena of discussion. OF course every
body is familiar with the clever, but
rather Jesuitical line which has been
taken by some churchmen, the fact with
out theory scheme. Let us induce poo
pie TO join the visible church without
obliging them to believe that it is OF God,
and IL The end all be WE'LL But this un-
settled question, with all the proposed
methods of obscuring 1t, OF glosslng II
over, or reconclling opposltes, leads up To
a wider question, namely, whether or
not Christianity is different in kind from
the other chief religions of mankind. II
those who believe that a visible church Is
an essential part OF the dispensation OF
Christ are to be brought into union or
unity with those who deny the same.
why not, while we are about 1t, have still
broader unity? Why should not Chris
tiauity take its place as a school in one
great fraternity or church, side by side
with Hinduism, Buddhism, MOham-
mechanism, ancestor worship, Parseeism
and all of the Isms and cults which The
strivings of men to fulfil the demands OF
the religious instinct have developed in
the world?"
christian unity exists among all those
who recognize one another as followers
OF Jesus Christ. Church unity can exist
only among those who recognize the one
and the same visible seat OF authority IN
church government" says the C0Rgr6 o.
ti0nd{lSt of Boston. I'VE say visible,
because all Christians find the supreme
authority in God as manifested i'll Jesus
Christ. But the chief reason why the
church is divided Is because its different
persons as possessing by tho gift of God
authority TO govern them. The great
line of division is made by opposing the
oriss of the Christian ministry. On one
hand, the Roman and Greek and the
Episcopal Churches hold that Christ gave
10 his twelve apostles the authority over
the churches, and that they have trans
mitted their authority to their SUCCESSORS
down to the present time. On the other
hand, COngregatiOuaiists hold that God
has given authority 10 all followers of
Christ to constitute churches and to gov
ern themselves IN his name. People
who profess supreme loyalty to Jesus
Christ by coVenantDg together become
8 church, and those whom they choose
and set apart to be Bishops hold, under
Christ, the charge TO care for his churches.
Difference of belief as to the seat OF authO-
ity in the church is the principal reason
for the existence OF sects; and these two
opposing views represent, on the one
hand, the monarchical, and, on the other.
the democratic idea of church govern
ment the Episcopal and the Congrega-
tional, while modified forms OF both
have divided the church into many
camps"
''The Archbishop of Canterbury las
constructed the shortest summary of the
principal errors of Rome," says the New
ork Christian -AdUOcdte (Meth.) when
he says that union in the Roman Catho-
lie Church is impossible while she adj
heres to her 'unprimitiye and unscript-
uraI claims But we presume he does
not pause TO consider that that phrase is
just as potent against the exclusive
claims OF having the only true ministry
and the only true sacraments. and there
fore OF being the only true church, put
forth by large majority Of the clergy of
the Anglican Church and Of the Protestant
hi II
like stupendous comedy seems the spec-
tacle of the Anglican Church and OF those
who are In communion with il refusing TO
recognize the rest of the Protestant
world, and of Rome refusing to recog-
nize them"
Among thinking people everywhere
there is, beyond question, a growing
conviction OF the certainty of some di-
vine government of the world, which
awakens new interest in all traditional
forms of faith, says the Christian RegiS-
ter IL nit. of Boston. This return of
belief in the supernatural must bring
more or less new strength to churches Of
every name. 1t will be more or less
however, according TO the Interpretation
of the supernatural which these churches
give. To assume that the Church of
Rome is TO get most of the benefit of this
reviving interest in religion is TO ignore
some very plain difficulties which stand
IN the way OF that church. Its cOnC8p-
tion OF the divine government, and o. the
whole realm of the supernatural, SO ar
as one can judge from the outside, is
widely at variance with the controlling
spirit of modern thought. 1t appears TO
believe in q Providence which is one of
arbitrary will, and not in spiritual or
der governed by laws and principles ca
pable of universal application. " say
this appears To be true, not meaning 10
declare what the teaching of the Church
of Rome really is, or what its symbolism
implies TO those who cherish il. We
may, however. say with some confidence
that is the way in which the modern
mind mostly understands its teachings:
and, as this mind. under the influences Of
science, has been trained TO think o the
universe as one illimitable domain of
law, it will not take kindly TO any SUPER
natural world IN which divine favOrs are
conferred through the personal influence
Of the saints"
with the object and spirit of Count
Tolstoi all reverent Christians must be in
hearty agreement" says the New York
Outlook. Most of them viii readily
grant that the important truth is not
what is said about the Master, but what
the Master taught. The essential thing
about telescope is, not how it is con-
structed. whence il came, or the material
of which it is made, but whether il re-
veals to observers the depths of the stei-
lar universe; aud the essential thing
about Jesus is, not who He was or whence
He came, but whether He SO reveals the
divine and the eternal as TO satisfy the
struggling and sometimes despairing
hearts of men in their quest for truth.
Count Tolstoi has done real service in
thus focusing the thought of the Chris
tiau world on the doctrine of Jesus as all
that men need 10 live by; but it seems 10