The record-union., 1895-12-21

time to doubt that God is in the world,
ruling the nations and preparing them
for the acceptance of a religion whose
foundations were laid once and for all
time Religion never had greater re-
suits to show; religion never had more
beautiful characters to Illustrate the
saving and purifying power of the Cos
pei; religion never produced a broader
and more philanthropic spirit; 1T never
commanded the loving assent and the
anxious endeavors of SO many people"
Christian unity says the New York
Examiner Bapt), must be based, first
Of all, upon the exercise of justice on
the part of each denomination to every
other. Any Misrepresentation, any in
| justice, is absolutely fatal to the hope
Of Christian or church unity. This is
one ground on which we protest against
the existence of a State church, which
puts one denomination in position of
temporal advantage, such as is denied
to all others. AT the English Congrega-
tional Union, which met recently at
Brighton DIR. Albert Goodrich of Man
chester Ca Liberal Unionist and not a
LiberaD said: Already the denomina-
tional schools controlled by the Church
of EnglandD received from public funds
three and one-half million pounds
more Where such injustice exists,
and where the NonconformistS are
taxed heavily for the teaching of tenets
to which they are utterly opposed,
church unity is impossible and Christ
ian unity is greatly imperiled. Christi
anity will be promoted by the exercise
of courtesy and comfy between diff
ferent denominations. If an evangel-
ical denomination is amply supplying
the religious needs of a certain field, at
home or abroad, we cannot thing it the
Il, Il
ter upon this field, when there are so
many fields that are in urgent need of
evangelistic labor"
THE Christian ministry says the
Watchman (Bapt) of Boston, 'of all
vocations in the world, draws upon the
finer and higher faculties of the
spirit. If minister is only expected to
conduct public worship on Sunday, and
a prayer meeting in perfunctory way,
then it is we'll enough to speak about
hiring him; but if he is expected to
put into his sermons all the spiritual
energies generated by profound ref1ec-
ton, devout study and communion with
God; if he is expected to lavish the wine
of the spirit in sympathy and the wise
direction and the spiritual fellowship
of his people; in a word, If he is eX-
pected to devote all he is to the work
of the kigdomn of God as represented
in the church of which he is pastor,
then to speak of him as a hired man,
and to regard his often meager salary
as pay for his service is absolutely
TO ruin all the more delicate and spir-
itual aspects of the pastors relation.
This hard, commercial way of looking
at the pastorate reacts unfavorably
both upon ministers and churches. A
church that has a good pastor makes a
fatal mistake if it simply comes to be-
/ Heve that it has what it pays for. AS a
matter of fact, God has given it what it
cannot pay for. That wise, patient,
spiritual leadership under which it
f1ourishes is not a commodity that it
has purchased in the open market. A
vast deal of the narrow, uncharitable,
censorious criticism of pastors, which
embitters their lives and harasses
their work, arises from the false and
low view of the pastoral relation which
overlooks the fact that good pastor is
Gods gift to the church, and simply
regards him as hired man whose pay
represents his value