The record-union., 1895-04-19
IN RELIGIONS REALM
Expressions From the Various Re-
ligious Newspapers
The Religious Thought of the Day as
Expressed In the SectarIau Press
Some Matters of Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.

Ministers and Laymen.
Speaking of A. ]. Balfour's book, "The
Foundations of Belief" the New York
C7tatrchnd1 (P. E.) says: 1.-THE great point
made by Mr.. Balfour, while it does not
do anything more than harmonic with
other schools of English apologetics, yet
gains all its importance from the fact that
this writer goes far deeper than his pre-
decessors. The causes of belief he says,
ARE non-rational in their character. The
origin of all beliefs, even those which
mon derive from perception by the senses,
cannot be verified beyond the fact that
our senses tell us so and so, and this is
no warranty that the beliefs they orig
mate will issue in right opinion There
are two worlds. the natural world and
the spiritual world; the world which is
Immediately subject to God, each of them
real, and each of them the objects of real
knowledge. The laws of the natural
world are revealed by science, those OF
the spiritual world through the authority
of spiritual intuitions. In either case
there has been no philosophy framed
which can give reasonable basis Tor the
belief in either of these worlds, or in any
the destructive force of Mr.. Baltour's ar
gument appears when he charges science
with being exactly in the same position
as religion. Science cannot tell why she
believes and teaches that a rose is red, or
that the earth moves, merely because the
evidence of the eye or OF mathematical
calculation comes TO these conclusions;
who warrants the inerrancy OF sight or OF
mathematics? The grave error comes IN
when science becomes Identical with nat
uralism, and claims terms of surrender
to every system Of belief, and dominion
over both the natural and spiritual
world"
On the same subject the 1AdUance
(Cong.) OF Chicago remarks: Ihe pur-
pose of this remarkable book' is TO show
that all classes of beliefs, philosophical,
scientific and religious, approach the
same foundations, and that philosophers
and scientists in attempting to overthrow
religious beliefs destroy the foundations
of their own creedS- It's fine achievement
consists in turning the arguments of the
uaLuralistS and emplricists against them-
selves. OF n2turaliSm he says: 1t cam
not account for truth, for beauty or for
holiness, and can do nothing 10 preserve
them. Eventually it would eat all nobil-
ity out of our conception OF llte.' de al
mits that there are those who hold the nat
uralistic creed and at the same time cher
ish all the nobler moral sentiments. But
il is a case OF 'parasItism.' His illustra-
ton is not pleasant bat telling. They
are like parasites says Mr.. Balfour, of
which the biologists tell us, and which
can only live within the bodies Of ami
mails more highly organized than they.
Their spiritual life Is parasitic; 1t is shell
tered by convictions which belong not to
them, but to the society OF which they
form q part; it is nourished by processes
in which they take no share. And when
those convictions decay and those pro-
cesseG come to all end, the alien lie which
they have maintained can scarce be eX-
pecIed to outlast them Mr. Balfour
could hardly have made more import
ant observation than this. For there are
hosts of people who speak with fine scorn
of the religious convictions and efforts
without which the life of the community
would not be tolerable. And there are
men standing III the pulpit assailing or
.thodoxy who would not have pulpit TO
preach in If it were not for orthodoxy"
1.-THE whole history of the church."
says the New York outlook, ''is itself
refutation OF this claim that 'fxedness OF
interpretation is the essence of the Creeds.'
Every new creed is a new affirmation by
the church that former interpretations of
creed require change in order to meet the
new life. The Nicene Creed does not
purport to represent a faith different from
that embodied in the Apostles Creed,
but gives to 1t a new Interpretation. The
creed OF Plus Y !. does not claim to affirm
truth newly discovered by the Roman
Church, but gives a new Interpretation
TO its ancient creed. The 'Synodical
Declaration adopted by the Anglican
Church in 1873 neither in form adds to
nor subtracts from the Athanasian Creed,
but gives 10 IL very different interpreta-
tion from that which IL bore III the Mid
die Ages. What, indeed, are such vigor-
Gus defenders of 'hxedness Of lnterpreLa-
ton as the Ct1trchBldh and the Observer
for but to give new interpretations to an
cient creeds and so commend them TO
modern doubters? Otherwise, why not
content themselves with printing q
weekly edition, one of the Thirty-nine
Articles, the other of the Westminster
Confession? No! 'tixeduess OF inter-
pretation' of the creeds in the church is
as impossible as tiXedness OF interpreta-
ton OF the Constitution in the State.
Each new generation has a faith in com
mon with previous generations, ami may
therefore well use the same creed. But
each new generation has also its own
spiritual experience, and therefore must
either form new creed or tinu liberty of
expression in its Interpretation OF the old
one."
"It is proposed" SAYS the Catholic
Champion Of the Guild OF st. Ignatius P.
E., ITO have a patriarch or national pri-
mate and to call him primus twhy not
q premier?) and ArcEbishops, but 10 call
them primates. Now we have already
really a great many things TO explain TO
people VINO have not been brought up in
the church; is it necessary TO aud TO our
burdens the making clear to them what
is the difference between us and ate?
Archbishop and Patriarch are words that
speak for themselves, and every body
knows something about them and con-
napta thaip with the life and history of
the Catholic Church. Apparently, more
over, these prmuses (or primi) and pri-
mates are only to be hierarchs at large,
elected by the other Bishops every time,
and having no fixed seats. That is to
say, il is not TO be always the Bishop of
such a See who is prlLnate, but whoever
can secure the votes of majority OF his
brethren. When there is a city large
enough to be considered metropolis, the
country Bishops OF the province will nat
urally com bine TO keep the Bishop OF that
city out of the primacy-at least unless
they have special reasons for thinking
that it will be good for them to hl-vo him
there. Who. can tell what scheuIlDG and
intrIgues may not be induced by tins Pc
culiar elective feature? Why should we
strike out in such an utterly new line?
Why seek a model as remote as possible
from that which the experience OF the
Catholic Churches OF all ages mas shown
TO be practicaY'
"The members ofevery profession have,
TO a certain extent, control over its prac-
tice and traditions observes the CtI1S-
tan Register (Uni;.) of Boston. Never
theless, it is true that doctors do not con-
troll all the remedies for disease, that law
yers do not make all the laws, and also
that ministers DO not control the progress
of either religion or theology. Farmers
and business men have an interest in the