The record-union., 1896-05-17
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
Expressions From Various Religious
newspapers.
The Religious Thought of the Day as
Expressed in the Seotarian
Press.

says the Living Church P. Ed OF
Chicago, Ion The Growth of Ritualisn
in the Churches DR.. Thomas, who Is
| a Congregationalist, said that ritual
ism in a modified form was now part
of the church services of every denom-
nation He went on to deprecate ritual
| containing Judaic or pagan forms OF
| service. Such forms are, he declared
| opposed to the spirit of Christianity
| Under the same head he included what
he termed 'ecclesiasticism.' Yet Dr.
| Thomas would not perhaps deny that
| Christianity came out of Judaism and
! that it was the fulfiliment and compile
| ton of principles and ideas which had
| their beginning in Judaism. This was
| the Interpretation given to 1T by its
| founders and earliest preachers. There
were, therefore, permanent elements In
Judaism, and if this be true in the
sphere of theology and ethics, why not
in that of worship? Able scholars, both
Protestant and Catholic, have consid-
| cred that the primitive forms of Chris
| tian worship came from the synagogue,
and the continued use of the Psalter,
! that most ancient of prayer books, has
seemed perfectly natural and legitimate
| to Christians Of all ages. AS to the
| connection of paganism with Christi
anity and the supposed retention of
! some Of its forms and customs, it may
| be said that, with all the corruption
| and degradation of pagan religions,
| there are discernible even there some
elements of natural religion, some gen
eral and instructive ideas Of perma-
nent character. If then Christianity is
/ the absolute religion, it is to be expect
| ed that it will embody all the perma-
nent elements to be found in religion
/ everywhere, only elevating them into
| the higher sphere of the supernatural
and Illuminating them with the light
| of divine revelation"
| Has the church of this day practi-
cally a definite belief? If so, what is
it?" asks the New York christian In
| telligencer (Ref) IF a judgment is
formed upon a large portion of the
popular preaching which one hears, and
of the sermons reported by the daily
journals, the conclusion will be that
a welldefined, properly proportioned
religious belief is possessed by only a
small proportion of those who frequent
the churches, and that many pulpits are
at sea without distinct and compre-
hensive chart. If definite belief is lack
| ing, should there not be an effort to pro-
| duce or restore it? Is it not true that
the old creeds, either because expressed
in antiquated terms, or because they are
| too voluminous, or for some other rea-
son, have passed out of use? Then there
! is need of a shorter statement of the
vital truths of Revelation in the Ian
| of ha 10 rJ,o
respect for or a more sincere belief in
the Heidelberg Catechism or the West
minister Confession than the Christian
| Intelligencer. But are these state
ments of truth in use? Is it at all prob
able that they can be restored to the
place that they held down to say fifty
years ago? Why not, then, make an
endeavor to form succinct. clear,
properly proportional, and comprehens-
| i've statement of the truth that saves
that forms genuine, properly developed
! Christian character, such as men will
use?"
1.-THE sermon is an address in which
/ the old Gospel message is delivered by
a preacher so as to express his own per-
sonal emotion, and to appeal to the emo
! ton and convictions of those to whom
| lie speaks" observes the New York
"Churchman" P. E) Sir Roger de
Coverley made his chaplain use for
sermons the masterpieces of the Eng
| lish pulpit This was we'll and good.
| so long as the author of the discourse
was acknowledged The sermon gener-
| ally is considered to be a delegated
message put into personal form. The
| substance of the message is contained
! in the Scriptures and formularies of the
church. A clergyman Of the church is
very much more. than a preacher. He
! is the administrator of temporal
charge sometimes vast and complicated;
he is also an administrator of the sac
| raments; he is a public reader as well
as an expounder of the Scriptures. He
represents the congregation at the
prayer desk, and his office books and his
Bible he uses in common with them.
| The question Of his eloquence as a
preacher is sometimes made subservient
to the question as TO his qualifications
as an organizer, a parish priest, and a
clear and intelligent reader of the Scrip
lures The tendency to sink the
preacher in the priest, the ruler, the elo-
cutionist, is perhaps too much on the
increase. So far as it leads to neglect
OF plain, vigorous and original preach
ing, it is a dangerous tendency"
eff the relative influence of the church
were to be gauged by the Sunday at
tendance at service alone, we might
have to confess that the past seventy
five years have seen sad weakening
says the christian Register" Unit.)
of Boston. Instead of that we believe
that there is room for profound graft
tude at the new hold which the church
is taking on the hearts and minds and
lives of the people. The Journalism and
infexibility had their day and became
a burden The truth which they held
has grown and widened, and shows
itself as eternal to-day as ever. The
time came when Emerson said that
the motive that kept the best men in
the church was only hope and wait
ing. He felt that public worship had
lost it's hold on men, either through the
affection of the good or the fear of the
bad. Yet no one recognized more deeply
the need of worship, and in the very
address in which he traced the causes
of a decaying church he indicated the
Path which might lead to the temple
of new love, new faith, new sight All
over the continent are churches which
have taken for their aim that wide
service to humanity which is not con-
tent with saving alone the souls of
Sunday morning worshipers, but
reaches out with loving hands to the
little children, TO toiling artisans, to
souls hungry for intellectual food, to
tne suffering of other races, and to