The record-union., 1896-04-05
IN RELIGIONS REALM
Expressions From Various Religious
Newspapers.
The Religious Thought of the Day as
Expressed in the Sectarian Press
some Matters Of Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.

some Matters Of Interest to Both
Ministers and Laymen.
1.-The disruption of the Salvation
Army by the action of Ballington
Booth leads naturally to some reflection
upon the results observes the New
York Evangelist" Pres.). 1.-TWO Sal
vation Armies between the masses of
our people and the churches seems to
imply two things that we are and ought
to be unwilling to admit. For in the
first place we are unable to accept the
assumption of so wide an interval be-
tween the churches of this country and
the population of any part of it as to
demand even one agency to fill the gap,
much less two distinct agencies, one
seeking higher level of the peoples
life than the other and both usurping a
place which no true Church of Jesus
Christ can afford to surrender to any
outside and irresponsible body, such as
the old army claimed and the new
promises to be. And in the second place
we utterly deny and repudiate the as
sumption that we have or can permit
ourselves to have any stratum of soci-
ETY. that is content to remain below the
reach of the Christian churches them
selves. The utterly degraded classes
of the Old World towns, born in the
slums and hopeless of anything better,
are not and must not be among us. All
clasges here aspire to be something, and
they clamor for recognition. For the
churches to turn them over to an agency
fitted to deal only with the dregs of de-
| L ;e-
an error no less great than it is criminal
and threatening. And now that it is
seriously proposed to include in this ex-
clusion from contact with the church a
yet higher and a most important part
of every community, the situation is
both singular and alarming
u
"Mr Booth does not believe that in
union there is strength He is reported
to have said that there is room in the
United States for 100 Salvation Armies.
1t is evident already says the Living
Church P. Ed of Chicago, that there
| is room for 100 Christian sects, but it
| is not so evident that it is for the ad-
vantage of Christianity that 100 sects
should exist The people of New York
who held a meeting a while ago in the
interests of the Ballington Booths have
| done the Salvation cause an i'll turn.
| 1t is possible that the gentlemen who
| took part in that meeting did not forsee
the present outcome. We do not wish
| to be misunderstood. For 'Salvationism
as form of the Christian religion we
have but scanty respect. Nevertheless
we fully recognize the fact that it has
fulfilled a mission. AS humanitarian
| institution it is worthy of much praise.
AS showing to the world anew the possi-
| bilities of an organization based upon
entire self-sacrifice and unqueStioning
| obedience, its testimony has been of i'm
menSe value. 1t has also drawn en-
| phatic attention to the neglect of the
Christian church to minister in any
effective manner to the lowest and poor
| est of the population. In such ways 1t
| has fulfilled a certain prophetic mis-
| sion, and the lessons it has taught can
not be lost, whatever may be the fate
of the organization itself. Meager and
defective as it's presentation of Chris
| tian truth may be, it may be to some
souls the introduction to something
higher. But the chief merit Of the Sal
walton Army is, as we have said, in the
message and admonition it has brought
| to the church 1t is for this reason that
we have been led to these reflections,
and it is for this reason that we sin
cerely regret the present turn of af-
| fairs
There is a prejudice in some quar-
| ters" remarks the STANDARD" (Bapt.)
OF Chicago, against churches which do
| philanthropic and educational work,
| founded on the assumption that in
| order to help the soul you must neglect
the body. Such prejudice is not war
ranted by the teaching of Jesus or by
the character of work done by our insti-
tutional churches. Jesus Christ fed the
hungry and healed the sick, and there
is no evi~<nce that in doing this He
was not accomplishing work which He
was sent to perform Certainly we
would hardly dare to charge Him with
neglect of the spiritual needs of those
about Him because He administered to
their physical wants. No more is there
any reason now why the church which
cares for the minds and bodies of men
should fail in persuading them to be-
come reconciled to God. But the church
of this class usually owes its existence
to one man, minister or layman, and it's
effectiveness if not it's being is condi-
ClOneO upon TIE llle VI It's louuueI. there
is nothing back of it to insure its per-
petuity 1t should be the expression
of organized Christian life, and of an
organization so comprehensive that
passing generations shall see the in
crease rather than the waning of it's
power"
But" says the christian Register"
| (Unit.) of Boston, sit may be well asked,
are these not special studies which the
minister needs for his calling, and which
may be properly grouped together in a
professional course? The minister is
to be pre-eminently minister of reli-
gion. He ought to be familiar with
the sacred literature of the world, not
merely because it is historic, but be-
cause here he may find a great source
of inspiration. He may study theology
and philosophy, because here he will
find the history of mems conception of
the universe, and because any man,
whether minister or layman, needs him
self to have some working philosophy
of life The minister is not to deal with
material objects, but with men. He
needs therefore to study human nature
and human life and human needs. This |
cannot be studied from books He
should study the the development and
application of ethics with a general
l