The record-union., 1897-03-28
In RELIGIONS REALM
Expressions From Various Religious
Newspapers.
The Religious Thought of the Day
as Expressed in the Sec
tartan Press.

tartan Press.
'It is during the last 300 years that
morals have been separated from the
doctrine of the church, or conduct from
creed" says the Living Church a..
| Ed of Chicago 1T is undeniable that
this has been the tendency of more than
one influential Christian sect. They
have preached doctrine as expressly
distinguished from morals. Differing
in many other respects, the great
bodies which mainly represent Protes-
tantism have for the most part agreed
about this Many preachers have
seemed to deprecate any attention to
direct moral teaching. Thus it has
come to be said that Christian teach
ers pay exclusive attention to creed,
that ironclad dogmas having no rela-
ton to practical life are the only sub
jects of their consideration. This con-
dition of things is now meeting its ne
mess Men are saying: We have had
enough of a religion which consists
only of creed let us embrace one
which consists only of morals, in which
not belief, but conduct, shall be all in
the last fruit of nineteen centuries of
| Christianity a Life Creed or an ethi-
cal scheme which is to take the place
of all theology. and be basis upon
which everybody can stand together,
| irrespective of any definite belief.
Churchmen, at least. instructed by the
constant use of the Prayer Book, ought
not to be misled by this charming pro-
rI,f 70
know, that creed and conduct are not
| separated in the New Testament, and
that they never have been separated
in the teachings of the Catholic
| Church"
eff one abstains from things which
are good and proper in themselves and
practices things which are always
wrong, there is contradiction in his
! life observes the New York 'Inde-
pendent TT is of vastly greater i'm
portance than abstinence should extend
to sinful acts than to fish and flesh;
| that the spirit should be mortified
rather than the body; for the life is
more than meat, as the Savior taught,
| and it is of infinite concern that the
| heart be right. Starving the body does
not necessarily strengthen the soul, else
We're the famine sufferers in India the
most spiritual of human beings. We
know of no better test than that which
Paul applied to those who partake of
the Lords Supper Whether there
| fore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever We
| do, do all to the glory of God If a
man fast, let him fast to the Lord, not
to the church. not to the public; and if
he fast not to the Lord he fasts not at
| all. 1t is a good Lutheran precept that
! a fast is not of itself and in itself wor-
ship of Cod; but when 'conjoined with
penitence and prayer to the end that
the flesh may be brought under con-
troll SO that the mind may be made
ready for spiritual things fasting is
well-pleasing to God. 1t should not,
however, be limited to a certain time,
but be constantly observed"
'In these days one rarely hears Of
| insanity on the subject of religion"
says the New York Observer Pres.).
| And even the few instances reported
from time to time are apt to be located
in the remotest, most intensely rural of
our country districts, where the twi-
| light of superstition has not paled
away into the light of Christian COM
mon sense. Occasionally some alleged
minister Of the Gospel will seek to at
tract attention to himself and his own
rhetorical and imaginative powers by a
rehaSh of Dante's si'Inferno'-Wi with fear
full faces thronged and fiery arms But
the press and public opinion, churchly
as we'll as secular, are swift now to re-
! buke this most dangerous type of relig-
ious sensatiOnalism. Still in Christian
| theology it is we'll at all times to be
! honest and unfiinching We have no
authority from the Bible for pronounc-
ing a general sentence of universalism.
Christ did not die on the cross for those
who would not receive him-for such
even his death was in vain 1t is
mournfully true in theology that every
priceless promise, wrongfully inter-
preted, becomes a source of peril. There
is no Scriptural warrant for an op.im-
ism which is based on mere sentiment
and not on the reception of Christ unto
the heart and soul. When, therefore.
we rejoice that the coward and panic
element in religion has given place to a
manlier, healthier spirit of Christian
hope and confidence, we must also ad-
the Old and the New Testaments is still
a vital and inalienable part of Christian
doctrine and if So must be an essen
tial feature of Christian belief. No mat
ter how contradictory to the spirit
and outlook of the age. the church can
not afford to blur or hide or compro-
mise or dicker with those who would
cry Peace! Peacei when there is no
peace"
"The position of the antagonists of
revealed religion is enormously
strengthened" says the "Watchman"
Bapt) of Boston, 'by the unwilling.
ness of their opponents to concede any,
thing until they are compelled to do so.
| The argument from consequences is
pressed to q ridiculous extreme 1t is
constantly said in the inner circles of
orthodoxy that we cannot allow the
force of this objection to some detail
of reserved opinion, because if we do
then the camel will get his head inside
of the tent and his whole body will
follow. We do not believe that that ar
gument should weigh with honest men.
We do want any form of religion that
has to be supported by evasions or
half truths. No man should fear the
truth, nor the consequences of acknowl-
edging his deliberate convictions in
regard to the truth. God is able to take
care of His cause, if we do our duty,
and follow the light as He makes it
known to US. There are no sadder