The record-union., 1897-10-17
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
EXPRESSIONS FROM VARIOUS
RELIGIOUS NEWSPAPERS.
The Religious Thought Of the Day
as Expressed in the Sec
tartan Press.

| In closing an article on the early
Christian church and St Augustine, the
Living Church" Up. Ed of Chicago
| says: The sum of the matter is we'll
expressed by a recent writer, to the
effect that without the assistance of
the continental missions there could
never have been constituted in Eng
land a great organized and cultured
church, able to hold it's own among
] the storms Of ChriStendom. Without
the saints of Iona, that church would
have been but a mechanism of bones
| and flesh, wanting the life-giving soul.
The Celtic missionaries supplied, for
the most part, the material, a multi
! tude of souls Quickened with spiritual
| life. With Augustine entered the in
f1uence which welded this material into
one great, powerful and enduring whole
Looking dispassionately at the signifi-
cant facts which we have endeavored
to present in their true relations, there
seems abundant reason why the mem
ory of st. Augustine of Canterbury
should be held in honor if not for his
own sake, yet because his arrival set
l 0li IOOl lIIUoC tilOlQlnS lIllU6HcCS WUlCit
| determined the character of the Eng
lish church as a visible institution for
all time. And surely this may be done
without in the least degree minimizing
the work of the noble band of devoted
men from the North whose lives and
work constitute one of the most beau
tiful and glorious chapters in the his
tory of Christendom.'
I'VE wish to point out" says the
New York Independent" that fellow
ship must rest on some common ground
of belief or purpose. Evangelical de-
nominations find that basis in agree
ment in belief but also and equally in
work; Unitarfans in spirit and prac-
| teal aims only Are evangelical
Christians, therefore, narrow and illib-
eral and Unitarians broad and liberal
Unitarians say conduct and character
are the important requisites. So they
are. The evangelical churches lay no
| little stress upon them But right be-
| lief, perfect standard, cannot be un-
/ important in forming character and
conduct. Evangelical Christians be-
| lieve that Christ came to reveal the
truth necessary to salvation and give
/ us a perfect standard of life Their
fellowship, therefore. is conditioned ON
acceptance of this truth and sympathy
with their endeavor to propagate it,
| If this be narrow, so, often, is truth
itself Truth has it's limitations. Be
lief does not cripple evangelical church.
es in their practical aims President
| Hoar's remark that the sixteen Con-
/ orsp pc~af iCn7nI nh Of sc i+xv
of Worcester give more for denomina-
| tional objects than all the Unitarian
churches is significant What are these
denomina tional objects? They are
practical They are based on what the
Unitarians call love to God and love
to man; they are designed for the up
lift of the race. Why is belief that has
such fruitage nhberal?"
| ITO a creed, as a statement of what
| the person making or accepting it be-
lieves, there is no objection" says the
| New York Outlook" ION the con-
trary, it is important that men should
form the habit of thinking with a pur-
pose, and that they should formulate
the results of their thinking, both for
their own sake and for the sake of
others. To the use of either ancient
| or modern statements of belief and to
their recital in worship by those who
| believe them, there is no objection. On
! the contrary, such use of an ancient
statement of belief witnesses to the
historic continuity and to the present
unity of the church, and keeps also in
the memory those results of religious
thinking upon which the church at
| large is agreed. All this is valuable.
But to creed as a statement of what
men must believe in order to be ac-
ceptable with God or accepted in His
church, and to creed as assuming to
be brief summary of all divine truth,
there Is very great objection. And the
first is the use which has been COM
monty made of creeds, and the second
is the meaning which has been COM
monty attached to the word
eve would reassure our readers who
find in some recent announcements a
certain want of positive and incisive
statement, certain tentative air, a cer-
| rain reticence and reserve" says the
| New York 'Churchman'' (P E.) "Some
| IF this indefiniteness is to be detected in
the letters and reports of the recent
Lambeth Conference, and we rejoice
that this is so. Indebtedness is better
than rash DEGREES and unseemly fulmi-
nations. So much. so very much. is
concealed behind the barest fact of
nature or the simplest statement of
revelation, so profoundly is the future
providential working of God in the
church hidden from the sight of man,
that it would be mere rashness ana pre-
sumption to formulate human opinion
or human expectation into cast-iron
statements as of acknowledged verify.
Truth, when it becomes obvious, is GER
tain to be known, acknowledged and
published. The whole of truth has not
yet been revealed or brought TO light on
the subject either of scriptural inter-
pretation, church unity, or social ine-
qualities. The present time is a time
for great humility and reserve in hand
ling these subjects"
There have been number of at
tempts lately to give expression to the
sense of a common fellowship between
men of various faiths. underlying their
denominational differences. These at
tempts,' observes THE Christian Reg
lister tOIll-J VI bCStOil, SSGili " 10 ~
| have been successful in proportion as
the spirit of liberation has gone hand
in hand with definiteness of the indi-
vidual conviction and absolute loyalty
to it. That any fellowship between men
may nave meaning and value each man
must be himself. must show his
strength at its best, must make what he
has to contribute as worthy as he can.
No fellowship between men of different