The record-union., 1897-03-07
In RELIGIONS REALM.
Expressions From Various Religious
Newspapers.
The Religious Thought of the Day
as Expressed i'm the Sec
tartan Press.


theology not long ago, in which he an
nounced the passing of the old Protest
antism and the substitution for it of
a new Professionalism with a new thcoi-
ogy. The old Professionalism. that Of
Luther and the rest, threw off the au-
thority OF the Catholic Church, hut
proceeded to set up a new authority
as binding as the old In this it was
illogical, and in fact. belied it's name.
To be truly Protestant is to reject
authority altogether.
One thing is clear" says the Living
Church (P. Ed of Chicago; namely,
that the difference between Protestant
ism and Catholicism is a radical one.
1t is there that we come to the part
ing of the ways; there that the choice
must really be made. Catholicism is
a religion of authority, of which the
holy Catholic Apostolic Church is the
living embodiment and the perpetual
witness. 1t is here, and here only, that
the idea of a real revelation and
supernatural religion have their t.'dc,
logical relations. Here they rest upon
a secure hasiS-a basis both hiStori cal
and rational. The difficulty with Prot
estantiSm is that, beginning with a
revolt from the only principle of au-
thority Christianity had ever asserted,
it proceeded to invent a new basis OF
authority, and to construct substitute
for the church. Such a basis is ln3e-
cure, it could not be logically reconcited
with the original assertion of private
judgment. and the church SO formed
could inspire no absolute loyalty. Hence
thp n nf SarfC and the n1Dltinl,-
cation by degrees of unattached indi-
viduals who have not ceased to cons3d
er themselves Protestant Christians
Much of Biblical criticism of the
form at present popular is really in
spirit" remarks the New York "Ot-
server" pres. "Of the critical mode
of banishing the supernatural from the
Bible, Professor Green Of Princeton mas
well remarked that it is the most plaus-
ible. as well as the most effective
method Of accomplishing this result,
because the animus of the movement
is concealed and the desired end is
reached, not by aiming at it directly
and avowedly, but as the apparently
incidental consequences of invSstig;.-
tions pursued professedly for a differ
ent purpose. 1t is in view of such facts
as these that the gravity of the situa-
ton, which even amounts TO theo-
logical crisis, appears. That here and
there a teacher, perhaps clergyman.
should stand forth as the exponent o.
radical views of Biblical criticism might
not be so alarming circumstance.
but when we perceive that such utter
ances are excused or even applauded
by multtudes. that they delude Chris
tians and delight infidels, we are forced
to recognize that this radicalism is
symptomatic Of a widespread deca-
dence of belief in the supernatural. A
single mira Gle might supposedly be de-
MED by some individual who rever-
emily accepted others, but it is not to
be supposed that when even a single
miracle is denied in a rationalizing
spirit any miracles at all will long re-
main credible and accepted. 1t is the
tendency Of the thing that makes it to
be SO full of menace. It is not so much
that few bold spectators deny these
signs and wonders which God showed
in the days of old as that multitudes
are languidly Indifferent to the whole
destructive process or are even arous-
ing themselves 10 IOT the
ruthless iconoclasm."
Religion in it's very essence is some
thing which cannot be absolutely de-
fined in words or Symbols observes
the Christian Register" (Unit) of Bos-
ton. These have their uses in describ
ing religion; but they are not the thing
itself any more than the chemical for
nlula for water Is the thing itself, or in
any sense a perfect synoym of snow,
ice, clouds, rain and steam. Chemical
symbols cannot describe the fountain
or waterfall, the murmuring brook, the
placid beauty of a lake, the curves in
a snowdrift. Even in respect to its
form, there is something in water
which eludes chemical description. If
it be true that physical objects cannot
be absolutely defined in the letters of
the alphabet, or in combinations of
them, it is still truer that the more po-
tent and more varied energies of the
soul, the relation of man to the uni
verse, his history and his destiny, can
not be described in any mold of words
IL any language. The perpetual effort
of orthodoxy to embalm the truth has
constituted perpetual OBSTRUCTION to
the truth. Truth is vital; it is always
changing it's form. 1t cannot be bound
or entombed. A dead creed cannot
speak; it cannot move itself, or move
anything else. When creed is dead,
decomposition is certain to set in. This
decomposition has overtaken many of
the forms and creeds in which ortho
dcxy has taken refuge"
=
"Mr. Moody, the most sagacious evan
gelist in our country, is longing and
striving for a revival of piety that may
extend to every hamlet in our do
Inain,'' says the New York "Intelli-
gencer" CRef) He is almost confin-
ing himself to addresses to members of
the church. Many can remember that
few years ago church members so
occupied the buildings in which he
preached as to almost exclude non
church members. He then besought
members of churches to stay away
from his meetings to make room for
non professors. Now his chief desire
is to speak to and plead with church
members. He is right. The church
needs instruction to-day that will call
ii back TO the truths which in the
past have led men to repentance
toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ. The church of to-day is neg
lecting large part of the words of
Christ and of revelation, and should
be brought back from its wanderings
Conviction of sin under the services of
the church of to-day is rare. Men are
not taught their need of being born
again, born from above, born of the
Spirit. The holiness of God is not i'm