The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1897-05-07

things-the vital things-of the church n
christianity have been retained, yet In their
outward aspect everything is new. There
has been a change In the view Of the church.
At the beginning of the century, indeed,
along down through the century, the
was a church; simply because it was sup
posed to be an institution of divine origin,
but there has been a growing sentiment
that the church is entitled to respect and
itself deserving. There has been a grow
ing disposition to apply to the church the
same test that is applied to other institu-
buttons, namely, that II shall be judged by
Its fruits. Efficiency Is the basis of respect
and authority today. The church that
fails to make manhood, that fails to better
society has nc hold upon the masses today.
Its historical origin cannot sustain 1t or
give 1t needed prestige with the
people. Unless 1t accomplishes the task to
which it was appointed 1t fails to receive the
veneratlon Of the people. There has been
a change of sentiment In regard to creeds.
Not that man, at least the majority of men
today, underestimate the value of creeds.
Creeds have their place. The form of
sound words Is a thing not lightly and
thOughtlessly to be set aside. But men
have come to rebel against the tyranny of
creeds. They do not believe that creeds
and confessions constitute the soul of relig-
ion. They are unwilling to venerate them
as though they were inspired. They are
not willing to regard them as the safety
vaults of piety. They are unwilling to be-
lieve that our fathers had received the full
Interpretation Of the inspired word. Men
today believe that whilst the book of reyela-
ton is closed, that there are great stores Of
truth buried In its depths of which men
hitherto haye been unconscious. They be-
lieve that as there is progress in the book It.
self, so there is progress In the understand
ing and Interpretation of that book. They
believe that as God from time to time and
age to age has called the attention of the
race to vast deposits of mineral and material
wealth, so he has a reserve of the intellect
ual world, a reserve of truth, a reserve of
revelation, which he is calling to the atten-
ton of men from day to day and year to
year.
Whilst men therefore believe in the
eternity of truth, they also believe today in
the infnity of truth. The believe In the
whole truth and are unwilling to be fettered
and bound by the partial understanding and
declaration of truth which the founders of
gone by have provided US, just as the par
ent desires a new picture of the child from
year to year as the child grows, so the
church, the thinking people, want a new
truth grows upon the human mind and
the human heart. When the child dies
then there is no necessity for changing the
photograph, So IL the church is dead and IL
truth is dead, there is no need for a change
of creed or a modification of confessions, but
a live church and a thinking age will ask
that with the growth of knowledge and the
increase of Interpretation they shall be freed
from the letters of creeds and confessions
and that the final sources of authority in
matters of revelation shall reside not in
these formal statements of doctrine, but in
the word itself with the largest liberty of in
depreciation. There has been a change in the
view of the manner of the observance of the
Sabbath. We regard 1t today as a holy, hap
py day, We no longer think it a sin to
smile on Sunday. We no longer think 1t
necessary to petrlfy men IN Saturday night
and then reyivify them On Monday morn
ing. We no longer regard the sabbath as a
day for the breathing Of a ~sepulchral atmo'
sphere. We think it as the day of all the
best. The old Scotchman who complained
of one of his fellow christians that he
smiled on Sunday, and then added as his
verdict, 1T was an awful sight," is a back
number. There is a change in regard to the
clergy. The time wa when the clergyman,
by reason of his profession, was one of the
dignltaries of the community. The common
RCOPlO iOOhOu uPoh hihi 90 hoAN VI ~
ent sort of stuff from the ordinary mortal.
Boys and girls uncovered their heads before
the cloth, but today the clergyman is judged
as the church is judged. He gets the re-
spect and generation of men only when he
earns it. He is looked up to only as he vindi-
Gates his capacity and his manhood. There
has been a marked change In this century
in the matter of christian fraternity. 1t is
not many years since the various denomina-
tons set over against each other like fortress
es or forts with weapons ready for attack
or defence. Not many years since the pull
pits were battle grounds and the chief en-
ploy ment of the clergy was found in
demolishing doctrlnal foundation of the
other sects, when his chief delight was to
hurl arguments like bombs against the
people of a different denomination. We
live in an age when things have changed. |
In an age when people pass with ease and
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