The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1897-04-03
Reasorls Giivesa1iiif.1 Support 81
his Staten, 81 Father
Is. Clezr
HIS SUNDAY HIGHT LECTURE
As a Rule the So-Called
Churches Are Bot Social !.
Gatherings.

1uM GdpaCfty week ago idsl .oatudy
evening. :.
us One Church as Good as Another?
was Father Cleary's topic. The follow
ing,is brief synopsis of the DISCOURSE:
In meeting the question, Is one
church as good as another, we must first
of all have clear understanding of what
we mean by the term church. II by the
term church we are to understand soci-
ETY. of we'll disposed people, who unite
together, attracted by similar tastes and
congenial inclinations, for purposes OF
social and ethical culture, the question OF
whether one is as good as another must
be decided by personal selection and in
dividual taste. If by the term church we
are to understand a society of fashiorla-
BILE, or cultured people, who are a1nbiti-
GUS to adorn their social standing with
tle> jewels of responsibility which the
name, of church or religion can give,
then the question of the relative value of
the church must be decided in saccordance
with what: such social and refined advan-
tages can bring to the members. 1t by
the term church we are to understand a
popular. society, in any community that
may tend to advance ones business or
professional standing. because of the ia
vor with which it is regarded, and the
loyalty manifested by the members for
one another, then the value of the church
must be measured by the practical good
it may do for him who joins it in the
hope of furtherihg his worldly ambition.
If by the term church, however, we
are to understand an institution estab-
lished among men by the Savior of man.
lie f<,,- xa,x
the principles of eternal truth, for the
purpose of influencing all men to lives
OF virtue, in order to guide and direct all
men, by the authority of Christ himself,
to their eternal home, then the worth Of
the church must be measured by the
simple fact, that proves its divine origin,
its divine commission, its divine author
ity to teach and govern the world.
The correct meaning OF no word in the
language has been more misunderstood
than the meaning Ut ithe word church.
Christ calls himself the good shepherd,
and his followers hisalhock. He refers
to himself as the vine, sand to his follow
ers as the branches: He speaks very
plainly of the close Unity that must exist
among the members: of the one fold,
and between them and the one shepherd
The correct idea OF the church as Christ
organized and founded it. is 1.-THE faith
full united under the headship Of Christ,
in the true worship ofttGod."
Unity Of faith, an.be1ieving the same
doctrines, all@receiving the. same sacra-
ments, all recognizing one common head,
is the first mark, CIR evidence of the
genuineness of the fold of which Christ
is the good shepherd. Observation-Disclosures
is, and can be but one-zGhrist did not
establish several ito suit the whims and
the: fancies of men, is visible, external
society, light placed On? the mountain
top, that all may see, must establish it's
claim to the confidence and the allegi-
ance Of men upon the one fact that Jesus
Christ is it's founder. 1t must prove its
fidelity to the sacred trust that he con-
flded to its care, before he assembled to
his eternal Father. It 1nust show, beyond
all doubt and question, that it has come
down to us from the time of the apostles,
that it has taught all nations, as Christ
commanded, that it has been always and
everywhere the same, dispenser of the
mysteries of God, engaged in the BUSH
ness Of leading men to their eternal
home, not SO much in the trivial affairs
of society's worldly advancement
Christ was the Light of the World"
He was the worlds greatest teacher The
great commission that he gave to- his
church was to teach all nations" He
empowered his church to teach with alb
solute certainty. He promised salvation
to those who belived and were baptized,
and threatened eternal damnation on
those who refused to believe. ''He that
will not hear the church-he does not
refer to several churches-let him be to
thee as the heather and the PUBLICAN"
Most assuredly, Christ invested his
church with the very same authority
which he had received from his eternal
father. The Christian church, or the
church! of Christ in the. world without
absolute certainty in its doctrines, and
despoilcd of any right to teach with all
glazing absurdity. Any institution or So
and that asks for the obedience of mans
will, and still must assure him that it has
no authority to command him and no
divine commission to teach him, that is
not at all sure that what it does teach is
true, that is simply making the best guess
it can, is an insult to Christ, the fountain
of truth, and an insult to human intelli-
gencc, in presun1ing to offer to inquiring
men conjectures about God and eternity,
when they ask for truth.
Christ pledged his divine word-a. word
that cannot fail or pass away-that the
gates OF hell, namely, the powers of false
hood, or OF evil, should never prevail
against his church. He promised that
the. Holy Ghost, the spirit OF truth, would
abide forever with his church He de-
clared that he himself would support and
sustain his church allIdays, even to the
end of the world One church might be
as good as anotl1er,i if the duty of the
church consists simply in furthering the
interests of its members in accordance
with their peculiar tastes; desires and in
clinations. If Christ did not establish
his church, the church, and invest it with
such extraordinary authority and clothe
it with the precious prerogative of iner-
rancy in teaching. them MEN might feel
free to organize religions associations for
social and ethical culture. One might be
as good as another, i1rlso far as each pro-
NOTED the objects foD which it was or
gained One would Have as much au-
thority as.another, for each would simply
have the authority conceded to it by its
members. One would be as good as an
other in the work of attempting to inpart
a knowledge of truth to its members, for
all such churches would admit that they
were not certain, with the certainty of di-
vine truth, about any theory in which
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