New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-11-13
THE TRANSIENT ~ CHRISTIANITY.

THE TRANSIENT ~ CHRISTIANITY.
THE Christianity Of Christ has become
sort of slogan with many religious leaders to-
day. 1t is assumed that all the churches, Prot
estant as well Catholic. have, to greater
or less degree. strayed from the primitive type
of Christianity, and that 1t would be an easy
matter for them to retrace their steps and re-
produce to-day the simple and elementary norm
Of faith and practice that existed before the
close Of the first century Of the Christian era.
1t is almost needless, however, to say that this
is not possible even If ii were desirable. The
color. form and texture of Christianity to-day
is the resultant of its history. 1t cannot OBJ
lteratc the marks Of time and viclssitude that
it bears and even were it able to do so it would
find the Apostolic norm wholly unsuitable to
its present surroundings. No modern Church
could return to the actual type of the Church
in the days Of the Apostles without committing
suicide. For good or i'll. present-day Christian
ity must do its work with the tools and the
organization that have become part Of It's
very life. striving as best 1t may to reproduce
the spirit that made primitive Christianity
vital force in the world.
Nevertheless the disposition TO question the
supposed divine authority Of some modern de-
vclopmcnts of Christianity may prove helpful
TO religion. one of the faults Of modern Chris
tianty is its tendency To crystalline into per-
manent dogmas passing and temporal features
Of its life that II has merely borrowed to meet
some special need There can be no objection
10 such accretlOns so long as their true char
acter is recognized. In fact, they perform
useful and necessary function in the
scheme Of religious life. The Apostolic Church
itself soon adapted itself to its environment by
modifying and developing its simple and in
choatc organism. When modern chnrchmen.
therefore, say that every detail in the organ
ism Of the Church is unatcrablc they set them
selves IN opposition TO tho whole history oI
the Church. which is Il continuous record oI
change and development. The fact must bc
recognized that this process OF reconstruction
Is continuous and affects much that conserva-
tive thcologians come TO regard as sacrosanct.
This thought was clearly stated by DR.. Boyd
Carpcntcr. Bishop Of Ripon, at the recent Eng
lsh Church Congress. when he said
am certain as increasing light falls upon
grea. problems and men begin to realize now
much Of Judaistc' pagan ana schoias'lc thousm.
IS mingled with popular Christianity. how many
accretions due to human weakness and race
| prejudice have been Incorporated in our CON
ceptions they will distrust the Church. For
every new epoch has added new dogma to faith,
and with every new dogma has gone further
from the simplicity of Christ. The future OF
the world does not belong to Latinism. and 50
the vision Of Professionalism will he fulfilled.
But Of third thing am convinced even more
surely. The religion of the future VIII neither
be Protestant nor Catholic but simply Chris
tian.
The attempt TO freeze christianity into an
unaltcrable type will never succeed, and even
If il were to succeed it would only result In
n dead religion. 4 living organism Is n con-
stantly changing organism. What Bishop
Creighton of London. said the other day, in
review of Archbishop Laud's life. touches close
IL on one Of the causes Of the weakness OF
Christianity Spiritual life" he declared was
lowered by Laud. who spent his life making
"trif,cs of an importance they did not possess.
and stamping upon the English mind that
| "strange quality of struggling about external
things and fighting for great principles upon
small issues. which still makes the history OF
religious thought SO hard to understand.
"Teaching for doctrines the commandments or
men" is to-day. as II has ever been. one or the
greatest dangers into which sincere ana zeal
Gus chur,hmen are prone to fall
Rfshop Carpenters prediction that the re-
ligion of the future will be neither Protestant
nor Catholic will not he pleasing TO any denom-
national Christians; but 1t is in line with the
history Of the Church, which records the rise
and fall of numerous opinions and beliefs that
for the time being were regarded as permanent
and divine 4 curious outworking of this law
Of change is now showing itself in some OF
the non-Episcopal churches. Their forefathers
rejected the Episcopal form of government ut
the Reformation. some Of them going so far
rs to say that it was ntChristian. Yet the
other day the Universalists appointed general
sunerntcndent of the Unversallst Church.
whose duty it is "tO foster the appointment or
estate superintpndents and district superin-
"tendents to help pastors in their difficulties
"ond so far as possible to utilize all of our
ministerial forces that our Church may do its
"shore Of Chrsts work in the world Sim
uar,v. the Cumberland Presbyterian Church
has provided for commissioners to take 1.-THE
"oversIght Of its unemployed ministers and
"vocant churches" This means episeopacy
without the nama and. Of course, also without
eomc of the special claims OF episcopal pre-
rocative that grew out of the simple govern
mont Of the Apostolic Church. But 1t Is In
teresting as showing that Christianity to-day
&c in q state Of solution. and ready to crystal
I've into any form that will best enable IL
IN fulfil its work In the world
II Senator Stewart. Of Nevada, is really de-