The Irish standard., 1898-03-05
THE TEACHING CHURCH.
A Lcntcn Sermon by FIR. Danehy of
st. Paul Seminary.

Last Sunday evening, Rev. FIR. Danehy,
professor Of sacred scripture in St. Pauls
seminary, preached the first of a series
OF Lenton sermons at the Cathedral, St.
Paul. His subject was 1.-The Teaching
Chruch-The Divine Guide to Faith" A
large congregation listened to the elo-
{ quent priest, who spoke substantially as
follows:
1T is a sad spectacle that meets the
view oil the preacher Of the gospel of
Jesus Christ as he looks out today upon
the world. Christ founded one church
and left 1t one. Today it is divided. 1t is
rent into hundreds of warning sects, hold
ing such contradictory doctrines that to
the mind of one the others are in no
true sense worthy the name of Christ
ian. Each Of these religious bodies re-
ceives as sacred the same inspired books
or the New Testament, and each claims
for Its model and teacher the same Jesus,
our God and Redeemer But further than
this we cannot go without encounterins
divisions among them. Inded, it is only
by stunning precise language and taking
care not to define our terms that we
can assert Christians to be united even
in their belief in the holy scriptures and
in the person Of our Divine Lord. As to
the scriptures, widely divergent views
are entertained today. Some go so far
as to maintain that these sacred books
are In great part not authentic; and
though holy scripture is holy scripture
only when read in its true
sense, so many interpretations
are put upon 1t that we can
truly call them legion. AS to the person
of our Divine Lord. there are those who
still lay claim to the name of Christian,
yet deny that Jesus is God.
Whence comes this wide diversity of
thought among Christians, so saddening
and so apparently incurable? A remedy
it Is our duty to seek and the first step
towards finding cure is to say that all
this division has been brought about by
| forgetfullness Of the apostolic teaching,
that II we would please God we must
have faith, for without faith 1t is i'm
possible to please God" Men have not
faith because they have refused to listen
to the voice of God speaking in and
through His church. 81 am with you
always" said Christ to the boody of
teachers that he established to guide and
teach all nations. With those teachers
and with them alone did he promise to
be always, and to them must men heark-
en- if they would hear the word of Christ.
1t is because men have left off following
this plain command of Jesus Christ and
sought his word where he did not assure
them they should find it, that they have
gone astray. Claiming to have the
waters of life, they have left the foun-
tains of living waters and dug to them
selves cistcrns, broken cisterns that can
hold no waters.
Christ the Lord demanded faith as an
indispensable condition of salvation. He
required faith on the part of all men
without exception. He required faith in
all his teachings. Man was not free to
examine his doctrine and assent to what
pleased him while rejecting the rest. He
revealed no truth that man is at liberty
to disregard God does nothing idly. AS
suredly, then, when he revealed any
truth to man it was with the purpose
that it should be believed, and they were
to know 1t for truth, not because upon
examination 1t approved itself as such to
their minds, but because he, Gods mes
senger, taught it.
Not only so, but he required this same
firm and ready faith in the teaching of
those men whom he left to continue his
work on earth when he had gone back
to the father. Those men, his apostles,
were by him commissioned to teach as
he had taught. They were to teach to all
| men not a few truths which they might
regard as fundamental, nor yet all truths
but few which they might deem unim-
portant. When they began by virtue of
this divine commissioner to preach to the
men of their day, they met many who
were more familiar than they with the
philosophy of Greece and the poetry and
eloquence of Rome. Not by the lofty
words of human eloquence did they hone
to carry conviction to the minds of the
world. Even Paul was laughed at by the
assembled wisdom of Athens And which
other among them was ever accused of
too much learning? At far later day
they were constrained to admit that
among them there were not many wise
according to the flesh, not many mighty,
not many noble They We're looked upon
rather as foolish" and Contemplate"
Festus and Agrippa might listen and be
amused without believing. or Gallo i'm
patiently refuse to hear, and dismiss
them haughtily from his presence. But
Cornelius the centurion, Sergius Paulus
the proconsul. Dionysius the Judge, Pu-
dents, the senator, and some even of
Nero's own household with MANY of
more modest station, would believe and
come to the knowledge of the truth. In
the case of all alike the apostle said:
1--WE give thanks to God without ceasing,