The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-07
OPPOSES CHURCH UNITY
REV. j. A. MILBURN BELIEVES W.
TALITY IS IN DENoMISAT
Conventional Unity Would BE Eject
Decentralization of Belief and
Relation to Progress.

The Rev. Joseph A Milburn, of the Sec
ond Presbyterian Church, spoke on an in
teresting theme at yesterday morning s
services. 1t was that of denominationalisn
as opposed to solidarity or unity in the &C.
clesiastical sphere Mr. Milburn held to the
view that while there is general tendency
toward Capitalization of forces and inter-
ests in this age of the world, and while this
tendency Is apparent in the great church of
Christ. yet for the time being, no matter
what Christian people may desire, deliber-
ately planned and artificial unity Of the
church Is altogether impracticable.
The sermon was suggested by the invita-
ton recently extended to the Anglican
Church by the Pope of Rome, that great
good, truly catholic spirited father Of his
church." as DR.. Milburn called him, to re-
turn to it's first love and become one again
with the great Catholic Church of Rome.
This Invitation was sent" said the divine,
''out of a heart full of love towards the idea
of great single imperial church and i'm
PEELED by the passion for unity that seems
to be the characteristic of our day."
At the outset Of his discourse, Mr.. Mil
burn developed the distinction between real
unity in religion and that uniformity that
might be obtained by looping off conflict
Ing beliefs of the various sects. A conven-
uonal unity, If effected, would be effectless.
Again, any unity that might be obtained by
the mutual concessions of the various de-
nominations would be wholly imperative,
because of the vitality and endurance of the
spiritual temperament of the human race
which makes men think along different
lines. What is religion to one man is ire
ligion to another, and there can be no con-
gruity for the present, at least among the
variant types and temperaments. Nor is
such congruity desirable, for far greater
good can be wrought out by the present de-
nominational differences than by any con-
ventional unity, even though such a unity
were practicable. Denominationalism is a
part Of the genius of Christianity; it is an
evidence Of the abounding life inherent in
Christianity. Every really vital thing has
IN 1t the tendency to variation, and 1T is
natural that Christianity, being the supreme
religion, should take great variety of
forms.
STORY OF CATHOLIC CHURCH.
Continuing, Mr.. Milburn said:
Furthermore, we must not forget that
denominationalsm is a condition of prog
ress; it is an appeal to thought, to individ-
uality, to character. Denominationalism, by
the very principle of difference, produces
an interesting civilization; it is compulsive;
it Is coercive, so that while churches think
differently there is bound to be movement
and progress in the churches. This is very
evident when we compare the church of the
last two or three hundred years with the
church anterior to that time. Any man
who has any historic sense knows that the
Roman Catholic Church has always been a
wonderfully picturesque and interesting
church; that it has had a wonderful genius
Tor administration; that 1t has had great
scholastic ability, and that 1t has produced
loneliness and beauty of character un-
surpassed by any of the other branches of
the church. 1 think in all history there is
marvellous, nothing more spectacular, moth
ing more imposing than the story of the Ro-
man Gno.. Cathoic Church 1t is more
empire, than the history of any great ma
ton; so wonderful is it, not only in its
aesthetic picturesqueness, but also as a
manifestation of human power, ingenuity
and genius for administration. And yet
while making this concession, which is a
right and just concession, we all must adj
nation this great church was statical; there
was no principle of movement, no principle
of expansion or of growth in it; it had 10
competition. no opposition, there was no one
to gainSay or to question its truth; what
it said was final, ultimate; its views went
out into the world and everybody had to
submit There was no contention, no de-
bate, no attrition of ideas, no working out
towards light through the conflict of partial
the weakness of the Catholic Church, and
that is the weakness of church unity; 1T
means staticalness. under present condi-
tions, for you can only have progress where
you have differentiation, where you have a
variety of types, where you have mutual
scrutiny and competition Of truths. Hence
we find that SINCE the Reformation-that is,
since the birth of dencminationalism-f
that is what the Reformation means-the
world has been swiftly progressive In every
department of Life, immensely progressive
In science, in social and political develop
ment, In literature, in all the arts and forms
and modes and habits Of civilization
And yet this variation of belief, while 1t
makes for progress, makes at the same time
for fundamental unity, for ultimate solidar-
ity, for this is always natures method. Ma
ture is ever evolving away from the SIM
pie homogeneous through many elaborate
forms differences towards an ultimate COM
pick unity And so Christianity is moving
away from the simple unity of Roman Ca
tholiciSm through the many differences and
nations the many different temperaments
of Professionalism towards an ultimate unity
that shall be infinitely richer, more coherent
Ollie unity out of which Professionalism orig
inally emerged.
UNCONVENTIONAL IDEAS
"Ihe denominations that stand before the
world to-day, stand there because they en-
phasize a certain idea The Catholic Church
exists because ii emphasizes the idea of
authority; the Episcopal Church exists be-
cause it emphasizes the idea of the episco-
pate; the Methodist Church exists because
of it's emphasis of the emotions in religion;
the Congregational Church because of it's
emphasis of the idea of the democratic prin-
ciple in religion: the Presbyterian Church
because or it's emphasis of the idea of the
sovereignty of God and the dignity of man.
Now, these are the ideas for which the va
rious denominations stand, and as a man
leans to one or the other of these ideas he
will be drawn to that denomination.
These are the ecclesiastical variations
| that confront u.s. and yet the variations are
| all the while tending toward more elabor-
| ate unity We see for example, that the
| tibly affected by the ideas emphasized by
| other denominations, is being drawn into a
| love of the beautiful, is caring more for
music, more for art than it used to care,
| and by and by, instead of these meaning
| less stained glass windows that we have in
our Presbyterian Churches, we, will have
windows that are symbolical and that speak
| of the great acts and incidents in the life
| of Christ and His apostles. And we feel
| quite a good deal drawn of late towards
| the liturgical and the graceful in worship.
We believe that 1t is right to make the
worship Of God as beautiful, as lovely, as
full of charm as possible. to make holiness
as delightful as possible"
DR.. Milburn went on to show the charac-
teristics of various denominations and the
influences they exert on each other. He
said that denomnationalism tended to pro-
mote sincerity and honesty in religious life,
as 1t furnished a scope of choice and was
more compatible with the various temper
aments of Christians. 1t was therefore
neither practical nor desirable to have dog
matte unity, but there is a unity that Is
quite feasible the unity born of a Just and