The Saint Paul globe., 1899-07-09
WANTED-CHRIsTYAN UNITY.

There is har dly anywhere a Christian heart that
the prayer of Wr Lord for ev ied shall Ie he aa fnIed e
that they all may be one" Everybody deplores
necessary and acrimonious divisions Of Christendom
into warning camps of controversialists.
These are the opening sentences of an article
which appeared some time ago in the pages of the
New York Observer and which has attracted more
than ordinary attention.
The spirit of these sentences if not of the entire
article. is Gne which every Christian matter what
religious denomination he may belong to, will cor
daily accept. They embody essential principle Of
true Christianity They gfFesexpression to the hope
if not to the expectation every sincere believer
in the Christian religion But they are so far from
expressing a precept which there is any reason
able prospect of seeing embodied in practical opera
ton that they receive no serious consideration what
ever from the enlightened thought of the day.
There have been periods, when the wars of the
sects have been ruthless than they are today:
when accepted the claims of the respective sec
tartan teachers that all believers in other religious
creeds but theirs were immersed in the darkness of
unbelief But there never a time when "ac-
rmoniouS divisions We're more general than they
are today. Sects spring up year after year and
disappear; but the great divisions of the Christian
church which with the Reformation still remain
with and there is little of liberation of each
other among them there was They may
not respectively carry their views Of the unright-
eouSileSS OF the teachings or each other to the
remes of the past, but it is, fear. because the
enlightened sense of day is prepared to fol
low them But the warrng tendency is still char
acteristic of the sects Inv every land. There NO
union, and none is looked for There is real toll
eTatiOn except among the mass of the adherents Of
the several sects, and the lines of division as
marked as they were. except in clear definition
of exact belief e.t
The passing of recognized Biblical scholar like
DR.. Briggs from the Presbyterian ministry, from
which he formally expelled to the Episco-
palian carries with it no significance which
the lovers of Christian unity have reason to re-
joice. The ayOwed of his rejection as an ex-
FOUNDER of Presbyterian religious doctrine should ia
the minds of many also exclude him from fellowship
in the Episcopalian faith. Many high in the
Epscopalian ministry like DIR. Da Costa of New
York, regard it. And yet whether DR.. Briggs view
or the view of the Presbyterian authorities of DR..
Da Costa or of Bishop Potter concerning the author
y of the Scriptures be the correct one it is beyond
all question that Dr. Briggs is enlightened and re-
fined Christian gentleman. Defending his right to
readmission to the ministry he has said: ''It has
been my happy privilege to know and work with
some of the noble men of our age, Roman Catholic
and Protestant Lutheran and Calvnistc, Methodist,
Presbyterian and Anglican. in most of the greay
universities Of the world, and have been guided to
recognize the living Christian in them ALL" Not
withstandng all this Dr. Briggs has been denounced
as the enemy of revealed religion, and around his
personality and his beliefs the have struggled
and fought with acrimony unbounded for many
years.
AS the uncertainty grows concerning sectarian
teachings, the spirit of nfdety prevails among all
classes.
The churches and thefr creeds and their ministry
1t is that fault. AS long as there is no COM
mon ground on which they can meet there will be
gu.
and the warning camps Of controversialists" will
continue to be pitched toIthe end of time.