Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1899-07-07

uring success by purely external stand
ards, and stalking our happiness upon
attaining the goals and ambitions of
this passing world. Sometimes we
seek even to measure divine trust in
the scale of human members and ma
jorities. And thus the things which
cast us down in disappointment and
dependency are but the tempered
things of the passing world, and we
forget to look up and beyond to the
unseen things which are eternal.
Happy is it for us then, if we learn by
experience that in q%uietness and con-
tidence shall be our strength, and to
look aloft for that peace which passeth
understanding"
In concluding. the speaker said:
"Let us care for our bodies, for our
minds, and for our souls. Let us
seek to know God Alright and learn His
will to do. Let us work on while it is
called today, before the night shades
fall, and then. we too, like Elijah, shall
some day see His glory in the heavens,
and be taken home, where we are nc
longer tempted by dependency, and
out of life's labor and sorrow there is
born unending JOY"
The discourse was listened to with
large number present.
The synopsis of the Sunday evening
sermon delivered by Bishop Edsall,
crowded out of our Monday edition is
given below. The SUBJECTS a deep one,
we'll worthy of study and is divided into
two parts, with sub-sections in order
more clearly to keep the theme in sight.
The discourse was "Why I am a
C%hurchman." The speaker said:
Is apology needed for the discussion
of such a theme at a Chautauqua?
Purpose educational and instructive, as
we'll as for recreation and pleasure. No
theme for instruction is more vitality i'm
portant to US, either as individuals or
as citizens of a nation and state, than
religion.
Celebration of 4th near at hand.
National events of past years. The
hand of God seen in them. The re.
ligious and moral training of our people
for generations back, a mighty factor in
the result. In the problems that con.
front us in the future, we still need the
guidance and stay of religion.
Christianity the only absolutely true
religion. No need, | trust, to discuss
that proposition before this audience.
Hence, 1 will pass into the next propo.
sition which is stated as the general
answer to the question propounded in
my theme: "Why Am l a Church.
MANI"
Because I believe that the system of
Faith, Discipline, and Worship repre-
sented by what is ordinarily known as
the Protestant Episcopal Church, is
that form of Christianity which con.
forms most closely to the declared Will
of it's Founder Jesus Christ our Lord,
and, as such, is best practically adapted
to meet the religious needs of human
nature.
l. Our system of Faith, discipline
and worship most closely conform tc
the declared Will of Jesus Christ.
This "Will" of our Lord can only be
ascertained through one channel
namely that of history. History the
telescope through which we may view
distant past. The first and most i'm.
portant part of this history of course
contained in the New Testament. For
example, the book of the Acts of the
Apostles has been we'll termed the "frst
chapter of Church history
But in order to get back to the times
of the Apostles so as to fully under
stand what they did and said, and
wrote, we must approach them in the
light of the subsequent history of the
Church. By a study of the continuous
history of the Church can we alone
distinguish from century to century
that which was a true following Of thai
which had gon before, and beer
handed down, and what %corruptions
and accretions to the original Faith
and practice of the Church.
To day we stand with the Roman
Catholic Church on one side-claimine
to be the true Catholic church to tn,
exclusion of every other form of Christ
ianity, and with the various ant
numerous Protestant denominations or
the other, most of which claim to be
true following of our Lord on tn
ground that they adhere to a true inter
probation of Scripture, which the,
claim to be the exclusive means O
ascertaining what our Lord meant tn
Church should be, ignoring in that re
gard all history subse quent to tn
formation of the New Testament Canon
Let us take up such crucial question!
as the Faith, Polity, and Worship O
Christianity, and examining what the,
we're in the Church as our Lord pre-
pared it and the Apostles founded it
see how and where, Rome on the on
hand and several forms of Professionalism
IN the other, have departed from tn,
original form; and then ascertain if my