The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-08-06
! IN RELIGIONS REALM.
EXPRESSIONS FROM VARIOUS
RELIGIOUS NEWSPAPERS.

The Religious Thought of the Day
as Expressed in the Sec
tartan Press.
1.-THE old maxim that the Bible. and
the Bible only, is the religion of Prot
testants' is sharing the fate of many
another half-truth,'' says the Living
Church" P. Ed of Chicago. Half
truths are the most perishable of en-
rors. Their initial velocity is astound-
ing; they flash, flame and soar; but
their zenith is soon reached, and with
waning coruscationS they descend to
darkness and oblivion. We do not think
we exaggerate the situation when we
insist that the once popular half-truth
of Professionalism has done quite as
| much to discredit the Bible as the con-
ceits and vagaries of self-sufhcient crit
lclsm. 1t was once personally danger
GUS for a man to call in question the
first, as it is now getting to be so to
call in question the second Now none
SO poor as to do reverence to the pitiful
half-truth of the Bible as the sole basis
of religion, and in the reaction from
it multitudes are throwing their Bibles
away. Perhaps it may inspire us with
some comfort to hope that like fate
may ere long await the destructive
criticism which is now making kindling
wood of the faith Of many. Halt
truths and whole errors are alike NOR
tai, and in due time will writhe in pain
| and die amid their worshipers. But
God have mercy on the men who have
destroyed the faith of others, and led
so many of the youth of the church
to look askance at the truths which
have been the source of all the bless
lngS they enjoy! 1t is time for be-
levers to arouse themselves, forget
small differences, and band together to
| fight these insurgent Aguinaldos of ra-
tionalism."
1--WE reprint elsewhere portions of the
convention address of the Bishop of
Long Island, which should be pondered
by every churchman," says the New
York "Churchman" Up. Ed. His con-
clusion, that the most convincing and
| impressive fact of the nineteenth cen
fury is that it has seen the Gospel
carried to the ends of the earth, and
ously prepared to receive it, is a noble
climax to an able review of the ques
lions of the day. No chapter in history
shows God so manifestly clearing a
highway into the hearts Of unbelieving
nations. A voice from the clouds has
| commanded, with an emphasis never
| before known, the Israel of God ito go
| forward and regard nothing less than
| the world as their field. Never before
has the church adequately recognized
that propagation is the essential
| law of her life. Indeed, she must
move on if she is to retain the power
| to move at ALL In no other way can
the church be what her Lord intended
| her to be-the vessel of His grace TO
| all nations. If we We're to sum up in
| one sentence His message to-day to
| His heralds, it would be: He that is
| not ready to preach the Word of Life
anywhere is fit to preach it nowhere.
| "The present writer Gin the Chris
| tian Register" Unitarian, Boston, is
probably as far as any one of his read
ers can be from sympathizing with the
| doctrines, spirit and practices of the
| Anglican high-church party. But he
sees that much of the adverse criti-
cism passed upon these things is futile,
| because the meaning of the high
church movement is not understood,
and no account is made of that which
is the real heart and Inspiration of the
movement. No party is formed with ad-
herents who are prepared to labor and
suffer for their cause, unless some
Whnrp in the idaaC and r,1rpocoS ,,f
the party there is something real, and
which seems to earnest men to be a
sufficient reason for devotion and toll.
All parties, no matter how good their
cause, may have camp followers, mer-
cenaries and pretenders. But he is a
poor judge of human nature and the
movements that make history who
judges parties by the eccentricities, the
vanities, the duplicities, and the vagar-
| les of those who are caught and held
for time by some passing excitement
or selfish advantage. It is easy to laugh
at the fuss made about candles, pro-.
cessions, robes, gestures, intonations
and confessions. But gibes and jests
and superficial criticism never clear the
air. Directed against the high-church
party, they make it more difficult than
ever to understand why such trivial
things should engage the attention Of
men and women who are SO earnest,
SO intelligent and so devout."
1.-THE church is necessary to the full
success of such a form of government
as ours says the New York Chris
tian Intelligencer' (Ref.). ut is abova
all things necessary in this nation that
the character of the citizens be of
superior type. The nature Of absolute
monarchy may be determined largely
by the character of the sovereign. But
the success of democracy depends
upon the general character of the peo-
pie Two essential elements in it's citi-
zenship are knowledge and virtue. A
clear conception of great principles in