Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-02-02


supplanted the spirit Of unity which
the Savior said should be a permanent
characteristic Of His true followers.
No. Is this all. Sects aTe multiplying
as fast as ever. We have now two
Salvation armies and some other organ
izations with military names. We have
two or more divisions Of Christian
Scientists. We have Dowieites and
Koreshans. And TO these new pheno-
mena must be added the old ones intro
duced under the name OF Theosophy, OF
Buddhism, devil worship, and what not.
No wonder, IL a business man like the
late Phil" Armour In viewing this
confusion, felt called upon to rebuke
a certain clergyman. As told by DR..
Gunsaulus IN the Review Of Reviews
the millionaire was out travelling, and
stopped at little cross-road place,
where he observed that on each Of the
four corners at the crossing Of the two
principal streets stood Protestant
church representative Of It's denomina-
ton An oyer-talkatiye brother, who
proved TO be one of the half-starVed
pastors in the struggling village, pre-
scented himself and said 81 am proud
to grasp the hand Of a man who cam
not be cornered.' Mr.. Armour replied:
II don't think corners In wheat and
pork are In It with the way you four
fellows are trying to four-corner rellg-
Ion in this town. How much Is the
debt on these churches all told? You
say thousand dollars would free
them? Well. l will give that much II
three of you fellows will resign and
these churches will unite" The money
was never applied for, and Mr., Armour
afterwards said: IL suppose they
couldn't unite on baptism. told the
folks at the mission, when they wanted
to know what denomination we would
choose for the work down there, that /
wanted the religion Of the place to be
undenominatiOnal but 1t must be l6
ounces to the pound, all wool, and
yard wide and ] don't care whether
the converts are baptized In a soup
bowl, dishpan, or the Chicago river"
What other impression can the spec
tacle Of UNCONVENTIONAL quarrels and
bubbles produce on the practical mlndP
Contempt for religion is natural re-
suit
But the most practical question In
this connection Isl How can unity he
established and preserved? Our rellg-
ious friends tell US that there must be
and is spiritual union, but this
Is merely sedatiye to troubled con-
science, In the universe there Is uni
ty because the worlds revolve around
common centers. being SUSTAINED from
common fountains of light and heat
In the family there Is unity, In the de-
gree that the different members obey
one head A country Is united, as long
as the citizens sustain a common gov
eminent and order their lives in ac-
cordance with common laws. In an
army there is unity. as long as the
various divisions operate in accordance
with a common plan, each carrying out
its part thereof and obeylng Its own
commanders, who are all subject TO
the supreme authority.
II Is not different in the Church
When all its members and branches ac-
knowledge Christ as the head. His word
as the supreme law. and His servants
as His authorized representatives,, there
will be unity. This Christendom does
not do There are as many leaders as
there are sects, and as many private In
terpretations Of the word of God. What
would be the fate Of an army In the
field, should each soldier follow his own
self-elected leader, and each officer con-
strue the command Of the superior In
his own way7 What would become OF
the universe itself should each planet
and satellite break loose from the gen.
eral system and pursue its own course
through space?
Christ fervently prayed, before as
cendlng the cross, that His followers
may be one, as He is one with the
Father. and that prayer will be heard,
when those who profess to believe in
Him. viii humbly bow before Him and
accept His authority, whether repre-
sented by His word or His holy Priest
hood. There can be no other way to
Christian unity.