Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1903-10-09


arger liberty than the institution a. =
the individual citizen has larger liberty {
than the nation. as the individual trades
unionist has a larger freedom than the
trades union AS such. So the indi'id"Al
Christian has greater freedom to act IN
certain questions than has the church as
an organization. |,
Some have thought the church to be
a sort Of combination Of bake-shop' a
tailor shop, dispensary and a gy'hh"
stun, and this believe to be caused o!
a reaction from the older theory oil tue
church. Many men connected with other
organizations, as societies aud UNIONS
often regard them as doing better an"
more practical work than the church.
There is another conception oil the
church which is that it has political
functions as an organization in the s'a'e'
There are coming to this country III the
tides of emigration men who have peeh
accustomed to a state church and THESE
insist that the church shall in this land
move as political force. We must not
he carried off our feet 10y criticisms oil
the church made by those who have no
sympathy with it. | am not sure that
there are not many ministers who have
+ listened to the dictation OF labor leaders
e who not only have done nothing for the
), church, but are positively antagonistic
h to it. While the church must not for
e get to minister to mems temporal needs'
e she must remember that this is not her
e chief function, but that her chief mis-
It sion is to minister to the spiritual needs
e of men. Professor Graham Taylor OF
A Chicago, r. w. Dale and Spicer NJ. L. OF
m England, and Professor Peabody OF New
d England were quoted to support TIM
N view. Not the work of the church Il
We enter into the political rivalries ant
he struggles of the day, but to train men
ce hearts and minds that they may ente
to into all life with right ideals. Any Ell
IN gineer can run some engines, but tn
he more complex the engine the more ski
w full must be the engineer. Human Ill
ss was never so complex as it is today, an
1 Al Ia, s. nhnrnh tp
of moral engineers to run the political an
IS social engines of our complex moder
lot life. 1t is surface criticism to say TIL
ng the church is not practical. What mo
of practical work should there be tina
sse saving men from ruin and boys fro
he straying. What we need is to put mo
his devotion to spiritual things, more /
,he tense earnestness and greater sacriti
into the work of the church.
low Before the discussion solo entitl
ey; "Come unto me when the dark shado
po- gather" was beautifully rendered
cr. Miss Taylor.
and Rev. r. J. Barton of Greensboro, V
ON opened the discussion. He quoted Be
eri. iamin Kidd to the effect that the fol
say of the evolution of social reform is
and iigion, and that the fountain of thong
Tod that sends its flow onward through ii
yer the fountain that was opened up in
we House of David in Bethlehem t
will thousand years ago. There are trem
zen dous social forces in the world
the unions, the corporations, the facto
ior- Jesus Christ is the solvent of all tn
who forces, to overcome the rivalries and
lose terness existing often among the VIC
low ers, to bring soul to the corporate
man What is soul to the corporation? Bri
lity. ing it out of a state of savagery into
plift where sympathy crculates not as biz
reat crculates within ones skin; to br
not the fact of Christ to the consciousl
the of men. All the knowledge of the
5 to comes from the scriptures. For as
rine matter where you dig you find rock
here no matter where you dig in Script
the YOU find Christ. He underies it all
lost, THE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN IN THE STA
in Rev. VIM. R. Harvey of Point
this Charles, Montreal, gave an able add
the on the above subject. He referred
,rine the two tendencies of men in Chris,
tn a history. The tendency of the rec
God who said the world is waxing evil, i
} his hopelessly corrupt, we must flee from
rest. So they went to the monastery and
treat. There was selfishness and c
$50 ardice in this, but they went also
| by they might preserve the vision, "w
e, in out which the people perish" I
petit there is the other tendency, the moo
mpa- trend, towards activity and war
pirit, against evil, without the vision, will
King the dynamics OF prayer and meditat
being The tendencies are each present in II
ern life. There is the man who
Inns "Politics is hopelessly corrupt, we
Asso- not touch it," There is also the
t the who plunges into schemes of 81
.llery ameloration, who calls loudly for pr
the cal panaceas for social ills, but
inted thinks prayers and politics have not
Oh &C. in common. Christ knew how t
heme two apparently conflicting calls coul
hilaa coordinotad 'Thora ara ammo a.