The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-03-11
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
A DISCOURSE ENTITLED CHRISTIANS
OUTSIDE THE CHURCH"
THE Rev. Robert Macdonald Expresses
the View That To he ~ Believer In
Christ IL Not Different From Being u
Belieyer An Man


Christ 10 Not Different From Being u
Believer In Man.
BROOKLYN. y. Y.-"Christians outside
the Church was the subject of the ser
mon Sunday morning by the Rev. Robert
Macdonald pastor OF the Washington Ave
nue Baptist Church. Ii was the hrst OF
series of tye sermons. The text was from
John Y: l6: "Other sheep ! have which
are not OF this fold" Mr.. Macdonald
SAID:
So important and many sided a subject
as this must be looked at from more than
one view point. Numberless are the ques-
nons TO be considered. Numberless the
opinions favorable and unfavorabe. true
and false 10 be confirmed IN these ser
mons or repudiated. Numberless the peo.
PIE interested in so practical and personal
question, some OF whom love the church
better than life; Others OF whom hate the
churcn more than any other institution
in existence; some who trace their loftiest
aspirations, their deepest motives, their
holest desires back TO her az a fond moth
er who lives ~ nourish her children with
her own rich life; others who have never
received the least beneht therefrom, OF
which they are conscious and boldly as
sert that little benefit to humanity ever
emerged from her portals. Some 60 so tar
as 10 make the church synonymous with
Christ's kingdom, and maintain that TO
be a member of the one Is 10 be member
OF the other, and consequently yield 10 her
a fanatlcal reverence. Others swing clear
10 the other extreme and consider the
church nothing better than the product
OF a jealous rivalry for pre-emlnence over
other institutions OF earth, else the eN-
preston in wood and stone of overwrought
sensibIhtIes. Therefore, the monument OF
most irrational superstition. While an
lnnumerable many identify themselves
with the church because they believe IT to
be a bencticent institution ordained OF
God without which the world would be
morally and spiritually impoverished, and
through which the spirit Is working for
the redemption of humanity, in which di.
vine strength can be had for the Ills OF
life.
| desire that our starting point in these
discussions should be IN favor Of religious
toleration. As love Is the centre OF the
Christian system, so must II be the motive
IN every church claiming to be a Christian
chTuch. As Christ our Master was toler-
gnt Of and charitable toward those who
were not numbered among the twelve
disciples and forty apostles, so must we
as His followers be tolerant IN thought,
word act, 10 those not of our number, and
outside our communion. There IL greater
need of toleratlon to-day than at any pre-
vious period of the worlds history. The
church OF to-day ~ more advanced than
the church of yesterday. Its intelligence
is greater: its light clearer; Its affinity
with the Holy Spirit more personal; Its
hold upon the cross of Christ, that power
of rcdemptive love, sacrificing itself even
unto death, stronger. The church Of the
twentieth century ought 10 be, and shame
upon Us If II Is not, more spiritual than
the church of the thirteenth century, or
even than the church Of the nineteenth
century.
/ But not only in view of our superior
spiritual enlightenment, also in view Of
our peculiarly complex state Of living
should we be Tolerant. 1t Is the age OF
differentiation and OF classification. Every
significant fact of life has been forced to
submit TO division and subdivision to an
amazing extent. Look, for instance. at
education. Trace it through the modern
university curriculum. Contrast IT with
the most comprehensive collegiate instItu-
ton of a century ago. You are over
whelmed with the multitudinous depart
ments, and subdepartments and branches
of instruction, and professional chairs. All
these necessary, you say, TO educate the
youth. To adequately impart knowledge,
to meet the ever increasing intellectual de
mandF Yes. The renaissance that called
Europe from its dark ages OF intellectual
slumber has rot vet spent its force. Meas
ure the term medicine, or surgery with the
imposing stature of the general pract-
tOner of twenty years ago. The stature
is no longer imposing. The specialist of
a single bodily function is more imposing
now. And for the human body the work
OF the one has been divided into the skill
OF the hundreds and each unit in the vast
aggregate Is more authoritative than the
one. The term philosophy no longer rec
ognlzes the Old vague divisions of moral
and intellectual. Each division has been
differentiated and each differentiation sug-
gests to the mind content and comprehen-
siyeness, richer and more compact than
the original classification from which 1t
sprang Metaphysics, theism, ideaism,
empricism, economies, sociology, psychol-
ogy, biology, and many more are the terms
now familiar to our thought. And how
vast the field Of consciousness covered by
any one Of these significant terms. Eco
Monies, a very modern term for instance
postulates for us; the land question; the
tenement house problem, the theory Of
wealth industrial organization, all social
is.,c and communistic relation
The same in Jurisprudence, in commerce
and trade, In everything of worth. The
difference between the biE department
store and the little trader illustrates the
idea. Yet how surprised we are that we
should have wandered rehglous,y far
aie,d from the primitive apostolic church,
with our highly differentiated Credal and
tcal orders our multiplicity Of organ.
zation Bless you, II only shows We are
alive and growing and anxious to apply
the gospel of Jesus to all sorts and cond-
tons of men. The worldly minded CAIN
that denominationalism Is dstract.ng and
sigh for a Christian unity that viii swal-
low mp az religious divisions. But, believe
me, denominationalism makes more for
the glory of Christianity than for It's
shame. The only shame about u all IS
that denOmmatlonahsm at times nurtures
a spirit of Phariseeism that sees no God
in any other division OF the Christian fold
than its own. It has been only a few
years since the medical students Of Har-
ward feilowshIpped the aspirani for veter-
mary honors. The term horse doctor"
was the term Of sa,utation. The veterln-
ary student. az the student Of dentistry,
was occupied with such inferior subject
matter. Yes. but necessary subject mat
ter. So OF the Anglican churches and the
non-conformlsts OF England. The one Is
poor stuff to the other, tolerated only at
the point OF taxation 20 support their
schools. Similar intolerance was felt to-
word the great Booth movement in Amer
lea by al the churches, because that move
ment ignored their cut and dried eccles-
lastical methods and brought into rcqu-
sitloa the public square and the secular
hall If 10y any means they might saye some
the churches could not reach. The same
intolerance - now characterizing us to-
ward that growing 80 called, Christian
Science movement. Whom will we see the
powers for good that are ordained Of
Gody When wall We believe that any move
ment, however erroneous IN nineteen
points OF test, n adapted in rs twentieth h
point unto the blessing Of men, I- worthy
oi our tolerance, even our sympathetic re-