The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1907-03-23

Tor evermore If he be faithful to the Light that
llehteneth every man that cOmeth into the world
Lhe wisdom of man is folly unto God
Much has been made of the question of Angli-
can Orders. 1t seems to be to be utterly mperti-
nent to the greater question of ones individual
DUTY to Christ and His Church. One who is truly
bishop or truly priest can be false to Christ
Vas not an apostle a betrayer! The Catholic
Church, as | learned before, and know with Ger
talnty now. could wish that Anglican Orders were
valid; 1t would remove of the great difficulties
IN the way of reconciliation There is no desire on
inc part OF the Catholic Church to deny any fact:
IT IS only that she is bound to recognize and state
facts. The Greek Church agrees with the Roman
Ohurch III ITS opinion of Anglican Orders as is
proved by the recent ordination in New York of
former Anglican clergyman. 1t is plain that how
ever complimentary Greek bishops may be- they re-
fuse to jeopardize their orders by admitting into
communion with the man Anglican without reor-
dination.
But if Anglican Orders were valid. my duty
would be the same. Oriental hcresies. as rule.
mad genuine bishops and priests but their crime of
dividing the body of Christ was not less henOus Ee-
cause fthat but more The vital question is one
OF obedience to the Living Church. Where is that
church! How can it speak to me? He that hear
eth her heareth Christ. and he that despiseth her
deSplseth Christ. In Peters ship there is truth
there is safety; thus the Blessed Master preached
to the multitude the seashore; thus He breaches
ever; where Peter is. there is the Church.
Again, very Christian body, save the Catholic
Church, is losing has lost its reverence for the
Bible, and those who made of the Bible a fetch
awakening now to the fasity of their understand
ing OF It, have gone to the extreme of reputation
The Church maintains her original position. holds
it in profound reverence as of old and uses it more
extensively than ever before
The Catholic Church has never denied her
Lord. nor has her faith in the truth and perpetuitv
OF the Gospel Of Jesus Christ failed because she
has based that faith, not on chance opinions Of
men, but on Christ the Divine Teacher The
GROWING absurdity of Professionalism is revealed by
the recent assertion of President Eliot of Harvard
that religion can be nothing better than mere
working hypothesis. and like science. be forever
shifting Its teachings according to the discoveries
OF the day Such religion is not religion: it hardly
deserves to be called ethics for ethics claims to
reach down to the fundamental laws of life
Finally. the concet that the Anglican Church
can be brought back to the fold of Christ by IN
dlvlduas that the light and try to hold it back
rather than follow it is founded on an over appre-
citation of the part the individual must play in the
divine economy of his Church. Christ could if He
chose, raise up the very stones be sons of Abra
ham and He does not demand that any man should
be more than what the Spirit of God shows him
that he ought to be. Christ is competent to take
care OF His Church and has promised that the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it.
The dreams of broad-churchmen that Anglican
ism will be the rallying point of so-caled liberals
the dream of the so-caled Anglo-Catholic that it
will be the ralying point of distracted Christen-
dom are equally founded an mwillingness to
face facts they are and to recognize the natural
of tendencies as memorable as laws
that make for death The hope that has for so
many years huoyed so large number of Anglicahs
and made them allay persistent doubt has grown
more vain and fleeing. The Rev. DR.. Huntington.
rector of Grace Church. New Work the greatest
product of Epscopalianism in the United Statets.
has recognized this truth, and with honesty CON
fessed it in letter to a young Episcopal clergy
man, recently published in the Living Church of
and the Church Standard of Philadel-
phia. He says: Il have labored for peace and
now in the very communion which some of us have
fondy hoped might prove the ralying center there
come these omnous tokens of a possible disruption
such would make my dream that irridescent
thing the critics have always insisted that it was