The morning journal-courier., 1908-11-25

the offer. In February of an ice house Instead of a 0re-sIde
 In any case, whether our religious divisions are the result of historical conditions, the passion for liborty in an age of repression and intolerance, or, the outcome or tomperQmontal dif- ferenccs those divisions have not all been to the bad Without them we should not have had @ titho of the dIstjnotivoncss and decision of Anglo Saxon character Without them ccr- tain truths of Christianity would have been lost to the world; take tae case, for example, of Dr. Morrison, who was ostraclsed from the Preshy- torlan church of his day because he dared to preach that the death of Christ was an expression of the love of God, and not Gas then taught) of His wrath, He straightway founded the denomination which was popular ly labelled with his own name, and through 1t he preached the radiant evangel which is now the glad mes sage of every enlightened pulpit Without that religious division, that truth might have been lost,
 When, then, the bittercst criticism has been heard and considered con- corning religious diyIsions--eycn if we agree with Jowett of Baliol, when he declared the Nonconformist separation as the greatest misfortune that had ever befallen England, in that 1t had resulted in splitting hcr into two na- tlons, yet If we are fair we must al- low that our religious divisions have had their value, Variations hcrc, as In nature, have been valuable
 But new occasions teach new du- ties! Time makes ancient good un- coutn" Somebody has said; "Lot us walk the footsteps of our fathers, but we need not wear our fathers boots. " Though religious divisions have had their value, they nnger and oppose themselves to the larger democratic and social Ideals of the twentieth century We are in danger of at- l tempting the future portal. with tn, past's blood-rusted key. What oui nation needs to-day is a workable nm. denomlnationalism Our task as churches is tO gather out of the exist ing forms of our religion, a some. thing which they all moan, for which they will all stand, and which can bc taught to the present and rising gen. eratlon with advantage, with econo' ! my and uniformity,
 That is to say, if we are to sorv, | our day and generation, We mus 1 search, amid the raw material whicl | the various churches offer, for wna may be considered as the essence O. them all the vital taing, available fo, ! the training of the children and fll ] the promotion of unity and harmon! | amongst grown-ups.
 Is this rational? It seems to me highly SD It Is certainly along th, line Of the modern tendency of thing. | in other spheres Co seek for tha which makes for unity in morals aul religion; amid the outside form c < things, men are everywhere searching for the thing that lies behind. And to my mind, we have not far Co go {. find what might be called our rclig ious common icnominator
 Furthermore, the process of find ing 1t is going on The Nonconform ist bodies in England with thei strongly marked differences, have nevertheless, found what Is essenta to their faith. Witness the Ere Church" council in England Wtncs the North China Educational union, a union of four denominational mis sions, the expense for which Is appor toned among them, and the instruc tion in the four colleges being on thoroughgoing union basis Holdnl their separate principles on points o detail, their representatives confr with entire harmony on questions O common interest. All this is precise lv the mind which John Wesley reach cd at the end of his career "I am. he said, sick or opinions
 Give mo a humble, gentle lover O God and man man lay ing himself out in the work of fait' the patience of hope and ihe labou of love, Let my soul be with thoa Christians whcrcsoeycr they are an whatsoever opinions they are of,
 Again, let 1t be noticed that tl common denominator in our Chris tan life, fig precisely the thing tha regulates the actions and distinguisho the intercourse of sensible Chris,lu people the world over. When you q business with your neiEhbor, wAe you talk with him on the street who you move with him in matters of pul lie interest the principles you go ur on are neither Calvanlstic or Arm, nian, CongreRa Presbyterian c Episcopal; they are of a stock com mon to us all.
 And, friends, in the field of moder missions. in Indian. in China in Jar an, everywhere Christianity is cor fronting ancient civilizations and an cent faiths, the common donom nations of of Christianity Is boln emphasized, the leaders really
 
 peratlvely demands a united iron They know that if the church of tn west, has no common message fc these peoples of the cast, there
 small chance of It's success anon them II is this conviction that Ina been drawing together of late. the dc nomin9tional missionaries, in eye closer bonds It is this spirit that
 seeking to-day concordat--a has of united action ft is this spirit thj is seeking 10 develop in the Orient, : literature for the non-Christian racr which, free from scctarian form shall offer to them the living soul ' Christianity and its results upon lif
 Furthermore, 1t is precisely th form of appeal that is reaching tl1 best mind of tho east That is a sic nincant utterance of the cmincr Hlndoo thinker, P. C. Mo2oomda