Los Angeles herald., 1908-12-07
breaches UNITY OF
FAITH AS ESSENTIAL
BISHOP C0NATY DEFINES IT AS
MARK OF CHURCH
IndlvlduaIism in Religion Logical Re-
suit of Principle of Private Judg-
ment as Opposed to EccIe-
sastical Authority

Unity as a Mark of the Church of
Christ" was the subject of Rt. Rev.
Bishop Conaty yesterday morning at
the Cathedral of st. Vibiana, as the
second of his course of advent sermons
on 1.-THE Church"
Bishop Conatys took his text from
Ephesians iv: At, But unto every one
of us is given grace according to the
measure of the gift of Christ" He said
in part:
"In founding his church, Christ Sc
lected Peter and called him the rock
on which he would build his church.
The very essence of truth demands
unity, for truth is one, as God is one,
and the revelation of God made known
by Christ through his church must be
one and Interchangeable, without contra
diction or error. He established the
unity of government in the supremacy
of authority vested in Peter; the keys
of the kingdom of heaven were to be
the symbol of authority, and the power
over sin was to be vested in him and
his successors and in those whom he
and they were to send to the world
to preach the kingdom of Christ.
1.-THE character of unity is seen IN
the oneness of doctrine, for the witness
to the truth of Christ, who is commits
has the doctrine as it came from
Christ Therefore it must be one, as
Christ is one. Christ himself condemned
as heathens and publicans those who
would not hear the church when, in
the person of the apostles, the truth
was to be made known to them.
Private Judgment Condemned
1.-THE violent oppositions in doctrine
found in iso-called creeds of churches
would seem at once, to argue against
considering them as claimants of unity
of faith, doctrine, worship and govern
ment, as . essential to the church, at
least in that sense in which we nave
considered it. Discofd, dissension,
contradiction are unity's greatest enc
miles, They are the outgrowth OF IN
dividualism in religion the logical re-
suits of the principle of private Judg-
ment in religion. 1t is Impossible with
private judgment as the determining
factor of religious belief to lead people
into unity. Private judgment leaus 10
division. Indifference and, frequently,
to unbelief By it one man concludes
that Christ is the son of God made
man. and another from the same
ground concludes that he is only hui
man. The Bible ceases to be the Word
of God, contradictions frequently are
heard concerning doctrines That are
such principles, unity is absolutely i'm
possible. Each man becomes the maker
IF his system of religion, his own
teacher and ruler, and the unity prayed
for by Christ becomes practically i'm
possible.
"The world has recognized the tenac-
itv with which the Catholic Church
has held to oneness of belief and doc
trfne; it has never tolerated discord
or dissensions upon questions defined
as belonging to the deposit of faith.
The non Catholic world has upbraided
the church for her unchangeableness
of doctrine, and, especially in the mod
ern age, when novelty in doctrine or
evolution in doctrine would seem to be
the demand of so-called modern intel
ligence. The recent pronouncement OF
the present pontiff in the condemna-
ton Of erroneous PRINCIPLES in doctrine