The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1908-03-07

body against Rome is pulverizing and the church
has now become a house divided against itself. Her
cerics, except when actually performing divine
service, are now undistingUishable from laymeH
and their sermons have degenerated into lectures
or platform dissertations in which extravagant
WITNESSES and paradoxes, which called science,
take the place of the sound teachings of st. Paul.
low standard is set in these weekly addresses,
in which the motives of the gospel are either with
held altogether or urged with comparative infre-
quency. The natural effect of renouncing high
views and sound doctrine is to suspect ridicule
them in others. Clergymen, like James Francis
Paul, who would stay the fatal movement in the
church towards the maestrom of infidelity or An
glican comprehensiveness are traduced as unrea
sonable bigoted, fanatcal, or they are branded as
pious cranks who mean well and for this reason
ought to be tolerated. To contend for Christion
principles and for high views is folly fanati-
cism, and unable or unwilling to walk the path of
pety, sincerity and Christian fortitude the adver
saries of these upright and honorable endeavor
to laugh them down or make them ridiculous.
When the bishops themselves are stricken with the
disease of heresy and Latitudinarianism what hope
is there for the people, Take for example the ser
the conservation of the Anglican Bishop of Western
Colorado only few months ago. The charge Of
our Divine Lord to the twelve bishops he was
sending out from Jerusalem to baptze in his name,
in that of his Father and of the Divine Spirit, and
to preach his doctrines, was not comprehensive
enough for Bishop Spalding and he enlarged the
privileges of the Apostolic office. Addressing the
newly consecrated bishop he said: 1--WE consecrate
you, my brother, and send you forth into your dis
trc to be the bishop of every city and every town,
and every settlement, of every school, and every
hospital; of every lodge and every union, of all
social life and political life, of family life. All
are yours Go forth as the Bishop of Socialism
and Trade Unionism of Communism and Prohib-
ton, of Ethical Culture, New Thought. of truth
held by all men, at all times and in all places and
truth which was only discovered yesterday. There
is truth in them all and the church needs that
truth
Now, how does this language contrast with the
words spoken by the bishop when, with his brother
bishops, he imposed hands on the Rev. E. l. Knight
Receive the Holy Ghost for the office and work
Of bishop in the church of God (not in the lodges
now committed unto thee by the imposition of our
hands, in the name of the Father, etc. And re
member that thou stir up the grace of God which
is given to thee, ETC."
The Rt. Reverend Father in God, Bishop Spald-
ng tells us in this extraordinary address-extraor
binary for a churchman-that Christ our Lord es-
ablished an incomplete church which was to wait
or the coming of socialism. trade-unionism. COM
nunism, prohibition, new thought and God only
Knows what else to round out and perfect the reve
alton of His Divine SON. And to make his stand
n with these erratic bodies secure, he tells them:
The church (of Cod has need of the truth dis
covered yesterday" Wasn't it Monk" Lewis who
wrote:
To you the people look as to the Holy Book.
For the precepts and example they're to follow; |
But when We prove untrue, as many of We do,
Do We wonder why we're al so vile and hnllowln