The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1909-11-03

sMlELFBEs THE SUSPECT or IVAN
GEEisT sNIvELNs SER
MON TONIGHT.

y ag
and at the close another person took
membership with the church. The
big chorus stin dtscourses fine music.
The subject Of Evangelist snlyely's
sermon this evening will be The Ptodt
gal Son.
/ To-day the writer of these notes,
who was once in the mazes CT rcliei-
Gus confusion, wishes to present to
the readers Of the West virgtnian nis
second reason for coming among The
disciples OF Christ.
II. 1 am a Disciple, because the Dis.
cipTes of Carist present a pronounced
protest against the various departures
of the medieval and modern churches
from the form OF the primitive apos-
toHc church. The Formation Of the
Church was after the divine IDEAL or
model through the apostles. by The
spirit, under Christ He was tie
head, the church was the body and
therefore a unity. There was oce
lord and one body. One faith in this
one Lord was the one srticle OF CON
fession that admitted to the one ban'
tlsm into this one body in which dwe't
one Spirit, and over which was we
FatnerGod above all and through all.
This seventold unity was the virgin
form of the church, the bride of Christ
There was one family, one brother
hood, one close compact, perfect d.
vine organism, with unity Of purpose.
plan and parts Just as God designed
as Christ prayed, and as the Holy
Spirit wrought with the apostolic in
junction to keep this unity" and the
apostolfc m~alediction upon those who
marred it by causing divisions" or ill.,
PRODUCING disquietude and disturb
ance. The greatest apostle could sag
of her 81 an Jealous over you with a
godIy jealousy; for espoused You 70
one husband that l might present You
as a pure virgin to Christ" 2 Cor.
XV.-2. The reformation of this d.
vine form soon began. Philosophers
and ~doctrinaires entered upon sDecu-
kations on the nature Of God. CharaE-
ter OF Christ and procession OF the
Holy Spirit. Rituaists discussed the
value of ordinances, the meaning OF
rites. the order of ceremonies and
forms of church government anil wcr-
ship,-a bitter spirit OF controversy
was engendered. human theories were
made into standards of faith and testE
of Fellowship, factions multiplied. d.
visions followed, 'the bonds Of peace
were broken, the unity OF the Spirit"
was destroyed and the n body a
torn from its head and severed into
a multitude OF ~contendlng hostile fTaS-
ments. The first great organic diyf-
sion the result of many minor difer-
lences on all sorts of fanciful theories
by theological hairsplitters and dream
ers, rent the one body into Greek AMI
Latin churches, divided jerusalem
into Rome and Constantinople and
brought Pope and Patriarch into bit
ter rivalry for the now usurped head
ship of Jesus. Thus there were two
heads and two bodies. Then closely
followed the great disruption born OF
corruption of the Latin Church into
Roman Catholic and Protestant. Thus
came the creed making age OF the
church, the saddest page in all her SO !!
history, when men turned from the
personal Christ to dogma. from the
Bible to the traditions and doctrines
of men, and from the simple apostolic
regulations ITO the promulgatlons of
Roman Catholic councils and Protest
ant assemblies. Then came the un.
fortunate divisions OF Professionalism
into two, ten, fifty, and hundreds OF
separate, distinct, organic bodies, each
with a human leader, human creed.
human name and human ritual,
These churches were not only or
ganlcally disunited but fraternally dis
ISOLATED and uncompromisingly onnos-
ed to such a degree that all Chm stem
dam was a complete bable of indi stIn.
guishable voices and unpronounceabIe
shFbboleths as If the baptism of fire
and gift Of tongues OF the jerusalem
Pentecost had never occurred. The
fair formation had totally disappeared
from the earth and the reformation
was complete and numerous noforma-
tlons representing every possible log
ma, doctrine, within, fancy and specu-
lation marked the ruins OF an ancient
christian Jerusalem or churca as the
curtain OF history drops at the close
OF the eighteenth century. AS Protest
ants of to-day we raise our voices
against this ruthless spoiIatlon and
emrhatically pronounce secttsm a sin
and the perpetuation OF 1t is unpar-
hnnnhln lnntnnrinr the rnIIdnrit- Of