The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1910-02-03

PULP 7
Mass Meeting No. ;
CHURCH FEDERATION
Counting the Cost
What Episcopahans, Catholics and
Lutherans Must Surrender.

would urge Christians of the other de-
nominations, especially the clergy, to
consider the advantage which would
accrue to the Federal ton by having all
Protestant ministers accept their Ordi-
nation. They do not claim that it
would make them wiser or better men,
nor more efficient teachers, either of
truth or error. But they do claim that
it would give them an authority in the
eyes of the people and give color and
reasonableness to the Federation of
many churches with discordant creeds
posing as one church in the Fedora
ton arrangement.
The argument is. THE common PEG
pie, the laity," are disposed more
than ever to think for themselves on
religious subjects and to study the
Bible for themselves. If, therefore,
as ministers, you desire to hold the
people in check so that they shall not
think for themselves you would do
well to concede the claim of apostolic
succession-that no one is permitted
to interpret or teach the Bible except
those who have received apostolic
benediction. 1t was disregard of this
claim of apostolic benediction which
led to freedom of thought on religious
subjects and ultimately led to the for
nation of the various Setts. You
should now seek to restrict further i'll
vestigation of the Bible and further
! Interpretation of it by accepting our
/ theory. by permitting us to grant you
recognition in some simple form of the
/ rights of apostolic authority through
our bishops If you do not do SO you
/ will more and more lose your hold on
/ the people for we are coming more
and more to a time of individual
thought on every topic.
The Scriptures intimate that this
! argument will ultimately prevail and
great Protestant denominations be
thus vitalized and, in cooperation
with Catholicism, for short while
dominate Christendom socially and
politically, crushing out individual
thought and negatiying and blacklist
ing all religious teachers outside the
Federation and its Catholic Ally.
From this standpoint the Episcopal
system will lose nothing, but even be
a gamer of prestige through the Fed
Grafton.
What Catholics Would Surrender.
For Catholics to join the Federation
would signify the surrender of great
deal, and yet, in the light Of the Tween
1b11lI lao
surrendered without any sacrifice Of
manhood merely with the sacrifice Of
little pride For the Church at Rome
to federate with the Protestant
Churches would mean that they ceas-
ed to protest and that she relinquished
her peculiar claims:
IL That she alone is the Church OF
Christ and has authority to instruct;
o. That she is more than Church
or prospective KingdOm-that to hel
has been committed by God the ruler
ship of the world in respect to all mat
ters temporal and spiritual, hence tha'
, she is the reigning Kingdom of God.
81 That her Pope is the authorized
representative of Christ, anointed ant
commissioned Of God to fulfill all the
=, prophecies of the Scriptures respecting
> the reign of Christ, his Millennia
. Kingdom, etc. This claim of Papac!
that the Popes reign is de facto thu
, reign of Christ is expressed in thu
a declaration that he is the ricc-gereht o
/ Christine one reigning instead o
; Christ
:. "a The doctrine of trans-substantia
@ tion-that by the blessing of a prizes
+ the ordinary bread and wine are trans
n muted into the actual soul of Christ
! his flesh and his blood for sacritic
r afresh in each celebration Of the Mas
* Whatever may have been true in tn
, remote past. assuredly our Catholi
friends can no longer claim that a
d the purity, all the faithfulness to Coo
IS all the sanctity of life amongst b'
n levers in Christ are to be found
II her communion st. Paul declares, 81
q any man have not the Spirit of Chris
II he is none of his" Surely all Chri
m tians admit this standard and the co
N rectness of the Apostles teaching
,r Hence the ignoring and setting aisle
: of all creeds and barriers which hay
% heretofore hindered the Unity of Il
* Church of Christ might be possibl
n Thus the first Catholic objection mig
If easily be removed in favor of FEEDER
ID ton, or, still better, in favor of Unto
,e As our l.njScopalian friends fail
n prove that the apostolic succession
IS ordination gave either greater wisdo
.ir or more grace to their clergy than
20 other ministers of the Gospel, mig
an not our Catholic friends reaSonab
,r- admit the same?
1s The second claim that Papacy
Is. Gods Kingdom, that the Popes rel
,ir successively as Christ's Vicege
10 should not be difficult for Catholics
lat our day to lay aside. However stror
nd " it was held in the dark past it
I'm surely little appreciated by Catholi
m today No longer do the Popes dor
we nate the civil rulers of Christendo
lth And no longer do the people consic
it'll 1t wise that they should do so. Mo
and more the masses appreciate
ms fact that the original kingdom of eal
ion was given to father Adam and tt
me mankind as his children are the Il
Tvs ural heirs of the inheritance. Nj
I -,s1