Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1910-02-02
PULPIT.
Mass Meeting No. 3
CHURCH FEDERATION
Counting the Cost
What Episcopalans. Catholics and
Lutherans Must Surrender.

would urge CHRISTIANS or the Otner de-
nominations, especially the clergy, to
consider the advantage which would
accrue to the Federation 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
1t 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 peo-
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
we'll 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 sects. You
should now seek to restrict further in
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 negativing and blacklist
ing all religious teachers outside the
| Federation and it's 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
tieth Century. surely much could be
surrendered without any sacrifice of
| he -
a 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:
! % That she alone is the Church of
Christ and has authority to instruct;
81 That she is more than Church
or prospective Kingdom-that to her
has been committed by God the ruler
ship of the world in respect to all mat
ters temporal and spiritual, hence that
she is the reigning Kingdom of God.
(3) That her Pope is the authorized
representative of Christ, anointed and
commissioned of God to fulfill all the
prophecies of the Scriptures respecting
|
Kingdom, etc. This claim of Papacy
that the Pope's reign is de facto the
reign of Christ is expressed in the
declaration that he is the Uice-geY6t of
Christine one reigning instead Of
Christ
a. The doctrine of tranS-substantia-
tiOn-that by the blessing of a priest
!
muted into the actual soul of Christ
(his flesh and his blood for sacrifice
afresh in each celebration of the Mass.
Whatever may have been true in the
remote past, assuredly cur Catholic
friends can no longer claim that all
the purity, all the faithfulness to God.
all the sanctity of life amongst be-
levers in Christ are to be found III
her communion. st. Paul declares, If
any man have not the Spirit of Christ
: he is none of his" Surely all Chris
] tians admit this standard and the cor
} rectness of the Apostles teaching
: Hence the ignoring and setting aside
of all creedS and barriers which have
, heretofore hindered the Unity of the
J Church of Christ might be possible
Thus the first Catholic objection might
easily be removed in favor of Fedora
ton, or, still better, in favor of Union.
, AS our Episcopalian friends fail to
prove that the apostolic succession to
ordination gave either greater wisdom
: or more grace to their clergy than to
: other ministers Of the Gospel. might
] not our Catholic friends reasonably
: admit the same? In
/. The second claim that Papacy lis
!, Gods Kingdom, that the Popes reign
r successfully as Christ's Vices erent.
: should not be difficult for Catholics of
t our day to lay aside. However strong
! ly it was held in the dark past it is
surely little appreciated by Catholics
/ today No longer do the Popes domi-
e nate the civil rulers of Christendom
And no longer do the people consider