The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1913-03-21
is CHRISTIAN UNITY AN IRIDES-
CENT DREAM?

DR.. John Tulloch was principal Of
St. Mary's College, St. Andrews, and
ranked with Beecher, Talmage, Cha
pin, DR.. John Hall and other giants of
the pulpit of the past century. He won
ore of the Burnett prizes for a treat
ise on "Theism, the Witness of Rea-
son and Nature to an All-wise and
All-benefcent Creator" His sermon
on Religion and Theology" preached
in 1876, caused somewhat of a sensa-
ton. The object of this discourse
was to show that religion and theolo-
gy are two distinct things. and that
a person may be devoutly religious
without accepting complicated
creed.
If the heart or spiritual sphere be
really awakened in US" he says, III
there be a true stirring Of life here
and a true seeking towards light, the
essence and strength of a true relig-
ion may be ours, although We are I'M
able to answer many questions that
may be asked, or to solve even the diff
fculties raised by our own intellect"
AS we are allNreated alike, yet un-
alike, and while we may all reason
from a given point to a given end, We
reach the solution or arrive at the end
Of our journey by pursuing different
paths, and that under the most vary
ing influences and most diverse types
the same fruits of character appear.
Under this head he says:
AS some men are said to be born
PIatonists, and some AristOtelians, so
some are born Augustinians, and
some Pelagians or Arminians. These
names have been strangely identified
with true or false views of Christian
ity. What they really denote is di-
verse modes of Christian thinking, di-
verse tendencies OF the Christian in
tellect. which repeat themselves by
a law of nature. 1t is no more posi-
bic to make men think alike in theOl-
Ogy than in anything else where the
facts are complicated and the cOnclu-
siOns necessarily fallible The his
tory of theology is history of 'varia-
tons; not indeed, as some have main
tanned, without an inner principle Of
movement, but with constant repeti-
ton of oppositions underlying its ne
cesSary development. The same con-
trasts continually appear throughout
ire tn
themselves out From the beginning
there has always been the broader
and the narrower type of thought
St Paul and St. John as we'll as a ST.
Peter and St James; the doctrine
which leans to the works and the doe
trine which leans to grace the milder
and the severer interpretations Of hui
man nature and of the divine healings
with ia Clement Of Alexandria, an
Origen and a ChrysOstOm, as we'll as
Tertullian. an Augustine, and a Cyril
of Alexandria, an Erasmus no less
than Luther, a CastaliO as we'll as
Calvin, a Frederick Robinson as we'll
as a John Newman. Look at these
men and many others equally signif-
cant on the spiritual side as they look
to God or as they work for men, how
much do they resemble one another
The same divine life stirs them all.
Who will undertake to settle which is
the better Christian? But look at them
on the intellectual side, and they are
hopelessly disunited. They lead RI
val forces in the march of Christian
thought-fOrces which may yet find
point Of Cancellation, and which may
not be so widely opposed as they
seem. but whose present attitude is
enc of obvious hostility Men may
meet in common worship and in COM
mon work, and find themselves as
one. The same faith may breathe in
their prayers, and the same love fire
their hearts. But men who think can
never be as one in their thoughts on
the great subjects OF the Christian
revelation. They may own the same
Lord and recognize and reverence the
same types of Christian character but
they will differ so soon as they begin
TO define their notions of the Divine,
and draw conclusions from the re-
searches either Of ancient or of mod
ern theology. OF all the false dreams
that have ever haunted humanity.
none is more false than the dream 0:
catholic unity in this sense. 1t van
ishes in the very effort to grasp it.
and the old assures appear within the
most carefully compacted structures
of dogma"