The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-11-19
THE CONSTITUTION OF
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

ne GI&I De o. me church Is IN the
irst chapter Of the fourth Gospel
s4erc snarsw ana John followed
/. ttsps and baos nc His frst disciples
Gathering ether material from John.
q ba1AteI s4a Saill more at first
hand Jesus prosecuted His work until
eetas glade that wonderful confession.
ard His master replied u pom this
!. rock will build my church and the
might OF Hades shall not triumph over
II We cannot tarry long with the
bitter controvers, that has RACED
around the import Of C'hrists words
concerning the rock Certainly Peter
Gid NOT. nor did the other apostles,
understand Jesus 10 hestow papal
power uron him. He never ATTEMPTED
- exercise such authority ana His
speeches in Acts dieciained and His
epistles iisproye the Catholic claim.
Z The prinaacs- Of Peter vas unhesrd AZ
Il PAM. who Withstond him To the
face and condemned Him. James was
the Influential personality in the Je-
rusaiem Council; his advice prevailed
. and he wrote the resolution for that
boaE. defining the attitude of Gentle
! Christians To the Mosaic law Either
7 James or Paul would have heen bet
J ter guess for Pope than Peter Ro-
Insnitss selected The wrong man as
/. the first OF an order Of celioacy and
infallihiit2 ~e know that Peter was
married and vas ahout the most fall
linle o. tge postlee
The ccrncrst ane Of the Christian
/. Caarca is Jesus Himself othe =
] fos'r cation ran no man lay than that
rs fafrf- --hTrt7 If Jesus christ II Cor
~ Butt 1nor the foundation OF
. the apostles ana prophets. Jesus
Christ Himself being The chief corner
stone 'Eph- 2,2ot. 1t Was Peter who
wrolo wherefore, it Is contained in
the Scripture Behold | lay in Zion "A
y N"l'evefh on Him shall not be
Put 70 shame Il Peter 2;6).
What. then. did our Lord mean bv.
rftfs his rock witt buiif nv
cnnrch simply this. that out of
fiail human material like Peter. who
recognized the essential diety of Jesus
and professe,l faith in Him the church
would he built The church does not
rest upon am presumptious claims OF
pretending successor Of Peter. but
II r. composed today. as 1t was then.
and has eve- heen since. of i'm perfect
~ generated people
PROMISED PERPETTTTY,
GUARANTEED VICTORY
Jesus added And the might OF
ria les shall not triumph over it. There
l. more significance 10 this part of
the statement Than is O ften attached.
Those words promised perpetuity and
guaranteed victory 70 this divine instt-
tuition The figure is one Of offense
rather than defense. The church Ia
an aggressive. conquering army against
i1ich The forces of evil shall nor
a"d Christ's whole plan of campaign
was formulated for conquest The
ssf- % Shrlstis nifty were TO be kept
nI,on an unsuccessful defensive
n lar
he aggressive. they lose their vantage
ground. Witness the great theological
discussion OF the early centuries when
Christianity was meeting attacks, an
fnering Criticism. and defending it.
self. Though represented by able
champions. the cause of Christ be-
came static and soon retrogression and
corruption set IN. Inevita bly, 80 be-
cause the law OF the kingdom was the
mw OF CONQUEST The church tri-
umphant is first the church militant
About nifty years before Christs birth.
julius Caesar landed at Deal. Eng
iand. and found our forefathers
race OF eava6es clothed with skins that
partly covered their painted bodies
~ hundred years afterwards. the
Gospel ship struck the golden sands of
Eng1ands island beach. Tonight. old
England permeafed by Christianity ts |
the mistress OF the seas and the en-,
Hress Of the world. 1t has been about ,
80 years stnce the army of the |
Moas dissmbarlrsd upon American
ehores and took up It's march west
ard. B46ore that militant church. |
eAprtcacus divorce has been tabooed'
Iotygamy driven into . corner. slavery
e1eltshed, infanticide made a con. |
0nA1ed erimA. lAgaIissd prostitution de- |
Soyed. enabling penalixsd. and the
y naaor fxn0s0 0nflnwaA n~-rl ss-. h
1Dch sAaI % HnsN sEasx vestdse OF /