The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-05-12
LIBERALS
ARGUE. WITH
ORTHODOX
A
Congress Of Disciples
Hears Debate on Chris
tian Essentials.

Springfield, Ill. May 12.-Pleas
for restoration of primitive Chris
tianity," answered arguments for
"a church tolerant enough 30 that
the most conservative and the most
liberal may Join in fellowship" and
give ground for decided theological
differences, in the last big debate
of the Twenty-first annual congress
Of the Disciples Of Christ here to-
day. The. congress will end to-
night.
The Rev. George B. Townsend Of
Angola, Ind, a representative OF
the conservative element in the
church, spoke in behalf OF q return
to primitive ideals, and the plea fol-
greater latitude was made by Prof
A. w. Fortune, of Transylvania
college, Lexington, KY.
1.-The letter of the restoration
movement as revealed by the writ
ings of the Campbells was plea
for the unity of Gods people by re-
storation of primitive Christianity
in view of lost world which coulc
be reached with the message OF sal
walton in no other way" DR.. Town.
send said.
May the same spirit manifest il
the writings of these great servant:
of our Master characterize our ut
terances today. Let US exalt Chris
as the supreme law giver, and Heat
OF the Church. Let us stand fol
the unQuestioned integrity Of tn
sacred scriptures. The bible mus
be accepted as the Word Of God.
III we question or discredit tn
book we can never be sure Of Chris
or his teachings. The testimony o
the apostles will be as q fairy tai
instead of the voice of God. Tn
only adequate explanation Of tn,
origin of the book is, Men spak
from God being moved by the hol,
Spirit"
What havoc is wrought by tn
division among the professed fol
lowers of Christ. How essentia
that these divisions shall be heale
and Gods people be united. Their
can never be a union that is rea
and lasting except in truth, an
such a union can be brought abor
by the restoration of primitiv
Christianity in doctrine, ordinanc,
organization and life
Our language must be the Lar
guage of the book then shall We b
perfected together in truth"
Liberal Reply.
Taking the floor to champion th
liberal" attitude, Prof. Fortune d.
) clared that "other disciples mair
tain that loyalty to Christ is bas
! of faith, and that each one has tt
: right to his own Interpretation {
the bible. They insist that Il
Z church must be tolerant enough 6
t that the most conservative and th
most liberal will hold fellowshi
: with each other in the work Of Il
kingdom.
Y They believe that as the Ne
Testament church developed in tt
! first century, so it must continu
to develop. They feel that We nee
. to make the spirit Of the ear
q church living and vital in our on
day. They would adapt the wo
t ship and organization to the chan,
ing conditions of society,""
Opening the last day Of the col
gress, q paper prepared by Pres
dent I. N. McCass of Phillips un
versity, Enid, Okla, was read, an
Rev. Clarence Reidenbach OF Ind
! annapolis. Ind, spoke, both on Il
\ topic "our ministerial shortage; i
causes and its remedies."
DR.. Frederick F. Shannon Of Cb
cago. preached the congress Sc
e mon today on the Sacrament
= Suffering" and tonight he will d
4 liver the last sermon on "The Ne
It Human" Others who took part
7. today's program included Re
d Edgar Dewitt Jones Of Detro
l. Mich, and Rev. Austin Hunter
e Chicago