Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 November 1894 — TOPICS OF THESE TIMES. [ARTICLE]

TOPICS OF THESE TIMES.

“CHRISTIAN UNITY.” ; Zealous Christian s halve for ages dreamed of a united church —one vast aggregation of believers who subscribe to one creed, to be actuated only by an unswerving devotion to the,.cause of Christ. Minor differences, according to this great plan, wgpe to disappear and the church was to bpyorne united on a basis of mutual concessions, Advocates of this propaganda were—and are—generally sincere in their opinions, generally, if not always, Probes tan ts, and u nfortunately for the final success of their ambitions, almost always tenacious in advocating the adoption, by the church triumphant of their dreams, of substantially all of the cardinal doctrines of the particular denomination to which they happen to have attached themselves. The great universal church —that is to be —when the plans laid down for its inauguration are followed to their logical conclusion—i&found to be MethodisL or Baptisty-or Presbyterian, or Christian, as the case may be, according to the creed of the particular propagandist, who in the greatness of his heart hopes to see his own ideas-be-come the universal rule. Who does not know such good people? Who but can smile good-naturedly at their innocent and even praiseworthy enthusiasm. As we have said these dreamers have heretofore, almost as a rule, been of the Protestant faith. Yet this desire for“the abolition of unseemly wrangles and immaterial differences from dmong the followers of the lowly Nazarene appears to have penetrated intothe Romish cloister. Cardinal Gibbons, at the Baltimore Cathedral. Nov. 4, preached a very remarkable sermon on Christian unity, from which we extract the following: Thank God there is a yearning desire for the reunion of Christianity among many noble and earnest souls. This desire is particularly manifest in the En-glish-speaking world. It is manifest in England and in the United States. I myself have received several letters from influential Protestant ministers expressing the hope of a reunion and inquiring as to the probable basis of reconciliation. Reunion is the great desire of my heart. I have longed and prayed for it duringall the years of my ministry. I have prayed that as we are bound to our brethren by social and family and by natural and commercial ties, so may we be united with them in the bonds of common faith. The conditions of reunion are-easier than are generally imagined. Of course there can be.no Compromise on faith or morals. The loctiine and moral code that Christ has .'eft us must remain unchanged. But the church can modify her discipline to suit the circumstances of the cause. May the lay be hastened when the scattered hosts 5f Christendom will be reunited. Then, indeed, they would form an army which jifidelity cannot long resist and they would soon carry the light and faith of Christian civilization to the most remote ind benighted part of the globe. Mjay the day soon come when all who profess ;he name of Christ may have one Lord, me faith and one baptism; when all shall be in one fold and under one she phord.