Who Are Christians? by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 22, 1910

Who Are Christians?

By F. M. W.

DOUBTLESS there are sincere Christian believers in every church, Catholic as well as Protestant. We must believe that God accepts the earnest devotion of Catholic devotees, even though the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is so sadly clouded by the false system of that church. But while this is true with some, it can not be denied that there are multitudes of professing Roman Catholics who are but a step removed from heathenism, and who should be as truly subjects of missionary labor as the worshipers of Buddha or the followers of Mohammed. We feel, therefore, some sympathy with the sentiments of the editor of the Western Recorder in his issue of August 11, referring to the recent World's Missionary Conference at Edinburgh, and to the fact that the report of Christian work included Roman Catholic converts from heathenism, who were counted as Christians. He says:—

The very fact that they are reported as converts from heathenism, and along with Christian converts, carries with it the presumption that they are genuine Christian converts, or at least are so regarded by those by whom they are thus reported. This is a rather queer classification, in view of the fact that Protestants and Baptists are constantly sending their missionaries to Roman Catholic countries, for the express purpose of converting them to what we regard Christianity. . . . Just why the conference should have desired a report of Catholic converts, does not appear, unless it was to keep up appearances.

Speaking of the attitude of the Catholic Church toward Protestants, the Recorder adds:—

Though we care but little or nothing for the Roman Catholic Church as a Scriptural institution, we have been forced to admire its consistent attitude to those who hold an antithetic faith. History affords no example of a report of Protestant converts to a Catholic conference. This is as it should be. The logic of their contention is that Baptists and Protestants are Antichrist, and quite consistently they treat them as such. The Protestant position presumes the same attitude to Catholics, and this attitude is maintained by Protestants who have the courage of their convictions.

The weakness of Protestantism in courting the favor of the Roman Church is widely apparent. Regarding this the editor of the Recorder remarks:—

The notable weakness of Protestantism in this regard has been in its practise rather than in its principles. It has possessed the courage and power to establish premises, but has failed, through fear or sentiment, to accept the inevitable conclusion of its own premises. From our view-point we have nothing to gain by caressing Catholicism with one hand and clubbing it with the other. Inconsistency, sham, and pretense are deplorable in material things, but intolerable in spiritual affairs. Let us contend only for the truth, and at all costs live the logic of our contention.

A revival of the old-time spirit of true Protestantism would quicken and energize missionary evangelism. The gospel should be taught in its simplicity, and its purity conserved by no compromise with error. In this lies its power to effect the salvation of men. F. M. W.