Untitled article by Carlos Martyn, D. D.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · New York · September 25, 1890

FromThe American Sentinel, Vol. 5, No. 38

Churchianity vs. Christianity.

By Carlos Martyn, D. D.

CHURCHIANITY may be defined as Christianity formalized. It is like counterfeit coin—current but false. Defoe wrote:—

“Wherever God erects a house of prayer, The devil always builds a chapel there.”

Churchianity is this devil’s chapel.

When Christianity marries the State, the natural, the almost inevitable product of the unnatural mesalliance is Churchianity. The Church is secularized. It is a department of the government. And, as every bargain presupposes a quid pro quo, in return for governmental alliance it makes itself a prop of the powers that be.

Thus religion is transformed from a principle into an institution. What should be inward feeling and motive, runs outward and freezes into mere profession. Christianity is a business. The divine element evaporates. God is Deus ex machina. The ministry ceases to be a calling and becomes a profession. Men are preferred to this and that sacred office. The clergy are in form, servants of Heaven, in fact, officials of the State. Handling money, controlling patronage, dealing in sacred things for secular purposes, Christianity is hocus-pocused into Churchianity.

In this country we have no State Church. Nevertheless, Churchianity is a naturalized resident. Because Churchianity is more than a system—it is a state of mind. Wherever form is put for substance, whenever the medium is regarded as the essence, Christianity crystallizes into Churchianity. We have a religious establishment, but no longer religion. We look for Christ and find—a church. We ask for bread and are given—a stone.

Carlos Martyn, D. D., in the Arena.