Then and Now by L. A. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Aug 10, 1905

Then and Now

By L. A. S.

“In 1905 a Methodist minister,” says the New York Evening Post, “can achieve notoriety by threatening discipline for dancing and card playing; in 1850, on the contrary, he could achieve it by neglecting to enforce its strict rules.” From the standpoint of present-day conceptions of the nature of the relation arising from church-membership, the idea of Christian brotherhood, as held and practised in the Methodist and other churches a half century ago, becomes almost a curiosity of the past. The Post says:—

The Methodists—to mention one example—actually used the term “Brother” or “Sister” as the common term of address for a fellow member; and they seriously set out to treat each other as “dearly beloved brothers in Christ.” They promised, as members of one family, to settle their disputes out of court, and thus avoid lawsuits, and to restrict their business and social intercourse, as far as might be practicable, to those who were of the “same household of faith.” Inevitably these Christians who have taken to heart their mutual relationships have looked keenly to the morals of each individual of the flock.

In the great change from this former condition of things to that of the present day, the Post sees evidence of a declining sense, within the church, of brotherhood and mutual responsibility. “That sharp line,” it says, “which used to divide the children of light from the children of darkness, is rapidly becoming obliterated;” and the Post believes that if the much-looked-for religious revival in the church ever comes, “it will surely be accompanied by a revival of the ancient and obsolescent doctrine of Christian brotherhood.”

It was about fifty years ago that the Methodist and other churches rejected a message from heaven proclaiming the hour of God’s judgment, and the natural result of that wrong attitude of the church toward the work of God would be a spiritual declension on her part; and this is what is observed to have taken place. The loss of the idea of Christian brotherhood is the loss of the vital principle of Christianity; for Christian brotherhood in the church grows out of the relation of the church-members to Christ. “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.” Heb. 2:11. If church-members be not brethren, then have they no fellowship with Christ.

It is for Seventh-day Adventists to show the world that the idea of Christian brotherhood still survives in the Christian church. L. A. S.