p. 13 | Note and Comment

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 2, 1910

Note and Comment

The Dangers of Church Federation

SPEAKING of the dangers of church federation, particularly as set forth some time ago in an article in the Christian Herald, E. L. Wesson points out, in the Western Recorder (Baptist), some of the dangers which this proposed union presents to his mind:—

The old Baptist cry, “Absolute religious liberty for all,” is the cry of my soul. I would not stop the most blatant infidel from his blasphemy by force. What I ask for myself I grant to all others; it is God’s to avenge.

Instead of the much-vaunted “federation,” we need that broadness of mind and religion which will concede that all others have equal honesty and sincerity with ourselves, and almost as much intelligence. With such a spirit, we would listen to each other and learn; but as it is with most of us, a kind of self-entertained infallibility, and consequent prejudice against all other views than our own, close our ears to all expositions contrary to our belief. Especially is this true of all who know nothing of the grace of God in regeneration; for all such follow a creed instead of Christ.

That quotation in the Christian Herald, as the words of a Presbyterian preacher, makes me dread the more the consequences of the federation of the Protestant churches. Better far opposing denominationalism, with religious liberty for all alike, than “federation,” with dominating control.