IS IT UNION?

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 29, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 22.

There is an earnest longing coming up from all parts of Christendom for unity among the professed children of God. Argue as men will for diverse bodies of Christians, they feel in their very souls that the present condition is not right; it is not normal; it is not in harmony with the prayer of Christ recorded in John 17.

There is hardly a meeting held by any of the great religious bodies, but that the idea of Christian unity is advanced. As an instance of this, we note the recent meeting of the Congregational Association of New Jersey, in Baltimore, April 23 to 25. Between 150 and 200 delegates were present. One of the chief topics of discussion was Christian or church unity. The principal speakers were Bishop Paret, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Rev. Oliver Huckel, Roman Catholic, representing Cardinal Gibbons, and Dr. William Hayes Ward, editor of the Independent.

The paper of Father Foley, read by Dr. Huckel, according to the Baltimore American of April 25, contended that the essential features of a Christian church, “unity, and visibility, and the power to teach with authority,” are found in the Roman Catholic Church only. She must say what is revealed truth, she must give its interpretation, and she has authority. In his concluding remarks are these:—

“In the Roman Catholic Church of the sixteenth century, when Luther went out from her, these great requisites of Christian unity were found, and they are found as well in the Roman Catholic Church of to-day; elsewhere I fail to find them.

“In separation from the See of St. Peter, the center of Catholic unity, I see only discord.”

Bishop Paret said:—

“The beauty of Christian unity we acknowledge, but how are we to seek it? It is oneness that we want, not the union of a bundle of faggots. It was unity our Lord prayed for, and I know that it is possible and will come in time, and yet we are far from it to-day.

“We do not want a new union, said the Bishop, in conclusion, but we do want to repair the breaches and restore to Christendom its original unity. It is unreasonable for any of the denominations to expect the others to accept unconditionally its doctrines, and we must look for that hoped-for unity on the basis of the first 300 years of Christianity. I hope; but the fruition is in the far distance.”

Dr. Ward well represented the differences in Christendom in the following:—

“What I have to say is so simple, so axiomatic, that it seems to me to need no defense. Christians are very badly split up; not merely split, but split unsympathetically. There is a difference in the amount of good or ill will, but between the large bodies of the church there is no fellowship. They do not recognize each other’s clergy or sacraments; they deny each other’s rights as churches, and gloat over their stolen sheep. This concerns not merely the vagaries of the little sects, but the large denominations—Baptists, who refuse to recognize other churches because of a difference of opinion as to who shall be baptized and how; Episcopalians, who refuse to recognize other churches because their clergy are not ordained in the way they think wise. The Roman Catholic and Greek Churches are equally intolerant, and the Roman Church has just declared the Church of England schismatic, while the Protestants answer Roman excommunication with excommunication, and choose bad words out of the Apocalypse wherewith to insult the largest and most venerable branch of the Church of Christ.

“This condition is most odious. It is an insult to our Lord’s last prayer for His disciples that they might be one. The explanation of this odious condition is the arrogance with which we hold our own opinions and our intolerance of others.”

And here is Dr. Ward’s plan of union:—

“The only way to bring the fragments of a church together is to be entirely tolerant. All Christians agree on things of Spirit, love of God, His Son, His Holy Word, and His church. All such are Christians, and should not be kept apart. The only way to bring them together is to bring them together tolerating each others’ ways. It is by seeing the difference between what is essential because spiritual, and what is merely important because formal. Only righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost is essential.”

Now what can we expect from the above theories?

1. The Roman Catholic is consistent with his false basis, and unswervingly loyal to it. But to accept his basis of unity, his interpretation of the Bible, is to transgress the very Word of life. Take, for instance, the teachings of the Word concerning free grace and the Sabbath, and compare with the Catholic doctrine of works and holy days. Those who accept the Catholic basis of unity must yield freedom of conscience, relinquish personal faith in God thru the Word, and deny all the work and blessing of the Reformation.

2. Bishop Paret speaks truly when he says that we do not want the union of a bundle of faggots. That is all that creeds can do—tie men together. It is true that the “original unity” of Christendom is needed; but to spread the basic field of this unity over the first three centuries is to invite more division and confusion. For there is scarcely an error or outrage which has cursed and disgraced and weakened the Church of Christ thruout the centuries, but can find some ground for its existence in the first three centuries of the Christian Era.

3. What better is Dr. Ward’s? He gives us correct diagnosis of the patient’s condition, but no effective remedy. To be “entirely tolerant” is to invite baleful, soul-destroying error into the very citadel of Christian truth. And the fruit of this, Congregationalists are reaping to-day.

The Only Basis of Union.

The only basis of union is the Word of God, not as a mere book, not as a creed, but as the Word of life from God. The only thing that will or can unite Christians is the life, the Spirit of God. No theory can accomplish this. No federation will make hearts one. The only way is the way for which Christ prayed: “Sanctify them thru Thy truth; Thy Word is truth.” “That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us.” “I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one.”

There is no other way. This means the casting away of human dogma and creeds, decisions of councils, presbyteries, conferences, bulls, and rescripts, and the acceptance of the Word of God and the example of Christ alone.