Religious Liberty and Church Fallibility
By Editor
THE New York Universe says:—It is curious to notice the change that has taken place within the last few years in the minds of religious propagandists of whatever denomination. Time was when for a minister of the orthodox stripe—whether Presbyterian, Baptist or Methodist—to swerve “one jot or tittle” from the old time-honored views concerning the existence of the literal “lake which burneth with brimstone and fire,” and the efficacy of a particular creed to preserve erring mortals therefrom—time was, we say, when such a course on the part of a clergyman would be considered “such perdition as nothing else could match;” but it is not so at present, as every day’s experience abundantly proves—there is more freedom of thought—more liberality of sentiment—more effort to develope the love principle as the chief element to the inception of pure religion. On Sunday last, the Rev. Isaac Westcott, delivered a discourse in the Baptist church, on the corner of Varick and Laight streets, which in some degree bears us out in this opinion. His discourse was upon the infallibility of the church of Rome, which the Rev. gentleman, of course, considered as fallible as any other church, and he considered them all fallible, his own included. He admitted that one good Christian of any other evangelical denomination than his own, was better than a host of bad Baptists, and scouted the idea that all Baptists must be saved. He gave it as his opinion that while there were thousands of Baptists whose names were not recorded in the book of life, there were thousands not in the Church, whose names were written in heaven. He did not believe that God had connected the salvation of souls with any church—the Bible, he said, had made the salvation of a soul to depend on its relation to Christ, not to a Church. Such sentiments, if uttered but a few years since, thus boldly from the pulpit, would have brought down upon the speaker’s head the condemnation of his entire flock, and some of the more conservative believers of evangelical orthodoxy at the present day, will no doubt regard it in the light of rank heresy.