p. 83 | Christian Union

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 2, 1860

Christian Union

By Christian union is sometimes understood unity of spirit, notwithstanding diversity of opinion and practice on some points. . . . This is the kind of union which, we supposed it was well understood, union meetings were intended to promote. . . . Whether this is the only sense in which the church of Christ is to be one, as some hold, is questionable. We are not satisfied that it is. With all the mitigations effected by that charity which sectarian differences cannot destroy, we see in the divided condition of Christendom the source of too many evils to feel contented with the prospect of its continuance. We cannot believe that when our Saviour prayed for his disciples "that they all may be one," he offered a prayer merely for mutual toleration among a dozen different sects. We are unable to convince ourselves that the glorious end indicated by the apostle, "till we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God" is attained when Christians of several denominations are barely able to be peaceable and neighborly.—Examiner.