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■>•■ "■. " ■-*■' -Si» 
 
 «- 
 
 ^ 
 
 «fe. 
 
 
 THE SPECIAL SERMONoTs 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 CLERICAL UNION OF RENFREW 
 
 BY 
 
 . REV. ^. GILOW, M.A, ALMONTE. 
 
 IN THE HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, PEMBROKE, 
 
 TUESDAY, JULY I7TH, 1888- 
 
 " Contend earnestly for the Faith which was 
 oace for all delivered to the Saints."— i'. J\nU 
 V. 3 latter part {Rev, Ver.). 
 
 Brethren ofthr Clergy —for we address 
 you specially to-night — we are about to take 
 crmncil together concerning matters which 
 affect the well-being of the Church and the 
 efficiency of those whom the Holy (jhost 
 hath made overseers therein, to help one 
 another with thoughts and suggestions — to 
 pruvoke unity of purpose and action amongst 
 ourselves — to see on what lines we can best 
 promote the glory of God and the Salvation 
 of man. 
 
 VVh.it better phrase could we adopt as our 
 watchword — reminding us of our duty — 
 than the rt-ords we have ju<t read ? — " Con- 
 tend earnestly for the Faith which was once 
 for all delivered to the Stints.*' 
 
 The Church's great business is to prop.i- 
 gate a certain Faith. It is not pimatily or 
 mainly to discuss social probls iis — that is 
 the business of the Legislature. It is not 
 to issue rules of healthy living — that is the 
 ' business of Physiological Science ; it is not 
 to ej^tend our know&dge of the Laws of 
 Nature, or of the ways and means by which 
 Grod works in the universe — that is the 
 business of Physical Science. The Church's 
 business is not to find out God : let tlie 
 metaphysicians and philosophers work at 
 that problem as best they may. Her busi- 
 ness is to tell the world thatUod hath found 
 her and founded her, that He hath revealed 
 Himself — that she is put in trust with that 
 revelation-**«nd bids all men share it. 
 
 " That which was from the beginning, 
 which we have heard, which we have seen, 
 which we have looked upon and our hands 
 have handled of the Word «»f Life — For the 
 Life was manifested and we have seen it, 
 and bear witness and shew unto you th it 
 Eternal Life which was with the Father 
 and was manifested unto us — That which ac 
 hav« seen and heard declare we unto you 
 tiiat ye also may have fellowship with us." 
 
 That is the Church's message, now — as it 
 was in the beginning and ever shall be. 
 If that message is false and delusive then 
 let her perish, message and all. If her 
 message is true then she must insist upon 
 it. To water it down or to convert it into 
 some other theory or system is simply a con- 
 fession of failuro. 
 
 The Church's separate and distinct biisi- 
 'less is to proclaim — to insist upon -to em- 
 phasize— to memorialize — certain extraor- 
 dinary events in God's dealings with men 
 which occurred long ago — events which 
 happened in a way not in the ordinary 
 course of nature, in a way which by the 
 very nature of things we ca>mot expeit to 
 be constantly repeated —but the efTccts and 
 results of which are permanent, eteinnl. 
 The Churcli's business is to preach the 
 (Tospel — proclaim certain "tidings" which 
 are "glad," — impart certain information, 
 which is for tho benefit of men, and of 
 which she is the deposit o.y She calls 
 upon all to believe this iiitelligeiice, 
 which constitutes The Faith which was 
 " once for all delivered to the Saints." 
 
 But the Church must take heed not to 
 exceed her commission. Siie must know 
 • xactly what was and is "The Faith" 
 which was delivered. If she keeps piling 
 on from year to year or from century to 
 century, all sorts of demands upon the 
 belief of her members, she may , ,U^ 
 sure that some of her, .vtrtieles "VwIJI*' 
 overlap and conflict >vith tbo8,<*kU'p.irtm<nt8 '. 
 which are not exclusively ''her-. If she 
 interferes peremptorily ani' dogmatictlly in 
 Sociological, Biologic d ati^ Physical Pro- 
 blems of Science in such »,, way tis to force 
 men to say, "We cannot set ye two mastei s— 
 one must go," we may we' sure tl'at th« 
 Church will get the worst of li, ,and allegi- , . 
 ance to her will be foresworii .Co follow, the'v, 
 last dictum of the Scientific world UAiow- 
 ever the Church adheres simply and faith- 
 fully to her own special mission with which 
 
 / 
 
i 
 
 •••• 
 
 ■he b charseil— aince that is given her of 
 Oofl Himwif — she may be ooDfident that her 
 deniaods on the aUe(i[ianoe of the faithful 
 will never cl-ish with the truths of Science. 
 Roc iuse He who gave her His Divine Revela- 
 tion was He who made the world — Because 
 He who " for us men and for our Salvation 
 ci\me down from heaven and was . . . m»i\e 
 man," is He " by whom all things were 
 made." 
 
 It ii of the utmost importance that we 
 xliouhl learn to discriminate in these days as 
 to what in the actual office and business of 
 the Church, and what is, as far as she io 
 couceme 1, iiltra vires. 
 
 I s ly in these d<iys, for these are days of 
 great activity in every department of 
 thought. The universal diffusion of educa- 
 tion,«'the multiplicity of newspapers, of 
 weeklies, monthlies, quarterlies and annuals 
 ^^tioa^'ng of every {lossible subject — makes 
 this age unique in the History of the Human 
 
 • race. This diffusion of information has its 
 inestimable advantages. It has also its 
 drawha.'ka. But in any case it is a factor of 
 which we of the (Uergv must take cigniz- 
 ance — otherwise we are living in a Fool's 
 Paradise. The cleric who does not realize 
 thid is behind the a:;e. In days of old 
 when the Parish Priest was the only scholar 
 in hib little C'lnimunity^and in later times, 
 when in many an English village the 
 squire, the parson, and the doctor divided 
 the honors of literature between them, the 
 utterMnces of the pulpit were received with 
 unquestioning fctith. Then it would have 
 been a folly an<k a crime for the pulpit to 
 disturb the minds of the simple villagers by 
 touching upon questions, which it must 
 needs tiike notice of in Canada to-day, if 
 it would keep abreast of the average lay 
 m'.nd. 
 
 'Chis spirit of enquiry which is now 
 auroad, spares nothing ; nothinu is too 
 B lored to be handled or scratiniz*^d. One 
 has only to read carefully the leading 
 periodicals of the day — particularly tliuse 
 which are nut pledgedto any special line of 
 political or religious thought — to observe 
 th|s spirit of unrest. Great and startling 
 discoveries in Nature have of late years 
 revolutionized men's ideas. Many things, 
 the very mention of which shocked the pious 
 thirty or forty years ago, are now accepted 
 «9/aci8 beyond all cavil^ and we may as 
 **:«^**ppepare.j>nrselves for the possibilitv 
 >*• \hat surmii^.and theories which shock 
 
 * the pious uf t«*(f\y may also prove true. 
 
 The Chuicli necking these things calmly 
 and is not intfftlng any pi*emature deliver- 
 ance on themXsJte has no need. Some 
 bodies of Chria^iliuiB have issued pronuncia- 
 mentoa on thistjaud that debated point. 
 *.. Thev doclafe'.war at the outset on the 
 '•/{loliwi^^iodtt^f Science upon those points. 
 * \ ikWk thankful that the Church realizes the 
 truth* that in " quietnebs and in confidence 
 shall be her strength." The mistake of 
 Theology — observe I disitiDgaish between 
 
 Theolocy and the Church — has been 
 throushout all its history to endeavor to 
 commit the Church to its findings. Those 
 findings were, from time to time, naturally 
 colored by the dominant philosophy and 
 kuowledp;e of the day. When the philosophy 
 or the science changed its form, theology nad 
 to readjust her system to the new le irninu; 
 and this was right enough. There is mucli 
 truth of course in the remark of the 
 famous scientist, Huxley, that "extin- 
 guished theologians lie about the cradle of 
 every scien e as the strangled snakes besides 
 that of a Hercules." 
 
 But extinguished theologians no more lie 
 around that cradle than extinguished 
 scientists and extinguished philosophers. 
 From the dawn of philosophy to the times 
 of Hegel, Kant, Hamilton, Mill and 
 Spencer, the endeavor of every philoso- 
 pher has been — it seems to me — to 
 " extinguish " liLs predecessor and every 
 new light of science has "extinguished 
 what pale antl ineffectual fires might have 
 gone before. 
 
 It is the province of theolosy to philoso- 
 phize, to reduce all Christian (iDOtrines to a 
 scientific system. As t he ' 'Queen of Sciences" 
 she levies contributions on all others, and 
 brings their latest findings to bear upon 
 her conclusions. Like all other sciences, 
 therefore, she is caimble of development* 
 But the Church's Faith is not capable of 
 development. It is " once for all cfelivered 
 to the Saints.'' 
 
 Whatever, in the realms of nature, science, 
 or history, confirms, elucidates, explains 
 that de^iosit of the Faith — whatever is logic- 
 ally dedu'ible from the propositions of that 
 Faith— all this is within the range of Theo- 
 losjy. But the Church is not committed t^^ 
 all opinions of the theologians, nor is the 
 Faith dependent on the soundness of their 
 reasonings. 
 
 The discoveries of Science have no doubt 
 extinj^uished many a theologian and upset 
 many a long cherished idea of the pious. So 
 men's minds are now disturbed — and men's 
 faith shaken — thinking because this ol* that 
 theological tenet is extinguished, that there- 
 fore the Faith must fall. 
 
 But scientific advance is not'the only dis- 
 turbing element to the B aith in these days. 
 
 2. The differences of Christians themselves 
 — their sectarian divisions —the confusion of 
 tongues — the Babel of opinions and views in 
 the domains of Theology herself — these con- 
 stitute a sad cause uf much of modern un- 
 belief — those enable the Freethinker to 
 pour contempt on the Faith. 
 
 3. Again, in reviewing the forces aeaiubt 
 which we have earnestly to contend, we 
 must nlot overlook the fact that destructive 
 criticism now-a-days attacks not only 
 miracles of the Bible, but even its 
 The Agnostic professes to be scandal^ 
 more at the supernatural records _ 
 Scripture than at its morals. Tnitrl 
 ground taken by the redoubtaUeCol. l\ 
 
 ep'r 8 b i»lG 
 
 •h 
 
 soil i 
 teriau 
 How< 
 lurid 
 Chris 
 drawi 
 logyi 
 mucr 
 from 
 himi 
 and 
 ally c 
 years 
 Th( 
 me w 
 affon 
 smile 
 or 
 and 
 
>h — hM been 
 to endeavor to 
 indings. Those 
 
 time, naturally 
 ihilosophy and 
 a the pniloBophy 
 m, theology had 
 le new le irninu; 
 
 There is inucli 
 emark of the 
 that "extin- 
 i the cradle of 
 1 snakes besides 
 
 3 
 
 l^ns no more lie 
 extinguished 
 philosophers, 
 hy to the times 
 n, Mill and 
 every philoso- 
 to me — to 
 fior and ever 
 extinguished 
 M might have 
 
 I 
 
 ogy to philoso- 
 1 cTjctrines to a 
 een of Sciences" 
 all others, and 
 
 to bear upon 
 >ther sciences, 
 
 development, 
 lot capable of 
 >r all (felivered 
 
 lature, science, 
 lates, explains 
 atever is logic- 
 >sitions of that 
 auge ofTheo- 
 comniitted t^ 
 8, nor is the 
 idness of their 
 
 ave no doubt 
 ;ian and upset 
 the pious. So 
 }d — and men's 
 ie this 01* that 
 sd, that there- 
 
 i'the only dis- 
 a these days, 
 ns themselves 
 B confusion of 
 I and views in 
 If — these con- 
 l modern un- 
 iethinker to 
 
 soil ill his controversy with the Presby- 
 terian Dr. Fields and with Mr. (tladstonc. 
 However it is only right to observe that the 
 lurid portraiture, or rather caricature, of 
 Christianity which the f.uiious Agnostic 
 drawsistakenfromCalvinistiC' Puritan Theo- 
 logy and not from tlio Catholic Faith. Indeed 
 much' of the Infidelity of the day is a recoil 
 from this unlovely presentment. In^ersull 
 himself is the sou of a Civ'vinistic minister, 
 and his conceptions of Christianity arc natur- 
 ally colored by the teachings of t.ls early 
 years. 
 
 The freethought of to-day, brethren, let 
 me warn you, is no mean fue, whom we can 
 afford to pass by with a contemptuous 
 smile. It will not do to say it is " oo.irse " 
 or •' vulgar " or " not worth minding," 
 and so to let it pass. If we do, the lay 
 mind will soon put us down as sup'^rficial 
 and weak. Agnostic utterances are now 
 before all eyes in all our literature : men 
 and women, if they are readers at all, can 
 not help coming in contact with them. If 
 wo have any frank intercourse ivea with 
 our own people, especially the thinkers and 
 reasoners, we shall soon see how rife is 
 '"oubt. Every now and then we may read 
 iti some independent paper, and sometimes 
 even in religious papers, a piteous appeal 
 from some harrassed au<l perplexed soul to 
 the Pulidt to solve these ditiiculti< s* and if 
 such appeals are not met, brethren, the 
 Church will be responsible liufore God for 
 the lapse of such bewildeied souls. 
 
 4. Another important force must not be 
 overlooked in our reconnoitre of the enemy. 
 All thooe who have cast off the Faith are not 
 materialists. There are many who have 
 rejected Christianity who are nevertheless 
 earnest believers in an existence after death 
 for every individual. Casting aside all sub- 
 mission to the Scriptures or the Church — 
 looking upon the lornir^r as a C'>lleuti(m of 
 Semitic myths, and the latter as an engine of 
 tyranny and fraud, they yet louij for, crave 
 for, a confirmation of the one article of the 
 Faith for which alone they seen to care — 
 The Life Everlasting— The Life of the World 
 to come. They think they have obtained 
 
 g>sitive proof and demonstration of this, 
 eooiling from the bald programme of the 
 Agnostic, they have recourse to other means 
 than the doctrines of the Church tu confirm 
 
 " Their plying hopes, their foud desires, 
 Their longings after Immortality." 
 
 I refer, of course, to those called Spirit- 
 ualists. I do not say that all Spiritualists 
 are unbelievers, but I do say that very 
 many of them are, and I do say ihat the 
 tendency of Spiritualist literature is to draw 
 men away from the Faith. We may then, 
 upon a survey of the ranks of the enemies 
 of Christianity, divide then» into three 
 classes : — 
 
 1. Those who reject not only Christianity 
 but all notions of Deity or of Immortality. 
 IlieBe are the Atheists and Materialists. 
 
 '2. Those who reject Christianity and all 
 Divine Revelation, but confess whether 
 there be a (Jod or not— whether there be 
 a future existence for us or not, wc tlo not 
 know, for we have no means of ascertaining. 
 — These are Agnostics. 
 
 'A. Those who reject Christianity, but 
 insist upon tlie inmiortality of the soul and 
 the life after death on grounds indepen<lent 
 of the Scriptures or the Chu ch. These are 
 Spiritualists. 
 
 Sach arc the forces hostile to the Church 
 and army of the living (iod. And now in con- 
 sidering the tighting orders -the word of 
 command — issued to us, two questions sug- 
 gest themselves : — 
 
 1. What -s the Faith which was once for 
 all ((ipcuc) delivered to the saints. 
 
 2. How shall we contend earnestly for it. 
 1. The answer to the Hrst question should 
 
 present no difficulty, at least to us of the 
 Church. The deposit of the Faith was 
 formulated long ago. Every time we 
 afsemble for worship we public'y declare 
 what tiie Faith is. It was sunimarivied by 
 the early Church in the Nicene Creed — 
 " whose words are few but whose mysteries 
 are great." That the one everlasting and 
 true <M)d has revealed Himself as Father, 
 Son and Holy (iiiost. That the Lord Jesus 
 Christ is (iod of (.iod, Who became incarnate 
 of the Virgin Mary, that ho sulFered for ua 
 under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, read 
 and buried, and tliat He rose agf.in and 
 ascended into Heaven. These are the ev< nts 
 which happened in the past and which form 
 the Gospel. These and the other articles of 
 the Creed constitute the Faiiii, the obj"C- 
 tive Faith, for which we must, c ntend. 
 
 It will help us to discriminate in tlicse 
 things if we consider religion under th: ec 
 heads : 
 
 1. Objective religion. 
 
 2. Subjective religi"U. 
 
 3. Speculative religion. 
 
 UndtiT the first head (objeotive religion) 
 we place thestitementsof theCieed, which, 
 olocrve, are either true o; false per sc, inde- 
 pendently of our belief. If those events 
 occurred disbelief does not alter the facts. 
 The Church must prodaini them whether 
 men will hear or whether they will forbear. 
 If they did not occur then the Church has 
 been all along deceiving the world, and the 
 sooner she and her message perisli the^bejtj^p. 
 All pleas of the good she mivy^hivcafftetejC''; 
 are unavailing to warrai^'hbr ))io!onged','*,.*^^ 
 existence, if those statelneats are mere *.\\ 
 myths. She must stand- «vi< fall with the •^',V 
 niesaagp she has to deliver' lo mankind— the ',,, 
 objective Faith with whi«;ii;'8he has been put 
 in trust. , . " *.' ; 
 
 Under the second hetW' • "(subjective reli- •.,' 
 gi n), we include the eflfecit^ which the,,'*,^.' 
 acceptance of this i>bjeutive'f]«{ith haftupiMif,*''. 
 the believers in it— its influ^ice ujfeii tb'e ' 
 spiritual life, moving us to rt pintance, to 
 the reception of Christ within us, to per- 
 fecting holiness in the fear of (4od. The 
 
s 
 
 ••;; 
 
 ••:• 
 
 aspects of this subjective religion will vary 
 soniewh<it, tliotigli not iu its main features 
 according to the temperament, the predis- 
 position, the environments of the indivMnal 
 lie'iever. 
 
 Under the third head (speculative reli- 
 ion) aro cmipriiied all the corrolaries and 
 Hcdu'itions which may be made from the 
 stattitnnnts of tlie Cree<l, all t he propositions 
 drawn from fts axioms : some of them 
 olu'ious md necessary, some of them debat- 
 iiblo. Thene may be true or false ; they 
 may be colored by the habits of thought of 
 the believer, by the philosophy of the time, 
 by the physical knowledge of the day, by 
 '• countries, times and mpn's manner^. 
 These are a legitimate Held for diveidity of 
 opinion, l>ut by theso the Faith itself must 
 not he jud£,ed. 
 
 In the department of Speculative Religion 
 Me admit that Theology, and even the 
 Clinrc'h horself, at various times and places, 
 have acted nllra vires. We also ndmit that 
 various theologians liave taken r>p|'osing 
 stands. Ttut tliis does not affect The Faith. 
 Sciulvriats who insist so loudly on liberty 
 of tlinught, should be the last to tax the 
 Church with ''iverBitieB of opinions within 
 her lunks. Si-iencc and Philosophy, that 
 ha> e M) often shifted ground, should be the 
 last to objer^t that theologians do not alwa^ s 
 iigreo in these matters of Speculative ^le- 
 ligion. Xut alas ! we cannot ^lamv. the 
 Freethinkers nlone. Alas ! that Christians 
 themselves have not distinguished betwe* n 
 what is De Fide, ancf what is legitimately 
 debatable. Alas ! that the Church heri-elf 
 in mediee\al times, in her times of power 
 and arrogance, so presumed on her power, 
 so augnented her demands on the belief of 
 her members, so exceeded her commisbion, 
 that m«ny of her former subjects in indig- 
 nant revolt tore away not only the wood, 
 hay, stubble, which she had been piling on, 
 but even tlie gold, silver and precious 
 stones ; aye, and some are 1 usy (in the nan^e 
 of Christianity, foffcooth !) digging up the 
 foundation itself. It is sad to read the 
 plaints of Mr. Spurgeon in his recent articles 
 on the " Down Grn«Te." It is sad to reao 
 elsewhere that " Dr. McKennell, the ehair- 
 man of the Congregational Union) says he 
 does not think a formulated doctrine of the 
 Deity, of Christ is needed for Christian 
 .jLJiftoBf." that Mr. Edward White of the 
 '•l^a'ttre'b6dy makes a similar assertion, that 
 " a distinguJsKeU Wesleyan points out that 
 as a matter ofTpiot Thomas Fiiman, a Uni- 
 tarian, was a**p5eniber cf John Wesley's 
 City Road Chapel^" It is sad to mark the 
 sentiments of tr>et'*famous volume, " Scotch 
 Sermons," and'-^of our Colenzos and Voy- 
 seys. It is^.slr^to think that if we set to 
 •.work to-dav.^ta eliminate every factor on 
 ■*jtV)ti(>k Christians themselves disagree, 
 theterwould" be nothing left to contend for. 
 To a great extent modern Revivalism is 
 responsible for this, for it lays too much 
 stress on the subjective and too little on the 
 
 should consider the 
 How are we to eon- 
 
 carrying out faith- 
 
 letter the Church's 
 
 is altogether based 
 
 objective. To be sure, in most cases the 
 objective Faith is taken for granted ; but 
 til is is not euough. Indeed in many oases 
 the Faith is made subsidiary and even un- 
 essential Too often it is saiu or implied : 
 " We care not for creeds or dogmas ; we 
 want feelings. We do not ask you what 
 you believe, but how you feel." The result 
 of all this we behold in the down grade — in 
 the startling fact that even by the eminent 
 Divines already named the doctrines of the 
 Tiiiiity and the Inna 'nation are deemed 
 '* nou-esseiitiul " — Surely it is a lamentable 
 fact that among the ' * non-essentials " of 
 Christianity is how classed that question of 
 all questions—'* What think ye of Christ? " 
 
 Is there not a cause then, Brethren ? Is 
 it not time that in these days of doubt, re- 
 buke and treachery we bhould " contend ear- 
 nestly for the Faith which was once for all 
 delivered to the saints." 
 
 It remains that we 
 second question, viz : 
 tend for this Faith ? 
 
 We ausver : Ist, Ry 
 fully in spirit and in 
 system. Tlmt system 
 
 on the Faith. Not only does she make all her 
 members profess it in every service by re- 
 citing one or otiier of the creeds ; but in her 
 Te Deum, her Litany, her whole yearly 
 round of Fast and Feotival, she " contends" 
 for the Faith. Every festival is a commemo- 
 ration of some particular article of the 
 creed, and especially in her weekly euchar- 
 ist, does she menio\;iiilize The Faith, for 
 as often as we eat th«f l>read and drink this 
 fup we show forth — not our feelings, not 
 our holiness, not our own subjective religion 
 but the great obiective fact of the Loid's 
 Death. 
 
 2. By making The Faith the basis of all 
 doctrine, of oil that Theology which we 
 have designate d Speculative Religion : 
 
 (a). In the Sunday School, the Church 
 Catechism being the "text-book" so to 
 speak. The child that can say by heart, 
 " Fiist I learn to believe in God the Father 
 Who hath made me, etc." has more sound 
 theology, more of the banis of all true re- 
 ii^:on, than the child who can n cite pages 
 about the work of the third day and the 
 fourth day, or about '• who was the strong- 
 est man," or " the meekest man," or who 
 can rattle off unintelligible subtleties about 
 the compat ability of God's Etetnal Decrees 
 with man's free-will. 
 
 (h). In the Pulpit— Let all our teaching 
 be like St. Paul's — tirbt insisting on I'he 
 Faith and its stupendous facts, and then its 
 consequences on ourselves as believers. Let 
 all our tearhings be deductions from the 
 great objective fact that " God so loved the 
 world that He sent His Son." 
 
 (c). In the Professor's chair. All apolo- 
 getics must be based on the objective Faith. 
 The latest discoveries of Science must . be 
 rappled with and utilized and brought to 
 ear on The Faith. It must be shewn that 
 
3 moat V.AIM the 
 for granted ; but 
 1 in many oases 
 y and oven un- 
 saiu or implied : 
 9 or dogmas ; wo 
 b ask you wlmt 
 Bel." The result 
 down grade— in 
 by the eminent 
 doctrines of the 
 ion are deemed 
 i is a lamentable 
 n-essentials " of 
 that question of 
 k ye of Christ ? " 
 t, Brethren ? Is 
 I's of doubt, re- 
 id " contend ear- 
 vsa once for all 
 
 uld consider the 
 V are we to con- 
 
 ying out faith- 
 er tlie Church's 
 Itogether based 
 she make all her 
 
 service by re- 
 seds ; but in her 
 r whole yearly 
 >he "contends" 
 
 is a commemo- 
 article of the 
 jveekly euchar- 
 I'he Faith, for 
 and drink this 
 ur feelings, not 
 ijective religion 
 
 of the Loid's 
 
 he basis of all 
 ogy which we 
 leligion : 
 •1, the Church 
 
 book " so to 
 
 say by heart, 
 
 iod the Father 
 
 more sound 
 
 I of all true re- 
 
 ncite pages 
 
 day and the 
 ^as the strong- 
 lan," or who 
 d)tleties about 
 tefnal Decrees 
 
 our teaching 
 sting on Ihe 
 , and then its 
 el ie vers. Let 
 sns from the 
 1 BO loved the 
 
 All apolo- 
 ective Faith, 
 nee must . be 
 brought to 
 B shewn that 
 
 however much the new li^htinayoxtlnuuinh 
 this or that doctrine of speuiil.iti ve Theology, 
 gtilt it has not uist the sliglitost shadow on 
 the C itholic F.»ith. Revede.l Rtli^ion as 
 giiiiimarized in the Niceno urce.l inusit be 
 shewn to be in "Analogy with the constitu- 
 tion and course of Nature,"— oven that 
 Xature of which so much more is known 
 now than in Ui8h(»p Biitlcr'n day. It can bu 
 done, it must be doii>-. 
 
 The neglect of tliis objective side of Re- 
 ligion canstttnte^ the weakness of th>it book 
 which took the Christian worl I by storm 
 two or tliree years ago, i>ut whose intluciije 
 J veiturc to think will w.inu. I mean 
 I'rof. Drummond's ".Vitural Lvwin the 
 Spiritual World," It was a brilliant eff jrt 
 to leconcilo Religion with the modern 
 teachings of evolution. But tlie religion 
 which he presented was altogether too sub- 
 jective : the greac ffuts of the Citholic 
 Faith we e well nigh ignored ; an') h'a pre- 
 sentment of even subjojtivu religion was of 
 too Calvinistic a character. 
 
 Let Theology then, in the chair of the 
 Professor and the study of the Divine, busy 
 herself with noting the latest findings of 
 Science and shewing their harmony with 
 the Catholic Faith. Let \\vv attend to her 
 work, which is to " justify the ways of (iod 
 to man ; " but in the meantime the Church 
 must ever fulfill her mission^ which ij to ck- 
 dfire the ways of (iod to man. 
 
 3rd. By making! he Fa'tli thi basis of 
 all our own subjective religion. Like all 
 the sermons of the Apostles recorded in the 
 Acts — like all the Epistles which those 
 Apostles wrote— we must begin our religion 
 with formulating wli-tt (Jod h-ith done for 
 us and then deducing our duty therefrom. 
 
 NVe must repent, believ.*, oboy, because 
 we are " members of Christ, children of 
 God." Wc mus*- put aw.iy lying and 
 speak every man truth with his neighbour, 
 because we are memb rs one of an ther. 
 (Ephes. iv. 25.) 
 
 We must keep our bodies in tcirperance, 
 soberness and chastity because they are 
 Temples of the Holy Ghost. (I Cor. vi. 19.) 
 
 Husbands and wives must love each other 
 as one flesh because ' ' we are members of 
 His body, of His flesh and of His bones." 
 (Ephes. v, .30.) 
 
 We must walk in love because Christ also 
 hath loved us. (Ephes. v. 1.) 
 
 We must love Him because He first loved 
 us. (I John iv. 19.) 
 
 We must perfect holiness in the fear of 
 God because we have the promises. (II Cor. 
 vii. 1.) 
 
 We must set our affections on things 
 above because our life is hid with Christ in 
 God. (Ccl. iii. 2-3.) 
 
 Nay, we must build our hope of Eternal 
 Life, 4» on the fact that Plato ^or Pytha- 
 
 «oras or 1 erU-ly or Kant, or any other phi- 
 lodopher di3cu8s.!,l the Ininiort^i'.itv of th.. 
 soul, Imt on tlie fact thiit ChriHt iliod 
 rose again. Wh.Mi .St. Paul on M^i's 
 WIS confroutcl by the materialists an.l 
 noHtics of his day -the Epicureans 
 Moics^ he dul not prove the truth of a ...- 
 turehfefrom IVitoor I'ytlm-oras, hut by 
 preaching "Jesus and the ({....siuMvoti m," 
 hy teilin^r them that in " ' 
 
 ami 
 ilill 
 
 ag- 
 and 
 
 fu- 
 
 (ind 
 
 that 
 
 ... - ... this iiiuttcr 
 
 Imtli given a.ssiiranoe unt. all mun in 
 He h.ith raiscdHiin from tlic .lead." 
 
 4th. Ut us by our outward actions and 
 ge^tiu-es, our ceremonial, .shew the world 
 what stress wo lay on keeping intact the 
 tath'.lic faith. Let us h. w at the Holy 
 Maine, let us turn to the cast, let us do 
 anytlii.ig and everyihing to empliasi/e the 
 fact that whatever others may think of the 
 " nonessentinr' character of the doc- 
 trines of the Incarnation ami the Trinity 
 we at least of tho ancient ohurcli l.ase 
 nil our Hues of conduct, nil our 
 spiritual growth in grace - nay all our 
 hopes of Eternal Life, not on the specu- 
 lations, however near the truth, of I'agan 
 Philosopiiers, not on the delusive antics of 
 Spiiitudist mediums but on tlie objpctive 
 fact that Jesus Christ, God of God, came 
 down from Heaven and was made man and 
 was crucified and rose again the thinl day 
 according to the .Scriptures. 
 
 l^a-tly, let us remeiidjer and let us 
 insist that tlie only real basis of Reunion 
 must be the Faith. The»e are indeed stir- 
 ring and momentous times in which we live. 
 Whilst assaults on the Christian Faith aic 
 bec( rning more and more violent, the whole 
 Chrihtian world (let us thank God for it), 
 is realizing more and more charly the 
 need of Reunion. This scheme ami that 
 has been devised and ably defended. Doubt- 
 less you, my Brethien, read the brilliant 
 letters of Dr. Shields, of Princeton, which 
 appeared in the Centuri/ and tliose of Dr. 
 Burns which have lately heen publislied in 
 the Maif. While we hail these as indica- 
 tions of a growing desire for reunion, we 
 must ever insist upon it that the only way 
 is to go back to first principles — to the ac- 
 tions of the Bishops at Niciea and Constant- 
 inople — and maintain that the ground of 
 Organic Reunion must be in the future as 
 in the past — not our subjective feelings in 
 the reception of the Gospel (which itnist 
 ever vary accordirg to the subject) — not 
 speculative opinion arising out of the Gospel 
 (concerning which there must be left wide 
 room)— but the Gospel itself — the (iood 
 News — the facts formulated in the Creed 
 which was put forth in the early prime of 
 the Church's life. 
 
 And so, by all these means let us " con- 
 tend earnestly for the Faith which was 
 once for all delivered to the Saints. 
 
 m\ 
 
 PRINTED AT THE OFHCE OF THE PEMBROKE '* STANDARD.