NOV 27 1920 
 
 t^«/. 
 
 Ott^ti %i 
 
 BR 157 .L96 1892 
 
 Lyon, William Henry, 1846 
 
 1915. 
 A study of the sects 
 
^30V 2? 1920 
 
 STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 BY 
 
 V 
 
 WILLIAM H. LYON. 
 
 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, 
 and in you all. — E^HESIA^-s iv. 6. 
 
 JFourti) 3Etittion. 
 
 WITH AN INDEX. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 UNITARIAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL SOCIETY, 
 
 25 Beacon Street. 
 1892. 
 
Copyright, 1891, 
 By the Unitarian Sunday-School Society 
 
 John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 
 
PEE FACE. 
 
 This manual has been prepared at the request of the 
 Unitarian Sunday-School Societj' for the use of the older 
 classes in the schools to which that valuable body minis- 
 ters. It ma}' also be found useful to adult readers. Its 
 aim is to present on the one hand a just and sympathetic 
 account of the histor}' and beliefs of the various bodies 
 considered, and on the other hand to show plainly wherein 
 Unitarians differ from them ; to counteract the bigotry 
 and conceit from which Unitarians have by no means freed 
 themselves, and at the same time to sliow how weak and 
 inconsistent is the position of those Unitarians who are 
 anxious to have it understood that there is not, after 
 all, much difference between them and their EA-angelical 
 brethren. The fundamental idea of this book is that the 
 difference between the two parties is as great as that 
 between the Evangelicals and the Catholics, or would be 
 if our Orthodox friends would stand still long enough to 
 be photographed distinctly. The stud}^ of this subject 
 and the consultations I have had with various representa- 
 tive men have surprised me by reveahng the state of con- 
 fusion and change in which all beliefs except those of the 
 Roman Catholics now exist. Few of those who claim to 
 hold the faith of their fathers are aware how far the^• have 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 drifted from that faith, or what chameleon powers words 
 have to assimiUite tlieraselves to the mental environment 
 of succeeding generations. 
 
 ReaUzing the danger of misrepresenting the beliefs of 
 others, I have submitted, so far as I could, the various 
 chapters to revision by prominent members or friends of 
 the sects treated in them, and have in every case ac- 
 cepted the corrections made. This is true of the chapters 
 on the Jews, Roman Catholics (doctrine only), Episco- 
 palians, Congregationahsts, Baptists, Methodists, Friends, 
 Universalists, Unitarians, and Spiritualists. I am thus 
 indebted to the Rev. Messrs. Raphael Lasker, Richard 
 Neagle, L. W. Saltonstall, A. L. Plumb, D.D., R. J. 
 Adams, Bishop R. S. Foster, D.D., C. C. Hussey, 
 E. L. Rexford, D.D., Grindall Reynolds, and M. J. 
 Savage. 
 
 The entire chapter on the Societ}- for Ethical Culture 
 w^as written by Mr. W. M. Salter, and the doctrinal part 
 of the one on the New Church by the Rev. J. K. Smyth. 
 I am also greatly indebted to the Rev. H. G. Spaulding, 
 Secretary of the Sunda3^-School Society, for many sugges- 
 tions and much aid in putting the book through the press, 
 and to the unknown but acute and learned proof-readers 
 of the Universit}^ Press for valuable corrections in both 
 form and matter. 
 
 The word sect is used in no i^ividious sense, but as a 
 convenient term for the parts into which the Christian 
 bod}' is actuall}' divided or dissected. The words Evan- 
 gelical^ Orthodox^ and the like are emplo3'ed in their 
 popular sense, without any concession of their literal 
 truth ; nor must the word Liberal be construed as implj'- 
 ing that the onlj' liberality in religion is to be found in 
 the bodies so named. 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 The manifold nature of the subject has involved an 
 amount of labor not likek to be appreciated by any one 
 who has not attempted something of the same kind. Yet 
 the necessity of giving to it onl}' the fragments of a busy 
 life may well have left it lacking in unity as well as 
 mistaken on single points. As I review the extent of 
 ground covered and the number of questions answered 
 which have puzzled the saints and the ages, I fear to draw 
 upon myself the latter half of the judgment pronounced 
 upon Whewell, that "science was his forte, and omnisci- 
 ence his foible." Still more do I tremble at mj' temerity 
 in daring to state the belief of Unitarians, which I have 
 done against my wish and at the request of the Society 
 which publishes the manual. Yet some such book seems 
 to be needed, — is certainly demanded; and this may 
 serve till a better one takes its place. 
 
 W. H. Lyon. 
 
 The Study of All Souls Church, 
 RoxBURY, May 1, 1891. 
 
 NOTE TO SECOND EDITION. 
 
 The only cliange of importance in tliis edition is in the remarks 
 on the Society for Ethical Culture, pp. 180, 181. While I am grate- 
 ful for the unexpectedly cordial reception which this book has found 
 with both the religious and the se(!ularpress, I am sure there must be 
 errors which a more careful reading might have detected. I shall bo 
 sincerely grateful for any corrections which may be suggested to 
 me. 
 
 W. H. L. 
 
 RoxBUHY, Sept. 16, 1891. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Part I. — THE JEWS. 
 
 Part II. — THE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 Chapter Page 
 
 I. Doctrines held by Christians 13 
 
 1. Creeds, 13. — 2. Source of Authority, 17. — 3. God, 22. — 
 
 4. Jesus, 24. — 5. Human Xature, 20. — 6. Salvation, 33. 
 — 7. The Future Life, 39.-8. The Church and the Sacra- 
 ments, 45. 
 
 II. The Roman Catholics 52 
 
 III. The Old Catholics 62 
 
 IV. The Eastern Church 64 
 
 V. The Protestants 69 
 
 Section I. — The Evangelical Protestant Sects. 
 
 1. The Lutherans, 77.-2. The Keformed Church, 82. — 3. The 
 Episcopalians, 85. — 4. The Reformed Episcopalians, '.i6. — 
 
 5. The Presbyterians, 99. —6. The Congregationalists, 109. 
 — 7. The Baptists, 119. —8. The Moravians, 125. — 9. The 
 Methodists, 127. — 10. The Salvation Army, 135. 
 
 Section II. — Certain other Protestant Sects. 
 
 1. The Anti-Sectarian Sects, 137. — 2. The Friends, 140.— 
 3. The New Church, 147.-4. The Adventists, 154. 
 
 Section III. — The Liberal Protestant Sects. 
 
 1. The Universalists, 158. — 2. The Unitarians, 163. 
 
 Part IIL 
 
 SECTS NOT CALLING THExMSELVES CHRISTIAN. 
 
 1. The Society for Ethical Culture, 179. — 2. The Spiritual- 
 ists, 181. — 3. The Mormons, 187. 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 Part I. 
 THE JEWS. 
 
 Whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving 
 of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, 
 and of whom is Christ as concerning the flesh. — RoaiANS ix. 4, 5. 
 
 Name. — The Jews were originally called by others Hebrews, 
 or "those who came over," because Abrara and his family came 
 over the Euphrates down into Canaan (Gen. xii. 5). They called 
 themselves Children of Israel, after Jacob, or Israel (Gen. xxxil. 
 28), from whose sons or grandsons the Twelve Tribes were said 
 to have descended. After the Captivity they were called Jews, 
 a name at first given to the Tribe of Judah, who formed the chief 
 part of those who were carried into exile at Babylon, and who 
 returned to found the nation as we know it. 
 
 History. — The word Jew is applied to a nation and to a 
 religion. Until the last century all Jews by birth were Jews by 
 religion also, but since that time a rapid divergence in beliefs 
 has taken place. It is the religion which we have especially to 
 consider. 
 
 The Jews belong to that branch of the human race called the 
 Semitic, of which the Arabs, Assyrians, and Phoenicians were 
 also members. They are therefore of different descent from most 
 of the nations among whom they dwell, who are of the Aryan 
 family, — a difference which has probably had something to do 
 with their isolation. From the Semitic races have come three of 
 the great religions, — Judaism, Christianity, and Mohammedanism. 
 
 1 
 
^ A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 The history of the Jewish religion may be divided roughly into 
 three periods, foi'tnadon, affirmation^ and reformation ; or, accord- 
 ing to their distinctive marks, sacrificial. Scriptural, and rational. 
 
 The period of formation extends from the beginning to the 
 return from exile. The family of Abram came down from Ur of 
 the Chaldees to Canaan, and, migrating thence, grew to a tribe, 
 and settled upon the borders of Egypt, from which they were led 
 out by Moses, who made Jehovah, or Jahweh, their distinctive 
 God, and gave them as law the " Ten Commandments" and a few 
 ceremonial precepts. Coming back into Canaan, their religion was 
 much corrupted and confused by contact with the worship of other 
 gods, whose existence they acknoAvledged, though they claimed 
 Jehovah as the most powerful. Worship consisted almost entirely 
 of sacrifices, offered during their wandering-time in the Taber- 
 nacle, but after David had made Jerusalem the fixed capital, in 
 the Temple, Toward the latter part of the period a remarkable 
 class of men, the Hebrew Protestants, arose, called " prophets," 
 or "spokesmen," — in their own tongue, "seers," — who strove 
 to hold the people to the worship of Jehovah only, and to make 
 that worship consist of a just and pure life as well as of ceremo- 
 nies. These elements were still contending when the Exile ended 
 the national existence. 
 
 When the Jews, comparatively few in number, returned 
 (B.C. 536), they were marvellously changed. Their religion 
 gathered less and less around the altar, but more and more around 
 the Book. Separated from their Temple and its sacrifices, they 
 had still many of their sacred writings ; and their zeal had cen- 
 tred in the minute study of these. The Temple was rebuilt, 
 indeed, and the sacrifices restored on a magnificent scale ; but 
 synagogues, or meeting-houses, rose all over the land, in which the 
 reading and exposition of the Law and the Prophets became the 
 centre of interest; and by the side of the priests and Levites, who 
 conducted the sacrificial worship, rose the scribes, lawyers, rabbis, 
 etc., who were students of the sacred books, and the Pharisees, 
 Sadducees, Zealots, etc., who were divided on their application. 
 Idolatry had disappeared forever; and Jehovah became to all, not 
 merely the most powerful national god, but the only God of the 
 
 i 
 
A SrUDY OF THE SECTS. O 
 
 world. As His chosen and peculiar people, the Jews proudly 
 withdrew from all unnecessary intercourse with the " Gentiles," 
 or nations, and forbade intermarriage with them ; while as a con- 
 solation for political subjection to them, they clung tenaciously to 
 their belief in a Messiah, or "anointed one" of God, who should 
 subdue the nations, and make His people the masters and teachers 
 of the world. There had also crept in or been developed a belief 
 in immortality, in angels and devils, and in the divergent destiny 
 of the good and the wicked, which to most meant respectively 
 Jews and Gentiles. 
 
 The appearance of Jesus made no appreciable difference in this 
 religion, except to intensify it under the persecution by his later 
 followers. Christianity became a religion of the Gentiles. The 
 destruction of the Temple with Jerusalem, in 70 a.d., not only 
 dispersed the surviving Jews over the world, but put an end 
 to the sacrificial side of their religion. It lived henceforth only in 
 the synagogue and the home, and only as a religion according to 
 the Scriptures. The Books became a bond between the dispersed 
 and persecuted communities, and received a wonderful but morbid 
 microscopic study. The comments of various revered rabbis 
 were collected into a second work, called the Talmud, which 
 became almost as sacred as the original books. The first part of 
 this, the Mischna, or commentary on the text, was finished about 
 A.T). 200 ; and the second, the Gemara, or commentary on the first 
 part, about a.d. 400. To keep the text of the Law pure through 
 all copying, there grew up the Masora, or study of the form, 
 under the care of learned men called Masorites. The shameful 
 persecution of the Jews during the Middle Ages, their pathetic 
 fidelity to each other and to their religion, and the development 
 of their national characteristics should be carefully read, but does 
 not belong here. 
 
 The third period, the reformative or rational, came on slowly, 
 and has become distinct only in the last hundred years. The 
 Reformation brought the Jews little mercy at first, though the 
 revived prominence of the Bible led to the study of Hebrew, but 
 the growth of kindlier sentiments and broader views in general 
 have gradually freed the Jews from all political disabilities, and 
 
4 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 set the national talents free for a development which has been no 
 less than wonderful. But the change in their rehgion, thus opened 
 to the influences of modern thought, has been as great. The ma- 
 jority of the more intelligent have thrown ofif the yoke of the 
 Talmud, and a large and increasing part treat even the Law in a 
 free, rationalizing way, agreeing with the most radical of the Gen- 
 tile scholars in the treatment of the questions of inspiration, mira- 
 cle, and the like. Though the national consciousness and loyalty 
 are still marvellously strong, they are melting at their outward 
 edges ; and the race may in time be amalgamated with the rest 
 of mankind. 
 
 Doctrine. — As the Jews own no authority above the individual 
 congregation, they have no common formal creed. The varia- 
 tions in their belief are very great, ranging from the extreme 
 " orthodox," who have kept the faith almost if not quite intact, 
 to the extreme " reformed,'- who are hardly to be distinguished 
 from rationalistic theists or even agnostics. Converts to Chris- 
 tianity are extremely rare. 
 
 The distinctive doctrines of the Jews in Jesus' day were the one 
 God, the " chosen people, ' the Messiah, and the divine origin and 
 authority of their sacred books, especially the Pentateuch, or Law. 
 Of these, the lofty and pure though severe and cold idea of God 
 has been held against modern trinitarianism, as against ancient 
 polytheism. That the Jews are His chosen and favored people, 
 destined to rule the world, is a belief that is rapidly dying, though 
 still held by the more ignorant in the Old World. It survives, 
 however, in an almost universal pride of race and of its history, 
 which shows itself especially in refusal to marry with " Gentiles," 
 and even to be buried in the same cemetery with them. The ex- 
 pectation of a Messiah, or political and religious ieader, who 
 shall be sent by God to gather His people into Palestine again 
 to begin their rule of the world, has even more completely dis- 
 appeared. The "Mosaic" Law, though treated by many "re- 
 formed" Jews with great latitude of interpretation and practice, 
 has still a great hold upon the race as a whole. It is always read 
 at public worship, partly in Hebrew. The Sabbath is observed 
 upon the seventh day of the week, beginning at sunset on Friday 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 5 
 
 and ending at sunset on Saturday, but generally only as a day of 
 public worship, to the men usually nominal. The commandment 
 to do no work on that day is found by all but extreme orthodox 
 Jews impossible to obey in Christian lands. It is proposed to 
 change the Sabbath to Sunday. Circumcision is commonly prac- 
 tised. The distinction between "clean" and "unclean'* meats 
 (Lev. xi.) is still regarded, at least in the home; and the only 
 flesh eaten is that killed by men approved by the rabbis, so that 
 the blood (" which is the life ") is surely drained out. A most 
 remarkable change, however, is the entire abolition, or rather 
 silent abandonment, of the sacrificial system, once the centre of 
 public worship, but made impossible by the banishment of the 
 Jews from their own land and its Temple, and their scattered and 
 persecuted condition. On the other hand, belief in immortality 
 and its corollaries, which have been noticed as added to the an- 
 cient beliefs before Jesus' day, are still retamed. Of course, the 
 denial of Jesus' Messiahship carries with it denial of all the 
 theology which has grown up around it in most Christian creeds, 
 — the incarnation, atonement, etc., as well as the authority of the 
 New Testament. 
 
 The modern Jew holds his public worship in "synagogues,'* or 
 "temples." It is liturgical, consisting of prayers, some very an- 
 cient, but varying in different books ; reading from tlie Law and 
 from the Prophets, which are divided into lessons for the purpose; 
 a sermon, and a benediction. The worshipping body is called a 
 "congregation," and consists nominally only of men who are heads 
 of families, ten at least being necessary, and is governed by 
 trustees with president, etc., like most corporations. In very 
 "orthodox " synagogues, the women sit apart in a gallery, which 
 is sometimes latticed. There is usually a Sabbath-school. 
 
 Various religious festivals are observed, as the New Moon ; the 
 New Year (about September 6) ; the Passover (in March or April, 
 like our Easter) ; Pentecost, or Feast of Weeks (May), com- 
 memorating the giving of the Law from Mount Sinai ; the Feast 
 of Booths, or Tabernacles; and Purim (March), which celebrates 
 the Jewish victory recounted in the Book of Esther. 
 
6 A STUDY OF THE .SECTS. 
 
 Tlie debt of Christianity to Judaism is seldom fully appreciated. 
 It was the hardy stock into which the jiraft that was to overshadow 
 the world was set. That the Jews did not appreciate Jesus when 
 he came is no more strange or culpable than the resistance of 
 Roman Catholicism to Protestantism, of Lutheranism to Calvin- 
 ism, of Calvinism to Methodism, or of (he old faith generally to 
 the new one that is born from it. A frank study of tlie Hebrew 
 prophets also shows how little resemblance Jesus bore to the 
 Messiah actually predicted by them, though it reveals how much 
 affinity often exists between his teaching and theirs upon the 
 nature of religion. 
 
 From Judaism Christianity inherited the conception of a pure 
 and single God ; the belief in immortality ; the custom of preach- 
 ing as a part of worship, and indeed the general elements of public 
 service ; the Sabbath ; the Ten Connnandments ; and many of 
 its finest precepts, as some of the Beatitudes. The defects of 
 Judaism which Christianity filled up were the cold separation 
 of God from His creation, and especially from the human soul, and 
 the separation of religion from the common duties and affections 
 of life. The God of the Hebrews was far superior to the sensual 
 gods of the nations around them and to the half-human gods of 
 even the classic nations. Though, severe, He was holy and rev- 
 erend, and far above such deeds as the Greeks and Romans 
 attributed to their deities. The Christian idea of His Fatherhood, 
 by which His own life was conceived to be in the souls of men, 
 inheriting this nobility of conception, has brought God near to 
 men without degrading Him or making Him common ; and the 
 Christian idea that "the true liturgy and undefiled before God the 
 Father " is daily acts of love and self-respect, has made religion a 
 warm and living thing. As we shall see, however, the popular 
 Christianity, in concentrating worship upon Jesus, has again set 
 (Jod at a distance as a stern and implacable King, while it has 
 degraded religion often into a repetition of Jewish ritualism and 
 ceremonial pettiness. 
 
 The treatment of the Jews by "Christians" is one of the 
 worst stains upon medigeval and modern history, as it has been in 
 direct violation of the spirit and even of the precepts of him who 
 said, " Father, forgive them, for they knoio not what they do." 
 The vitality of the Hebrew stock through all persecutions and 
 the brilliancy of its modern sprouting and blooming are evidence 
 of the vigor of the stem into which Christianity was grafted. 
 The peculiarities at which Christians are so incensed are largely 
 the result of the treatment they have given; but if, as seems 
 likely, there is to be an amalgamation of life, if not of belief, 
 both will be gainers. 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 7 
 
 In secular life the Jews are remarkable for their aversion to 
 trades and agriculture (a great change from their ancient ways, 
 and due to their exclusion from guilds and the like during the 
 IMiddle Ages) and their aptness for financial and mercantile life. 
 They have many brilliant representatives in literature, art, and 
 music, — such as Mendelssohn, Heine, Disraeli, the Rothschilds, 
 and many others of note. Their home-life is very pure and 
 domestic. They care for their own poor most generously, and are 
 remarkable for their general health — due to " Mosaic " precepts 
 largely — and freedom from intemperance and crime. 
 
 To Unitarians the reformed Jews especially are intellectually 
 akin by their emphasis upon the unity of God, upon the spirit 
 rather than the letter of the Bible, and upon character rather than 
 creed, as well as by the rapid progress they are making toward a 
 purer and more rational theislic religion. Between many .Jews of 
 this type and many Unitarians there is warm sympathy. Between 
 the " orthodox," or ritualistic, Jews and the Unitarians the resem- 
 blance is only superficial, and the agreement as to the one God 
 only arithmetical. 
 
 Statistics. — There are reckoned to be about 7,000,000 Jews 
 in the world, the largest number in any one country being 
 2,552,000 in Russia. They are rapidly increasing in the United 
 States from immigration, nearly 125,000 having come between 
 1885 and 1889, most of them from Russia and Poland; and there 
 are probably in this country over half a million in all. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 By what different names have the ^ews been known ? When did these 
 names arise V Wliat do they mean ? Into what periods is their religious 
 history divided? What kind of a religion had they in the tirst period? 
 What is a sacrifice ? Do we make sacrifices noAv? What is there in com- 
 mon between theirs and ours ? Who were the prophets ? Can j-ou name 
 any ? What did they teacli V What do you know about the Exile ? What 
 changes had come over the re igion ? What do you call the second period ? 
 What were "the Scriptures" to the Jews? Do they believe in the New 
 Testament ? Why not ? What other books did the Jews study ? What 
 can you tell about the persecutions of them ? Were they just? Are they 
 continued to-day m any form? What is the third period? What is its 
 characteristic? What do 3'ou mean by "rationalism"? Name any dis- 
 (iiiguished Jews of our day. What do you think of the Jews you know? 
 How far are Christians to blame for anything that is disagreeable in them ? 
 
8 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 Is there unity of belief among modern Jews? Wliy not ? What is the 
 basis of doctrine? How does tlie Hebrew Bible differ from oursV What 
 variation of opinion about it exists among them? As to God, are they 
 Unitarian or Trinitarian V How do they regard Jesus ? Do the^' expect 
 any otlier Messiah? What do they think about future destiny ? What is 
 their Sabbath y What can you say of their worship ? What festivals do 
 they hold? What peculiar views have they as to food? As to burial? 
 Marriage ? How are their congregations organized ? What are their 
 meeting-houses called ? What part do women take in worship ? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 The best handbook is The History of the Religion of Israel, by Crawford 
 H. Toy, Unitarian Sunday-School Society. See also Encyclopoedia Bri- 
 tannica, articles " Israel " and '" Jews." Stanley's picturesque Lectures on 
 the Jewish Church, 3 vols., end at the Christian Era; Milman's History 
 of the Jews, 3 vols., brings the storj' nearly to the present day; J. K. 
 Hosmer's 7 he Story of the Jews gives interesting sketches of mediaeval 
 and modern Jewish history and biography. For a most graphic epitome 
 of mediifival Judaism and the reform movement, see North American 
 Review, vol. cxxv., two articles by Prof. Felix Adler; also, from the Jewish 
 point of view, Outlines of Jewish History, by Lady Magnus. Solomon 
 Schindler's Messianic Expectations and Modern Judaism, and Dissolving 
 Views in the History of Judaism, are from the extreme "reformed" 
 standing-point. 
 
 For the relation betw'een the two religions, see Prof. C. H. Toy's Judaism 
 and Christianity : a Sketch of the Progress of Thought from the Old Tista- 
 ment to the New. 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 Part II. 
 THE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 REFERENCES ON THE GENERAL SUBJECT. 
 
 The best mere abstract is J. II. Allen's Outline of Christian History, 
 Unitarian Sunday-School Society. The best short history is Prof. G. P. 
 Yisher's Bisto I y of the Christian Church. If but one book can be bought, 
 it should be this or the first volume of Prof. Philip Schaff's The Creeds of 
 Christendom. The latter contains the " History < f Creeds," with a valuable 
 comparison of the doctrines of the great branches of the Church; vol. ii. 
 contains the " Greek and Latin Creeds," and vol. lii. the *' Evangelical 
 Creeds." -For charming accounts of the rise of the sects which began in 
 England, see Green's Short History of the English People, and Brooke 
 Herford's Story of Religion in England. The cyclopadias of McClintock 
 and Strong and of Schaff-Herzog , Blunt's Dictionary of Sects, Heresies, 
 and Schisms ; Lyman Abbott's Dictionary of Rdtglous Knowledge; many 
 articles in the Encj-cloptedia Britannica ; the histories of Neander, Milman, 
 'Schaff, Gieseler, and Baur, and for doctrine Hagenbach's and Shedd's, — 
 are also valuable. See also Dorcliester's Christianity m the United States. 
 A very valuable bibliography, both on the general subject and on special 
 periods and movements, is at the end of Fisher. 
 
 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love 
 one to another. — John xiii. 35. 
 
 Name. — The name " Christian " was not used till several 
 years after the death of Jesus, and then at Antioch (Acts xi. 26), 
 a heathen city, and probably as a nickname. Before that his fol- 
 lowers were called "disciples," "brethren," "believers," "saints " 
 by themselves, and " Nazarenes" or " Galileans " by others. The 
 word " Christian " is derived from the title " Christ," which is a 
 Greek translation or equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah, 
 or " anointed one," given to Jesus as the true realization of the 
 Jewish national expectation of a divinely sent deliverer and 
 teacher. 
 
10 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 History — The history of Christianity properly begins Avith 
 the lirst preaching of its founder, Jesus, who having been born 
 probably about 4 u.c, became known to the public about a.d. 26 
 or 27, Rejected by the rehgious authorities of his nation, he 
 soon began to preach in the open air; but after a career the 
 length of which is variously estimated from one to three years, he 
 was crucified by the Roman authorities at the demand of the 
 Jews, probably in March, ad. 30. 
 
 Hardly a score of years had passed when a division took place 
 among his followers which it is very important to notice. It was 
 the division between ritual and spiritual religion. Wj? have found 
 it between the Hebrew priests and prophets, and it runs through 
 all Christian history. The first Christians Avere little more than 
 a small Jewish sect, clinging to the laws of Moses and worshipping 
 in the Temple. They differed from the other Jews mainly in the 
 belief that the Messiah had come and that Jesus Avas he. The 
 persecution Avhich arose after the preaching and death of Stephen 
 drove them from Jerusalem, scattered them among the Gentiles, 
 and brou'dit them into contact with Avider and hiirher thought. 
 
 O CO 
 
 A more spiritual Christianity was the fruit of this union ; and it 
 embodied itself first in Saul, or Paul, who denied the necessity 
 of the observance of the Mosaic Law, — an external matter, 
 ."dead works," — and based Christianity upon faith, an act of the 
 soul. Bitter dissension arose, ending at last in a compromise 
 (see Paul's story in Galatians). But the two kinds of religion 
 remained, and can be traced down to our own day. Mosaic 
 Christianity, or the Christianity of Peter, died aAvay ; but its spirit 
 passed into the more splendid ritual and priesthood of the Roman 
 Catholic Church, Avhose head is claimed to be Saint Peter. Spirit- 
 ual Christianity, or the Christianity of Paul, though it gained 
 the victory at first, disappeared under Catholicism during the 
 Middle Ages, to emerge in the Protestant Reformation, whose 
 motto, "The just shall live by faith," and Avhose general 
 s])irit came from the Epistles of Paul. The same fundamental 
 difference may be traced betAveen Protestant sects, and between 
 parties in those sects, from the Anglican ritualist to the silent 
 " Quaker." 
 
A STUDY OF THE SFXTS. 11 
 
 The first great division in the body of Christianity was the 
 secession, or excommunication, of the Eastern Church, in 1051, 
 which was due more to national than to doctrinal causes. Then 
 Western Christianity divided, in the sixteenth century, into 
 Catholic and Protestant. These three great branches must be 
 now considered separately. 
 
 Government. — In government. Christians may be divided into 
 'iplscojxd, or those under the authority of bishops; synodical^ or 
 those controlled by representative bodies ; and congregational, or 
 those who own no human power above the individual church, 
 or congregation. The first class is by far the most numerous, 
 including Roman and Greek Catholics, most Methodists, the 
 Episcopalians, and the Moravians. The second class includes 
 Lutherans, Presbyterians, Reformed, many Methodists, and smaller 
 sects. The third class includes Baptists, Congregationalists, 
 Christians, Friends, Adventists, and Unitarians. 
 
 Another division might be made into those who do and those 
 who do not believe in one visible church. The first of these 
 classes would include the first two of the previous division, the 
 second of these would coincide with the third. 
 
 Statistics, — There are in the world about 452,000,000 Chris- 
 tians, as against 340,000,000 Buddhists, 201,000,000 Moham- 
 medans, 175,000,000 Brahmins, 80,000,000 Confucians, 14,000,000 
 Shintos, 7,000,000 Jews, and — if the entire population of the 
 globe be reckoned as 1,434,000,000 — 165,000,000 "heathens." 
 Less than one third of humanity is thus Christian. 
 
 Of the 452,000,000 Christians, 210,000,000 are Roman Catholic, 
 92,000,000 Greek, and 150,000,000 Protestant. 
 
 Who are entitled to the name " Christian " is a much vexed 
 question. Tn popular usage it signifies anything that is good. 
 Many sects deny it to all who do not hold their interpretation of 
 Christianity. If the question were settled by votes, the Roman 
 Catholics would have the plurality ; but if it were decided by the 
 common meaningr of such adjectives, Christian would mean agree- 
 ing with Christ in the main points of his teaching. A Darwinian 
 or an Hegelian is not one who believes every word that Darwin 
 
12 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 or Ilcgel has said, but one who acce})ts the main principles of the 
 scientist or philosopher, or at least his characteristic principle. 
 Unitarians maintain that they are Christians because they believe 
 in the main principles of the teaching of Jesus, — as the unity 
 and spiritual nature of God, His fatheihood to all men, the duty 
 of men to love Him and each other, the sure reward of goodness 
 and punij;hment of wickedness, and the life after death. Whether 
 these beliefs were original Avith him or not, they were by him 
 made ertcctual upon the world, — especially upon those from 
 whom we are descended as to religion. Certainly to be a Chris- 
 tian does not compel acceptance of what Paul said, or what the 
 writer of the Fourth Gospel said, or what any one else said who 
 seems to have added to the original utterances of Jesus, or re- 
 ported or interpreted them in a way which seems now to have 
 been wrong. In a more interior and spiritual sense, to be a 
 Christian is to live the life of love which was the characteristic 
 of Jesus. This is the definition which he himself is said'to have 
 given to discipleship. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 What was the origin of the name "Christian"? What does it mean? 
 What sort of Christians were the first disciples ? Ought we to wisli for a 
 restoration of " primitive Christianity " ? WIio changed this? What did 
 he teach? What is the fundamental division of religion? What other 
 manifestations of spiritual Christianity besides that of Paul ? What was the 
 first great division in the body of Christendom ? How did Western Chris- 
 tianity divide? How does this division stand to-day? What was the 
 first division of Protestantism ? How is Protestantism commonly divided 
 to-day ? What is the meaning of these names ? Under which would 
 you put the Presbyterians ? Universalists ? Episcopalians ? Methodists ? 
 Friends ? Unitarians ? What are the three sources of authorit}' ? How 
 are Christians divided as to government ? How in numbers ? Are Chris- 
 tians or heathens the more numerous ? What difference of opinion exists 
 as to the meaning of the name Christian ? What should guide us ? Are 
 Unitarians Christians ? Can one doubt the miraculous birtli or resurrection 
 and be a Christian ? Why ? What did Jesus say of discipleship to himself V 
 Which is the deeper likeness, that of belief or that of charact-^r ? 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 13 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 DOCTRINES HELD BY CHRISTIANS. 
 
 REFERENCES FOR THE DOCTRINES IN GENERAL. 
 
 The points of agreement and disagreement between the larger divisions 
 of Cliristendom are summed up in Sciiaff, vol. i. pp. 919-930. For exposi- 
 tion at greater length, see Hagenbach's History of Doctrines '^ Shedd's His- 
 tory of Christian Doctrine; E. H. Hall's Orthodoxy and Heresy in the 
 Christian Church ; and articles in McClintock and Strong. Schaff-Herzog, 
 Britannica, and other CA'clopisdias. Calvin's Institutes of the Christian 
 Religion and the works of the leading theologians of the various sects — 
 as Pond, Hovey, Foster, Wesley, etc. —are also useful. For liberal Angli- 
 can views, see Haweis's Thoughts for the Times, Stanley's Christian Insti- 
 tutions, and Momerie's sermons. For Unitarian opinions, see Hedge's 
 Reason in Religion, Clarke's Truths and Errors of Orthodoxy and his Ideas 
 of the Apostle Paul, G. E. Ellis's Half-Century of Unitarian Controversy, 
 the tracts of the American Unitarian Association, and the published sermons 
 of Channing, Dewey, Clarke, Chadwick, Savage, and others. 
 
 1. CREEDS. 
 
 Our little systems have their day; 
 
 They have their da}' and cease to be; 
 
 They are but broken lights of thee, 
 And thou, Lord, art more than they. — Tennyson. 
 
 The word "creed" is derived from the Latin credo^ "I 
 believe," and is used to designate a formal statement, usually 
 authoritative, of belief on religious subjects. All Christian bodies 
 have creeds except the Friends, the Unitarians, the Disciples of 
 Christ, the " Christians," the Christian Union, and some smaller 
 sects. The Methodists have no formal creed, but a virtual one 
 in certain standards which are regarded as authoritative. The 
 Congregationalists and Baptists, with other congregational bodies, 
 hold to the right of each church to formulate its own statement of 
 faith. Many Unitarian churches have "covenants,*' or other 
 
14 A STUDY OF THK SECTS. 
 
 stiitonients of belief and purpose; but tbey iirc often of no prac- 
 tical use, and are never intended to express exhaustively or to 
 limit in any way the belief of the signer. 
 
 THE FIRST CREEDS. 
 
 Natiianael's (John i. 49). — "Rabbi, thou art the Son of 
 God; thou art the King of Israel." 
 
 Petku's (Matt. xvi. 16). — "Thou art the Christ, the Son of 
 the living God." 
 
 Paul and Silas's (Acts xvi. 31). — "Believe on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." 
 
 THE THREE GENERAL CREEDS. 
 
 These are either formally or tacitly acknowledged in the Greek, 
 Latin, and Evangelical Protestant Churches. 
 
 I. The Apostles' Creed. — This name came from the legend 
 that the creed was composed by the twelve Apostles, each con- 
 tributing a clause, or article, beginning with Peter. This was 
 believed till two hundred years ago. It is now certain that the 
 creed first took shape at the end of the fourth century in the 
 Western Church, attained its present form at the end of the fifth 
 century, if not later, and was formally adopted in the eighth. 
 For an interesting table showing its growth, and also for many 
 statements of belief between it and those in the New Testament, 
 see Schafi', vol. ii., pp. 11-40. 
 
 " I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and 
 earth. 
 
 " And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord, who was 
 conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mar}, suffered 
 under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried ; he de- 
 scended into hell ; the third day he rose again from the dead ; he 
 ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the 
 Father Almighty ; from thence he shall come to judge the quick 
 and the dead. 
 
 " I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the 
 communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of 
 the body, and the life everlasting. Amen." 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 15 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 Is there any Trinity here ? Any deity of Christ ? Inspiration of tlie 
 Scriptures ? Atonement ? Predestination ? Eternal torment ? How do 
 you account for the lack of these important doctrines in so early a creed ? 
 What does the word catholic mean ? The resurrection of the body? How 
 much of this creed can a Unitarian accept ? 
 
 IT. The Nicene Creed. — This is so called from the Council 
 of Nicaea, in Asia Minor, by which its first form was adopted as 
 a decision against the Arians, 325. The clauses after "I believe 
 in the Holy Ghost " were added later, and formally adopted by 
 the Council of Chalcedon in 381. The words, "and the Son," 
 ■were illegally added by a Western Council in 589, and became a 
 cause of division between the Eastern and Western Churches. The 
 circumstances amid which the creed arose naturally led to stress 
 on the divinity of Jesus and of the Holy Ghost. It was a Greek, 
 or Eastern, as the Apostles' was a Latin, or Western, creed. 
 
 "I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maher of heaven 
 and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. 
 
 *' And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, 
 begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of 
 Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one 
 substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who 
 for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was 
 incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made 
 man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he 
 suffered and was buried ; and the third day he rose again, accord- 
 ing to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on 
 the right hand of the Father,- and he shall come again with glory 
 to judge both the quick and the dead ; whose kingdom shall have 
 no end. 
 
 " And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, 
 who proceedeth from the Father and the Son ; who with the 
 Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified ; who 
 spake by the Prophets. And I believe in one Catholic and 
 Apostolic Church ; I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission 
 of sins ;- and 1 look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life 
 of the world to come. Amen." 
 
16 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 III. The Athanasian Creed. — This name arose from the 
 belief that the creed was composed by Athanasius, the defender of 
 the divinity of Christ at the Council of Nicaea, 325. But it is now 
 certain that the creed did not appear till the close of the eighth 
 century. It was of Latin origin, and is much used in the Roman 
 Church. The Church of England ordains its use on thirteen 
 festival days in place of the Apostles' Creed; but it is much dis- 
 liked. The American Episcopalians omitted it from their Prayer- 
 Book ; but it is proposed to restore it for use four times a year. 
 It is too long and tedious to give in full, but a few clauses will 
 show its tone : — 
 
 " 1. "Whosoever will be saved: before all things it is necessary 
 that he hold the Catholic Faith : 
 
 " 2. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled: 
 without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. 
 
 " 3. And the Catholic Faith is this : That we worship one God 
 in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity ; 
 
 "4. Neither confounding the Persons : nor dividing the 
 Substance. 
 
 "15, So the Father is God: the Son is God: and the Holy 
 Ghost is God. 
 
 "16. And yet they are not three Gods : but one God. 
 
 " 29. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation : that 
 he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 " 30. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess : that 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man : 
 
 "31. God, of the Substance of the Father; begotten before 
 the worlds: and Man, of the Substance of his Mother, born in 
 the world. 
 
 "32. Perfect God: and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and 
 human flesh subsisting. 
 
 "33. Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead: and 
 inferior to the Father as touching his Manhood. 
 
 "37. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man; so God 
 and Man is one Christ." 
 
A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 17 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 The first chapter of Schaff's work states the arguments for creeds. 
 For the creeds themselves, see the wliole work. A summary of them 
 forms the last chapter in Shedd. Good essays in Stanley's Christian In- 
 stitutions, chaps. 12 and 14. A little book of fine spirit is Phillips Brooks's 
 Toleration. The Unitarian view is given in Dr. Channing's The System of 
 Exclusion and Denunciation in Religion (American Unitarian Association 
 Tract 122 in First Series), and Extracts from a Letter on Creeds, and in 
 most statements of Unitarian belief. 
 
 2. THE SOURCE OF AUTHORITY. 
 
 Out from the heart of Nature rolled 
 The burdens of the Bible old ; 
 
 The word unto the prophet spoken 
 
 Was writ on tables yet unbroken ; 
 
 The word by seers or sibyls told 
 
 In groves of oak or fanes of gold 
 
 Still floats upon the morning wind, 
 
 Still whispers to the willing mind. — Emerson. 
 
 All Christians rely upon human reason to some extent. But 
 the reason finds limits beyond which it cannot go, — subjects upon 
 which it is not competent to decide. It must then ask whether 
 there is any authority higher than itself which can decide for it, 
 and to the decision of which it will bow even when it cannot un- 
 derstand that decision, or when it shrinks from it. The Roman 
 Catholic and the Evangelical Protestant answer this question in 
 the afhrmative. The Roman Catholic maintains that God has 
 established upon the earth an institution called the Church, whose 
 function is to instruct men upon those religious subjects which lie 
 beyond their own ken and yet are of vital importance. This 
 Church was founded by Jesus Christ, who was God the Son, who 
 proved his divine nature and ofhce by his miracles, and who con- 
 stantly guides and instructs his Cliurch. Moreover, by this Church 
 the revelations made to various men before and at the time of Christ 
 
 2 
 
18 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 have been gathered, jn-otected, guaranteed, and are interpreted. 
 ** We indeed devoutly receive the whole Bible as the word of 
 God," said Cardinal Newman ; "but we receive it on the author- 
 ity of the Church; and the Church has defined very little as to 
 the aspects under which it comes from God and the limits of its 
 inspiration. . . . Not the Bible, but the Church, is to him [the 
 Catholic] the oracle of revelation. 'Ihough the whole Scripture 
 were miraculously removed from the world as if it had never 
 been, grievous as the calamity would be, he would still have 
 enough motives and objects for his faith. Whereas to the 
 Protestant the question of Scripture is one of life and death." 
 
 The Reformers swept the authority of the Church entirely out 
 of their religious system, and, though after some wavering and 
 confusion, established the Bible in its place as the sole "oracle of 
 revelation." They were driven, by the necessity of opposing to 
 the supernatural Church an authority of equal divineness and 
 infallibility, to make the most extreme claims for the inspiration 
 of the Bible, even declaring the Hebrew vowel-points to be of 
 divine origin. Luther held views which even now would be called 
 lax. Calvin, however, drew the lines closer; and the Westminster 
 Confession asserted that "the whole counsel of God ... is either 
 expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary con- 
 sequence may be deduced from Scripture : unto which nothing at 
 any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit 
 or traditions of men." The Bible became to the Puritan his 
 guide, not only in religion, but in affairs of State and in the most 
 private matters. In place of the Church as interpreter, the Prot- 
 estant put the Holy Spirit. Reason might decide upon the cre- 
 dentials of the Scriptures, but the appreciation of their inner and 
 saving meaning could come only by "the inward illumination of 
 the Spirit of God." In the view of Calvinists this illumination 
 could come only to the elect, and indeed was one proof of their 
 election. 
 
 The Unitarian joins with other Protestants in decisively reject- 
 ing the authority of the Church. That Jesus founded any such 
 institution as this pretentious ritualistic organization seems too 
 absurd to need refutation. Its history is the answer to its claims. 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 19 
 
 As to the Bible, Unitarians have varied somewhat in their 
 estimate of its authority. The early Protestant view was de- 
 termined largely by the accompanying view of the corruption 
 and helplessness of human nature, reason included. As this 
 false view has retired, the reason has come to the front, and 
 claimed greater rights. But the first Unitarians in New England 
 were, or thought they were, as firm believers in the authority of 
 Scripture as their Trinitarian opponents. Yet, for the most part 
 unconsciously, they had adopted principles of interpretation which 
 were at war with the old view. Both these facts are seen in these 
 words of Dr. Channing : " Whatever doctrines seem to us to be 
 clearly taught in the Scriptures we receive without reserve " 
 {Unitarian Christianity'); "All those interpretations of the Gos- 
 pel which strike the mind at once as inconsistent with a right- 
 eous government of the universe, which require of man what is 
 disproportionate to his nature, or which shock any clear conviction 
 which our experience has furnished, cannot be viewed with too 
 jealous an eye" (Preaching Christ). In the latter passage lie 
 the germs of that reliance upon reason and conscience, and that 
 freedom from unreasonable and unmoral subjection to mere textual 
 authority, which have borne fruit in Parker, Emerson, and the 
 majority of the Unitarian teachers of to-day. They recognize the 
 inspiration of the Bible, but look upon revelation as progressive, 
 according to the increasing capacity of men to receive the truth. 
 Many passages in the Bible se^m to them of supreme and unsur- 
 passed value to the soul. Yet they look upon inspiration as not 
 confined to any period, but as acting still, revealing both new 
 depths in the old truths and new views of the divine nature and 
 action. The sole criterion of truth, when it cannot be fully 
 demonstrated by the reason, is satisfaction of the intellectual, 
 moral, and spiritual needs of human life. What seems beyond 
 the reach of reason and conscience and contrary to the deepest 
 instincts of the soul was not intended to be known, or is not 
 yet ready for human use. In this belief in the continuance 
 of inspiration the Unitarian feels himself justified by the last 
 words of Jesus to his disciples : " I have many things to tell you, 
 but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of 
 
20 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 truth is come, he will guide you into all truth." In reality, 
 however, all Protestants qualify Scripture by the use of their 
 own reason. It is simply a question of degree and often of 
 frankness. 
 
 Moreover, the old Protestant view of the infallibility of Scrip- 
 ture is not warranted by Scripture itself. It rose out of the 
 exigencies of controversy. A few simple facts, admitted by all, 
 are decisive : (1) The Bible never speaks of itself as a whole. 
 This is to be expected from the fact that it was a gradual growth, 
 an aggregation of books, generally having no relation one with 
 another nor even so much as referring to one another. The word 
 " Scripture," as used in the New Testament, refers to the Old 
 Testament, the New not yet having been collected. The infalli- 
 bility of the Bible, therefore, is not and cannot be a doctrine 
 asserted in the Bible. (2) Nor do the separate books claim divine 
 warrant, with the exception of a few of the prophetical writings 
 and some sayings of Paul. The inspiration of Genesis, for in- 
 stance, has been thrust upon it; it claims no divine authority 
 for itself. (3) Most of the books of the Bible are anonymous. 
 The authorship named in their titles is the guess of the trans- 
 lators, not the assertion of the writers. (4) We have no guaran- 
 tee that the books of the Bible have come down to us unharmed. 
 The original manuscripts have all disappeared ; and the oldest 
 copy of any part of the New Testament does not date back of 
 300. Had God meant us to rely upon words. He would have 
 made those words certain beyond '^doubt. (5) Jesus never wrote 
 a word of his Gospel, and made no provision whatever for hav- 
 ing it written. That he should have left it to the oral teaching 
 of his disciples for a generation, then to be committed to four 
 varying accounts, all of uncertain authorship, is inconceivable 
 upon the old theory of the value of texts. 
 
 No one who comprehends the real weight of these simple facts, 
 which are generally hidden in a cloud of petty arguments, can 
 hold to the old theory of the Bible ; yet whoever reads the Bible, 
 not in a state of suspended intellectual animation, but with soul 
 awake to the light of God on its mountain summits, will see that 
 it is indeed "The Book." 
 
A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 21. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 How do Christians agree as to the use of reason ? Who acknowledge 
 an authority beyond its limits ? What is the Catholic doctrine of authority? 
 of. the interpretation of Scripture V How far could the Catholic dispense with 
 the Bible ? What was the position of the Reformers toward the Church ? 
 toward the Bible? What was Luther's view ? Calvin's ? that of the West- 
 minster Confession V What was the Protestant principle of interpretation ? 
 the Calvinist V 
 
 What does the Unitarian say of the Church ? What view of humaa 
 nature modifies his view of reason? How did the first Unitarians use the 
 Bible ? What change has come ? What is the view of inspiration now 
 common among Unitarians? What do they say of what lies beyond human 
 ken? What is their sole criterion of truth ? What words of Jesus fore-, 
 shadow the continuance of inspiration? Was the old Protestant view of 
 Scripture warranted by the Bible itself? How did it arise? Does the 
 Bible ever speak of itself as a whole ? Why ? What follows from this 
 as to the doctrine of Biblical infallibility ? What do the separate books 
 claim for themselves ? What must be said of their authorship ? What . 
 guarantee have we of their preservation ? What did Jesus write ? Why ? 
 Do Unitarians still speak of the Bible as " The Book " ? Why ? Of what 
 use is the Bible to you ? What parts do you like most to read ? What has 
 been its influence upon the world ? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 The Catholic view of authority may be found in Newman's Apolof/ia pro 
 mea Vitn, which all Protestants should read. The early Protestant position 
 is stated in Calvin's Institutes, book i., chaps, vi.-x., and in chapter i. of 
 the Westminster Confession. For a striking illustration of the change 
 which has come over many of the descendants of the Puritans, see What is 
 the Bible? by Prof. G. T. Ladd. For the Unitarian views, see Dr. Chan- 
 ning's sermons on *• Unitarian Christianity," "Preaching Christ," and 
 "The Church;" Andrews Norton's Evidences of the Genuineness of the 
 Bible; Theodore Parker's A Discourse of Matters pertaining to Relifjion, 
 books iv. and v. ; J. W. Chadwick's The Bible of To-day; J. T. Sunder- 
 land's What is the Bible? M. J. Savage's Beliefs about the Bible; F. H. 
 Hedge's Ways of the Spirit; and James Martineau's Author ity in Relir/ion, 
 especially book ii., in which the Catholic and Protestant positions are very 
 fairly stated. For shorter statements, see American Unitarian Association 
 Tracts, Fourth Series, Nos. 69 and 80, and J. F. Clarke's tract among the 
 "Miscellaneous." 
 
22 A STUDY OF THE SECTS, 
 
 3. GOD. 
 
 Source divine, and Life of all, 
 
 The Fount of being's wondrous sea! 
 Thy depth would every heart appall 
 
 That saw not Love supreme in thee. — Sterling. 
 
 All Christians believe that there is but one God, and that He 
 is infinitely powerful, wise, and loving. All Christians except 
 Unitarians, Universalists, "Christians," and the "Hicksite" 
 Friends, believe also in a Trinity within this unity. The common 
 doctrine of the Trinity is thus defined in the Athanasian Creed: 
 " We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither 
 confounding the Persons nor dividing the Substance. For there 
 is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of 
 the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost is all one : the Glory equal, the Majesty 
 co-eternal." 
 
 This doctrine is nowhere distinctly stated in the Bible. The 
 word " Trinity "' does not occur at all, nor any word corresponding 
 to it. This all admit. The texts which have been quoted in 
 favor of the dogma from the Old Testament deserve no considera- 
 tion whatever. In the New Testament one text has stated it 
 (1 John v. 7, 8); but this has long been known to be spurious, 
 and is omitted from the Kevised Version. The strongest text 
 remaining is Matt, xxviii. 19, 20; but as many Trinitarians admit 
 (Meyer, McClintock), no equality or divinity or unity of substance 
 is here expressed any more than in the common phrase, " Peter 
 and James and John." The fact that no distinct and decisive 
 proclamation of so new and startling a doctrine is anywhere made 
 in the New Testament is conclusive against its truth. The 
 Catholic theologians frankly say that the Trinity is one of the 
 doctrines which only the Holy Spirit, acting through the Churchy 
 not the individual's judgment, can find in the Scriptures. 
 
 It was only gradually that the doctrine took shape, and probably 
 by contact with Greek, and especially Alexandrian, philosophy. 
 It is not in the Apostles' Creed. Its strongest support came from 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 23 
 
 the growing belief in the deity of Jesus, which is considered 
 under another head. The Greek word trlas, or " triad," which does 
 not necessarily involve unity of substance, does not occur till after 
 1 70 ; and the Latin word trinitas is not found till Tertullian wrote, 
 after 200. A strong Unitarian party (that is, asserting the integ- 
 rity of the Father's essence or substance) existed in tlie Church 
 till after the Council of Nicsea, in 325, pronounced for the deity 
 of Christ. The deity of the Holy Spirit seems never to have 
 been very much discussed or very strongly asserted until the 
 Athanasian Creed appeared. The Nicene Creed was changed 
 without authority in 589, so that the Spirit was said to proceed 
 " from the Father and the So?i,'- — an addition which was one of 
 the causes of the secession, or excommunication, of tlie Greek 
 Church. 
 
 The Trinity remained the universal doctrine until the Reforma- 
 tion, when it was questioned, among others, by Michael Servetus 
 and by Laelius and Faustus Socinus. The tendency among 
 modern Trinitarians is to assert the doctrine as a revealed fact, 
 without attempt to explain it. Such explanations have often 
 brought to light great differences of opinion, amounting in many 
 cases to tritheism on the one hand and utter destruction of the 
 equality on the other. The modern Unitarians, of course, deny 
 the doctrine of the Trinity in any and every sense. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 On what are all Christians apcreed as to God ? Who do not believe in the 
 Trinity V Try to state that doctrine. Where is it stated in the Bible ? 
 Where was it ever stated V What is the strongest text now ? What does 
 it really mean ? Wliat do you infer from the lack of clear statement ? 
 How did the doctrine arise ? What is the most important element in it ? 
 How soon do any words alleged to denote it appear ? When was it officially 
 adopted ? When was the deitv of the Holy Spirit asserted ? What un- 
 warranted thing was done ? Who denied the doctrine at the Reformation ? 
 What is the tendency of modern Trinitarians ? What do the Unitarians 
 think of the doctrine ? May not God act in many ways ? Must we restrict 
 them to three? But do manifestations imply persons? Do you think the 
 doctrine would have any influence on you, if you could believe it ? 
 
 (For references, see under next head.) 
 
24 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 4. JESUS. 
 
 O Love ! O Life ! our faith and sight 
 
 Tliy presence niaketh one ; 
 As tliroiigh transfigured clouds of white 
 
 We trace the noonday sun, — 
 
 So, to our mortal eyes subdued, 
 
 Flesh-veiled, but not concealed, 
 We know in thee the fatherhood 
 
 And heart of God revealed. — Whit tier. 
 
 The rank and office of Jesus form the core of Christian 
 doctrine. The point of separation between the first Christians 
 and Judaism was as to whether he was the Messiah or not ; in the 
 belief in his deity centres the whole system of Roman, Greek, 
 and Evangelical Protestant doctrine ; and, rightly understood, the 
 idea of " God in Christ " is also the heart of the Unitarian faith. 
 
 It is impossible to go into the full discussion of Scriptural texts; 
 but a few main points must be briefly stated: (1) The Jews, who 
 studied their Bible (Old Testament) with most devoted and minute 
 care, never dreamed that the Messiah there predicted was to be 
 Jehovah himself. He was either a personification of the righteous 
 part of Israel or, later, a prophet or king divinely sent, endowed, 
 and guided, but like all other prophets and kings, — like Moses, 
 Elijah, and David, — a man. (2) Those who heard Jesus never 
 understood him to claim to be God except once (John x. 33), when 
 Jesus promptly disclaimed the title in any other sense than as it 
 had been given to the ancient Hebrew judges; that is, as repre- 
 sentative of God. No one who understands how holy, inaccessi- 
 ble, and separate from humanity the Jews held God to be can fail 
 to see that the claim of Jesus to be identical with Him would have 
 roused too great a tumult to have escaped record, and would have 
 been made the centre of the accusations against him. The one 
 case cited, to any one who understands the nature of the Fourth 
 Gospel, is under suspicion. (3) Moreover, it must be rememberf d 
 that Jesus, as a Jew, was brought up Unitarian, and any such 
 enormous change in his view of God or of himself must have 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 26 
 
 been made the very heart of his teaching. On the contrary, the 
 first three, or Synoptic, Gospels contain not a single clear enuncia- 
 tion of this tremendous assumption ; but they do contain sayings 
 of Jesus which imply his subordination to God, as Matt. xix. 17, 
 xxvi. 39-42, xxvii. 46. There is no reason why he should disclaim 
 deity, for without some clear assertion of it by himself no Jew 
 would have suspected it. His appearance and life were human ; 
 and nothing short of irresistible proof, which is made impossible 
 by these naive utterances, can lead us to think he was anything 
 else. (4) The Fourth Gospel is evidently not so much a narra- 
 tive as a philosophy of Jesus. The Jesus who speaks there is not 
 the Jesus of the Synoptics, but a dramatic personification of the 
 writer's ideal, — often beautiful and rich in spiritual suggestion, 
 but not drawn from life. But even there, while many passages, 
 especially those which come from the author himself, as the fir?t 
 verses of the first chapter, point to an exaltation of Jesus' nature 
 above the human, there is no such eciuality with the Father as the 
 creeds assert, while on every page there are words ascribed to 
 Jesus himself which most clearly imply his subordination (v. 19, 
 30; vii. 16 ; viii. 28, etc. As for x. 30, see xvii. 21). (5) The 
 first preaching after Jesus' death set him forth as a prophet 
 (Acts ii. 22, iii. 22, xvii. 31). (6) Paul spiritualized his idea of 
 Jesus, as he did every other point in Christian belief, — as bap- 
 tism and the resurrection, — and undoui)tedly assigned to Jesus a 
 supernatural mission and endowment, but never deity. 
 
 In short, the nearer we get to the words of Jesus himself, the 
 less we hear of any exaltation of him above the rank of a prophet 
 of God. 
 
 It is when Christianity moves away from Judaism, with its utter 
 separation of God from man, into the atmosphere of the classic 
 world, where the line between gods and men was always vague, 
 and where it had seemed easy to deify even the Roman emperors, 
 — it is then that Jesus mounts rapidly to Deity. The remnants of 
 primitive Christianity, as the Ebionites, retained the original 
 belief in Jesus' humanity ; but Greek and Latin Christianity drew 
 from Greek and Latin philosophy and theology abundant suste- 
 nance for the deification of their Master. First, however, must 
 
26 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 come a long struggle, whicli reached its climax in the debate be- 
 tween Ariiis, a presbyter of Alexandria, and Athanasius, a deacon 
 in the same city. ArJus maintained that Christ was a being above 
 humanity, but created by God out of different substance from His 
 own. The Semi-Arians held him to be of similar substance, but 
 created and subordinate. Athanasius asserted him to be of the 
 same substance and equal in rank. The Emperor Constantine 
 assembled at Nicaea, in Asia Minor, the first "oecumenical" (or 
 world) council in 325, at which the Athanasian view prevailed ; and 
 Arianism, though widely spread, died away. Then followed a long 
 controversy over the exact nature of the union between the hu- 
 man and the divine. Apollinaris, Bishop of Laodicea, denied the 
 humanily of Christ, as Arius had denied his divinity^ making the 
 divine Reason, or " Logos," take the place of the human spirit. 
 The Council of Alexandria (362) decided that the two natures, 
 divine and human, co-existed in Christ. Then Nestorius, Bishop 
 of Constantinople, denied any closer union than this co-existence, 
 and claimed that it happened only after the birth of Christ, so 
 that to call Mary " Mother of God" was absurd. The super- 
 natural union of the two natures was proclaimed by the first 
 Council of Ephesus, in 431. But Eutyches, of Constantinople, 
 fell into error on the opposite side from IS^storius, uniting the two 
 natures so closely that the human was lost in the divine. The 
 Fourth Council, at Clialcedon, decided that the two natures were 
 united in one person, without confusion, change, division, or sepa- 
 ration, or loss of properties by either; but the Monophysite or 
 one-nature party were still active, and were crushed at the Council 
 of Constantinople in 553. Then came the question whether there 
 were two wills in the two natures, the ^lonothelite party contend- 
 ing for but one ; but the Council of Constantinople in 680 aflirmed 
 the two wills, the divine following the human. The "Monopby- 
 sites" and " Nestorians *' stdl exist, however, as sects in the 
 Eastern Church. 
 
 So trimmed and cut back, the doctrine remained throughout 
 the jNIiddle Ages. The great Reformers made no change in it, 
 and it passed over into ' Evangelical ' Protestantism. But Michael 
 Servetus, in 1531, taught a human Christ, and Laelius and Faustus 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 27 
 
 Socinus (d. 1562 and 1604), founded a large, wealthy, and intel- 
 lectual sect in Poland on the doctrine that Christ was a human 
 teacher, but deified after death for his holiness, and therefore to 
 be worshipped. In England the subordination of Christ was 
 made the centre of a separate sect by Lindsey and others, and in 
 the United States by Channing and liis co-workers. Beginning 
 with Arianism, the view of Unitarians has gone on more or less 
 frankly to pure humanitarianism. 
 
 The doctrine of the deity of Jesus has been of great service to 
 many by bringing to their minds and hearts a God whom they could 
 easily conceive and so love. That the infinite and unapproach- 
 able Jehovah should have come to this suflering and sinful earth, 
 should have taken upon Himself the human form, and submitted 
 Himself to human temptation and suffering, touches the heart by 
 its apparent love and self-abnegation. The broader trutli which 
 underlies this we are to see later; but the love of God is tauglit to 
 many minds more clearly by this one apparently exceptional case 
 tlian by tlie more diffuse though truer conception which is now 
 growing u])on the human mind. On the other hand, however, 
 it is as certain that the deification of Jesus has thrut-t tlie 
 one true God into the background, robbed Him of His love and 
 compassion, which are transferred to the Clirist, made Him an im- 
 placable and exacting juilge, and narrowed and lowered the whole 
 conception of Deity. As the human intellect grew still feebler, 
 even Christ was thrust in liis turn into the background ; his love 
 and compassion were transferred to the Virgin Mary, or to the 
 saints, who seemed nearer and more easily apprehensible than 
 the superhuman Christ. The alternative is one whicli often 
 meets the student of theology, — between warmth and truth; be- 
 tween adaptability to immediate need, and exact and conscientious 
 conception. 
 
 But Unitarians also hold to the incarnation of God in Jesus. 
 They differ from Evangelicals in denying that it was only in 
 him, and that it ceased with him. They beheve, and it is the 
 very heart of tlieir religion, that God is not only immanent in the 
 physical universe, the One Power working by Eternal Law, but 
 that he dwells in every human being, tlie giver of all light to the 
 mind, all love to the heart, all life to the spirit. The difference 
 between men in this respect is one of degree, not of nature. The 
 glory of Jesus is not only his superiority in degree, but his clear 
 consciousness of his sonship, and his announcement of it to the 
 world. " Alone in all history, he estimated the greatness of man. 
 
28 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 One man was true to what is in you and me. He saw that God 
 incarnates Himself in man, and evermore <^oes forth anew to take 
 possession of His world." Hence flows whatever is distinctive in 
 Unitarian ism, as the doctrines of the dignity of human nature, 
 the internal authority, the eternal hope. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 What place does the belief about Jesus hold in Christianity ? How can 
 you illustrate this? What was the Jewish expectation of the Messiah? 
 What view of Jesus had those who heard him V Was he ever accused of 
 claiming to be God V What was his answer V What else can you say of 
 the passage V What do the Synoptic Gospels say of Jesus? The Fourth 
 Gospel ? The first Christian sermons ? Paul ? When does the doctrine 
 of his deity begin to take shape ? Under what influences ? What did the 
 remnant of the original Christians hold? When did the debate reach its 
 climax ? Wlio were tlie two champions ? Define Arianism, Semi-Arian- 
 ism, the Athanasian doctrine. How was the debate settled? What was 
 ApoUinarianism? Nestorianism ? Eutychianism ? The Monophysite 
 view ? The Monothelite ? How does all this impress you ? 
 
 How did the Reformers stand ? Who first taught a human Christ ? 
 What was Socinianism ? Who started modern Unitarianism ? What is 
 this now? 
 
 What good has the doctrine of the deity of Christ done ? What harm ? 
 What has liappened to the worship of God ? To that of Christ ? What are 
 the two points between which religious ideas vibrate? Wliat is the Unita- 
 rian attitude toward Jesus? What is the difference between him and other 
 men ? How is our belief in the incarnation of God in humanity related to 
 our religious beliefs ? Wiiat difference has Jesus made to human history? 
 What is he to you now ? Examine your belief frankly. 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 The most remarkable book on the Trinitarian side is the late Canon 
 Liddon's The Divinity of our Lord, the Bampton Lectures for 1866. The 
 history of the doctrine may be found in Hagenbach or Shedd, and from the 
 Unitarian side, in Lamson's Ilisiory of the First Three Centuries, and 
 Priestley's Fhstory of the Corruptions of Christianity. Liddon was answered 
 by "A Clergyman of the Churcii of England " (who maintained that the doc- 
 trine is not to be found in the Bible by the unaided reason, but i-s taught on 
 the authority of the Church) and by Dr. Vance Smith. Singular views of 
 the Trinity may be found in Stanley's Christian Institutions, and Robertson's 
 Sermons, Series HI. No 4. Tlie tracts and books of the American Unita- 
 rian Association, especially Norton's Statement of Reasons, give Unitarian 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 29 
 
 views, often of the old-fashioned textual kind; but broader ground is 
 occupied in Hedge's Reason in Rdujion (pp. 227-247), Clianning (pp. 302- 
 328, A. U. A. euition), Emerson's Divinity School Address, and best of all, 
 Martineau's Authority m Relitjion, book iv, chap. ii. The Council of Nicaea 
 is described most picturesquely in Stanley's History of the Eastern Church. 
 
 5. HUMAN NATURE. 
 
 It is not ours to separate 
 
 The tangled skein of will and fate, 
 
 And between choice and Providence 
 Divide the circle of events 
 
 But He who knows our frame is just, 
 Merciful, and compassionate; 
 And full of sweet assurances, 
 And hope for all, the language is. 
 
 That He remenibereth we are dust! — Whittier, 
 
 All Christians except the Liberals believe that God created 
 Adam and Eve in a state of innocence, but needing probation. 
 The serpent (by most supposed to be an embodiment of Satan), 
 was therefore allowed to tempt them to disobedience. They 
 yielded to the temptation, and in consequence of this " fall " sin 
 obtained an irresistible power over them. Shame, labor, pain, 
 the pangs of childbirth, and death entered into their lives, and 
 they were thrust out of the Garden of Eden in disgrace. These 
 consequences of their sin have fallen upon their descendants, 
 so that all are helpless in the bonds of inherited corruption. 
 All that they do or can do is worthless and even abhorrent in 
 the divine eyes, and unless some aid can be secured from a 
 source external to themselves, they are doomed to eternal pun- 
 ishment. This innate tendency to evil is called "original sin;" 
 the helpless state into which man is brought by it, " total deprav- 
 ity ; " and the process by which guilt is attributed to him, 
 " imputation." 
 
 Tills view of man rests almost entirely upon the second and 
 third chapters of Genesis, and upon the interpretation which Paul 
 
30 A STUDY OF THE SECJS. 
 
 gave to them in his Epistle to the Romans, especially v. 12-19. 
 Belief in it, therefore, must depend largely upon the opinion held 
 of the authority of the Scriptures. But the following points must 
 be considered: (1) This view of human nature finds no support 
 from the icords of Jesus. He never mentions Adam, Eve, or 
 Eden, or refers to the story of the Fall in any way. Nor does he 
 imply that the souls he addresses are not able to respond. The 
 doctrine of total depravity is never referred to in any manner. 
 (2) Genesis claims no divine warrant for its statements. They 
 are frankly and naively written like any other history. That 
 these chapters have been made the basis of a tremendous system 
 of theology is not the fault of their authors. (3) No part of the 
 Bible has been so squarely contradicted by modern discoveries 
 as its opening chapters. If they are simply, as they seem, the 
 statement of the belief of their day, or of their writers, this is 
 not strange. If any one persists in taking them for a divinely 
 inspired statement of infallible truth, he must choose between 
 them and the almost universally accepted views of modern men 
 of science. That pain and death were in the world before man 
 came, being the common heritage of all sentient life ; that man 
 was not made directly of the dust of the earth, but, at least 
 physically, developed from lower orders of animals; that the 
 human race did not spring from a single pair ; that there is no 
 trace of a primeval innocence and a subsequent fall, but that all 
 signs point to a gradual ascent from a savage condition ; besides 
 the minor points that woman was not made from the rib of man, 
 and that the serpent never went upright or on legs, — all these 
 views steadily gain ground, and relegate the story of Genesis tc 
 the realm of poetry, from which indeed it may have first come. 
 Add to them the discrepancies between the two stories of the 
 Creation (Gen i., ii. 1-3, and ii. 4-25). and the remarkably few 
 references to either of them in the rest of the Bible except those 
 of Paul, and we have abundant reason for doubt as to the literal 
 accuracy of this account of the origin of man. As to the infer- 
 ences of Paul from the original story, our view of them will de- 
 pend, first, upon the. value we set upon doctrines asserted by a 
 follower which the Master did not teach, — a follower, too, who 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 31 
 
 had never seen him ; secondly, upon our idea of Paul's purpose in 
 these words, — whether he meant to speak dogmatically and with 
 authority, or whether he was speaking rhetorically, in the en- 
 thusiasm of his gratitude to Jesus. The Epistles were letters, and 
 their style is not formal or exact, or even always correct. They 
 were evidently not meant as doctrinal treatises (see Matthew 
 Arnold's "St. Paul and Protestantism"). Yet it is on Paul's 
 letters, not on the Gospels, that the popular view of human nature 
 is based. 
 
 The doctrine of man's nature was worked out by the practical 
 Western or Latin part of the early Church, as the doctrine of 
 Christ's nature was by the speculative Eastern or Greek part. 
 The general belief at first was in the inherited or Adamic cor- 
 ruption (not quill) of man, and his ability to co-operate with the 
 Holy Spirit in regeneration. Pelagius, a British monk, precipi- 
 tated discussion by asserting, about 405, that man inherited noth- 
 ing from Adam, neither original guilt, which was impossible, nor 
 innate corruption, nor physical consequences, as pain and death, 
 which were in the world before Adam. Every man was born free 
 and unbiassed. Augustine in 412 maintained th^t man inherited 
 not only inborn corruption, but guilt; that he was helpless, and 
 could be saved only by the absolute power of God. This view at 
 first gained the complete ascendency, and Pekgianism never had 
 any considerable footing. But Augustinianism gradually softened 
 into Semi-Pelagianism, which was very much the original doctrine 
 of inherited corruption and the power of co-operation. This has 
 remained the doctrine of the Roman Church, as fixed by the Coun- 
 ^^ cil of Trent after the Reformation. This Church, though it has 
 ' Jiot pronounced authoritatively upon this point, holds that right- 
 { eousness was not a natural quality of man at Creation, but was a 
 y supernatural addition, lost again at the Fall. Man's corruption is 
 therefore a negative thing, — disorder and helplessness from loss 
 of a leader, not a positive wilful rebellion. 
 
 " Augustinianism asserts that man is morally dead : Semi-Pela- 
 gianism, that he is morally s«c^* ; Pelagianism, that he is morally 
 well." 
 
 The three views were revived at or after the Reformation. 
 Calvin (1536) revived Augustinianism, Socinu« (about 1590), 
 Pelagianism, and Arminius (1589), Semi-Pelagianism. Calvin 
 was followed by most Protestants of his century, — Presbyterians, 
 
32 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 Congrcfjationalists, Baptists, etc., — Socinus by the early Unita- 
 rians, and Ariniiiius practically by the Church of England (the 
 Honianists boini; already of the same mind), and ibrmally by the 
 Methoilists in the eighteenth century. Since then Calvinism has 
 largely died away and Arminianism now has decidedly the su- 
 premacy. Pure Pelagianism is made impossible by the facts of 
 habit and heredity. No one would maintain that we come into 
 the world without bias or corruption, amounting often to serious 
 crippling, if not to helplessness. But that men are guilty of what 
 they did not originate and cannot help, and deserve God's wrath 
 and extreme penalty, is a doctrine which shows no sign of return. 
 That there is original or hereditary misfortune, or moral disease^ 
 is more clearly seen, but original or hereditary sin is an obsolete 
 phrase. That infants 'are guilty and under divine wrath and 
 punishment, as Angus' ilVe and Calvin taught, is a doctrine that 
 no one now can be found to own, scarcely to remember. 
 
 What is the doctrine of man's nature called ? What is the common belief 
 of Christians? What is "original sin" V " T«tal depravity" ? " bnputa- 
 tion " ? What are the Scriptural bases of this view? What was Jesus' 
 position ? What is true of the infallibility of Genesis ? What has modern 
 science to say of Genesis V Of pain and death V Of man's origin ? Of his 
 first condition ? Of woman's creation ? Of the serpent ? What differ- 
 ences can you find between the two stories of the Creation V What shall 
 we say of doctrines of Paul not given bj'- Jesus ? Of Paul's stj-le ? Of 
 his idea of his letters ? Is the popular doctrine based on Jesus or on Paul ? 
 Where was the anthropology of the Early Church worked out? What was 
 at first believed? What did Pelagius teach? Augustine? The Semi- 
 Pelagians? How have these been revived in Reformation times? What 
 does the Roman Church teach? What is the situation now ? What have 
 science and philosophy to say upon the question ? Wherein do they agree 
 with Calvin ? AVherein do they disagree ? Wlio believes in the guilt and 
 damnation of infants ? Look into your own life. Does it seem to you that 
 you have any bias toward good or evil ? Whence come your impulses ? Are 
 you entirely free to do as 3'ou like ? Can you sympathize with Paul in 
 Rom. vii. 15-25? Is sin ever the consequence of an irresistible disease? 
 How about inebriety ? How much power has heredity ? Habit ? Circum- 
 s-tances? Are you Arminian, Socinian, or Calvinist? Do you know any 
 thorough Calvinists ? Can one be such and be happy ? 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 33 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 For the Catholic view, see Addis and Arnold. For the Calvinistic, 
 besides Calvin's Jnstilutts, see Jonathan Edwards's A careful and strict 
 Inquiry into the Prevailing Notions of the Freedom of the Will, The 
 Great Christian Doctrine of Original Sin Defended, and many of his ser- 
 mons, especially Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. For a milder view, 
 see the discussion between Channing and Moses Stuart, and Horace Bush- 
 nell's Nature and the Supernatural. For the Unitarian view, see Dewey's 
 sermons On Human Nature and On Human Life; Hedge's Reason in 
 Rtligion, book i. chap, vii.; Martineau's A StwJy of Religion, book iii. 
 chap. ii. ; ]\I. J, Savage's Belief s about Man ; Human Nature not Ruined 
 but Incomplete, by C. C. Everett (American Unitarian Association Tract, 
 No. 3, in Fourth Series). 
 
 6. SALVATION. 
 
 Feeble, helpless, how shall I 
 Learn to live and learn to die ? 
 Who, God, my guide shall be ? 
 Who shall lead thy child to thee ? 
 
 Blessed Father, gracious One, 
 Thou hast sent thy holy Son. 
 He will give the light I need; 
 He my trembling steps will lead. — Furness. 
 
 All Christians agree that the life and death of Jesus mark the 
 chief epoch in the moral history of humanity, and that he has 
 done more than any one else to bring about an atonement between 
 God and man. Here, however, begin great differences of view, 
 in harmony with the various views of human nature. Liberals, 
 believing human nature to be essentially sound, though weak and 
 stumbling, define atonement according to the original meaning of 
 the word, as meaning at-one-ment, or leading the divine and the 
 human will to be at one. They make this consist in the action of 
 Jesus upon man, not upon God. They believe that God is always 
 seeking to enter the world of humanity, — pressing upward through 
 humanity to ever higher forms of spiritual life, as through the 
 
34 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 world of Nature into ever liiglier forms of physical life. It is the 
 blindness, weakness, and selfishness of men that need to be over- 
 come; and this Jesus hac helped men to do by the power of his 
 truth and his personality through the natural laws which are 
 always at work in the moral and spiritual world. 
 
 Other Christians, including both Catholics and Protestants, con- 
 sider the atonement as working upon the wrath or offended justice 
 of God. It is He who has been reconciled to man, not man to Him. 
 This has been effected by a compact between God the Father and 
 God the Son, the latter agreeing to leave his heavenly home 
 and bliss, to take upon himself human form and human nature, to 
 be tempted, persecuted, and put to death upon the disgraceful 
 cross, that so God may be moved to forgive the sins of men ; since 
 they, being corrupt, can do nothing to earn that forgiveness for 
 themselves. The atonement is thus a supernatural matter, out of 
 the range of ordinary moral and spiritual laws, as it is beyond the 
 comprehension of human reason. To explain how it satisfies the 
 justice of God there have been many theories. The two most 
 o-enerally held in modern times are that of the vicarious atone- 
 ment, or substitution of Jesus' sufferings for those due from man- 
 kind, their sin being imputed to him and his righteousness to them ; 
 and the governmental theory, — that a great example was needed to 
 show mankind the enormity of its sin, and to vindicate the divine 
 justice by a punishment proportionate to the offence. The former 
 view was adopted by the Calvinists, the latter by the Arminians. 
 It is needless to say that to the Liberal both seem to be incon- 
 sistent with any true conception of justice. If man has sinned, it 
 is man who must be punished ; and no substitution of the innocent 
 for the guilty, and no exhibition of an innocent "example," is jus- 
 tifiable. As to the support from Scripture, it may be said in gen- 
 eral: (1) That the prophecies in the Old Testament are too 
 vague or too contradictory to be made the basis of any such doc- 
 trines. (2) That they find no favor in the words of Jesus. Had 
 we only the Gospels, no one would ever have dreamed of such 
 theories. (3) That the Epistles were written by men who were 
 fresh from Judaism, and unable to break away yet from the Jewish 
 idea of sacrifice. The Epistle to the Hebrews shows the process 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 35 
 
 of transition. Jesus is compared to the sacrificial victims on tlie 
 Temple altar. This leads to language which Jesus never used, and 
 which must be most liberally, not literally, construed. (4) "When 
 reconciliation between God and man is spoken of, it is almost 
 invariably man who is said to have been reconciled to God 
 (Rom. xi. 15 ; 2 Cor. v. 18-20 ; Col. i. 21). 
 
 Predestination. — But for whom was the atonement intended? 
 The Arminians (including Romanists, Anglicans, Methodists) say 
 for all men. It was a ^^ universal atonement." The Calvinists 
 say that it was only for the elect. All men are alike guilty and 
 helpless ; but God chooses to save some and let the rest go on to 
 their merited doom. The former act is called " predestination," 
 or fixing destiny beforehand ; the latter, " preterition," or passing 
 by. To the elect God gives faith and keeps them in holiness, so 
 that they can never fall away ("perseverance of the saints"). 
 The non-elect, including all the heathen and perhaps many chil- 
 <lren, strive they never so much, cannot attain to salvation. This 
 doctrine is the heart of Calvinism as our Puritan forefathers held 
 it, and is still nominally held by the Presbyterians and some 
 among the Baptists and the Congregationalists, but is rapidly 
 fiiding away. The Liberal, of course, positively rejects it. That 
 there is predestination in this life cannot be denied. What we call 
 the " force of circumstances," including the era and place of our 
 birth, our surroundings, physical and moral, and the myriad influ- 
 ences which play upon us continually and mould us more than our 
 own will, is largely but another name for what theology calls the 
 sovereignty of God. How deeply this affiects our inner life it is 
 hard to say ; but that it aflfects us in most important ways we 
 cannot help seeing. The scientific doctrines of heredity and the 
 power of environment are but other ways of stating this. The 
 predestination of this life troubles the thoughtful mind with an 
 unavoidable sense of injustice. The only escape from this is to 
 look upon the present life as a stage of probation. When we 
 begin it, we have no character, no merits or demerits, upon which 
 divine justice could be exercised. God has a right, therefore, to 
 use us for His own ends. But the opportunities and trials of 
 this use bring out our latent moral powers, and we may believe 
 
36 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 that the character thus developed will be regarded in the life to 
 come. The common doctrine of predestination, by extending the 
 disregard of human character into the eternal future, cuts off 
 this refuge of the sense of justice, and prolongs what we can 
 understand if it is a temporary arrangement for judicial ends, into 
 eternal selfishness and cruelty. All attempts to reconcile this 
 doctrine with anything which we can call goodness, and can wor- 
 ship as worthy of our adoration, must fail. Its effect upon the 
 moral life would be profoundly discouraging, so far as it were 
 really believed. 
 
 The Arminian believes that the atonement was for all mankind. 
 The human will is free to accept or reject the offer of pardon and 
 restoration. This was the message of " free grace " which Metho- 
 dism brought to a Calvinistic Protestantism, and is virtually the 
 belief of Catholics and Episcopalians. 
 
 Conversion. — Tlie atonement is appropriated by the individ- 
 ual through faith, by which great souls have meant a personal 
 union with Christ, but which commonly degenerates into assent to 
 creeds or ceremonies. To faith the Catholic adds reception of 
 the sacraments of the Church, by which grace is conveyed to the 
 partaker. By most Protestants this faith is expected to come 
 during some sudden and peculiar crisis of religious experience, in 
 which the sinner comes " under conviction of sin," realizes that 
 he is "lost," seeks for help, and finds it with joy in a burst of 
 " faith in the atoning merits of Jesus." To bring on this crisis, 
 "revivals," or times of intense emotional excitement, are stimu- 
 lated, during which, under the appeals of fervent preachers and 
 the contagion of crowded congregations, people are supposed to 
 be especially visited by the Holy Spirit. These " awakenings " 
 are not as frequent as they were, and seem better fitted for people 
 of crude than for those of developed natures. They fall in with 
 the Evangelical view in general, — that the spiritual life proceeds 
 by miracles, special interventions of divine power, since human 
 nature is of itself helpless in its corruption. The Liberal, how- 
 ever, denying this corruption and helplessness, looks rather for 
 gradual development than for crises, and relies more upon steady 
 culture under constant influences than upon revolutions under sud- 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 37 
 
 den attacks from without. In this he is joined by Catholics and 
 Episcopalians, and by an increasing number of other Protestants. 
 
 Justification. — The first effect of faith is "justification," by 
 which the Catholic means making just, and tlie " Orthodox" Prot- 
 estant reckoning as just. The conditions of justification, accord- 
 ing to the Catholic view, are baptism and, at the age of reason, 
 faith in God and love of God. By baptism the supernatural gift 
 of righteousness, which was lost at the Fall of Adam, is restored 
 to the recipient, fed by the other sacraments of the Church — 
 especially the Eucharist — and by constant exercise of faith and 
 love. The Protestant, however, denies that any rite can be the 
 supernatural channel of divine grace, and makes faith alone the 
 condition of acceptance with God, and justification a judicial dec- 
 laration of mercy, by which the sinner's past is forgiven and 
 washed away, and he is accepted for Christ's sake as already 
 righteous. 
 
 Sanctification. — This seems to be with the CathoHc identical 
 with or a continuation of justification. The Protestant, however, 
 makes it the process by which the remains of original sin, the 
 habits and tendencies inherited from a sinful past, having now 
 become involuntary and as it were external to the soul, are gradu- 
 ally eradicated. If the sinful soul be considered diseased, con- 
 version is the crisis, justification the doctor's verdict that he has 
 passed the crisis favorably, and sanctification the gradual convales- 
 cence under careful nursing and (says the Arminian) the recupera- ' 
 tive power of his own system. The Calvinist, as we have seen, 
 holds that the " elect " are kept from backsliding by divine power. 
 The iNIethodist believes that it is possible for the soul to attain 
 such purity of motive that however the old Adam may yet hover 
 about the outside of one's life, one may be " perfect " in spirit. 
 There has been in both these cases a danger of underrating the 
 value of moral laws to those who are saved by faith, — a danger 
 called " Antinomianism," by which some have boen led into what 
 mankind in general have considered and punished as ordinary 
 wickedness. 
 
 Among Liberal Christians the terms "justification " and " sanc- 
 tification," with many others, have passed out of use with the 
 
38 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 theology from which they sprang. All the truth which they 
 covered is now included in the thought of that divine education 
 which is constantly going on in the earnest soul through the vari- 
 ous experiences of life. The care of God for the soul is seen by 
 the Liberal, not merely in those influences which are called reli- 
 gious, or in those times and places Avhich are considered sacred, 
 but in every joy or sorrow, success or defeat, by which the mind 
 is enlightened, the sympathies broadened, the faith of the soul 
 awakened and trained, and the beauty of holiness made manifest. 
 This may come sometimes in shocks which open the eyes suddenly, 
 but generally through the experiences of every day. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 Upon what do all Christians agree as to the effect of Jesus' life and death 
 upon human welfare ? AVhat difference is there between the Liberal and 
 other views of the atonement ? Which needs to be reconciled, God or man? 
 What is the " Orthodox " theory of the atonement ? What two explanations 
 of the mode are given V What parties hold these? What does the Liberal 
 answer to them V What can be said of the Old Testament texts cited to 
 support them ? What does Jesus say about them ? How can you explain 
 the strange language of the Epistles in many cases ? Who is reconciled, 
 according to the New Testament ? 
 
 What difference of view exists as to the extenf of the atonement? What 
 is election ? predestination ? pretention ? perseverance of the saints ? 
 What becomes of the heathen ? of infants ? Who still hold this view ? 
 Is there any predestination ? What is the scientific principle of heredity? 
 of environment V How does this differ from the theological doctrine of 
 predestination ? What is the Arminian belief V 
 
 How does man avail himself of the atonement ? What difference exists 
 between the Catholics and the Protestants as to this? What is the Protes- 
 tant theory of conversion ? What is a revival ? From what deeper theory 
 of "Orthodoxy" does its idea of conversion spring? What is the Liberal 
 view ? On what grounds is it held ? 
 
 What does justification mean to thp Catholic ? to the Protestant? What 
 are the conditions in each case ? What is sanctification ? What difference 
 here between Catholic and Protestant ? How far does the Calvinist carry 
 sanctification ? the Methodist ?. What is the difference between the two 
 views ? What is Antinomianism ? What is the Liberal view of salvation 
 in general ? What do you think of revivals ? of the conversions which 
 you have known ? 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 39 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 For Unitarian views, see C. H. Toy's Judaism and Christianity, chap. iv. ; 
 F. H. Hedge's Reason in Religion, book ii. chaps, vi. vii. and viii.; Marti- 
 neau's The Seat of Authority in Religion, pp. 450 490; E. H. Sears's 
 Regeneration ; J. F. Clarke's Christian Doctrine of the Forgiveness of Sins; 
 American Unitarian Association Tract, Fourth Series, No. 4, The Atonement 
 in Connection with the Death of Christ, by F. H. Hedge, D. D., LL. D., also 
 Nos. 16 and 18; S. J. Barrovvs's Duom of the Majority ; Dewej^'s Works, 
 pp. 373-381; J. H.Allen's Ten Discourses on Orthodoxy, chap, v.; J. F. 
 Clarke's Manual of Unitarian Belif, and Ideas of the AjJostle Paul, chaps, 
 viii. xiii. xv. xvi. 
 
 The Calvinistic doctrines are given in Charles Hodge's Systematic Theol- 
 ogy, and A. A. Hodge's Outlines of Theology; the Arminian, in Wilbur 
 Fisk's The Calvinistic Controversy ; the present Congregationalist, in R. W. 
 Dale's The Atonement ; a milder form, in J. McLeod Campbell's The Nature 
 of the Atonement, and Horace Bushnell's Vicarious Sacrifce and Forgive- 
 ness and Law; the Catholic, in H. W. Oxenham's The Catholic Doctrine 
 of the Atonement. The history of predestination is well condensed in the 
 Encyclopaedia Britannica, article, " Predestination." For the doctr'ne, see 
 J. B. Mozley's Augustinlan Doctrine of Predestination, and J. T. G. Shedd's 
 Discourses and Essays. See, also, J. H. Newman's Lectures on the Doctrine 
 
 of Justif cation, • 
 
 ^V^ 
 
 7. THE FUTURE LIFE. 
 
 I know not where His islands lift 
 
 Their fronded pahns in air, 
 I only know I cannot drift 
 
 Bevond His love and care. — Whiitier. 
 
 All Christians, except the few who hold to the annihilation of 
 the wicked, believe in the eternal continuance of every human 
 life. One of the most striking consequences of Christianity at first 
 was the calmness, and even joy, with which its disciples looked 
 upon death. The inscriptions in the catacombs bear witness to 
 this. But when the Catholic Church began to invoke the terrors 
 of the Judgment, to force submission to its demands, and when 
 later the Protestants rivalled it in working upon the imagination, 
 
40 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 a morbid fear of death, such as the heathen worM never knew, 
 fell upon Christendom. The Catholic Church is able to still thit 
 fear in those who die under its protection. Orthodox Protes- 
 tantism cannot always lull the dread which it has roused, and u 
 responsible for much needless mental sullering. Unitarians, Uni- 
 versalists, and Swedenborgians probably die wiih much more calm- 
 ness ; and the same is true of the better class of Spiritualists. 
 
 The reason for this difference is that the Catholic Church is 
 able to impress the imagination of its members with the belief 
 that it is mightier even than mighty death, and holds the keys of 
 heaven and hell. As between the Evangelical and the Liberal 
 Protestant, the latter maintains that death is a purely physical 
 event, common to all living things, and not a moral crisis. It was 
 not a penalty in the beginning, and has no relation to the moral 
 condition now. The soul-goes on hereafter from the point where it 
 was at death. But the common belief among the Orthodox is that 
 death was originally the punishment of Adam's sin, and that it 
 marks for every man the end of his probation. After it there is 
 no hope of essential change. In this they are joined by the 
 Roman Catholic and Greek Churches. The Catholic, however, 
 holds the doctrine of purgatory, — a region where sins not mortal 
 are expiated, or purged away, and penances not finished before 
 death are worked out. But those convicted of mortal sins, includ- 
 ing wilful unbelief, have no chance after death. The Reformers 
 rejected the doctrine of purgatory ; but there have always been 
 a few among Evangelical Protestants — represented now by the 
 " Andover School " of the Congregationalists — who have held to 
 "probation after death" for those who have had no opportunity of 
 hearing the Gospel preached in this world. But the Evangelicals 
 are practically united in believing that the destiny of all is fixed 
 at death, and that those who have not saving faith in Christ, 
 whether they have heard of him or not, including the heathen, are 
 doomed to eternal misery. 
 
 The great drama of the future life, in the belief of the early 
 Christians, consisted of four acts, — the "second advent" of 
 Christ, the millennium, the last judgment, and the eternal 
 continuance of the fate then assigned. 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 41 
 
 The first Christians believed that Jesus would come again 
 before his generation had passed away. (See remarks under 
 "Second Adventists.") Less is said of the fate of unbelievers 
 than of the joyful union of believers with their returned Master. 
 This belief died away with remarkable quietness ; but the expec- 
 tation of Christ's sudden return in judgment has at times flamed 
 up with great fervor, — as in the year 1000, at the lime of the 
 Reformation, and in this century among the " Millerites." It is 
 commonly held among Evangelicals that the second advent can- 
 not be foretold wich any definiteness, but that it may happen at 
 any time. Practically, however, the belief seems dead. 
 
 As to the fate of the soul between death and judgment, little is 
 commonly said, and the belief is very vague. Apparently it is 
 commonly held that the soul remains with the body in the grave 
 in an unconscious state. 
 
 The Christians of the first two or three centuries believed that 
 the second coming of Christ would be followed by the resurrection 
 of believers, and their happy reign with him upon the earth for 
 a thousand years, or millennium (Rev. xx.). This belief faded 
 away, but has been revived by a fcAv in the present century, 
 largely among the Baptists. 
 
 The last judgment has been in Christian theology a most dread- 
 ful event, described with details sometimes grand and picturesque, 
 often grotesque. As a means of ini])ressing the imagination of 
 the ignorant and superstitious, both Catholic and Protestant, and 
 compelling them into the churches, it has stood supreme. The 
 heavens rolled aside as curtains ; Christ upon a high throne, no 
 longer meek and persuading, but awful and relentless, surrounded 
 by the angels and clothed with omnipotence ; the graves opening; 
 the sea giving up its dead ; the terrible dividing of saint and sinner: 
 the bliss of the one fate, the horror of the other, — these were the 
 elements of the " Great Assize." Whatever may have been the 
 thought of the more intelligent and spiritual, to the common mind 
 and in the common preaching this judgment turned practically 
 upon submission to the Church, or belief in the power of Christ 
 to save those who trusted in him. Calvinism draAvs the line 
 between the elect and the non-elect, Arminianism between those 
 
42 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 who accept and those who reject Christ according to the trini- 
 tarian conception of him; by all, "good works" not spring- 
 ing from faith in Christ are counted as of no value. It is but 
 just to add thdt this whole doctrine, though unchanged in the 
 creeds, has undergone an immense softening and disintegrating 
 in the preaching of the day. Fear is less often appealed to 
 as a motive to faith; and the love of God and of Christ and 
 the beauty of holiness are the common grounds for urging 
 conversion. 
 
 Universalisls commonly believe in a final judgment, at first 
 having held that it assigned all men to happiness. Later they 
 have maintnined a difference in verdict, but a final restoration. 
 The New Church holds the beautiful doctrine that the judgment 
 proceeds upon natural principles, each soul going, as it were, by 
 its own specific gravity to the place, circumstances, and hociety for 
 which it is fit by its actual moral condition. The Unitarian coin- 
 cides in this view, holding that judgment is not entirely deferred, 
 but is largely immediate, the soul being visited at once with that 
 new vision or blindness, new strength or weakness, new sensitive- 
 ness or dulness in moral and spiritual things, which are the natural 
 and just consequences of righteousness or of sin. But since the 
 conventionalities and wrong judgments of this world hide, even 
 from the soul itself, its real moral condition, it may well be that 
 its emergence into a life which is purely spiritual will be a reve- 
 lation to itself, as well as to others, of its actual worth. The old 
 picture of the judgment is, of course, now rendered absurd by the 
 changed idea of the universe, resulting in the disappearance of 
 the old conception of heaven as a place over a stationary earth, 
 or hell as a place within it. 
 
 The condition of the two classes of saints and sinners after the 
 judgment has commonly been described in the terms of the Book 
 of Revelation. Heaven is a pbce of rest and worship, resulting 
 in happiness unspeakable, but apparently monotonous and tedious; 
 hell is a place of torment, commonly described as inflicted by fire. 
 Though the Catholic Church denies that the flame is material, it 
 has always presented the torment under that figure, and made the 
 most of it. The same is true of the Evangelical Protestant. As 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 43 
 
 to the eternity of both conditions, all but Liberals are strongly 
 agreed. 
 
 But against nothing in the popular theology have Liberals pro- 
 tested more indignantly than against infinite punishment for any- 
 thing that can be done by finite man in so short a life as that which 
 he spends on the earth. The Universalists led in this protest, 
 and Unitarians have followed. An increasing number of Evan- 
 gelicals more or less boldly renounce the belief. Li the Church 
 of England men like Stanley, Robertson, Maurice, Farrar, and 
 Kingsley, have done so, claiming that the omission of the Article 
 on eternal punishment from the original Forty-Two in compil- 
 ing the present Thirty-Xine justifies them. In great numbers of 
 pulpits the doctrine is scarcely heard, though it remains in the 
 creeds and covenants. The Catholics soften it by assigning to 
 infants not baptized only loss of spiritual happiness, leaving them 
 natural enjoyment in their own place. The Liberals also deny 
 the resurrection of the body, which is the belief of the rest of 
 Christendom. The New Church maintains that a " spiritual body " 
 is within our material body in this life, and is disengaged at death 
 to become the tenement and organ of the soul hereafter. The 
 Apostles' Creed, however, most widely held of all formularies, 
 asserts "the resurrection of the body," — a phrase which, how- 
 ever it may be explained away, has a very clear meaning. The 
 Liberal, however, shrinks from attempting to define the future 
 life with much detail. A purely spiritual life is too foreign to our 
 imagination, which is used only to material surroundings, to admit 
 of much dogmatism. It should be enough to know that wherever 
 or amid whatever circumstances the soul may be placed, it is still 
 under the care of a just, loving, and almighty God. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 On what are all Christians agreed as to the future life ? How did the 
 early Ciiristians look upon death? "What changed this view? How do 
 the Catiiolic and the two i^iuds of Protestants each meet death? Why? 
 Wliat difference as to the significance of death is there between the Evan- 
 gelical and tlie Liberal views ? With which do the Catholic and Greek 
 Churches agree ? What is the doctrine of purgatory ? of probation after 
 
44 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 death? What is the common Christian view of the future fate of the 
 heathen V What did the first Cliristians believe as to the second coming of 
 Christ ? Wliat texts can you remember whicli support this belief ? What 
 revivals of it have occurred? What is the common belief now ? Do you 
 ever hear it spoken of ? What becomes of the soul between death and the 
 judgment, according to common belief ? 
 
 What was the early Christian belief as to the millennium? What does 
 this word mean ? Does any one hold this belief now? What are the ele- 
 ments of the popular idea of the last judgment ? What great pictures or 
 sculptures of it have you seen, or do you know of? On what does the judg- 
 ment practically turn among Catholics ? among Evangelical Protestants ? 
 How does Calvinism draw the line? Arminianism ? What is thought of 
 good works ? How has the common preaching on this point changed ? What 
 is the Universalist belief ? that of the New Church ? of the Unitarians ? 
 
 What has furnished the common vocabulary for describing the future 
 life ? How are the two conditions thouglit of ? How large a part of Chris- 
 tendom believes in eternal punishment ? What is the main Liberal argu- 
 ment against it ? Who led the protest against it ? What great men besides 
 avowed Liberals have followed them ? How do the Catholics soften this 
 doctrine for infants ? How far is this reasonable ? What is the common 
 Christian belief as to the resurrection of the body ? the belief of the New 
 Church ? of the Apostles' Creed ? What is the general attitude of Unitarians 
 toward the details of the hereafter? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 Alger's A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life, with bibli- 
 ography. For Jewish ideas as preparatory to Christian, see C H. Toy's 
 Judaism and Christianity, chap, vii. For the Catholic view, see Addis and 
 Arnold. For a recent Calvinistic view, see The Doctrine of Eternal Punish- 
 ment, by W. G. T. Shedd. For a Methodist view, Lost Forever, by Prof. 
 L. T. Townsend. A collection of opinions by thinkers of all schools on the 
 question, "Is Salvation Possible after Death?" has been published by 
 T. Whittaker, of New York, under the title, Probation: A Symposium. The 
 Andover view is given in the sermons of Newman Smyth, and in Dome r on 
 the Future State, with Introduction by Newman Smyth; and the liberal 
 Anglican, in Farrar's Eternal Hope. Swedenborg's views are given in his 
 Heaven and Utll. For the Unitarian side, see Martineau's Seat of Authority 
 in Reliyion, pp. 546-573, American Unitarian Association Tracts, Fourth 
 Series, Nos. 26, 27, 42, 78, and 81; Channing's sermons, "The Moral Argu- 
 ment against Calvinism," "Immortality" and "The Future Life;" Hedge's 
 Reason in Relic/ion, book li. chaps. 6, 9, and 10; S- J. Barrows' s The Doom 
 of the Majority of Mankind ; E. H Sears' s Foregleams and Foreshadows 
 of Immortality. (\^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 .«" 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 45 
 
 8. THE CHURCH AND THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 One holy Church of God appears 
 
 Through every age and race, 
 Unwasted by the lapse of years, 
 
 Unchanged by changing place. 
 
 Her priests are all God's faithful sons, 
 
 To serve the world raised up ; 
 The pure in heart, her baptized ones ; 
 
 Love, her communion-cup. 
 
 The truth is her prophetic gift, 
 
 The soul, her sacred page ; 
 And feet on mercy's errands swift 
 
 Do make her pilgrimage. — Samuel Longfellow. 
 
 The Church. — There is no satisfactory evidence that Jesus 
 founded or prepared for an organization to perpetuate his work. 
 The few passages of the Gospels in which the word " church" 
 occurs are explainable on other grounds, and some are under suspi- 
 cion of being later interpolations. After the death of Jesus there 
 is no reference to any such instructions, and the whole matter is 
 left in too great doubt to admit of positive assertions on so nnpor- 
 tant a matter, though they are still made by many. The first 
 Christian bodies grew up naturally around the Apostles or other 
 preachers, and apparently were congregational in government ; but 
 the need and the habit of drawing more closely together led to 
 organization on the Roman political pattern, and soon the present 
 Roman Catholic system can be seen in process of formation. The 
 Roman Catholic idea of the Church is that of a visible institution, 
 founded by Jesus, placed in care of his Apostles after his death, 
 and by them handed down to successors authorized by them to 
 rule. It is the representative of God upon earth, the repository 
 of His power to save, which He gives through the sacraments 
 when duly administered. It alone has the right to interpret the 
 revelations made in the Bible, and it alone receives, through its 
 infallible head, such new truth as becomes necessary for human 
 guidance. 
 
46 A STUDY OF THI-: SPXTS. 
 
 The Reformers set aside the idea of a visible Church, the 
 High Church Anghcans and Episcopahans alone retaining a more 
 or less clear shadow of it. Evangelical Protestants believe that 
 tlic true Church is invisible, being composed of the elect alone, the 
 signs of election being clear and satisfying faith and the good 
 life which flows from faith. "The Church is the society of be- 
 lievers in which the word is preached and the sacraments duly 
 administered." The visible Church may contain some who are 
 not true believers ; but inasmuch as all who are true believers are 
 sure to enter the Church which Christ has established, the Evan- 
 gelical Protestant commonly holds, with the Westminster Con- 
 fession, that " outside of the visible Church there is no ordinary 
 possibility of salvation." 
 
 The Unitarian maintains that the visible Church is a voluntary 
 association of those who seek religious and moral quickening, and 
 who unite upon certain views by which this quickening seems best 
 secured. ]\Iembcrship in it does not imply any superiority to those 
 out of it, in any sense whatever. It is simply the school or college 
 of the moral and spiritual life. But Unitarians believe still more 
 in an invisible Church. In the words of Dr. Channing, "There 
 is one grand, all-comprehending Church. ... All Christians and 
 myself form one body, one Church, just as far as a common love 
 and piety possess our hearts. ... No man can be excommuni- 
 cated from it but by himself, — by the death of goodness in his 
 own breast." 
 
 ThQform of the Church differs among Protestants. Some join 
 their congregations into larger bodies, which they call " The 
 Church," the general body having control over the single church. 
 This control is sometimes exercised by individuals called bishops, 
 as in the Episcopal (hence this name) and Methodist Episcopal 
 churches, or by representative bodies, as among the Presbyterians 
 and Universalists. Others maintain the independence of the 
 single congregations, all associations of these being purely volun- 
 tary and advisory, as the Congregational ists (Trinitarian and 
 Unitarian) and Baptists. 
 
 There is also a difference as to the terms of admission into the 
 Protestant churches. Often Unitarians require only signature to a 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 47 
 
 constitution, sometimes to a covenant or statement of faith and pur- 
 pose, though baptism is frequent. Most other Protestants require 
 baptism, the condition on which this is granted being generally 
 the relation of a definite religious change or experience involv- 
 ing the profession of a satisfactory faith (Congregationalists, 
 Baptists, many Presbyterians, and others), or upon assent 
 to a creed or catechism (Episcopalians, many Presbyterians, 
 Universalists). 
 
 The Clergy. — The idea of the clergy in Protestant churches 
 is widely different from that in the Roman and Greek churches. 
 In the latter the priests are chosen by their superiors, — the bishops, 
 etc., — and are by them enabled to dispense supernatural grace 
 through the sacraments. In a certain measure this view as to 
 power through the sacraments is held by the High Church Epis- 
 copalians and by the Lutherans. • But all Calvinistic Protestants 
 and their descendants hold that all believers are priests alike, and 
 receive grace directly from God, not through sacerdotal agency. 
 Their ministers are chosen by the congregations, though under 
 certain restrictions where a power is recognized above the con- 
 gregation, as by the Presbyterians, and differ from their brethren 
 only officially and by natural gifts or special education. This 
 distinction is vital, and must be clearly understood. =^ CL<^'^^ ~ 
 
 The Sacraments. — Tlie Roman Catholic Churclyhas seven yvt^aA''^ 
 sacraments, or channels of divine grac^ — baptism," feuchjlrist, 
 confirmation, penance, holy orders, matrimony, and extreme unc- 
 tion. Protestants have kept only the first two. The other five 
 are considered in the chapter on " The Catholics." There is 
 this further and vital distinction between the two parties, — that 
 the Catholic considers his sacraments to be in themselves the 
 vehicles of grace, whatever the character of the priest may be, so 
 long as he is in regular standing in the Church, and whatever 
 may be the belief of the recipient ; the Protestant considers bap- 
 tism or the communion as simply occasions when Christ comes with 
 special power, the effect upon the recipient depending entirely 
 upon his own faith, or spiritual condition. The High Church 
 Episcopalians and the Lutherans approach the Catholics in giving 
 a mystical or magical efficacy to these rites. 
 
48 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 Baptism. — This rite originated in the warm Oriental coun- 
 tries, where cleanliness was especially necessary, and where a new 
 ablution was made the symbol of the purity of heart required of 
 those who were admitted to religious sects. Whether it was a 
 Jewish rite before the time of Christ or not, is uncertain. Its 
 first appearance in the Bible is in the account of John the Baptist. 
 Although there aie texts which seem to represent Je.ms as enjoin- 
 ing baptism, it is remarkable how little he says about it; and 
 though he himself submitted to baptism by John, he never bap- 
 tized any of his disciples, and there is no proof that all even of 
 the Apostles underwent that ceremony. It is impossible for any 
 one who understands the true distinction between Christianity 
 and Judaism to believe that Jesus meant to make any ceremony 
 indispensable to salvation. 
 
 Yet baptism became universal among his successors under the 
 form of immersion, was believed to have a supernatural efficacy, 
 and by 200 had come to be considered essential to salvation. 
 Even infants dying without it were shut out of the kingdom of 
 heaven, though this involved no torment, as in the case of adults, 
 but only loss of supernatural blessedness. Natural happiness in 
 some separate region could still be theirs. At the Reformation, 
 the form having changed during the Middle Ages to sprinkling or 
 pouring, the Lutherans continued this belief, holding out some 
 hope for the children of parents in the Church, but showing little 
 mercy to others, though allowing that God's purposes here are in- 
 scrutable. The Church of England held substantially this posi- 
 tion. The Calvinists, however, denied all supernatural efficacy to 
 baptism, and held that only the election of God saves. The rite 
 became thus the seal or sign of a salvation already effected, being 
 given only to those who could show the faith which election 
 involves. The children of the elect who died in infancy, whether 
 baptized or not, were considered saved, for "the promise is to you 
 and to your children." The Baptists, however, denied that infant 
 baptism had any meaning whatever, since an infant could not be 
 said to have the faith implied in it; while for adults they restored 
 the primitive form of immersion. The Friends abolished the rite 
 entirely, as they did all other religious ceremonies. The sects 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 49 
 
 which require infant baptism expect that when the children come 
 to the age of reason they will become members of the Church hy 
 profession of their own faith or conversion, — an occasion called 
 among Catholics and Episcopalians "confirmation," Liberals 
 (Unitarians and Universalists) look upon baptism as an act of 
 public consecration of one's life to God, and upon infant baptism 
 as an act of dedication of the children by their parents to the 
 service of God, and of consecration of the parents themselves to 
 the religious training of their children. Some make it also the 
 occasion of "christening," or giving the "Christian" name. jS'o 
 efficacy, of course, is attributed to the ceremony except its power 
 over the hearts of those concerned in it. 
 
 Communion. — This ceremony is called by the Catholics the 
 "Mass" (from the words mlssa est, with which the congregation 
 was once dismissed), or the "Eucharist" (from a Greek word, 
 which means "giving thanks "), because of the prayer of thanks- 
 giving in it; and by Protestants the "Communion" (with each 
 other and with Jesus), the "Lord's Supper," and the "Last 
 Supper." 
 
 The accounts of the last supper which Jesus ate with his 
 Apostles do not seem to imply that he meant to institute a reli- 
 gious ceremony, still less a mystical or supernatural rite. It was 
 the Passover meal. He knew it was his last ; and with a yearning 
 for remembrance among those whom he left behind he asked them 
 to recall him whenever they came to the point in that yearly meal 
 where the loaf is formally broken and the cup passed. This wish 
 was gratified by his disciples after the daily meal which they were 
 accustomed to take together — the agape, or ' ' love feast " — 
 during the first days of the new religion in Jerusalem. The 
 agape was given up early in the second century (for the excesses 
 sometimes connected with it, see 1 Cor. xi. 20-22, 27-84); and 
 the commemorative part, which had already be^un to take on a 
 mystical meaning, changed in this direction still more rapidly. 
 At the end of the sefcond century non-communicants were sent out 
 of the church before the ceremony. Soon it was commonly be- 
 lieved that the glorified Christ dwelt in the elements as the Logos 
 had once dwelt in the human body. In 831 Paschasius Radbert, a 
 
 4 
 
50 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 French abbot, maintained that the bread and wine were actually 
 changed into the body and blood of Christ. This change was 
 called t7'atisubsta)itiationj or exchange of substance. The view 
 gained ground, and was formally adopted in 1215. 
 
 Protestantism has almost exactly retraced the path of this 
 development. The Lutherans went back as far as " consubstan- 
 tiation," or the unio7i of Christ's body and blood with the Bread 
 and wine, the former being received by all who take the latter. 
 Calvin maintained only a spiritual presence of Christ, who is 
 received by the believer alone. Liberals adopt the purely 
 commemorative use, as Zwingli taught, restoring the primitive 
 custom. 
 
 The Catholic gives only the bread to the laity, reserving the 
 cup for the priest alone. The Baptists of America refuse to 
 admit to communion those who have not received baptism by 
 immersion. This is called "close communion." The Orthodox 
 Protestants commonly invite to remain only those who are in good 
 and regular standing in Evangelical churches. The Unitarians 
 invite all to remain who are so minded. The Catholic holds Mass 
 several times on Sunday, besides frequent celebrations during the 
 week, and masses for the dead by special arrangement. Many 
 Episcopal churches have communion every Sunday, sometimes 
 twice, and some of them every morning in the week. Most other 
 Protestant churches have it on the first Sunday of every month, 
 after the morning service. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 Did Jesus found a church ? Did the Apostles ? How did the first 
 churches grow up? "What is the Catholic view of the Church? What is 
 its relation to the Bible ? What view did the Reformers take ? "What was 
 their distinction between the visible and the invisible Church ? "What does 
 the Unitarian hold as to the visible Church ? as to the invisible ? "What 
 differences in the organization of churches are there among Protestants ? 
 "What differences in terms of admission ? 
 
 "What is the conception of the clergy in the Roman and Greek Churches V 
 among the Protestants ? "V^^hat is the Catholic view of the sacraments ? 
 the Protestant view ? How did baptism originate ? "When do we first find 
 
A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 51 
 
 it mentioned in the Bible V What was the relation of Jesus to it ? Is it 
 like!}- that he considered it essential to salvation ? Why ? What change 
 came over it after New Testament times V What view of infant baptism 
 arose ? What is the Lutheran view of baptism V the Calvinistic ? the 
 Baptist ? that of the Friends V What is confirmation ? What is the Liberal 
 view of baptism V of infant baptism V 
 
 What various names are given to the communion service ? What was 
 probably the meaning of Jesus' words at the Last Supper about "remember- 
 ing" him ? How Avas his wish at first gratified V What was the difference 
 between the agape and the Lord's Supper ? What changes did the com- 
 munion service undergo in Catholic histor}' ? What is transubstantiation V 
 consubstantiation? What was Calvin's view ? Zwingli's? How does the 
 Catholic administer the elements? What is "close communion"? How 
 is the invitation commonly given in Orthodox churches ? in Unitarian 
 churches ? How often is the Mass celebrated in Catholic churches ? the 
 communion in Episcopal churches ? in other churches ? Do you attend 
 communion ? Why ? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 The various views of Christians may be found in the works on general 
 theology named at the beginning of the chapter. See also Dean Stanley's 
 Christian Institutions,' Channing's sermon on "The Church;" Theodore 
 Parker, Discourse of Matters pertaininrj to Religion, chap. v. Albert Barnes 
 (Presbyterian) opposes Episcopac}- in The Apostolic Church; F. D. Maurice 
 gives a moderate view of it in The Kingdom of Christ. Hooker's Eccle- 
 siastical Polity is a standard on the Anglican side. Newman in his Apologia 
 pro mea Vita tells the story of his change from the Anglican to the Roman 
 Church. See also Congregationalism, by H. M. Dexter; Cardinal Wise- 
 man's Lectures on the Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist (Catholic); 
 A. W. Little's Reasons for being a Churchman (High Church Episcopal); 
 J. W. Nevin's The Mystical Presence (Calvinistic)-, A. N. Arnold's Pre- 
 requisites to Communion (Baptist); S. G. Bulfinch's Communion Thoughts 
 (Unitarian); Martineau's The Seat of Authority in Religion, pp 127-169, 
 513-546. 
 
 William Wall's The History of Infant Baptism is a standard work. 
 J. B. Mozley's The Primitive Doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration gives 
 the Anglican view. Francis Wayland, Principles and Practice of Baptist 
 Churches; Leonard Woods (Congregationalist), Lectures on Infant Baptism. 
 Se3 also Smith's Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, article " Baptism.'' 
 
62 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLICS. 
 
 There is one body, and one Spirit, . . . one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 
 one God and Father of all. — Eph. iv. 4-6. 
 
 Name. — The official name of the organization is " The Roman 
 Cathohc Church," — Roman, because its centre is at Rome, Italy; 
 Catholic (or universal), because it claims jurisdiction over all 
 mankind. 
 
 History. — The Roman Catholic Church is in form the Roman 
 Empire extended over the world with ecclesiastical instead of 
 secular functions. The graded system of officers, the skilfully 
 codified law, and the assumption of supreme authority are closely 
 imitated from the ancient Roman dominion. The process was 
 natural. Whether Peter was ever in Rome, as Catholics claim, 
 or not, and whether his primacy among the Apostles was granted 
 or not, whoever was the head of the churches in Rome would 
 become the head of all the churches of the Empire. The first 
 bishops about whom we are certain were men of great force of 
 character and executive ability ; and as the emperors grew feebler 
 and less respected, the ecclesiastical authorities came to the front. 
 The earnestness of Christian zeal and confidence stepped into the 
 place of the decaying public spirit and private manhood. The 
 transfer of the seat of government to Constantinople, in 330, lefl 
 the Bishop of Rome in still greater prominence. At last, in Leo 
 the Great (440-446), the Church came to a full consciousness of 
 its opportunity, and shaped its course accordingly. Under 
 Gregory the Great (590-604) the Church was roused to a mission- 
 ary spirit; and by 750 all Europe, even to Norway and Iceland, 
 was under its teaching. Meantime, by the Seven Great Councils 
 (325-787), the doctrines of the Church had been defined. The 
 gift of a large territory to the Pope by Pepin, king of the Franks 
 (755), laid the foundation of the "temporal power." The 
 " Isidorean Decretals," a collection of documents purporting to 
 be very ancient, but largely forged, — especially the " Donation 
 
A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 53 
 
 of Constantine," by which sovereignty over the AVest was given to 
 the Pope, — strengthened the papal authority over the provincial 
 bishops. Corruptions crept in, which were stoutly opposed by 
 Gregory VII. (Hildebrand), \Yho' closely organized the Church 
 throughout. Under Boniface VIII. (1294-1303) the papal power 
 was at its height ; but from this time its decline was s^Deedy. 
 The resistance of kings, the rising national consciousness, the 
 quickening of intellectual life, the revolt of the popular moral sense 
 against the corruptions of priest and pope, and the rivalries of 
 competing popes, — all combined to check and retard the progress 
 of the Church. Councils for internal reform having failed, the 
 Reformation began outside. Its progress was stopped and much 
 ground won back by the counter-reformation within the Church, 
 led by the Jesuits, and formulated by the Council^of Trent _ it 
 
 (1545-1563). ^.- v:"^ ^^v^ s nf 
 
 The chief events in the history of the^Church since ((bfe Council 
 of Trent have been the proclamation of the doctrine of the 
 "Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary" (1854); of the 
 *' Syllabus of Errors" (1864), in which the Church set itself 
 squarely against modern intellectual tendencies ; and of the " In- 
 fallibility of the Pope " (1870) ; the abolition of the " Temporal 
 Power " in the same year; and the "Old Catholic" movement 
 under Hyacinthe, Dollinger, and Keinkens, — an attempt to bring 
 back the Church to the position of the earlier centuries, when 
 councils, not Popes, were the source of authority. The attitude of 
 the Church is now very different from that which it took in the 
 Middle Ages, even in lands where it contains the majority of 
 Christians. Its reliance Is, to a larger extent, upon moral and 
 spiritual means of influence, its internal condition is purer, and its 
 spirit more earnest ; but its pretensions to universal authority and 
 its ambition to realize these remain, of course, unchanged. 
 
 Tn the United States settlements were made by Catholics in 
 Maryland under Lord Baltimore (1634), and in other parts, — as 
 Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico, and California, — which were 
 settled by Catholic nations. The first bishop was appointed in 
 1789 at Baltimore. The growth of the Church has been mainly 
 from immigration, — as from Ireland, Southern Germany, Italy, 
 
54 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 and the French part of Canada. Its later career in the United 
 States has been marked by its opposition to the pubHc-school 
 system and its establishment of parochial schools of its own. 
 
 Doctrines. — The distinctive doctrine of the Roman Catholic 
 Church, and one which must be thoroughly understood before its 
 history and claims can be comprehended, is that it is the divinely 
 established and sustained Church of God upon the earth, and 
 His only Church. It was instituted by Jesus Christ in the 
 solemn words which made the Apostle Peter its foundation 
 rock. Its legitimacy is secured by an unbroken succession of 
 Popes. By their infallibility under the guidance of the Holy 
 Spirit it is kept from error in the interpretation or unfolding of 
 doctrine. It is thus a supernatural institution, and therefore 
 cannot submit its teachings to natural reason, or allow its spiritual 
 authority to be controlled by any earthly power. It must obey 
 God rather than man. 
 
 The Catholic doctrine of the infallibility of the Pope needs to 
 be distinctly understood. He is not personally, but officially infal- 
 lible ; that is, he is not beyond error in his opinion upon ordinary 
 matters, but only when pronouncing judgment upon matters of 
 doctrine or morals formally laid before him by the Church. The 
 judgment which he then pronounces is final, irrevocable, and 
 infallible. This has nothing to do with the Pope's personal char- 
 acter, any more than with his personal knowledge or mental 
 power. The Church claims that no such decision of Pope or 
 General Council has ever been revoked. 
 
 As a source of truth, the decisions of the Church must take 
 precedence of any private interpretation of Scripture. As the 
 Supreme Court is to the Constitution of the United States, so is 
 the Church to the Bible. The consequence, the reductio ad 
 absurdujn, of the Protestant principle of private judgment is the 
 number of contradictory sects and the variety of individual opin- 
 ions in the different commentaries. An infallible Book is of no 
 value without an infallible Church to guarantee the correctness of 
 its text, the faithfulness of translation, and the truthfulness of 
 interpretation. The Church does not encourage the indiscrimi- 
 nate reading of the Bible bv the uneducated ; but it regards 
 
vC yr^^i*'-<^t^' (^^ STUDY OF THE SECTS. ; 55"^ V,(^^ 
 
 ^ ^ the Bible as the inspired Word of God, of which it, not the 
 uneducated reader, is the divinely appointed interpreter. 
 
 The central part of its worship is the Mass. High Mass is sung; 
 low Mass is read. There are two essential parts of this service, 
 — the change (transubstantiation) of the bread and wine into 
 the body and blood of Christ, and the offering or sacrifice of 
 them for the sins of the people. The Catholic puts the most 
 literal construction upon the words of Jesus, " This is my body; 
 this is my blood " (Matt. xxvi. 26, 28). He believes that though 
 to the senses the elements remain the same, in substance they are 
 changed into the veritable body and blood of the Lord. These 
 are then sacrificed at the altar in perpetual memorial of the ori- 
 ginal sacrifice upon the cross. The bread, which is baked in the 
 form of little round cakes, or wafers, is after consecration dis- 
 tributed to the communicants. The wine, however, is drunk only 
 by the priest. The reasons for this are, first, that the Church 
 teaches that " Christ is contained whole and entire under each 
 species " (see 1 Cor. xi. 27, ^ — the word " or " in Revised Version) ; 
 secondly, practical considerations, — as the quantity of w^ine that 
 would be needed, the undesirability of many drinkingfce^Top/i 
 cup, and the danger of dropping or spilling. >:;^ ' '^ '^ 0^^X5 »^> y 5 
 
 Admission into the Catholic Church is by baptism in the name 
 of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Inasmuch as all 
 men inherit the taint of sin from Adam, and are born enemies of 
 God, a new birth, or regeneration, is necessary. Even infants 
 who are unbaptized, though they do not go to torments, fall short 
 of the perfect happiness of the saved. If any man be " heartily 
 sorry for his sins, and loves God with his whole heart, and de- 
 sires to comply with all the divine ordinances," the pouring of 
 water upon him becomes the vehicle of supernatural grace, 
 washing away original sin, and begetting a new and spiritual 
 life. This life is constantly fed by reception of the Lord's body 
 in the Holy Communion, and thus is prepared for the heavenly 
 mansions. 
 
 The Holy Communion and Baptism are called "sacraments." 
 A sacrament is the visible sign of invisible grace. There are 
 seven in all in this church, the remaining five being Confirmation, 
 
56 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 by whifli baptized persons of ripe years are confrmed^ or strength- 
 ened in soul by the reception of fresh suppHes of divine grace; 
 Penance, or absohition for sins by the priest; Extreme Unction, 
 the anointing of the sick Avitli holy oil, usually when they are 
 expected to die ; Orders, for priests and other ecclesiastics ; and 
 ^Matrimony, by which special grace is given that the wedded 
 couple may live together in love and harmony. 
 
 Some other peculiarities of worship should be noticed. The 
 Latin lan(jnage only is used by the i)riests in the ISIass and in the 
 administration of the sacraments, because this was the common 
 language when the Church was established ; because a common 
 language is still needed by a church which extends over the 
 world; because she wishes her liturgy to be always and every- 
 where the same, safe from the changes which come to all living 
 languages; and because the worship, being addressed to God, not 
 to men, may as well be in Latin as in any other language. The 
 congregation follows the worship by means of a translation. 
 The lighted candles upon the altar commemorate the time when 
 the Christians worshipped in the dark catacombs, and are symbols 
 of him who is the light of the world, of our light which should 
 shine before men, and of spiritual joy. Incense is an emblem of 
 prayer, ascending like smoke from hearts burning with love. The 
 flowers are meant to adorn the place where God comes to dwell. 
 The vestments of the priest are signs of his sacred and peculiar 
 office, and are intended to be beyond the influence of changing 
 fashion. 
 
 Besides conducting public worship, the priest deals with his 
 people individually by the confessional. The Catholic Church 
 claims that power was given to it to forgive sins (Matt. xvi. 18, 19 : 
 John XX. 21-23). To receive this forgiveness, the sinner must 
 not only repent, but if possible confess his sins to the priest, prom- 
 ise amendment and restitution, and submit to whatever penance 
 may be imposed upon him. It is claimed that in this way control 
 or influence over people is secured better than in any other way, 
 and for better results. It is in the power of the Church also to 
 give indulgence. This word is used by the Church in its original 
 sense of gentleness or mercy, not in its present sense of condoning 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 67 
 
 weakness. It is not permission, but remission. The consequences 
 of any sinful act are three, — the stain of guilt upon the soul, 
 eternal punishment (if the sin be mortal), and the temporal conse- 
 quences which may follow either in this life or in purgatory. The 
 first two are washed away by baptism or absolution. It is the 
 temporal punishment only that is remitted in an " indulgence." 
 The merits of the innocent Christ, and those of the saints and 
 martyrs whose sufferings were greater than their sins required, 
 constitute a " treasury " upon which the Church can draw in 
 behalf of sinners who are truly repentant. On condition of good 
 deeds to be done by them, — as almsgiving, pilgrimages, etc, — 
 a remission of temporal suffering is assured. If time is named, 
 as a " forty-days indulgence," it means so much remission as 
 would have been secured by forty days of penance under the old 
 laws of the Church. The system is evidently easy to abuse, as to 
 misunderstand ; but the doctrine of the Church that an indulgence 
 is useless without sincere repentance and amendment must be 
 carefully separated from the misinterpretations and misuse of its 
 officers. 
 
 Besides the worship of God, the Catholic Church teaches the 
 invocation of saints, including the Virgin IMary, as intercessors 
 with God. As the Protestant asks his friends or his minister to 
 pray for him, so the Catholic asks his more powerful friends in 
 heaven to pray for him. The Church encourages also the use of 
 images, especially of the crucifix, as aids to the imagination in 
 devotion, since they make the object of worship more real, as a 
 photograph makes our distant friends. But it does not allow 
 worship of the image itself. 
 
 It holds also to an intermediate state between hell and heaven, 
 called purgatory, or the place where lesser sins can be expiated, 
 or sins not fullv punished here may receive the remainder of the 
 penalty due them (1 Cor. iii. 13-15). Those who die in grave 
 unpardoned sins go into eternal and irremediable torment ? but 
 those who are in purgatory may be prayed for, and so helped. 
 For the Church holds that prayers for friends in purgatory are as 
 efficacious as prayers for friends in distant lands, or in peril or sin 
 on the earth. 
 
58 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 
 
 »|W{ 
 
 The Catholic Church admits no divorce from marriage (Matt. 
 ^^ iix. 3-y). It allows separation, but no re-marriage. It praises 
 celibacy as superior to the wedded life (Matt xix. 12 ; 1 Cor. vii. 
 32y 33), and as following the example of Jesus and all the Apostles 
 except Peter, who, it claims, gave up his wife when he was called 
 (Matt. xix._^7). It demands celibacy of its clergy, because of 
 the sacredness of their office and their greater ability to concen- 
 trate themselves upon their work. It regards the married state as 
 a holy sacrament instituted by Christ for those who have not been 
 called to a higher state. 
 
 On many points the Catholic Church holds the same belief as 
 the " Evangelical " Protestant churches ; namely, the inspiration 
 of the Bible, the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the sin of all men in 
 Adam and their merited eternal punishment, their redemption by 
 the suffering and death of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, 
 and the everlasting happiness of the saved. An important differ- 
 ence, however, arises between the two bodies as to justification, — 
 the Protestant making faith alone the ground of acceptance with 
 God, the Catholic requiring both faith and the reception of the 
 sacraments. Infants are justified by baptism, which conveys to 
 them sanctifying grace, and restores to them the righteousness lost 
 at the Fall. On coming to the use of reason, those who have been 
 baptized in infancy must have faith in God and love to God. 
 
 Government. — The head of the Church is the Pope, — 
 *' vicar of Christ, head of the bishops, and supreme governor of 
 the whole Catholic Church, of whom the whole world is the terri- 
 tory, or diocese." He is also patriarch of the West and bishop of 
 Rome and its district, and was temporal ruler over the " Pontifical 
 States" till these were absorbed in the Kingdom of Italy. He is 
 absolute in power and infallible as above defined. He is elected 
 for life by the cardinals, of whom there are seventy-four, who 
 were originally occupants of parishes in Rome, but have now 
 larger powers and often distant residences. The government of 
 the Church is carried on by a number of councils, or ministries, 
 called " congregations," each presided over by a cardinal, com- 
 posed of distinguished ecclesiastics, and caring for some depart- 
 ment, — as Inquisition, Propagation of the Faith {Propaganda), 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 59 
 
 Bishops, etc. Out in the world the work is presided over by arch- 
 bishops and bishops, who receive power from the Pope over 
 special districts, or dioceses, and have under them priests, who 
 come into direct contact with the people in administering sacra- 
 ments and doing parochial work. There are various other offices, 
 not necessary to describe. 
 
 Statistics. — The number of Catholics in the world is difficult 
 to determine, since the Church publishes no official list. Tolerably- 
 trustworthy authorities give over 210,000,000, of whom 154,000,000 
 are in Europe. There are 74 cardinals, 920 bishops and arch- 
 bishops, 165 vicars, etc. 
 
 In the United States there are (1890) one cardinal, 14 arch- 
 bishops, 74 bishops, 8,463 priests, and adherents estimated between 
 eight and thirteen millions, probably about ten millions. There 
 are 102 colleges, 635 academies, and 35 theological seminaries. 
 
 The Roman Catholic stands at the opposite extreme of the line 
 of Christian bodies from the Unitarian, representing the most 
 complete submission to authority as opposed to reliance upon the 
 inner voice and light of reason and conscience, and close and 
 complete organization as opposed to individualism and voluntary 
 association. It is a fair question whether there is any halting- 
 ground between the two. The Catholic seems to be rioht in 
 claiming that an infallible Book without an infallible Interpreter 
 cannot be a ground of certitude in religion, and that the number 
 of Protestant sects proves this. The Evangelical Protestant posi- 
 tion is a mixture of authority and reason in varying and uncer- 
 tain proportions, and without the strength of either. The same 
 is true of its varying forms of church government. 
 
 Yet, though at the opposite extreme as to the grounds of belief, 
 the Catholic often approaches the Unitarian in single points of 
 belief, and seems really broader than the Evangelical Protestant. 
 He is freer than the latter in his handling of Scripture, feeling 
 secure from serious error under the control of the Church; gives 
 more credit to the every-day virtues of mankind, — as honesty, 
 purity, and charity, — sneering less at "mere morality;" and is 
 more generous and kindly in his view of the future life so far as 
 purgatory is concerned. Even his doctrine of the infallibility 
 of the Pope hints of the ever-present Spirit, whose revelations 
 
60 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 did not cease eighteen centuries aofo. Tlie Catholic Church 
 deserves also g;reat credit for its ])rihciple of the equahty of all 
 men before God, building its costly chuirhes among the poor as 
 well as among the rich, and making the two classes equal in the 
 house of worship Its confessional, though open to terrible abuse, 
 has done immense good in controlling the lives of many, espe- 
 cially of the young women in large cities, who often have no other 
 guidance. 
 
 In a wider, historical way the civilized world owes a great debt 
 to the Roman Church. During the chaos which followed the 
 overthrow of the Roman Empire by the Northern barbarians, the 
 Church was the only ])ower wdiich was respected. It conquered 
 the concjuerors, and mollified to some degree their rough manners. 
 It still has a hold upon classes among us which no other religious 
 body seems able to reach. It became the refuge of men of letters, 
 and the guardian of manuscripts. It encouraged art and music. 
 Within itself rank counted for little or nothing, and the h-ghest 
 offices were open to men of humblest birth who had the ability to 
 reach and fill them. 
 
 Yet it must be admitted that the fundamental principle of the 
 Catholic Church, that it claims an authority in religious matters 
 which nothing else on earth can liave, directly antagonizes the 
 fundamental principle of modern life, that truth comes through 
 the individual reason, not through institutions. Such power 
 as the Catholic Church claims m'ujld be confined only to spirit- 
 ual matters, and be used only persuasively; but history has 
 shown that supposed infallibility, whether in Catholic or Protes- 
 tant, Avhether in sacred or secular affairs, is too great a temptation 
 for human nature to bear. Both the political power which is free 
 from responsibility to the people and the intellectual power that 
 is free from open discussion have proved insufferable tyrannies 
 and bars to progress. The divine right of kings is gone ; the 
 divine right of churches must go. The latter already denies the 
 free use of reason, and given power to enforce its claims, may 
 easily menace civil and religious liberty in the future as it has in 
 the past. That the Catholic Church is thoroughly sincere and 
 earnest in its own belief makes it all the more formidable. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 What is the official name of those who are commonly called the Catholics, 
 and what does it mean ? What is the relation of the Roman Church to the 
 Roman Empire ? Describe the process of replacement. When and by whom 
 was its opportunity made clear ? Who was the great missionary' Pope ? 
 How were the doctrines first defined? What is meant by the "temporal 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 61 
 
 power," and how did it begin? What were the "Forged Decretals"? 
 Who was the greatest reforming and organizing Pope? When was the 
 power of the Church at its height ? What causes led to its downfall ? 
 What was the Reformation ? the counter-reformation ? What great council 
 fixed the modern policy of the Church ? What are the chief events since 
 then ? What gives strength to tlie Catholics here ? 
 
 Name the distinctive doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. What is 
 meant by the " infallibility " of the Pope ? What is the relation of Church 
 authority to the Scriptures? What is the Mass? What does "transub- 
 stantiation " mean ? What constitutes admission into the Church ? What 
 does baptism imply ? What is a sacrament, and how many are there ? 
 Why is Latin used ? What do the candles, incense, vestments mean ? 
 What is the doctrine of the confessional ? Do you think it would be useful 
 to you ? What is an "indulgence " ? What wrong ideas of this are among 
 Protestants ? How do you tliink it could be abused ? What is the " invo- 
 cation of saints," and what can be said for it ? What against it ? What is 
 "purgatory"? Compare this view with that of many Protestant sects. 
 What is the Catholic doctrine of divorce ? of celibacy ? 
 
 Who is the head of the Roman Catholic Church ? What other offices 
 does he hold ? Who are the cardinals ? What are the " congregations " ? 
 Name some of their departments. What other officers are there ? How 
 many Catholics are there in the world ? in this country ? 
 
 What are the main points of difference between Catholics and Unitarians ? 
 In what points do they approach each other ? Wherein are they more 
 liberal than " Evangelical " Protestants ? For what do they deserve credit? 
 Why should they be opposed ? Do you think a Catholic can be a patriot ? 
 a scientist ? AVliat is his position toward our public schools ? How does 
 this follow from his doctrine ? Would he persecute to-day, if he had power, 
 as he did in the Middle Ages? What has America to fear from him? 
 What do you think of the Catholics you knoAv ? What is your chief objec- 
 tion to them ? What good can you see that they do here ? Do you think 
 they are sincere ? How ought we to act toward them ? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 The best popular work on the Catholic side, for both doctrine and his- 
 tory, is Addis and Arnold's Catholic Dictionary, which is semi-official. 
 La Harbe's Catechism contains a short summar3\ Longer histories are 
 Alzog's, in three volumes, and Dollinger's, in four. By Protestant authors, 
 an admirable epitome is J. H. Allen's Outline of Christian History; good Is 
 J. H. Blunt's Key to Church History^ 2 small volumes. On the whole, the 
 best history for common reading is Fisher's. Besides the general histories 
 of Neander, Gieseler, Hagenbach, see Milman's Latin Christianity, 8 vols. 
 
62 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 (to about 1450); Ranke's Uistory of the Popes in the Sixteenth and Seven' 
 teenth Centuries; and Macaulay's famous review of it in his lissays; Bryce's 
 Holy Roman Empire i Lea's Sacerdotal Celibacy and Inquisition; Lecl<y's 
 History of European Morals ; Encyclopjcdia Britannica, articles '• Popedom," 
 "Roman Catliulic Church" (the latter valuable as to government), and 
 "Jesuits." As to the Church in America, see histories by J. G. Shea, Pres- 
 cott's Mexico, Parkman's Jesuits in North America, and many references 
 on special periods and phases at the close of Fisher. 
 
 For the best popular compend of Catholic doctrine, see Cardinal Gibbons's 
 The Faith of Our Fathers. Newman's Apolotjia is in every way important, 
 but especially as showing the relation, in his mind, between the Churches 
 of England and Rome. See, also, Martineau's Authority in Religion, book 
 ii. chap. 1. Per contra, see R. F. Littledale's PUnn Reasons against joining 
 the Church oj^ome. The great creeds are given in Schaff, vol. i. 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 u>\ 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 THE OLD CATHOLICS. 
 
 When Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, for he 
 was to be blamed. — Gal. ii. 11. 
 
 The Vatican Council of 1869-70 was a triumph of the 
 " Ultramontane," or extreme papal, party in the Roman Catholic 
 Church. By the decree of papal infaUibility it placed the Pope 
 beyond the power of councils, and thus of bishops or national 
 churches. Most of the powerful minority of eighty-eight dis- 
 sentients and ninety-one non-voters, out of the whole number of 
 seven hundred and forty-four, after a long and often bitter struggle, 
 accepted the decree. But Dr. Ddllinger, of Bonn, Germany, the 
 foremost of German Catholic scholars, refused, and with his 
 colleague, Professor Friedrich, was excommunicated in 1871. In 
 September of that year a conference of five hundred delegates 
 was held in Munich, and an attempt was made at union with the 
 Greek and Russian churches and an " understanding " with the 
 Protestant and Episcopal communions. The consecration of Dr. 
 Reinkens as bishop by a Dutch bishop gave the advantage of 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTSo 63 
 
 " apostolic succession ; '* the Prussian government legalized the 
 body, and for a while it gained rapidly among the cultivated 
 people of Germany and Switzerland. In Paris, Pere Hyacintbe 
 (Loyson), the famous preacher at Notre Dame, a devout believer 
 in the rights of the Galilean Church as against absolute papal 
 power, became an ally. The design of the Old Catholics was to 
 return to the ancient faith and practice of the Church as laid 
 down by the Seven Great Councils, before 787, untainted by 
 papal usurpations and later doctrines. This would include the 
 supremacy of councils, the equality of laity with the clergy in 
 them, the marriage of priests, the use of the vernacular in public 
 worship, and the abolition of compulsory fasting and confession. 
 More emphasis was also laid upon the authority of the Scriptures. 
 But the movement made no impression upon the masses ; was, 
 like Protestantism, essentially Teutonic in its range; and was 
 bitterly fought by the Catholic Church, whose influence at length 
 brought also political pressure to bear upon it. Of late years it 
 has made no gains, and is probably declining. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 What was the occasion of the Old Catholic movement ? What does 
 " "Ultramontane '' mean ? Was the council a unit on the doctrine of infalli- 
 bihty ? What did the beaten party (for example, Dr. Newman) do after the 
 decision? Was this right? Who were the leaders in the new movement? 
 Who Avas its first bishop? What was its first condition? What is its 
 condition now, and why ? What are its main doctrmes ? Where does it 
 stop short of Protestantism ? Ought Unitarians to sympathize with it, and 
 how far ? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 See Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Old Catholics; " Schaff, vol. i. pp. 191- 
 202; Catholic Reform, by Father Hyacintbe,- The New Reformation^ by 
 Theodoras. 
 
 On the Vatican Council, see Schaf?'s The Vatican Decrees; The 
 Pope and the Council, b}' James (ascribed to Dollinger and Friedrich); 
 Letters from Rome on the Council, by Friedrich and otliers (from the 
 Old Catholic point of view) ; and a recent work by Thomas Mozley. 
 
64 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 THE EASTERN CHURCH. 
 
 The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. — Acts xi. 26. 
 
 Name. — The full name is "The Holy Oriental Orthodox 
 Catholic Apostolic Church," the emphasis being upon the word 
 "Orthodox," as in the name of the ^' Roman CathoHc Church," 
 the emphasis is upon " Catholic." 
 
 History. — The Eastern Church holds the birthplace of Chris- 
 tianity, Jerusalem, and the place where it was christened, Anti- 
 och. Its language is largely that which Jesus and the Apostles 
 spoke, and the great Councils which first defined the faith of 
 Christendom were summoned and controlled by Greek emperors 
 and bishops. But after those Councils it became stagnant, and 
 except in Russia, has made no advance and no conquest, while it 
 contains the lowest types of Christianity to be found, — as the 
 Christians of Abyssinia, and even some of the Russian sects. 
 With the increasing prominence of Russia, Greece, and the 
 Balkan realms, however, the Eastern Church may yet revive and 
 spread. 
 
 The Council of Nicaea (325) recognized three Patriarchs, or 
 heads of main divisions of the Christian Church, — those of Rome, 
 Alexandria, and Antioch. Two more, at Jerusalern and Con- 
 stantinople, were afterward added. Differences of language and 
 customs, added to distance, naturally separated the eastern part 
 of the Roman Empire from the western. Rome addressed itself 
 more and more to conquering spiritually the barbarian hordes who 
 had conquered her materially, and perpetuated in the Papacy the 
 practical and legal ability which had created and regulated the 
 Empire. In the East, not Roman law but Greek philosophy was 
 the heritage of the Church, and even the common people specu- 
 lated on those questions of the divine nature which were settled 
 in the first great (Ecumenical Councils. While the Latin Church 
 became more united, the Greek became more divided. At the 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. Q5 
 
 Third Council (Ephesus, 431) Xestorius, bishop of Constantinople, 
 was condemned for having assigned two natures to Christ in such 
 separation that Mary could not be called the " Mother of God." 
 The large secession of the Neslorians ensued. At the Fourth 
 Council (Chalcedon, 451) the doctrine of two natures in Christ, 
 united without change or confusion, gave rise to the Monophysite 
 or one-nature schism, which includes to-day the Jacobites of Sy- 
 ria, the Copts of Egypt, and the Abyssinians. At the Sixth Coun- 
 cil (Constantinople, 680-681) the doctrine of two wills, divine and 
 human, in Christ, was proclaimed, and the Maronites seceded, but 
 in 1182 returned to Roman rule, retaining some peculiarities in 
 their ritual. 
 
 More important was the separation from the Latin Church. 
 In 589, at a Council in Toledo, Spain, not oecumenical and there- 
 fore not authoritative, there was added to the clause in the Nicene 
 Creed, " I believe in the Holy Ghost, who proceedeth from the 
 Father," the words " and the Son." Against this the Eastern 
 churches protested as a heresy, contrary to the true doctrine of 
 the Trinity. To theological dissension abundant political jealousy 
 was added, and at last, in 1054, Leo IX. excommunicated the 
 Eastern Church. The treatment of Eastern Christians by the 
 crusaders from the West, culminating in the sack of Constanti- 
 nople by them, 1204, intensified the quarrel, which, in spite of 
 many attempts, has never been closed. 
 
 Meantime the Mohammedans swept over the East, but were 
 not converted to Christianity, as the northern barbarians were by 
 the Eoman Church. In the period including the capture of 
 Jerusalem in 637 and that of Constanstinople in 1453 all the old 
 domain of the Eastern Church fell into their hands. Its organi- 
 zation was kept up, but its life largely departed. But new 
 domains had been added by missionary zeal, especially in Russia, 
 which, accepting Christianity in 992, now contains two thirds of 
 all Eastern Christians. 
 
 Doctrine. — The Eastern Church, not being a formal unit, has 
 no authoritative creed. It holds, however, to the creeds laid 
 down by the first seven OEcumenical Councils, especially the one 
 commonly known to us as the Nicene. In 1643 and 1672 creeds 
 
 5 
 
60 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 were made by the Synod of Jerusalem wliicli are now virtually 
 agreed upon. Their substance is given by the Encycloi)a?dia 
 Britannica, article " Greek Church," as follows, the small ca])itals 
 marking differences from the Roman Catholics, the italics those 
 from the Protestants: — 
 
 " Christianity is a divine revelation communicated to mankind 
 through Christ; its saving truths are to be learned from the 
 Bible and tradition, the former having been written, and the latter 
 maintained uncorrupted, through the influence of the Holy Spirit ; 
 the interpretation of the Bible belongs to the Church, which is taught 
 by the Holy Spirit, but every believer may read the Scriptures. 
 
 " According to the Christian revelation, God is a Trinity ; that 
 is, the Divine essence exists in Three Persons, perfectly equal in 
 nature and dignity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; 
 THE Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father only. Be- 
 sides the Triune God there is no other object of divine worship, 
 hut homage may be paid to the Virgin Mary, and reverence to the 
 saints and to their pictures and relics. 
 
 " Man is born with a corrupt bias, which was not his at crea- 
 tion; the first man, when created, possessed immortality, per- 
 fect WISPOM, AND A WILL REGULATED BY REASON. Through 
 
 the first sin Adam and his posterity lost immortality, and his 
 WILL RECEIVED A BIAS TOWARD EVIL. In this natural state 
 man, who even before he actually sins is a sinner before God by 
 original or inherited sin, commits manifold actual transgressions ; 
 hut he is not absolutely without poicer of loill toward good, and is 
 not always doing evil. 
 
 "Christ ... by his vicarious death has made satisfaction to 
 God for the world's sins, and this satisfaction was perfectly 
 
 COMMENSURATE WITH THE SINS OF THE WORLD. . . . This 
 
 divine help is offered to all men without distinction, and may be 
 rejected. In order to attain to salvation, man is justified, and 
 when so justified can do no more than the commands of 
 God. He may fall from a state of grace through mortal sin. 
 
 " Regeneration is offered by the word of God and in the sacra- 
 ments, u'hich under visible signs communicate God's invisible grace 
 to Christians when administered cum intentione. There are seven 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 67 
 
 mysteries, or sacraments. Baptism -en^iVe/^ destroys original sin. 
 In the Eucharist the true body and blood of Christ are suhsfan- 
 tially present ; and the elements are changed into the substance oj 
 Christy whose body and blood are corporeally partaken of by commu- 
 nicants. All Christians should receive the bread aud the wine. 
 The Eucharist is also an expiatory sacrifice. The new birth when 
 lost may be restored through repentance, which is not merely 
 (1) sincere sorrow, but (2) confession of each individual sin to the 
 priest, and (3) the discharge of penances imposed by the priest for the 
 removal of the temporal punishment which may have been imposed 
 by God and the Church. Penance accompanied by the judicial 
 absolution of the priest makes a true sacrament. 
 
 " The Church of Christ is the fellowship of all those who 
 
 ACCEPT AND PROFESS ALL THE ARTICLES OF FAITH TRANS- 
 MITTED BY THE Apostles and approved by General 
 
 Synods. Without this visible Church there is no salvation. It is 
 under the abiding influence of the Holy Ghost, and therefore 
 cannot err in matters of faith. Specially appointed persons are 
 necessary in the service of the Church, and they form, a threefold 
 order, distinct jure divino from other Christiajis, of Bishops, Priests, 
 and Deacons. The Four Patriarchs, of equal dignity, 
 
 HAVE THE HIGHEST RANK AMONG THE BISHOPS ; AND THE 
 
 BISHOPS, united in a General Council, represent the Church, and 
 infallibly decide, under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, all 
 matters of faith and ecclesiastical life. . . . Bishops must be un- 
 married, and PRIESTS and deacons must not contract a 
 second marriage." 
 
 They must, however, be married at ordination. 
 
 A priest of the Eastern Church is called a "pope," which 
 means " papa," and corresponds to the Catholic " father." This 
 church has prayers for the dead and a somewhat indefinite belief 
 ia a purgatory, but rejects the use of unleavened bread in the 
 Eucharist; gives the Eucharist to babes as well as adults; makes 
 the priest and people stand during prayer ; baptizes by immer- 
 sion; anoints the sick with oil, but has no "extreme unction," — 
 that is, at death; abhors the use of images in churches, but per- 
 mits fervent homage to pictures ; allows divorce, and follows the 
 
68 A STUDY OF THE SECTS, 
 
 Mosaic Law in abstaining from things strangled and " unclean " 
 meats. 
 
 The liturgies of the Eastern Church are naturally very ancient, 
 the most common being that of Saint James. Unlike the Catho- 
 lic ritual, the Eastern is commonly in the vernacular, with the 
 advantage that where Greek is spoken the New Testament is 
 read and understood in the language in which it was written. The 
 services of the Russian Church, especially, are very elaborate, 
 and the vestments of its priests gorgeous. 
 
 Government. — The Eastern Church has now four Patriarchs, 
 
 — of Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria. They 
 are supreme in their districts, having metropolitan, or chief, and 
 suffragan, or deputy, bishops under them. But their power has 
 been much curtailed by the formation of various national churches, 
 
 — as those of Russia, under a Holy Governing Synod appointed 
 by the Czar, which has authority over sixty-three divisions called 
 Eparchies, each under a bishop; of Roumania, under a metro- 
 politan and bishops ; of Greece, under the king as head, with a 
 synod like the Russian ; of Servia ; of Montenegro, etc. There 
 is no single authority over the whole Church, except a possible 
 (Ecumenical Council, which has never been summoned since the 
 separation from Rome. 
 
 Statistics. — There were in 1890 about 92,000,000 Eastern 
 Christians, of whom 76,000,000 are regular adherents of the 
 Greek Church, mainly in Russia; 11,000,000 are in Russian 
 sects ; while there are 2,300,000 in the Armenian (Monophysite) 
 Church, 1,500,000 Jacobites, and 400,000 Xestorians, in virtual 
 agreement with the rest, but separate ecclesiastically as they are 
 politically. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 "What is the name of the Eastern Church ? Why is it called also the 
 Greek Church ? What advantage has it over the Roman Church in locality ? 
 in lanijuage of the people ? Has it been progressive ? What different work 
 have the two churches taken up ? Who are the Nestorians ? the Maronites ? 
 When and why did the two churches separate ? What different relations 
 had they to the barbarians ? Which have been the more civilized, the 
 Greek Christians or the Mohammedans ? 
 
A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 69 
 
 What are the foundations of the belief of the Eastern Church ? What 
 does " Q^^cumenical " mean? What do you know of tlie Nicene Cieed .■' 
 What is the Eastern doctrine of the Bible ? How does this differ frum tlie 
 Protestant ? What is its doctrine of the Trinity ? of total depravity '. of 
 the atonement ? of regeneration? of baptism? of the Eucharist V of the 
 Church ? What is the difference between the Roman Pope and an Eastern 
 pope ? What other beliefs of tiie Eastern Church can you mention ? Com- 
 pare the doctrines in general with the Roman and Protestant. What can you 
 say of the liturgies ? What is the government ? Who are the patriarchs '' 
 Does the Eastern Church seem attractive to you ? Why ? More or less so 
 than the Roman ? Which stands nearer to Unitarians } Which has the 
 better future before it V 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 An admirably clear and concise article in the Enc^-clop^edia Britannica, 
 *' Greek Church." Dean Stanle^-'s picturesque Zec^wres on the History vj 
 the Eastern Church is especially full on the Russian Church, and has a good 
 map. Gibbon, chaps, xlvii. Iv, as well as all chapters relating to the East- 
 ern Empire. Fisher, see Index, " Church, Eastern," and "Greek Church." 
 Schaff, Vdl, i, pp. 43-82, gives an account of the various creeds, and vol. ii. 
 pp. 275-445, the creeds themselves. Prof. A. V. G. Allen, m The Continuity 
 of Christian Thought, gives a fascinating account of the Greek theology 
 and its influence upon modern Christian thought. J. M. Neale, Tht Holy 
 Eastern Church. 5 vols. 
 
 chaptp:r V, 
 
 THE PROTESTANTS. 
 
 That no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident : 
 for, The just shall live by faith. — Gal. iii. 11. 
 
 Origin of the Name. — At the second Diet, or concrress, of 
 the German princes, called by the Emperor Charles Y. at Speier 
 (Sph'es), in 1529, a former edict of toleration to the Lutherans 
 was rescinded; and the edict of Worms, by which Luther was 
 declared an outlaw and his writings were condemned, was pro- 
 
70 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 nounced still in force. Against this act the Lutheran princes at 
 the Diet made a formal protest : '' In matters which relate to the 
 glory of God and to the salvation of our souls, we must all stand 
 before God and give account of ourselves to him." Kcnce the 
 name " Protestant," or "protester." It was afterward widened, 
 and is so used to-day, to cover all Christians who protest against 
 the doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church. 
 
 History. — The Reformation had been long growing, and 
 sprang from several roots. First, there was a political restlessness 
 under the yoke of what was felt more and more keenly, as the na- 
 tions began to form and to become self-conscious, to be a foreign 
 tyranny. The Church held one third of the land of Europe, 
 immense endowments of cathedrals, monasteries, etc. ; and re- 
 ceived enormous incomes from various tithes, fees, etc. These 
 were burdens and drains upon the national strength; and the 
 kings, nobles, and people became on tliis account hostile to Rome. 
 This explains the protection of the Reformers by many princes. 
 Secondly, there was a growing intellectual pressure against the 
 narrowness of the Church. The Crusades, which were foreign 
 tours of vast multitudes whose minds were broadened and aroused, 
 the revival of learning and study of the ancient classics, the 
 invention of printing, the discovery of America and of the way 
 around the Cape of Good Hope, and the general awakening of the 
 human mind — a stretching, as it were, in the broader spaces and 
 opportunities of study and commerce — made old ideas and ways 
 no longer possible. Thirdly, the mo7xil sense revolted against the 
 corruption of the priesthood, which is now acknowledged by both 
 sides to have been very great, and which extended often to the 
 Popes themselves. Fourthly, the religious instinct rebelled against 
 the choking of the way between the soul and God by the " dead 
 works," the ritual, and discipline of the Church. A long series 
 of protests which had not availed, because " the fulness of time" 
 had not come, gave their momentum to the movement under 
 Luther. 
 
 Few however, wished or expected to break away from the 
 Church. Its right to rule was universally conceded. Reform, not 
 revolution, was the aim ; and had the Church been as shrewd 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 71 
 
 before the Ke formation as it became after, it might for a long time 
 have kept its integrity. But reform within having been defeated, 
 the Church swept on to rupture and loss. When the movement 
 was over, it was found that the division was essentially one 
 of race, — between Teutonic and Latin, between 2sorthern and 
 fciouthern Europe ; and so it still remains. 
 
 The detailed history of this crisis must be studied elsewhere. 
 But we must follow Protestantism into its own lamentable, though 
 perhaps inevitable, divisions. The first was between Luther and 
 Zwingli on the subject of the Eucharist, which broadened into the 
 more disastrous one between Lutheran and Calvinist, or, as it was 
 called, between "Evangelical" and ''Reformed." The Lutheran 
 party became stationary and practically national, and so remains. 
 It was Calvinism which led Protestantism to its widest and bravest 
 conquests in Switzerland, France, Holland, England, and New 
 England. The Huguenots, the Puritans, the Covenanters, the 
 defenders of Holland against Philip, were all Calvinists. So 
 were their descendants, the Presbyterians, Congregationalists, 
 Baptists, and some minor sects. The Church of England, though 
 influenced by Calvinism, claims now not to be Protestant, or to 
 have been "reformed " in the same sense as " the sects," but to 
 be the branch in England of the one Catholic, or universal, 
 Church, cleansed of the errors which the other branches, the 
 Roman and Greek Churches, still hold. The sway of Calvinism 
 was first broken by the Friends, with their doctrine of "the inner 
 hght," but later and more seriously by the Methodists, with their 
 denial of predestination. The swiftly moving " Liberal " or ration- 
 alistic tendency has taken shape in the Unitarians, and less 
 clearly in the Universalists. As against these " Liberal Protes- 
 tants," or " Liberal Christians," the other sects have taken the 
 name of "Evangelical," from the Greek word for Gospel (Latin 
 evangeliwn), implying that they alone hold " Gospel truth." The 
 "Evangelical Alliance," formed in 1846, excludes Unitarians, 
 Universahsts, Friends, and the New Church. 
 
 A truer classification of Protestants would be according to the 
 source of their beliefs : namely, first, the Church party, which 
 looks to the decisions of the visible, organized Church for its 
 
iZ A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 authority, including High Church Episcopalians, -vvho thus pro[)- 
 erly helong with the Roman and Greek Churches; secondly, the 
 Scriplural party, which bases its belief directly upon the teachings 
 of Scripture, including the sects commonly called Evangelical ; 
 and the Rational party, which looks to the individual reason, en- 
 lightened from all sides, as sole source of belief, represented by 
 the more advanced Unitarians and many Universalists. A large 
 part of both these bodies is, however, professedly Scriptural. 
 Those of the Friends who have remained true to their primi- 
 tive doctrine of the "inner light" are virtually rationalistic; so 
 is the New Church, though nominally Scriptural. The Scriptu- 
 ral party shades off by imperceptible degrees into rationalism, 
 and indeed is colored throughout by it. The coming division 
 of Christianity is undoubtedly to be into the party of the Church 
 and that of the Reason, in which division we see the old one of 
 ritual and spiritual religion virtually emerging again. 
 
 Doctrine. — Protestantism, as has been said, is a revival of the 
 Christianity of Paul as against the Christianity of Peter, — of 
 spiritual religion as against ritual-sm. As Paul SAvept aside the 
 Jewish rites as unnecessary, and made Christianity begin with a 
 spiritual act, faith, so Protestantism at length swept aside all the 
 complicated ritual of the Roman Church, and taught the same 
 immediate relationship between- the soul and its God. 
 
 More particularly, the position of Protestantism is as follows : 
 
 1. Man is justified — that is, accepted as righteous by God — 
 on condition of faith alone in Christ, which faith is a personal 
 trust in him and living union wdth him. AVithout this faith no 
 deeds are acceptable. Good works are the result of, not the 
 preparation for, faith. The Romanist maintains that man is 
 justified by faith and ivorkfi, faith being assent and submission 
 to God as revealed through the Church, and good works — that 
 is, the deeds commanded by the Church — be'ng conditions of 
 justification, not merely its results. 
 
 2. The Spirit of God is given directly in response to faith. The 
 Romanist maintains that it comes through the sacraments, — as 
 baptism and the Eucharist, — administered by duly authorized 
 officials of the Church. 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 73 
 
 8. Hence the Protestant holds to both an invLsible Church, made 
 up of all believers, Christ being the head, and a visible Church, 
 made up of the various denominations who hold the true faith, — 
 the former being the essential thing. The Catholic admits no 
 such distinction, holding that the Church of Rome is the one and 
 only Church of Christ, outside of which there is no ordinary 
 possibility of salvation. 
 
 4. Hence the great difference between the two as to the source 
 of authority. The Protestant maintains that the Bible alone, as 
 read by the believer in the light of the Holy Spirit given to him 
 in consequence of his faith, is the source of belief. The Roman- 
 ist claims that while the Bible is inspired and infallible, the 
 Church, which superintended its formation and preservation, is 
 alone qualified to interpret it, and that the decisions of the 
 Councils and Popes are of equal authority with it. Hence the 
 Roman Church discourages the irresponsible reading of it by 
 the laity. This Church has also accepted the Apocrypha as 
 part of the Bible, and the Latin Vulgate, an ancient translation, 
 as of equal authority with the original. English-speaking 
 Catholics use the Douay Version instead of» the so-called 
 Version of King James. 
 
 5. From the distinction between the invisible and the visible 
 Church comes an important distinction between the tAvo concep- 
 tions of the ministry. The Protestant considers all believers to be 
 priests in the sense of being able to approach God directly and 
 to give significance and value to their own spiritual acts. For 
 example, the efficacy of the sacraments depends, not upon who 
 administers them, but upon the spirit in which they are received. 
 The minister, though "called " to his office by the Holy Spirit, is 
 yet essentially one of the members of the church, differing from 
 the others only in personal fitness and education. The Roman 
 ecclesiastic, priest or bishop, however, is invested with super- 
 natural powers, as in a special sense the representative of God. 
 Through him alone do the sacraments have efficacy. This power 
 comes by the "apostolical succession," — that is, by the trans- 
 mission of authority from Christ through the Apostles and their 
 successors, the Roman bishops, in an unbroken line. This neces- 
 
74 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 sity the Protestant, except the Anglican, denies, holding that the 
 clergy are immediately commissioned by the Holy Spirit. 
 
 6. The Protestant reduces the seven sacraments to two, — 
 baptism and the Lord's Supper; and with the exception of the 
 Lutheran and the Anglican, denies to these any necessary convey- 
 ance of divine grace to the partaker. The Romanist maintains 
 that the sacraments are supernatural channels for the communica- 
 tion of spiritual life to the recipient, independently of his or the 
 priest's character, — baptism removing the stain of original sin, 
 and the Eucharist repeating the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for 
 the partaker's sake. The Protestant assigns all the benefit of 
 these rites to the faith of the partaker in them. He denies tran- 
 substantiation, or the change of the elements into Christ's body 
 and blood ; refuses, therefore, to adore them ; and grants the cup 
 as well as the bread to the laity. Many Protestants also reject 
 infant baptism. As to the other sacraments, conjinnation is often 
 replaced by admission to the church on confession of faith ; j;en- 
 ance is entirely swept away, together with auricular confession and 
 priestly absolution ; the doctrine of indulgences, which started the 
 Reformation, is wholly set aside ; ordination is often made an act 
 of the congregation in the exercise of their own priestly func- 
 tions, and the celibacy of the clergy is not required ; matrimony is 
 divested of many restrictions laid upon it by Romanists, — as 
 refusal to unite with those outside the Church unless by dispen- 
 sation, and then only with those properly baptized, — divorce 
 being more liberally allowed ; and extreme unction is abandoned. 
 
 7. Some minor differences may be considered together. The 
 Protestants do not believe in purgatory, holding to heaven and 
 hell only. They refuse any worship to the Virgin Mary or the 
 saints or to images and relics, which the Romanist gives, though 
 in different senses of the word "worship." 
 
 The Romanist and the Evangelical Protestant agree, however, 
 on many points, — the inspiration and authority of the Bible; 
 the Trinity ; the deity of Christ ; the fall of man and his conse- 
 quent helplessness and need of redemption from without, the 
 redemption coming through the sacrifice of Christ; heaven and 
 hell. 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 75 
 
 Statistics. — Of the 150,000,000 Protestants in the world, 
 4 7,000,000 are said to be Lutlierans, 25,000,000 Methodists, 
 24,000,000 Episcopalians, 20,000,000 Presbyterians and Reformed, 
 and 13,000,000 Baptists, though where any of these faiths are 
 " estabhshed," it is the whole population which is often included 
 in these figures. In the United States there are said to be over 
 50,000,000 Protestants, including most of the 140 *' religious 
 bodies" reported in the census of 1890. The official reports of 
 the various sects show the number of communicants to be about 
 14,000,000, of whom 4,980,000 are Methodists, 4,292,000 Bap- 
 tists, 1,229,000 Presbyterians, 1,086,000 Lutherans, 620,000 Dis- 
 ciples of Christ (1889), 491,000 Congregationalists, and 480,000 
 Episcopalians. The usual estimate of adherents is three and one 
 half times the number of communicants. Of 18,000,000 scholars 
 in the Sunday-schools of the world, one half are in this country. 
 There are 143,761 churches and 95,000 ministers. 
 
 Unitarians consider, not only that they are Protestants, but that 
 they alone are true to the fundamental Protestant principle of the 
 direct communication of the soul with God. They charge the 
 Evangelicals with having displaced the barrier of the Church and 
 its rites to replace it, not only with a literal Bible upon which 
 they cannot agree, and which they have made an unwilling obsta- 
 cle to the progress of truth, but with creeds defining the meaning 
 of the Bible, which they have made often of equal and even supe- 
 rior authority to the Scriptures. Unitarians consider the Bible 
 as a record of a revelation in its earlier stages, but not as the 
 finished revelation itself ; and reject creeds as unjustifiable limits 
 to the freedom, and so to the reality and sincerity, of thought. 
 They hold that God speaks still to the minds and souls of men, 
 revealing fresh truth, as Jesus foretold (John xvi. 12, 13). The 
 divergence of Unitarians on other points of doctrine will appear 
 as those points come up for special consideration. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 What does the word " Protestant " mean? When and how did it arise V 
 Who are inchided under it now ? What were the causes of the Reforma- 
 tion ? What was the aim of the Reformers ? Do you think that the Roman 
 Church could have been kept whole forever V How are Protestants and 
 Catholics now divided? Who was the first Protestant leader? What was 
 
76 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 the first division among the Protestants V Wliat was the greatest division ? 
 What was the course of the two parties? Which has done the world the 
 more good? What is the position of the Cluirch of England toward the 
 Reformation V What was the first break in Calvinism V What was the point 
 of difference V What was the more serious break ? On what doctrine ? 
 What is meant by Liberar Protestantism V Why should it be called " Lib- 
 eral"' ? What is the meaning of Evangelical V Is its use justified ? What 
 sects does it include V What other classification could be made ? Where 
 would you place the Baptists V Methodists? New Church? Episcopalians? 
 Universalists ? Friends ? Name some signs of rationalism among these. 
 How do you think Christians will be divided in future ? 
 
 What ancient tendency is represented in Protestantism ? Can you trace 
 both kinds of religion in single sects ? Among the Baptists ? Episcopalians ? 
 Unitarians ? What is the difference between Romanist and Protestant as 
 to faith and works ? salvation ? the Church ? the source of autiiority? 
 How does the Protestant Bible differ from the Romanist ? How «lo Roman- 
 ist and Protestant differ as to the priesthood ? What is meant by the "apos- 
 tolical succession" ? What is the Protestant doctrine of the sacraments ? 
 How do the two parties differ as to the Eucharist ? divorce ? indulgences ? 
 adoration of saints ? future state ? On what points do the two agree ? 
 
 Is the Unitarian a Protestant? Why ? In what fundamental point does 
 he differ from the "Evangelicals"? What is the difference between the 
 Bible as being the word of God and contaimnc, the word of God ? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 Perhaps the best handbook is The Era of the Protestant Reformation, 
 by F. Seebohm. Longer and more reflective is The History of the Refir- 
 mation, by Prof. George P. Fisher. Still longer and more standard, Ranke's 
 History of the Popes, and D'Aubign^'s History of the Reformation ; J. H. 
 Allen's Christian History in i's Three Great Periods, vol. iii , and Outline, 
 chaps, vii.-ix.; Encyclop;v?dia Britannica, "Reformation," "Luther," etc.; 
 The Reformation (Handbooks for Bible-Classes), T. M. Lindsay, Edin- 
 burgh, T. & T. Clark; Schaff's Creeds of Christendom, vol. i., especially 
 pp. 92-i-928, where the agreements with and differences from Romanism 
 are clearly given ; Charles Beard, Hibbert Lectures for 1883, The Reforma- 
 tion of the Sixteenth Century in its Relation to Modern Thoucjht and 
 Knowledge; W. E. H. Lecky, Rationalism, in Europe: Dorner's History 
 of Protestant Theology, 2 vols. Bibliography at end of Fisher's Hisiory 
 of the Christian Church, and of his History of the Rtfoi-maiion. 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 77 
 
 Section I. 
 
 THE EVANGELICAL PROTESTANT SECTS. 
 1. THE LUTHERANS. 
 
 "While one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye 
 not carnal ? Who then is Paul and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom 
 ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man ? I have planted, Apollos 
 watered; but God gave the increase. — 1 Cok. iii. 4-6. 
 
 Name. — The name Lutheran was, like the name Christian, 
 first given in contempt by enemies. In time its application was 
 widened by Catholics to all opponents of Rome. Among Prot- 
 estants the name is applied to those whose creed is the Augsburg 
 Confession. In Poland and Austria their official name is " The 
 Church of the Augsburg Confession," but they are generally 
 known as "The Evangelical Lutheran Church." 
 
 History. — The history of the Lutherans after the death of 
 their leader is very painful. Instead of standing united and 
 firm against their still powerful enemy, the Roman Church, they 
 broke into the most bitter controversies among themselves and 
 with the Calvinists, under cover of which the Romanists regained 
 much of the ground they had lost, and the banner of aggressive 
 Protestantism was taken up by the Calvinists. Melanchthon, the 
 friend of Luther, found himself diverging from him on the doc- 
 trines of the sacrament and of predestination. The lamentable 
 disputes between the two parties should be read in Schaff (vol i. 
 pp. 268-307). Tiiey were terminated in 1577 by the ''Form of 
 Concord," which most signed, but many rejected and reject still. 
 The excessive emphasis on dogma led to two reactions, — one of 
 the heart, called "Pietism," under Spener (1635-1705), much 
 like Methodism; and one of the head, called "Rationalism," 
 which resulted in the severe criticism of the Bible that has marked 
 much of later German scholarship, reaching its climax in Strauss, 
 Baur, and the Dutch Kuenen and Wellhausen. In Prussia, in 
 1817, and in a few smaller States, a forced union was made by 
 the secular authorities between the Calvinists and the Lutherans 
 under the name of " The United Evangelical Church." The 
 
78 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 stricter Lutherans resisted this, and made the sect of "Old 
 Lutherans," who were finally given legal footing; but many emi- 
 grated to America. To-day Lutheranism is the estaldished religion 
 in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, and the prevailing religion in 
 Saxony, Hanover, and northern Germatiy generally, in Baden 
 and Wiirtemberg in the south, and in some districts of Russia, — 
 as St. Petersburg, Livonia, and Finland. The German element 
 in Hungary and Transylvania is Lutheran, the Magyars being 
 Calvinist. 
 
 In the United States, the first Lutherans came from Holland, 
 in 1621, and settled in New Amsterdam, or New York ; but the 
 first organized church and minister were Swedish, at Christiana 
 (now Wilmington), in Delaware, 1638. This minister translated 
 Luther's Smaller Catechism into the Indian tongue, and was the 
 first missionary to the Indians of North America. The first 
 German Lutheran church was organized in New York, 1044. 
 There was not much growth until the first half of the next cen- 
 tury, when large numbers of German immigrants came over. Aid 
 was asked of the home churches; and in 1742 came Dr. Henry 
 Melchior Muhlenberg, who was the virtual founder of the Lu- 
 theran denomination in this country. The first synod was organ- 
 ized in Philadelphia, 1748. The Lutherans were intensely 
 patriotic during the Revolution, and induced many Hessians to 
 desert, thousands of whom, after the war, settled with them 
 ^^^^ permanently. >>n. 
 
 But divisions rent the churches here as at home. The German 
 ^ ' lano-uajie was at first used exclusively in the churches. English 
 was introduced into one church in 1819, and it remained the only 
 /*!•, one for years. Much disputation ensued on this point. The 
 "General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church* of the 
 United States" had been established in 1820. It adopts only 
 the Augsburg Confession as its doctrinal basis, and allows a 
 liberal construction of even this. 
 
 In 1847 the " Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and other States " was 
 formed, — generally called " Missourians," — very active and strict 
 in doctrine and discipline^ powerful chiefly among the Germans 
 of the West. They were incorporated in 1872 into the " Synodi- 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 79 
 
 cal Conference of North America." It requires its ministers to 
 subscribe to the whole Book of Concord, "as the pure, unadul- 
 terated explanation and exposition of the divine word and 
 will." During the late war, in 1863, the "General Synod of the 
 Southern States " was formed, in doctrinal agreement with the 
 " General Synod." In 1867 the " General Council" was formed, 
 accepting the " unaltered Augsburg Confession in its original 
 sense," — of doctrine intermediate between the other two bod- 
 ies. Besides these are several other bodies and independent 
 churches. 
 
 Doctrine. — The Evangelical Lutheran churches agree upon 
 the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, 
 and the Augsburg Confession. The stricter churches add to these 
 the " Apology of the Confession " (prepared by Melanchthon as 
 an answer to the "Confutation " of the Catholics, promulgated by 
 the Diet of Augsburg in 1630 as a reply to the "Confession"); 
 the " Articles of Smalcaid " (a creed prepared by Lutlier to ex- 
 press his belief at a council called by the Pope at Mantua, in 1587, 
 and signed by a convention of Protestant theologians at Smalcaid, 
 in Thuringia) ; the two Catechisms, Large and Small, written by 
 Luther to replace the Catholic catechisms for the young ; and the 
 "Form of Concord," prepared by six divines in 1577. Together 
 these nine creeds form the "Book of Concord." 
 
 The characteristic doctrines of Lutheran, as distinguished from 
 Calvinist churches are these : — 
 
 1. They teach consuhstantiation, or the real presence of Christ's 
 body and blood m, ivith, and under the elements, literally eaten 
 by unworthy as well as by worthy communicants. This doctrine 
 must be distinguished from the Roman Catholic doctrine of tran- 
 substantialion, which teaches that bread and wine are changed 
 into, do not merely coexist with, the body and blood of Christ. 
 Calvin taught a spiritual presence of Christ at the Eucharist, 
 enjoyed by believers only. 
 
 2. Behind this doctrine hes that of the ubiquity of Christ's 
 glorified body. *' The human nature, while retaining its inherent 
 properties, may and does receive the attributes of divine glory, 
 — majesty, power, omniscience, and omnipresence." Hence it 
 
80 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 is present, as God is, in all places and things, the Eucharistic 
 elements included, at the same time. 
 
 3. "With the supernatural Eucharist goes a supernatural baptism, 
 by which the child is regenerated, and without which there is 
 ordinarily no salvation. In and with the water, as in and with the 
 Eucharistic elements, goes a divine saving power. 
 
 4. The Lutherans hold that atonement was made for and salva- 
 tion freely offered to all men, and that no one is lost save by his 
 own refusal to repent and believe. They therefore deny the 
 Calvinist doctrine of election and an atonement limited to the 
 elect. As one is free to take divine grace, so one may afterward 
 fall from it. The doctrine of the perseverance, or necessary 
 continuance in grace, of the believer is therefore also rejected. 
 
 Lutherans are also more conservative in the retention of many 
 church festivals and usages of the Catholic Church, though their 
 tendency is now toward agreement with other Protestants in such 
 non-essential matters. 
 
 In other doctrines the Lutherans are mainly at one with the 
 rest of Evangelical Christendom. 
 
 Government. — The organization of the Lutheran churches 
 varies in different nations. In Germany, which was divided at 
 the Reformation into small States, each obliged to follow the 
 religion of its prince, the ruler naturally took the place of the 
 bishop, and became the head of his churches. Under him, and 
 largely appointed by him, was the consistory^ or council, — the 
 executive body. The congregations have little power. The rules 
 of the churches differ greatly ; in 1846 more than one hundred 
 and eighty different constitutions could be counted. 
 
 In Norway and Denmark the Roman Catholic bishops were 
 replaced by Lutheran bishops, who are, however, appointed by 
 the king, as head of the Church. In Sweden the Roman bishops 
 were converted; so that the apostolic succession is preserved, 
 though no doctrinal use is made of the fact. There is also an 
 archbishop (of Upsala). 
 
 In the United States the congregation has more power. It 
 appoints its own pastor, who is then, however, responsible to the 
 Synod in doctrine and discipline. The District Synod is made up 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 81 
 
 of delegates, lay and clerical, from the churches, and sends 
 delegates to the General Synod. 
 
 Lutheranism deserves honor as having been the "old guard" 
 of Protestantism, — the first form in which the movement took 
 shape. But it proved reactionary within and an impediment to 
 the success of the movement without. It turned its energy 
 against heresies in its own ranks rather than against the common 
 enemy, whose disastrous recovery of ground must be largely 
 attributed to Lutheran narrowness and disputatiousness. The 
 sword ot conquest passed into the hands of the Calvinists. Even 
 in this country the Lutherans have proved reactionary, joining 
 hands in the West with the Romanists against the public schools, 
 and stoutly maintaining, not only their original doctrine, but the 
 language of the land they have left in the land that has received 
 and sheltered them. 
 
 To the Unitarian the Lutheran history is valuable as showing 
 the disastrous effects of limiting truth by the words rather than 
 by the spirit of a single man, though he be as great as Luther, 
 and by creeds which not only circumscribe truth, but dictate even 
 what shall be read in the Bible. Such a course leads, not only to 
 divisions and controversies, but to reactions as violent as the 
 action, and resulting in the overthrow of the creeds so vehemently 
 urged. That the "rationalism" and "destructive criticit^m " 
 which characterize German thought to-day should have sprung up 
 in the bosom of a church so sternly resolved to keep thought in 
 bonds is very suggestive to all those who consider creeds conserva- 
 tive ; while the spirit in which the controversies were carried on 
 shows afresh how far dogmatic clearness may be from the spirit 
 of Christ. 
 
 Statistics. — There are in the world about 47,000,000 Luther- 
 ans. In the United States there were in 1890, it was estimated, 
 about 4,000,000. The churches report 1,086,000 communicantSy 
 7,948 congregations, 4,692 clergymen. There are 57 synods; 23 
 theological seminaries, or departments; 28 academies; 10 female 
 seminaries; 48 benevolent institutions; and over 100 periodicals 
 in English, German, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandish, and Finnish. 
 
82 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 What was the origin of the name ? Wliat are the official names now V 
 "What can you say of the German Lutherans in their early histor}'? Did 
 this follow naturally from Luther's doctrine of private judgment ? What 
 were the points of controversy ? Do they seem to you worth while? What 
 were the consequences to Protestantism ? How was it ended V What reac- 
 tions followed ? Were these natural ? Why ? Where are Lutherans most 
 numerous in Europe ? Who were the first Lutherans in this country ? On 
 what were thev divided ? Who was their great organizer V Name some 
 of their divisions to-day. 
 
 What are their standards of belief? What is their doctrine of the 
 Eucharist? of Christ's body? of baptism? of the atonement? Are they 
 conservative or progressive generally ? How are they organized ? What 
 is the tendency in this country ? Why ? How many are there in the 
 world ? How many here ? What is your impression concerning them in 
 general ? What honor is due them ? What may be charged against them ? 
 What lessons do they teach the Unitarian? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 The best account of both history and doctrine is in Schaff, vol. i pp. 
 220-349, vol. iii. pp. 1-193; Fisher's Reformation, chap, v., and other 
 works on this period; McClintock and Strong; and the Lives of Luther, 
 especially Kustlin's. For later history, see J. H. Allen's Christian His- 
 tory in its Three Great Periods, vol. iii. chap. ix. ; Hagenbach's History 
 of the Church in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries; Hurst's His- 
 tory of Rationalism ; Krauth's Conservative Reformation, and Wolf's The 
 Lutherans in America^ 
 
 2. THE REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA. 
 
 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the 
 faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might 
 be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law. — 
 Gal. ii. 16. 
 
 Name. — The first title was " The Reformed Protestant Dutch 
 Church in North America," — "Reformed," as Calvinistic, not 
 Lutheran; "Protestant," as against Rome; "Dutch," as distin- 
 guished from the " Enghsh," or Episcopal Church, which com- 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 83 
 
 peted with it, and after the English conquest of new Netherlands, 
 in 1664, oppressed it. The word "Dutch" was added in 1694; 
 but in 1867 the present name, "The Reformed Church in Amer- 
 ica,'' was taken. 
 
 History. — The Reformed churches in the United States are 
 shps from the Calvinistic churches of Europe. They are divided 
 into the Dutch and the German, chiefly for national reasons. 
 The Dutch was the first to be transplanted. The principle of 
 justification by faith, on which the Reformation of Luther was 
 based, was preached in Holland half a century before his day, but 
 made little impression. When the Reformation was under way 
 it was from Calvin, not Luther, that Dutch Protestantism took 
 shape. Its struggles against the Spanish power of Charles V. 
 and Philip II. are famous in history. The church took shape in 
 a synod at Antwerp in 1563, when the Belgic Confession was 
 adopted. Its influence in Europe was very great; and through 
 the English Protestants who took refuge in Holland — among 
 them our " Pilgrims '^ — it affected England also. It was in this 
 church that the famous Arminian controversy took place, ended 
 at the Synod of Dort, in 1619, by the triumph of Calvinism and 
 the banishment of the Arminians. 
 
 The first Reformed church in New Amsterdam (later New 
 York) was established by the Dutch settlers of the province in 
 1619. There were but five churches when the English, in 1664, 
 took the province. Life became a somewhat hard struggle to 
 them. The attempt to become independent of the church in 
 Holland, in 1755, resulted in a fierce struggle and division ; but 
 in 1792 this came to an end, and the present organization was 
 formed. 
 
 Its growth was much hindered by the sole use of the Dutch 
 language in service and sermon till 1 764, and by its dependence 
 and divisions. Though one of the oldest bodies in the country, 
 it is not large, though it is wealthy and influential. It cares 
 greatly for an educated ministry, and was the first body to institute 
 systematic theological instruction in this country. 
 
 Doctrine. — The Reformed Church is essentially Calvinistic 
 in doctrine. Its standards are the "Belgic Confession," the 
 
84 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 "Heidelberg Catechism," and the "Canons of the Synod of 
 Dort,"' which are coincident with the Westminster Confession. 
 It used the liturgy adopted in 1568 at Wesel, based on Calvin's, 
 translated into English in 1667, when singing in English was also 
 introduced. The ministers often wear the Genevan gown. 
 
 Organization. — The Reformed Church is essentially Presby- 
 terian in government, though the bodies have different names. 
 The " Consistory " corresponds to the " Session" ; the "Classes" 
 to the " Presbytery," the " Particular Synod," and the " General 
 Synod." 
 
 There are also a "Board of Foreign Missions," with work in 
 China, India, and Japan; with a "Woman's Board," a "Board 
 of Domestic Missions," a " Board of Education " to aid theological 
 students, a " Board of Publication," etc. 
 
 Statistics. — The report of 1889 gives 36 classes, 546 churches, 
 566 ministers, 88,812 communicants, 103,101 in Sunday-schools 
 and catechumen classes. For religious and benevolent purposes 
 S282,000 were raised, and for congregational uses $971,000. The 
 receipts for home missions were $60,000, for foreign $132,000. 
 There are two theological schools, — at New Brunswick, N. J., 
 and at Holland, Mich. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 What is meant by the " Keformed " Church ? "Why was it called 
 Dutch ? What is its origin ? How is it divided, and why ? Which 
 came here first ? What was its history in Holland ? What had our Pil- 
 grims to do with it ? What was its attitude toward Arminianism ? Where 
 was the first church here built? What was its fate? What was the dis- 
 sension between it and the home church ? What hindered its growth ? 
 What is its character now ? What is its doctrine ? What are its standards ? 
 How is it governed V 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 For the Church in Holland, see Schaflf, vol. i. pp. 502-523, the "Con- 
 fessions" in vol. iii. ; also Motley's Rise of the Dutch Republic and United 
 Netherlands ; and Prescott's Charles V. For the Church in America, see 
 a good article in McClintock; and A Manual of the Reformed Church in 
 AmeHca, bj' Edward T. Corwin. 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 85 
 
 3. THE EPISCOPALIANS. 
 Let all things be done decently and in order. — 1 Cor. xiv. 40. 
 
 Name. — The legal name in England is " The Church of 
 England." By this is implied, not only that it is the national 
 church, — that is, the nation organized for religious purposes, — 
 but that it is the branch in England of the Catholic or Univer- 
 sal Church of which the Roman and Greek Churches are also 
 branches, though they have added false doctrines to those handed 
 down from the Apostles. 
 
 The name in this country is " The Protestant Episcopal Church 
 in the United States of America." The word "episcopal" comes 
 from the Greek episcopos, or overseer, of which Greek word our 
 word " bishop " is a contraction. 
 
 History. — The Church of England claims to have been 
 founded by Oriental Christians, and not by missionaries of the 
 Church of Rome, of which it kept for a long while its indepen- 
 dence. The first historic evidence of Christianity in Britain 
 dates back to about 300, and the Church soon had bishops of its 
 own. Saint Patricius, or Patrick, was sent as missionary to Ire- 
 land, where the Church became strong, and noted for its learning. 
 From Ireland went missionaries to the north of Scotland. 
 
 The invasions of the Danes during the Hfth and sixth centuries 
 practically exterminated the British Church, the remains being 
 driven into Scotland and Wales; but in 59 7 Christianity was re- 
 established by Austin, the missionary of Pope Gregory the Great, 
 and he became the first Archbishop of Canterbury. About the 
 same time representatives of the old British Church came down 
 from Scotland ; and disputes arose on points of ritual between 
 them and the Roman priests, which were settled in favor of the 
 latter at the Council of AVhitby, in 664. The Church of Rome 
 therefore claims not only to have founded the Church of England 
 as a branch of itself, but to have received formal recognition at 
 Whitby, — both of which points the Church of England denies, 
 claiming distinct origin from and equality with the Church of 
 
86 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 Rome as also a branch of tlie One Holy Catholic and Apostolic 
 'Church. It is certain that no part of Europe was more indepen- 
 dent of Rome than England, or more sturdy in its resistance to 
 her exactions. The reforming spirit was active ; and while 
 Lutlier was beginning the German Reformation, a gentler band 
 of scholars, led by Sir Thomas More, John Colet, and the German 
 Erasmus, were pleading and working for purer morals, a broader 
 spirit, and a more learned clergy in the Church. With Luther, 
 however, they had no sympathy or co-operation ; and Henry VIII. 
 wrote an abusive book against him. The refusal of the Pope to 
 annul the marriage of Henry to his first wife precipitated a crisis ; 
 and Henry forced the Houses of Convocation to make the king, 
 instead of the Pope, the head of the Church of England. The 
 doctrines of the Church, including transubstantiation, remained 
 otherwise unchanged. Under Edward VI. (1547-53) the first 
 Prayer Book and Forty-Two Articles were published. Under 
 Elizabeth the Prayer Book was revised into virtually its present 
 shape, and the Forty-Two Articles abridged to the present 
 Thirty-Nine. 
 
 The act of Uniformity attempted to stop further reform, and 
 establish one Church again throughout the kingdom. But then 
 arose the " Puritans," or those who wished worship to be still fur- 
 ther purified from things suggestive of Papistry, and to retain 
 I nothing that was not expressly commanded or sanctioned by 
 j Scripture, dividing into Presbyterians, and later Independents, 
 y or Congregationalists. Baptists and " Quakers " also became 
 ^«jimerous. 
 
 The cessation of the long religious disputes in 1688 was fol- 
 lowed by great weariness and laxity during the last century, 
 and the condition of the Church and clergy was disgraceful. 
 The first reaction came in Methodism, which was continued 
 in the Church by the Evangelical or " Low Church " movement. 
 But the sternness of its dogmatic emphasis led to the liberal, or 
 " Broad Church," movement, under Thomas Arnold, Maurice, 
 Whately, Kingsley, Stanley, Jowett, Temple, and others. This, 
 in turn, roused the " Tractarian " or " High Church " movement, 
 under Newman, Keble, Pusey, and their friends, who invoked 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 87 
 
 against the disrupting influences of German rationalism, •wnich 
 threatened to undermine faith in the Church standards and doc- 
 trines, the aid of ritual to preserve due reverence for the un- 
 revealed mysteries of God. 
 
 The influence of the Tractarian movement has been very deep 
 and lasting, and by its emphasis upon the divine origin and office 
 of the Church has stimulated very powerfully the zeal of its 
 members to make it effective. Within thirty years as many 
 millions of pounds have been spent in restoring its cathedrals and 
 churches. Great attention has been paid to the enrichment of 
 the services, to work among the poor and sick, and to the wider 
 problems of modern civilization. What the Council of Trent 
 was to the Roman Church, — emphasizing its peculiar doctrines, 
 but setting it upon a more earnest and :ffectivc basis, — that the 
 High Church movement has been to the English Church, which, 
 though ministering to a decreasing proportion of the population, 
 was probably never more in earnest than to-day. 
 
 In the United States. — The first settlers of Virginia, in 
 1G07, were members of the Church of England, and churches 
 were founded also in Xew York and other cities. In New Eng- 
 land the Church obtained foothold with great difficulty, the people 
 being Puritan, and remembering their contests with the Church 
 in old England. The royal governors, however, maintained it ; 
 and the Church, in return, when hostility to and finally war with 
 the mother country arose, was loyal to the crown, its ministers and 
 people being for a long time extremely unpopular for having taken 
 the " Tory " side. When the United States became independent 
 of England, the Church deemed it necessary to make a separate 
 organization. Never having had bishops of its own, it sought the 
 ordination of some by the English Church. The clergy of Con- 
 necticut, having elected Dr. Samuel Seabury, sent him to the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury for consecration. He, however, found 
 himseK unable to ordain him without requiring the oath of 
 allegiance which all candidates had to take. Dr. Seabury there- 
 fore was consecrated by three Scotch bishops at Aberdeen, in 
 1784. In 1787 Dr. White, of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Provoost, 
 of Xew York, were consecrated at Lambeth, England, by the 
 
88 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 Archbishops of Canterbury and York and two bishops, the disa- 
 biHty having been removed. Having now three prelates of its 
 own, the Church here was henceforth competent to its own man- 
 agement. A provisional liturgy, called the " Proposed Book," was 
 issued in 1786, which differed in many respects from the English 
 Prayer Book ; but a more conservative spirit prevailed, and in 
 1789 the present book was ado[)ted. Subscription to the Thirty- 
 Nine Articles is not required of the clergy here as it is in Eng- 
 land. The legal name was fixed as " The Protestant Episcopal 
 Church in the United States of America." This name is, how- 
 ever, very distasteful to the growing High Church party, who 
 dislike to be classed among Protestants. They propose to change 
 it to "The American Catholic Church," with a fair prospect of 
 final success. 
 
 Doctrines. — The doctrines of the Church of England are to 
 be found in its " Book of Common Prayer," " Thirty-Xine Arti- 
 cles," and " Homilies." These were adopted by the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church of the United States, with a few changes, the 
 chief of which was the omission of the Athanasian Creed. 
 
 These formularies are the result of two streams of influence, — 
 one from the long-established use of tlje Catholic Church, the 
 other from the German Keformers. The former predominates 
 in the Prayer Book, the latter in the Articles and Catechism. 
 The Morning and Evening Prayer and the Litany are substan- 
 tially translations from the Catholic Breviary, The Communion 
 Service is also a translation from the Latin service of the Mass, 
 but with a larger admixture by the Reformers. 
 
 All the forms of worship of this Church are prescribed and 
 regulated by the Prayer Book. Xo extempore prayer is allowed, 
 and the lessons from Scripture are assigned by unvarying rule. 
 The hymns also must first be approved by the proper authorities. 
 
 It is very diflficult to expound the doctrines of the Church of 
 England. In its thr^e parties it contains the three forms under 
 which Christianity exists in the world, elsewhere in separate 
 sects. The High Church, which is now predominant, represents 
 the Church idea, and is essentially to be ranked with the Roman 
 and Greek Churches. The Low Church, which has shrunk very 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 89 
 
 much in numbers and influence, represents the Scriptural idea, and 
 is essentially Protestant. The Broad Church is really rational- 
 istic, and ranks with the Liberal sects. The difference between 
 these parties within the Church is really greater than between 
 them and the sects which stand for their fundamental tendencies ; 
 but they all find support in the formularies of the Church, owing 
 largely to that difference in the origin of the latter which has 
 been explained. 
 
 The Church of England, which will be understood to include 
 the Episcopal Church of our own country, agrees with the Roman 
 Catholic Church in believing in " One Catholic and Apostolic 
 Church," — that is, in an external and visible institution, having 
 authority over all the world given it by Jesus Christ and trans- 
 mitted through the Apostles and the bishops ordained by them 
 in direct and demonstrable succession to the present day. Of 
 this Church it claims to be a legitimate branch, ministering to the 
 English nation, or the Church in England. It differs from the 
 Roman Church in denying supremacy to the Bishop of Rome, 
 and in rejecting such doctrines as it claims were not of apostolic 
 origin, but have been added in later days, — as the papal infalli- 
 bility, transubstantiation, communion in one kind, purgatory, 
 etc. It concedes to the Roman and Greek Churches, however, 
 apostolic authority in all other things in their own territory, they 
 being with itself branches of the CathoUc or universal Church. 
 Though not pronouncing officially upon the validity of ministers 
 not episcopally ordained, this Church virtually denies it, not allow- 
 mz them to minister in its pulpits or at its altars, and generally 
 forbidding its own clergy to officiate in churches of other faiths. 
 
 The apostolic descent of the Church of England gives, it is 
 claimed, validity to its sacraments, of which it maintains two, bap- 
 tism and the Supper of the Lord, instead of the Roman seven. 
 The sacraments are " outward and visible signs of an inward and 
 spiritual grace," given in or with them to the partakers. By 
 baptism divine strength descends into the soul, contending with 
 original sin, disposing to righteousness, and remitting previous 
 actual sin. As stated in the order for infant baptism, the child 
 is " regenerate." In the communion the body and blood of Christ 
 
90 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 are present in the bread and wine, conveying new strength to the 
 soul of the partakers. 
 
 But it is upon these doctrines of the Church and the sacra- 
 ments that the divergence of opinion already mentioned chiefly 
 occurs. The above is the High Church view. The Low Church, 
 — which on this point may be said to include both the Evangeli- 
 cal and the Broad Church parties, — while admitting the apostolic 
 authority of its clergy, ascribes to it little practical value. The 
 Evangelical churchman, like the Protestant, lays emphasis upon 
 justification by faith, — that is, direct faith in Christ, — to which 
 an apostolic clergy and sacraments may be helps, but are not 
 indispensable. His tendency is to disregard the Church as an 
 external institution, going immediately to the Bible, and trusting 
 in the immediate action of the Holy Spirit upon the reader's 
 heart. Baptism and the Eucharist are to him rather symbols 
 than divine instrumentalities. The Evangelical churchman is 
 virtually a Protestant, separated from other Protestants mainly 
 bv his use of the Prayer Book. The Broad Churchman, like all 
 so-called liberals, lays stress upon character, values the Church 
 and its sacraments as means of influencing the soul, and has less 
 to say of faith in its theological sense. On the other hand, many 
 High Churchmen are hardly to be distinguished from Romanists 
 in their views of the necessity of baptism and of the Real Pres- 
 ence in the Eucharist, some even maintaining transubstantiation. 
 They also grant higher power to their clergy, — in receiving 
 confession, imposing penance, and granting absolution. 
 
 Besides these most characteristic doctrines, the Church of 
 England holds to the Trinity, as defined especially in the Nicene 
 Creed, including the deity of Christ and of the Holy Spirit ; the 
 inspiration of the Bible, though the Broad Churchmen are very 
 lax herein ; the taint of original sin, predisposing to evil ; pre- 
 destination and election, in which the Evangelicals are decidedly 
 Calvinistic, though High Churchmen and Broad Churchmen are 
 as clearly Arminian ; the resurrection of the body, though with 
 much divergence as to what this means; and eternal punish- 
 ment of the wicked, though Broad Churchmen like Maurice, 
 Kingslev, and Archdeacon Farrar have openly denied this, it 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS, 91 
 
 having been omitted from the Articles, though it is plainly 
 implied in the Litany. 
 
 Organization. -^ The highest officers in the Church of Eng- 
 land are the archbishops, or metropolitans (Canterbury and 
 York). The legislative power lies in the two Convocations, pre- 
 sided over by the two archbishops, and consisting each of two 
 houses, the upper containing the bishops, deans, archdeacons, and 
 abbots of the archdiocese, the lower the representatives of the 
 clergy. Their decisions, however, must be ratified by Parlia- 
 ment before becoming law, and they cannot even be assembled 
 without writ of the crown. 
 
 The bishops have jurisdiction over the churches in their respec- 
 tive territorial dioceses. They alone can administer confirmation, 
 ordain priests and deacons, or dedicate new churches. The 
 twenty-four senior sees send their bishops to the House of Lords. 
 They are nominated by the crown, and elected by the chapter of 
 their cathedral. The cathedral is the chief church of the diocese, 
 and is so called from the bishop's seat (cathedrci), which it contains. 
 Hence, also, the cathedral church or city is called his " see " {sedes, 
 siege). This church is administered by the chapter, which con- 
 sists of the dean, or presiding officer, and (usually) four canons, 
 who take turns in conducting the services. Each diocese has also 
 from two to four archdeacons, who are in many ways the executive 
 officers and aids of the bishop. Next come the priests, and finally 
 the deacons, in which office every priest must serve at least a 
 year before ordination to the priesthood. A curate is an as- 
 sistant to the incumbent of a parish, and may be either a priest 
 or a deacon. 
 
 The Church of England is the Established Church of England 
 and Wales. In Scotland the Established Church is Presbyterian, 
 while in Ireland there has been none since the disestablishment 
 of the Anglican Episcopal Church in 1869. By the "Established 
 Church " is meant the official or national Church. The sovereign 
 must be a member of it. Its prelates are peers of the realm. 
 Its liturgy is used upon all official occasions and in all govern- 
 ment institutions where any devotional exercises are held ; and it 
 retains the churches, churchyards, and other ecclesiastical prop- 
 
92 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 erty hold by the Church before the changes made by Henry VIII. 
 and his successors. This property constitutes its endowment. 
 Formerly it levied compulsory rates upon all taxable property ; 
 but these are now abolished along with most other peculiar privi- 
 leges, — as the power to perform the marriage ceremony or the 
 sole ri^lit of its members to be elected to Parliament. 
 t^ 'In the United States the Episcopal Church is upon a level with 
 all other religious bodies before the law. It has no archbishops. 
 The bishops are elected by the conventions of their dioceses, the 
 election being ratified by the General Convention or its repre- 
 sentatives, in which both lay and clerical delegates vote. They 
 are consecrated by other bishops, at least three being necessary. 
 There is but one cathedral, that at Albany, but more are planned. 
 The legislative body is the General Convention, which meets 
 once in three years. It consists of the " House of Bishops " and 
 the " House of Deputies," to the latter each diocese sending four 
 clergymen and four laymen, and each jMissionary District one. 
 There is also an informal but very interesting body called the 
 " Church Congress," here as well as in England, for discussion of 
 important questions. Beside the bishops there are priests and 
 deacons, with archdeacons and other officers, as need requires. 
 
 Statistics. — 'Jliere are in the Church of England 2 arch- 
 bishops, 28 bishops, 30 deans, 74 archdeacons, and about 13,000 
 parochial clergy. The number of people nominally connected 
 with the Church is about 13,000,000, though there are accommo- 
 dations for less than half that number. The number of active 
 members is probably less than that of the " dissenters." It con- 
 tains, however, most of the nobility, as well as the royal family. 
 It is very wealthy, its annual income being estimated at over 
 £7,000,000, or $35,000,000. The salary of the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury is $75,000 a year, the lowest salary of any bishop 
 being $12,000, though a large part of these sums is usually spent 
 in charities and upon the needs of the diocese. The " livings," 
 or endowments, of the parochial clergy are also often large, 
 though a thousand of them receive less than $250. 
 
 In the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States there 
 were, in 1890, 50 bishops, besides 17 missionary bishops, nearly 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 93 
 
 4,000 clergy, 3,500 parishes, and over 480,000 commiTnicants. 
 Their total contributions for church and missionary purposes, 
 $11,277,000. There were also in the Sunday-schools over 360,000 
 scholars and 29,000 teachers. 
 
 The Episcopalians have been the best representatives in this 
 country of good taste and good manners in worship. The dig- 
 nity and verbal simplicity of its liturgy and the aesthetic excel- 
 lence of its music, architecture, and appointments have done 
 much to correct on the one hand the coldness and stiffness of 
 Puritan services, and on the other hand the " revival " extrava- 
 gances of a new country. Its chief emphasis is not upon the 
 sermon, as in most Protestant churches, but upon»the service. It 
 has paid great attention to the organization of parishes for chari- 
 table work, and has had great success in the " free-seat " system, 
 as opposed to the sale or rental of pews. In many philanthropic 
 directions, as temperance and social purity, it has done good ser- 
 vice, while some of its bishops have been very outspoken on the 
 great social problems of the day. 
 
 All this has increased with the growing claim to be tlie Church 
 in America, — the sole legitimate representative of Christ, — at 
 least, as compared with the other Protestant sects. This also 
 gives it a strong hold upon the reverence and loyalty of its mem- 
 bers, and a growing attraction for the conservative classes, — 
 those of wealth and social rank. But another and less agree- 
 able consequence is an increasing exclusiveness and withdrawal 
 of fellowship from other bodies. As tlie Church, it declines to 
 consider itself on a level with " the sects," works less and less 
 with them, and holds its clergy at a distance from theirs. It 
 stands thus in contrast with the rapidly growing sense of fellow- 
 ship among the different branches of the Christian Church, and 
 the tendency to a working, if not to a corporate, unity. To Lib- 
 erals this assumption and the exclusiveness which follows from it 
 cannot but be repulsive, and the beauty and dignity of its wor- 
 ship cannot hide the fact that the Episcopal Church stands in the 
 way of one of the most beautiful manifestations of the Christian 
 spirit. Xor can they fail to see that though the Apostles' Creed 
 is made the standard of belief, yet the Book of Common Prayer 
 virtually implies when it does not plainly assert many doctrines 
 which Liberals have put aside as untrue. The baptismal service, 
 especially, in declaring the child "regenerate by baptism," strikes 
 at the root of Protestantism ; while the Litany contains petitions 
 
94 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 which no Unitarian can offer. "While, therefore, he may admire 
 the beauty and dignity of the liturgy, sincerity forbids him to 
 use it. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 What is implied in the title, "The Church of England" ? What does 
 "Episcopal" mean? Are any other bodies Episcopal? Why? What 
 does the English Church claim as to its origin ? What does the Roman 
 Church say to this? Wh;it can be said on either side? What was the 
 Church's attitude toward the German Reformation ? Who led the English 
 movement ? What else do you know of any of them V What led to the 
 break with Rome? When was the first Prayer Book compiled? When 
 the present one ? Who were the Puritans ? Would it not have been better 
 to concede something to keep the "dissenters" in the Church? What 
 bodies can 3-ou think of who have come out of this Church ? What condi- 
 tion succeeded that of dispute? What reactions came from it? Who led 
 them ? What can you recall about any ot these men ? How do your sym- 
 pathies turn ? W^hat has been the influence of the High Church move- 
 ment? Who brought the Church to this country? How did it stand in 
 New England ? What was its attitude during the Revolution? How was 
 the Church organized in this country ? W^hat is its name here ? What 
 change is proposed ? What does this imply ? W^hat do you think of it ? 
 
 What are the standards of doctrine? W^hat influences formed them? 
 What restrictions are placed upon worship ? W^hat difficulty is there in 
 expounding the doctrines ? What are the three parties ? W^hat tendencies 
 do they embody? How are they really affiliated? What is the High 
 Church view of the Church ? How does it look upon the Roman and Greek 
 Churches ? How do they look upon it? What view of the clergy does this 
 involve ? what of the sacraments ? What is the view of baptism ? of the 
 communion ? How do the Low Church views differ from these ? How do 
 those of the Broad Church ? How do the parties differ on the inspiration of 
 the Bible ? on predestination? on eternal punishment ? 
 
 What grades of officers are there in the Church of England ? What is 
 a cathedral ? a deacon ? a curate ? What is meant by the " Established 
 Church " ? How is it governed in England ? What officers has the Church 
 here ? W^hat is the governing body ? What other body is there ? 
 
 What do the Episcopalians best represent ? In what ways ? What have 
 they done for parish work ? for free churches ? for philanthropic causes ? 
 What has given importance to these ? What other effects has it had ? 
 What criticism can 3'ou make on its attitude to other bodies ? What do you 
 think of its doctrines ? How far can j-ou use its liturgy ? What do you 
 think of liturgical service in general? What are its advantages ?' its 
 disadvantages ? 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 95 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 For the sources of the history and the standard books, see the biblio- 
 graphy at tlie close of Fisher; Schaff, vol. i. pp. 592-065; Fisher, Index, 
 "England" and "England, Church of;" C. Arthur Lane, Illustrated 
 Notes on Church History^ 2 small volumes; Green's Short History of the 
 English PeojAe, chaps, vii. and viii.; Herford's Story of Religion in Eng- 
 land. For the Roman Catholic side, see Lingard's History of England; 
 and for the Puritan, Neal's History of the Puritans. For later history, see 
 W. N. Molesworth's History of the Church of England from 1660; Lecky's 
 History of England in the Eighteenth Century ; Tulloch's Alovements of 
 Religious Thought in Britain during the Nineteenth Century; Newman's 
 Apologia,^ and his Letters; Thomas Mozley's Reminiscences of the Oriel 
 Movement ; and G- G. Perry's History of the Church of England in the 
 Nineteenth Ctntury, 3 vols.; also lives of Keble, Pusey, Whately, Wil- 
 berforce, etc. The history in this country has lately been told anew by 
 S. D. McConnell in his History of the American Episcopal Church. 
 See also Bishop W. S. Perrj^'s History of the American Episcopal 
 
 1 Cardinal Newman was the leader of the Oxford or Tractarian move- 
 ment in the Church of England, which, startmg with the assumption that 
 there zs a visible and authoritative Church on the earth, strove to believe 
 that the Anglican is that Church. Newman became a Roman Catholic in 
 1845, and his mature views upon this point are of great weight. 
 
 "I cann.ot tell how soon there came on me, but very soon, an extreme 
 astonishment that I had ever imagined it [the Church of England] a portion 
 of the Catholic Church. ... I saw it as it was, — ... a mere national 
 institution. . . . And when I looked back upon the poor Anglican Church, 
 for which I labored so hard, and thought of our various attempts to dress it 
 doctrinally and sesthetically, it seemed to me to h^ the veriest of nonen- 
 tities. . . . And as to its possession of an episcopal succession from the time 
 of the Apostles, ... I inust have Saii.t Philip's gift, who saw the sacer- 
 dotal character on the face of a gayly-attired youngster, before I can by my 
 own wit acquiesce in it; for antiquarian arguments are quite unequal to the 
 urgency of visible facts" {Apologia). 
 
 " Wh}' should I wish to see it [the Anglican Church] overthrown ? While 
 Catholics are so Aveak ... it is doing our work ; and though it does harm in 
 a measure, ... the balance is in our favor" {Apologia). 
 
 "As to your question about the growth of Church principles in the Angli- 
 can Church, I rejoice in the fact; but as to the why, ... it may be to pre- 
 pare for a large addition of members to the Roman Catholic Church" 
 (Letter to Canon MaccoU). 
 
96 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 Church, 2 vols.; Palfrey's History of New England; and Foote's Annals 
 of Kinifs Chapel. 
 
 For doctrine, consult the Booh of Common Prayer, which contains the 
 Creeds and Tliirty-Nine Articles; Schaff, vol. iii. p. 480, has the Articles 
 and the American revision of them; J. H. Blunt's Annotated Book of Com- 
 mon Prayer ; J. R. Lumby, The Creeds ; Bishop Pearson's Exposition of the 
 Creed; A. W. Little (High Church), Reasons for being a Churchman; 
 R. F. Littledale's Plain Reasons against joining the Church of Rome ; 
 E. Hatch's Organization of the Early Christian Churches; and Hooker's 
 Ecclesiastical Polity. 
 
 4. THE REFORMED EPISCOPALIANS. 
 
 FOOLISH Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey 
 the truth ? . . . Received 3'e the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the 
 hearing of faith? — Gal. iii. 1, 2. 
 
 ;^ The Reformed Episcopal Churcli, as its name indicates, is a 
 secession from the Protestant Episcopal Churcli of the United 
 States of America. 
 
 In October, 1873, the General Conference of the Evangelical 
 Alliance met in New York. In the general communion service 
 which was held, Assistant Bishop Cummins, of Kentucky, and the 
 Dean of Canterbury, England, participated. This drew out a 
 public protest from the bishop of New York, in which a large 
 part of the Episcopal Church warmly sympathized. This seemed 
 to Bishop Cummins the climax of the tendency to High Church 
 ritualism and exclusiveness ; and he resigned his position, and 
 left the Church. He was formally deposed, but proceeded to 
 form a new organization, at a council held in New York, Dec. 2, 
 1873. Since then it has grown steadily, though not rapidly. 
 
 Doctrine. — The standard of belief is the " Thirty-Five Arti- 
 cles," a revision of the English Thirty-Nine, in which the Apos- 
 tles' (except " He descended into hell ") and Nicene Creeds are 
 accepted. The Liturgy was also revised, in general agreement 
 with the first revision of the American Church in 1786, omitting 
 from the baptismal service the thanksgiving for the " regenera- 
 tion " of the child, and changing throughout the words " priest " 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 97 
 
 and "altar" to "minister" and "Lord's table." The general 
 position of the new body may best be seen in the 
 
 DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES. 
 
 " I, The Reformed Episcopal Church, holding ' the faith once 
 delivered to the saints/ declares its belief in the Holy Scriptures 
 of the Old and 'New Testaments as the Word of God and the 
 sole Rule of Faith and Practice ; in the Creed ' commonly called 
 the Apostles' Creed ; ' in the divine institution of the Sacraments 
 of Baptism and the Lord's Supper ; and in the doctrines of grace 
 substantially as they are set forth in the Thirty-Nine Articles of 
 Religion. 
 
 " XL This Church recognizes and adheres to Episcopacy, not 
 as of divine right, but as a very ancient and desirable form of 
 church polity. 
 
 "IIL This Church, retaining a Liturgy which shall not be 
 imperative or repressive of freedom," etc. 
 
 " lY. This Church condemns and rejects the following erro- 
 neous and strange doctrines as contrary to God's Word: — 
 
 " First, That the Church of Christ exists only in one order or 
 form of ecclesiastical polity. 
 
 ^'Second, That Christian ministers are ' priests ' in another 
 sense than that in which all believers are ' a royal priesthood.' 
 
 " Third, That the Lord's Table is an altar, on which the obla- 
 tion of the Body and Blood of Christ is offered anew to the 
 Father. 
 
 ''Fourth, That the Presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper 
 is a presence in the elements of Bread and Wine. 
 
 ''Fifth, That Regeneration is inseparably connected with 
 Baptism." 
 
 The Reformed Episcopalians are thus simply belated Purilanf!. 
 Ihey are those of the Protestant or Pauline wing who can no 
 longer endure the Churchly or Petrine tendencies of the Epis- 
 copal Church. In their emphasis upon the Bible as the rule of 
 faith and upon justification by faith as their leading doctrine, in 
 their assertion that the Liturgy is not obligatory but expedient 
 
 7 
 
98 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 and voluntary, and that the Episcopal form of government is not 
 essential, that the minister and people are etjual, and in their pro- 
 test against belief in the supernatural effect of the communion and 
 of baptism, they are thorough-going Evangelical Protestants. 
 
 Organization. — The Reformed Ei)iseopal Church retains the 
 threefold order of bishops, priests, and deacons, though holding 
 them as not essential, and recognizing the validity of the ministry 
 of other churches. It may claim for its bishops an apostolic suc- 
 cession through Bishop Cummins, though the Mother Church 
 demands ordination by three bishops ; but it does not regard 
 this as necessary, and even considers the doctrine " unscriptural 
 and productive of great mischief.." 
 
 Statistics. — There were in 1890 106 churches and missions, 
 with 9,500 communicants and 12,000 members of the Sunday- 
 schools. The church property amounts to $1,250,000, and the 
 annual contributions for all purposes to $175,000. There are 
 two periodicals and a theological school. 
 
 So far as the Reformed Episcopal Church is a protest against 
 the theory of an authoritative and exclusive Church and of super- 
 natural sacraments, it has our sympathy. It has long been a 
 mvstery to us how so many men of trusted integrity and frank- 
 ness could remain in the English and Episcopal Churches with 
 their known disl^elief in so many points of its doctrine and usage. 
 So far, however, as it not only embraces but emjihasizes the 
 Evangelical doctrines, it holds us off. Apparently it lays greater 
 stress on these doctrines to make up for its falling away from the 
 " Church " position. As it differs from conservative Congrega- 
 tionalists or Presbyterians only in government and liturgy, we 
 may look for an ultimate union between it and some such body, 
 especially as there seems a strong tendency among them toward 
 liturgical service and episcopal government. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 Analyze the name and explain its parts. What was its origin ? In your 
 judgment was it right for officers of the Episcopal Church to receive com- 
 munion from officers of "the sects"? On what theory of that church 
 would it be right ? on what theorv wrong? Do yon think Bishop Cummins 
 was right in leaving his church? Was it right in deposing him? What 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 99 
 
 are the standards of doctrine of the Reformed Episcopal Church ? What 
 change was made in the Apostles' Creed V what in the baptismal service V 
 What did the words omitted imply ? What reason have you for thinking 
 them wrong '? What is the difference between a priest and a minister V an 
 altar and a communion-table V What is this church's view of the Scrip- 
 tures ? How does this differ from the High Church view ? What is its doc- 
 trine of the Church ? of Episcopacy ? How do these vary from the High 
 Church doctrine ? What does it condemn in the Eucharist ? Why? What _ . 
 
 is the ecclesiastical position of the Reformed Episcopalians V Who were the X^ D ' o '^ 
 Puritans ?/ What sects came from them V ■ 'What is their organization ? 
 How does it differ in theory from that of Episcopalians V Wherein can 
 we sympathize with the Reformed Episcopalians ? Wherein must we differ ? 
 What is the general impression they make on you ? What is likely to be 
 their future ? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 Schaff, vol. i, pp. 665-668; the Articles are in vol. iii. pp. 814-827. 
 What, do Reformed Episcopalians believe ? by Bishop Cheney. See also 
 their journals of the Councils, and published sermons and tracts ; Why 
 I became a Reformed Episcopalian, by Bishop Nicholson. The Memoirs 
 and Letters of George David Cummins gives an inside view of the origin of 
 the church. 
 
 5. THE PRESBYTERIANS. 
 
 Speak thou the things which become sound doctrine. — Titus ii. 1. 
 
 Name. — The name Presbyterian is derived from the Greek 
 word Pi-eshuteros, which means elder : and is appUed in the New 
 Testament (as in Acts xiv. 23) to those who presided over the 
 churches. The word episcopos, or overseer, is also used (as in 
 Acts XX. 28). The Episcopalian maintains that the latter desig- 
 nates a higher officer, whom he calls a bishop. The Presbyterian 
 maintains that it is but another name for the same officer (Titus i. 
 5, 7), and therefore declines to recognize a third order of clergy 
 above elders and deacons. A Presbyterian therefore is one who 
 believes, first, that the highest officer in the church is the presby- 
 ter or elder; and secondly, that the government of the church 
 should rest, not in the bishop, as in Episcopacy, nor in the sepa- 
 
100 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 rate confjregation, as in Congregational churches, but in repre- 
 sentative bodies of presbyters. 
 
 History. — Prcsbyterianism as a form of church government 
 existed somewhat indefinitely in the earlier years of the Continen- 
 tal Keforniiition, but it took clear shape in the Institutes of John 
 Calvin. Ilis purpose was to oppose to the closely organized 
 Roman Catholic Church, whicii rested on tradition, an equally 
 strong organization based on Scripture. It proved of immense 
 service. It became the polity of the Huguenots, and largely of 
 the Dutch, Poles, and the provinces of the Rhine, rivalling and 
 often combating Lutheranism. It was the form of government 
 under which the best stand was made by Protestantism against 
 Romanism, — as in Switzerland, Holland, and Scotland. 
 
 As a sect, its most remarkable history and influence was in 
 Scotland, where its champion was John Knox. It became to that 
 country what Episcopalianism was in England, — the rallying 
 point of the nation against the ecclesiastical and political tyranny 
 of Rome. In 1560 it became the Church of the kingdom; equally 
 hostile to Catholicism, which it made punishable by death, and to 
 Protestant dissenters. In 1578, in its Second Book of Discipline, 
 it established the graded series of church courts now generally 
 held. The organization of these proved of great service in con- 
 centrating and training the middle class in their contest with the 
 nobility. A long struggle with the crown led to the overthrow of 
 Presbyterianism and the virtual establishment of Episcopacy in 
 Scotland by Charles I. The resistance rose to a climax in 1638, 
 when the " Covenant," or solemn agreement of the Scotch people 
 to oppose Prelacy to the death, was signed amid great and univer- 
 versal excitement, first in the churchyard of the Grey Friars at 
 Edinburgh, then everywhere else in the kingdom. Presbyterian- 
 ism was restored, and Scotland faced Charles with a powerful 
 army. In 1643, the aid of the Scotch Presbyterians having been 
 sought by the English Parliamentary party in revolt against 
 Charles, the " Solemn League and Covenant " was signed between 
 the two, who bound themselves to strive to "bring the churches of 
 God in the three kingdoms to the nearest conjunction and uni- 
 formity of religion." The execution of this design was entrusted 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 101 
 
 in England to the " Assembly of Divines at Westminster," which 
 met in the Abbey, July 1, 1643. This body the Presbyterians con- 
 trolled; and the creed drawn up by it, the famous " Westminster / r 
 Confession," became the standard of Presbyterianism in general, «^^-a— • 
 and so remains to-da}<5Tln June, 1647, Presbyterianism was made ^^ . q 
 the national religion oi England, as it was of Scotland, though the 
 sudden rise of the Independents, or Congregationalists, to power '^^^ 
 under Cromwell overthrew its supremacy. At the Restoration, 
 under Charles 11. , Presbyterianism was suppressed both in Scot- 
 land and in England, Episcopacy becoming the national church. 
 The struggle of the " Covenanters " against the persecution that 
 followed is one of the noblest chapters in history. In England 
 the Presbyterians form to-day one of the smaller "dissenting" 
 bodies. After the Revolution of 1688 Presbyterianism was quietly 
 restored in Scotland, where it remains to-day as the Established 
 Church. But the old spirit of jealousy of the civil power survived 
 and led to many divisions. In 1733 Ebenezer Erskine led a seces- 
 sion on behalf of the right of the congregations to reject an un- 
 acceptable minister sent by the Presbytery, and formed the 
 "Associate Synod." This divided in 1747 into " Burgher " and 
 " Anti-burgher " synods on the question of an oath required by 
 certain cities. From the latter split off the " Constitutional Asso- 
 ciate Presbytery," and from the former the "Original Burgher 
 Synod." ]Meantime the "Presbytery of Relief" had in 1752 
 divided from the main body on the same general principle, but 
 united in 1847 with the Burghers and Anti-burghers into the 
 " United Presbyterian Church." But in 1843 a most enthusiastic 
 rebellion against the main church was led by Drs. Chalmers, 
 Guthrie, and Candlish, by which nearly one third of the ministers 
 gave up their manses and livings, and formed the " Free Church 
 of Scotland " on the right of the congregation to choose its own 
 minister without control of the State or patron. It speedily pro- 
 vided for its own support by raising large sustentation and build- 
 ing funds, and is a prosperous body. But in 1874 the Established 
 Church gave up patronage and control of pastorates, and has 
 grown rapidly. A Book of Common Order, or liturgy, has been 
 compiled, and organs and hymns admitted. There is much liber- 
 
102 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 ality of doctrine, shown esi)ecially by the " Scotch Sermons " 
 published in 1880. 
 
 In the United States. — The first Presbyterian churches were 
 founded bv the Huguenots, but of these only one, in Charleston, 
 S. C, ruuiains. Large immigrations from England, Scotland, Ire- 
 land, Holland, and Germany followed. The first Presbytery, how- 
 ever, was not organized till 1706, in Philadelphia, and the first 
 Synod till 1729. A division rose early between the " Old Side " 
 and the " Xew Side," nominally on the question of revivals, but 
 really upon larger questions of progressive doctrine; and this divi- 
 sion, like that upon State interference in Scotland, has run through 
 Presbyterian history in this country. During the Revolution the 
 Presbyterians were, as ever, strongly on the side of freedom. In 
 the early part of this century, they grew rapidly, but the old con- 
 troversies assumed a more definite shape in the dispute as to 
 whether the atonement was for all men or only for the elect ; and 
 in 1837 the denomination split into Old and New School, and was 
 not united again till 1869. A still older secession was that of the 
 Cumberland Presbyterians, who, having been cut off for intro- 
 ducing into their churches during a revival a number of minis- 
 J;ers not well educated nor willing to subscribe to the extreme 
 doctrines of the Confession, formed a body which still continues 
 separate, and has become very large. They revised the West- 
 minster Confession, holding milder views on predestination, and 
 denying unconditional election and infant damnation. The Scotch 
 divisions have also been perpetuated in this country, though they 
 have no application here. In 1858 the southern churches of the 
 New School seceded on the question of slavery, forming the 
 "United Synod ;" and in 1861 the southern section of the Old 
 School followed, joining the "United Synod" in 1865, and forming 
 " the Presbyterian Church in the United States." 
 
 Doctrines. — The Presbyterians hold, on the whole, the doc- 
 trines as well as the church government which were formulated 
 by John Calvin, and by him made the standing-ground against 
 Romanism. 
 
 These doctrines were restated in the AVestminster Confession, 
 which is the standard of all the main bodies of Presbyterians, 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 103 
 
 and in the " Larger " and " Shorter Westminster Catechisms." 
 Tlie American churches, however, omit those passages which re- 
 late to the union of Church and State, Hmiting the duty of the 
 latter to protection of all denominations alike. 
 
 The first point to be noticed in Presbyterianism is its frank and 
 full declaration of the supremacy of Scripture as authority for all 
 belief : " All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, 
 nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to 
 be known, believed, and observed for salvation, are so clearly pro- 
 pounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other that not 
 only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary 
 means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them " 
 (Westm. Conf., chap. i. sect. vii.). Herein the Presbyterians lift 
 the standard of Protestantism as against the Catholic doctrine of 
 tradition and the right of the Church to be the sole interpreter, 
 more firmly than the Lutherans and the Episcopalians. Yet the 
 emphasis laid upon the value of the Westminster Confession, and 
 the obligation upon all the clergy to sign it, seem practically to 
 bring back the old principle, and to betray an unwillingness to 
 leave the Bible to '' the use of the ordinary means." Yet the 
 Bible remains as court of final appeal. 
 
 Presbyterians hold to the Protestant distinction between the 
 visible and the invisible Church, all parts of the former being 
 " subject to mixture and error," Yet out of the visible Church 
 " there is no ordinary possibility of salvation." Calvin strove to 
 make the Presbyterian Church the established Church at Geneva, 
 and this was the ideal of the Church in Scotland. The different 
 position of the Presbyterians in America seems to mark a great 
 change in this doctrine. 
 
 As in Presbyterianism we leave entirely behind the idea of 
 supreme Church authority, so we leave the idea of the sacraments 
 as material channels of supernatural grace. Both consubstantia- 
 tion and transubstantiation in the Eucharist are denied. Christ 
 is present only spiritually, " the body and blood of Christ being 
 not corporally or carnally in, with, or under the bread and wine, 
 yet as really, but spiritually, present to the faith of believers in 
 that ordinance as the elements themselves are to the outward 
 
104 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 senses." Unworthy persons do not receive, therefore, the essen- 
 tial c'h'nient in the ordinance (Westni. Conf., chap. xxix. sect. 
 vii.). Ba])tism is "a sign and seal of the covenant of grace," but 
 in itself conveys no grace. 
 
 Another new, and though minor yet practically important, doc- 
 trine which the Presbyterians brought in is that of the Sabbath. 
 The Catholics, Lutherans, and Anglicans, while insisting on Sun- 
 day as a day of rest, did not insist upon the cessation of all 
 pleasure. Nor did Calvin himself. It is to the Presbyterians 
 that we owe what is called " the Puritan Sabbath." 
 
 The essential doctrine of Presbyterianism is the absolute and 
 unquestionable sovereignty of God, which, though just and loving, 
 is above the comprehension of the human intellect, as it is beyond 
 the influence of human character. The Confession must be read 
 to show how thoroughly this doctrine is worked out. It is best 
 known under the form of "the five points of Calvinism." 
 
 1. Total Dcpravlfij. "From this original corruption [that of 
 our first parents after the Fall], whereby we are utterly indis- 
 posed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined 
 to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions " (Westm. Conf., 
 chap. vi.). 
 
 2. Unconditional Election. Out of the universal wreck, 
 though all souls deserve to perish, God determines to save some, 
 but irrespective of their own acts or merits. " By the decree of 
 God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels 
 are predestinated unto everlasting life and others foreordained 
 unto everlasting death. These angels and men, thus predesti- 
 nated and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably de- 
 signed; and their number is so certain and definite that it cannot 
 be increased or diminished. Those of mankind that are predes- 
 tinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was 
 laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the 
 secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, hath chosen in 
 Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of His mere free grace and 
 love, without any foresight of faith or good works, or persever- 
 ance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as 
 conditions, or causes moving him thereunto ; and all to the praise 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 105 
 
 of His glorious graceo The rest of mankind God was pleased, 
 according to the unsearchable counsel of His own will, whereby 
 He extendeth or withholdeth mercy as He pleaseth, to pass by, and 
 to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise 
 of His glorious justice." (Westm. Conf., chap. iii. sect. iii. v. 
 and vii.). The latter part of this passage Presliyterians call the 
 doctrine of " preterition," or passing by ; and distinguish be= 
 tween it and " reprobation," or fixing the non-elect in their sin. 
 The Confession also asserts the freedom of the human w^ll, leav- 
 ing the apparent contradiction between it and divine sovereignty 
 unsolved, as beyond the reach of the human intellect. 
 
 3. Particular Atonement. The sacrifice of Christ is not for all 
 men, but only for those who are chosen, and who therefore have 
 received as a gift the very faith by which the merits of Christ 
 can be appropriated. 
 
 4. Effectual Grace, Those who are chosen are saved, not by 
 anything they may do for themselves, but by the power of God 
 worknig in them "to will and to do of His own good pleasure." 
 "Yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by His 
 grace" (Westm. Conf., chap. x.). 
 
 5. The Persevej-ance of the Saints, — that is, the preservation of 
 the elect to the end. " They whom God hath accepted in His 
 Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither 
 totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace ; but shall 
 certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved " 
 (Westm. Conf., chap. xvii.). 
 
 Whether the Confession teaches the damnation of non-elect 
 infants and heathen is debated by many Presbyterians, but the 
 prevalent belief in earlier days would seem to confirm the charge 
 that it does so teach. "Elect infants, dying in infancy, are 
 regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit. ... So are 
 all other elect persons, who are incapable of being called out- 
 wardly by the ministry of the Word. Others, not elected, . . . 
 cannot be saved; , . . and to assert that they may is very per- 
 nicious and to be detested" (Westm. Conf., chap. x.). 
 
 In other points, as the Trinity, the deity of Christ, eternal 
 punishment and reward, etc., the Presbyterians substantially hold 
 the faith common to Evamxclical Christians. 
 
^>> 
 
 106 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 Government. — A complete church has three classes of officers, 
 — the teaching elder, or pastor ; the ruling elders, who with the 
 pastor constitute the "church session," to govern the congregation ^ 
 and the deacons, who manage the financial affairs. The churches 
 in a certain district unite in forming a "presbytery," which is 
 made up of the pastor and one ruling elder from each church 
 session. A number of adjacent pre^byteries unite to form a 
 ''synod," to which are sent all the ministers and one ruling elder 
 from each session within the region covered by the presbyteries. 
 The highest court is the " General Assembly," to which the 
 presbyteries elect an equal number of ministers and ruling elders 
 as delegates. These bodies form a series of courts for the adjust- 
 ment of all difficulties and the enactment of all needed regula- 
 tions, appeal being made from lower to higher as in the secular 
 courts. The result is a very compact and effective organization. 
 
 Statistics. — There are said to be over 20,000,000 Tresby- 
 terians (3,500,000 communicants) in the world, including, how- 
 ever, the " Reformed " 'churches. The largest number in any 
 European country is in Scotland, — 3,600,000. In the United 
 States there are (1890) 1,229,000 communicants and (estimated) 
 3,500,000 adherents. Of these 775,903 communicants (30 synods, 
 213 presbyteries, 6,894 churches) are in the Xorthern body, 
 168,971 in the Southern, 163,216 in the Cumberland, and 103,921 
 in the United. 
 
 y . ^ Many Unitarian churches in England are related to the Presby- 
 
 y^'^ terians as most of those of New England are to the Congrega- 
 
 ^ ^ tionalists. It was from them that our churches were developed, 
 
 (C sometimes gradually, sometmies suddenly and wi^h controversy. 
 
 Yet no branch of Protestantism seems further away from us than 
 the Presbyterians. They are compactly organized, and their 
 churches are ruled by higher bodies ; while ours are very loosely 
 attached to one another, and would resent any interfei-ence with 
 their congregational independence. AVe are descended from the 
 side of Cromwell in the great division of the seventeenth century. 
 Again, the Presbyterians have the most systematic and authorita- 
 tive form of faith among Protestants, wdiile we steadfastly refuse 
 to formulate our belief at all Doubtless many of us have envied 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 107 
 
 them their " body of divinity," and their unity upon it ; but the 
 revision movement of 1889 has brouglit to light a long-hi(hlen and 
 extensive rebellion against the most extreme doctrines of the 
 Confession, and the fact that they have been lying unused in 
 many a church It is precisely this temptation to insincerity, 
 this hindrance to freedom of expression if not of thought, which 
 Unitarians dread when tempted to adopt a creed. It is needless 
 to add that in the doctrines themselves we stand far away from 
 the Presbyterians, they emphasizing the sovereignty of God, we 
 the dignity of man. 
 
 Yet they deserve well of Protestants for their frank proclama- 
 tion of the Scriptures as the sole standard of belief, is either 
 the Lutherans nor the Church of England did this unreservedly. 
 The Presbyterians are thus the " color-guard " of Protestantism. 
 And they deserve the respect of thoughtful people for their 
 equally frank and sturdy facing of the facts of human life. The 
 truth in the doctrine of predestination has already been pointed 
 out (p. 35). Calvin and modern science are at one here so far 
 as this world is concerned. And, finally, the Presbyterians de- 
 serve the gratitude of all lovers of freedom for the courage and 
 persistence with which they faced both the Roman Church and 
 the Church of England, in the interests not only of religion, but 
 of political liberty. They represented the people in their strug- 
 gle with nobles and kings. It was from them that the Puritans 
 of Massachusetts Bay came, and though they soon became con- 
 gregational in polity, the doctrines of Presbyterianism remained 
 long in power, and should be remembered as the doctrines of 
 those who determined the destiny of the New World. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 What does the word "Presbyterian " mean ? How does a Presbyterian 
 differ in polity from an Episcopalian? from a Conp-ecjationalist ? From 
 whom did Presbyterianism take shape ? Tell what yon know of him. 
 What was his purpose ? How far did he succeed? Where was Presbyte- 
 rianism most successful ? How did it stand politically ? What was the 
 "League and Covenant "? Why were the Presbyterians hostile to Crom- 
 well ? What do you know of the Covenanters ? What secessions have 
 happened? What is tlie " Free Church of Scotland " ? How does it differ 
 from the Established Church ? Who brought Presbyterianism to this 
 country ? What division runs through its histor}-^ here ? What were " Old 
 School" and ''New School'* ? Who are the Cumberland Presbyterians ? 
 
 By whom Avere tlie Presbyterian doctrines formulated ? In what docu- 
 ments are they contained V Why is the Confession called the " Westmin- 
 
108 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 ,> / 
 
 >tster"? "What do the American churches omit? "What is the Presbyterian 
 ground as to Scripture ? Why is it important to notice this V How do 
 Presbyterians regard their Confession ? Is there any inconsistency here V 
 What difference does it make whether the Westminster Assembly or the 
 Vatican Council be made the authority as to what Scripture teaches V What 
 do Presbyterians hold as to the Church ? Are they anywhere the Estab- 
 lished Church ? What do they believe as to the sacraments V How does this 
 differ from Romanism? from Anglicanism? What is their idea of the 
 Sabbath? How does this differ from the Roman Catholic idea? from the 
 Jewish ? Ought we to say Sabbath or Sunday ? What is the essential 
 doctrine of Presbyterianism ? Name "the tive points of Calvinism." Do 
 you think that anybody is utterh' unable to do any good? Is there a 
 distinction between a sinful disposition and sinful acts ? How deep does 
 sin go? What is the difference between predestination and preterition? 
 Does the latter word really relieve God from blame for eternal damnation ? 
 How far is your faith the result of your own effort ? Is it not to some extent 
 the gift of God ? Is particular atonement just ? Would a universal atone- 
 ment be just ? What is " effectual grace " ? What does the word " grace " 
 mean ? How does it differ from partiality ? Is not God, then, a "respecter 
 of persons''? What does "the perseverance of the saints" mean? As 
 far as you can see, do all saints persevere to the end ? Do you think that 
 the Confession teaches the damnation of infants ? Would it be an}' more 
 unjust to damn infants than adults who cannot help themselves? Does not 
 the doctrine of predestination necessarily involve both ? 
 
 How are Unitarians related to Presbyterians? How do we differ from 
 them in government ? in the matter of a creed ? What objection to a creed 
 appears in their recent history? On what points is revision demanded? 
 What have they done for Protestantism ? for the philosophy of life ? for 
 political freedom ? for Massachusetts and America ? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 For history, Schaff, vol. i. pp. 669-813; Green, Short History of the 
 Ev(jhsh People, chap, viii.; Encyclopaedia Britannica, article "Presbyte- 
 rianism;" McClintock and Strong; Lives of Calvin and Knox. On Calvin, 
 see Schaff, vol. i. pp. 421-467; Merle d'Aubigne's History of the Reforma- 
 tion in the Time of Calvin, vol. vi. chaps. 1-15.; A. P. Stanley's Lectures 
 on the History of the Church of Scotland. For a graphic account of the 
 Disruption of 184-3, see Life of Dr. Guthrie and that of Dr, Chalmers. 
 On the history in various countries, see Drysdale's History of the Presby 
 terians in Enr/land ; A. F. Mitchell's The Westminster Assembly: Hs 
 History and Standards; UeaVs History of the Puritans; Carlyle's Crom- 
 well; C. A. Briggs's American Presbyterianism; E. H. Gillett's History of 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 109 
 
 the Presbyterian Church; L. W. Bacon's Genesis of the Neio Enrjland 
 Churches ; and the histories of Palfrey and Bancroft. For doctrine, Schaff 
 as above; also vol. iii. pp. 600-676, where the Westminster Confession and 
 Catechism are given in full. Dr. C A. Briggs, in Whither, maintains 
 that the later Presbyterians have departed from the Confession, and throws 
 much light upon its original meaning. H. B. Smith's Christian Theology ,- 
 C. Hodge's Systematic Theolocjy, 3 vols., and his Discussions in Church 
 Polity , Thomas Witherow's Which is the Apostolic Church ; Froude's 
 "Calvinism," in Short Studies, vol. i.; S. J. Barrows's The Doom oj' the 
 Majority ; Michael Wlgglesworth's Tlie Day of Doom; and the writings of 
 Joivathan Edwards show what Xew England Calvinism was. 
 
 / 
 
 K 
 
 t 
 
 6. THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 
 
 The churches of Christ salute you. — Rom. xvi. 16. 
 
 Name. — A Congregationalist is one who believes that every 
 congregation should govern itself, instead of being governed by 
 bishops, as the Episcopalians are, or by a series of courts, as the 
 Presbyterians are. In this wider sense the name belongs also to 
 Baptists, Unitarians, and other Sects; but it is usually assigned 
 to and claimed by the denomination which first made the con- 
 gregational principle its characteristic. As the first Unitarian 
 churches in New England were mainly of this denomination, 
 many of them retain the name " Congregational," to which, as 
 being still self-governed, they are strictly entitled. The Trinita- 
 rian Congregationalists in Massachusetts are popularly called 
 "the Orthodox," as holding to the old creeds. The Congrega- 
 tionalists of England, where the denomination began, called them- 
 selves " Independents " until this century, but now belong to the 
 '- Congregational Union of England and Wales." 
 
 History. — The Independent principle marked the third step 
 in the revolt from Roman Catholicism in the English Reforma- 
 tion, the Anglican being the first, and the Presbyterian the 
 second. Of the Puritan party, who wished to preserve the 
 national Church, but to 'purify it still further from the errors of 
 Rome, rejecting all rites, vestures, festivals, etc., not expressly 
 
110 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 authorized l)y Sc'ri})ture, some gave up their demands in face of 
 the Church's stern resistance, but otliers began to aslc themselves 
 wliat authority the Church, or anybody but Christ, had to control 
 the worship of any one. This led to withdrawal, not only from 
 the Church of England, but from its first offslioot, the Pres- 
 byterian Church, which also claimed authority over the single 
 congregation. The first Independent church was founded at 
 Norwich, in 1580, by Robert Browne. It was at once assailed 
 by State persecution and popular ridicule, and called " Separa- 
 tist," or " Brownist." It soon found itself obliged to leave the 
 country, and went to Middleburg, in Zealand, but there was 
 broken by poverty and internal dissensions; and its people 
 returned to England, Browne joining the Church of England 
 again. 
 
 More successful and creditable was the work of Henry Barrowe 
 and John Greenwood, who founded a church in London, in 1592. 
 They were both put to death the following year, but the church 
 removed to Amsterdam. This church differed from Browne's 
 in not being governed directly by congregational vote, but by the 
 board, or " Session," of elders, including pastor and teacher, 
 which it first chose, and then obeyed. So far it followed the 
 Presbyterians, but there stopped, acknowledging no higher au- 
 thority. This form of government, sometimes called "Barrow- 
 ism," became the model of the Congregational churches for a 
 long time, both in England and in New England. 
 
 More celebrated and permanent was the church gathered at 
 Scrooby, England, and emigrating first to Amsterdam, then to 
 Leyden. From the Leyden church, under John Robinson, came 
 the permanent Congregationalism both of England and of New 
 England. In 1616 Henry Jacob returned to London and founded 
 there the first Independent church that remained alive in Eng- 
 land. There adherents multiplied fast, and under Cromwell the 
 Independents became masters of England. In 1658 the Savoy 
 Council was held in London, which virtually adopted the "West- 
 minster Confession, except as to church government. At the Res- 
 toration the Independents were roughly handled by Charles XL, 
 and by the " Act of Uniformity" in 1662. Two thousand minis- 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS.. Ill 
 
 ters were deprived of their livings, and furtlier oppressed. Upon 
 the site of the old Fleet Prison, where some were confined, their 
 descendants have built a Memorial Hall and Library. After the 
 Revolution of 1688 the denomination obtained toleration, and is 
 now one of the most influential in the kingdom. 
 
 From Leyden went also those "Pilgrim Fathers," under Elder 
 Brewster and Deacon Carver, who founded the church in Ply- 
 mouth in the Xew World. They were Barrowists, but of a mild 
 type. 
 
 But American Congregationalism in the main is descended 
 from churches which at first hated Independency, — those of 
 Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut. From 1620 to 1640 it is 
 estimated that twenty-two thousand Puritans came to Xew Eng- 
 land on account of persecution. They did not mean to leave 
 the " Mother Church," but only to change some of her usages. 
 But in the new land and under Plymouth influence they speedily 
 became self-governing, and in time most sturdy opponents of the 
 Church of England. At the first Synod, in Cambridge, ]\Iass., 
 1648, the Barrowe principle was adopted. Gradually, however, 
 the authority of the elders decreased, and the congregation 
 acquired full power, which it still holds. 
 
 Congregationalism was virtually the " established church " of 
 New England. In the beginning church and town were but the 
 same community in different capacities. All voters were church 
 members, and all adult male church members were voters. Money 
 was raised by taxation for church expenses, as for other town 
 needs. As the population grew diverse in religious belief, it was 
 at first arranged that all should be taxed to support the Congre- 
 gational Church who could not prove that they supported any 
 other; and finally, but not till 1833 in Massachusetts, all church 
 taxes were remitted, and the Congregationalists became before 
 the law but one sect among many. The suffrage question was 
 more troublesome. For many reasons the proportion of church 
 members to the male population decreased, till it was only one 
 fifth. To meet this difficulty, the " Half-way Covenant " was 
 arranged in 1662, by which persons of discreet lives were ad- 
 mitted to all the privileges of the church except that of coming 
 
112 A STUDY OF tHE SECTS. 
 
 to the Lord's Supper, on simply giving public absent to the 
 covenant of the church, instead of, as before, being required to 
 give proofs of " regeneration." In time unconverted persons 
 were received at connnunion also. Against the latter, and indeed 
 against what he deemed the general decline of religious interest, 
 Jonathan Edwards protested; and about 1740, under his lead and 
 that of Whitefield, the English preacher, a revival called " The 
 Great Awakening " swejjt over New England, followed by 
 reaction, and by theological divisions which have never been 
 healed. Arminianism, or the assertion of the freedom of the will 
 as against predestination, largely replaced Calvinism; and a lib- 
 eral movement began, culminating in the early j)art of this cen- 
 tury in the Unitarian defection, which took away most of the 
 older churches in ^Massachusetts, including the one in Plymouth 
 and the "First" churches in Boston, Salem, Dorchester, Kox- 
 bury, and other large places, and obtained control of Harvard 
 College. In consequence of the latter fact, Andover Theological 
 Seminary was established, in 1808, which has of late years led in 
 the heresy of "future probation." 
 
 The growth of Congregationalism in this country was much 
 hindered by the " Plan of Union " with the Presbyterians in 
 evangelizing the newly opened West. The adherents of the two 
 bodies in any town were to unite in one church, choosing which 
 body they were to affiliate with, and when becoming Congrega- 
 tionalist, were allowed a certain relation with the Presbyterian 
 Synods. But this was found more useful to the latter than to the 
 former; and in 1852 the "plan" was abandoned, the Congre- 
 gationalists having, it was estimated, lost some two thousand 
 churches. Since then the denomination has been increasingly 
 active in home missionary work, and has grown in numbers, 
 though not in proportion to the population. The American 
 Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was established 
 in 1810. 
 
 Government. — The Congregationalists are not a church, as 
 the Episcopalians and Presbyterians are, but are gathered into 
 churches, each sufficient unto itself, and denying the right of any 
 other earthly authority to control it. They believe that this was 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 113 
 
 the polity of the churches mentioned in the New Testament, and 
 that only two classes of church officers are there mentioned, — 
 the pastors, or elders, and the deacons. 
 
 The " church " is the assembly of believers around a '' cove- 
 nant," or " declaration of faith," to which they agree. There is 
 usually, but not always, associated with the church another body, 
 called the " society," commonly made up from the attendants 
 upon public worship, whether they are members of the church or 
 n(jt. The society ordinarily owns the ecclesiastical property, and 
 pays the expenses of public worship. Xeither baptism nor attend- 
 ance upon communion is requisite to membership, nor any pro- 
 fession of belief. It represents to-day the citizens of the old town 
 system, who were not church members, but were taxed to support 
 the church, and thus had a right to its public services. The 
 pastor of the church is the minister of the society, and the two 
 bodies unite in settling him. The deacons are officers of the 
 church, assist at the communion service, and take charge of the 
 poor-funds. Members are admitted to the church by vote, — 
 having previously appeared before an examining committee, who 
 require evidence of their conversion, — and by publicly entering 
 into covenant with the church, having received baptism, and 
 commonl}'- also by a public profession of belief. 
 
 Though the churches are thus independent of one another's 
 control, they have a fellowship of 'sympathy, which they often 
 use to ask advice, — as in settling or dismissing a pastor. Then 
 a "council" is called of ministers and delegates, either chosen at 
 will or from a definite circle of churches, by whose decision the 
 church commonly abides. It may, however, act in every case 
 alone ; and other churches, if disapproving, can only withdraw 
 their fellowship and countenance. It is customary, when mem- 
 bers remove, to give them letters to any other church in the 
 fellowship. No letters, however, are given to unevangelical 
 churches. 
 
 The churches of a district are usually united into a Conference, 
 and the Conferences of each State into State Conferences. The 
 National Council, meeting tri-ennially, is representative of all 
 the churches in the country, each Conference sending a delegate 
 
 8 
 
114 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 for every ten churches, and each State Conference one for each 
 ten thousand communicants, the delegates being half lay, half 
 clerical. These bodies, however, are all merely deliberative and 
 advisory, all approach to control being jealously watched and 
 resisted. 
 
 Doctrine. — By the fundamental principle of Congregation- 
 alism there can be no creed binding upon all churches. There is 
 no body with power to make one. Each church makes its own. 
 There is therefore more or less diversity of belief within certain 
 limits, which makes a general statement somewhat difficult. 
 
 At first, Congregationalists were as strictly Calvinistic as the 
 Presbyterians. The Cambridge Synod, in 1648, and the Savoy 
 Conference, in 1658, substantially adopted the "Westminster Con- 
 fession. The " Shorter Catechism " and Wigglesworth's " Day of 
 Doom " were text-books in Xew England schools. But on both 
 sides of the Atlantic the original doctrines have been somewhat 
 modified. 
 
 The " Statement of Doctrine " ecommended in 1883 by a com- 
 mission appointed by the National Council is the most prominent 
 recent utterance. It has been said to give " the low-water mark 
 of Congregational belief ; " that is, no fuller statement could 
 receive the assent of all its compilers, who represented the differ- 
 ent wings of the denomination. The Bible is received as author- 
 ity for teaching and conduct, as being " the record of God's 
 revelation of Himself in the work of redemption," and "written 
 by men under the special guidance of the Holy Spirit." The 
 Trinity is affirmed substantially in terms of the Nicene Creed. 
 " III. AVe believe . . . that our first parents by disobedience fell 
 under the righteous condemnation of God ; and that all men are 
 so alienated from God that there is no salvation from the guilt 
 and power of sin except by God's redeeming grace. . . . VI. AVe 
 believe that the love of God to sinful men has found its highest 
 expression in the redemptive work of His Son ; who became man, 
 uniting his divine nature with our human nature in one person ; 
 . , . whose sacrifice of himself for the sins of the world declares 
 the righteousness of God, and is the sole and sufficient ground 
 of forgiveness and of reconciliation with Him. VII. We believe 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 115 
 
 that Jesus Christ . . • sends the Holy Spirit to convict [men] of 
 sin, and to lead them to repentance and faith ; and that those 
 who through renewing grace turn to righteousness, and trust in 
 Jesus Christ as their Redeemer, receive for his sake the forgive- 
 ness of their sins, and are made the children of God. VIII. We 
 believe that those who are thus regenerated and justified grow in 
 sanctified character through fellowship with Christ, the indwelling 
 of the Holy Spirit, and obedience to the truth : that a holy life 
 is the fruit and evidence of saving faith ; and that the believer's 
 hope of continuance in such a life is in the preserving grace cf 
 God. IX. That to Jesus Christ . . . Christians are directly 
 responsible in faith and conduct ; and that to him all have im- 
 mediate access without mediatorial or priestly intervention. . . . 
 We believe ... in Baptism, to be administered to believers and 
 their children as the sign of cleansing from sin, of union to 
 Christ, and of the impartation of the Holy Spirit ; and the Lord's 
 Supper as a symbol of his atoning death, a seal of its efficacy,v 
 and a means whereby he confirms and strengthens the spiritual (- 
 union and communion of believers with himself. XII. In a final 
 judgment, the issues of which are everlasting punishment and 
 everlasting life." To this Statement a " Confession of Faith " is 
 added, in which the person to be admitted into the church states 
 his belief in the words of the Apostles' Creed. 
 
 Statistics ("Year Book," 1890). — The Congregationalists 
 have in the United States 4,689 churches, the largest numbers 
 being in Massachusetts (557), Michigan, Connecticut, Xew York, 
 and Iowa, — very few in the South; 4,408 ministers; and 491,985 
 members. There are also 580,672 pupils in Sunday-schools. 
 The benevolent contributions were $2,398,037. The home 
 expenses were about $5,000,000. 
 
 The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions 
 spent about $670,000, and have 4 72 missionaries and assistants. 
 There are also a College and Education Society, expending 
 $110,000; the American Congregational Union, about the same 
 amount for building churches and parsonages ; the American ' 
 Home Missionary Society, about $512,000. The American Mis- 
 sionary Association spends $323,000, mainly upon colored people 
 
116 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 in the South ; a Sunday-School and Publishing Society, about 
 $47,0U0, — the New West Education Commission spcndini^ on the 
 children and youth of Utah and adjacent States and Territories 
 $78,000. There are also Women's Boards fur foreign and home 
 missionary Avork. 
 
 The Congregationalists have 7 Theological Schools (notably 
 Andover, Oberlin, and Yale), with 490 students; and a large 
 number of colleges and universities were founded either wholly 
 or mainly by them. 
 
 The Congregationalists are especially interesting to Unitarians as 
 being the mother sect from which their OAvn was born, or consid- 
 ered in another and truer way, — since many Unitarian churches 
 are older than any Congregational churches in this country, — as 
 brothers of the same family, though we are not allowed by them 
 to sit around the same table or live under the same roof. Yet 
 the- two bodies still have some institutions in common, — as the 
 funds for supporting aged clergymen or their widows ; and as 
 experience and advancing thought mellow the former doctrines 
 of the Trinitarians, the distance between the more liberal among 
 them and the more conservative among the Unitarians has les- 
 sened. It is to the Congregationalists that we owe our democratic 
 form of church government ; our free order of worship ; our love 
 of an educated ministry, on which the Puritans so nobly insisted; 
 and indeed, through the doctrinal discussions wdiich they loved 
 and stinnilated, that loyalty to truth and that liberal and progres- 
 sive tendency which are so prominent among us. 
 
 In a larger sense, we are as Americans indebted to them for 
 the impetus which they gave to education at the beginning of 
 their settlement in New England, and which has always marked 
 that section and all other sections of the country which it has 
 influenced. And the republican form of government is due in no 
 small degree to the free and representative character of their 
 churches and councils. The prayer meeting, with its freedom of 
 speech to all, was the father of the town meeting. The Revo- 
 lution was largely due to the influence of the Congregational 
 ministers, in marked contrast to the Toryism of the Episcopalians. 
 
 Our divergence from their doctrines, though greater in appear- 
 ance than in reality, and differing very much according to the 
 church or to the writer with which we compare ourselves, is still 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 117 
 
 very great, and until they change much faster than they have, is 
 irreconcilable. The step which our fathers took, like that of the 
 Reformers three centuries before, was greater than they kncAv. 
 Our name emphasizes one of the least of our differences. The 
 doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most harmless of the older 
 tenets. - Dr. Channing's sermon on " The Moral Influence of 
 Calvinism " opens the real gulf between the two parties. So long 
 as the Congregationalists hold to a helpless human nature, a vica- 
 rious atonement, and eternal punishment for ten poral sins, 
 our position and our mission must be separate from theirs. The 
 Andover view of a possible extension of probation into the next 
 life, so that heathen and others who have not had a fair chance 
 to receive the Gospel here shall have it hereafter, though held 
 by a large section of the denomination, is not yet dominant ; and 
 if it were, though it might bring other changes in doctrine in its 
 train, it would leave much divergence unchanged. Xot until they 
 give fuller and franker recognition to the rights of reason and 
 conscience as authority for truth, as against a mere textual usei 
 of the Bible, can the two bodies come together again. Neverthe- 
 less, the growing respect and love of each for the other must 
 be emphasized, with the consciousness of a common ancestry and 
 of common traditions, which compel to a common love of truth 
 and duty. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 "What does ''Congvegationalist" mean? Who else are entitled to the 
 name? Are Unitarians ? Why? "What relation do the Congregationalists 
 hold to the Presbvterians '? to the Episcopalians V to the Puritans ? What 
 were they first called V Why ? "What is the difference between a Brownist 
 and a Barrowist ? Trace the fortunes of the Scrooby congregation. When 
 were the Independents masters of England ? Recall what you know of 
 Cromwell. What was the Savoy Confession? the Act of Uniformity? 
 "When did the Independents get toleration in England? What was the 
 difference between the "Pilgrims" and the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay 
 in intention? in church government? When did the latter change, and 
 how ? What was the relation of Church and State in Massachusets ? 
 "W^hen did this cease? By what steps? What was the " Half-way Cove- 
 nant" ? What did Jonathan Edwards do? What was the consequence? 
 "What is Arminianism ? What success had Unitarianism ? What was the 
 " Plan of Union " ? its result ? 
 
 How do Congregationalists differ from Episcopalians in church govern- 
 ment ? from Presbyterians ? What is their distinction between " church " 
 and " society " ? What was the origin of it ? "What are deacons ? How 
 are members admitted ? What is the relation of churches to each other ? 
 
118 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 How much authority has a council ? Can a letter to a Unitarian church be 
 «tbfained from a Congregational church? What is the National Council? 
 Wliat authority has it? 
 
 Have Congregationalists a common creed ? Why ? What was their 
 original doctrine V W^hat is the best statement of their present belief V Is 
 there any difference between a revelation and the record of a revelation? 
 W^hat IS their doctrine of God ? W^hat do you thhik of their doctrine of 
 the fall of man ? of his condition ? What is their belief about Jesus V What 
 IS implied in the word " sole " ? Is not the question of predestination 
 evaded in Article VII.? What truth or fallacy can you find in Article VIII.? 
 What relation of faith and works is stated tliere ? Can a believer fall from 
 grace, according to this? W^hat is the bearing of Article IX. on the Catholic 
 Church ? on Presbyterianism ? W^hat is the doctrine of the sacraments ? 
 Compare it with the Catholic and Lutheran. W^hat is the view of the Last 
 Judgment ? Do you think this statement of faith is very definite ? Why ? 
 
 What is the relation of the Congregationalists to the Unitarians ? What 
 do we owe to them ? AVhat does America owe to them ? Wherein do we 
 still differ from them ? Have you read Channing's sermon? How do you 
 like Congregationalists generally ? What great preachers of theirs can you 
 think of ? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 The most convenient authority is A Hnnd-Book of Congregationalism, by 
 II. M. Dexter, a condensation of his larger work, Congregationalism : What 
 it is, etc. George Punchard's Congregationalism in America from 1629 to 
 1879. In Schaff, see vol. i. pp. 820-840; vol. iii. p. 707 (the Savoy Decla- 
 ration), p. 910 (the American Creed of 1883). McCIintock and Strong; 
 Encyclopedia Britannica, articles "Independents" and "Congregational- 
 ism;*' Green, Shoj-t History, chaps. 7 and 8; Fisher, pp. 611-615; R. W. 
 Dale's A Manual of Congregational Principles (in England). The racy 
 biographies of John Todd and Lj'-man Beecher, and Mrs, Stowe's Minis- 
 ter's Wooing, Poganiic Peojile, and Oldtown Folks, give pictures of New 
 England ministers and church life in the early part of this century. 
 Palfrey's History of New England; Sprague's Annals of the American 
 Pulpit, vols. i. ii. iii.; George E. Ellis, The Puritan Age in Massachusetts; 
 Brooks Adams, The Emanci/^ation of Massachusetts (not good-tempered or 
 just, but containing interesting facts) ; J. K. Hosmer, Young Sir Harry 
 Vane. Leonard Bacon, Genesis of the New England Churchtrs^ emphasizes 
 the distinction between "Pilgrim " and "Puritan," giving most of his book 
 to the former. John Fiske's The Beginnings of New England is valuable, /* 
 especially for its admirable first chapter. f>^^ 
 
 V 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 119 
 
 7. THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him. 
 Col. ii. 12. 
 
 Name. — The word "Baptist" is derived from the Greek 
 BaTTTi^a) (baptizo), meaning (Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of 
 the New Testament) "to dip," "to immerge." The name first 
 given, though never accepted, was " Anabaptists " (or Again- 
 baptists), because they denied the validity of infant baptism, and 
 obliged people baptized in infancy to receive the rite again. 
 
 History. — The denial of the validity of infant baptism and 
 the insistence upon immersion as a form have probably been held 
 by individuals, though not by churches, from the beginning of 
 Christian history. They are found in various sects or parties of 
 the Church during the Middle Ages, notably the Waldenses; but 
 it came into prominence, very soon after Luther had stirred up 
 the latent heresies and dissatisfactions of Europe, in the sect 
 called the Anabaptists. Unfortunately, the main docirine became 
 mixed with various fanatical and even immoral doctrines, which 
 had no real bearing upon it, and for which it was in no way 
 responsible. The doctrine founJ more worthy support in Zurich 
 and among the Mennonites of Holland, who were devout, peace- 
 able, and pure people, abstaining from participation in civil gov- 
 ernment, and maintaining the right of religious liberty. In fact, 
 the first one who ever proclaimed this right was Balthazar 
 Hubmaier, one of the original Anabaptists of Germany, who 
 was burned at the stake in 1.528. 
 
 It was in Holland that the English Independents, or Brownists, 
 first came into contact with Anabaptist doctrines; and one of 
 their ministers in Amsterdam, the Rev. John Smyth, became a 
 convert to them, and formed a new church, part of which came 
 to London in 1612. The early history of the sect there is uncer- 
 tain ; but it is known that a church existed in 1633, and from 
 that time adherents multiplied fast. They were opposed by 
 all the sects then in existence, and were persecuted through all 
 
120 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 the changes of rchgious control. The Revolution of 1G88 gave 
 toleration to them, as to all dissenters; but they soon divided into 
 " General Baptists," who believed that the atonement was for all 
 men to accept or reject, and " Particular Baptists," who believed 
 that it was for the elect alone. The latter is the Baptist sect 
 of to-day. The former divided again into "Old Connection," 
 who became generally Unitarian, and " New Connection," who 
 correspond to what we call Free (Will) Baptists. 
 
 The founder of the denomination in this country was Roger 
 Williams, a clergyman of education and prominence in the 
 Church of England, who became an Independent, fled to this 
 country in 1631, and was pastor of the church in Salem. 
 Denying the validity of the royal charter to the colony, and the 
 right of the magistrates in matters of religion, he was banished 
 by them, went southward through the woods, and founded a 
 settlement, which in gratitude he named " Providence." There, 
 having become a convert to the Baptist doctrines, he had himself 
 immersed by a layman, whom he in turn baptized in the same 
 way, with ten others, and then founded in Providence the first 
 Baptist church in America, 1638. The sect spread rapidly. In 
 Massachusetts it was bitterly persecuted, — partly on mere theo- 
 logical grounds, partly because of the persistence of the Bap- 
 tists in annoying ways, partly from fear of the effect on the 
 attitude of the crown toward the colony. They were at length 
 allowed freedom of worship, and in 1833 participated in the 
 equality of all sects before the law. In Virginia also they were 
 persecuted by the Episcopalians, any man who refused to bring 
 his child to " a lawful minister " to be baptized being fined two 
 thousand pounds of tobacco. Equality was granted there in 
 1785. 
 
 The Baptists originated in the laboring classes of Germany, 
 and still have their strength in the middle classes of English and 
 American society. Over three fourths of those in this country 
 are in the former slave States, and they di\ ide the negroes with 
 the Methodists. The largest numbers in any State are in Vir- 
 ginia and Georgia, though they are very strong in Massachusetts 
 and Rhode Island. They have not in the past been as insistent 
 
A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 121 
 
 apon the education of their ministers as the CongregationaHsts, 
 especially in the South. 
 
 Government. — The Baptists are congregational in their 
 polity ; that is, every church governs itself, and formulates its 
 own creed and covenant, owning no control from any human 
 authority, Christ being the head of the Church, and the Bible 
 the only source of doctrine. There are associations of churches 
 for mutual sympathy and for co-operation in common causes ; but 
 congregational independence is jealously guarded. 
 
 Doctrines. — Being congregational in polity, the Baptists can 
 have no creed binding upon all churches. Each congregation is 
 supposed to draw up its own statement of belief from its own 
 study of the Scriptures. Yet few denominations have greater 
 unity in doctrine. The Northern Baptists accept what is called 
 the "New Hampshire Confession" (1833); while those of the 
 South and of England are more attached to the " Philadelphia 
 Confession," which appeared first in London in 1677, and was 
 adopted early in the last century by the " Philadelphia Associa- 
 tion." They are, however, not authoritative statements, and tl^iey ' 
 differ little from each other. ^ %■■ % //'"'^' 
 
 The Baptist doctrine is Calvinistic, and is therefore essentially 
 the same as that of the CongregationaHsts, baptism and its impli- 
 cations excepted. The Baptists have, however, kept Calvinism 
 far more intact than the CongregationaHsts. Their peculiar doc- 
 trines are: (1) Denial of the validity of infant baptism. The 
 ordinance, they affirm, is to be given only on profession of faith 
 in Christ, and is therefore meaningless when applied to infants. 
 They can find no case of infant baptism in the New Testament. 
 (2) Insistence upon immersion as the only valid form of baptism. 
 They claim that this was the original form as it was adopted and 
 urged by Jesus, and is implied in the language used by Scripture, 
 — as in descriptions of baptism (Matt. iii. 16; John iii. 23; Acts 
 viii. 38, 39), and in Paul's frequent figure of baptism being a 
 burial and resurrection. They ba])tize either in natural bodies 
 of water or in tanks prepared beneath the pulpits of their 
 churches. (3) " Close Communion," — that is, exclusion from 
 the celebration of the Lord's Supper of all such as have not been 
 
122 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 immersed. This doctrine, however, has during this century been 
 given up by many English Baptists. (4) Freedom of worship to 
 all. This has, of course, ceased to be a distinctive mark of the 
 Baptists, but was so once, and deserves to be still mentioned. 
 
 There are several sects who are Baptists as to baptism, but 
 vary on other points. Some of them are mentioned here only 
 for convenience, as they have no real connection with the Bap- 
 tists. Most numerous are the Freewill Baptists (115,000), who 
 began in Xew Hampshire, in 1 780, and now call themselves Free 
 Baptists. They are Arminian, — that is, they deny predestina- 
 tion and limited atonement, and assert the " free will " of all men 
 to accept or reject the terms of salvation, — and hold "open 
 communion." The Mennonites (93,000) are of Dutch origin, 
 rejecting infant baptism, but using pouring as a form. The 
 " Church of God," or " Winebrennarians " (about 30,000), — so 
 called from their founder. Rev. John Winebrenner, — left the 
 Lutherans, in 1820, on the question of revivals. They baptize 
 by immersion, but are Presbyterian in polity. The " Tunkers " 
 100,000) are of German origin, immerse forward instead of 
 backward and do it thrice, observe the rite of foot-washing, and 
 object to "hireling " ministers and to organs. The " Seventh-Day 
 Baptists (9,000) observe Saturday as the Sabbath. 'TThe " Six- 
 Principle Baptists" (1,450) have for their creed the six points in 
 Hebrews vi. 1. They live mostly in Rhode Island. The "Anti- 
 Mission " or " Anti-Effort Baptists " (45,000) oppose all mis- 
 sionary, Sunday-school, or other efforts for conversion, as inter- 
 fering with God's work. The^ " Christian Baptists " deny the 
 Trinity. 
 
 Statistics. — There were in 1890 ("Year Book") 32,588 
 "regular" Baptist churches in the United States, with 21,175 
 ministers and 3,070,000 members, of whom 2,267,206 were in the 
 domain of the Southern Convention, and about equally divided 
 between the whites and the negroes. There were 17,696 Sunday- 
 schools, with 1,211,696 pupils. The church property is valued at 
 over S58,000,000 ; while nearly $7,000,000 were paid for current 
 expenses, over $1,000,000 for missions, $228,000 for education, 
 and nearly $2,000,000 for building, poor, etc. They have 7 theo- 
 
A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 123 
 
 logical schools; 31 colleges; 32 seminaries for females, 46 for 
 males and coeducation, 17 for negroes* and Indians. There are 
 106 periodicals, including those for Sunday-schools. The foreign 
 mission work of the Northern Baptists (279 missionaries,' 134,113 
 converts) is carried on through the American Baptist Missionary 
 Union, with two societies of women; and the home mission work 
 by the American Baptist Home Missionary Society, with also two 
 women's societies. The Southern Convention has corresponding 
 apparatus. 
 
 In Great Britain there are nearly 330,000 Baptist commu- 
 nicants; in all Europe, 400,000; in the world, 3,701,882. 
 
 We owe a debt of gratitude to the Baptists for their unflinch- 
 ing defence and consistent allowance of strict religious freedom. 
 That it is so common now is due in no small degree to their early 
 and constant advocacy of it. Their Congregationalism has also 
 played its part in the development of free institutions. Their 
 stout attack upon infant baptism in the days when it was univer- 
 sally a superstitious rite, partaking of the character of magic, 
 must also be praised, even by those who now practise that beauti- 
 ful rite on rational, symbolic grounds. Their early enthusiasm 
 in the foreign missionary movement, dating from 1792, when 
 William Carey led in the formation of their missionary society, 
 gives them, next to the Catholics and the German Pietists, the 
 credit of having been its leaders. 
 
 On the other hand, must we not see in their emphasis upon an 
 outward form, as that of baptism, a survival of the Jewish or 
 Petrine spirit? Can we think it in accordance with the spirit of 
 Jesus, whatever texts may be insisted upon ? He certainly gave 
 baptism no such prominence in his teachings ; and his general 
 emphasis upon the inner life, and his general tendency away 
 from forms, even from those which he found in use and con- 
 tinued to permit, seem thoroughly inconsistent with the Baptist 
 })osition. There should be no doubt, let it be granted, that 
 immersion was the form in use in his day ; but even the Catho- 
 lic Church, usually so insistent upon primitive ceremonies, has 
 changed it to sprinkling or pouring, according to its wise policy 
 of conforming to the demands of changing climates and customs 
 in non-essential matters. That the Baptists should insist upon 
 transferring to cold and icy regions the forms natural only to 
 warm ones is a rio;or of ritualism aorainst which real Christianity 
 
124 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 must protest. As to infant baptism, it is now among most Protes- 
 tant bodies symbolical of the parent's desire that the child should 
 be considered as adopted by the Church until he is of age to 
 choose for himself, and of the parent's determination to care for 
 his religious welfare, to "bring him up in the nurture and admoni- 
 tion of the Lord," and not at all of any change wi-ought in the 
 child himself. The Baptist protest, once universally needed, and 
 still valid as against Catholics and High Church Episcopalians, 
 who look upon baptism as " regenerating " by virtue of the divine 
 grace which it conveys, is not a])plicable to this interpretation. 
 The logical consecjuence of the insistence upon immersion — 
 namely, exclusion from the communion of all not so baptized — 
 makes it still more to be regretted, and sets the Baptists, who 
 cling to it, the more squarely against the progress of Christian 
 union. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 What does the word " Baptist " mean ? What was the first name given ? 
 How far back can Baptist doctrines be traced V When did they revive ? 
 Where were they found at their best? Who was the first advocate of reli- 
 gious liberty ? How did Baptist doctrines get into England ? What treat- 
 ment did they receive ? How was the body divided, and what became of 
 the parts ? Who founded the Baptist sect in this country V Where was the 
 first church formed? How did the bod}^ fare in Massachusetts ? When did 
 it obtain libert}' ? Where is it strongest ? Where at its best? 
 
 What is its church government ? Has it any authoritative creed ? Why? 
 What statements of belief are popular ? What is the general cast of doc- 
 trine ? Are they more or less progressive than the Congregationalists ? 
 What is their doctrine as to infant baptism ? "\^'ll„v ? What as to baptism ? 
 Why ? What as to the communion ? Why ? What as to liberty of thought ? 
 Name some other sects who are Baptist in any way. How many Baptists 
 are there in this country ? How do they compare in numbers with the other 
 sects wliich we have considered ? 
 
 How are we indebted to the Baptists ? What was their relation to political 
 freedom ? What good can be said of their resistance to infant baptism ? 
 What have they done for foreign missions? What must we say of their 
 insistence on a form of baptism? Was it the original form? What differ- 
 ence does that make ? What should we do if we kept the Last Supper ex- 
 actly as it was instituted ? What is the form of baptism used by Catholics ? 
 Win- ? What ancient kind of religion is perpetuated by the insistence upon 
 immersion ? Is it really Christian ? What is the prevailing Protestant idea 
 of infant baptism ? What sects practise it ? What bodies hold a different 
 idea of it ? What do you think of "close communion" ? What is your 
 general impression of the Baptists ? 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 125 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 The best manual is BajHist Layman'' s Book, b}' W. W. Everts, D. D. 
 Also good are The Distinctive Principles of the Baptists, by A. M. Pendle- 
 ton, and The Baptist Principle, by W. 0. Wilkinson; Baptist History, by 
 J. M. Cramp (popular); A History of the Baptists, by Thomas Armitage, 
 D. D. (best and most comprehensive); McClintock and Strong and Ency- 
 clopedia Britannica, article "Baptists;" Schaff, vol. i. pp. 840-859. On 
 baptism, see Smith's Bible Dictionary and Encyclopaedia Britannica under 
 this Avord, Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament under 
 Ba7rTi(w) and the very interesting chapter i. in Dean Stanley's Christian 
 Institutions. On the Baptists in this country, see Benedict's General His- 
 tory of the Baptists in America; The Puritan Age in Massachusetts, by 
 George E. Ellis; Palfrey's History of Neio England; Memorial History of 
 Boston; Virginia, by J. E. Cooke; Backus's History of the Baptists of New 
 England, 2 vols. ; and Cathcart's Baptist Encyclnpcedia. For the history of 
 the minor bodies, see Goodb3''s By-jyaths in Baj)tist History and Stewart's 
 History of the Freewill Baptists. For Baptist doctrines at lenjrth, see 
 Strong's Systematic Theology, Hovey's Manual of Systematic Theology 
 and Christian Ethics, and Butler's Christian Theology (Free Baptist); 
 also Fisher, Index. 
 
 The "Philadelphia Confession" and the "New Hampshire Confession" 
 may be found in Schaff, vol. iii.; in McClintock and Strong; and the latter 
 in the Baptist Layman's Book, p. 60. 
 
 8. THE MORAVIANS. 
 
 This is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his 
 Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another^ as he gave us commandment. — 
 1 John iii. 23. 
 
 The name "Moravians" is a popular one, derived from the 
 country of Moravia, between Austria and Bohemia, from which 
 they originated. They call themselves Unitas Fratrum, or 
 "United Brethren," but must not be confounded with the 
 Methodist "United Brethren in the United States." 
 
1-26 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 Tlic'v were originally a party among the followers of John Huss 
 (burned, 14 lo), and were at one time very numerous, but were 
 almost exterminated in the Catholic reaction at the end of the 
 sixteenth century. The present church took its rise, in 1 735, 
 from a few families of their descendants, who lived on the estates 
 of Count Zinzendorf in Saxony, — a place which they called 
 Herrnhut, or " The Lord's Protection." Thence they spread 
 through Germany, where they are a society within the Lutheran 
 Church, into England and the United States. 
 
 They have no formal creed ; but the doctrines implied in their 
 catechism and liturgy are Evangelical, in general agreement with 
 the Lutherans. Their peculiarity lies rather in their very warm 
 and sincere religious feeling, which so impressed John Wesley 
 that he was converted and started in his great career by contact 
 with it, and their extraordinary zeal for missionary work. Their 
 central and vit?ilizing point is their personal devotion to a per- 
 sonal Christ. Their influence has everywhere tended to cool 
 controversy and quicken genuine rehgious life. 
 
 They have bi>hops, presbyters, and deacons. Their bishops 
 have no dioceses, but collectively watch over the welfare of the 
 church, ordaining the other two orders. The legislation is in the 
 hands of synods, the executive power in a board of bishops and 
 elders. The church is divided into three provinces, — Conti- 
 nental, English, and American, — each caring for its own local 
 affairs, but united in doctrine and missions. They have a wor- 
 ship partly liturgical, partly extemporaneous, with much music. 
 Their hymns breathe a tender and sweet piety. 
 
 For their warm religious feeling and aversion to mere dogmatic 
 controversy, we must Join in the universal praise Avhich goes out 
 to the Moravians. They approach us doctrinally also, in that 
 they were the spiritual ancestors of the Methodists, who broke the 
 sway of Calvinism over Protestants. They have dropped many sin- 
 gular practices, — as foot- washing, and the use of the lot in choos- 
 ing their ministers, and in marriage. They were the first hearty 
 pioneers in the missionary movement, and have done more in propor- 
 tion to their numbers than any other body, especially in Greenland, 
 Labrador, among the Esquimaux, and the American Indians. 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 127 
 
 There were in 1882 in all 10 bishops, 291 presbyters and dea- 
 cons, and 18,871 communicants (in this country, 1886, 10,250); 
 besides 26,455 communicants in home and foreign missions. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 Whence came the name " Moravians " ? What do they call themselves ? 
 What was their origin ? their fate at first ? Whence tlie present church V 
 Where do tliey live? Have they a creed? Where do they stand doctri- 
 nally ? What is their peculiarity V their central principle ? their effect on 
 controversies ? What is their polity V their worship V How are they 
 related to us doctrinally? What have they done for missions? How 
 numerous are they ? Can you think of any ^Moravian hymns ? Look 
 them up in the hymn-book of your church. What founder of a great sect 
 was influenced by them ? What do you see to commend in them V what to 
 censure ? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 Schaff, vol. i. pp. 874-881; Fisher, Index, Encyclopa?dia Britannica; 
 McClintock and Strong, The Moravian Manual ; Holmes^ s History of the 
 United Brethren, 2 vols. ; A. C. Thompson, Moravian Missions. 
 
 9. THE METHODISTS. ^ 
 
 Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. — Rev. xxii. 17. 
 
 Name. —"Methodists" is a nickname given to John Weslev 
 and his Oxford associates by another student, on account of their 
 regular religious habits. It was originally applied to an ancient 
 school of physicians. In England the followers of Wesley are 
 called " Wesleyan Methodists;" in this country, " The Methodist 
 Episcopal Church." 
 
 History. — The Methodists owe their existence as a body to 
 a great organizer, John Wesley, and a great preacher, George 
 Whitefield. But as Whitefield became a Calvinist, his influence 
 practically ceased at his death; and the Methodism of to-day is 
 mainly the work of John Wesley. He was a graduate of Christ- 
 
128 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 church, Oxford, and a fellow of Lincoln College, becoming a 
 clergyman in 1728. His tendencies were then "High Church." 
 From the Moravians he adopted those doctrines of conversion, 
 assurance, and perfection which became the substance of his 
 preaching. On May 24, 1738, he himself experienced that sud- 
 den change which it was his aim henceforth to produce in others. 
 It was then that modern Methodism was born. 
 
 The early Methodists may be described as the revival party in 
 the Church of England. Nothing was further from their purpose 
 than to leave that church ; but its piety was at a very low ebb. 
 
 The fervent preaching of Wesley and Whitefieid was met with 
 scorn and hostility. Almost every pulpit was closed to them, and 
 they were often mobbed and maltreated. Whitefieid then began 
 preaching in the open air, and was soon followed by Wesley, 
 though with great reluctance. Beginning with the colliers of 
 Kingswood, near Bristol, Whitefieid gathered thousands about 
 him ; and the new views, and still more the new earnestness, 
 s])read over the whole kingdom. Chapels were erected, lay 
 preachers ordained; and Wesley's marvellous powers of organiza- 
 tion consolidated the growing body, which at his death numbered 
 nearly eighty thousand members. Charles Wesley, his brother, 
 the hymn-writer of the movement, and also a strong preacher^ 
 composed over six thousand religious poems. 
 
 The influence of Methodism spread far beyond its own adher- 
 ents. The English Church was roused to a religious life and a 
 philanthropic zeal which have never since left her. The Evan- 
 gelical movement was the Methodist wave inside the Church; and 
 the Ritualist revival, which succeeded the Liberal reaction from 
 this, received some of its life from the same source. Attention to 
 the poor, both in religion and in their material condition, as in 
 factories and mines, received a new impetus ; and it is claimed 
 that the quiet growth of England into political freedom, as con- 
 trasted with the violent revolutions and reactions upon the Conti- 
 nent, was partly due to the gentler spirit which the Methodist 
 movement instilled into the lower classes. 
 
 The Methodists are by far the largest non-conformist body in 
 England, having their strength chiefly in the middle and lower 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 129 
 
 classes. Though Wesley himself never wished them to leave the 
 Church of England, and died in its communion, his followers 
 have been obliged to organize a separate body, and as such now 
 exist, though with kindly feelings toward the church which they 
 have been the last large sect to leave. 
 
 The first Methodist society in America was formed^ in 1766, in 
 New York, by Irish emigrants, under the lead of Barbara Heck. 
 Appealed to for aid, Wesley, in 1784, ordained two "presbyters" 
 and a "superintendent," the Rev. Thomas Coke, and sent them 
 over. Precisely what rank Wesley meant Coke to represent in 
 the English Church is a matter of dispute ; but he was virtually 
 a bishop. He ordained Francis Asbury, and the two were thb 
 first American Methodist bishops. Asbury's activity and success 
 in this country were second only to Wesley's in England, and he 
 saw his sect increase from fifteen thousand to two hundred and 
 eleven thousand in 1816. 
 
 The career of Methodism in this country is almost as romantic 
 as it has been successful. As a pioneer religion, pushing its way 
 westward, and following closely the advancing settlers, it recalls 
 the apostolic days. Already in 1799 the Methodists had adopted 
 *' camp-meetings " to draw together the scattered and churchless 
 population of Tennessee under temporary religious influences. 
 Their preaching was of the most glowing description, working 
 powerfully upon crude natures, and though often producing 
 strange nervous disturbances, making wonderful and permanent 
 changes of character. More than any other religion Methodism 
 adapted itself to the needs of the new country, and deserved to be 
 called the "American religion." It has also had great influence 
 over the negroes of the South. The colored Methodists are organ- 
 ized into the "African Methodist Episcopal Church" (1816) and 
 the "African Methodist Episcopal Zion's Church; " and in 1870, 
 by order of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, the " Colored 
 Methodist Episcopal Church in America " was created. Slavery 
 has divided the main church also. In 1843 the " Wesley an 
 Methodist Church" broke away on this question; and in 1846 the 
 " Methodist Episcopal Church South " was formed. Other -seces- 
 sions have been the "Methodist Protestant Church" (1830), 
 
 9 
 
130 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 wfacMil 
 
 like the Englisli sect has no bishops, but is governed by 
 
 c^ferences; "United Brethren in Christ," or German Methodists 
 
 •\v.(1800); "Evangehcal Association," or "Albrights" (1800); 
 
 kJ^ " Free Methodist Church" (1860), differing from the main body 
 
 ^ only on minor points of government or discipline. 
 
 Government. — The Methodists, like the Catholics, Episcopa- 
 lians, and Presbyterians, are a visible Church, not merely a collec- 
 tion of churches, like the Baptists and Congregationalists. The 
 separate church or congregation does not govern itself, but is 
 governed by a central power, the General Conference. 
 
 In England the Conference is the legal successor to the almost 
 absolute power of John Wesley, which was transferred by him in 
 a legal instrument, the " Deed of Declaration," in 1 784. The 
 chapels had been placed in his possession, and were now given to 
 one hundred ministers selected by him as the Conference, — a 
 close corporation, filling its own vacancies. In their hands the 
 power remains. There are no bishops. 
 
 In the United States power is centred in the General Con- 
 ference, which meets once in four years. It is made up of del- 
 egates from the annual conferences, formerly all ministers, but 
 since 1872 including two laymen from each conference. It elects 
 the bishops, and is the supreme legislative body, under certain 
 limitations as to the fundamental points of the system. The 
 annual conferences are made up of the itinerant preachers of a 
 certain district, and have mainly to do with their affairs. The 
 region of the annual conference is divided into districts, each with 
 its presiding elder and its district conference, which meets once or 
 twice a year as directed, and is made up of the preachers, itiner- 
 ant and local, in the district, and a Sunday-school superintendent 
 and class-leader from each society, with other ofucers. This con- 
 ference licenses the local preachers, and cares for the general 
 temporal and spiritual affairs of the district. The quarterly con- 
 ference is made up of the officers of the church, or of the several 
 churches constituting a circuit. Besides having charge of the 
 affairs of the church, or churches, it pronounces npon the fitness 
 of any member who desires to preach. In each society there are 
 also classes, each under its leader, who originally had strict over- 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 131 
 
 sight upon the members, vidting them once a week, advising them. 
 and collecting then- contributions, but whose duties are now much 
 less rigorous. 
 
 The bishops are elected by the General Conference, and hold 
 office for life. Their duty is strictly administrative. They pre- 
 side at the annual conferences, without vote, and ordain the 
 preachers and assign them to their stations. They have no dio- 
 ceses, as the Episcopal and Catholic bishops, but change juris- 
 diction every year according to the disposition of a committee of 
 themselves, — each having residence, however, at some one point. 
 
 The presiding elders constitute the council of the bishop who 
 happens to have jurisdiction over their region, advising him as to 
 the character and ability of the preachers to be assigned. They 
 visit and preside over the quarterly conferences. 
 
 The preachers are of two kinds, local and travelling. The 
 local preachers are not assigned nor supported, having other avo- 
 cations durins: the week, but officiate as needed. The travellinor 
 preachers devote all their time to the work of the ministry, and 
 are supported by the societies. They apply to the quarterly con- 
 ference for recommendation to the annual conference, and if 
 recommended, are allowed to preach on trial for two years, pursu- 
 ing certain required studies. They are then ordained deacons, 
 permitted to baptize and marry, but not to administer the com- 
 munion. After two years more of study they are, if they pass 
 their examinations, ordained as elders or preachers. There are 
 also exhorierfi, who may lead prayer-meetings ; stewards, who care 
 for the pecuniary affairs of the society;. and a new order of dea- 
 conesses, women who are set apart for works of mercy and charity 
 in the cities. 
 
 Doctrines — The official standard is the abridgment of the 
 Articles of the Church of England, which AVesley reduced from 
 thirty-nine to twenty-five. Virtual standards are also Wesley's 
 sermons and " Xotes on the New Testament" and Watson's 
 " Institutes of Theology." 
 
 The characteristic of Methodist theology is that it is Armiman 
 instead of CaJrinistic The Methodists were the first great sect to 
 break formally from the doctrines of Calvin. As against his doc- 
 
132 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 trine of election, it proclaims free grace, — that is, the offer of 
 salvation to all men, who are therefore lost only through their own 
 deliberate refusal of it. This implies that the atonement of Chri^t 
 was universal ; that is, not intended for the elect alone, but for all 
 men. Although Methodism admits that when properly educated 
 a soul may pass gradually into a state of salvation, yet it looks 
 commonly to a sudden experience, — conviction of sin, faith in 
 Christ, and consciousness of regeneration. When this process is 
 complete, there is an " assurance," or certainty in the mind of the 
 convert, upon which Methodism lays great stress. It further 
 maintains that it is' possible in this life to attain to such a com- 
 pleteness of union with Christ that one is sinless in spirit, though 
 errors of judgment and involuntary transgressions are still pos- 
 sible. This is the doctrine of "perfection." The three char- 
 acteristic doctrines of Methodism are therefore " free grace," 
 "assurance," and "perfection." 
 
 In other points it is at one with Evangelical Christendom. It 
 holds to the universal corruption of mankind by the fall of Adam, 
 total depravity, the Trinity, vicarious atonement, eternal bliss and 
 torment, and the inspiration and authority of the Bible. 
 
 The worship of Methodism was at first according to the English 
 Liturgy ; but it has retained this only (abridged) in the sacra- 
 ments of baptism and communion, and in the ordination service, 
 and then only in an abridged form. Baptism is by sprinkling, 
 though choice of other forms is allowed. Prayer is extempore, 
 and it is but rarely that manuscripts are used in preaching. 
 
 Converts are not admitted into this church until they have 
 spent six months of " probation " (in England three) in the class- 
 meeting. " Love feasts " were once held in connection with the 
 quarterly visit of the presiding elder, at wdiich "experiences" 
 were related, and bread and water taken in token of fellowship. 
 Watch-meetings are often held on the last night of the year. 
 
 Statistics. — There were in 1890 in the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church 2,236,000 members; 15,500 travelling and 13,500 local 
 preachers, under 16 bishops, besides 2 missionary bishops; 25,000 
 Sunday-schools, with 2,200,000 pupils. The value of the church 
 property is nearly $100,000,000; of parsonages, $13,000,000. 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 133 
 
 The current expenses were $11,000,000; and $1,000,000 were 
 given for missions, besides |200,000 from the Women's Foreign 
 Missionary Society. The Methodist Church South has 1,166,000 
 members; the African, 410,000 ; Zion, 412,000 ; Colored, 170,000; 
 EvangeHcal, 148,700; the Methodist Protestant, 148,000, — mak- 
 ing with the smaller bodies a total of over 4,980,000 members, 
 exclusive of other attendants and children. The total Methodist 
 constituency in the United States is claimed at 10,000,000, or one 
 in every six of the population. The total membership in tlie 
 world is placed at between 5,000,000 and 6,000,000, and the total 
 number of adherents at 25,000,000. 
 
 The Methodists deserve the warmest praise for their love of the 
 common people and their care for individuals. Beginning at a 
 time when religion was cold and formal, and even as such confined 
 mainly to the upper classes, they made it a warm and living real- 
 ity, which laid hold of the humblest lives. No other religious body 
 except the Catholic's has so carefully searched out the individual 
 and ministered to his wants as the early Methodists by their close 
 organization. Much of this has changed with the loss of the first 
 enthusiasm and with the improved circumstances of their members. 
 In the civilization of the great West in this country they did 
 service which cannot be forgotten. 
 
 In the evolution of Liberal Christianity they deserve menfion 
 as the first great body to break openly away from the Calvinism 
 wh'ch prevailed at least nominally in Protestant Christendom. 
 In denying predestination and election, they asserted the power 
 of the individual will to control its own destiny to some extent, 
 and so far advanced toward belief in that dignity of human 
 nature which Channing and his followers fully maintained. The 
 break in the chain of Calvinistic reasoning, though it has stopped 
 here in Methodism itself, has encouraged Liberalism generally; 
 and Unitarians have often had a more fraternal connection with 
 Methodists than with other Evangelicals. The aid given by Uni- 
 tarians to the African Method' sts of the South was bestowed with 
 all the more readiness for this reason. And Avhile there is not 
 much resemblance or sympathy between the emotional worship of 
 the Methodists and our more quiet and intellectual wa\ s, yet in 
 the viviHness of the Methodist's religious experiences, in public 
 and private, we find something akin to our belief that the Spirit 
 
134 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 of God is active in the soul to-day as well as in the apostolic 
 tunes. 
 
 But the fact that in their revolt from Calvinism the Methodists 
 stopped with the denial of human helplessness, and cling yet to 
 the Trinity, the deity of Christ, a vicarious atonement, a future 
 state fixed forever at death, and a textual use of IScripture, kt'e[)S 
 a gulf between them and us which at present it seems impossible 
 to bridge. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 What was the origin of the name "Methodist"? Whence came its 
 present use V What other names now honored have been given in derision? 
 What is the English name for Methodists V Who were their founders ? 
 How did Whitetield differ from Wesley in doctrine? What was Wesley's 
 tirst tendency ? Whose influence changed him ? What was the relation of 
 the first Methodists to the Church of England ? How did it treat them ? 
 What has been the result ? Who was Charles Wesley ? What was the effect 
 of Methodism outside its own ranks ? What position does it now hold in 
 England ? Who formed the first Methodist church in this country ? Who 
 were the first Methodist leaders? Compare the independence of the Metho- 
 dists on reaching this country- with that of the Puritans of Massachusetts 
 Ba}'. Describe the career of Methodism in this country. What was the use 
 of camp-meetings ? What has Methodism done in the South ? 
 
 What is the church government of the Methodists ? What is the govern- 
 ing body called ? What is the difference between the English and the 
 American Conferences ? What is the difference as to the use of bishops ? 
 What is the district conference? the quarterly? What are "classes''? 
 What is the difference between a Methodist and an Episcopal bishop ? What 
 does the presiding elder do ? What kinds of preachers are there ? 
 
 What is the standard of doctrine ? What is the characteristic of Metho- 
 dist theology ? Wherein does it differ from Calvinism ? What is the differ- 
 ence between "free grace" and "predestination" ? between "particular 
 atonement" and "general atonement"? What kind of conversion do 
 Methodists favor ? What is " assurance " ? " perfection " ? How is wor- 
 ship conducted ? What is " probation " ? Wliat position does Methodism 
 hold among the sects in this country as to numbers ? 
 
 For what two things especially do Methodists deserve praise ? Compare 
 them with the Catholics. What have they done for our West ? What 
 relation do they bear to Liberal Christianity ? What do we find in their 
 religious temperament akin to onr views ? On what points do we differ 
 from them ? How serious is this difference ? What is your general impres- 
 sion of ^Methodism ? Compare it with the other Protestant bodies which we 
 have considered. What can you praise ? What must you reject ? What 
 hymns of Charles Wesley do you know ? 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 135 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 The best history of Methodism is that of Dr. Abel Stevens, in seven 
 volumes, three of general history, four of American; but a good resume 
 is James Porter's History of Mtthodlsin, in one volume. See also the most 
 admirable ninth chapter in Lecky's History of England in the Eighteenth 
 Ctntury, vol. ii.; Lives of John Wesley, by Southey and by L. Tyerman, 
 3 vols.; John Wesley and the Evangelical Reaction of the Eighteenth Cen- 
 tury, by Julia Wedgwood; Schaff, voL i. pp. 882-904; Life of George 
 Whitefeld, by L. Tyerman. McClintock and Strong is very full on all 
 points. Histoiy, doctrine, and government are summed up in James Porter's 
 Compend of Methodism ; Fisher, pp. 515-523, and Index. 
 
 For belief and u?ages, see the official Doctrines and DiscijAine of the 
 Methodist Church. John Wesley's sermons and Notes on the Neio Testa- 
 ment and Richard Watson's Theological Institutes are virtual though not 
 official standards. See also Bishop Foster's Studies in Tlieolngy. The 
 Statistics are given in the official Minutes of the Annual Conferences. 
 
 10. THE SALVATION ARMY. 
 A GOOD soldier of Jesus Christ. — 2 Tim. ii. 3. 
 
 The original name was "The Christian Mission.'* But Mr. 
 Booth, in correcting a proof in which tlie workers were described 
 as "a vohinteer army," said, " No, we are not vohinteers, for we 
 feel that we must do what we do, and we are always on duty." 
 He substituted the word " salvation." The title spread, and was 
 formally adopted in 1878. The title " General " was originally 
 an abbreviation of " General Superintendent of the Christian 
 Mission." The military idea was thus a growth. 
 
 The Salvation Army is the development of a mission undertaken 
 in the East End of London in 1875 by Mr. and Mrs. Booih. Its 
 ahn was to reach the lowest classes of the population there reli- 
 giously and morally, in this adopting the general methods of 
 " revivalists," but with the addition of caring also for bodily 
 needs where that was possible. Since the "army" idea was 
 adopted, it has been carried out in great detail in organization, 
 discipline, titles, and phraseology. Its doctrinal standard is the 
 
136 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 *' Articles of War," which each recruit signs, and which contain 
 moderately Evangelical doctrines, probably closely resembling the 
 " free grace ' ' of the Methodists. It allows women to be preach- 
 ers, and they are everywhere prominent among the workers. The 
 spirit of the movement, though suffering sometimes in the hands 
 of incompetent and ignorant people, has been admirable, thor- 
 oughly Christian in the best sense, and recalling some of the most 
 effective periods in Christian history, — as those of the Franciscan 
 monks or of early Methodism. Though it seems sometimes gro- 
 tesque to more cultivated observers, its effect upon the lower 
 classes has been often wonderful. 
 
 Its growth has been very rapid. It numbers to-day 2,864 
 "corps,'" in 32 different countries, 9,349 officers devoted exclu- 
 sively to the work, 13,000 non-commissioned or volunteer officers, 
 7,000 musicians, and over 1,000,000 privates. It has a revenue 
 of about $3,750,000 a year, and invested property of about 
 S3,000,000. It has 32 periodicals (in 12 languages), 24 Homes 
 of Rest, 30 Training Garrisons (for its preachers), 30 Rescue 
 Homes for Fallen Women, etc. 
 
 Its history and hopes are given in a most interesting book by 
 General Booth, In Darkest England and the Way Out, of which 
 a digest with numerous photographs is given in the "Review 
 of Reviews," for October, 1890; and in Beneath Two Flags, by 
 Mrs. Maud B. Booth. 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 137 
 
 Section II. 
 
 CERTAIN OTHER PROTESTANT SECTS. 
 
 1. THE ANTI-SECTARIAN SECTS. 
 
 Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade him, 
 because he followeth not with us But Jesus said, Forbid him not, for he 
 that is not against us is on our part. — Makk ix. 38— iO. 
 
 I. The Christians. — The popular name is "The Christian 
 Connection." The name "Christian" is meant to imply that the 
 body returns to the primitive condition of Christianity before it 
 was corrupted by creeds or by any false doctrine. 
 
 The sect exists only in the United States and Canada, and 
 arose from the union of three distinct movements: (1) A seces- 
 sion from the Methodists, in 1793, in Virginia and North Caro- 
 lina, led by the Rev. James O'Kelly, who had opposed in, vain 
 the power of the bishops over the assiiinment of ministers to 
 churches. They were at first called " Republican Methodists." 
 
 (2) A secession from the Baptists, in 1800, led by Dr. Abner 
 Jones, of Hartland, Vermont, who was joined by many from Free- 
 will Baptist Churches. They wished a non-sectarian Biblical basis. 
 
 (3) A secession from the Presbyterians of Kentucky and Ten- 
 nessee, in 1801, of people who during a great revival had fallen 
 away from Calvinism, and embraced the doctrine of " free grace." 
 They took the name of "Christians" in 1803, whence the name 
 passed over to the united body. 
 
 The "Christians" believe the Bible to be divinely inspired and 
 the supreme authority in matters of religion. Every man must 
 read it for himself; and no creed or council can condemn him for 
 doctrines which he honestly draws from it, nor should any church 
 withdraw its fellowship from him for doctrinal reasons. They hold 
 an Arian vicAv of Christ, — that is, that he is a divine being, pre- 
 existed, and is a mediator between God and man ; but he is not 
 God, and there is no Trinity, His atoning sufferings suffice for 
 all men, who if they repent and have faith may be saved. They 
 
138 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 immerse in baptism, denying that rite to infants, but bold " open 
 communion." 
 
 Their government is congregational, the various churclies 
 sending delegates to State eonferenees, and they to the General 
 Conference. These are bodies of consultation, nut of authority. 
 
 The increase of the Christians reached its climax in 1844, when 
 there were nearly 325,000; but in 1888 they had declined to 
 142,000, with 1,755 churches and 1,344 ministers. The causes of 
 this have been the " Millerite " or " Adventist " excitement about 
 that time, the secession of many to the Disciples of Christ, and 
 the growing liberality of the older bodies. 
 
 See History of the Christians, by N. Summerbell; Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica Supplement, vol. ii. ; Dorchester's Christtaniiy in the 
 United States, pp. 315-317. 
 
 II. Disciples of Christ. — Popular names for this sect are 
 " Campbellites " and " Campbellite Baptists." The members 
 prefer to be called "Disciples of Christ" or "Christians." 
 
 The sect was founded, in 1812, by an Irish Presbyterian, Alex- 
 ander Canipbell, who came to this country in 1807. His purpose 
 was to draw Christians together out of all party names, creeds, 
 and organizations. The Disciples have no creed, but are Evan- 
 gelical in belief. They steadfastly decline to explain such points 
 as the Trinity or the atonement, holding them as revealed facts 
 above the reach of the human intellect, and give baptism only by 
 immersion. They are congregational in government, with the 
 usual district. State, and national associations. 
 
 In 1888 they had 645,771 members (mostly in the West), 6,859 
 churches, and 3,388 ministers besides some foreign missionaries. 
 They are increasing in number very fast. They are enthusiastic 
 in Sunday-school work, and have paid attention to education, 
 having 5 universities, 20 colleges, and 8 academies, and 31 
 periodicals of all kinds. 
 
 See Encyclopaedia Britannica Supplement, vol. ii.; The Origin 
 of the Disciples of Christ, by G. W. Longan ; Memoirs of Alexan- 
 der Campbell; The Christian System, by Alexander Campbell; 
 Dorchester, p. 485. 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 139 
 
 HI. The Christian Union, or The Church- of Christ in 
 Christian Union, was organized iu Columbus, Ohio, in 1863. Its 
 platform is " The oneness of the Church of Christ, Christ the 
 only head, the Bible our only rule of faith and practice, ' good 
 fruits' the only condition of fellowship, Christian union without 
 controversy, each local church governs itself, political preaching 
 discountenanced." The reason for the movement was that men's 
 " hearts were wearied with the cruel intolerance and divisions of 
 the sects." This body is Evangelical in doctrine, congregational 
 in government, having local councils and a quadrennial genei-al 
 council, and practises both kinds of baptism. 
 
 It numbered in 1889 150,000 members, with 1,500 churches and 
 1,200 ministers, mainly in the West, and is rapidly increasing. 
 
 See Encyclopaedia Britannica Supplement, vol. ii. ; Dorchester, 
 pp. 677, 783. 
 
 Liberal Christians must sympathize with all these bodies in 
 their protest against the narrow and trivial sectarianism which 
 divides Christendom. It seems a pity, however, that they should 
 have found it necessary to organize new sects. Between Unita- 
 rians and " Christians" there is practically little difference except 
 in the mode of baptism, which ought not to be considered an essen- 
 tial matter; while between the " Disciples" and the " Christian 
 Union" there seems to be no valid ground for continued separa- 
 tion. The three bodies together make a reinforcement to the Uni* 
 tai-ian protest against creeds of nearly a million church members, 
 besides those otherwise connected with these churches. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 Who are the "Christians"? What is the name commonly given to 
 them ? Where does it exist V How was the sect formed ? What is its 
 belief about the som-ce of authority m religion? about Christ? Are they 
 Unitarian ? Are they Arminian or Calvinist as to the atonement ? Are 
 they increasing ? Why ? 
 
 What are the common names for the " Disciples of Christ " ? Who was 
 their founder ? What was his aim ? What is the tenor of their doctrines ? 
 How do they baptize ? What is tlieir polity ? Are they numerous ? 
 growing ? 
 
 What is the Christian Union ? What are its principles ? Is it Liberal 
 or Evangelical ? 
 
 How far can Unitarians sympathize with any of these bodies ? 
 
140 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 2. THE FRIENDS. 
 
 "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. 
 John xvi. 13. 
 
 Name. — The full name of this sect is " The Religious Society 
 of Friends." The name by which they are connnonly known, 
 " Quakers," is never used by themselves. It was given to them in 
 mockery by one Justice Bennett, of Derby, England, because 
 George Fox "bid them [the judges] tremhle at the word of the 
 Lord." 
 
 History. — The founder and organizer of the Friends was 
 George Fox (1624-1690), the son of a weaver in Drayton, Leices- 
 tershire, England. He was poorly educated, and early appren- 
 ticed to a shoemaker, but was always "religious, inward, still, 
 solid, and observing beyond his years." Brooding much in that 
 time of religious excitement and discussion over the matters in 
 dispute, he felt within him the stirrings and revelations of the 
 Spirit of God, and began in 1647 to go about England as a way- 
 side preacher of the gospel of the "inner light" as superior, 
 though not necessarily opposed, to the authority of Church and 
 Bible. Insistmg on speaking in the churches during the services, 
 he was repeatedly thrown into prison. But he and his fellow- 
 preachers had wonderful success, drawing immense crowds after 
 them, and making many converts. Hearers fell into convulsions 
 and sometimes into insanity. The preachers themselves were 
 often eccentric, sometimes beyond the bounds of decency. Natu- 
 rally, they roused the bitter hostility of all the sects of the day, 
 and were frequently mobbed and in danger of their lives. The 
 language on both sides was warm, and even coarse. The Quaker 
 was a very different being from what he has since become. He 
 was filled with a fierce desire to convert others. He went to the 
 United States, West Indies, Jerusalem, Malta; and Mary Fisher 
 — for women also became preachers — visited Smyrna and Greece, 
 and even sought audience of the Sultan. Fox did not favor the 
 formation of a separate sect, being sure that liis doctrine would 
 conquer the Church itself; but the believers naturally drew 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 141 
 
 together into organizations of their own, which in 1666 were made 
 formal, and a discipline was established for the regulation of the 
 lives of members. 
 
 Toleration by the English government was proclaimed in 1689; 
 and Fox dying in 1690, the Friends changed their character very 
 essentially. 'J hey had suffered during the age of persecution 
 more than any other body, fourteen thousand having been impiis- 
 oned, one hundred and fifty transported, and over three hundred 
 having died from ill-treatment or direct martyrdom. Now the 
 body, like most of the others, lapsed into quietness and almost 
 indolence. It became known more for its peculiarities of dress 
 and manners than for its doctrines, ceased to convert or contro- 
 vert, became a consciously "peculiar people," drew away from 
 the rest of the Christian world, sought by strict regulations 
 to keep its members jealously together, and grew wealthy and 
 respectable. Its numbers rapidly declined. In 1700 there were 
 probably one hundred thousand in the United Kingdom, in 1800 
 only twenty thousand, and to-day there are probably not over 
 fifteen thousand. 
 
 To the United States they came early, two women landing m 
 Boston in 1656. Their coming was much dreaded; and after 
 imprisonment for five weeks they were sent away to Barbadoes, 
 The most stringent laws were passed against Quakers coming 
 to the colony, and against any one harboring or aiding them ; 
 but only the more were they moved to come and " bear testi- 
 mony." They interrupted the Puritan services, doing strange 
 and disturbing things "for a sign," and returned when banished. 
 The excitement against them was great ; and at last the authori- 
 ties, driven beyond patience, hung four of them, Mary Dyer being 
 one, on Boston Common, Public opinion and the order of the 
 kmg condemned this, however, though the struggle against them 
 only gradually ceased. In 1678 they settled New Jersey under 
 Fenwick, and in 1682 Pennsylvania under William Penn; and 
 for many years the immigration was very large. The decrease in 
 England was nearly balanced by the increase in this country. 
 There is a small annual growth on both sides of the Atlantic, but 
 not in proportion to the increase of the population. 
 
142 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 In the middle of the last century a stern attempt was made to 
 restore strictness of discipline in the society ; and it is estimated 
 th it nearly one third of its number was lost, as a result chiefly of 
 the excommunication for marriage with the "world's people." 
 Doctrinal discussions also rent the body. Elias Hicks, a preacher 
 of Long Island, was accused of Unitarianism and of too free treat- 
 ment of the Bible; and a division took place. He was followed, 
 in 1827, by about one third of the American Friends, chiefly in 
 Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and Maryland. Largely by the 
 influence of the Gurney family, which included Elizabeth Fry, 
 the majority of the Society in both countries reacted into Evan- 
 gelical doctrines, and were assimilated to the popular Christianity. 
 But John Wilbur, a Rhode Island Fiiend, opposed this movement, 
 and led a return to faith in the " inner light," as well as to other 
 doctrines of Fox and his contemporaries. The majority, how- 
 ever, remained " orthodox " or " Gurneyite," the Wilburites now 
 hardly existing as an organized body. 
 
 Doctrines — The characteristic doctrine of the Friends is the 
 reliance upon the " Spirit" as a present voice and light in every 
 man's own soul. Reverencing the Bible as true and inspired, 
 they maintain that the same Holy Spirit which spoke to the men 
 of old speaks to-day, and that every man should listen for it and 
 be guided by it. In this belief they once stood opposed both to 
 those who hold to the Church and to those who hold to the Bible 
 as authority. In all matters of life, as well as in doctrine, they 
 waited for this "inner light;" and when it came, or seemed to 
 them to come, they were fearless to the extreme. 
 
 From this main doctrine it follows — 
 
 1. That a specially educated ministry is not deemed essential. 
 Men and women should speik from divine impulse, and not from 
 any human ordination, and should say what God gave them to say, 
 not what human education taught them. If any one feels con- 
 strained to devote himself to preaching, and his brethren think 
 that he is justified in it, he may do so; but there must be no 
 preparation, either in general or for special occasions. The only 
 ordination is a minute of approval by the Meeting to which he 
 belongs, which constitutes him a minister. Speech is always ex- 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 143 
 
 temporaneous. The preachers are not " settled," but often travel 
 from place to place. 
 
 2. Though the Friends assemble at stated times for worship, 
 no "order of service" is allowed. The Bible is not read, nor 
 is any prayer or address necessarily made ; and there is never, 
 except as a modern innovation, singing or music of any kind. No 
 one speaks unless " moved by the Spirit ; " and when so moved, 
 any one may speak. 
 
 3. There are no religious ceremonies. There is no baptism or 
 communion, the Friend holding that the rites of old were but 
 shadows of spiritual acts ; and he denies that Jesus meant to 
 institute or perpetuate them. The marriage of Friends is a simple 
 agreement before the Meeting that the two will live as husband 
 and wife, and the signature of a certificate by them and by the 
 clerk of the Meeting. At a funeral the friends assemble, and 
 after a period of silence at the house, unless some one is moved to 
 speak, bear the body to the grave, where also sometimes " testi- 
 monies are borne " by ministers to the character of the dead. In 
 neither marriage nor funeral has the minister necessarily any 
 part. 
 
 In other respects the doctrines of most Friends at present are 
 those of moderate Evangelical Christians. 
 
 Organization. — The organization of the Society was originally 
 very close. The local society is organized as a "Preparative 
 iSIeeting." It has "overseers of the Meeting," of both sexes, 
 who watch over the lives of members ; " overseers of the poor ; " 
 and "elders," who care for worship and ministry. Several Pre- 
 parative Meetings unite into a "Monthly Meeting," which is the 
 executive body, several of these into a " Quarterly Meeting," and 
 several of these again into a " Yearly Meeting," which legislates 
 for a certain district. There is right of appeal upward to this 
 body. Over the Yearly Meetings there is no authority, though 
 great deference is paid to the London Meeting, as the oldest. 
 The children of members are themselves members by birthright. 
 Any one who wishes to become a member makes request to the 
 Meeting, on which a committee is appointed to investigate the 
 case, and report. 
 
144 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 The "discipline" of the Society was originally very severe. 
 The private life of every member was subject to extraordinary 
 scrutiny. All luxury or extravagance in living, amusements, 
 even music, undue attention to dress, — especially in colors and 
 unnecessary parts, jewelry, buttons, etc., — and too great absorp- 
 tion in business, were strictly repressed. Members were forbidden 
 to go to law, but must bring their grievances before the Meeting. 
 They were forbidden to marry outside of the Society on pain of 
 being disowned. When two members intended to marry, they 
 appeared before the Monthly Meeting, with the consent of their 
 parents ; a committee of men and one of women investigated the 
 matter on either side to see that they were clear of all other 
 engagements, and that the rights of children, if it were a second 
 marriage, were duly cared for ; and if allowed, the marriage took 
 place as already described. All military service was forbidden. 
 No oaths could be taken. No titles were assumed or given, not 
 even "Mr." and "Mrs.;" no unmeaning salutations, as "good- 
 morning," exchanged. The hat was not removed in deference to 
 any one, even in Meeting, except in prayer, when all rose and 
 uncovered their heads ; nor was there any bowing. The primi- 
 tive form of address, as " thee " and "thou," was retained; and 
 the months and days of the week were designated by numbers, as 
 in Scripture, not by the common names, whicli are of pagan 
 origin. Tombstones above a certain small size were prohibited. 
 Many of these characteristics, however, including the peculiar 
 dress, are simply the remains of former customs or fashions, the 
 ornamental being left off. They were not invented. 
 
 The Friends have always been noted for their philanthropy. 
 They were the first to advocate the abolition of slavery. In 17G1 
 all members were cut off who were engaged in the slave trade, 
 and by 1 784 not a Friend in America owned a slave. The mod- 
 ern treatment of the insane was first adopted in England by them. 
 They have always protested against war. Their treaties with the 
 Indians were never violated, and they have cared greatly for the 
 remainder of the race. Elizabeth Fry was one of the first workers 
 in prison reform. The first women preachers, and indeed the 
 first recognition of the equality of women in religious services, 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 145 
 
 were among the Friends. They have also some foreign missions. 
 They have always talcen generous care of their own poor, educat- 
 ing tlieir children, and assisted each other in business. 
 
 Statistics. — There are in all about 128,000 Friends, of whom 
 108,000 are in the United States. Of these 78,000 are "Ortho- 
 dox " (under 12 Yearly Meetings, the largest in Indiana), 24,500 
 are "Hicksite," and 6,000 are in smaller bodies. They have 7 
 colleges, beside^<:academies, and 5 periodicals in this country. 
 Many Meetip^s'havc also " Fir&t-Day schools." 
 
 The Friends were the first Liberal sect in the Reformation, and 
 their rise was as remarkable as it was picturesque. They stood 
 entirely apart from all other Christian bodies, relyin"- on the 
 Spirit as authority, in distinction from Church and Bible. They 
 represent, therefore, the extreme of the Pauline or spiritual ten- 
 dency. There is something magnificent in their complete trust in 
 the inner voice and their sturdy refusal to allow anything to 
 interfere with its being heard and obeyed. 
 
 But the almost entire abandonment of this original position, 
 even by those who hold to the original name, who even brand it 
 with the stigma of heresy, shows that it was premature. Jt was 
 too high and ideal a faith for the mass of men to live up to. 
 They cannot distinguish between the voice of the Spirit and mere 
 transient or selfish impulses. The temptation to set these even 
 above the true "inner light " is very strong, and has led to many 
 ludicrous, as well as serious, results in practice. There is something 
 ironical also in the way in which the ideas of the Friends, when 
 carried out, turned back against themselves. Starting from com- 
 plete individualism, each man looking within himself for guidance, 
 they arrived at one of the most despotic and repressive'codes of 
 " discipline " which any religious or even civil society has ever 
 adopted, and became the most persistent and even annoying 
 proselyters of their day. In the name of pure spiritual religion 
 they laid an emphasis on external things — as dress, speech, titles 
 — which finally made them almost as ritualistic as their first oppo- 
 nents, and which became the chief peculiarity by which the world 
 designated them. Protesting against fashion and etiquette, they 
 fell into a fashion and etiquette of their own quite as strict as any 
 which " the world's people " followed ; and in their hostility to 
 useless expense and luxury, they came not seldom to be known as 
 lovers of money. That after all this the majority of the Society 
 should turn about and renounce the pure doctrine of the " inner 
 
 10 
 
146 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 li^lit," and assimilate themselves to the dogmatic and Scriptural 
 ])o-ition which Fox and Penn denounced, is surely a most striking 
 phenoinenon in reli«^ious history. 
 
 The cricicism upon the Friends is that they overlooked on the 
 one hand the "solidarity" of mankind, and on the other the 
 revelations that come from the outer world. Other men beside 
 themselves had " niner light," and it is by comparison and mutual 
 clarifying that truth becomes known; and the world of Nature, 
 as well as the worhl of the soul, has light to give. iS'evertheless, 
 the main point of the Friend, that the final court of appeal for 
 every man in his questions of faith and duty must lie in his own 
 conscience, heart, and reason, remains unassailable. It is the 
 ground to which Liberal Christianity is rapidly transferring itself; 
 and the Friends must be considered the pioneers and protomartyri 
 of modern spiritual religion. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 What is the origin of the name "Quakers"? What is the name they 
 give themselves ? Who was their founder ? Relate what you recall of his 
 life. What kind of men and women were his first disciples ? How were 
 they treated ? What reaction took place ? What can 3'ou say of their 
 growth ? How did they begin in this country ? Hoav were they treated ? 
 What other States did they enter ? What do you know of the beginning 
 of PennsA'lvania ? What reformation was attempted among the Friends ? 
 What divisions arose ? What parties now exist among them ? 
 
 What is their characteristic doctrine ? Hoav does it differ from that of 
 other sects we have noticed ? How does it compare with our own ? What 
 is their practice with regard to tlie ministry ? to worship ? to religious cere- 
 monies ? to marriage and burial ? Hoav are they organized ? What is a 
 "Preparative Meeting" ? a "Monthly Meeting" ? a "Quarterly Meet- 
 ing "? Does this series of bodies resemble that of any other sect we have 
 considered? How does it consist with the theory of the "inner light"? 
 How did they treat private life ? dress ? disputes ? marriage ? titles ? lan- 
 guage ? How far were any of these inconsistent with the main doctrine ? 
 What can you say of their philanthropy ? AVhat did they do for slavery ? 
 for the insane V for peace V for the Indians ? for woman ? 
 
 Where do the Friends stand in the classification of the sects ? What 
 strange transformations have the}' undergone ? What is the danger of the 
 doctrine of the inner light? Is it any more dangerous than following 
 authority ? Has reliance upon an infallible Church or Bible secured freedom 
 from error ? What criticism can you make upon the main point V What 
 relation has it to ours? Whnt impression have the Friends made upon you ? 
 Do 3'ou think their main doctrine likely to gain or lose power ? 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 147 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 The best (and official) manual is J Concise Account of the Religious 
 Society of Friends, Thomas Evans, Philadelphia; admirable summaries in 
 McClintock and the Encyclopaedia Britannica. An excellent history and 
 criticism by a friendly outsider is Frederick Storrs Turner's The Quakers. 
 The standard history' of the early movement is William Sewell's History of 
 the Rise, Increase, and Progress of the Christian People called Quakers. 
 The standards of doctrine are Robert Barclay's An Apology for the True 
 Christian Divinity, etc.; the writings of William Penn — for example, A^o 
 Cross, no Crown — and of Isaac Pennington. The usages are given in The 
 Book of Discij}line. But the spirit of the Friends must be sought in the 
 Jom-nal of George Fox, the Life of Thomas Ellicood, John Woolman's 
 Journal, and to some degree in the biographies of Elizabeth Fry, Lucretia 
 Mott, Isaac T. Hopper, and others. See also many of Whittier's poems. 
 The P>vangelical movement within the body is advocated in the works of 
 John Joseph Gurney, and the Hicksite movement in Janney's History, 
 vol. iv., and Journal of Klias Hicks. See also Fisher, Index, ''Quakers;" 
 Schaff, vol. i. pp. 859-874 (the Confession of 1675 is in vol. iii., p. 789). 
 In the United States, see Bancroft, Palfrey, Memorial History of Boston, 
 and G. Yj. Ellis's The Puritan Commonwealth ; from the Friends' point of 
 view, R. P. Hallowell's The Quaker Invasion of Massachusetts. 
 
 3. THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 To be spirittially minded is life and peace. — Rom. viii. 6. 
 
 Name. — The members of this body are commonly called 
 Swedenborgians ; but they do not use the name themselves. Their 
 official title is " The Church of the Xew Jerusalem." 
 
 History. — Emanuel Swedenborg, whose theological writings 
 are regarded by this religious body as containing a true and 
 divinely revealed exposition of Christian doctrine, was born at 
 Stockholm, Sweden, in 1688. His father, Jesper Swedberg, was 
 a professor of theology and a bishop in the Lutheran Church, 
 a man of great piety and learning, and a zealous reformer. His 
 son Emanuel was finely educated, and became famous for mechan- 
 ical and mathematical inventions. He was led by his researches 
 
148 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 into higher regions of thought, and especially to inquire into the 
 rehitioiis of matter and spirit. About the year 1745 he claimed 
 that his spiritual sight was opened. Of this call Swedenborg him- 
 self wrote : " I have been called to a holy office by the Lord Him- 
 self, who most graciously manifested Himself in person to me His 
 servant in the year 1 745, when He opened my sight to the view 
 of the spiritual world, and granted me the privilege of conversing 
 with spirits and angels, which I enjoy to this day (1769). From 
 that time I began to print and publish various arcana that have 
 been seen by me or revealed to me, — as respecting heaven and 
 hell, the state of man after death, the true worship of God, the 
 spiritual sense of the Word, with many most important matters 
 conducive to salvation and true wisdom." 
 
 He gave himself up entirely to these matters, abandoning his 
 former studies. To his seventy-seven treatises on scientific sub- 
 jects were now added more than that number upon Biblical and 
 theological subjects, the chief of them being his " Arcana Coeles- 
 tia," in eight large volumes. Throughout his long period of 
 spiritual activity, be retained and honorably filled a seat in the 
 Swedish senate, and presented several memorials of importance to 
 his country. He died in 1772. He was a man of iron constitu- 
 tion, of prodigious intellectual activity and power, of simple life, 
 universally resjjcct.ed and loved even by those who ridiculed his 
 claims and his doctrines. 
 
 His views were taken up after his death by scholars in Sweden, 
 England, Germany, and the United States. The first public 
 meeting was held in London, 1 783 ; but the first society was 
 organized there in 1787. The first general conference was held 
 there in 1789, and the first convention in this country, at Phila- 
 delphia, in 1817. 
 
 Doctrines. — The doctrines of the New Church claim to be 
 a revelation of spiritual truth, intended to enable us rightly to 
 understand the sacred Scripture, to unfold its higher wisdom, 
 whereby a purer and more exalted state of life may be attained. 
 For this purpose a human instrument was needed, and such an 
 instrument was provided in the person of Emanuel Swedenborg. 
 By those who are convinced of the truths of his religious system, 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 149 
 
 his mind is believed to have been illumined to an extraordinary 
 degree. His spiritual senses were opened, enabling him to see 
 and converse with beings in the other world and describe the 
 nature of its life, and also to discern the internal, or as it is 
 called, spiritual meaning of the Scripture. 
 
 The New Church believes and teaches that God is love itself 
 and wisdom itself; that he is one both in essence and in person; 
 and that the Lord Jesus Christ in His now glorified and Divine 
 Humanity is the perfect embodiment of that God. The Trinity 
 is not a trinity of persons, but of divine essentials, consistino- of 
 love, wisdom, and their proceeding operation, and called in the 
 Gospels Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is like the soul, body, 
 and their resultant energy. The Father is in the Son, as man's 
 soul is within his body; the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father 
 by the Son, as man's power proceeds into act from his soul by 
 means of his body. The djvine trinity in the Lord is, then, of 
 the same nature as the finite trinity in man, — the Father, Son, 
 and Holy Spirit being one Lord in one Person, as the soul, body, 
 and the life of man are one man. 
 
 While the Lord was on earth. He had both a human and a 
 divine nature, just as every man has an external and an internal, 
 or what is sometimes called a lower and a higher nature. As to 
 the external nature, which was derived by incarnation, He was 
 frail, finite, liable to temptation, like any other man ; but as to 
 His internal or essential being He was infinite, perfect, divine. 
 By His own divine power. He gradually overcame the evil apper- 
 taining to the Humanity or nature assumed by birth, conquered 
 all the powers of hell, put off all that was frail and finite, and 
 brought down into every region of that nature the very divine 
 love and wisdom, and so made it one with the essential and in- 
 dwelling divinity. This is what is understood by the Lord's 
 " glorification " mentioned in the Gospels. 
 
 According to the New Church, the Sacred Scripture is inspired. 
 When understood in its true sense, it is seen to treat of things 
 spiritual and eternal, — of God, the soul, immortality, redemption, 
 regeneration, sin, forgiveness. It appears to treat of things 
 natural and temporal. But these are believed to be capable of 
 
150 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 spiritual interpretation. They all have a deeper or more prop- 
 erly a spiritual meaning. So that within or above the ajjparent 
 meaning of any passage there is a higher meaning called the 
 spiritual. And this spiritual sense is to that of the letter as the 
 soul is to the body. 
 
 But Swedenborg, in revealing the law of a divine composition, 
 has disclosed at the same time a means by which the spiritual 
 sense may be unfolded; namely, the law of analogy, or more 
 properly, of correspondences. According to this law, which was 
 known to the ancients, all natural things are seen to bear a rela- 
 tion to spiritual things. A knowledge of this law opens the book 
 of Nature, making every living object a voice to tell us of the 
 spiritual forces from which it springs. It is also found to be the 
 key to the Bible, enabling us to see within a temporary and local 
 clothing principles of universal and eternal application. So defi- 
 nite and systematic is this law of correspondences that a hundred 
 different expositors equally skilled in its use will thereby arrive at 
 substantially the same spiritual sense. 
 
 The New Church believes that man is born with hereditary 
 tendencies to evil. But he is not a sinner because he inheiits 
 these proclivities, but only when he yields to them in actual evil. 
 This natural or hereditary state is not a heavenly one. Gradually 
 the natural, inordinate love of self and the world must be replaced 
 by a love to the Lord and the neighbor. This takes place in the 
 degree that a man regards the indulgence of any known evil as 
 a sin against God, and shuns it because it is a sin, at the same 
 time conforming his life to all known truth from a sense of re- 
 ligious obligation. So far as he does this, his evils are removed 
 and forgiven, and the opposite good affections are given him in 
 their stead. 
 
 The New Church teaches that man does not die. The material 
 body alone dies. The spirit, which is the real man, continues to 
 live, but in the spiritual world where all things are homogeneous 
 to itself. The spirit is in the human form, having senses far more 
 acute than those of the body ; and these senses are opened as soon 
 as the body dies, so that the spirit sees and hears other spirits as 
 men see and hear one another. During our life on earth the 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 151 
 
 spiritual body is within the natural. But after the death of the 
 latter, the spiritual body still lives on in its own world, and never 
 resumes its material vestment. And the separation of the spirit 
 from the incumbrance of gross matter, which takes place almost 
 immediately after death, is what is understood by the resurrection. 
 
 The "Judgment " consists in the revelation of man's real inward 
 character or purpose. By the law of affinity which governs all 
 associations in the other world, spirits go with those whose charac- 
 ters are most congenial to their own. Thus each one goes " to 
 his own place " in perfect freedom. 
 
 The happiness of heaven does not consist in idleness or cessa- 
 tion from active employment, nor in continual psahn-singing and 
 oral prayer, nor in feasting sumptuously with the patriarchs, nor 
 in being raised to honors, nor in the exercise of dominion over 
 others, but in the diUgent and wise performance of good uses from 
 love to the Lord and the neighbor ; in the freest expansion and 
 highest exercise of all one's best faculties, not for the sake of self, 
 but primarily for the good of others. 
 
 The New Church believes that the Lord's second coming has 
 actually commenced ; that it is a coming, not in person, but in a 
 new power of the Spirit of Truth, which will lead all who from 
 the heart believe in God and his Word into the way of truth, ani^ 
 into a new power of Christian goodness and love. 
 
 Government. — The polity of this religious body is both simple 
 and liberal. Strict uniformity as to liturgical usages or rules of 
 church government is not insisted upon. Each society is free 
 to arrange for its own services and act under its own rules, which, 
 hov/ever, are quite similar. Societies geographically near to each 
 other group themselves into an " Association," which then appoints 
 one of its ministers as a '' General Pastor," whose duty it is to 
 exercise a general oversight of the spiritual interests of his Asso- 
 ciation. These Associations are joined together in a general body, 
 known as the " General Convention of the New Jerusalem '"n the 
 United States of America." This general body meets annually. 
 To this body the several Associations make a report of their work. 
 These meetings, together with a special conference, or meeting of 
 all the ministers, Sunday-school superintendents, and teachers, etc.. 
 
152 A STUDY OF THE SPXTS. 
 
 occupy about a week, and are much enjoyed. The Rev. Cliauncey 
 Giles, D.D., of Pliiladelphia, has been president of the General 
 Convention for many years. 
 
 JMinisters are introduced into their office by the usual rite of 
 ordination, performed by one of the " General Pastors " above 
 mentioned. The church recognizes and carefully observes two 
 sacrainents, Baptism and the Holy Supper. 
 
 Statistics. — The " New-Church Almanac " for 1889 sums up 
 in America, including Canada, 11 Associations, 127 active socie- 
 ties, of which 88 have regular ministerial services, and (estimated) 
 7,028 communicant members. To these are added 3,150 not con- 
 nected with any body, making a total of 10,178. There are 82 
 houses of worship, 65 "reading circles," 91 Sabbath-schools, and 
 91 clergy in active service of various kinds. To the membership 
 must be added the usual merely congregational connection. The 
 largest number is in Massachusetts. There is a Theological School 
 in Cambridge, Mass. ; and Urbana University, at Urbana, Ohio, is 
 under New Church control. 
 
 In England there were, in 1885, 65 societies and 32 ministers, 
 with about a dozen educational and missionary institutions. There 
 are also churches in the colonies, in South Germany, Austria, 
 Norway, and Switzerland. 
 
 The influence of the doctrines of the New Church upon those 
 who sincerely and intelligently hold them is very marked and very 
 beautiful. They give very much the same serenity and quiet trust 
 which the primitive Friends had, without their intolerance and 
 proselytism, and especially sweet equanimity and faith in death 
 and bereavement. They have also great power over many thought- 
 ful people in their theory of the Scriptures, and in the wider ap- 
 plication of the doctrine of "correspondences" throughout the 
 relations of matter and spirit. There has been much intellectual 
 sympathy between them and the Unitarians of this country, though 
 there has been no formal expression of it. In their exclusion from 
 the fellowship of " Evangelical " Christians, in their dissati.-faction 
 with the doctrine of the literal infallibility of the Bible, in their 
 search for a hi<zher and wider interpretation of sacred history, in 
 their denial of the Trinity and other doctrines held by the popular 
 sects, and in their theories of the future life, we find much to 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 153 
 
 accept. On the other hand, we cannot accede to the claims made 
 for .Swedenborg ; and we share with the rest of the world, even 
 after a century of open and fair discussion, its denial of the 
 "second sense " of the Scriptures. The latter is an old doctrine, 
 running back to the Jewish scholars of the time of Jesus, and the 
 Christian scholars of the third century, but always failing to gain 
 support. It is but a temporary refuge for those who are driven 
 from belief in the literal infallibility of the Scriptures ; and the 
 spiritual beauty and elevation which it finds in so many plainly 
 commonplace passages are evidently first transferred to them out 
 of the revelations which the Spirit makes to-day. But the argu- 
 ments which Swedenborg addresses directly to the rea^on of men 
 are often of the highest value ; and no more beautiful, comforting, 
 or reasonable ideas of the future life have ever been uttered than 
 by him. He stands among the great religious teachers of history. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 Wliat is the popular name of this sect ? its official name ? "Who was its 
 founder ? Of what nation was he ? of what parentage V In what was he 
 first eminent ? When was his attention turned to religious matters V How? 
 What course did he pursue V "What is his chief work V What can you say 
 of his character ? How were his views spread ? 
 
 What is tlie New Church view of Swedenborg? of the Trinity? How 
 does this differ from the popular doctrine ? What is said of the relation of 
 the two natures in Christ ? of the inspiration of the Scriptures ? of the 
 double meaning ? How is this applied to the world in general ? What is 
 the doctrine of human nature ? of salvation ? of death ? of the relation 
 between the living and the dead ? of the future life ? of the judgment ? of 
 the second advent of Christ ? 
 
 What can j'ou say of the effect of New Church doctrines upon those 
 believers whom yon know? What is the feeling of Unitarians toward the 
 New Church ? What points have they in common ? How do we differ 
 from them as to Swedenborg? as to the " second sense " ? What is the 
 history of this latter doctrine ? What use has it served ? How do you 
 account for the satisfaction it gives ? What great good has Swedenborg 
 done ? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 A good summary in Appleton's Encyclopjiedia. The latest and presumably 
 best life of Swedenborg is that by Benjamin Worcester, Boston, 1883, though 
 there are several others. The later and larger biography of Wliite is said 
 to contain many slanders. See also Emerson's essay in Rejivesentative 3fen. 
 The best brief exposition of the doctrine is James Reed's Swedenborg and 
 
154 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 the New Church, Boston, 1881, of which there is also a ver}' cheap edition. 
 Also good is Chaiincey Giles's Why I am a New Churchman. Swedenborg's 
 own works are, of course, the standards. The Arcana Coelestia, in eight 
 lan'-e volumes, is an exposition of the spiritual sense of Genesis and Exodus. 
 The True Christian Religion contains a summary of doctrine, while Heaven 
 and its Wonders and Hell goes into detail about the future life. A short 
 summary in Swedenborg's own words is The New Jtrusalem and its Heav- 
 enly Doctrine as revealed from Heaven. The literature of the New Church 
 is remarkably abundant, and may be learned from the catalogues of the 
 publication societies. 
 
 4. THE ADVENTISTS. 
 
 Where is the promise of his coming ? for since the fathers fell asleep, all 
 things continue as they were. — 2 Peter iii. 4. 
 
 Adventists are those Chri^ians who believe that the visible, 
 personal second coming or advent of Christ is near at hand, and 
 that at this coming the millennium, or thousand years' reign, will 
 begin. They exi&t in several organizations, and are often called 
 "Millerites," from their founder, William Miller. 
 
 That Christ will soon come back was the belief of the first 
 Christians, as shown by many passages in the Epistles. Though 
 opposed by Jerome and Augustine, it reappeared at times through- 
 out Christian history, being especially strong at the Reformation. 
 The present organizations owe their beginning to William Miller, 
 a native of Massachusetts and a Baptist, who began to preach his 
 new views in the State of New York, in 1831. Followers multi- 
 plied, camp-meetings and tent-meetings were held where churches 
 or halls could not be had, and great excitement arose, which 
 reached a climax when Miller set the date of the advent between 
 March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844. The date of the crucifixion, 
 April 14, was a favorite. The failure of all prophecies was a 
 blow to the cause, which had never been organized; and at 
 Miller's death, in 1849, the number of believers decreased still 
 faster. But an organization had been begun four years before 
 at Albany, around which a new sect gathered. 
 
 All Adventists are Evangelical in main points of doctrine, and 
 congregational in church government. They all believe in the 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 155 
 
 visible and speedy personal coming of Christ, though at an 
 uncertain time ; in the resurrection of the rigliteous dead then; 
 in their reign with Christ during tlie millennium, Avhile the earth 
 is being set in order and the wicked subdued; and in the Judgment 
 to follow. All baj)tize by immersion. 
 
 1. The " Evangelical Adventists " represent the original body. 
 They hold to the natural immortality of the soul, the conscious 
 state of the dead, and the conscious eternal suffering of the 
 wicked. They number about five thousand. 
 
 2. The " Advent Christians " broke from the main bo<:ly, in 
 1854, on the question of date. They deny that the immortality 
 of the soul is natural, and affirm that it is the gift of Christ, and 
 only to believers; that, therefore, the wicked will be destroyed, 
 and will not suffer eternally. They number about thirty thousand. 
 
 3. The Seventh-Day Adventists have their headquarters at 
 Battle Creek, Michigan. They originated in the "visions" of 
 " Sister "White," of Palmyra, Maine, which are regarded as spiritual 
 manifestations. They believe that Christ is at work cleansing the 
 heavenly sanctuary " from the presence of our sins, imparted to 
 it through the blood of Christ there ministered in our behalf." 
 When this is finished he will come back, but the time is uncer- 
 tain. The law of JMoses is still valid, including the Sabbath on 
 the seventh day. They practise the washing of feet and the kiss 
 of peace at the Lord's Supper. They number nearly thirty 
 thousand, compactly organized. They are zealous opponents of 
 intoxicating liquor and tobacco. 
 
 There are also smaller sects, as "Life and Advent Union " and 
 '' Age-to-come Adventists," both of which reject the eternal 
 torture of the wicked, and the " Church of God " in INIissouri 
 founded on a very insignificant divergence from the doctrine of 
 the Seventh-Day Adventists. The three have together about 
 nine thousand members. 
 
 .AH these bodies are careless of educational matters, having 
 scarcely any institutions of learning. There is little church 
 property, but much publishing of books, tracts, and periodicals. 
 The ministers usually labor during the week, and so support 
 themselves. 
 
156 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 There is also an association called " The Baptist Conference 
 for Bible Study," organized in Chicago in the spring of 1890, 
 which consists of Baptists who look for a second coming of 
 Christ. They set no date, and do not regard it as necessarily 
 near, but make it a sort of third dispensation. What the Old 
 Testament dispensation was to the New Testament, the present 
 stage of revelation is to that of the Advent. Without this the 
 sin and infidelity of the world can never be overcome. At his 
 coming Christ will " set up his kingdom in person, and sway his 
 sceptre over the empires of the world for one thousand years, sub- 
 duing evil, and crushing out wickedness." Then will come the 
 Judgment. There are also many Presbyterians who hold the 
 same views. In neither case is there any intention or desire to 
 form a separate body, and they must be carefully distinguished 
 from the sectarian Adventists. The " Irvingites " or "Catholic 
 Apostolic Church " in England also look for the coming of Christ 
 to precede the millennium. 
 
 The earliest documents of Christianity contain a clear expecta- 
 tion of the return of Jesus before his generation had passed away 
 (1 Thess. iv. 13-18; 1 Cor. vii. 29-31, xv. 51,52; Phil. iv. 5 ; 
 James v. 8 ; 2 Peter iii. 1-13; and the Apocalypse generally). 
 That this expectation was founded upon tlie words of Jesus or 
 some misunderstanding of them is also clear from many passages 
 in the Gospels (Matt. x. 7, 23 ; xxiv. 3-51, especially 34, xxv. ; 
 xxvi. 29; Luke ix. 27). These limit us to three theories, — either 
 that these passages are to be taken in a figurative sense, or 
 that they have been misreported, or that Jesus himself mistook 
 the time or manner of his return. The first two probably unite 
 in the fact. Jesus may have spoken of the establishment of his 
 cause upon the earth as his own second coming; but there is much 
 of his language that cannot be fairly so un(ierstood, and it may 
 be that it has suffered in passing through the minds of those who 
 heard liim, and of those who recorded his words. If the Advent- 
 ists, and indeed most Evangelical Christians, are right in under- 
 standing him to have meant a personal return to the earth, the 
 assertion of Jesus and his Apostles that this Avould happen within 
 their generation, and before those who heard it were all dead, 
 remains irreconcilable with historic facts. 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 157 
 
 The belief formed undoubtedly one of the rally in g-points and 
 mainstays of the first Christians, and its gradual and quiet death 
 ■was a most remarkable result of the earthly success of the new 
 religion. In spite of its many revivals, it has no serious place in 
 practical Christian faith now. Indeed, it seems to many a pessi- 
 mistic doctrine, as if the Christian revelation and the agencies it 
 has set at Avork in the world were failures, or sadly insufficient, 
 and a new start were necessary. To the more thoughtful mind 
 the coming of Christ is an inward and gradual fact, — not a 
 failure, but an increasing success, though not as swift as we could 
 wish. " Even so come, Lord Jesus ! " 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 Who are the Adventists ? What other name is often given them ? How 
 old is their main doctrine ? Who revived the belief in tliis century? Give 
 an account of the circumstances. What doctrines are held by all Adventists 
 in common? Who are the "EvangeHcal Adventists"? The "Advent 
 Christians " ? The " ^eventh-DaA^ Adventists " V What other bodies do 
 you recall ? What peculiarities have they all ? What Adventists exist 
 in other bodies '? 
 
 Is any belief in the second advent of Christ to be found in the New 
 Testament ? What texts of this tenor can you recall ? What three theories 
 in regard to these texts may be held? Which seems to you most probable? 
 What did the belief in the second coming of Christ do for primitive Chris- 
 tianity ? Has it any use for us ? What is the true doctrine ? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 Articles in McClintock, American Cj'clopcTedia, etc. ; The Reign of Christ, 
 by D. T. Taylor ; History of the Second-Advent Message, by J. C. Wellcome ; 
 History of the Sabbath and First Bay, by John Nevins Andrews ; Thoughts 
 on Daniel and the Revelation. 
 
158 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 Section III. 
 
 THE LIBERAL PROTESTANT SECTS. 
 
 1. THE UNIVERSALISTS. 
 
 As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. — 1 CoK. 
 XV. 22. 
 
 Name. — A Univcrsalist is one who believes in universal salva- 
 tion ; that is, the ultimate perfection and blessedness of all human 
 beings. The name " Restorationist " is older, but has in later 
 times been restricted to those who hold to a probability of future 
 punishment before ultimate salvation, as opposed to those who 
 believe that all men reach heaven at once after death. 
 
 History. — Many of the most prominent of the earlier Chris- 
 tians, especially Oriofen, in Alexandria (185-254), believed that 
 all men would finally be saved. But the great influence of Saint 
 Augustine (854-430) prevailed, and the doctrine sank almost 
 out of sight till after the Reformation. It did not come into 
 prominence till the last century. James Relly, a preacher of 
 Calvinistic Methodism under Whitefield, at last carried his view 
 of predestination so far as to believe that God would see that all 
 men were saved. By his writings John INIurray was converted, 
 and became the father of American Universalism as a body ; 
 though there was a good deal of latent belief in the doctrine, and 
 Mayhew and Chauncy, of Boston, had openly preached it in the 
 middle of the century. Landing in America in 1770, Murray 
 founded the first Universalist Church in Gloucester, Mass., in 1779, 
 becoming minister of the church in Boston in 1793, and dying as 
 such in 1815. Following Relly, he taught election in this life, 
 — that the elect go directly to heaven at death. The non-elect are 
 purified by fire till the Judgment Day, when they find that they 
 too are saved by the atonement of Christ. Elhanan Winchester, 
 of Philadelphia, thought the interval would be about forty-four 
 thousand years. Murray was a Trinitarian of the modal or 
 Sabellian type, maintaining one God in three manifestations, 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 159 
 
 but not divided into three persons. He was thus a thorough 
 Calvinist, except that he widened predestination to include all 
 mankind. 
 
 The preaching of Hosea Ballou, which began in 1790, marked 
 a new era. He was practically a Unitarian in all points — though 
 believing Jesus to be divinely sent and endowed — except that he 
 taught that all men were saved at death. There would be no 
 future punishment, except for future sins. This doctrine proved 
 more popular than Murray's, and the sect grew more rapidly. 
 A minority, however, still clung to belief in punishment hereafter, 
 and their view seems now to have become the prevailing one. 
 Probably few, if any, Universalists hold to immediate universal 
 salvation at death. 
 
 The doctrine of " eternal hope " has also found many advocates 
 in the Church of England, who claim that the omission of the 
 article on eternal penalty in the revision of the Articles under 
 Elizabeth allows this latitude. Stanley, Kingsley, Maurice, 
 Farrar, Kobertson, and many others have held to the liope, 
 though not to the certainty of universal restoration, — a hope 
 which is widely cherished among other Evangelical Christians, 
 though not always openly proclaimed. 
 
 Doctrines. — Universalism, as we have seen, has passed 
 through an almost complete transformation. Beginning as Cal- 
 vinism, it has become Unitarian and liberal. Like many other 
 sects, it has a conservative and a liberal party, in which the trans- 
 formation is seen in different stages, but the liberal tendency 
 seems to be rapidly gaining ground. 
 
 The nominal standard of belief is the " Profession of Faith " 
 adopted at "Winchester, N. H., in 1803. Murray was then living, 
 and the creed bears the marks of a compromise between the old 
 and the new phases of belief. It probably does not represent ex- 
 actly the position of even the majority of the denomination, but 
 as usual, it has been found difficult to make satisfactory changes 
 in a form of faith once settled. 
 
 Article I. — We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New 
 Testaments contain a revelation of the character of God, and of the duty, 
 interest, and tinal destination of mankind. 
 
160 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 Article II, — We believe that there is one God, whose nature is Love, 
 revealed in one Lord, Jesus Christ, by one Holy Spirit of Grace, who will 
 tinally restore tlie whole family of mankind to holiness and happiness. 
 
 Akticlk III — We believe that holiness and true ha[)piness are insepa- 
 rably connected, and that believers ought to be careful to maintain order 
 and practise good works; for these things are good and piolitable unto 
 men. 
 
 As to the Bible, great latitude of opinion exists, from those who 
 hold the older view of its textual infallibility to those who see in 
 it the record of a progressive revelation to a peoj)le peculiarly 
 fitted to receive it, but a revelation neither perfect nor final. The 
 Trinity is generally rejected, and the essential humanity of Jesus 
 believed, there being some diversity as to the extent to which he 
 was supernaturally endowed and guided. Perhaps more emphasis 
 is laid by the average Universalist upon the official station of 
 Jesus, as in a special sense a son of God and redeemer of men, 
 than by other Liberals. As to the future life, there is general 
 agreement as to the probability of some kind of future discipline 
 for those who are not sufficiently purified by the penalties and 
 sufferings of this life ; but the belief in the final restoration of all 
 to "holiness and true happiness" is emphatic and universal. 
 This is their distinctive doctrine. 
 
 Their worship is, like that of most Protestants, unliturgical, 
 prayer being extemporaneous, though there is a growing tendency 
 to the antiphonal reading of the Psalms. 
 
 Government. — The Universalists have retained from their 
 primitive Calvinism a tendency to a presbyterian form of church 
 polity. They are not strictly congregationalists. The supreme 
 body is the " General Convention," which is made up of delegates 
 from the various "State Conventions." It has established the 
 "Profession of Faith" as the creed of the denomination, and 
 makes it a condition of fellowship in itself or in the State Con- 
 ventions, of the ordination of ministers, and of admission to 
 membership in the churches. The State Convention is made 
 up of a minister, two delegates, and one additional delegate for 
 every fifty members over the first fifty from each church in its 
 fellowship. 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 161 
 
 Statistics. — The Universalists are practically an American 
 body, the only churches outside this country being tAvo in 
 Scotland. There are here (1889) 721 churches, containing 
 38,780 members and holding about |8, 000, 000 of property, and 
 having 53,000 in their Sunday-schools. They are strongest in 
 Massachusetts, New York, Maine, Vermont, Ohio, and Illinois. 
 They do not increase much, if at all, in numbers, though they are 
 said to be more active than formerly in church and denominational 
 life. They have 3 theological schools, 4 colleges, 5 academies, 
 and 7 periodicals, besides Sunday-school papers. The " Uuiver- 
 salist Record," recently established, represents the influential and 
 increasing liberal element. 
 
 The Universalists and the Unitarians are commonly called 
 together "Liberal Christians." The differences between them 
 are small and are growing smaller. Both have cluuiged very 
 much since their modern reappearance. The Universalists, be- 
 ginning as Calvinists, have become Unitarian at almost every 
 point, while the Unitarians, beginning with an aversion to the 
 doctrine of universal restoration, many with an actual belief in 
 eternal punishment, have all come to hold at least the eternal 
 hope. The differences which remain may be summed up as 
 follows: — 
 
 1. Universalists lay more stress on dogmatic belie/ than Unita- 
 rians, having their common creed, and generally a very vivid and 
 positive opinion on its various points. They have always been 
 fond of textual controversy, as well as of argument on grounds of 
 reason and conscience. 
 
 2. They emphasize the supernatural element in reliixion more 
 fully, — the divine mission and endowment of Jesus, the excep- 
 tional inspiration of the Bible, the agency of God in bringing all 
 men to goodness in the end ; while Unitarians have seen more 
 clearly the moral and spiritual excellencies of flesus and of the 
 Bible, and the power of man over his own destiny. 
 
 3. As to the future life, the Universalist says that all men icill 
 be saved, while the Unitarian says that he hopes they may. 'J'he 
 Universalist retains so much of his Calvinism as to emphasize the 
 sovereignty of God even to predestinntion ; while the Unitarian, 
 in his respect for the power of the human will, even for evil,, 
 seeing that characters are often still diverging as they go out of 
 this world, feels a certain sad reserve in his trust in their union 
 hereafter. 
 
 11 
 
162 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 4. As the Universalist still leans toward Ortliodoxy in liis love 
 of (loo'iua, so he does in liis loyalty to the outward institutions of 
 relitfion. He is more faithful in attendance at chinch, more likely 
 to become a "member," more fond of baptism and the connuunion, 
 more interested in prayer-meetings. 
 
 5. But probably the real cause of the separate existence of the 
 two bodies lies in their separate origin and history. The Uni- 
 tarians were at first simply a section of the old Congregational 
 body, the establislied church of New England, broken of!" in con- 
 trov'ersy, and carrying away bodily most of the oldest church 
 organizations, with their wealth, social prestige, scholarly tradi- 
 tions, and general conservatism of temperament. The Univer- 
 salists were an entirely new body, raised by earnest though not 
 always well-educated preachers out of sturdy and fearless stock 
 in the middle class. They were the "Roundheads" of the 
 Liberal movement, and have always had more influence upon the 
 mass of people than their Unitarian co-workers. Out of this 
 difference have grown many considerations which kept the two 
 bodies apart in the past. Now those considerations are disap- 
 pearing, and the two movements keep apart merely because they 
 began so. The union of the two is devoutly to be wished, and 
 must some day be accomplished. 
 
 The Universalists have been prominent in social reforms, and 
 are always good fighters. They were active in the anti-slavery 
 movement, and are zealous in temperance and woman suffrage. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 "What does the name "Uiiiversalist " mean? what "Restorationist " ? 
 What place had this doctrine among the earlier Christians V Who was its 
 greatest champion V its greatest opponent ? Who was its modern reviver ? 
 Wliat was his history V How did it influence his belief V Who was the 
 father of American Uuiversalism ? What were his doctrines ? Who suc- 
 ceeded him as leader? Wliat change did he effect? How far is his view 
 of the futine life still held? What advocates has the "eternal hope'' 
 elsewhere ? 
 
 What tendency is gaining ground now? What do you mean by this? 
 What is the nominal standard of faith? What do you see in Article H. of 
 the nature of a compromise ? What is the belief about the Bible ? about 
 the Trinity ? about Jesus ? about the future life ? What is their wofship ? 
 Wliat is their form of government? What power has the General Conven- 
 tion ? How does all this differ from our own politv ? 
 
 What are Universalists and Unitarians together called ? How have they 
 both changed ? What beliefs have the}' in common now ? How do they 
 differ as to dogmatic belief i how as to supernaturalism ? how as to the 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 163 
 
 future life ? how as to outward religion ? What can 3'ou sa}' of their origin? 
 Who were the "Roundheads"? How w^ere the Universalists like them V 
 How were the Unitarians like the'' Cavaliers " V Have these differences 
 increased, or not ? What position have the Universalists taken tOAvard 
 social reforms V Do you know many Universalists V Have you found any 
 difference between them and ourselves ? Do you think they are likely to 
 grow ? How far do you think their main doctrine is held in other bodies ? 
 What effect would this have upon the growth of Universalists? Do you 
 think all men likely to be saved? Why? What influence do you think 
 this belief would have upon people generally? If men resist God here, 
 what reason is there for thinking that they will yield to him hereafter ? 
 What does the Bible say ? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 The best exposition of average Universalism is T. B. Thayer's Theology 
 of Universalism. The views of the liberal party are given in a recent 
 work, called Essays Doctrinal and Practical, by several clergymen. The 
 Lives of John Murray, Hosea Ballou, and T. B. Whittemore are useful in 
 history. See also McClintock and Strong, Fisher's Index, and Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica. 
 
 2. THE UNITARIANS. 
 
 OxE God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you 
 all. — Eph. iv. 6. 
 
 Name. — The word Unitarian is now commonly used to 
 designate those who believe in the unity of the personality of 
 God, as distinct from the Trinitarians, who believe in three divine 
 Persons. The origin of the name is disputed, but it seems to 
 have appeared first in Hungary, in the (new) Latin form of Uni- 
 fai'ius, about 1570. It was first officially used in Transylvania in 
 1638, and the English word is now so used by the Associations of 
 England and America also, though it is not found till 1687. The 
 common names for Unitarians were at first Anti-frinitarians, 
 Avians, Sociniaiis, Racovians, and others. In this country they 
 are often called Unitarian Congregationalists, as being the Unita- 
 rian branch of the Congregation alist body since the division at 
 the beginning of this century. In England, for a similar reason, 
 they are often called Presbyterians, 
 
164 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 History. — Unitarianism, considered as the doctrine of the 
 unity of the Godliead, is older than Christianity. The Jews were 
 in this sense Unitarians, when they had emerged from polytheism. 
 Jesus and his Apostles were therefore brought up in this faith, and 
 nothing but the plainest proof should allow any one to believe 
 that they ever departed from it. That the earliest Christians did 
 not believe in the Trinity is shown not only by the New Testa- 
 ment, but by the fact that the last remnant of the Jewish Chris- 
 tians, the Ebionites, believed in the unity of God, till they vanished 
 in the fifth century. The development of the doctrine of the 
 Trinity (see pp. 24-28) had to fight its way to success ; and when 
 the Arians were officially denounced at the Council of Nicsea in 
 325, they were almost, if not quite, as numerous as their victorious 
 opponents. 
 
 Unitarianism, however, reappeared with the Reformation, Its 
 martyrs began with Adam Duff, who was executed in Dublin in 
 1326, and the last man burned for heresy in England was Edward 
 Wightman, a Unitarian, in 1612. The most celebrated of the 
 Unitarian martyrs was Michael Servetus (Miguel Serveto), a 
 Spaniard, who was burned at Geneva in 1553 at the instigation 
 of John Calvin. Of far greater influence upon Unitarian doctrine 
 and history were Laelio and Fausto Sozzino, better known under 
 their Latin names, Laslius and Faustus Socinus, uncle and nephew. 
 The former had the finer mind ,• the latter was the more active 
 teacher, and from him came the name Socinianism, under which 
 the Unitarianism of the Reformation days was generally known. 
 He taught, however, that Christ, though not pre-existing, became 
 God by his goodness, and is, therefore, now to be worshipped; 
 and held other doctrines which Unitarianism to-day would re- 
 ject. Under his leadership, -Socinianism became the belief of a 
 wealthy, cultivated, and powerful body in Poland, of which the 
 king was a member. But under the Catholic reaction all kinds of 
 Protestantism were swept out of Poland, and Socinianism never 
 has regained a footing there. It had also been brought to Tran- 
 sylvania by Laelius Socinus; and there, though much reduced at 
 one time by Catholic oppression, it still survives with some pros- 
 perity. The seed planted in Italy, France, Switzerland, and Hoi- 
 
A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 165 
 
 land, though at first seeming to flourish, died out under the 
 combined hostility of Cathohc and Protestant enemies. 
 
 The most prosperous bodies of Unitarians to-day are in England 
 and the United States. Socinianism was introduced into England 
 by Bernardino Occhino, Faustus Socinus, and others of their 
 generation, and it flickered more or less plainly through the six- 
 teenth century. The first church was established about 1645 by 
 John Bidle, who is called the " Father of English Unitarianism." 
 He died in prison, whither he had been sent on account of his 
 belief ^ but other churches sprang up, and their doctrine spread 
 quietly but widely in the Church of England. IVIilton, Newton, 
 Locke, and other famous men were Unitarians of various shades. 
 But more Unitarians came from the Presbyterians than from any 
 other body, nearly half of the churches of this faith now existing 
 in England having been once Presbyterian, many of them still 
 retaining that name. 
 
 The fbundtr of the present organized' body of English Unitarians 
 was the Rev. Theophilus Lindsey, who left the Church of England 
 and gathered a Unitarian congregation in Essex Street, London, 
 in 1774, which included many noted people. He was followed 
 the next year by Dr. Joseph Priestley^ famous as a man of science, 
 and especially as the discoverer of oxygen. The law at that time 
 held the denial of the Trinity to be blasphemy, and it was not 
 until 1813 that Unitarians were placed on a level with other Dis- 
 senters. The denomination has continued to flourish, and now 
 holds a respected place among Protestant bodies. There are also 
 some strong churches in the north of Ireland and in Wales, and a 
 few in Scotland. 
 
 In the United States Unitarianism began in Xew England and 
 is still strongest there, though rapidly spreading of late in the 
 West. Its history may be divided into four periods, — formation, 
 separation, vocation, and organization. Its formation was quiet, 
 gradual, and long. It extends from early New England history 
 down to the year 1819, when the Unitarian churches firs't assumed 
 a separate existence. The chief events of this time were the 
 "Half-way Covenant" and the "Great Awakening," and the 
 leading liberal was Charles Chauncy, minister of the First Church 
 
106 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 ill Boston. The II;ilf-way Covenant of 1662 set aside the old idea 
 of a converted church membership and admitted to the church 
 those who had been baptized in infancy, who did not deny the doc- 
 trines, and were not of scandalous life. They were not, however, 
 allowed to come to the communion ; hence the name of the measure. 
 The result was the dilution of the old Calvinistic theology in pew 
 and pulpit, and Arminianism made great strides in New England. 
 To counteract this state of things Jonathan Edwards stimulated a 
 "revival" at Northampton in 1735, which was renewed in 1740 
 by Whitefield, the great English Methodist preacher, by Gilbert 
 Tennent in New Jersey, and by others. This latter revival was 
 known as " The Great Awakening." It aroused the churches 
 and increased their membership; led to the abolition by most 
 churches of the Half-way Covenant and the restoration of a con- 
 verted membership and ministry. But by its appeal to the emo- 
 tions and its obvious inconsistency with predestination, it made 
 the way easier for the very Arminianism it was intended to check, 
 when it came in the form of Methodism. Still further, it forced 
 people to take sides. The revival of Calvinism had reminded 
 New England again of what that grim system really was ; the ex- 
 cesses of the revival meetings and the meddlesome disposition of 
 many of the revival preachers awoke an opposition, especially in 
 Eastern New England, among the cultivated and influential 
 classes. From this time Unitarianism began to develop from 
 mere Arminianism. The first minister known to have been Uni- 
 tarian was Ebenezer Gay of Hingham (1695-1787). The first 
 minister whose doubt of the Trinity was published was Jonathan 
 Mayhew of Boston, who, in 1755, added a note to that effect to 
 one of his printed sermons. The first cliurch to become openly 
 Unitarian was King's Chapel (Episcopal). The congregation, 
 finding in 1787 that their new minister, James Freeman, was 
 Unitarian, ordered all phrases inconsistent with that belief to be 
 expunged from the Prayer Book. 
 
 The ne\v doctrines spread fast, but were not openly preached. 
 The reasons for this silence were that the liberals were not yet 
 clear in their own minds, disapproved of controversy, believing 
 the dogmas in question not of as much importance as their oppo- 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 167 
 
 nents claimed, shrank from precipitating a break in the old 
 Congregational body, and were not willing to have the name 
 "Unitarian," which was borne in England by men with whose 
 doctrines they did not agree, thrust unjustly upon them. They 
 therefore emphasized the value of the Christian character, and 
 simply omitted the disputed doctrines from their preaching. I'he 
 appointment of Henry Ware, to be Hollis Professor of Di- 
 vinity in Harvard College roused great excitement, as it showed 
 that the College itself had now come under the control of the new 
 faith. At length it became evident to the leaders of the. Unitarian 
 party that the evils of contiover^iy would be less than those of 
 silence; and in 1819, at the ordinaiiun of Jured Sparks in Balti- 
 more, William Ellery Channing, minister of the Federal Street 
 Church in Boston, preached a sermon defining and defending the 
 Unitarian faith. 
 
 This began the period of separation^ which extends to the 
 Parker controversy, in 1841. Its leader was Dr. Channing, 
 though he was disinclined to close denominational organization. 
 The Baltimore sermon was followed by declarations of belief all 
 over New England ; and soon it was found that about one hun- 
 dred and twenty-five churches, most of them among the oldest 
 and strongest of the Congregational body, were Unitarian. The 
 question whether " church " or " parish " owned the property had 
 been settled by the " Dedham case " in favor of the latter, which, 
 where there was any difference between the two, was usually of 
 the liberal faith. So began the Unitarian body. In social, politi- 
 cal, educational, and literary circles it had an influence out of 
 proportion to its numbers ; and to a remarkable extent the poets, 
 historians, statesmen, and jurists of that day in this country were 
 Unitarians. The clergy were scholarly; the laity cultivated, 
 honorable, and philanthropic. Partly by temperament, partly 
 by reaction, they shunned controversy, looked askance at any- 
 thing like sectarianism, and disliked proselyting. The American 
 Unitarian Association was formed in 1825, but not warmly 
 supported. 
 
 Into this qiu'et and happy but un progressive life of the churches 
 Transcendentalism, or the idea that the soul has private and direct 
 
168 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 insight into truth, and may set aside all authority, came at first as 
 an intruder. But it was now that Unitarianism first reahzed its 
 vocation, or reason for separate existence. Hitlierto it had based 
 its faith, or thought it had, ujjon Bible texts. Henceforth it was 
 to be the champion of the human reason and conscience, which 
 the best in the Bible nourishes but must not contradict. The 
 leaders of this period were Ralph Waldo Emerson, who touched 
 Unitarianism in his famous "Divinity School Address," in 1838; 
 and Theodore Parker, of West Roxbury, whose sermon on " The 
 Transient, and Permanent in Christianity," in 1841, was the 
 beginning of a sad and bitter controversy. In time, however, 
 the two parties came to understand each other better, and to 
 stand together in the "inner light." 
 
 The period of organization showed the new life which had 
 entered the body. The great events of this period have been the 
 institution of tlie National Conference of Unitarian and other 
 Christian Churches and of the local Conferences, in 1865, under the 
 lead of Dr. Henry W. Bellows, and in more recent years of many 
 other instrumentalities, such as the Women's Alliance, the Church 
 Building Loan Fund, Unity Clubs, Unitarian Clubs, and others. 
 The American Unitarian Association has come into closer union 
 with the churches by admitting their pastors and delegates to its 
 Annual JNIeeting, and is supported with a generosity vv^hich in 
 earlier days would have seemed impossible. The churches have 
 multiplied, and Unitarianism is fast extending to all parts of the 
 country. The decay of the old beliefs and the quiet leavening 
 of the older sects with Unitarian principles have made the growth 
 of the Unitarian body slower than it would have been if it had 
 met with a more bitter opposition. But it grows at an increasing 
 ratio, especially in the West and on the Pacific coast, while 
 founding new churches still in New England. 
 
 Government. — The American Unitarians are all congrega- 
 tional in polity ; that is, they maintain the right of each church 
 to regulate its own affairs. There is a strong tendency to inde- 
 pendent action on the part of the churches, though of late years 
 there is more inclination to a closer fellowship. The American 
 Unitarian Association is a purely voluntary organization, consist- 
 
-^ «t:t A..,-^,^^ „^--|-^; 169 ^ 
 
 ing of life members, -who are made such by payment of fifty ** 
 dollars, and of the delegates of churches which have contributed 
 
 to its funds for two successive years or more. The Association is y f 
 
 practically the missionary and executive arm of the denomina- J s 
 
 tion. The National Conference and the local Conferences are i , 
 
 also voluntary associations, the former meeting once in two years, t 
 
 the latter from one to three times a year. Their purpose is to "* * 
 
 awaken interest in the activities of the denomination, and to '^ \ 
 
 stimulate sympathy and the sense of fellowship by bringing j 
 
 together those of a common faith. They are not executive, and ^ > 
 
 seldom undertake enterprises of their own. ^ d 
 
 Doctrine. — Unitarians, being congregational in church gov- LJ J 
 
 ernment, have no common authoritative creed. The Ameiican - ^ 
 Unitarian Association declares that its object "shall be to diffuse 
 the knowledge and promote the interests of pure Christianity." 
 
 What is meant by "pure Christianity," however, it does not - 'C 
 
 define, nor does it claim the right to e&tabli.^h any conditions of "" ^ 
 
 fellowship. The constitution of the National Conference of Uni- ^^ \ci 
 tarian and other Christian Churches contains these statements : 
 
 ^- J 
 " Art. IX. Reaffirming our allegiance to the gospel of Jesus :;^ ^i 
 
 Christ, and desiring to secure the largest unity of the spirit and v! -C^ 
 
 the widest practical co-operation, we invite to our fellowship all ■ ' 
 
 who wish to be followers of Christ. - '<J 
 
 "Art. X. While we believe that the Preamble and Articles ^- i 
 
 of our Constitution fairly represent the opinions of the majority . - 
 
 of our churches, yet we wish distinctly to put on record our 
 
 declaration that they are no authoritative test of Unitarianism, 
 
 and are not intended to exclude from our fellowship any who 
 
 while differing fioni us in belief are in general sympathy with our 
 
 purposes and practical aims." ^ ^ 
 
 The Western Unitarian Conference thus states its position : 
 
 " We declare our fellowship to be conditioned on no doctrinal ; ^. 
 
 tests, and welcome all who wish to join us to help establish truth ^ ';:^ 
 and righteousness and love in the world." 
 
 No church, however, holds itself bound by any of these decla- 
 rations, every church reserving the right to state its own belief, if 
 it cares to do so. Many churches have " covenants " or state- ^ ^V 
 ments of faith and purpose, generally very simple, which are used ^' ^ 
 
 ^J 
 
 
170 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 
 
 with varying interest. More extended and detailed definitions 
 of Unitiuianism have been issued by the American Unitarian 
 Association in the form of books or tracts, but with the under- 
 standing that they are not to be considered authoritative. 
 
 The doctrines of the Unitarians have ah-eady been set forth in 
 contrast with those of other stcts. But this contrast may give 
 the impression that Unitarianism is a mere negation, whereas in 
 reaUty it denies and excludes less, affirms and includes more, 
 than any other form of Christian faith. 
 
 Unitarianism is rather a tendency than a fixed and definite set 
 of opinions. It may be defined as the tendency to see God in the 
 natural order of the world, material and spiritual, as distinguished 
 from the Orthodox tendency to see Him only in isolated and ex- 
 ceptional phenomena, persons, and expeiiences. Unitarianism is 
 founded upon hiw, Orthodoxy upon miracles. Unitarianism be- 
 lieves in the rule. Orthodoxy in the exceptions. Unitarianism 
 sees the beauty and power of what Orthodoxy calls exceptions, 
 but considers theni as still under law, parts of the natural and 
 divine order of the world, and as illustrations of what is true or 
 may become true of all. This distinction will become clearer as 
 it is applied to the separate doctrines. 
 
 Fundamental to Unitarianism, and following from this tendency, 
 is its trust in the dignity of human nature. It believes that it is 
 neither hopelessly blinded "aor helplessly corrupt, but that in 
 spite of much weakness and selfishness it loves at heart both truth 
 and goodness. 
 
 Out of this come the two most distinctive principles of Unita- 
 rianism, — reliance upon human faculties for the discovery of 
 truth, and appreciation of the common virtues and graces of 
 human life, — or as they are usually called, reason in religion and 
 character before creed. 
 
 By reason in religion is meant that the truth necessary for the 
 right conduct of human life is revealed to and received by the 
 faculties which are common to all men, though they may exist in 
 very different strength, and be capable of very different degrees 
 of apprehension in different minds. The inspiration of the 
 Almighty giveth all understanding, though all men are not able to 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 171 
 
 receive the same amount. Orthodoxy denies this broad idea, and 
 confines inspiration to certain individuals and to exceptional facul- 
 ties in them, isolating these faculties from those common to hu- 
 man nature by a difference not in degree but in kind. To these 
 psalmists, prophets, evangelists, apostles, or other sacred persons 
 is given the power to perform miracles ; that is, to do in the physi- 
 cal world what no man could do without divine aid. Kevelation is 
 thus made a rare act of God, and involves a change both in i^ature 
 and human nature. * Orthodox Protestantism thus confines reve- 
 lation to Bible times and personages, though it asserts the con- 
 tinued action of the Holy Spirit in opening the deeper meaning 
 of the Bible to the eyes of faith. The Roman Catholic, while be- 
 lieving the Bible to be a special divine revelation, maintains that 
 revelation continues, but only through the equally divine Church. 
 The Unitarian tends to unite these two views, rejecting their nega- 
 tions. The revelations made through the Bible and through the 
 Church both contain divine truth, but God is not shut within either 
 Bible or Church. He strives everywhere and always to make Him- 
 self and His truth known to men; and the science, philosophy, 
 history, poetry, and all other forms of the mental activity of to-day 
 may be the instruments of His revelation. Infallibility is impossi- 
 ble in human life, as is proved most clearly by the errors and sins 
 of those who most proudly claim to have infallible authority for 
 their beliefs. But revelation, the unveiling of truth, is a constant 
 process. Unitarianism, therefore, looks to the natural operation 
 of the human mind for truth, and holds itself in sympathy with 
 all sincere thought, and in readiness for new revelations. Kor 
 does it believe that God must break the laws of Nature to make 
 Himself known. On the contrary, it is in those laws that He is 
 best seen. The real miracle is the order and harmony of the 
 whole, not the disturbance of any part ; and the way to a deeper 
 knowledge of God lies not in being startled now and then by 
 some exceptional thing, but by studying reverently and patiently 
 the world as it is. 
 
 The other distinctive principle of Unitarianism, and one more 
 generally understood than the first, is the value set upon the vir- 
 tues and graces which sweeten and strengthen common life. The 
 
172 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 position of Orthodoxy is that these are not only worthless, but 
 actually abhoi rent to God, unless they are the results of certain 
 belit'fs and certain experiences. Unitarianism maintains that the 
 fruits are not known by the tree, but the tree by the fruits ; and 
 that love, justice, purity, patience, and the other virtues of a manly 
 or womanly character have their value and their evidence in them- 
 selves. It declines to consider only certain experiences as the 
 effect of the Holy Spirit, — as the crises of "conversion," "re- 
 vival" emotions, and the like, — but believes Ihat It is seen in the 
 common joys and sorrows, peace and struggle of humanity, ever 
 urging men upward. And while Orthodoxy tends to emphasize 
 certain "sacred" times, places, and ceremonies as if they were 
 valuable in themselves or the unique channels of divine grace, the 
 Unitarian values these only so far as they are of use to practical 
 life. The sacredness often attributed to them alone he spreads 
 over all earnest human life. Divine service is whatever serves 
 Go J. Holy ground is wherever holy emotions come. Sacred 
 times are all times when the soul burns with new faith or 
 insight. 
 
 These two principles, flowing from the main one, contain the 
 essence of Unitarianism, and explain its minor doctrines. 
 
 The Bible it considers as containing words of God, but not His 
 entire Word, or all that He wishes men to know. Moreover, since 
 the truth it contains came through human channels, it is more or 
 less mingled with error. The discernment of the truth is made 
 by the reason and conscience of to-day under the constant en- 
 lightenment of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 The Church is the association of men for religions purposes, 
 and has no authority but that of the truth it teaches, and no use 
 except to purify and strengthen daily life. 
 
 About Jesus Unitarians widely differ. There are still some 
 Arians, who hold him to have been a being superior to man though 
 subordinate to God. There are others who look upon him as a 
 man endowed with superhuman powers, entrusted with a mission 
 differing in kind from any other ever given to man, and exercising 
 an authority to which reason and conscience must bow. But the 
 Btrong tendency of Unitarians generally is to consider him as in 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 173 
 
 all respects a man, though with a spiritual insight and moral 
 power which, while really diSering only in degree from those 
 given to all men, are in degree so far above those of all other 
 men as to set him by himself in human history. This inclusion 
 in humanity, however, must not be taken as degrading Jesus, 
 since Unitarians hold a higher conception of human nature than 
 the Orthodox, but as marking the possible elevation of humanity. 
 He is not "mere man," but more man. Unitarians believe that 
 God was in Jesus, but that He is in all men. Jesus at once reveals 
 God to man and man to himself. He glorifies our common human 
 nature. He teaches that love, fidelity, patience, cheerfulness, are 
 divine qualities, and that the line between divine and human, 
 ■which the ancient councils found it so hard to draw in the nature 
 of Jesus, is as uncertain in every earnest human soul. Jesus is 
 not an exception, save in degree, but a bright illustration of the 
 possibilities of human nature. Unitarians therefore reject the 
 Trinity, and all the doctrines which cluster about the dogma of 
 the Deity of Christ. 
 
 The atonement is considered by Unitarians as a natural process. 
 By his imperfections and sins man removes himself from God ; 
 and all good influences, including those which flow from the life 
 and character of Jesus, bring him back into the divine likeness, 
 and into harmony with the divine will. The office of Jesus lies in 
 no arbitrary arrangement with God by which the Innocent is sub- 
 stituted for the guilty. All the conceptions of the atonement held 
 by the Orthodox seem to the Unitarian to subvert the fundamental 
 principles of justice, to confuse the conscience, and to dishonor 
 God. The life and death of Jesus have had a powerful influence 
 upon the minds, hearts, and souls of men, but this has come by 
 the natural working of moral and spiritual laws, and in ways which 
 all truth and goodness follow when they affect human life. Sal- 
 vation is not rescue from any external peril, but from sin and 
 weakness within. Holiness is wholeness and healthiness, and is 
 accomplished not by means outside of practical life, but by doing 
 justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God every day. 
 Conversion may be hastened by special influences or experiences, 
 but is more likely to come gradually. Not believing in the essen- 
 
174 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 tial depravity of lininan nature, Unitarians do not look for that 
 com})lete revolution which the Orthodox logically must aim at, 
 but for a quiet and steady evolution of the germs of truth and 
 goodness into such development as is possible in this life. They 
 therefore distrust "revivals." 
 
 The future life Unitarians consider a natural continuance of the 
 earthly life. Death is not a moral crisis, but an event common to 
 all living things, a purely physical change. Unitarians are very 
 reluctant to indulge the imagination in depicting the details of tire 
 future life, holding that life freed from the body and from the 
 circumstances of the earth is beyond our power to conceive with 
 certainty. But they maintain with great firmness that the char- 
 acter begins there as it ends here, and that the laws of the moral 
 nature, not being conditioned by space or time, continue in force 
 after death. The Orthodox division of all men into saints and 
 sinners, " fixed in an eternal state," they reject as most unjust as 
 well as unwarranted in reason. The moral life wnll be as varied, 
 as capable of progression arid change, as here. Whether all men 
 will reach perfect happiness and holiness, is a question which the 
 Unitarian refuses to decide. The mystery of human freedom 
 must always veil its future results. Nor can the Unitarian be- 
 lieve in the "Judgment" so often pictured by the Orthodox, an 
 arbitrary decree by wdiicli men are sent to the right or the left 
 according to some other standard than that of character. Each 
 soul will gravitate to its place according to its real condition. 
 
 In worship. Unitarians commonly preserve the simplicity and 
 directness of the Congregationalists, from whom they have in this 
 country descended. Prayer is extemporaneous, though a very few 
 congregations have a liturgy. There is an increase in the use of 
 antiphonal p«alms ; and an attempt is making, under the auspices 
 of the American Unitarian Association, to compile a book which 
 shall be acceptable to those who wish a liturgical service. 
 
 The faults most frequently attributed to Unitarians, — their 
 neglect of stated worship and their ignorance of theology, — while 
 they are to be admitted and deplored in some measure, follow natur- 
 ally from that very breadth of faith which has been described as 
 their characteristic, and which it is their privilege to hold and their 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. .175 
 
 mission to teach. As all life is seen to have possibilities of sacred- 
 ness, and all duty to be divine service, " sacred " times and places 
 must seem less important than to those who tend to concentrate 
 sacredness upon them. And as all truth takes on a divine aspect, 
 opinions about historical and speculative matters, most of which 
 seem to be of little real use even to those who have most definite 
 views about them, must retire more into the background. While, 
 therefore, the Unitarian cannot afford to neglect any means of 
 spiritual culture, or any truth that concerns the spiritual welfare 
 of mankind, he must rejoice in that sympathy with all truth, with 
 all goodness, and with all earnest life which his faith makes possi- 
 ble to bim. The Orthodox, so the Unitarian thinks, buys his devo- 
 tion to sect and church and definite creed at the cost of breadth 
 in love and hospitality to truth. 
 
 Statistics. — C' Year-Book " of 1891). There are in this 
 country 424 churches and 459 ministers. There are 24 local 
 Conferences, and the National Alliance of Unitarian and other 
 Liberal Christian Women has 75 branches. 
 
 There are also a Sunday-School Society, bei^ides three local 
 societies for the same purpose, a Temperance Society, a National 
 Bureau of Unity Clubs, several associations of ministers, etc. 
 The American Unitarian Association received in 1890-1891 
 S54,440, the AVomen's Alliance $3,110, and the Sunday-School 
 Society $3,700. The Church Building Loan Fund has'$18,400 
 with which it aids societies in the erection of churches. A 
 Unitarian mission is sustained in Japan. There is one nomi- 
 nally Unitarian theological school, at Meadville, Pa., besides the 
 Divinity School of Harvard University, which has been made 
 unsectarian, and devoted to the study of theology as a scrience. 
 Another school is contemplated on the Pacific coast. There are 
 five Unitarian periodicals, — the " Christian Register," of Boston, 
 and " Unity," of Chicago (weekly), " Every Other Sunday," of 
 Boston (fortnightly), the "Unitarian" and the "Unitarian 
 Review," both of Boston (monthly). 
 
 In England, there are 273 churches, in Ireland 41, in "Wales 31, 
 in Scotland 10, and in Australia 3. There are tliree theological 
 schools in the British dominions, — the largest, Manchester New 
 
176 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 College, being in Oxford, England; and three periodicals, — 
 "The Christian Life," and "The Unitarian Herald" (weekly), 
 and "The Christian Keformer " (monthly). The denomina- 
 tion is represented by " The British and Foreign Unitarian 
 Association." 
 
 In Transylvania there are 165 churches, with 107 pastors and 
 about 60,000 adherents. They are governed by a bishop, eight 
 rural deans, and an ecclesiastical council of 350 members. They 
 have a college at Koloscvar, with a theological school, and two 
 middle schools. 
 
 There are also thousands of professed or virtual Unitarians in 
 Austria, Germany, Holland, France, Sweden, and Switzerland, and 
 many even in Spain. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 What is the origin of the name "Unitarian"? How is it now applied? 
 What other names have been given to Unitarians ? What are they often 
 called in this country V in England? Why ? 
 
 How old is Unitarianism ? Wiiat is its relation to Judaism ? to the early 
 training of Jesus and the Apostles ? What right have we to believe that 
 they retained it? that the early Christians held it ? What Avas its greatest 
 contest with Trinitarianism ? What was its subsequent fate? When did 
 it reappear ? What martyrs to it can jou name ? Who were its chief 
 leaders at the Reformation ? What views did they hold? Where did Uni- 
 tarianism flourish then ? Where else did it take root ? Where is it most 
 prosperous to-day ? 
 
 Who brought Unitarianism to England ? Who founded its first church ? 
 Who were famous Englisli Unitarians ? From what body did many come ? 
 Who founded the denomination in England ? Who deserves mention next 
 after him? What was the position of Unitarianism before the law ? What 
 is the condition of the body now ? Where else in British dominions has it 
 churches ? 
 
 Where did Unitarianism begin in the United States? Into what four 
 periods ma}' it be divided ? What years does the first period cover ? What 
 were its chief events ? Who wns the leading spirit ? What was the " Half- 
 way Covenant"? the "Great Awakening"? What was their effect? 
 What influence had .Jonathan Edwards in preparing the way for Unitarian- 
 ism ? What faith was the stepping-stone to it ? Who was the first minister 
 known to be T^nitarian ? Who fir<:t published his Unitarianism ? What 
 was the first Unitarian church ? Why were Unitarian views not avowed at 
 first ? What brought about the break with the old faith ? Who led it ? 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 177 
 
 When and liow did it begin? What was the second period? What was 
 the " Dedham case"? What was the character of tiie first Unitarians? 
 What was the tliird period ? Who were its leaders ? What worlvs pro- 
 claimed their views ? What has been their effect ? What was the fourth 
 period ? Who was its leader ? What were its chief events V What is the 
 condition of Unitarianism in this country to-day? 
 
 Wiiat is the polity of the American Unitarians ? Into what bodies are 
 the}' organized ? What is the difference between the Association and the 
 National Conference ? How do they differ from a Presbyterian synod ? 
 Have Unitarians any common creed ? Why ? What is the declaration of 
 the American Unitarian Association ? of the National Conference ? of the 
 Western Conference ? What are the "covenants " of many churches? 
 
 What can you say to the charge that Unitarianism is a mere negation ? 
 Why should the Orthodox think it is ? Must not all belief deny some- 
 thing ? How may Unitarianism be broadly defined? How does it differ 
 in this from Orthodoxy ? What fundamental principle follows from this? 
 What two principles does this involve ? How are they commonly stated ? 
 What is meant by "reason in religion"? What are the Unitarian and 
 Orthodox ideas of revelation? Which is the broader? Which honors 
 God the more ? Compare the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Protestant, and 
 Unitarian ideas on this point; on physical miracles. Where does Unita- 
 rianism find God in the universe? What is meant by "character before 
 creed " ? Compare the Evangelical and the Liberal views of human nature ; 
 of "sacred" times and places. 
 
 What is the Unitarian view of the Bible? of the Church? of Jesus? 
 What is Arianism? Humanitarianism ? What view lies between these? 
 To which view does Unitarianism tend ? Does this view degrade Jesus ? 
 Why is it more repugnant to the Evangelical view of man than to ours? 
 How does Jesus elevate our idea of humanity ? Does the Unitarian believe 
 that God was in Jesus? In what sense? What is the Unitarian view of 
 the atonement? of the Evangelical doctrines about it? How have the life 
 and death of Jesus affected humanity? What is the Unitarian view of 
 predestination? of conversion? of the future life? of death? of the future 
 state? of the variety of character hereafter? of the ultimate fate of all 
 Bouls ? of the "Judgment" ? What is the common form of worship among 
 Unitarians ? What exceptions do you know ? 
 
 What are the faults most frequently charged upon Unitarians ? What 
 answer can you give ? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 The best summary of the general history of Unitarianism is the American 
 Unitarian Association tract by Rev. R. R. Shippen. E. H, Hall's scholarly 
 Orthodoxy and Heresy in the Christian Church gives a fuller account. The 
 
 12 
 
178 A STUDY OF THE SECTS* 
 
 best short history of American Unitarianism may be found in the opening 
 chapters of W. C. Gaiinett's Life of Ezra Stiles Gannett. For longer 
 accounts, see Unitarianism: Its Oriyin and History (Channing Hall Lectures, 
 1888-8J), J. H. Allen's admirable Our Liberal Movement; George E. Ellis's 
 H'llf Century of the Unitarian Controversy; 0. B. YrothinghsLin's Boston 
 Unitarianism, 1820 to 1850, and his Transcendentalism in New Enylnnd ; 
 the Unity Club lectures of 1890-91. A History of Religious Thought and 
 Life in New England, edited by George W. Cooke, the Lives of Channing, 
 Dewey, the Buckminsters, Parker, J. F. Clarke, etc. ; Sprague's Annals of 
 the American Pulpit (Unitarian Congregationalists) ; Dorchester's Chris- 
 tianity in the United States; Brooke Herford's The Story of Religion in 
 England; and references in ecclesiastical histories and histories of doctrine. 
 As to the doctrines of Unitarians, good summaries are to be found in the 
 tracts of the American Unitarian Association; but no more beautiful account 
 exists, especially to those who can see what is involved in it, than Dr. Chan- 
 ning's sermon, Unitarian Christianity. See also J. F, Clarke's Manual of 
 Unitarian Belief, Essentials and Non-Essentiah in Religion, Common Sense 
 in Religion, The Ideas of the Apostle Paul, Vexed Questions in Theology, 
 and Orthodoxy: Its Truths and Errors. The tendency of the denomination 
 is seen in Dr. Hedge's Reason In Religion and his Ways of the Spirit, and still 
 more fully and clearly in Martineau's Seat of Authority in Religion. The 
 works of Channing, Parker, and Dewey, and the sermons of A. P. Peabod}', 
 J. H. Allen, J. W. Chadwick, and M. J. Savage represent various schools 
 of thought within Unitarianism. English Unitarianism is stated in Unita- 
 rian Christianity, a volumo of sermons by several preachers. Controversial 
 books are Norton's Statement of Reasons for not believing the Doctrines of 
 Trinitarians concerning the Nature of God and the Person of Christ, 
 Wilson's Unitarian Principles confirmed by Trinitarian Testimonies, and 
 Priestle3''s History of the Conniptions of Christianity. For books on special 
 doctrines, see references in part ii. chap. i. Mr. Wendte's tract What do 
 Unitarians believe ? has an appendix containing a valuable list of celebrated 
 men and women who have been Unitarians. 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 179 
 
 Part III. 
 
 SECTS ^N-QT CALLING THEMSELVES CHRISTIAN. 
 
 1. THE SOCIETY FOR ETHICAL CULTURE. 
 
 Yea, a man will say, Thou hast faith and I have works : shew me thy 
 faith apart from thy works, and I by my works will shew thee my faith. — 
 James ii. 18. 
 
 What is known as the "Ethical Movement" began witli the 
 formation of "The Society for Ethical Culture" in New York 
 city, in 1876. Felix Acller, the son of a Jewish Rabbi in New 
 York, and lecturer for a time on the Oriental languages and litera- 
 ture in Cornell University, was the founder of this society. In 
 1883 a similar society was founded in Chicago ; and others arose 
 in Philadelphia and St. Louis in 1885 and 1886. In 1887 the 
 " South Place Religious Society " of London became the " South 
 Place Ethical Society." The same year witnessed the formation 
 of the " Union of the Societies for Ethical Culture." The aim of 
 the movement was declared in the constitution of this Union to be 
 " to elevate the moral life of its members and that of the commu- 
 nity;" and it "cordially welcomes to its fellow^ship all persons 
 who sympathize with this aim, whatever may be their theological 
 or philosophical opinions." The movement has no creed, and 
 does not teach religion, if by religion is meant a conception of 
 God. At the same time, it is not opposed to religion ; and its 
 members and lecturers are free to take whatever religious standing- 
 point seems reasonable to them. Some maintain that ethics is 
 religion, by which is meant that genuine moral action is the 
 means of connecting the finite soul with the Infinite. Others are 
 complete secularists. The bond of fellowship does not lie in a 
 special theological view or theory, but in a practical moral aim. 
 Each society has a lecturer, or lecturers, and holds Sunday meet- 
 ings for at least seven or eight months during the year. Supreme 
 attention is given to various phases of personal and social morality. 
 The movement has been distinguished from the outset by devotion, 
 both theoretic and practical, to social reform. A workingman's 
 
180 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 school, district nursing, improved tenement houses, neighborhood 
 guilds, a bureau of justice, economic conferences between business 
 men and working men, workingmen's self-culture clubs, are out- 
 growths and illustrations of its spirit. 
 
 The literature of the movement is for the most part in the form 
 of pamphlet lectures; two books have appeared, Creed and Deed, 
 by Felix Adler, 1877, and Ethical Relirjion, by William M. Salter, 
 1889. Besides these are Die Religion der Moral, by Salter, 1885, 
 Moralische Reden, by same, 1889, and Die Ethische Bewegung in 
 der Religion, by Stanton Coit, lecturer of the London Society, 
 1890, — all published in Germany. The movement published 
 "The Ethical Record," Philadelphia, from April, 1888, to July, 
 1890; this quarterly has now been enlarged into "The Inter- 
 national Journal of Ethics" (Philadelphia and London), has Euro- 
 pean as well as American editors and contributors, and ceases to 
 be the organ of the Ethical Movement. 
 
 At their roots, the Ethical Movement and rational Unitarianism 
 are one. Both are based upon faith in the supreme authority of 
 the sense of duty, and both aim at the production of moral life. 
 The main ditference between them is that Unitarianism emphasizes 
 certain other doctrines, corollaries of faith in the moral law, espe- 
 cially a personal God as the source of righteousness and immor- 
 tality as its quality or consequence, while the Ethical Movement is 
 silent upon these points. The Ethical Societies, therefore, omit 
 prayer and praise from their public exercises, retaining only the 
 sermon or " lecture," adding sometimes music and reading from ethi- 
 cal writings, including the Bible ; and the lecture itself diflfers from 
 a Unitarian sermon chiefly in the absence of reference to God and 
 the future life, as well as to historical Christianity. The Ethical 
 teaching seems to us, therefore, bare and undeveloped, if not weak, 
 like an unsprouted root, — having real religious life, but not fur- 
 nishing food enough for the practical needs of the soul. Belief in 
 God and in an immortal opportunity have been considered necessary 
 to man's highest spiritual life. To cut the vision of the present 
 down to humanity, and the vision of the future to a merely human 
 though developed career would impoverish human life. Nor can 
 we forget in our admiration of the devotion of the Ethical Socie- 
 ties to "good works" that the Christian Church, both originally 
 and now, cannot be said to have overlooked them. It no doubt 
 deserves this rebuke to its many idle speculations, and to its fre- 
 quent absorption in merely contemplative worship ; but it has also 
 
A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 181 
 
 undertaken just as good and successful works as these. The 
 practical energy of the new movement is itself the result of a 
 general awakening of the conscience of the age, which is showing 
 itself quite as plainly in the churches. Since, however, there are 
 many earnest people in the world who cannot receive what are 
 commonly called religious doctrines, and are not interested in 
 historical Christianity, there is a sphere for the Etliical Societies 
 which we wish them to occupy, and in which we bid them •' God- 
 speed," — all the more because our knoAvledge of their leaders 
 convinces us that in the deepest and purest sense they too are 
 religious, in .so /ar, as the text above says, as they hold that 
 "ethics is religion, by which is meant that genuine moral action 
 is the means of connecting the finite soul with the Infinite." 
 So far as the command of duty is seen to come from a source 
 deeper than human experience or knowledge, it is a command of 
 what we call '' God." 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 What is meant by the word ethical? What is the difference between 
 it and moral? How did the Ethical Movement begin V Wliat societies 
 now exist ? How are they combined V What is their object ? What is 
 their relation to religion? What are their leaders called? What public 
 exercises have the societies ? What good works have they undertaken ? 
 What is the main objection to them from our standing-point ? What beliefs 
 have commonly been held of value to human action ? What have we in 
 place of them here ? Does the Ethical Movement undertake anything which 
 churches may not do ? What faults in the churches does it practically re- 
 buke ? Wliat room has it in the world ? How far is it religious ? What 
 good does religion do to you ? 
 
 2. THE SPIRITUALISTS. 
 
 In this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject xmto you; but rather rejoice 
 because your names are written in heaven. — Luke x. 20. 
 
 In the widest sense of the word a spiritualist is the opposite of a 
 materialist ; that is, he is one who believes that spirit, not matter, 
 is reality. In a more restricted sense it was once used to denote 
 those who claimed to be under the direct guidance of the Holy 
 Spirit. In the modern popular sense it means those who believe 
 that the spirits of the dead can hold communication with the 
 living through theil senses. 
 
182 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 This belief is as old as man ; for hardly a tribe of savages or 
 a stage of human history has been found in which there has not 
 been a belief in the presence of the souls of the departed and in 
 their action upon the living. Some have claimed that this was 
 the beginning of religion ; that is, of any belief in the super- 
 natural. Instances of alleged communication are found through- 
 out sacred and secular history. But the belief has found especial 
 acceptance in the United States, and in the present century. 
 
 It gained its most powerful stimulus from the experiences ol 
 Margaret and Kate Fox, children of twelve and nine years of age, 
 at Hydeville, Wayne County, New York, in March, 1848. Hear- 
 ing strange rappings, they established by them communication 
 with alleged spirits, by whose aid the skeleton of a murdered man 
 was found in the cellar of their house. The two girls went about 
 the country giving exhibitions of the strange phenomena, and 
 arousing great excitement. In 1850 Daniel Dunglas Home ap- 
 peared with mysterious powers, which attracted great attention in 
 Europe as well as in this country. Since then great numbers of 
 " mediums " have sprung up, who have done many different kinds 
 of strange things by the aid, as they claimed, of spirits. In 1875 
 Messrs. Crookes and Varley, well-known English men of science, 
 and later the still more celebrated Alfred Russell Wallace, pro- 
 claimed their belief in spiritual manifestations. In one form or 
 another Spiritualism has a very large following; but due partly to 
 the fact that it must be a private and not a public affair, as ordi- 
 nary religious worship is, and partly to the reluctance of many to 
 confess their belief, no estimate of the numbers of its adherents can 
 be made. They are probably very large. It cannot be said that 
 the confessed believers are commonly from the more intelligent 
 classes. The world of science is almost solid against them, 
 though it has generally refused to investigate. 
 
 As Spiritualists are not organized, rarely even in congregations, 
 they have no authoritative creed, and differ more or less in their 
 belief. There is, beyond doubt, a large number of impostors, who 
 play upon the credulity of the iirnorant for selfish purposes. This 
 is admitted and deplored by Spiritualists as well as by others. 
 But that there is also a large number of quiet and sincere belie v- 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 183 
 
 ers in the reality and value of communication with departed spirits 
 must not be overlooked by the fair-minded. 
 
 These believe that our spirits, when they leave our bodies, 
 do not undergo any essential change. Their characters and 
 tendencies remain the same ; and there is therefore among them 
 the same great variety of goodness and wickedness, wisdom and 
 ignorance, as when they were in the flesh. They are not sepa- 
 rated, as the old theology maintained, into the perfectly good and 
 the perfectly wicked. Nor is their condition fixed. Progress is 
 open to them under the new influences, as well as under the con- 
 tinued influence of the better spirits; and the occupations and 
 duties entrusted to them in the " spirit-land " correspond to their 
 fitness for them. But they retain their interest in the affairs of 
 earth, and seek to take part in them, especially in those of the 
 persons whom they knew in the body. The good spirits wish them 
 well, and try to warn, console, advise, and guide them. The evil 
 spirits maliciously misinform, misdirect, and corrupt them, if they 
 can. 
 
 There is a state, called "sensitiveness," in which it is possible 
 for mortals to perceive the presence of the spirits, and to commu- 
 nicate with them. It is, as it were, a new sense, — " the heritage 
 of all, yet manifested only at rare intervals by favored individuals. 
 ... It is a faculty pertaining to the spiritual nature, and is acute 
 in proportion as that spiritual nature dominates the physical 
 senses. ... It is variable in the same individual ; is often the 
 result of drugs, of fatigue, of sleep; and may be induced or 
 intensified by hypnotism or mesmerism. ... It may have all 
 degrees of acuteness, from impressibility scarcely distinguishable 
 from the individual's own thoughts to the purest independent 
 clairvoyance." Those who are " sensitive" to an unusual degree 
 are called " mediums," as having an intermediate relation between 
 the dead and the living. 
 
 The character of the spirits thus communicating will vary, 
 partly according to the personal character of the medium, and 
 partly according to his sensitiveness. Spirits, out of the body as 
 in it, seek their like. The evil spirits are also fond of playing 
 tricks. Others are innocently roguish. Xot all communications, 
 
184 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 therefore, are valuable, any more than all words of mortals. The 
 closeness of relationship with the spirits has also increased with 
 the increasing sensitiveness of the mediums, which grows, like 
 any other endowment, by cultivation and practice. Beginning 
 with crude forms, as rappings and table-tippings, it has gone on 
 through writing, the direct touch, speech, clairvoyance, clairaudi- 
 ence, "materialization" or the assumption of human and other 
 physical forms, to the seeming presence of the dead in their 
 former shape, in broad daylight, and in every respect as real as 
 when in the flesh, yet with added powers of appearance and dis- 
 appearance which belong only to incorporeal beings. Spirituahsts 
 believe that only the development of sensitiveness is needed to 
 make the spirit world capable of immense service to mankind, 
 bringing ever higher classes of beings to its aid. 
 
 Spiritualists vary very much in other points of belief. Some 
 make their confidence in spirit communications an addition to and 
 explanation of much of Christianity, though they adopt a li!)eral 
 form of that religion. To them Spiritualism explains much that 
 seems strange in the Bible and in the history of religion, — the 
 appearance of angels ; the inspiration of prophets, psalmists, and 
 other writers of Scripture ; the miracles ; the evil spirits of the 
 New Testament; the vision of ]\Ioses and Elias in the Transfigura- 
 tion ; the saints coming from their graves at the Crucifixion ; the 
 re-appearance of Jesus ; the alleged visions of the saints in 
 Church history, etc. The strange facts of mesmerism, trances, 
 hypnotism, dreams, the visions of the dying, premonitions, tele- 
 pathy, and many such phenomena, which have long puzzled the 
 minds of men, to them come under the head of "spiritual" action. 
 Some interpret prayer as communion not with God directly, but 
 with spirits who bear the message to Him. Others, hoAvever, 
 begin and end their real religion with the alleged facts of spirit- 
 ualism. The spirits are the only superhuman beings they believe 
 in or have anything to do with. All else is unreal or unpractical. 
 
 The difficulty with Spiritualism is that, like all miracles, visions, 
 etc., it rests upon individual testimony. If a fact at all, it is a 
 fact usually of individual experience. But all scientific investi- 
 
A STUDY, OF THE SECTS. 185 
 
 gation of human testimony has shown that it is never so unre- 
 liable as when deahng with the alleged supernatural. So far 
 from the senses being trustworthy (" seeing is believing" etc.), 
 they are at times, especially when strange things are expected or 
 feared, exceedingly treacherous. The history of religion shows 
 this. In such circumstances it is not the senses which give infor- 
 mation to the mind, but the mind which dictates to the senses 
 what they shall see, feel, etc. The more ignorant and uncritical 
 the age, the more abundant are its "miracles;" and the same 
 may be said of the mind. However well informed and critical on 
 other points, if inexperienced in dealing with the " supernatural," 
 it is utterly untrustworthy ; and it often happens that the most 
 intellectual and sceptical are most easily deceived or self-deceived. 
 
 This consideration must be added to the universally adm tted 
 mass of imposture and gross delusion. The honesty of no man 
 is necessarily impugned by doubting that he has seen or heard 
 what he is firmly convinced he has. Let him read the scientific 
 works named below. There is an admitted body of facts which 
 have not yet been reduced to the categories either of imposture 
 or of illusion. Their causes are not known; and the wise man 
 is slow to pronounce judgment upon them. But the hypothesis 
 of "spiritual" influence has not been established; and by the 
 laws of evidence no such hypothesis is admissible till all natural 
 causes, such as strange powers of the human mind, have been 
 definitely set aside. Such facts belong to the realm of mystery. 
 
 As to the direct value of Spiritualism, the most ardent believer 
 must admit tliat it is rather hoped for from future developments 
 than realized from anything yet attained. It has added nothing 
 reliable as to the future world, and nothing valuable as to the 
 practical afiairs of the present world. Whatever the " spirits " 
 know of either, they have told nothing yet which the unaided 
 human intellect or imagination could not hive attained. On the 
 contrary, Spiritualism has often done great harm. It would be 
 unfair to quote the immoralities which have been stimulated by im- 
 postors or even by ignorant and coarse believers. But it is not 
 uncommon to see that Spiritualism so inflames the imagination 
 that it dulls interest in the affjUrs of this world, and leads to a 
 restless and useless idleness, for which nothing but a feverish 
 curiosity as to the uncanny phenomena of the " seance " seems to 
 have any attraction. And where Spirituahsm is the sole religion, 
 it is generally a low one, tending to the " animism " of the savage 
 state, lacking in height, breadth, or grandeur of any kind. Spirits 
 but a httle above the human condition cannot be so exclusively 
 dealt with to any great benefit of the soul. 
 
 Yet on the other hand it may be said that Spiritualism, where 
 it exists as a part of a wider and higher religion, has often brought 
 
186 A STUDY OP THE SECTS. 
 
 inexpressible comfort to its believers. It has assured them of the 
 continued existence of their dead, and has seemed to prolong 
 pure and elevating intercourse with them. In an age when the 
 historic proofs of immortality have become to many incredible, 
 this has taken their place. Moreover, it has allied itself with 
 more rational phases of theology in profoundly changing the 
 popular ideas of the future life. That the dead are " fixed in an 
 eternal state" or ''done with all below," that the good cannot be 
 better themselves or exercise that pity and love which were their 
 marks here in helping the sinful and miserable hereafter, that the 
 evil are tormented with a useless eternal punishment, — are be- 
 liefs destined to pass away ; and in this blessed change Spirituahsm 
 has played an important part. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 What is a Spiritualist ? How old is the belief in spirits ? Where and 
 how did it revive in our day ? How has it continued ? Who have been 
 distinguished adherents of it ? What sort of a following has it? Have 
 they a formal creed ? Wh}' V Are they all sincere V What do they hold 
 as to the condition of spirits after death ? How do they differ here from the 
 popular theology V Are the spirits fixed or changeable ? What is their 
 relation to men ? What is " sensitiveness " ? a " medium " ? What affects 
 the character of communications ? Are they all reliable V AVhat progress 
 has been made in them V What varieties have you ever heard of V What 
 is the hope of Spiritualism V What is its attitude toward religion 7 How 
 does it interpret Christian history? 
 
 What is the mam difficulty with Spiritualism ? What has experience 
 shown as to the testimony of the senses ? What kind of an age or mind 
 sees most "miracles" ? What of the educated mind? Does this impugn 
 the honesty of testimony? Are all such facts known to be delusions? 
 What has Spiritualism done for man directly ? What has been its effect 
 often upon the ignorant ? As a man's only religion, what is its grade ? What 
 good has it done ? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 The history is minutely given in Emma Hardinge's Modern American 
 Spiritualism. The higher doctrine is set forth in Spirit Teachings, by 
 M. A. Oxon. The testimony of scientists may be found in A. R. Wallace's 
 On Miracles and Modern Spiritualism and Crookes' Researches hi the Phe- 
 nomena of Spiritualism. Robert Dale Owen in the Introduction to The 
 Debatable Land between this World and the Next has an interesting appeal 
 to the Protestant clergy, and in this book and Footfalls on the Boundary of 
 Another World masses many strange testimonies. Other noted books are 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 187 
 
 D. D. Home's Incidents in my Life; Hudson Tuttle's Studies in Psychical 
 Science; and Light on the Bidden Way, with lutroducUou by James 
 Freeman Clarke. 
 
 Against Spiritualism, see W. A. Hammond's Spiritualism and Nervous 
 Derangement; Edward H. Clarke's Visions; W . B. Carpenter's Mental 
 Physiology ; Lecky's History of Rationalism in Europe, chap. i. ; and C. W. 
 Upham's Salem Witchcraft. Interesting are Howells's novel, The Undis- 
 covered Country ; Besant's Herr Paulus ; Q,umcy's Pecksttr Professorship ; 
 and Browning's poem, Sludge, the Medium. 
 
 3. THE MORMONS. 
 
 The name adopted by the Mormons themselves is " The Church 
 of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." The name " Mormon " was 
 transferred in popular speech from the ancient author or compiler 
 of the sacred books. The claim is that in 600 b. c. a colony from 
 Jerusalem landed on the coast of Chili. A division as to the 
 leadership caused the rebellious elder brothers and their adherents 
 to have dark skins and to be an idle and worthless race. Hence 
 the North American Indians. Between them and the descend- 
 ants of the divinely appointed younger son raged perpetual war, 
 in which at last the former were victorious in 384 a. d. in New 
 York State. Mormon, one of the survivors, collected the records 
 in sixteen volumes and buried them. They were found by one 
 Joseph Smith in 1823 under angelic guidance, and became the 
 foundation of the new religion. It is now known that they 
 were written by a half-crazy preacher, in 1812, as an historical 
 romance. 
 
 The new sect was organized in 1830 at Fayette, New York, but 
 soon transferred to Ohio. Here Brigham Young, a man of power 
 and genius, became their elder in 1832. Driven away by their 
 scandalized neighbors, who had to call in the aid of the State, they 
 founded the city of Nauvoo, in Illinois. Here in 1843 a revelation 
 enjoined the practice of polygamy, and a most toilsome and peril- 
 ous emigration to Utah followed, where Salt Lake City was 
 founded in 1847, and a State soon after named " Deseret." Con- 
 flict arose at once between the Mormons and the United States 
 
188 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 authorities, -which has continued, often with bloodshed, to the 
 present time. It is now hoped that by the increase in the " Gen- 
 tile" population and the active efforts of the Christian missionaries 
 the sect may be shorn of its political power, if not driven out of 
 the country, and perhaps gradually obliterated. They are, how- 
 ever, still numerous and powerful, numbering in Utah 110,000, 
 and in Idaho, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Washington, and 
 England to 140,000 more. They threaten to control Nevada. 
 They are very active in missionary work, especially among the 
 poorer classes of England and Scandinavia. A secession took 
 place, in 1851, of the "Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of 
 Latter-Day Saints," in the old temple in Ohio. They repudiated 
 Young, vested the presidency in Joseph Smith's descendants, and 
 threw off" polygamy and some minor tenets. They also have been 
 activ& missionaries. 
 
 The belief of the Mormons is a singular product of modern 
 superstition and fanaticism, working on certain texts of the Scrip- 
 tures. They hold to the Bible as autliority, but believe in a con- 
 tinual process of revelation through the prophet, who is the head 
 of the Church. Additional revelations are embodied in the "Book 
 of Mormon " and the " Book of Doctrine." The Mormans are in a 
 sense polytheists, believing in a system of gods, all of whom were 
 at one time men. Their belief about them is in confusion, and no 
 satisfactory statement can be made from conflicting accounts and 
 sermons. The most characteristic features are the doctrines that 
 all men may rise to be gods, but will retain their human forms and 
 functions, and that the polygamous relation is carried throughout 
 the divine hierarchy. From the gods and their numerous wives 
 are born innumerable spirits who take possession of human bodies 
 at the birth of the latter and begin thus their ascent to divinity. 
 The father of these children becomes the head of this family of 
 spu'its hereafter, and his power will depend upon their number. 
 Hence polygamy, though not an original, becomes a natural part 
 of the system. The welfare of woman hereafter also depends 
 upon her union with some one of the " saints." 
 
 There is also a sort of Trinity, — God and Christ being clothed 
 with human bodies, but the Holy Spirit being omnipresent, though 
 
A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 189 
 
 a materiarsubstance. Men are saved through the atonement made 
 by Christ, on condition of then' faith in the Church, repentance, 
 baptism, and having the hands of the apostles laid on them to give 
 the Holy Spirit. Baptism is by immersion, but only after the 
 e'ghth year of age. Water is used at the communion in place of 
 wine. In the future state, not only the body, but the habits, occu- 
 pations, and necessities of the human state will be continued. 
 Unbelievers will be burned with fire ; but departed saints have 
 preached the true faith in Hades, and any believer here may be 
 baptized for any of his dead family or friends. The gifts of Apos- 
 tolic days are continued, — as prophecy, miracles, tongues, etc. 
 Christ is to return in person, gather Israel, including the lost Ten 
 Tribes, to a Zion on this continent, reign for a thousand years, 
 and then hold final judgment. The Mormons are strenuous for 
 total abstinence from fermented liquors and tobacco; restore the 
 Hebrew custom of paying tithes or tenths of all produce and 
 profit to the priesthood ; and believe in dancing, as of old, as a 
 religious rite. 
 
 Their organization is firm and complete. At its head are 
 three presidents, of whom one is supreme, and the others his 
 counsellors; a patriarch who gives blessings; the twelve apostles, 
 under whom the seventies act as missionaries and preachers; 
 high-priests, bishops or secular overseers, etc. The subjection 
 of the people to these officers is complete, and they evidently 
 believe, as they are taught, that this government is divinely 
 established, and that all other governments are illegal and re- 
 bellious. Their self-sacrifice and devotion to their religion have 
 often been pathetic. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 Whence came the name Mormon ? What is the legal name ? What is 
 the story of Mormon ? What was the real origin of the sacred records ? 
 When and where was the sect organized ? Who has been their greatest 
 leader ? What has been the bearing of the world toward them ? Where do 
 they now live? What has been the relation between them and the United 
 States government ? Has that government the right to prohibit a religious 
 practice ? Why has it the right to interfere with the Mormons ? How 
 numerous are they ? Where do they abound ? Where do they get their 
 
190 A STUDY OF THE SECTS. 
 
 recruits ? What other body of Mormons is there, and how do they differ 
 from the main sect ? 
 
 What are their standards of doctrine ? Did any prominent charac- 
 ters of the Bible practice polygamy (Gen xvi. 3; xxv. 1; xxviii. 9; 
 xxix. 27, 28; 1 Chron. xi. 3) V Wh}^, then, should it be condemned 
 in the Mormons ? Was it an original doctrine among them V What 
 advantage has polygamy to men according to Mormonism ? To women? 
 What do they believe concerning God ? What does Gen. 1. 27 mean ? 
 Were not many of the classic gods once men V What is the Mor- 
 mon Trinity ? How are men saved ? How do Mormons baptize ? What 
 do they believe concerning the future state ? Where did they get their idea 
 of baptizing for the dead (1 Cor. xv. 29) ? Are they Adventists ? What 
 other peculiarities can you recall ? What is their organization ? What is 
 the spirit of the laity toward the Church ? Do you see anything to approve 
 in the Mormon system V What truth is there in their idea of a continued 
 revelation ? In men growing to be gods ? How far is God human ? How 
 far is the custom of taking isolated texts from the Bible as a basis of doc- 
 trine to blame for their vagaries V Or taking texts literally ? Why is not 
 the Mormon justified in taking Luke xviii. 29 so ? Do you think Mormon- 
 ism likely to increase V Why ? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 A bibliography maj'- be found in the History of Utah, by H. H. Ban- 
 croft; Booh of Mormon, Orson Pratt's edition, 1881; BooTc of Doctrine and 
 Covenant, Orson Pratt's edition, 1880. A long and impartial account 
 in McClintock ; T. B. H. Stenhouse (once a Mormon). Rocky Mountain 
 Saints; New America, by W. Hepwortb Dixon. 
 
INDEX, 
 
 A. 
 
 Abram, 1, 2. 
 
 Ab^'ssinian Church, 64, 65. 
 
 Adam's Sin, 29, 31, 55, 132. (See 
 Human Nature, Total Depravity.) 
 
 Adler, Felix, 1T9, 180. 
 
 Adventists : classified, 11 ; excite- 
 ment, 138 ; peculiar belief, 154 ; 
 evangelicism, 154, 155; pastors and 
 sectarian divisions, 155; Scriptural 
 support, 156, 157; questions and 
 books, 157. 
 
 Af^ape, 49. (See Love-feasts.) 
 
 Albrights, 130. 
 
 Alexandrian Council, 26. 
 
 Altar: ornamented, 56; rejected, 97. 
 (See Worship.) 
 
 America: discovered, 70; Lutheranism, 
 78 ; religion, 129. (See United 
 States.) 
 
 American Revolution: rebellious Hes- 
 sians, 78; affected by Congregation- 
 alism, 116. 
 
 American Unitarian Association: or- 
 ganized, 167; work, 169. 174, 175. 
 
 Anabaptists, 119. (See B^iptisfs.) 
 
 Andover Seminary: doctrinal liberal- 
 ity, 40, 117; established, 112. 
 
 Anglican Church : view of atonement, 
 35; leaders, 43; part of Catholic, 95: 
 struggle with Covenanters, 101 ; first 
 step, 109; opposed by Puritans, 
 111; revival party, 128, 129; rit- 
 ualism, 128; Universalist element, 
 159 ; Unitarian, 165. (See England, 
 Episcopal ) 
 
 Antiburghers, 101. 
 
 Anti-effort Baptists, 5, 122. 
 
 Antinomianism, 37. 
 
 Anti-sectarian Sects: condition and 
 history, 137-157; questions, 139. 
 
 Antislavery, 162. (See Slavery.) 
 
 Anti-Trinitarians, 163. (See Trinity, 
 Unitarianisin.) 
 
 Antwerp Synod, 83. (See Holland.) 
 
 Apocalypse, 42. 
 
 Apocrypha, 73. 
 
 Apollinaris, 26. 
 
 Apostles, relation to the Church, 45. 
 
 Apostles' Creed : cited, 14 ; not Trini- 
 tarian, 22, 23; teaching bodih' res- 
 urrection, 43; used by Lutherans, 
 79; by Episcopalians, 93, 96, 97; by 
 Congregationalists, 115. 
 
 Apostolic Succession, 63, 73, 74. (See 
 Bishops, Church, Episcopal.) 
 
 Archbishops, 91. 92. (See Bi.-^hops.) 
 
 Arianism : modern, 27, 137 ; name, 
 163, 164; in New England, 166. 
 
 Arius, 26. 
 
 Armenian Church, 68. 
 
 Arminianism : view of atonement, 34, 
 35; conversion, 37, 41, 42; contro- 
 vers3% 83; in English Church, 90; 
 in New England, 112; among Bap- 
 tists, 122; espoused by Methodists, 
 131, 132. (See Free.) 
 
 Arminius, 31, 32. 
 
 Arnold, Thomas, 86. 
 
 Asbury, Francis. 129. 
 
 Assurance in Religion, 132. 
 
 Athanasian Creed: cited, 16; origin, 
 22, 23; Lutheran use, 79; discarded 
 by American Episcopalians, 88. 
 
 Athanasius, 26. 
 
192 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Atonement: common views stated, 33- 
 37; objections, 34, 35; Lutheran 
 opinions, 80; particular efficacy, 
 105 ; views of Methodists, 132, 134; 
 of Christian Baptists, 138 ; of Uni- 
 versalists, 160; of Unitarians, 173, 
 174; of Moravians, 189. (See Jesus.) 
 
 Augsburg Confession, 77-79. 
 
 Augustine: on human depravity, 31, 
 32; on salvation, 158. 
 
 Austin, missionary to England, 85. 
 
 Australian Liberals, 175. 
 
 Austria: religion, 77; Unitarianism, 
 176. 
 
 Authority in Religion : general reli- 
 ance on, 17; rational and ecclesias- 
 tical limits, 17, 18; Scriptural, 19, 
 20; questions and books, 21. (See 
 Bible, Church.) 
 
 B. 
 
 Ballou, Hosea, 159, 163. 
 
 Baltimore, settled by Catholics, 53. 
 
 Baptism: a condition of salvation, 37, 
 58; efficac3% 47, 74, 89; origin, 48; 
 change of form, 48, 49; books on, 
 51; Catholic rite, 55; Oriental cus- 
 toms, 67; supernatural element, 80; 
 among Reformed Episcopalians. 96- 
 98; Presbyterians, 103, 104; Metho- 
 dists, 132; Christian Baptists, 138; 
 Campbellites, 138, 139; Mormons, 
 189. (See Immersion, Infant, Re- 
 generation, Sacraments.) 
 
 Baptists: literary help, iv; classified, 
 11 ; creeds, 13; Calvinistic, 32, 71, 
 121, 122; opinions about atonement, 
 35; churches, 46, 47, 130 ; rites, 48; 
 communion, 50; numbers, 75; rise 
 in England, 86, 119, 120 ; con- 
 gregational polity, 109, 121, 123; 
 name, 119; history, 119-121; an- 
 tiquity of opinions, 119 ; in Amer- 
 ica, 120; middle classes, 120, 121; 
 government, 121; doctrines and 
 rites, 121,122, sects, 122, 137; statis- 
 
 tics, 122, 123; maintenance of re- 
 ligious freedom, 123; ceremonial 
 narrowness, 123, 124 ; questions, 
 124; books, 125. 
 
 Barrowism, 110, 111. 
 
 Belgic Confession, 83. 
 
 Bellows, Hetjry W., 168. 
 
 Bennett, Justice, 140. 
 
 Bible: infallible authority, 17-20, 54, 
 55,74; books anonymous, 20; read- 
 ing disapproved, 54, 73; Catholic 
 view, 54, 58, 59; divinely inspired, 
 66; Eastern language, 68; versions, 
 onl}' standard, 73 ; generally trusted, 
 74; opinions of Liberals, 75; Ger- 
 man criticism, 77; among Episco- 
 palians, 90, 97; Presbyterians, 103, 
 107; Congregationalists, 114, 117; 
 Baptists, 121; Methodists, 132, 134; 
 basis of churches, 137; among Chris- 
 tian Baptists, 139; (Quakers, 142, 
 143; Swedenborgians, 148-150, 153; 
 Society for Study, 156 ; among Uni- 
 versalists, 159-161 ; theological texts, 
 168; among Unitarians, 171, 172; 
 Spiritualists, 184; Mormons, 188. 
 {See Infallibility). 
 
 Bidle. John, 165. 
 
 Bishop.*: Roman Catholic, 58,59; Old 
 Catholic, 62, 63; Greek, 67; Lu- 
 theran, 80; American Episcopal, 
 87-89, 92; English, 89-92; out- 
 spoken, 93; Reformed Episcopal, 
 97, 98; rejected by Congregational- 
 ists, 109; Moravian, 127; Metho- 
 dist, 129-133; opposed, 137. (See 
 Archbishops, Clergy.) 
 
 Boniface VIIL, 53. 
 
 Book of Common Prayer: early revi- 
 sion, 86; proposed Aniprican change, 
 88; relied upon, 90; official use, 91 ; 
 errors, dignity, and beauty, 93, 94; 
 in Reformed Episcopal Church, 96- 
 98; in Scotland, 101, 102; phrases 
 changed, 166. (See Liturgies.) 
 
 Booth, General. 135, 136. 
 
 Brahminism, 11. 
 
 Brewster, Elder, 111. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 3 93 
 
 Broad Church: scholarship, 86, 90, 91; 
 
 liberality, 89. 
 Brownists, 119. 
 Brown, Robert, 110. 
 Buddhists, 11. 
 Burghers, 101. 
 Burial, Greek rite, 144. (See Dcalh.) 
 
 c. 
 
 Calvinism: dying, 32; atonement 
 theories, 34-36 ; doctrine of election, 
 41,42; sacraments, 47-50, 71; clergy, 
 47 ; baptism, 48 ; Lutlieran varia- 
 tions, 79, 80; Reformed Church, 82- 
 84; in English Church, 90; Five 
 Points, 104, 105; among Congrega- 
 tioualists, 114; Baptists, 121: sway 
 broken, 126; antagonized by Meth- 
 odism, 131-134 ; among Universal- 
 ists, 159-161; diluted, 166. (See 
 Arminianism.) 
 
 Calvinists : European leaders, 71 : op- 
 posed by Luther, 77; in Hungarv, 
 78. 
 
 Calvin, John : views of Scripture, 18, 
 101; adherence to Augustine, 31; 
 theories of infantile guilt, 32 ; books, 
 33; opinion of the eucharist, 50, 79 ; 
 liturgy, 84; Institutes, 100; church- 
 government, 102, 103; Sabbatarian- 
 ism, 104; on predestination, 107; a 
 persecutor, 164. 
 
 Cambridge Synod, 111, 114. 
 
 Campbellites, 138. 
 
 Camp-meetings, 129. 
 
 Candles, in worship, 56. 
 
 Cardinals, 58. 
 
 Carey, William, 123. 
 
 Carver, John, 111. 
 
 Cathedrals: English, 91; American, 
 92. 
 
 Catholic Apostolic Church, 156. 
 
 Catholic Church, breadth and name, 
 71. (See Episcopal, Old, Roman.) 
 
 Celibacy of Clergy, 58. 
 
 Chalcedon Council, 26, 65. 
 
 Chalmers, Thomas, 101. 
 
 Channing, William Ellery: on Jesus, 
 19; on the Trinity, 27; on the 
 Church, 46; on Calvinisnl, 117, 167; 
 on human nature, 133 ; works, 178. 
 
 Character, all-important, 170-172. 
 
 Charles I., 100. 
 
 Charles II , 101, 110, 111, 141. 
 
 Charles V., 69, 83. 
 
 Chaunc}', Charles, 158, 165. 
 
 Christendom, a race divison, 71. (See 
 Teutonic.) 
 
 Christening, 49. (See Baptism, 
 Sacraments.) 
 
 Christian Baptists: doctrines, 122; 
 protest, 139. 
 
 Christian Connection, 137. 
 
 Christian Denomination : classified, 
 11; creedless, 13; denial of Trinity, 
 22; names and unsectarianism, 137; 
 history, growth, find belief, 137, 
 138; s'tatistics, 138; books, 138, 139; 
 questions, 140. 
 
 Christian Doctrines: books on, 13; 
 essays on, 13-51. (See separate 
 headings, such as Total Dejn-avity, 
 Trinity.) 
 
 Christianity: Jewish and Gentile, 3; 
 early converts, 4; indebtedness to 
 Hebrews, 6; books on, 9; name, 9, 
 11; Mosaic tendencies, 10; origin, 
 history, and divisions, 10, 11 ; four 
 ecclesiastical systems, statistics, 
 11; questions, 12; creeds, 13-16; 
 sources of authority', 17-21; separa- 
 tion from Judaism, 25, 26; divinely 
 revealed, 66; spirituality, 72; return 
 to primitive, 137. 
 
 Christian Mission, 135, (See Salvatit.l 
 Army.) 
 
 Christians: earliest, 10; sects and 
 numbers, 11; right to the title, 11, 
 12; in presence of death, 39, 40; the 
 name, 77. 
 
 Christian Unionists: no creed, 13; 
 sect and history, 139. 
 
 Church: authoritative establishment, 
 17, 18; subordination to Scripture, 
 
 13 
 
194 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 18; early formation, 45; visible in- 
 stitution, 45, 46, 7'i; invisibilit}', 46, 
 73; varying forms, 46; nvenibersliip, 
 46-48 ; pastors, 47 (see Cltvyy) ; 
 ceremonies, 47-50 (see Sacraments) ; 
 questions, 50, 51; books, 51, 95; 
 superior to Scripture, 66; Eastern 
 idea, 67; property, 70; to be 
 obeyed, 72; liberal view of, 75, 172; 
 authority in England, 90; not one 
 only, 97; relations to state, 103; 
 PresbA'terian tlieory, 103; Congre- 
 gational, 110 ; Methodist, 130, 131; 
 Christian Baptist, 139; Quaker, 142, 
 143, 145. 
 
 Churches: in New Testament, 112, 
 113; distinct from societies, 113; 
 Universalist polity, 160. (See 
 Congregationalism. ) 
 
 Church-membership: terms, 46, 48; 
 among Quakers, 143. (See Baptism, 
 Conjirmatiun, Sacraments.) 
 
 Church of England, history, 85, 86. 
 (See Anglican^ England, Episcopal.) 
 
 Church Party, 71, 72. 
 
 Circumcision, 5. 
 
 Classes, Methodist, 130. 
 
 Clergy: rank, 47; papal, 58; Eastern, 
 67; authority, 73; Anglican, 91; 
 American Episcopal, 92, 93; Pres- 
 byterian, 99, 100; Congregational, 
 113; Moravian, 126; Methodist, 130- 
 133; Campbellite, 138; Christian 
 Unionist, 139; Quaker, 142, 143; 
 Swedenborgian, 152; Universalist. 
 161 ; Moravian, 189 ; Unitarian, 175. 
 (See Bishops, Cardinals, Education, 
 Popes, Priesthood, Sacrnments.) 
 
 Close Communion, 121, 122. 
 
 Coke, Thomas, 129. 
 
 Colet, John, 86. 
 
 Communion: Protestant view, 47-50; 
 name, 49 ; Methodist, 132 ; Christian 
 Baptist, 138. (See Consubstantia- 
 tion, Eucharist, Sacraments, Tran- 
 substantiation.) 
 
 Concord : Form of, 77 ; Book of, 79. 
 
 Conferences: Orthodox, 113, 114; 
 
 Methodist, 130; Christian Baptist, 
 138; Unitarian, 168, 169, 175. 
 
 Confessional: lioman Catholic, 56, 57; 
 Greek, 67. 
 
 Confirmation : rite, 49, 55, 56 ; replaced, 
 74. (See Church-membership.) 
 
 Confucians, 11. 
 
 Congregationalism: rise in England, 
 36, 86, 101 ; in Reformed Episcopal 
 Church, 98; anti-Presbyterian, lUO, 
 100, 107, 109; history, 109-115; 
 founders, 110; establislied church of 
 New England, 111, il2; the great 
 defection, 112; among Baptists, 121, 
 123, 138, 139; relation to Methodism, 
 130; among Universalists, 160; Uni- 
 tarians, 163-170; church-govern- 
 ment, 112, 113 ; iincient town system, 
 113; catechisms, 114; Statement of 
 Doctrine, 114, 115; relation to lib- 
 eralism, 116, 117; books on, 118. 
 (See Church.) 
 
 Congregationalists: literary aid; iv; 
 classification, 11; creed, 13; Calvin- 
 istic, 32, 71; views of atonement, 35; 
 future probation, 40; churches, 46, 
 47; clergy, 47, 113; numbers, 75; 
 name, 109 ; independent principle, 
 109, 110,113; early English socie- 
 ties, 110,111; Holfand exiles. Ill; 
 compromises. 111, 112 ; Western 
 missionary' work, 112; officers and 
 membership, 113; conferences, 113, 
 114; synods, 114; doctrines, 114, 
 115; statistics, 115, 116: questions, 
 117, 118; education, 120, 121. (See 
 Unitarians.) 
 
 Constantine: authority, 26 ; Donation, 
 53. 
 
 Constantinople Council, 26, 65. 
 
 Consubstantiation: theory, 50, 79; 
 denied, 103, 104. (See Eucharist, 
 Sacraments, Transubstantiation.) 
 
 Conversion: process, 36, 37; Meth- 
 odist view, 132. (See Human 
 Nature.) 
 
 Conviction of Sin, 132. 
 
 Coptic Church, 65. 
 
INDEX, 
 
 195 
 
 Correspondence of Scripture, 149, 150, 
 153. 
 
 Councils of the Church: great, 52, 
 63-65; failure, 53; Eastern, 67,68. 
 (See special names, such as Trent.) 
 
 Covenanters : theology, 71 ; estab- 
 lished, 100, 101. 
 
 Covenants of Churches, 13, 169. 
 
 Creeds: the word, 13; prevalence, 13, 
 14; earliest, 14; three general, 
 14-16; Baptist, 121; Moravian, 127; 
 Christian Baptist, 138; Universalist, 
 160; below character, 170; ethical, 
 179. (See special names, such as 
 Athanasian, Nicene.) 
 
 Cromwell, Oliver, 101, 110. 
 
 Crookes, Pn.fessor, 183, 186. 
 
 Crucifix, 67. 
 
 Crusades, 70. 
 
 Cumberland Presbyterians, 102, 106. 
 
 Cummins, Bishop David, 96, 98, 99. 
 
 D. 
 
 Darwinism, 11, 12. 
 
 Deacons, 67. (See Clergy.) 
 
 Death : how met, 39, 40; prayers, 67. 
 
 Decalogue, 2. 
 
 Dedham Case, 167. 
 
 Demnark: religion, 78 ; churches, 80. 
 
 Dioceses, 131. (See Bis}iop.<f.) 
 
 Disciples of Christ: creedless, 13; 
 
 numbers, 75; sectarian names and 
 
 facts, 1:38. 
 Dissenters in England, 92. 
 Div-orce, 58. (See Afari-inge.) 
 Dol linger. Dr., 53, 62. 
 Dort Synod, 83, 84. 
 Douay Bible, 73. 
 Dress, among Quakers, 144. (See 
 
 Vestments.) 
 Duff, Adam, 164. 
 Dyer, Mary, 141. 
 
 E. 
 
 Eastern Church: iirst great schism, 
 11; sects, 26; view of sin, 31; name. 
 
 philosophy, and extent, 64; history, 
 64, 65; patriarchs, 64, 68; doctrinal 
 secession from Latin Church, ene- 
 mies and defeats, 65; doctrines, 
 65-68 ; councils, 64-66 ; estimate of 
 tradition, Scripture, deitj--, and hu- 
 man nature, 66; means of salvation, 
 value of rites, 66, 67; ecclesiastical 
 authority and pastors, 67; ceremo- 
 nies, 67, 68 ; liturgies, government, 
 and statistics, 68; questions, 68, 69; 
 books, 69. (See Greek.) 
 
 Ebionites, 25. 
 
 Education: among Baptists, 120, 121; 
 Congregationalists, 116; Quakers, 
 142, 145; Adventists, 155. (See 
 Harvard.) 
 
 Edwards, Jonathan, 112, 166. 
 
 Edward VL, 86. 
 
 Elders: Presbvterian, 106; Methodist, 
 130-132 (See CUrfpj.) 
 
 Election: doctrine afhrmed, 35; de- 
 nied, 80; unconditional, 104, 105; 
 of infants, 105. (See Free Will, 
 Predestination.) 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, 159. 
 
 Emerson, Ralph Waldo: poem, 17; 
 influence. 19, 168. 
 
 Emotional Religion, 126,133, 134. 152. 
 
 England: Calvinism, 71; indepen- 
 dence of Rome, 86; liberal iJcholar- 
 ship, 86; 87; prelates and lords, 91; 
 ecclesiastical property, 91, 92; reli- 
 gious changes, 100, 101; emigration 
 to America, 102; the Independents, 
 107; Baptists, 123; Moravians, 
 126; Quakers, 140, 141; Sweden- 
 borginns, 148, 152; Unitarians, 163- 
 166, 175, 176; Mormons, 188. (See 
 Anglican.) 
 
 Eparchies, 68. 
 
 Ephesian Council, 26, 65. 
 
 Episcopal Church: literary aid, iv; 
 classification, 11; creeds, 15, 16; 
 Pelagianism. 32; free grace, 36; 
 conversion, 37, 38; hell, 43; bishops, 
 46; sacraments, 47-50; baptism, 
 48, 49 ; eucharist, 49, 50, 74 ; Calvi- 
 
196 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 nism, 71; denial of Protestantism, 
 71; apwstolic succession, 74; num 
 bers, 75; nauies and foundation, 85; 
 history, 85-88; relation to Rome, 
 85, 8o, 89, 95; prayer-book, 80; 
 laxity and reaction, 86, 87; in 
 United States, 87, 88; doctrines, 
 88-91; forms of worship, 88, 93; 
 three parties, 88-90; church unity, 
 89; apostolic succession, 89, 90; 
 evangelicism, 90; High, Low, and 
 Broad divisions, 90; organization, 
 91, 92; bishops, 91; statistics, 92; 
 in United States, 92, 93; claims, 
 93, 94:; questions, 94; books on, 95, 
 96; Reformed, 96-99 ; contest with 
 Presbyteriaaism, 103, 107; Sabba- 
 tarianism, 104; distinction from 
 Congregationalism, 109, 112, 113; 
 Toryism, 116; persecution of Bap- 
 tists, 120. (See Anglican and 
 Reformed.) 
 Erasmus, 86. 
 
 Erskine, Ebenezer, 101, 130. 
 Eternal Hope, 159. (See Universalism.) 
 Eternal Punishment: believed, 40,41; 
 English views, 90; denials, 91; 
 belief of Presbyterians, 105 ; of 
 Methodists, 132, 134; rejected by 
 Adventists, 155; by Universalists, 
 158,159; by Unitarians, 174. (See 
 Future Life.) 
 Ethical Culture: literary aid, iv; his- 
 torv of the movement, 179; methods, 
 179, 180; literature and moral basis, 
 180; place and questions, 181. 
 Etiquette, 145. 
 
 Eucharist: a help to salvation, 37, 
 47-50; name, 49; books on, 51; a 
 sacrificial offering, 55, 67, 74; dif- 
 fering opinions among the Reform- 
 ers, 71; Luther's view, 71, 79, 80; 
 later Protestant opinions, 88; Eng- 
 lish view, 89, 90 ; in Reformed 
 Church, 97; among Presb^^terians, 
 103, 104 (See Communion, LoriVs 
 Supper, Sacraments.) 
 Eutvches, 26. 
 
 Evangelical Alliance, 71. 
 
 Evangelical Association, 130. 
 
 Evangelical Christianity: name, iv, 
 71 ; tlieory of conversion, 30; diead 
 of death, 40 , modilied views of hell, 
 43; adherence to Scriptures, 72; 
 agreement among Methodists, 132 ; 
 Christian Baptists 138, 139; Qua- 
 kers, 142, 143; Adventists, 154-150. 
 
 Experimental Religion, 132-134. 
 
 Extreme Unction: practised, 56; set 
 aside, 67, 74. 
 
 F. 
 
 Faith : a supreme spiritual act, 72 ; 
 
 opinions of Reformed Episcopal 
 
 Church, 97 : limited to the elect, 
 
 105; among Methodists, 132. 
 Fall of Man, 29-31, 66, 74. (See Hu- 
 man Nature, Total Depravity.) 
 Farrar, Archdeacon, 42, 90, 159. 
 Fashions, 145, 146. (See Dress and 
 
 Vestments.) 
 Fenwicke, John, 141. 
 First Churches in New England, 112. 
 
 (See Congregationalism.) 
 Fisher, Mary, 140. 
 Flowers, used in worship, 56. 
 Forgiveness, priestly, 56, 57. (See 
 
 Atonement.) 
 Fox Children, 182. 
 Fox, George: life, 140, 141, 146; 
 
 books, 147. 
 France: Calvinism, 71; liberality, 
 
 164, 177. 
 Freedom in Religion : three steps, 109 ; 
 
 defended bv Baptists, 122, 123. 
 Free Grace, 36, 133, 136, 137. 
 Free Methodists, 130. 
 Freen, James, 166. 
 Free Seats, 93. 
 Free (Will) Baptists: name, 120; 
 
 numbers, 122; secessions, 137. 
 Free Will: doctrine, 31-33 ; Unitarian 
 
 view, 174. (See Arminianism.) 
 Friends: literary aid, iv^ silence. 10; 
 
 classified, 11; creedless, 13; views 
 
INDEX. 
 
 197 
 
 of Trinity, 22; rejection of sacra- 
 ments, 48 ; exclusion, 71; opposed 
 to Calvinism, 71, 141, 142 ; rational- 
 ism developed, 72; rise ill England, 
 86; names, 140; histoiy, 140-143; 
 tolerated, 141; in the American 
 colonies 141, 142; inferences from 
 doctrine of the inner light, 142, 
 143; common ceremonies rejected, 
 organization, 143 ; discipline and 
 customs, 144; philanthropy, 144, 
 145; statistics, 145; criticism, first 
 liberals, questions, 146 ; books, 147 ; 
 serene trust, 152. 
 
 Fry, Elizabeth, 142, 144. 
 
 Funerals, 143. (See Burial and 
 Death.) 
 
 Furness, W. H., poem, 33. 
 
 Future Life: general belief, 39; hopes 
 and feirs, 39, 40; drama in four 
 acts, 40, 41; early Christian belief, 
 41; two ultimate conditions, 42, 43; 
 modern protest, 43; questions, 43, 
 44; books, 44; general agreement, 
 74; Swedenborg's view, 151; opin- 
 ions of Universalist«, 158-161; Uni- 
 tariatis, 174; Mormons, 188, 189. 
 (See Eternal.) 
 
 G. 
 
 Gay, Ebenezer, 166. 
 
 General Baptists, 120. 
 
 Genesis: not inspired, 20; teachings 
 about sin 29, 30. 
 
 Genevan Church, 103. (See Calvin.) 
 
 Gentiles: religion, 3; intermarriage, 4. 
 
 German Methodists, 1-30. 
 
 Germany: emigration, 53; Biblic 1 
 criticism, 77, 81, 86, 87; general 
 religion, 78; Lutheranism. 80; emi- 
 gration to America, 102; Baptists, 
 120, 122; Moravians, 126; Sweden- 
 borgians, 148; Unitarians, 176. 
 (See Lutheranism.) 
 
 Giles, Chauncey, 152. 
 
 God: general Christian belief, 22; 
 divergencies, 22, 23; questions, 23; 
 
 salvation compact, 34; view of 
 Swedenborgians, 149; Universa- 
 lists, 160; Unitarians, 163-167; re- 
 lation of Ethical Movement to deity, 
 179. (See Atonement, Holy Spirit, 
 Jesus, Trinity) 
 
 Good Hope, discovery of Cape, 70. 
 
 Gospel Truth, considered a monopoh', 
 71. 
 
 Grace, effectual, 105. (See Free.) 
 
 Greal Assize, 41. 
 
 Great Awakening, 112, 165, 166. 
 
 Greek Church: classification and num- 
 bers, 11; creeds, 14, 15; clergy and 
 sacraments, 47; future progress, 
 64; language, 64, 68; errors, 71; 
 branch of one great church, 89. 
 (See Eastern and Russia.) 
 
 Greenwood, John, 110. 
 
 Gregory the Great, 52, 85. 
 
 Guilt, 32. (See Adam, Eternal, Hu- 
 man Nature, Total Depravity.) 
 
 Gurneyites, 142. 
 
 H. 
 
 Half-way Covenant, 111, 112, 165, 
 166. 
 
 Harvard College, 112, 167, 175. 
 
 Heaven, a condition, 151. (See Eter- 
 nal, Future Life.) 
 
 Hebrews, 1. (See Jeivs.) 
 
 Hebrews, Book of, 34, 35. 
 
 Heck, Barbara, 129. 
 
 Hegel, 11, 12. 
 
 Hell, 42, 43. (See Eternal, Future, 
 and Jurlqment.) 
 
 Henrv Vlil., 86, 92. 
 
 Heredity, 35, 107. (See Election, 
 Pre'kstinntion.) 
 
 Hicks, Elias: career, 142; books, 147. 
 
 Hicksites: tenets. 22; numbers, 145. 
 
 High Church: proper place, 72; in 
 England, 86, 88, 00; in America, 
 96; baptism, 124; Wesley, 128. 
 (See Episcopal and Low.) 
 
 Hildebrand, 53. 
 
 Holland: Calvinism, 71, 100; Luth- 
 
198 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 eranisni ; 78 ; tenets, 78 ; connection 
 with America, 78, 102; churches, 
 83; ecclesiasiical iiistory, 84; Con- 
 gregationalism, 110. Ill; sects, 119, 
 12-2^; liberalism, 1G4, 165, 176. 
 
 Holy Spirit: deity, 23, 90; convert- 
 ing work, 37; in creeds, 65-67; in 
 councils, 67; response to faith, 72, 
 connection with Scripture, 73 ; in 
 Westminster Confession, 104, 105 ; 
 views of Congregationalists, 114, 
 115; Methodists, 133, 134; Quakers, 
 142. 143, 145; Swedenborgians, 149, 
 150. (See God, Jesus, Trinity.) 
 
 Home, David Dunglas, 182. 
 
 Hubmaier, Balthazar, 119. 
 
 Huguenots: Calvinistic, 71, 100; con- 
 nection with America, 102. 
 
 Human Nature: innocence and fall, 
 29-33, 66; corruption and guilt, 31; 
 three views, 31, 32; questions, 32; 
 books, 33 ; soundness, 33, 34 ; restor- 
 ation, 67 ; Swedenborg's view, 149. 
 (See Guilt and Total Depravity.) 
 
 Hungar}': religion, 78; Unitarians, 
 163. ' 
 
 Huss, John, 126. 
 
 Hyacinthe, Father, 53, 63. 
 
 I. 
 
 Image-woksuip, 67, 74. 
 
 Immersion: Greek rite, 67; reasons 
 stated, 121-124; among minor 
 sects, 138, 139; Mormon practice, 
 189. (See Baptism, Sacraments.) 
 
 Immortality, lost, 66. (See Eternal 
 and Future.) 
 
 Incense, 56. 
 
 Independents: rise in England, 86, 
 101; church-government, 109; per- 
 secution and emigration, 110, 111 ; 
 
 - in Holland, 119 ; Baptist relation- 
 ship, 120. (See Congregationalism.) 
 
 Indians : Lutheranism, 78 ; origin, 187. 
 
 Indulgences, theory explained, 57. 
 
 Infallibility : not taught in Scriptures, 
 
 . 20; papal, 53, 54; impossible, 60; 
 
 decreed, 53, 62 ; rejected, 53, 62, 63, 
 171. (See Bible and Pope.) 
 
 Infants: perdition, 32, 43, 105; bap- 
 tism, 48, 49, 58, 89, 93, 96, 97, 119, 
 121, 123, 124. (See Baptism and 
 liefjeneration.) 
 
 Inner Light, 140, 142. (See Friends 
 and Holy Spirit.) 
 
 Inquisition, 58. 
 
 Inspiration, 17-20, 58. (See Bible, 
 Holy Spirit, Infallibility.) 
 
 Ireland: emigration, 53, 102; ecclesi- 
 astical history, 85; disestablishment, 
 91; Presbyterianism, 138; Unita- 
 rianism, 165, 175. 
 
 Irvingites, 156. 
 
 Isidorean Decretals, 52, 53. 
 
 Italy: emigration, 53; liberalism, 164. 
 
 J. 
 
 Jacob, Henry, 110. 
 
 Jacobites, 65, 68. 
 
 James, Saint, liturgy, 68. 
 
 Jerusalem: a centre, 64; capture, 65; 
 S3mod, 66 ; patriarchate, 68. 
 
 Jesuits, 53. 
 
 Jesus: nationalitv, 3, 5, 24; preach- 
 ing and life, 10; church founded, 
 17; no writer, 20; rank and office, 
 24; deified, 24. 25, 27, 58, 74, 90, 
 118, 132, 134; textual discussion, 24, 
 25; earthlv appearance and gospel 
 pictures, 25; Greek and Lntin ideas, 
 26; early doctrinal controversies, 
 25-27; modern dissent, 26, 27; 
 questions, 28; books on, 28, 29; 
 view of human nature, 30; influence 
 in salvation, 33-36; second coming, 
 40, 41, 151,154-157; on the judg- 
 ment seat, 41, 42; relation to the 
 Church, 45, 54, 89; communion, 
 49 ; two natures, 65 ; in creeds, 66, 
 67; opinions of Congregationalists, 
 114, 115; of Baptists, 121; devotion 
 of believers, 126 ; ancient heretical 
 theories, 137, 138; rites, 143; opin- 
 ions of Swedenborgians, 149, 151; 
 
INDEX. 
 
 199 
 
 of Universalists, 158, 159, 161; of 
 Unitarians, 164-175. (See God, 
 Holy Spirit, THnity.) 
 
 Jews: suggestions from Dr. Lasker, 
 iv; name and origin, 1; history, 
 1-4; tiiree periods and formation, 2; 
 affirmation, 2, 3 ; exile and clianges 
 in belief, 2, 3; Scriptures, 3 ; denial 
 of Christianit}', 3, 5, 6 ; reformation, 
 3, 4; creeds, authority, marriage, 4; 
 doctrines and Sabbath, 4, 5; cer- 
 emonies, 5 ; persecution and theolo- 
 gical influence, 6; occupations and 
 statistics, 7; questions, 7, 8; books 
 on, 8; numbers, 11; Messianic 
 opinions, 24; ideas of deity, 24, 25; 
 rites discarded, 72 ; ritualistic spirit, 
 123; secondary sense of Scripture, 
 153; Unitarianism, 164, 172, 173. 
 
 John's Gospel, doubtful authenticity, 
 24, 25. 
 
 Jones, Abner, 137. 
 
 Jowett, Professor, 86. 
 
 Judgment Day : general view, 39-43 ; 
 opinions of Swedenborgians, 151 ; 
 Universalists, 158; Unitarians, 174. 
 (See Eternal and Future.) 
 
 Justification: theories, 37, 38, 58, 72; 
 ancient opinion, 83. (See Faith.) 
 
 K. 
 
 Keble, John, 86. 
 
 King's Chapel, 166. 
 
 Kingsley, Charles, 43, 86, 90, 159. 
 
 Knox, John, 100. 
 
 Latin Church : philosophy, 25 ; lan- 
 guage, 56. (See Eastern, Greek, 
 Roman.) 
 
 Leo the Great, 52. 
 
 Letters of Church-fellowship, 113. 
 (See Church-membership.) 
 
 Liberal Christians: the epithet, iv; 
 views of human nature, 33, 34; of 
 
 predestination, 35; of conversion, 
 36; of sanctification and justifica- 
 tion, 37, 38 ; not afraid of death, 40 ; 
 sacramental opinions, 49, 50; anti- 
 Calvinistic, 71; rationalistic, 72; iu 
 English Church, 89. (See Armini- 
 anism, New Church, Unitarianism, 
 Universalism.) 
 
 Liberal Protestant Sects, 158-179. 
 
 Lindsey, Theophilus, 27, 165. 
 
 Utany, 88, 91, 93, 94. 
 
 Liturgies: ancient, 68; American, 88; 
 dignity, 93; Methodist, 132. (See 
 Book.) 
 
 Locke, John, 165. 
 
 Logos, 26, 49. 
 
 Longfellow, Samuel, poetry, 45. 
 
 Lord's Supper : name, 49; terms, 112; 
 kiss, 155. (See Communion, Eucha- 
 rist, Sacraments.) 
 
 Love-feasts, 49, 132. 
 
 Low Church, 86, 88-90. (See Epis- 
 copal and Hirjh.) 
 
 Lutheranism: sacraments, 47-50: not 
 tolerated, 69; in Holland, 71, 83; 
 histor}^ 77-79; creeds, 79; diiTer- 
 ences from Calvinism, 79, 80, 100; 
 questions, 82: books on, 82; for- 
 mulas of belief, 88; relation to 
 Presbyterianism, 103; view of 
 Scriptural inspiration, 107. 
 
 Lutherans : classified, 11 ; baptism, 
 48; eucharist, 50, 71,74; dhisions, 
 71, 78, 79, 122; numbers, 75; name, 
 77; location, 78; doctrines and 
 rites, 79, 80; organization and pol- 
 ity, 80, 81; old guard, statistics, 81; 
 Sabbath-observance, 104; Moravian 
 element, 126. 
 
 Luther, Martin: views of Scripture, 
 18; outlawry, 69, 70; advent, 70, 
 71; limiting truth, 81; stirring ef- 
 forts, 86, 119. 
 
 M. 
 
 Maroxites, 65. 
 
 Marriage: sacrament, 47, 56, 58; of 
 
200 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Greek priests, 67; restrictions, 74; 
 English, 92; Quaker strictness, 142, 
 14-J; ceremony, 144. 
 
 Mass, 49, 50, 55. (See Eucharist.) 
 
 Massacliusetts: parish taxes remitted, 
 111; churches, 113; Coiigregation- 
 alists, 115; Baptists, 120; Univer- 
 salists, 161; Unitarians, 165-168. 
 
 Maurice, F. D., 43, 86, 90, 159. 
 
 Mavhew, Jonathan, 158, 166. 
 
 Meadville School, 175. 
 
 Melanchthon, 77, 79. 
 
 Mennonites, 119, 122. 
 
 Messiahship: claim and meaning, 6; 
 denied, 24. (See Jesus.) 
 
 Methodism: creed, 13; Pelagianism, 
 32 ; views of atonement, 35 ; free 
 grace, 36; conversion, 37, 38; anti- 
 Calvinistic, 71, 133, 134; Moravian 
 influence, 126; historj', 127-130; re- 
 vival influence, 128; expansion, 128, 
 129; doctrinal theories and three 
 theological characteristics, 131, 132; 
 books on, 131, 135; evangelicism, 
 132; questions, 134. (See Armin- 
 ianism.) 
 
 Methodists: literary aid, iv; classified, 
 11; church-government, 46; reac- 
 tion, 86; numbers, 75; in the South, 
 119, 120; name, 127; in America, 
 129, 130; divisions, 129, 130, 131; 
 warmth, 129, 133; organization, 130, 
 131; literature and standards, 131; 
 liturgy, 132; statistics, 132, 133; pop- 
 ular devotion, 133; in Xew England. 
 166. 
 
 Millennium, 40, 156, 157. (See Ad- 
 ventis's and Second.) 
 
 Millerites, 41, 138, 154. 
 
 Milton, John, 165. 
 
 Miracles, 171, 184, 185, 189. 
 
 Missions: Lutheran, 84; Congrega- 
 tional, 115, 116; opposition. 122; 
 Baptist, 122, 123; leaders, 123; Mo- 
 ravian, 126; Methodist, 132, 133; 
 Salvation Army, 135, 136; Camp- 
 bellite, 138; Quaker, 140. 
 
 Missourians, 78, 155. 
 
 Mohammedans: numbers, 11; suc- 
 cess, 65. 
 
 Monophysites, 26, 65, 68. 
 
 Monothelites, 26. 
 
 Moravians: classified, 11; name, 125; 
 history and customs, 126; statistics, 
 questions, and books, 127; influ- 
 ence on Methodism, 128. 
 
 More, Sir Thomas, 86. 
 
 Mormonism: name and foundation, 
 187; history, 187, 188; literature, 
 188; theology, 188, 189; ceremonies 
 and organization, 189; questions, 
 189, 190; books, 190. 
 
 Mosaic Law, 4, 5. 
 
 Muhlenberg, Henry Melchior, 78. 
 
 Murray, John, 158, 159, 163. 
 
 N. 
 
 National Conference, 168, 169. 
 
 Negroes, 129, 133. 
 
 Nestorian Church, 65, 68. 
 
 Nestorius, 65, 68. 
 
 New Church. (See Neiv Jerusalem.) 
 
 New Connection, 120. 
 
 New England: Calvinism, 71; Epis- 
 copacy, 87; Congregationalism, 106; 
 established church, 111 ; revivals, 
 112; creeds and textbooks, 114; 
 settlement, 116; Baptists, 125; Uni- 
 versalists, 158-161; Unitarians, 165- 
 16:); Arminianism, 166. (See Mas- 
 snchusetts and United States.) 
 
 NcAv Hampshire Confession, 121, 125. 
 
 New Jerusalem Church : literary aid, 
 iv; theory of the judgment, 42, 43; 
 exclusion, 71; rationalism 72; 
 name, 147; history, 147, 148; foun- 
 der, 147-149; doctrines, 148-151; 
 the Lord, 149 ; correspondence of 
 Scriptures, 149,150; human nature, 
 150; continuity of life, L50, 151; 
 second coming of Christ, 151; or- 
 ganization, 151, 152; pastors, statis- 
 tics, and influence, 152; books on, 
 152-154; claims denied, 153; ques- 
 tions, 153. (See Swedenborg.) 
 
INDEX. 
 
 20 r 
 
 Newman, Cardinal: quoted, 18, 95; 
 submission, 63; leaderstiip, 86. 
 
 New Scliool Presbyterians, 102, 106. 
 
 Newton, Sir Isaac, 165. 
 
 New York: Dutcli Cliurch, 83; Uni- 
 versarsts, 161. 
 
 Niciea, Council of, 26, 64, 164. 
 
 Nicene Creed : cited, 15, 16 ; changed, 
 23,65; Lutheran use, 79 ; Anglican, 
 90; Reformed Episcopal, 96, 97; 
 Congregational, 114. (See Apostles, 
 Athanasian, and Creeds.) 
 
 Non-Christian Societies, 179-190. 
 
 Non-conformists, 128, 129. (See Dis- 
 senters.) 
 
 Norway : religion, 78 ; churches, 80. 
 
 o. 
 
 OccHiNO, Bernardino, 165. 
 
 0' Kelly, .James, 137. 
 
 Old Catholics : leaders and move- 
 ment, 53; origin and purpose, 62, 
 63; stagnation, questions, and 
 books, 63. (See Dollinger.) 
 
 Old Connection of Baptists, 120. 
 
 Old Lutherans, 78. 
 
 Old School Presbyterians, 102, 106. 
 
 Ordination: sacramental. 56; by peo- 
 ple, 74. (See Clergy and Sacra- 
 ments.) 
 
 Oriental Missions, 140. 
 
 Or'gen, 158. 
 
 Original Sin, 29. (See Adam and 
 Human Nature.) 
 
 Orthodox Protestants: photographed, 
 iii; literary aid, iv; dread of 
 death, 40; views of communion, 50; 
 in New England, 109; Univcrsalist 
 leaning toward, 162; relation to 
 Unitarians, 171-175. 
 
 P. 
 
 Papas, in Greek Church, 67. 
 Parker, Theodore, 19, 167, 168. 
 Particular Baptists, 120. 
 
 Patriarchs, 64, 67, 68. (See Clergy.) 
 
 Paul: denials, 10; opinions not fully 
 accepted, 12; spiritualizing Jesus, 
 25; views of sin, 30, 31; epistles, 
 31; relation to Christianity, 72. 
 
 Pauline Tendencies, 10, 72, 97, 145. 
 
 Pelagius and his Doctrine, 31, 32. 
 (See Iluman Nature ) 
 
 Penances: Komanist, 56; Greek, 67. 
 
 Penn, William: position, 141, 146; 
 books, 147. 
 
 Pepin's Gift, 52, 53. 
 
 Perfection, as a doctrine, 132. 
 
 Permission to Sin, 57. 
 
 Perseverance of the Saints, 35, 105. 
 
 Peter: in Rome, 52; the rock, 54; 
 relation to Christianity, 72. 
 
 Petrine Tendencies, 10, 72, 97, 123. 
 
 Philadelphia : a Presbyterian centre, 
 102; Confession, 121^ 125. 
 
 Pictures in Church, 67. (See Image- 
 loorship). 
 
 Pietists: sect, 77; missions, 123. 
 
 Pilgrims : Calvinistic, 83; leaders 
 from Holland, 111; unlike the 
 Puritans, 117. 
 
 Plymouth, settled, 111. 
 
 Poland: Unitarianism, 27, 164; 
 churches, 77; Calvinism, 100; 
 Catholic reaction, 164. (See Hun- 
 gary and Transylvania). 
 
 Polygamy, 187-189. (See }farriace). 
 
 Polj-theism, 188. 
 
 Popes: prominent, 52, 53: position, 
 58; power, 59; authority rejected, 
 62; corruption, 70. (See Clergy, 
 Infallibility, and personal names of 
 different pontiffs.) 
 
 Prayer: to the saints for friends, 57: 
 among IMethodists, 132; among Uni- 
 tarians, 174. 
 
 Praver-meetings, political example, 
 116. 
 
 Predestination : doctrine. 35, 36; Pres- 
 byterian views, 107; disregarded in 
 New England, 112; and by cer- 
 tain Baptists, 122. (See Election, 
 Eternal, Human Nature.) 
 
202 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Presbyterian Churches, becomiug Uni- 
 tarian, 10(5, 107, 163, 165. 
 Presbyterianism : Calvinistic 71, 102, 
 103; rise in England, 86; estab- 
 lisiied in Scotland, 91 ; name, 99, 
 100; polity, 100; history, 100-102; 
 in United States, 102; Confessions, 
 102, 103; doctrines, 102-105; Scrip- 
 tural reliance, 103; peculiar tenets 
 in Five Points, 104, 105; theories of 
 perdition, 105; questions, 107, 108; 
 books on, 108, 109; second step 
 toward religious liberty, 109; with- 
 drawals, 110; among Baptists, 122. 
 Presbyterians : classified, 11 ; vieAvs of 
 atonement, 35; ecclesiastical gov- 
 ernment, 46, 47, 103, 106, 109, 130; 
 clergy, 47; numbers, 75; kinship 
 with Reformed Episcopacj', 98 ; dis- 
 cipline, 100, 101; liturgy, 101, 102; 
 two schools, 102, 106 ; schisms, 102, 
 106, 110, 137; originators of Puritan 
 Sabbath, 104; evangelicism, 105; 
 statistics, 106 ; Protestant color- 
 guard, 107; Plan of Union, 113, 114; 
 relation to Christian Baptists, 137; 
 second-advent views, 156. 
 Preterition, akin to predestination, 35, 
 
 105. 
 Priesthood: corrnpt, 70; universal, 
 
 73, 97, 98. 
 Priestley, Joseph, 165. 
 Priest, name omitted, 96. (See 
 
 Clerfjy.) 
 Printing, 70. 
 
 Probation: earthly, 35, 36; future, 
 112; Methodist custom, 132. (See 
 Eternal and Future.) 
 Propaganda at Rome, 58. 
 Prophfts, 2. 
 
 Protestantism: appearance in Christ- 
 endom, 10, 11; appeal to authority, 
 17, 18; views of free grace, 36; 
 sanctification, 37; hell, 42, 43; race 
 division, 63, 71; differences from 
 Greek Church, 66, 67; revival of 
 Christianity, 72; name, 69, 70; his- 
 tory, 70-74; causes of protest, 70, 
 
 71; three main parties, 71, 72; doc- 
 trines, 72-74; importance and im- 
 partation of faiih, 72, 73 ; divergence 
 from Romanism, 73; church and 
 ministry, 73, 74; two sacraments 
 and minor differences, 74; ques- 
 tions, 75, 76 ; books on, 76 ; opposed 
 in Scotland, 100; indebtedness to 
 Presbvterianism, 107; Calvinistic, 
 133. 
 
 Protestant Reformation: adherence to 
 Scripture and rejection of ecclesias- 
 tical autiiority, 18-20; unchanged 
 views of the Trinity, 26; human na- 
 ture, 31, 32; atonement, 34; changed 
 views of the Church, 46 ; clerg}', 47 ; 
 sacraments, 47, 48; long preparation, 
 70; first aim, 70, 71; literature, 108, 
 109; development of Universalism, 
 158 ; of Unitarianism, 164. 
 
 Protestant Sects : evangelical, 77-136; 
 anti-sectarian, 137-157; liberal, 
 158-179. 
 
 Protestants: numbers, 11; creeds, 14; 
 denial of sacramental grace, 37; 
 dread of death, 39-41; drift toward 
 belief in future probation, 40; re- 
 tracing steps, 50; friendly pra)'ers, 
 57; schisms and sects, 71; proper 
 classification, 71, 72; statistics, 75; 
 use of Catholic creeds, 88; Episco- 
 pal differences, 90. 
 
 Prussian Church, 77. 
 
 Purgatory, 40, 57, 67, 74. 
 
 Puritans: adherence to Bible, 18; 
 atonement, 35; Calvinistic, 71; rise, 
 86; in New England, 87; rigidity, 
 93; "belated," 97; Sabbath observ- 
 ance, 104; origin, 107; name, 109, 
 110; emigration. 111; education, 
 116; not identical with Pilgrims, 
 117. 
 
 Pusev, Edward Bouverie, 86. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quakers. (See Friends.) 
 
INDEX. 
 
 203 
 
 R. 
 
 Racovians, 163. 
 
 Radbert, Paschasius, 49, 50. 
 
 Rationalism, 81. 
 
 Rationalists, 170, 171 
 
 Rational Party, 72, 77. (See Liberal 
 and Unitarian.) 
 
 Reformed Dutch Church: classifica- 
 tion, 11; numbers, 75, 106; title, 
 history, controversies, American 
 establishment and language, 83; 
 doctrines, 83, 84; organization, sta- 
 tistics, questions, books, 84. 
 
 Reformed P^piscopal Church: name 
 and formation, 96; history, 96, 97; 
 principles, 97; belated Puritan ten- 
 dencies, 97, 98; organization, sta- 
 tistics, and protest, 98; questions, 
 98, 99; books, 99. 
 
 Regenerati(m: a divine work, 35 -39, 
 66; baptismal, 80, 89, 93, 96, 97; 
 Methodist view, 132. (See Con- 
 version, Human Nature.) 
 
 Reinkens, Bishop, 53, 62. 
 
 Relics, 57, 74. 
 
 Religious Freedom: three steps, 109; 
 Baptist maintenance, 122, 123. 
 
 Relly, James, 158. 
 
 Remission of Sin, 57. 
 
 Renaissance, 70. 
 
 Reprobation, 105, (See Predestina- 
 tion and Preterition.) 
 
 Restorationists, 158, 161. (See Uni- 
 versalism.) 
 
 Resurrection of Body, 43, 90. 
 
 Revelation, Book of, lurid pictures, 42. 
 
 Revelation, not rare, 171. (See Bible, 
 Holy Spirit.) 
 
 Revivals: Methodist, 128, 129; Sal- 
 vation Army, 135. 
 
 Robertson, F.'w., 43, 159. 
 
 Robinson, .John, 110. 
 
 Roman Catholic Church: steadfast 
 faith, iii ; literar}' aid, iv; ritual 
 10, 55-57, 72; classification, 11; 
 statistics, 11, 59; creeds, 14-16; 
 final authority, 17, 18; Pelagian- 
 
 ism, 32; theory of atonement, 34; 
 predestination, 35; free grace and 
 conversion, 36; justification and 
 sanctification, 37; inspiring dread 
 of death, 39-41; pictures of hell; 
 42, 43; ecclesiastical foundation, 
 45; clergy, 47; sacraments, 47-50, 
 55, .56; Scripture-reading discour- 
 aged, 54, 73; name, 52, 64; his- 
 toric formation, 52, 53; chief events 
 and temporal power, 53 ; in America, 
 53, 54; doctrines, 54-59; one in- 
 fallible body, 54, 60, 73; authori- 
 tative decisions, 54, 55 ; centre of 
 worship, 55; admission, 55; lan- 
 guage, vestments, candles, and in- 
 cense, 56; remission of sin, 56, 57; 
 treasury of merits, aids to devotion, 
 57; future state, 57, 67; divorce, 
 58; polity and government, 58, 59; 
 doctrinal liberality, 59, 60; funda- 
 mental claim, 60 ; questions, 60, 61; 
 books, 61, 62; rebellious German 
 scholars, 62; firmer union, 64, 65, 
 diverijence from Greek Church, 66- 
 68; landed property, 70; English 
 schism, 71, 85, 86; works and faith, 
 72; unity, 73; relation to Luthera- 
 nism, 77,79; formulas in Protestant 
 use, 88; in Anglican Church, 89; 
 90; favorable reaction, 95; Calvin- 
 istic opposition, 100; Presbyterian 
 conflict, 103, 107; Sunday-observ- 
 ance, 104; errors rejected 109, 110; 
 missionary zeal, 123; trust in bap- 
 tism, 124; persecution of Hussites, 
 126; ecclesiastical system partially 
 adopted by Protestants, 130; zpal, 
 133; sweeping Poland, 164; esti- 
 mate of Bible, 171. 
 
 Rome: empire, 52, 60; city, 58. 
 
 Roundheads of Liberalism, 162. 
 
 Russia: Greek Church, 64, 65; elabo- 
 rate ritual, 68; Protestantism, 78. 
 
204 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 s. 
 
 Sabbath: Jewish observance, 4, 5; 
 Presbyterian influence, lO-t; or Sat- 
 turday, 1-22. 
 
 Sacriments: differing opinions, 47- 
 50; definition, 55, 56; in Greek 
 Church, OG, 67; a cliannel of faith, 
 72; priesrly ministration, 73; num- 
 ber, 74; Episcopal, 89, 90; Presby- 
 terian, 103, 104; not essential to 
 parish-memberiship, 113; Methodist, 
 132; Quaker rejection, 143; Swed- 
 enborgian, 152. (See Baptism and 
 Eucharist.) 
 
 Saint-worship, 57, 74. 
 
 Salter, William M., iv, 180. 
 
 Salvation Army: names, 135; devel- 
 opment, 135, 136 : growth and liter- 
 ature, 136. 
 
 Salvation: two theories, 34; Scriptu- 
 ral support, 34, 35; extent and 
 foreordination, 35, 36; personal 
 crisis, channels of grace, attain- 
 ment, 37; questions, 38; books, 
 39; universal, 42; Calvinistic view, 
 104, 105; Methodist, 132. (See 
 Atonement, Conversion, Eternal, 
 Universnlism.) 
 
 Sanctification, 37. 38. 
 
 Satan and Sin, 29. 
 
 Savoy Confession, 110. 
 
 Scotland: early missionaries, 85; 
 bishops, 87; established church, 91; 
 Calvini^^m, 100; religious revolu- 
 tion, 100, 101; leaders, 101; emi- 
 gration, 102; Genevan ideal, 103; 
 churches, 106; Universalist ele- 
 ment, 161; Unitarian, 175. 
 
 Scriptural Party, 72. 
 
 Scriptin-es. (See Bible.) 
 
 Scrnoby Church, 110. 
 
 Seabury, Bishop, 87. 
 
 Second Advent of Jesus, 40, 41. (See 
 AdventiMs.) 
 
 Semitic Race, 1, 2. 
 
 Servetus, 23, 26, 164. 
 
 Seventh Day Adventists, 155. 
 
 Seventh Day Baptists, 122. 
 
 Shinto Sect', 11. 
 
 Sin: beginning, 29, 30 ; consequences, 
 57. (See Adam, Atonement, Eter- 
 nal, Guilt, Human Nature.) 
 
 Six-Principle Baptists, 122. 
 
 Smith, Joseph, 187, 188. 
 
 Smyth, John, 119, 120. 
 
 Socinianism, 163. 
 
 Socinus, Lailius and Faustus: rejec- 
 tion of the Trinity, 23, 27 ; Pelagi- 
 anism, 31, 32; early influence, 104, 
 165. 
 
 Southern States: Baptists, 120, 121 ; 
 Methodists, 133 ; Romanists, 57. 
 
 Spain, liberalism in, 176. 
 
 Sparks, Jared, 167. 
 
 Spiritualism: literary aid, iv; wide 
 definition, 181 ; ancient and modern, 
 182; creedless, 182, 183; main 
 belief, 183, 184 ; sensitiveness, 183 ; 
 variations in opinion, Biblical inci- 
 dents, 184; difficulties in supernatu- 
 ralism, 184, 185; influence and ser- 
 vice, 185, 186; questions, 106; liter- 
 ature, 186, 187. 
 
 Stanley, Dean, 43, 86, 159. 
 
 Sunday-schools: Baptist, 122; Chris- 
 tian Baptist and Campbellite, 138; 
 Congregationalist, 115; Episcopal, 
 93; Methodist, 132, 133; Quaker, 
 145; Reformed Episcopal, 98; Swe- 
 denborgian, 151, 152; Unitarian, 
 175; Universalist, 161; summary, 
 75. 
 
 Swedenborg: career and works, 147- 
 154. 
 
 Swedenborgians. (See New Jei^iisy- 
 lem Church.) 
 
 Sweden: religion, 78; bishops con- 
 verted, 80; liberalism, 176. 
 
 Switzerland: Calvinism, 71, 100; lib- 
 eralism, 164, 176. 
 
 Syllabus of Errors, 53. 
 
 Synods, Greek, 68. (See Dart, and 
 other special names.) 
 
INDEX. 
 
 205 
 
 T. 
 
 Talmud, 3. 
 
 Taxation for Churches: in England, 
 92; in New England, 111. 
 
 Temperance: among Universalists, 
 ltJ2; Mormons, 189. 
 
 Temple, Dr., 86. 
 
 Temple: rebuilt, 2; and synagogue, 
 5; sacrifices, 35. 
 
 Teunent, Gilbert, 166. 
 
 Tertullian, 23. 
 
 Teutonic Race, 63, 71. 
 
 Thirty-nine Articles : adopted, 86, 88; 
 reduced, 86, 96, 97. 
 
 Tithes, Mormon, 189. 
 
 Titles, disused, Hi. 
 
 Tobacco, 189. 
 
 Toledo Cou?!cil, 65. 
 
 Toryism, 116. 
 
 Total Depravity: general belief, 29, 
 30: Calvinistic, 104; Methodist, 
 132, 134. (See Human Nature and 
 Sin.) 
 
 Tractarianism : movement, 8G, 87; 
 leaders, 87, 95. 
 
 Transcendentalism, 167, 108. 
 
 Transubstantiation, 50, 55, 74, 79, 86, 
 97, 103. (See Consubstantiation, 
 Eucharkt.) 
 
 Transylvania, 78, 163, 164, 176. 
 
 Trent Council, 31, 53, 87. 
 
 Trinity: not stated in the Bible, 22; 
 ■word, doctrinal history, questions, 
 22, 23; Catholic view, 58; true form, 
 65; in creeds, 66; sectarian agree- 
 ment, 74; Anglican view, 90; Calvi- 
 nistic, 105: Congregational, 114,115, 
 117; Methodist, 132, 134; denials, 
 122,137,138; opinions of Sweden- 
 borgians, 149. 152; Universalists, 
 1.58, 160; Unitarians, 163-175; Mor- 
 mons, 188; Sabellian theory, 158, 
 159; disbelief punishable as blas- 
 phemy, 165. (See God, Holy Spirit, 
 Jesus. ) 
 
 Tunkers, 122. 
 
 u. 
 
 Unitarian Books : on doctrinal dif- 
 ferences, 13; on creeds, 17; on au- 
 thority, 21 : on Trinity, and deity of 
 Jesus, 28, 29; on human nature, 33; 
 on salvation, atonement, and kin- 
 dred topics, 39; on future life, 44, 
 109; on church and sacraments, 51, 
 125; on Christian histor}', 61, 62, 
 82; on Episcopal Church, 90; on Cal- 
 vinism, 117; on Congregationalism, 
 118, 125,147; on Quakerism, 147; 
 on Swedenborgianism, 153; on Uni- 
 tarian history and doctrines, 177, 
 178. 
 
 Unitarian Churches: creeds, 13, 14; 
 congregational organization, 46, 109, 
 
 116, 172; Presbyterian, 106, 107, 
 163, 165; New England schism, 112; 
 original parishes, 116; Old Con- 
 nection, 120; first, 165; denomina- 
 tional formation, 165-167; polity, 
 168, 169; covenants and confer- 
 ences, 169, 170; American, 175; 
 English, 175, 176; European, 176. 
 
 Unitarianism: difficulty of statement, 
 y; Jewish ideas, 7, 8; teachers, 19; 
 relation to Biblical authority, 21, 
 171, 172, 177; views of incarnation, 
 27; of human nature, 28-33; origin 
 of modern, 28; view of the atone- 
 ment, 34, 38, 173 ; rejection of pre- 
 destination, 35; theory of heredity, 
 35; conversion, 30, 173, 174; justi- 
 fication and sanctification, 37, 38 ; 
 divine judgment, 42, 177; future 
 punishment, 43, 44, 174; relation to 
 Romanism, 50-62, 63; relati.-n to 
 the Greek Church, 69; swiftly mov- 
 ing tendencies, 71; rationalism, 72; 
 Protestantism, 75, 76; relations 
 Avith Lutheranism, 81, 82; with 
 Congregationalism, 109, 112, 116, 
 
 117, 108. 109; the great defection, 
 112: relations with ^Methodism, 133; 
 with Camp!)ellites, and similar mi- 
 nor sects, 139; with Quakerism, 145, 
 
206 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 146; Swedenborgianism, 152, 153; 
 Universalism, 159-1G3; age, 1G4, 
 176; historic reappearance, 104; 
 prosperity, 105; English founders, 
 165, 170; in New England, 105- 
 167, 176; relation to Arminianism, 
 166; separation, 167, 168; vocation, 
 168; tendencies rather th.in opin- 
 ions, 170; two distinctive ideas, 170- 
 172; reason, 170, 171; miracles, 171 ; 
 virtues and graces of common life, 
 171, 172; future life, 174; negations, 
 170, 177; questions, 176, 177; doc- 
 trines, 170, 177. 
 
 Unitarians: criticised, iii; literarv aid, 
 iv: classitied, 11, 12; creedless, 13; 
 rejection of authorit}', 18-21 ; belief 
 in inspiration, 19, 20; views as to 
 the godliead, 22, 23; ancient and 
 modern, 23; Polish, 27; Pelagianism, 
 32; calmness in death, 40; disbelief 
 in endless misery, 43 ; ecclesiastical 
 forms, 46, 47, 49-51, 174; sympathy 
 with Catholicism, 59, 60; the only 
 true Protestants, 75; excluded, 71; 
 dread of insincerity, 107 ; indebted- 
 ness to Baptists, 123; to Methodists, 
 133; Quaker adherents, 142; com- 
 pared with Universalists, 161, 163; 
 martj-rs, 164; organizations, 168; 
 platforms, 169; rationalism, 171; 
 opinions about Jesus, 172, 173; 
 character above creed, 171-173; 
 faults, worship, and theological ig- 
 norance, 174, 175; non-attendance 
 at church, 175; statistics, 175, 176; 
 policy, 177; radical unity with the 
 Ethical Movement, 180, 181; views 
 of Spiritualism, 185, 186. (^ee 
 Libevdl.) 
 
 United Brethren, 125-130. 
 
 United States: Jews, 7; liberal theol- 
 ogy, 27; sacramental differences, 
 50'; Roman Catholics, 53, 54, 59; 
 denominational numbers, 75; Lu- 
 therans, 80, 81; Dutch Reformed 
 Church, 82-84; Episcopalians, 87, 
 88, 92, 93; Presbyterians, 102, 103, 
 
 106; Reformed Churches, 106; In- 
 dependents, 110; Congregational- 
 ists, 115, 116; Moravians, 126; 
 Methodists, 129, 133; (^lakers, 140- 
 142; Swedenborgians, 148; Univer- 
 salists, 159-161; Unitarians, 163- 
 178; Ethical Movement, 179, 180; 
 Mormons, 188. 
 
 Unity of God: consensus of belief, 22; 
 ancient doctrine, 164. (See Gud, 
 Trinity.) 
 
 Universalism: grand protest, 43; 
 name and early advocate,s, 158; his- 
 tory and American preachers, 158, 
 159; eternal hope, 159; doctrines, 
 159, 160; use of Scriptures, 160; 
 relation to Unitarianism, 161, 162; 
 questions, 162, 163; books, 163. 
 
 Universalists: literary aid, iv; denial 
 of Trinit}', 22 ; believe in Judgment, 
 42; church basis, 47; excluded, 71; 
 platform, 159, 160; Avorship and 
 organization, 160; statistics, 161; 
 conservatism, democrac}', and phi- 
 lanthropy, 162. 
 
 Utah, 187, 188. 
 
 V. 
 
 Vatican Council, 62, 63. 
 
 Vestments, 56, 84, 109. 
 
 Vicarious Atonement, 34. 
 Atonement.) 
 
 Virginia Baptists, 120. 
 
 Virgin Mary: Mother of God. 26. 65; 
 adored in place of Jesus, 27; im- 
 maculiteh' conceived, 53; homage 
 paid, 57, 66; and withheld, 74. 
 
 Vulaate, 73. 
 
 w. 
 
 TValdenses, 119. 
 
 Wales: church-histor\', 85; establish- 
 ment, 91 ; Congregationalism, 109 ; 
 Unitarianism, 165, 175. 
 
 Wallace, Alfred Russell, 182, 186. 
 
 (See 
 
INDEX. 
 
 207 
 
 Ware, Henry, 167. 
 
 Watch-meetings, 132. 
 
 Wesley, Charles, 128. 
 
 Wesley, John: career and opinions, 
 126-131; works, 135. 
 
 Western Church, 31. (See Eastern, 
 Latin, Roman.) 
 
 Western Conference, 305, 106. 
 
 Western States: Methodists, 133; 
 Christian Baptists, 138, 139; lib- 
 eralism, 168, 109, 175. 
 
 Westminster Catechism, 103, 114. 
 
 Westminster Confession : on the Bible, 
 18 ; on salvation, 46 ; adopted by 
 Reformed Church, 84; by Presby- 
 terians, 102, 103; on the Sabbath, 
 104; used by Congregationalists, 
 110; in New England, 114. 
 
 Whateley, Archbishop, 86. 
 
 "Whewell, William, v. 
 
 Whitefield, George, 112, 127, 128, 158, 
 166. 
 
 Whittier, John Greenleaf, poetry, 29, 
 39. 
 
 Wigglesworth's Poem, 109, 114. 
 
 Wightman, Edward, 164. 
 
 Wilbur, John, 142. 
 
 Williams, Roger, 120. 
 
 Winchester Prof ssion of Faith, 159, 
 160. 
 
 Wiiebrennarians, 122. 
 
 Women Preachers, 144. 
 
 Worship: Catholic, 56, 57; not con- 
 nected with the Ethical Movement, 
 180. {8ee Prayer, Sacraments.) 
 
 Y. 
 
 Young, Bkigham, 187. 
 
 Z. 
 
 ZiNZENDORF, CoUNT, 126. 
 
 Zurich, Baptist doctrine, 119. 
 Zwingli: view of sacraments, 50; 
 differing from Luther, 71. 
 
Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries 
 
 1 1012 01252 0393