CHURCH UNION.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13746, 30 May 1910, Page 8

CHURCH UNION.

THK POSITION Of PKIvSHYTERJANISM.

An interesting contribution tn the subject of Church Union was made by the Rev. Thomas Tait in his evening MTcnnn at St. Paul's Church yesterday. Ho said that there, had been recent references to the subject in the Press and elsewhere, and there could I" , n<> doubt thai was waste ivf energy, men. iime, ami money, because cf the /millions that obtained in the Church ot ».i Christ. Prosbyterianism could not lip wu.-wl of .standing aloof from tho .jiiffiiioii of Church union. Both hero and in Australia thii Pr-sbytenan Church had taken tho initiative, and fur years had liecn endeavouring, in the

most practical way. to como to aai understanding with various other branches of the Christian Churc!'. One of the latent an , ! most encouraging phases <>1 rerent negotiation was the friendly attitude taken l>y the Anglican Archbishop ot Melbourne. 'l'li«> main barrier r. resented hy that Church was the •'histrric • •pLsem>ate.'' as it v.a.s called. The theory of Apostolical Succession was clearly arid .-strongly put by (.'anon Lid<ion in a sermon entitled "A Kather in Christ." Tim validity of the , Kiicharist and of the transmission < f ministerial (tower v.a.s made to depend ujson "a true episcopal succession.' , Presbyterians "did "not hold that, and never could hold it. Unless the Anglican Church could break away from the thec.ry of Apostolic Succession, he w,is at raid that there would !)c no hope of union. Ha.rypily. lion ever, ono could cite I>;.shop I.rJiUrot, and other distinguished .scholars of the Anglican , Church to hear , out the fact that the origin of the episcopate was to ho found in the presbytery. Kvery scholar knew that in the New Testament the terms "'bishop' , and "Vresby- . tcr" <Ikl not indicate any distinction in office, and that the same was true of these terms as used by Clement of Home at tho close of the lir.st century. It lind hwii said hy a distinguished Fihnlar that if wo had Clement now as the creed of tile Church, ''we might have the re-union of Christendom t'>nioiron —there would bo no 'historic episcopate' and no sacerc'ot.'ili.sin.' . On 1 tic: basis of scholarly research, it |. ; , sofolv r.verrcxl that the oripn.iil form of Church rule was Presbyterian -■ and not Episcopal -in the mrjdern sense: that the episcopate was created out of tho presbytery, and took a considerable time to develop into any-

thing like its present form; tiiat neither in apostolic nor in sub-upostolic literature, was countenance given to tlip theory of p.posriolic succession; that it could not be proved that the jvouor of transmitting office was juithoritnuvely yiven to bishops as JJ.ktingnished from presbyters, and that j.M my case no Church could piovo that it was the .possessor of such an unbroken succession. Not only was Presbytery older than Episcopacy, lmt the Presbyterianism <f the Reformation was an accomplished fact before the Church of England began to exist as a Church of the Upformation. The Presbyterian Church of Scotland nnd the Epi.swv.il Church ot England wore from the first- <|uite Independent, of on*; another. In England the royal supremacy prevented the Reformation becoming as thorough us the ecclesiastical leaders themselves desired. Professor Lindsay had justly remarked that "if the bishop had had tbeir way. -there would have ■bjun room in the Church of Eug-. land for the Nonconformists ot the present time . . . hut there would '(••'•ap-ely liav.o been for the modern Anglican' ritualists."' Attention was drawn to such facts in order to show that when the Churches were viewed in the light of their historic origins, the dream of a united Protestant Chiiroil was no mere fancy. History very clearly indicated the feasibility of Church union. The creed and. tho mission of a Church were of far more im-, .portnnce. than-cither ■ nictlo of worship or form ot government, and it was retissuring to reflect that in the great essentials of ■■belief, tho thirty-nine Articles of the Cliurch of England ivero

.iiibstantiailv in line with the teaching

of the Confession of Foith. The.doctrine in both caee.-s had the same Calvinistic.complexion and origin. The Articles were practically the ,eamc as the forty-two drawn ui> by Cranmer; and il was interesting to note that John Knox was consulted by Cranraer both with

regard to tlw .Articles and , the Prayer

Book. Thcro was ho doubt that the good soi;w> of the laity in all, Churches was shown by the fact that mere ccolcrtiastieol preference'was not-permit-ted to tiverride the weightier considerations of edification and service. Take, for oxarnple, a Presbyterian Church, in

ivhich nould b<; found Cbngregntionnl-

ists, Methodists. Baptist?, and even Anglicans in full communion. His own observation and experience toid him that these people were not in the Presbyterian communion -because of any at-

tempt. t« proselytise. Union, of course, could never mean absolute agreement. ' Oα long; as tho world lasted there would lie tho fireatest diversity with respect to the details of religious belief, tho various forms ..of worshin, «nd so forth. As things were, such -diversity .was to bo fo-nnti within .the nafe of each and oil of the Christian Churches. And yet, tk'spitc all such differtiuec* within itself, ench dcnbminntio'n was ablo to realise , H very e/fectiv'c unity. Hero, tlien. was onotlrer fact that made for fche possibility of f liurch union. The close kinship <>1 the <":hurches was a^ain evidenced in v the region of theological scholarship, y.vcrj'ono ot the, denomination».liad put the others under a debt of yratitudo for instalments to tho general store of research nnd learning. The outstanding of any one'denomination really Iwlortfied to all. Moreover, the wider «nd dpfper the intellectual discipline ainl. Kchohirshm- demanded as preparation for (lie ministry hwann , . the nearer should they bo union. The ancient crcd.il dceuments of cyery Church need a good deal of revusini;, hut they all «likf« contained the ibitting elements of it vital erred, which' ho exIMMrted to iiccopt when tho happy day oi union arrived!