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Show NO AUTHORITY. We remember taking up a paper lately and the term "Arrested Progress" struck our eye. As the phrase was somewhat peculiar, we stopped to see what that "arrested progress" meant, and we found that it had reference to the Protestant churches generally and especially to the Nonconformist and Baptist. To our minds the words arrested progress prog-ress means a weakness somewhere. The Protestants Protes-tants admit no weakness,' but they attribute their arrested progress (it is not a good wording to our thinking; better say decline) to "the materialism of the age, the craze for amusements, the destructive criticism'of the Bible, and of evangelical theology, official conservatism in the chapel, and muzzled ministers in the pulpit, stale and musty preaching, preach-ing, popular disregard for preachers and general indifference to church things." What is the cause .j .ii mi.- j. jt... j. i ii oi an ibis. j-iie uuu.se is iiui aar io seeK. ii is but the natural outcome of the Reformation, and the Protestant churches are reaping what they have sown. ' The Reformation began by attacking dogma, and authority, prelacy and priesthood were the objects of its special contempt. At first the break from dogma was not very pronounced, but as the days advanced men's minds, imbibed with the spirit of the so-called religious liberty of the Reformation, became more estranged from the basis of belief. 2sFew-f angled forms of religion sprang up on every side until men in bewilderment bewilder-ment asked themselves this question: "What is truth?" The pulpit became to be occupied by Jay-men, Jay-men, not sacrificing priests, whose sermons upheld the interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures by pri-I pri-I vate judgment, and the teachings of these men of 1 necessity led to that destructive criticism of the Bible which is so loudly complained of, today. It is no wonder indeed that in this our time there is a popular disregard for preachers and general indifference in-difference to church things. We would be surprised sur-prised if it were not 90, for according to Protestant Protes-tant teaching is not the average educated man's opinion on matters of religion as good as those lay self-commissioned preachers who give vent to their own ideas for dogma I Assuredly the Bible is as much theirs, as such a minister's. The preaching preach-ing of such men is indeed musty, for they have got nothing to preach except self, or some empty generalities gen-eralities which they butter up and call doctrine. Men get sick and tired of such twaddle, and consequently con-sequently they stay away from church altogether. Put before a man the eternal truths, the end of his existence, give him the means to conquer self and the temptations around him, deal out to him God's word pure and unsullied, cut and dry, and he will willingly listen to you, for men are wise enough today to know that there is very little raus-tiness raus-tiness about truth. But a lay self -commissioned minister cannot do that, "for how can they preach unless they are sent?" unless they have an infallible church at their back, a church which can give and does give force and weight and authority to their words? God founded one church, not a multitude ot creeds as numerous as they are diverse in their doctrines. He gave her certain marks by which men could know her. "She was to be the city placed on the niountaintop." one in faith and sacrifice. sac-rifice. She was 1o teach all men in His name and by His authori; ,1 He was to be with her all days even to tin ..summation of the world. As far as we know the Bible which Protestants continually con-tinually vaunt says so, and as far as we know the Bible does not say anywhere "There are many churches and many doctrines," and that special tenets of that Book are to h? accepted and the remaining re-maining ones rejected or received only cum grano salis (with a grain of salt). Yes, the Protestant churches have freed themselves from dogma, and now their followers are freeing themselves from tho Protestant churche?. Tt, was inevitable, and the natural outcome of a creed that lacked authority for its pronouncements, and. lacking authority, never could exact that obedience which is the essential es-sential quality of true religion. |