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Show . j I . Papacy in the Light of History. I Elasticity of Anglicanism to Meet the Exigencies of the Times Rev. Mr. Love's Effort to Harmonize ! With "Dissenters." ! (Written for the Intermountain Catholic.) Having shown that the Roman Catholic Cath-olic faith was the creed of England for a thousand years, and that at no time during that period was the spiritual spir-itual jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff denied by English Catholics that Oxford Ox-ford and Cambridge were under the jurisdiction ot Roman Catholics, we come to Rev. Mr. Love's "second great characteristic." where he points out how very closely, through the gains of the Reformation, that spiritual crisis brought his church into harmony and sympathy with the evangelical churches." Before taking issue with the gentleman gentle-man on the question of "harmony and - sympathy," it is well first to show how inconsistent he is, arid how elastic his creed becomes, in order to meet the exigencies of the times. Between truth and error there could be no harmony. Rev. Mr. Love claims to have Apostolic Succession." and that his church is endowed en-dowed with Divine Authority, to teach all churches, be they Roman, Greek or Evangelical. As an expression of his faith, he proclaims his hope as follows: fol-lows: "And it has been the dream of our leaders, age after age, that, because of our peculiar position, we might, some day. have the blessed privilege of performing a distinctively characteristic characteris-tic service among the churches. Because Be-cause we combine the essential principles princi-ples of the Catholic churches along with the essential principles of tne reformation re-formation churches we dare to hope that it may be our privilege some day to bring both wings closer together. For that final coming together into one fold, for which the Master prayed, and for which we must ever work as well as pray, cannot be a union which leaves out of account the various branches of the Catholic church the Roman or the Greek or the Anglican, any more than it can leave out any of the branches of the Protestant denominations. denomi-nations. And it is our hope and dream that, some day, because we have retained re-tained our organic connection with the Catholic churches, and have, at the same time, continued our vital union and sympathy with the Protestant churches, we may. therefore, in God's time, be the forerunner of that new day when there shall be one fold, as there is one Shepherd." But is it not strange that a church J claiming to be the true and sole heir of primitive truth should be divided in its doctrinal teaching? Again, truth, be it religious, scientific or mathe- j matical, is absolute in itself and un- j compromising in its ' demands. Mr. Love's attitude of "sympathy and harmony" har-mony" gives power to Evangelicals, and demonstrates at the same time the fallacy of his own pretensions. But this "sympathy and harmony" are of very recent origin. One of the darkest pages in English history is the persecution perse-cution of Dissenters by the Established church. In the days of Queen Elizabeth, a Dissenter refusing to attend divine service ser-vice in the Established church was subject sub-ject to a fine of twenty pounds sterling for the offense. Not only this, but as a guarantee of conforming in the future fu-ture to the laws, rules and regulations of the Establishment, sureties to the amount of two hundred guineas were to be supplied until he would conform to the Establishment. "The second great characteristic" was not manifest here. A refusal to obey the above I English statute was punishable, first, ' I by i:upr:so:-iii i:t. tn-xt. banishment. I and sluniM the offender return to his : own country, the oriW of the high ! commission was that he he hanged, j During the reign of James I ther was a mitigation. We come down to , the Act of Toleration. A. D 1KS0. intended in-tended as a measure of "sympathy" for Dissenters. What wan its purpose? ; It simply meant that thy enjoy their ; civil rights, provided they subscribed 1 ; to an obnoxious oath, namely, royal supremacy, a denial (if the doctrine of , transubstantiation. also subscribing to the Thirty-nine Articles. This toleration, tolera-tion, like Job's comforter, did not show i ; much sympathy for thp conscientious ' Dissenter who had t- submit to th provisions of the intolerant act down j to the commencement, of the last cen- I fury. I ! In the last century the British par- . ; I liament was equally unjuat in its exac- , i tions. the lords showing less sympathy j than the commons. The house of lords. j j who adhered to the Test Act, refused j educationa grants to Dissenters; also j insisted on retaining the church rate, ' f I would not permit Dissenters to enjoy f the consolation of their own ministers 1 at the burial services of their friends. j nor allow twenty Dissenters to worship , ; j together until licensed to do so by the J j Anglican bishon of the diocese where : such services were to be held. It waa the house of lords, too, that rejected bills passed by the commons to abol- ish "tests" which deprived all Dissen- ters of university prizes. I Rev. Mr. Love, after "invitinsr us over to old England," and then telling how "Rome claimed everything .... hyp- '- notlzed many intelligent people," ar- e rives at this conclusion: f "With that unyielding persistence, which was a characteristic of the An- glo-Saxon. we fought it out on that t line, century after century, and. as a f result of the long struggle, the refor- mation gave to the English branch of ' the Catholic church its liberty and com- ' plete independence." SI With all the cruel wrongs of your an- 1 f cestors against Dissenters, their "un- yielding persistence" in persecuting t them, religious "liberty and complete ? independence" should be given as un- ! ( known quantities in the history of the 1 Establishment in England. Mr. Love's charges against Rome could be all re- torted. He said: ' . "Rome always tried to dominate. the e English branch of the Catholic church. 1 . But she never succeeded. We were ha- j rassed. we were sore let and hindered. ' i our patience was sorely tried, at times ? our independence was almost gone, but our spirit and determination never." 1 The Ang-lican church tried to domi- j nate its own natural progeny, the Non- j Conformists. But she never succeeded. I By English monarch and parliament. 5 all Dissenters "were harassed, .sore let r and hindered, their patience sorely tried, at times their independence a I- ' most gone." but the spirit which John Wesley introduced never. Sine "Mr. ; Spurgeon raised Nonconformists from e under a cloud of social ostracism, the name Dissenter is no longer despised. Not only their social, but also political influence in England have to be taken into consideration. "Times have changed, and we change , .- with them," hence the strange anomaly j of Church of England clergymen fa- vnring Dissenters, fraternizing with j them, and telling "how very closely the great spiritual crisis (Reformation) has brought them into harmony and ? sympthy wtih the Evangelical ? churches." !: (To be Continued.) ; ; . |