PRINCETON, N. J. ''^ ..#^ ""%*. Presented b7^^<2.a\C'.(2/^vV \ O^.War BX 5937 .S65 C3 smith, John cotton, 1826 certain aspects of the church > / BRIAR-HILL LECTURES, OERTAIE" ASPECTS THE OHUROH AvQpoo7to0 its polity, and yet comprising the essential ele- ments of Congregationalism and Presbjterian- isni. The old catholicity of organism would be restored. Without urging this point beyond a mere suggestion of these common features of or- ganization, I wish to say a word in regard to a matter which is of very great importance to us and to the non-Episcopal churches. I refer to the widening chasm, in our modern times, between the State and the Church, This ten- dency is fast rendering a Christian State, as such, impossible. It has originated, in great measure, in the fact that the Church, in our time, is, as a unit, invisible. It is a body the outlines of which are indefinite. It is wanting in organization. It can come into no relations, as an organism, w4th civil society. In the present imperfect catholicity of the Church it is impossible for the State to enter into rela- tions with it. They would be relations merely with some fragments or .one-sided develop- ments of Christianity. It is not so much hos- tility on the part of the State to the Church 140 THE CnUBCH'a MISSION which is leading everywhere to a separation between the two as the diiiicultj of ascertain- ing what is the common, universal Christianity^ what is the Catholic Church. Until there is the development of a higher catholicity this tendency is inevitable. It will, in all probability, proceed in our own country and the other countries of Christendom, until every tie of union between the State and ec- clesiastical organizations is sundered. The Christian State as such will have disappeared. It is to littlo, if any, purpose that we resist this tendency. In the j)i'esent condition of the Christian Church it would not be wise perhaps to endeavor to retain the institution of the Christian State. But the secularization of the State cannot certainly be the culmina- tion of Christian civilization. Naj^, rather out of the monstrous character of such a position, thus made evident, will come the cry for a catholicity broad enough for the State to stand iipon. After the failures of "independent morality," and Christless philosophies, and Godless civilizations, we may perhaps make OF RECONCILIATION. 141 real to ourselves that grand unity of which Plato dreamed in the " Re^Dublic," or that still vaster and grander conception of St. Augus- tine in the '' City of God." The (^iiestion of present practical relations with the various non-Episcopal churches around us is one of very great importance, and not to be too hastily concluded. It may serve to guide us in the consideration of the question if we keep distinctly in mind what the end is which we wish to have accomplished. This end I hold unhesi- tatingly to be the restoration of organic unity. Whatever relations will tend to bring about this result upon the basis of the Catholic creeds and primitive order I believe to be pre- cisely the relations most desirable for us to cultivate. Our view of the character of these relations maybe somewhat modified if we con- sider them from a standing-point which we are not much accustomed to occupy, and ask not what we have to contribute to this organic imion, but what these other Christian bodies have to contribute. We are sufficiently fa- 14^ THE CHUBCU'S MISSION miliar with the advantages and excellences of our own system. We value very highly the historical character and unbroken continuance of the ministry of the Church from apostolic times. "We attach great importance to the Church year, and to liturgical worship. The dogmatic basis of the Church, in the universal creeds, and the Church system of training, we believe to be of inestimable value in the devel- opment of Christian character. The compre- hensiveness and catholicity of the Church make it in its very nature the rallying ground for all the followers of Christ. Now let us see what special gifts and graces there are in the non-Episcopal churches which they would be able to contribute to the Church of the future. In the first place the numerical strength of these Christian bodies gives them very great importance and influence. For the most part great importance is attached among them to culture and learning among the clergy. We might naturally hesitate before entering into a comparison of our educational institutions with OF RECONCILIATION. 143 theirs. They have covered the land with be- nevolent organizations, and their missionary operations are to be found in every part of the heathen world. They witness also for the most part to those features of Christianity which are of the most vital importance. They have blessed, and are blessing, the world with innumerable saintly lives. It would not be difficult perhaps to enlarge upon the weak points in these religious systems ; but that does not fall in with my present object, which is to dwell upon those points in w^hich their acces- sion would enrich the Church of the future. What we need very much to cultivate is a generous appreciation of these excellences to which I have referred. "We shall do well to seek and value the personal relations to which such appreciation Avould naturally lead. There is also a large field of charitable and even re- Hgious effort in which association with Chris- tians of other churches would secure impor- tant results without any possible compromise of Church principles. The present Church law which forbids the participation, in any ser- 144 TEE CHURCH'S MISSION vice, in our congregations, of any persons who have not been episcopally ordained, or are not communicants of our Church, may be wise in view of all the circumstances involved. Be- fore there was such a law, liberty of action in this matter was a liberty to be vindicated if assailed. The law, however, as it now is, must be loyally obeyed. In the consideration of this subject, however, it should always be remembered that the relations between non- Episcopal churches and our own are not em- barrassed as they are in England by the fact that the Church is an institution of the State. Probably not much more can be done at present in the direction of organic unity than to make our own Church more and more truly evangelical and catholic, and to promote among ourselves a more intelligent and generous es- timate of those Christians from whom, for the time, we are separated. It may not be long before the dangers which threaten our com- mon Christianity will become so formidable as to force us into closer relations and union. What may be accomplished in this respect by OF RECONCILIATION. 145 a deeper sense than we now have of oiir under- lying unity in Clirist we cannot now tell. May He who ' ' maketh men to be of one mind in a house" bring this union to pass in His own good time ! IV. In order that our Church may most wisely and efficiently aid in giving form to the future Church of the nation, it is necessary that a reconciling ministry should be accomplished within its own borders, and among the various schools of opinion which it contains. We cannot expect that others will be drawn into unity with us until we have learned to be a unity among ourselves. We must start in our consideration of this part of our subject with the fact clearly impressed upon our minds that there has been an historical development of widely differing schools of opinion in the Church of England and the churches with which it is in communion. At no time since the period of the Reformation has there been 60 wide a diversity in any one ecclesiastical or- ganization. In those religious bodies even, in which there is supposed to be the largest free- 146 THE CHURCH'S MISSION dom from authority, the limits of permissible belief are far more narrow than with us. This results from the fact that they avowedly exist for the purpose of exhibiting Christianity under some special ty]3e of it, and the presence, in such societies, of those to whom Christianity presents itself under another aspect, is not de- sired. To my mind this comprehensiveness is a great glory of the Church, and the recogni- tion and acceptance of it is the first step to- ward the unity for which, in the midst of di- versity, we are to seek. This diversity and comprehensiveness of the Church, in which the early schools of Rome and Alexandria are recalled to our minds, does not arise from any preconceived plan for the development of the Church, but is the inevi- table result of the circumstances in which the Church has been placed. It was inevitable that the spirit of the Roman Empire, to so many of the forms and ft) so much of the genius of which, the Church succeeded, should pass into the Christianity of modern times, and reveal itself in excess of dogma and organi- OF RECONCILIATION. 147 zation. It was inevitable that the spirit of the Greek philosophy should characterize, in these latter days, a class of thinkei's in the Church who would chafe under dogmatic authority, re- bel against what they might regard as too ri^id organization, and contend for freedom in sub- jecting both the Church and Revelation to the test of human reason. It was inevitable that there should be a class of men who, start- ing with supreme regard for the spiritual in Christianity, sliould attribute to the Scrip- tures, in their understanding of them, an au- thority which they deny to the Church, and accept the traditions of their own school as more to be valued than those which have the sanction of catholic consent. It is easy to see excellences in each of these schools. It is easy to see the perils to which the unrestrained de- velopment of any of them would lead. Let any one of them be separated from the restrain- ing influences of the Church, and it would soon run into the most dangerous extremes. Even within the Church, and under the re- straining influence exercised by the presence 148 THE CHURCH'S MISSION of other classes of opinion, each of these schools has, at least in the case of some of its members, and with threatening indication of wider defection, gone beyond the limits of the legitimate comprehensiveness of the Chnrch, and transgressed the boundaries of evangelical and catholic truth. There is a latent source of error in the exclusive position of each, and it flows with ever-increasing volume through the logical processes by which the original position is developed. Each one, therefore, has in it an element of danger for the Church. How shall they be restrained and these threatening dangers averted ? is a question which has always been one of great import- ance ; perhaps never of more importance than now. It is a vital question in connection with the subject we are considering. The method which most naturally suggests itself, and which has been most frequently adopted, is that of repression by ecclesiastical authority. It is evidently within the legiti- mate province of the Church to protect itself from erroneous teaching. The only question OF RECONCILIATION. 149 is bj what means that protection can best be secured. Let it be by ecclesiastical authority, through pains and penalties, if that method, and that alone, can succeed. But when we remember that we are in the first place to be certain that the teaching which we propose to repress is erroneous, and, in the second, that our attempts to suppress it by force, if it be erroneous, may not succeed, we may well pause before we jDroceed in that direction. History teaches us a very important lesson in this respect, especially the history which this generation has been making. The effort which has been made in England to restrain, by legal proceedings, the excesses of each of these schools in turn has been attended only with failure, and the present agitation under the Public "Worship Regulation Act is most disastrous in its effect upon the Church. The attempts of the same sort which have been made in the Church in this country have been no more encouraging. It would seem, therefore, that even if such proceedings are right in theory they ai'e not 150 THE CHURCH'S MISSION practicable in tlie present state of j)ublic opin- ion. It is doubtful, however, whether they are even theoretically right, in connection with any opinions which, by a liberal construction, can be regarded as belonging to any one of these historical schools. It is not at all un- likely that the protection of the Church from false teaching may be found, after all, to de- pend largely upon the free development of these various schools. Each one is held back from excess by the restraining influence of the others. But if you suppress one, wholly or in part, you not only restrain the free develop- ment of the Church in that direction, but you give undue influence and power to opposing tendencies. Suffer all to work freely together, and each will prove a conservative power in the Church. We may go farther even than this. "Where we have reason to believe there is loyalty to Christ and to the Church, a man, so far from being restrained, is to be encouraged in the avowal of the opinions of any of these histori- cal schools within the limits to which his loy- OF RECONCILIATION. 101 alty will permit him to go. If lie lias no true loyalty to Christ or the Church, and is only making an hypocritical pretext of it, I know of no better protection for the Church than that which is to be found in the loss of influence and power by which such hypocrisy is sure to be attended. The bold and frank avowal of convictions in regard to this whole class of sub- jects is of immense importance to a rich and full development of the Church, It is re- pressed convictions, and utterances to which there is no corresponding belief, that degrade individual character and are fatal to any robust faith in the Church. This strong avowal of personal conviction, which I claim should be encouraged rather than repressed, is perfectly consistent with the toleration, so far as compulsory measures are concerned, of opposing convictions. They may be tolerated so far as compulsion is con- cerned, while they are properly assailed by force of argument. They may be tolerated, if for no other reason than that they may in that way be. the more readily restrained. 152 THE CnURCff'S MISSION I plead for strong individual assertion of what seems to eacli man divine ti'uth, and for generons toleration of similar assertion on the part of others. It is no compromise of what we believe to be tnith that I advocate, but simply the according to others of what we feel to be so solemn a duty for ourselves. But there is a deeper reason still for this large and brotherly toleration. Our views of truth are very limited and partial, and while there are certain fundamental j^rinciples in regard to which we will not admit that there can be any reasonable doubt, we have reason to believe that there is a higher unity in which these ap- parently in-econcilable systems are found to enter harmoniously, each necessary to the com- pleteness and symmetry of the whole. "When we have become familiar with one class of phenomena in the heavenly bodies, and learned the facts and laws, for instance, of the solar system, we are disturbed by revelations of nebulae and binary stars. We should have expected simply the reproduction through space of what we have found so beautiful and OF RECONCILIATION. 153 admirable in our own system. But tlie Maker of tlie universe Las a liiglier and all-compre- hending unity to wliicli all these diversities are subordinated. May it not be, after all, that the ultimate cause of all these diversities which new so greatly disturb us, and seem so inconsistent with unity, is to be found in the multitudinous aspects of the character and work of Christ ? Here there has come to us a Divine Man, flooded with the glories of the infinite, the ex- press image of God, and men gaze with daz. zled vision at this marvellous revelation and then strive to utter what they have seen. Ko wonder that different aspects of the splendor have flashed upon different eyes ; and since no man, nor all men, have witnessed and can tes- tify to the whole glory of this revelation of God, no wonder that it is difficult now to blend all testimonies into one harmonious rep- resentation of what Christ is and what Christ has done. Let each man to whose longing gaze Christ has manifested himself say freely, though he may say with sad imperfection, just 154 THE CHURCH'S MI8SI0N what Christ, in that marvellous experience, seemed to him. When it Avas the jourpose of David to build a temple which should exceed all other struc- tures, in stateliness and magnificence, he called upon the people to make their offerings for the erection of this House of the Lord. There were brought to the king, in vast abundance, silver and gold and brass and iron and cedar wood and hewn stones. When the building came to be erected, it rose, without noise of hammer, like " a majestic palm in the desert." We are called upon to bring our contribu- tions to the building up of the great Church of the future, the visible organization of the re- deeming work of Christ in our land. We are to bring to it the consecration of our hves, whatever of natural gifts of learning, or elo- quence, or powers of administration, there maj be among us. We are to bring to it the sacrifice of our prejudices, of our partisan spirit, of our unholy ambition. We are to bring to it glad and grateful recognition of all tha,t others can bring. We are to bring to it OF RECONCILIATION. 155 great lieritages from the past whicli God has intrusted to our keeping, but more especially all we have of present devotion and grace. We are to bring to it our faith in God and Christ, our hope for the future of the world, our charity for all mankind. This great temple of the time to come will be built without the touch of Jiuman hand, by the power of the Holy Ghost. It will rise amid the sur- rounding darkness like a vast dome of light, as when northern fires ' nash suddenly and si- lently in countless sj^ires through the heavens. Though radiant as the luminous sky, it shall be as firm and enduring as the everLsting rock. grand and beautiful vision of prophecy, rise in all thy glorious reality upon the longing eyes of the cl^ldren of God ! APPENDIX. The Sermon on Chaiily and Trulli, was requested for publication in the following letter : Boston, April 14, 1859. Rev. and Dear Bkotheu : At our meeting to-day, in St. Paul's Lecture Room, it was unanimously voted by the clergy and laity present to ask of you a copy of your able and timely sermon, preached to-day at the onliuatiou of Mr. Coolidge ; and the undersigned were appointed a committee to carry the resolution into ef- fect. By complying with the request yoa will not only greatly favor us personally, but also confer a large benefit upon the beloved Church of which we are mem- bers, and upon the Christian public, for whose best wel- fare we are bound to exert ourselves. Your sincere friends and aflfectionate brethren in the ministry of the Gospel. Samuel Fuller, E. M. P. Wells, E. L. Dkown. reply. Boston, April 15, 1859. Rev. and Dear Brethren : I have received your kind letter requesting a copy of my sermon for publica- tion. I cannot well refuse a request the granting of n APPENDIX. •which is, in your opinion, likely to be productive of good. I should have been glad to enlarge upon some of the points contained in the sermon ; but as you have, in a certain sense, endorsed it, by requesting ils publication, I feel bound to publish it, if at ail, just as it was delivered. I am affectionately your friend and brother, John Cotton Smith. The Rev. Samuel Fuller, D.D, The Rev. E. M. P. Wells, D.D., The Rev. E. L. Dkown. The Sermon on The Liturgy as a Bas:s of Christian Union, was one of a Course delivered under the auspices of the Bible and Common Prayer Book Society, and afterwards published in a volume. The Sermon on the Church's Law of Development, was requested in the following letter : To the Rev. John Cotton Smith, D.D : The undersigned members of the Convention of the Diocese of New Yoik, having listened with great pleas- ure and satisfaction to your able and eloquent sermon preached at the opening services j'esterday, desiie that you would furnish them a copy of the same for publica- tion, that their brethren in the Church at large may have APPENDIX. . lii an opportunity of sharing iu the pleasure and profit which they have experienced. [signed.] The Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, D.D., D.C.L. Benjamin I. Haight, MoliGAN Dix. Isaac H. TuTTiiE, Henry C. Potter, J. H. Rylance, Thomas Gallaudet, James Starr Clark, J. Tuttle Smitk, Solomon (t. Hitchcock, JOSKPH I. BlCKNKr>L, Brockholst Morgan, RoMAiNK S Mansfield, Gkorge F. Seymoufi, F. S. Fleisch hacker, J. Eastbuun Buown, Albeut S. Hull, Charles Seymour, James VV. Sparks, Wilt,iam Neters, Samuel M. Akeuly, W. T. Egbert, G. H. Smith, George W. Ferguson, Charles C. P.\rsons, Henry T. Satteulee, John P. Lundy, Stephen F. Holmes, Fhedehick Ogilby, Edmund Guilbert, F. B. Van Kleeck, William S Edward C. Houghton, L. Baily, A. F. Olmsted, George B. Keese. George M. Mh-leti, James F. DePeysteb, ErASTUS 15R00KS, George Weller, Geoi!ge Dorster, C. V. R. Ludington, W. M. Posti,ethwaite, Cornelius B. Smith, Philander K. Cady, Francis Harison, Caleb Ci,app, Charles B Coffin, John F. Potter, John W. Kramer, VV m. W. Montgomery, A. W. Snyder, Walter Delafield, R. F. Crary, C. T. Woodruff, Hiram Roosa, James Byron Murray, Frederick Sill, Arthur H. Warner, F. S. Winston, D. B. Whitlock, Frederic De Peyster, Langford. New York, September 27, 1872. IV APPENDIX. My Dear Bishop and Brethren of the Clergy AND Laity : I have received, through the Rev. Dr. Haight, your request for the publication of tlie sermon preached at Ihe opening of the lale Convention of this Dincese. I feel deeply sensible of the honor conferred upon me by this departure from ordinary usage, and by the kind tribute which vras paid to the sermon during the session of Convention. This has been the more |!;ratifying because it is an evidence that the questions which agitate our Church can be discussed without bitterness, and that views, which in times of excited controveisy are sure to be mis- undertood, at other times are equally suie to receive a fair and generous hearing. It is my object in the sermon to show that there are inherent tendencies in the Church to the development of three schools of opinion, and that while, in my view, one of these schools gives a far greater prominence than the others to the central truths of the Gospel, yet the mutual action and reaction of the three are essential to the activity' and progress of the Chuich. As a neces- sary consequence of this view, it follows that the true method of restraining the undue development and ex- aggerations of any one school is not, except in the most extreme c.ises, by ecclesiastical repression, but bj' giving a larger development to the other and counter- balancing elements in the Church. APPENDIX. V It is gratifying to me to remember that m a sermoa preached, at au ordiuation, ia 1859, and requested for publicalion by the clergj' prestiit, I endeavored to present the same idea. It contains the following lan- guage : " Ko one will claim that the best results in Church or in Stale have been brought about by the success of the views of one or another party, but by the action and reaction of one upon the other. So that it is un- questionably a fact that better results have, on the whole, been attained by the combined action of these various parties, than if one, however pure, had directed and controlled the movement alone And that is simply to say that God is wiser than any or all of those whom he employs as his instruments in the world." This view, it seems to me, and this alone, famishes the ke}^ to the due restraining and harmonizing, of the antagonistic elements in the Church. In the hope that through the favor which you have been pleased to accord to the sermon, it may help, in some degree, to promote that end, I cannot hesitate to furnish a copy for publication. With great respect and affection, faithful'y yours in the Church, John Cotton Smith. Rectory, Chukch op the Ascension, Octobers, 3872. VI APPENDIX. The Sermon on the Church's Mission of Reconcilia- tion was preached before the Eastern Convocation of the Diocese of Massachusetts, and was requested for publication in the following letter : To the Rev. Jolin Cotton Smith, D.D. Rev. and Dear Brother : By vote of the members of the Eastern Convocation of the Diocese of Massachu- setts, the undersigned were appointed a committee to request the publication of the sermon you delivered before them to-day in the Church of the Ascension, Ipswich. We listened with great pleasure to the expression of your views as to the mission of our Church in reconcil- ing differences, and think the dissemination of such views would do much toward giving comfort to minds now disquieted by doubts and difficulties. We regiet that the time usually devoted to the deliv- ery of a sermon did not permit you to develop one im- portant point 5'ou indicated in outline — viz. : " Our Chuich's relationship to other bodies of Christians." We beg to suggest that such a topic is one of especial importance at this time, and that whatever will aid in bringing together the scattered members of Christ's flock will receive the serious consideration of many who now lament our uuliappy divisions. Thanking you for the pleasure and the instruction you have given us, and asking for our brethren the APPENDIX. vu opportunity to enjoy your sermon as we diJ, we remain Very trul}^ your friends, Geoiige W. Shinn, Louis De Cormis, Bryan B. Killikelly. Ipswich, Mass., September 18, 1879. REPLY. To (lie Rev. Messrs. George W. Shinn, Louis De Cormis, Bryan B. Killikelly, Committee, etc. Rev. and Dear Brethren : It gives me pleasure to comply with the request of the Eastern Convocation of Massachusetts for the publication of my sermon on " The Church's Mission of Reconciliation." Very sincerely yours, John Cotton Smith. New York, Ascension Rectory, ) October 1, 1879. \