Q. £23 W33, l c3. S> to rai\. letter W^Ys ow €&e Ili&targ of m SJnfoersitp of JSortf) Carolina Collection of j]2ortf) Catolmiana W33p PASTORAL LETTER OF THE Bishop of East Carolina, TO THE ilirjtf mtir JmHtj af[ lp$ J)ttrq$£ t l[&tft fcajjut^ Hjs dmrnttl AT FAYETTEVILLE, N. C. MAY 25, 1888. Jeremiah VI. 16. — ''''Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in 1 ''the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, zvhere is the u good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your 1 ' sou Is. Dear Brethren of the Clergy and Laity: There is a restlessness in the religious atmos- phere around us, and a tendency to unsettle old religious habits of thought and action, which is to be deplored and dreaded. We, as a Diocese, have now, for these many years, moved with great unanimity, and with a steadfast conserva- tism of churchmanship, which has, at the least, brought us peace and quiet. It is true, Peace and Quiet are not always wholesome. They may degenerate into lethargy. There is peace and quiet, of a certain sort, in the grave. The Christian life should be characterized by a regulated activity. Life will produce activity. Love will always be zealous. But activity and zeal may become irregular and lawless. A movement is not necessarily unwholesome because new. Sometimes, new measures and new departures are de- manded by the diseased and lethargic condition of the Church and world. But in the Church, when dealing with no mere human affairs, but with the awful work of God, all new meas- ures should be carefully scrutinized before adoption, and when adopted, the decision in their favor should proceed with the sanction of the Church's authorities. 4 This is not to be priest-ridden, but to be law-abiding. The Church is not made, by God's ordinance, Episcopal for nothing. And if the church be (as most of us believe) the or- ganized Kingdom of Christ, we should be very careful not to stray into paths which are not her own; nor to compromise her divine and separate authority by too hasty concessions, or by entanglements with organizations ontside of her. And this is not to be bigotted or narrow minded, but only to be true, and accurate, and loyal. There is no real breadth in thought or action which ignores Divine boundaries. To do so, is simply to be lawless or inaccurate. There would be no breadth of thought in denying, or narrowness in maintaining, the exclusive truth of Euclid's 47th proposition. But what- ever are the facts concerning God's Kingdom or Church, or concerning its limitations or ordinances, they are just as much facts as Euclid's famous proposition. Our power to appre- hend them may not be so great, or clear, or certain. But that does not diminish the certainty and exclusive truth of the facts themselves, or reduce our duty of definite faith and de- finite action (so far as attainable) with respect to them, or our duty resolutely to maintain them. We are taught by S. Paul, {Eph. IV., j.) that there is one Faith for all; and we are commanded through S. Jude (3) to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered. And that the battle may be successfully fought, along the lines of truth, it is important that our "trumpets give no uncertain sound." I fear, that at this time, an exaggerated — and therefore, so far, a false, because unregulated — yearning for Unity is doing much mischief in this direction, by removing — or at least obscuring — old landmarks of Faith and Action. I believe in Unity — in the duty of Unity — in the importance of Unity. Our Lord would not have offered His great prayer for Unity if Unity were not His will. And it is something wonderful how, all over our part of Christendom, where, within our own recollection — the constant maxim used to be, 5 that it was better that Christians should be divided — since thus they would be more watchful of one another, and of each other's doctrines, and so would guard the Faith on every side — where again, men used to think it a Christian solution of theological controversy, to agree to disagree — it is simply wonderful how all this has changed within the last few years. Is it God's Providenee, bringing about what a few years since seemed hopeless? Is it the great ground s&ell of God's spirit, like a mighty sea, breaking up our frozen and settled and self satisfied Sectarianism, that out of the chaos might come forth a new and harmonious world ? What blessed signs and premonitions have come to pass of late ! Hand reached forth to hand, to grasp in friendship, where before was the armed fist to strike ! Whatever the cause, let us devoutly thank God for this much of the effect, and with sincere and loving hearts salute our kinsmen of other names who beckon to us. Let us seek to unite with them in the loving embrace of brethren in one Household. But let us beware, lest in order to reach them, we meddle with the arrangements of the Mas- ter of the Household. Unity is a duty. Organic unity is a duty. But it must be reached by lawful roads. And so long as men conscientious- ly think and reason, the only road to a true effective organic unity must be found, not in arbitrary leagues or covenants, but in drawing near from every side to God, and to God's truth, and, therefore, in the resolute maintenance of the Truth. And the only reliable and permanent basis of unity will be found in the ''''Unity of the Faith" 1 " 1 once delivered. (Eph. IV. 13, S. Jude 3) It is only by this unity of the Faith — by being no longer blown about by every wind of doctrine — that S. Paul teaches us we can come into the one perfect man in Christ. A temporary and hollow fraternization may result from sinking out of sight obstructing convictions, but no perma- nent unity, so long as men think and reason. 00 6 God has placed neither His Truth nor His Kingdom at our disposal, to modify or put them in exchange, as we will. Both are precise and of obligation; and pertain to His supreme prerogative And our plain duty, with respect to both — as humble creatures, atoms of dust that we are — as pardoned sinners, for whom to be presumptuous is monstrous — as re- turned prodigals, expected modestly to conform ourselves to the laws of our Ffthers house — our plain duty is to abide by God's appointments; let men proclaim what doctrines they may — let the world sneer at our precision as it may, or call it bigotry. While we may not imagine ourselves infallible, yet must we recognize the duty of definite convictions, with re- spect to the faith once delivered, and the church established bv our Master as His Kingdom. Nor may we as Christian Soldiers fail of the courage of our convictions. And, what if God in his absolute Sovereignty should choose to bless others than ourselves, or those who so far as we can see have not yet altogether found the old paths; let us thank Him for His enlarged mercy, and for their sakes rejoice. But is that to justify us in departing from the path he has assigned us? Inexpressibly valuable as unity is, it is not so valuable as Obedience and Truth. All Christians and all Christendom should be one; but should not become one, by trampling upon the lines of division between truth and error. I spoke, in the outset, of the tendency to new habits of thought and action. There is in the world of religious thought (and it creeps sometimes into the ministry) a tendency to individualism and novelty, which is fraught with danger. Whence is this ? By what side wind has it invaded the gar- den of God ? Can it be the insidious, unsuspected work of him, who taught our first parents — after his own fashion — to think for themselves, in Eden ? We should not be the slaves of others' thoughts, but neither should we be selfishly ambi- tious to distinguish ourselves by inventing or proclaiming 7 novelties. This has been, through all past generations, the fruitful mother of the sins of Heresy and Schism. It is not the true freedom of the child of God, who though ho longer a servant — but a son, should yet be "humble as a little child", filially willing to accept all that God's spirit has re- vealed. Nor is it in harmony with the spirit of the Church. Rather is it the genius of the Church, to love the old paths, to desire to be at one with the generations which have gone by, so far as we can be so without sacrifice of truth, not to seek the new because of its fresh ness— beca use it is new — but rather, to "ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and to walk therein," as said the prophet: Nay! rather, God, by His prophet. Wilfulness of thought often takes effect in wilful action. Departure from the faith of God's Church is almost sure to re- sult in violation, or careless observance of her laws. But brethren of the Clergy and Laity, we have no more right to violate, or in any degree to contravene, the Law of the church than we have to controvene the Law of the State. Less right indeed, if there be any difference. In addition to the obligation of all duly enacted law, whether in the Church or in the State, we of the clergy by our ordination vows, and you of the Laity by your vows in Baptism, are specially pledged to observe the Church's law. And let us remember that wilful disobedience of any law, duly enacted by the proper authority, is sin. "Sin (saith S. John, I Bp. III. 4.) is the transgression of the law; and sin is inconsistent with righteousness, with holiness, with true spirituality, with all genuine religion. God gov- erns us by His Church, as he governs the citizen by the State, and the child by the parent, and so the Church's law, so far as it does not contravene the proclaimed will of God, becomes — within its sphere, Gods law for us; and the man, be he cler- gyman or layman, who lives in wilful violation of the Church's canons, or her rubrics, (which are her laws) is, to say the least, an imperfectly sanctified man ; and is not wisely preparing for the tests of the Judgment, or for the perfect obedience of Heaven. Let us lay these things to heart ; and while learning the lesson of love for those who differ from us — while we pray for unity, and yearn with all our hearts — with the great heart of Christendom — for unity, let us not dare lay hand on God's Truth, or God's ordinances, or the fences of God's Kingdom, to pull down what He has set up : remembering that true Holiness, without which it is written "no man shall see the Lord" is not to be found in error, or in disobe- dience. Remembering, that our blessed Lord, just before His petition that His disciples might all be one, had prayed that they might be sanctified through the truth. Remembering too, that having said "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, ' ' He then commanded, through His Apostle (Heb. XIII 17), "Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls ; ' ' and that during His earthly life, He had ordain- ed of the man who should refuse to hear the Church, ' 'Let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican." (S. Matt. XVIII. 17.) UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 00034013861 FOR USE ONLY IN THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION Form No. A-368, Rev. 8/95