The church for Americans

Front matter

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Preface

AS the origin of a book is- often of interest to the reader, I will explain that this work is along lines, which, as a Missionary, I have followed for many years in my addresses and conversations concerning the Church. I was first induced by the request of the Kt. Rev. Dr. Leonard, Bishop of Ohio, to elaborate my talks into formal lectures, in the hope that they might contribute in some degree to the excellent preparation which our Missionary recruits are receiving at the Divinity School of Kenyon College. After their delivery to the Theological students, it was thought that tiiey would not be without interest to Sunday School teachers and others who now and then are called upon to commend or defend our beloved Church. Accordingly they have been made the basis of Lenten discourses to general congregations in Trinity Church, Toledo, and the Cathedral Parish, Cleveland. Finally, I have been persuaded by the representations of many who heard them that, if published, they would make a useful book for distribution among those vrho have been reared under Denominational or Roman influences, and supply the need, often felt by Lay readers and young missionaries, of a course of Confirmation instructions about the Church.

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PREFACE.

The concern whic^h this book manifests for the Ecclesiastical side of Christianity and the little it has to say about its spiritual and practical aspects, is due to what the writer considers to be, just now, the special religious need of our time and country. This is not instruction in the moral requirements of Christianity so much as the establishment of the fact that Christ founded a Church which has come down to us, and with some branch of which it is the privilege and duty of all to identify themselves. The idea that "one Church is as good as another" and that consequentl}^ "it practically makes no difference to which we belong," is responsible for the enormous non-church element of the United States, which, according to the last census, amounted to more than half of the whole population, and for the loose hold which all bodies of Christians have upon their constituency.

Under such circumstances it becomes a matter of first importance that the duty of belonging to the National branch of the one Apostolic Church of Christ, and the evil of separation from it, should be set forth in season and out of season. In proportion as this is done, the Episcopal Church ayIII be built up and held together. Our incomparable Liturgy, impressive Services, and attractive yearlj^ round of varied Holy Seasons, are indeed annually drawing thousands to this fold; but others in great numbers who care comparatively little for these things, come because thej believe this Church to be historically and canonically the American as well as our racial branch of Christ's Church, and that, therefore, she possesses exclusive claims to allegiance. Every one who is influenced by this conviction, is worth ten of such as are attracted only by gesthetic considerations. Those who are in the Church simply because of natural ties, or on account of

PREFACE.

her attractive features,, are often drawn away by connter influences and alienated tlie moment that all does not 2'o on according to their liking. But Episcopahans who are such fi-om principle rather than preferenceand, thank God. this class is rapicllv increasing -stand by the Church through all the changes and chances of

parochial life.

I have an instance in mind of a person who. upon comino- to a village where our Mission was ^veak and the Pre^bvterians^ and Methodists were strong both sociallv and numerically, was asked by a caller : - hat Church do vou and your husband expect to attend. Vvon replvino- that they were members of the Episcopal Church her iiiterrogator said: -But that Church is so new and small and has no standing in the community. I think vou will find it much more to your taste to be identified with one of the big churches Avhere the other members of the social circle to which you will belong all o-o Mr^ B an estimal)le lady who recently came to t"own,\vas an Episcopahan but, after going once or twice to the little Chapel, she left and joined the Presbvterian Church where she is now a leading member. We like her verv much and should be glad if you and Mr C. would follow her example." To this the self -respectino- and consistent answer was made: '"'We are not that kind of Episcopalians. AYe became members of the Episcopal Church rather than of any other Chnstian bodv because, after studying into the matter, we bpheved it our duty to do so. I am sorry to hear ot the feeble condition of my Church and of the infrequent ServicPs bv a Lay reader instead of by a Clergyman. But thi^ i^ all the more reason Avhy we should be true to our colors and lend a helping hand." This consistency on the part of an influential new-commg famfly was the making of the mission.

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I am under great obligation to some ten or twelve learned and judicious Clergymen of the Diocese of Ohio for their painstaking and helpful criticisms. Especially am I indebted to the Very Rev. Francis M. Hall, M.A., for invaluable assistance in preparing the manuscript for the printer, and to Canon D. F. Davies, M.A., for some exceptionally important suggestions and a careful reading of the proofs. I desire also to thank the Rev. A. E. Oldroyd, M.A., of Oundle, Pmgiand, for kind permission to use some of the excellent charts in his able pamphlet on "The Continuity of the English Church through Eighteen Centuries," and the Rt. Rev. WiUiam Stevens Perry, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L., Bishop of Iowa, and other experts in special branches of learning who Avere good enough to answer my letters of inquiry and to send me some of their valuable publications, and last, but not least, my printers. The Wernek Company, of Akron, Ohio, and their efficient and obliging employees who have been uniformly courteous and patient.

I shall feel anipl}^ repaid for the time and labor expended upon this work, if, by God's blessing, it shall prove, to any degree, instrumental in persuading non church members to make a profession of Christ by identifying themselves with His Church , in adding to the number of well-instructed persons Avho come to us from the Denominational and Roman communions beca.use fully convinced of this Church's Divine and superior claims to their allegiance, and in increasing the appreciation, love, and zeal of Episcopahans for their pure branch of the Catholic and Apostolic Church.

W. M. B.

Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland, Ohio, St. Luke's Day, 1895.

PREFACE.

ix

Preface To The Fourth Edition

Owing to the urgent recommendation of friends, my humble effort to set forth the superior claims of the Anglican Communion to the exclusive allegiance of Enghsh speaking people, written especially for Americans, was published a year earlier than was intended and, accordingly, the First Edition lacked a great many finishing touches. When it became manifest tha,t the demand for the book would greatly exceed my expectation, every spare moment that could be commanded was given to the work of revision. A few corrections and changes were made in the Second Edition, but there was no time between it and the Third for further alterations in the plates. It was then determined that the Fourth Edition should be as free from blemishes and points for cavil as possible. Fortunately the summer vacation gave me the necessary leisure for the carrying out of this resolve.

The many letters of warm commendation and friendly criticism received from. Clergymen and Laymen have been a great encouragement and help to me. Those to whom I am most indebted are: the Rt. Rev. Thomas Underwood Dudley, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L., Bishop of Kentucky and Chancellor of the University of the South ; the Rt. Rev. Hugh Miller Thompson, S.T.D., LL.D., Bishop of Mississippi; the Rev. W. C. Hopkins, D.D., City Missionary of Toledo; the Rev. Wm. Jones Seabury, D.D., Charles-and-Ehzabeth-Ludlow Professor of Ecclesiastical Polity and Law in the General Theological Seminary, New York; the Rev. Wm. C. McCracken, M.A., Rector of St. Martin's Church, Fairmont, Minne-

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sota; the Rev. G. H. H. Butler, B.A., Curate of the Church of the Ascension, Mount Vernon, New York; and some unknown critic and friend of great learning who signed his several most important communications with the pseudonym, "A Layman."

One of the most scholarly and conservative Clergymen of this country accompanied his valuable corrections and suggestions with the gratifying assurance that the First Edition of the Church for Americans "brings out the whole case so that no one can be seriously misled by any of its statements ; and so that in point of principle and historical fact the reader who gets his first impressions from it must inevitably be started in the right direction. He Avould never feel himself to have been misled or obhged to deny the substance of what you have taught him." Many others have given expression to the same comforting opinion. If this is true of the first three editions it will be much more so of the fourth.

It is believed that the value of the book has been materially increased by the addition of the last nineteen sections to the Appendices and an Index of References to Quotations.

I desire to record here my gratitude to God for the blessing of strength and the grace of perseverance which have enabled me, notwithstanding the constant traveling and the many engrossing duties of a. General Missionary of an extensive and populous Diocese, to complete a book that has required so much more work than was at first anticipated. W. M. B.

Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland, Ohio,

Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, 1896.

Contents

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Inteoductoky • " ' °

LECTURE I.

I. Obligations To Church Membership

HERE are three principal reasons why every person who hears the Gospel of Christ should belong to His Church. The first grows out of the duty of obedience. The Church is the Kingdom of Christ, and all outside of it is the Kingdom of Satan. We must, in the long run, give our undivided allegiance to either one or the other of these princes. We cannot adhere to both. "No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other ; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." Those who remain out of the Church, and yet try to follow the example and precepts of Christ, are trying to please two masters. As a rule which holds, notwithstanding the comparatively few exceptions that we may know of, such men fail. The majority of non church members are not the servants of Christ. Speaking generally, men out of His Church do no more serve Him than they who fight in the enemies' ranks help their . country. The Kingdom of Christ and the world are in deadly conflict for the mastery. How then can

C. A.

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anyone who professes to be a loyal servant of Christ, stand aloof from His Church, ^\-hich is His Kino^- dom?

In our day a great many people acknoAvledge the duty of making the example and precepts of Christ their rule of life, but deny that they are under any obligation to become Church members. They fail to see that this is required of them. " Milhons in America," sajs Bishop Coxe, "hve and die in the easy persuasion, from which no trumpet of united testimony rouses them, that they are rather the better for 'reading their Bibles' and 'leading moral lives,' while not 'making any profession of religion,' as they term it. Inverted Pharisaism of American inorganic Christianity! They inake a merit of not obeying, and of being so good without the means of grace." Surely such have not asked themselves the question : Why did Christ found a Church, and why did He say so much about it? Was it not manifestly that "^men might be separated from the Kingdom of Satan, and be identified with Him?

It is well known that all great prophets and reformers have had some particular message which has, by constant reiteration, crystallized into a word or phrase. With IMoses it was law; with Confucius, morality; with Buddha, renunciation; with Mohammed, God ; with Socrates, soul. AVith the Master it was "the Kingdom of God." Says Professor Drummond: "Christ's great word was 'the Kingdom of God.' One hundred times it occurs in the Gospels. When He preached He had almost always this for a text. His sermons were explanations of the aims of His society, of the different things it was like, of whom its membership consisted, what they were to do or to be or not to do or to be. And even when He does not use

OBLIGATIOXS TO CHUECH ilEMBEESHIP.

the ^-ord, it is easy to see that all He said and did had reference to this.''

A little reflection, therefore, must convince all that the founding of the Church by Christ, or by His representatives, the Apostles, and the importance which He attaches to it, make identification with it of universal obhgation. The prevailing demand is for a preaching of the Gospel with the Church left out, or at least put far in the background. Surely the many who, in deference to popular sentiment, have tried to preach such a Gospel, have not preached Christ's Gospel, for it dwells more on the Church than upon any other subject.

Though the duty of membership may be clearly inferred from the fact that Christ founded a Church and made it the burden of His discourses, we are not left without explicit injunctions requiring identification with His Kingdom. For every command to receive Christian Baptism is really a positive injunction to belong to the Church. Baptism is the door to the Church. It is the Sacrament of initiation. A person cannot -receive it without becoming a member of the Church. Therefore, when our Lord said, " Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost," it is as if He had said. Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel, making whosoever accepts it a member of My Church. Nothing can be clearer than that in Apostohc days none who stood aloof from the Church were regarded as having received the Gospel. Non church members were looked upon as heathen. The unbaptized stood in the same relation to Christianity as the uncircumcised did to Judaism. It must be evident to all that if others are commanded to see to it that we are identified with the Kingdom of Christ by Baptism, it is equivalent to a command that we should become Church members.

CHUECH MEMBERSHIP.

The first and most important step in the way of obedience to Christ is, therefore, Church membership. No man, who has heard the Gospel and acknowledges the claims of Christ to his allegiance, can discharge his duty while remaining outside the Church. The first thing to be done by him who would follow Christ is to transfer his allegiance from the prince of this world to the Divine Lord of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the height of absurdity for a man to claim that he can be as good a Christian while outside of the Church as he could be within it. As well might a foreigner pretend that he can be as good an American citizen, without naturahzation as with it. Such a man is not an American at all. Neither is a non church member, strictly speaking, a Christian.

A good story is told by a distinguished Presbyterian clergyman, about a little girl who Avas talking to her grandfather. The old gentleman had been imparting some advice, suitable to the tender years of his grandchild. Finally the latter put the question : " Grandpa, are you a Christian?" "Yes, my dear, I hope I am.'^ ''What Church do you belong to, grandpa?" ''Oh, I belong to the Church of Christ." "But what is that? Are you a member of the same Church that mamma and I are — the Episcopal Church?" "No, my dear, I am not an Episcopalian." "Are you a Presbyterian, then?" "No, I am not a Presbyterian." '^Are you a Baptist, then? " "No." "Are you a Methodist? "'^" No, dear; I don't belong to any of the churches." After a pause, in which the little one was thinking it all over, she turned her face up to her grandfather's and said : "Well, grandpapa, if I were you, I would try and get in somewhere.'' Until modern times no one claimed to be a Christian, or was regarded as such, who did not "get in somewhere."

OBLIGATIONS TO CHURCH MEMBERSHIP.

A^ain, those wlio are standing aloof from the Church should enter out of consideration for their own highest welfare. Salvation is made by our Lord Himself to depend upon the confession of Him. " ^YhosoeYer shall confess me before men, him ^xill I confess also before my Father, which is in heaven ; but whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father, which is in heaven.'' Now there is no way in which a person can make an open unreserved confession of Christ except by the renunciation of the world for the Church. This,*^ according to our Lord's own appointment, must be done in Holy Baptism. "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God." And the Kingdom of God here does not mean that Heaven which we hope to attain after this life, but the Church which Christ founded when upon earth. It is, therefore, the same as if He had said, Unless you belong to the Church, you cannot attain to Gospel Salvation.

I cannot do better than to quote in this connection the weightv words of Bishop Pearson: "We read at the first that the Lord added daily to the Church such as should be saved; and what was then daily done hath been done since continually. Christ never appointed two ways to Heaven, nor did He build a Church to save some and make another institution for other men's salvation. There is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved, but the name of Jesus, and that name is no otherwise given under Heaven than in the Church. As none were saved from the deluge but such as were within the ark of Noah, framed for their reception by the command of God; as none of the firstborn of Egypt lived, but such as were within those habitations wiiose doorposts were sprinkled with blood by the appointment of

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God for their preservation ; as none of the inhabitants of Jericho could escape the fire or sword but such as were within the house of Rahab, for whose protection a covenant was made, so none shall ever escape the anger of God which belong not to the Church of God."

As some one has pointed out, ''The nineteenth century needs to be told, as by another John Baptist, crying, not in the wilderness, but throughout all the American continent, that not to confess Christ openly, that is, not to accept His covenant in the institution He has provided, is virtually to deny Him. How very comfortable it would have been had this American gospel been taught in the first century: 'Be good, read your Bibles, and God will not ask you whether or not you belong to Church.' That would just have suited Demas, who loved this present world and had no idea of coming out of it and being separate. He would have Hved and died, 'respecting rehgion,' as the phrase is, but chiefly consoled by that blessed doctrine, ' It makes no difference about externals, provided only the heart is right.' 'Precisely so,' brother Demas would have said; 'I trust my heart is all right, but I've no trust in ordinances.' To come out and be baptized and to receive the laying on of hands, and to frequent the Lord's Supper, he would have argued, ' are well enough for those who are so superstitious. But stoning by the Jews is uncomfortable ; beheading and other tortures of the Romans involve great personal sacrifices. I can ' believe in my heart,' you know, without confessing with my mouth, or submitting to those outward things which carnal minds make so much of. Yes, I've alwaj^ s been consoled by those spiritual views of the Gospel which teach me to be a good Christian in my heart, without submitting

OBLIGATIONS TO CHUECH MEMBEKSHIP.

to any formal system, subversive as such systems must be of our Christian hberty."

Moreover, the good of others should move non church members to identify themselves with the Church. The continuation and development of our civilization depend upon the Church which gave it birth, and has brought it to its present stage of perfection. It^ is wrong for anv man or woman to pursue a course which if universally adopted would make the world worse instead of better. If all were from this time on to follow the example of the non church members who are to be found in every community, the Christian civihzation, in every respect, even in its present imperfect state, the best that the world has ever seen, would rapidly decline, and a generation or two would suffice to bring about its extinction. History plainly teaches that no civilization long survives the abandonment of the religion upon whkh it is founded. Up to this time all civilizations have had some religion for their basis. Christianitv is the foundation of our civilization.

So'^long as the Greeks and Romans were faithful m the service of their gods, their magnificent civihzations advanced to higher stages of perfection, but when they began to forsake their temples a retrogression commenced which in its degree kept pace almost exactly with the progress of the national apostasy. History would certainlv repeat itself in the case of our civilization, if all were to imitate the example of non church members. In addition, therefore, to the duty of obedience to Christ and consideration for your own highest welfare the good of the world, in so far as it depends upon the perpetuity and development of our civilization. requires vou to identify yourself with the ChuiTh. Dutv to Christ, to yourself, and to every human bemg in the world, makes it incumbent upon you to belong to

CHUKCH MEMBERSHIP.

the Church, '^f," to borrow the burning words of another, " jou know anything better, Jive for it; if not, in the name of God and of humanity, carry out Christ's plan " by the identification of yourself with his Kingdom.

It is impossible for the non church member to justify his position. It is not sufficient that he should be able to say truthfully : "I follow the example and precepts of Christ as closely as the majority of Church members who are within the circle of my acquaintance." The Church, which was founded for the salvation of the world, would cease to exist if all followed your example, and but for the Church and its imperfect, sinful members, towards whom you are ever pointing the finger of criticism, you would know little, and care less, about Christ.

To quote Professor Drummond again: "Here and there an unchurched soul may stir the multitudes to lofty deeds; isolated men, strong enough to preserve their souls apart from the Church, but shortsighted enough perhaps to fail to see that others cannot, may set high examples and stimulate to national reforms. But for the rank and file of us, made of such stuff as we are made of, the steady pressure of fixed institutions, the regular diet of a common worship, and the education of public Christian teaching, are too obvious safeguards of scriptural culture to be set aside."

Even Renan, one of the most gifted of modern French skeptics, declares it to be his conviction that, "beyond the family and outside the state man has need of the Church. Civil society, whether it calls itself a commune, a canton, or a province, a state or a Fatherland, has many duties towards the improvement of the individual; but Avhat it does is necessarily limited. The family ought to do much more, but often

OBLIGATIONS TO CHURCH MEMBERSHIP.

it is insufficient. Sometimes it is Avanting altogether. The association created in the name of moral principle can alone give to every man coming into this world, a bond which unites him to the past, duties as to the future, examples to follow, a heritage to receive and to transmit, and a tradition of devotion to continue."

Nor can a non church member justify his position by the opposite plea, so frequently . urged— " I am not good enough to belong to Church." Christ came to save sinners. He said: ''They that be whole have no need of a physician." The Church would collapse to-day if goodness and worthiness were made conditions of membership. In the Litany all, even those who have attained the greatest degree of Christhkeness, are taught to pray, "Have mercy upon us miserable sinners." Whether in or out of the Church every member of the human race is a sinner. We are of course aware that some deny that they are sinners. My attention has recently been called to an instance. In a sermon preached at one of our mission stations I had occasion to refer to the fact that the Church teaches all, not excepting the most venerable and godly, to look upon themselves as sinful men and women. The lay reader afterwards told me that he was glad for that passage in my sermon, because on the Sunday before, during the reading of the Litany, a woman had abruptly left the Church in manifest displeasure and that one who afterward made inquiry concerning the ground of her exception to the Service was told : "I will have nothing to do with a Church that obliges all her worshipers, without distinction, to confess and acknowledge that they are sinners. I was convei-ted only a few weeks ago, and am not a sinner." Of course such a person cannot be an Episcopalian nor a member of any branch of the Catholic Church of Christ, which is exclusively for sinners.

CHURCH MEMBERSHIP.

The man of whom one of our missionary Bishops tells had a truer appreciation of his real condition. Upon going to a mining Tillage of his jurisdiction, where the Services of the Church had never been held, the Bishop inquired of a person whom he met at tlie boarding house whether or not there were any members of the Episcopal Church in the camp. " Why, yes," said he, ''that is my Church, and I am glad you have come." The Bishop expressed his gratification at running across an interested person bo soon and requested his help in securing a hall and making the arrangements for the initiator}^ Service. He found the miner to be a cheerful and efficient helper, taking everything into his own hands. When the hour of Ser^dce arrived he conducted the Bishop to a billiard hall, where a good sized congregation of miners had assembled. The Service was quite satisfactory, considering the incongruous surroundings, there being some half dozen Churchmen present who read the responses. But the Bishop noticed with surprise that his zealous helper could not handle the Prayer Book, and did not even conform to the customary postures. So, after returning to the house, he natural!}^ made some inquiries of his friend. "Did you, Mr. , say that you were an Episcopalian?" "Yes, sir, that is my religion." "Where were you confirmed? " He did not seem to understand what was meant. After the Bishop's explanation of the rite he replied : " Oh, I never had that done to me." " Where were you baptized?" "I never was baptized." "Indeed," said the astonished Bishop. "'How is it then that you told me that you were a member of the Episcopal Church?" "Well, parson, when I was at "

naming a mining camp in an adjoining Territory, " one of your kind of preachers came along and held a meeting in the billiard hall. I was there, and when I heard

OBLIGATIONS TO CHURCH MEMBERSHIP.

them say, ' We have left undone those things which we ought to have done and we have done those things which we ought not to have done/ I said, 'that hits me exactly, I am one of them kind of Christians,' and that is why i say that I am an ' Episcopal ; ' and parson, if you think it necessary, I want them things that you were a telling about done to me when you come again."

Strange as it may seem to many, this man rather than that deluded woman had the true idea. His only title to Church membership was the recognition of the fact that he was a sinner, both by commission and omission, and a manifest desire to do better. Of course the Bishop, after due instruction, would baptize, confirm and admit him to the Holy Communion. It is surpassinglv strange that men and women who have heard the Gospel all their hves, should still suppose that none ought to come to Baptism or Confirmation or the Holy Communion who are not prepared to stand and make the Pharisee's profession of religion— " God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are. I am converted. I am not a sinner." But, as all are sinners, and those who say they are not, deceive themselves and the truth is not in them, the salvation of the world depends upon the sinners that are in the Church. They are the salt of the earth without which all would perish. Not that a bad man in the Church is more pleasing to God and has brighter prospects of heaven than a good man outside, but that the place for all who would serve Christ is inside.