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THE COMPREHENSIVE CHURCH. 227 in a Church universal, for it accords exactly with the spirit or genius of such a Church. That which is liberty in the universal Church is but revolution or tyranny in the sect. The elasticity of an adaptive Church will yield, and fit it to every impression. The rigidity of the sect (which demands absolute unity in all things, and cannot yield nor bend without relinquishing its peculiarity or distinctiveness) is. such, that either itself must be broken by the new impression, or its members must be all crushed by it into one mass. We believe that the evils referred to cannot result from the most extensive toleration in the Protestant Episcopal Church. There are in it restraining and regulating influences always steadily and powerfully at work —its standards of faith, and its standards of prayer, and its constant lessons from the Word of God. The experience of the past corresponds with the conclusion of our judgment, that no permanent nor considerable evils (certainly none equivalent to the evils of intolerance) can result from the most unrestricted exercise of that large liberty which the Protestant Episcopal Church allows to its members. We believe that this Church, while in its liberal system it is the encourager and patron of all varieties of action and effort for the promotion of human piety, is, at the same time, in its careful and scripturally defended system, the regulator and guide of them all. That evils may and do result from liberty under any circumstances, we grant; but there are evils resulting from everything which is connected at all with the imperfection and frailty of man's moral and mental nature. It cannot be otherwise. Still we cdntend that where
Title | The comprehensive church |
Creator | Vail, Thomas H. (Thomas Hubbard) |
Publisher | Appleton |
Place of Publication | New York |
Date | 1879 |
Language | eng |
Type | Books/Pamphlets |
Title | 00000231 |
Type | Books/Pamphlets |
Transcript | THE COMPREHENSIVE CHURCH. 227 in a Church universal, for it accords exactly with the spirit or genius of such a Church. That which is liberty in the universal Church is but revolution or tyranny in the sect. The elasticity of an adaptive Church will yield, and fit it to every impression. The rigidity of the sect (which demands absolute unity in all things, and cannot yield nor bend without relinquishing its peculiarity or distinctiveness) is. such, that either itself must be broken by the new impression, or its members must be all crushed by it into one mass. We believe that the evils referred to cannot result from the most extensive toleration in the Protestant Episcopal Church. There are in it restraining and regulating influences always steadily and powerfully at work —its standards of faith, and its standards of prayer, and its constant lessons from the Word of God. The experience of the past corresponds with the conclusion of our judgment, that no permanent nor considerable evils (certainly none equivalent to the evils of intolerance) can result from the most unrestricted exercise of that large liberty which the Protestant Episcopal Church allows to its members. We believe that this Church, while in its liberal system it is the encourager and patron of all varieties of action and effort for the promotion of human piety, is, at the same time, in its careful and scripturally defended system, the regulator and guide of them all. That evils may and do result from liberty under any circumstances, we grant; but there are evils resulting from everything which is connected at all with the imperfection and frailty of man's moral and mental nature. It cannot be otherwise. Still we cdntend that where |
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