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LECTURE I.

INTRODUCTORY-" THE RELATIONS IN WHICH THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST OUGHT TO STAND TO EACH OTHER-PRINCIPLES OF UNION, AND MUTUAL DUTIES."

BY ROBERT S. CANDLISH, D.D.
MINISTER OF FREE ST GEORGE'S, EDINBURGH.

THE subject more immediately brought before us, in connection with the proposed Course of Lectures, is not so much the general question of union among Christians, as one particular portion or department of that question, bearing upon the relations which ought to subsist among the different branches of the church of Christ, in different parts of the world. The geographical divisions of the Church, according to continents and countries, form a totally distinct field of contemplation, from its polemical distractions, according to names and parties; and the inquiry into the nature of the correspondence which the Christians of various lands ought to have with one another, is not to be confounded with that which relates to the healing of breaches among Christians dwelling together in the same territory,-though, alas! not dwelling together in unity. It is true, indeed, that in the present state of Christendom, these two subjects of inquiry run very much into one another, and cannot be

kept altogether separate; since the causes of diversity which affect Christian society in one place, operate, more or less, over the whole world; and the mutual duties and terms of reciprocal fellowship among churches separated by seas and mountains, can scarcely be adjusted without facing the difficulties, and in part at least, and practically, settling not a few of the points of controversy, involved in any attempt to harmonise those, whom, without such physical barriers, minute articles of creed, and too often mere punctilios of form, rend even more widely asunder. Still, it is desirable to distinguish between the two topics; and for this, among other reasons,' that while the one, namely, that which would deal with the church as geographically subdivided, may be considered with far greater calmness and clearness than the other, since it does not so violently raise the din and dust of personal and party strife,—the principles of good sense and Christian love naturally and necessarily unfolded in the discussion and right disposal of it, may, by an indirect but most happy influence, tell with good effect on what will be found to be very much mixed up with it, and what constitutes the great and urgent Christian problem of the day; the determination, that is, of the sense and manner in which, split as she is into sections and fragments, by innumerable peculiarities of thought and feeling, brought out in the exercise of that right of private judgment and free scriptural inquiry which is her just privilege and boast (let no man take her crown),-the Protestant Evangelical Church of the living God, is yet, in every land and over all the earth, to recognise herself, and be recognised by the world, as ONE.

Let us look, then, at Christianity in its first introduction to mankind, by its Divine Founder and his inspired

followers. It is to possess and occupy the world. It is to penetrate into all nations, and come into contact with every creature; and its doctrines and ordinances are to be everywhere preached and administered. How is it to be fitted for this end?

In the first place, it is to be altogether divested of the local and territorial character which belonged to the preceding dispensation, as well as of the cumbrous mass of ritual and ceremonial observances to which the Jewish church was bound. There is to be no holy city or venerable temple on earth, to which the tribes of the Lord must go up; there is to be no priestly order or transmitted virtue of priestly consecration; nor is any set of minute and rigid regulations, as to the worship and service of God, to be enforced by statute, or prescribed as the condition of acceptance. Under the Old Testament economy, "the people were to dwell alone;" and accessions from other nations could be made by proselytism, only on the terms of exact conformity to a strict, specified, and unalterable routine; implying a connection of locality with one favoured spot, and a concurrence in one precise and peremptory directory. The gospel threw matters much more open as to all that concerns the place, the agents, and the manner of worship; religion ceased to be local, personal, and ceremonial; the truth to be received was most exactly and carefully defined; but, evidently of set purpose, no rules were given for settling in detail the questions of, where? and how? or the localities and methods of divine service; pains were taken to have men's minds duly informed, and men's hearts made right with God; but, as to the rest, latitude was allowed for carrying out, in practice, the general principles of evangelical faith and love.

But farther, secondly, as to rule or government, one thing, at least, is plain, that under the new economy, no universal empire or monarchy was established; certainly not in the beginning of the Christian dispensation, was any such universal subjection to one authority contemplated, or any provision made for it. On the contrary, the temple service, and the whole priestly hierarchy connected with it, being for ever set aside, the model or platform of the Christian discipline and administration, was undeniably the usage of the synagogues; and beyond all question, that system savoured far more of the principle of republican self-regulation; each society with its own officers, exercising a large discretion in the regulation of its own services and the management of its own affairs; than of any general and uniform submission to one order or to one head. It would appear, indeed, that in cities and populous neighbourhoods, there was more of a community of the pastors and elders of different congregations, as well as of the congregations themselves, than the ancient custom of the synagogue, or, perhaps, the modern rule of independency based upon it, exemplifies and realises; and there are reasons for believing that local ties contributed to consolidate the believing inhabitants of a town, a province, and a country, into one compact body, and that this formed a part of the original apostolic plan. Still, whether on a smaller or a larger scale, the principle which developed itself in the early church, and which is, at least by implication and in embryo, contained in the New Testament, is substantially that of self-government; fitted to give the church the aspect of a number of free and separate commonwealths, rather than that of one single, vast, and gigantic empire.

It must be added, however, in the third place, to com

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