THE FREE CHRISTIAN UNION.
Many professedly Christian people, and many who are in no way such, have
long been of opinion that there is something that is wrong about our
present religious organizations; that they tend to separate rather than
unite; that what society requires is not dogmatic theology, but freer
Christian union. Rightly or wrongly--and that is a question not to be
discussed now--this idea has led to the formation of the society whose
title heads this article. In June last year the first practical attempt
was made towards the formation of such a society. In the winter previous
the basis of union was agreed on, and in the month referred to the
anniversary was held in Freemasons' Hall. Believing that in the vain
pursuit of orthodoxy men have parted into rival churches, and lost the
bond of common work and love; that doctrinal uniformity is become
increasingly difficult, while at the same time there is a growing and a
strengthening of moral and spiritual affinities; that the Divine will is
love to God and love to man, and that equally broad should be the terms
of pious communion among men, the new Union requires a spiritual
fellowship co-extensive with these terms, and aims by relieving the
Christian life from reliance on theological articles or external rites to
save it from conflict with the knowledge and conscience of mankind, and
bring it back to the essential conditions of harmony between God and man.
The Society proposes to issue publications to illustrate the spirit of
unsectarian Christianity, and to furnish the means of undogmatic
instruction; to give aid to persons suffering for conscience sake from
the spirit of exclusiveness; to watch legislation so far as it bears on
religious freedom; to help existing sects to widen their basis, and to
encourage the formation of congregations where the terms of communion
shall be broad and undogmatic. Further, it aims at the establishment in
London of a central church for the maintenance of Christian worship and
life, apart from doctrinal interests and names, the services of which
will be conducted by ministers of various ecclesiastical positions.
Amongst the committee of this Union may be noted the names of George
Dawson, Esq., the Rev. J. Martineau, and the Rev. W. Miall. The Rev. P.
W. Clayden is one of the secretaries.
To the promoters of this new religious organization the attendance the
first night must have been eminently gratifying. The large hall was well
filled, and outside there were as many cabs and private broughams waiting
about as at the Opera when a star of the first magnitude is engaged. On
the occasion there was a special form of prayer devised, which was read
by the Rev. Mr. Martineau, and two hymns were sung, one of Wesley's--
"The saints on earth and those above
But one communion make."
And another from the Breviary--
"Supreme Disposer of the heart,
Thou, since the world began,
With heavenly grace hast sanctified
And cheered the heart of man."
Besides there was a chant, in which all joined, and a small band to sing
the Amen. Two sermons were preached; one by the Rev. Athanase Coquerel,
the far-famed leader of the section of the Reformed Church of France
which does not sympathize with orthodoxy. In the personal appearance of
this celebrated preacher there was little that was heretical or foreign.
With his round face and stout frame you might have taken him for one of
the sleekest of Anglican divines. Nevertheless his sermon was French in
its construction and style of delivery and emphasis. His text was--"One
thing is needful." His argument went to show that that one thing needful
was the love of God, and that forms of faith and ritualism were so many
hills in our way, which blinded the view and impeded our appreciation of
this grand fundamental truth. The discourse, which lasted half an hour,
over, the Rev. W. Miall engaged in extemporaneous prayer, in which there
was a special reference to the death of the Rev. Mr. Tayler, of
Hampstead, one of the committee of the Union, and a Professor of
Manchester New College, London; and then came the Rev. C. Kegan Paul,
Rector of Upminster, in Dorsetshire, with another sermon. It is scarce
necessary to observe that Mr. Paul--a fine, tall, muscular man in the
prime of life, with a black beard and with a voice almost as sonorous (a
Frenchman's lungs always seem better than an Englishman's) as Pastor
Coquerel himself--is a man much distinguished by collegiate success and
Eton fame, and that his sermon evinced high intellectual culture. His
text was, "He is not here, but is risen," and his aim was to show how men
seek the dead Christ rather than the living one. The Reformation was an
attempt to get rid of ritualism and formalism, and now again it is felt
that religion can no longer be confined in an article. It is not only
the Bible we must consult, God has written His Word in life and humanity.
They were not Theists; Christ was a name symbolical of humanity, and they
were, as a matter of fact, Christian men. Nor would they get rid of
Christian phraseology as long as the feeling of the heart clothes itself
in language hallowed by the use of ages. A change is passing over
society, and we have now to study religion in connexion with nature,
science, progress, life. Still, nothing that has nourished the soul of
man can die. All that has been is a part of what is to come, and
sustained by this truth we are not to faint or fail. And then came the
benediction, and ministers and people went home. In this Church of the
future, as it aims to be, it is clear there will be nothing derogatory to
the ministerial office. The committee were seated in various parts of
the hall, while the ministers in black gowns occupied the platform.
Apparently never in Freemasons' Hall had there met there men more
spiritual and anxious for Divine guidance, and devout. As to the issue
of it all we can safely and reverently wait.
There are two sides to every picture--two aspects, at the least, in which
human schemes and organizations may be viewed. On the first night, as
regards the Free Christian Union, we had the one view which must have
cheered its promoters; on the next, when the business meeting was held,
when we were told of what the Society had done and what it was going to
do, an element of a very different character appeared. In this great
capital, at this season of the year, when London is crowded with
notabilities, the managers had to go to Cambridge for a young man to
preside, who had--we say it respectfully--really a physical
disqualification for the office. Then there was a very young gentleman,
quite unknown to fame, called on to second a resolution, and forced on to
the platform from the body of the hall to say that and nothing more. As
a matter of fact, the Society had enrolled, we believe, a couple of
congregations, and voted a grant of 5_l._ to the Free Christian Church at
Lynn. Nevertheless, with a platform on which few men save those
connected with the Unitarian denomination appeared, and with but little
response even from that body, the Society aims to influence the public
mind, especially by the press, by the publication of essays on the
connexion between scientific theology and pure religion, the Bible as
literature, dogma, prophecy, miracles, the possibility of a national
formula of public devotion, the ethics of conformity, the place of
religion in education, the limits of State action in ecclesiastical
organizations. In some quarters it was evident that the feeling was that
the Society had better aim at some practical work, such as the
reconstruction of the National Church on the bases laid down in its own
preamble; and one speaker, forgetful of the fact that the Church of Rome
denied the right of private judgment in matters of religion _in toto_,
asked whether any effort had been made to secure its sympathy and
co-operation. It says little for the meeting that such a puerile
question was politely received. As to speaking, indeed, the meeting was
a failure, or would have been had it not been for the presence of
Athanase Coquerel, who spoke in English at great length with the utmost
freedom and warmth, and who had much to say of his own struggles on
behalf of Free Christianity in France, of universal interest.
It appears in its early days the Protestant Church of France was entirely
exclusive, and its confession of faith was drawn up by Calvin and Beza.
One of its forty articles decreed that the sword had been put by God into
the hands of reigning princes, magistrates, &c., not only to enforce
obedience to the second table of the Ten Commandments, but also to the
first. Another article implied that little children, even unborn babes,
are condemned to eternal perdition in hell; and if they die without
baptism can in no way whatever be saved. By-and-by a little more
elasticity was imported into this creed, and the Liberal party continued
to live, even when, as in 1685, Louis XIV. shut up all the Protestant
academies in France. An English writer had truly remarked that no Church
had suffered so long and so much from persecution as the Reformed Church
in France, and he was right--the last pastor who was hung in Paris
suffered that penalty only as recently as the year 1762. A young pastor
preaching at Nismes had for one of his hearers Lafayette, and he and
Lafayette got from Louis XVI., in 1787, an edict that gave the French
Protestants civil rights, and since then the Church has revived, but at
the same time it has steadily and consistently refused to re-enact the
old rigid creeds. At present there were two parties in the Church, one
orthodox the other Liberal. In the Church at Paris, consisting of
bankers, with whom Guizot always acted, the Consistory is orthodox. That
Consistory was formed in 1802 by Napoleon, who selected for that purpose
the twelve persons most wealthy. In 1848 this Consistory was re-elected
by universal suffrage, and this was the cause of great changes. The
ultra-Conservative feeling of the day retained the old set in office, and
they, feeling themselves invested with additional power, began that
persecution of M. Coquerel's father which continued till the last hour of
his life. Of that persecution he, the speaker, had his share, and at
last to support him the Union Protestante Liberale was formed. In a
little while after he had spoken, to a certain extent favourably, of
Renan's work, he was excluded from the Church, and M. Martin Paschaud as
well. As to himself he had obtained leave with two young ministers to
commence preaching in a hired room. At the same time, as they had not
been legally ejected from the Church, they can baptize, marry, perform
funeral services--in short, do everything but preach. In conclusion, the
speaker said how rejoiced he was to find in England an attempt made to
establish such a Society. It was the want of the time, and long he
trusted might they continue to uphold the banner of peace and love.
It is clear, outside the meeting at Freemasons' Hall the idea is
entertained that this was simply a Unitarian movement. Evidently such is
the feeling of leading Unitarians themselves. One of them, the Rev. Mr.
Ierson, who preaches in a beautiful and costly chapel in Islington, to a
congregation that does not half fill the place, evidently so regards it.
After the annual meeting, from the text, "Blessed are the peacemakers,"
he preached a sermon on behalf of the new organization. He was delighted
with what had been done. In the devotional service he had witnessed more
life than he had ever seen in a Unitarian service before, and he was
thankful for it. At the same time Mr. Ierson expressed his regret that
the movement did not aim to accomplish something more, and also regretted
that it did not succeed in enrolling beneath its banner men of
sufficiently diverse sentiments. This was not difficult to account for,
continued the reverend gentleman. The Independent Churches, meaning by
that term Baptists and Congregationalists, have great fear of each other.
The ministers are afraid of the people, who look well after them. In
many places, if a man shakes hands with a Unitarian he is straightway
denounced as a Unitarian himself. Nor was this altogether wrong. The
real fact was that it would be found, directly any one approximated in
civility to the Unitarians, he had either given up the doctrine of
eternal damnation or some of the other dogmas of his body, and was not
completely, and in the old-fashioned sense of the term, orthodox.
Meanwhile the duty of the Unitarians was very obvious. They had to be
more than ever charitable and deferential to all Christians, whatever
their denomination. It was something to get men to respect each other,
to believe each other to be honest, however they differed in faith and
dogma. In his own opinion the Free Christian Union would have had a
better chance had it been originated by another body of religionists.
Even as regarded themselves he feared many of them were not sufficiently
educated up to the mark; but at any rate it was something for the
Unitarians to be associated with such a catholic and Christian union.
One word more may be said. At the business meeting one of the speakers
was the Rev. Leigh Mann. Distinctly he avowed a belief the reverse of
Unitarianism, and distinctly he glorified the association as one in which
men of the most opposite dogmas could meet. In such an utterance we have
an indication, how significant or eccentric time alone can tell. At any
rate, while confessing that hitherto there has been little of Christian
union founded on dogma, we may anxiously ask, is there a better chance if
the common bond be work?