CHRISTIAN UNION. 



119 



the practicability of maintaining a state of Christian 

 order and effort inside of liiblt authority and preoe- 



i Chri->t ? without associating with it the neoes- 



I 



an arbitrary concurrence in matters of opinion 

 ilativo theology, about which Christians will, 

 u", an. I may iliil'.-r, without prejudice to their Chris- 

 tian standing or usefulness. 4. To recognize but 



oi' law and order tlu inspired Sortptura: and butono 

 condition of fellowship " good fruits." 



Resolutions were adopted declaring the cir- 

 culation of the Word of God to be of paramount 

 importance ; advising the churches to cooperate 

 with the American Bible Society in extending 

 the circulation of the Scriptures without note 

 or comment ; giving a special warning " touch- 

 ing those translations made in the interests of 

 certain sectarian dogmas ; " and recommending 

 " the use of, and adherence to, the common 

 translation known as ' King James's.' " 



The ministers were exhorted to urge upon 

 the people the duty of living in accordance with 

 the principles of temperance in all things, and 

 themselves to set an example of temperance 

 "by abstaining from all practices and habits 

 that tend to intemperance in eating and drink- 

 ing." 



Sunday-schools were commended, while dis- 

 approval waa -expressed " of the worldly amuse- 

 ments practised by many of the Sunday-schools 

 of the day, in order to render them attractive." 

 It was declared a duty of all Christiana to en- 

 courage and assist in giving a liberal education 

 to children and youth. The Council also ex- 

 pressed its interest in the education of the min- 

 istry, particularly in the Holy Scriptures and 

 Christian truth. 



II. UNION CUBIBTIA.K CHURCHES. The Ohio 

 State Council of the Christian Union, at its 

 annual meeting, held at Liberty Chapel, Han- 

 cock Couuty, Ohio, in September, took the fol- 

 lowing action ; 



' Whereas, It is very desirable that the mutual recog- 

 nition and visible union of all genuine Christian 

 Union people should be effected : therefore, to this 

 end wo recommend that this Council invite the Eev. 

 J. B. Wellons, of the Christian Church South, to 

 attend and bring with him two of his brethren; the 

 Bev. George E. Thrall, editor of the Church Union, 

 to attend and bring with him two of his co-laborers ; 

 the Eev. Thomas J. Mellish, of the Baptist denomi- 

 nation, to attend and bring with him two of his 

 brethren; the Rev. W. McCune to attend and bring 

 with him two of his Presbyterian brethren ; to meet 

 in the city of Cincinnati on the 21st of October, 

 1874, three delegates to be appointed by this Council 

 to confer with them, in arranging, if possible, a 

 union on the Bible as the common platform of a com- 

 mon Christianity. 



The meeting was held at the appointed time 

 and place, there being present as delegates the 

 Rev. Messrs. J. W. Durant and P. P. Wolf 

 and Mr. Virgil E. Shaw, on the part of the 

 State Council of the Christian Union of Ohio; 

 the Rev. George E. Thrall, the Rev. Thomas J. 

 vol. xiv. A 



, with the Rev. John G. Fwe, the Br. 

 W. McCuuc, with tlio Kcv. J. A. I'. McGaw, 

 ami Mr. J. W. Barber and the Rev. J. B 

 \\Yllons, D. D., tho licv. J. N. Manning, and 

 Solomon Apple, of tho Christian Church South ; 

 the Rev. W. McCuue was chosen president 

 of the convention. The meeting continued 

 three days. A paper waa adopted, entitled the 

 u Basis of the Union Christian Churches of 

 America." It begins with a preamble, declar- 

 ing that 



In love to God, in faith unfeigned in Christ, in 

 dependence upon tho guidance of the Holy Spirit, 

 in charity toward all Christiana of every name, in 

 obedience, aa we believe, to the requirement* of tho 

 New Testament, and in order to make manifest the 

 always existing spiritual oneness of believers, and to 

 promote the conversion of the world unto God, we 

 submit to all Christiana the following basis of visible 

 Christian union : 



Saris. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 

 ments are an infallible revelation from God, and a 

 sufficient rule of faith and practice. 



This is followed by a list of " great troths 

 of Scripture, held substantially in the same 

 sense by evangelical ministers and churches, 

 always and everywhere," each of which is sap- 

 ported and further defined by two or more 

 texts quoted from the Bible. The points of 

 doctrine thus announced and denned in the 

 language of tho Scriptures alone, are : 



The unity of God ; the nature, works, and attri- 

 butes of God ; Jesus Christ is God ; Christ's incar- 

 nation and humanity ; concerning the Holy Spirit ; 

 the universal sinfulness of man ; Christ's death for 

 sinners ; justification by faith ; regeneration and 

 sanctiflcation ; repentance; obedience to the Gospel; 

 good works necessarily grow from true faith ; the law 

 of love ; the law of Christian forbearance ; the right 

 of private judgment ; death and the resurrection ; 

 the judgment ; endless rewards and punishments ; 

 the Church universal ; the church of a city or place : 

 qualifications of bishops or elders : qualifications of 

 deacons ; the duty of confessing Cnrist before men : 

 baptism ; the Lord's Supper ; religious worship ana 

 the Sabbathj or the Lord's Day ; discipline ; a duty 

 to try the spirit and to reject false teachers. 



The following declaration was made respect- 

 ing the reception of ministers, and appended to 

 tho Basis : 



As evangelical ministers of the various orthodox 

 denominations cordially recognize each other aa 

 ministers of Christ, notwithstanding denominational 

 differences, so do we recognize them. 



And inasmuch as Christ receives aa his ministers 

 those who are not of one mind concerning Calvin- 

 ism or Arminianism ; or as to Episcopal or Method- 

 ist Episcopal, or Congregational, or Presbyterian 

 church government; or as to infant baptism or be- 

 liever's baptism only ; or as to immersion or sprin- 

 kling, or any other denominational peculiarity, nei- 

 ther do we require an assent to any denominational 

 peculiarity as a condition of fellowship. 



Whoever gives us scriptural evidence that Christ 

 has received h'rn as his minister, we will also receive 

 to cordial and unrestricted fellowship in cheerful 

 obedience to Christ. 



But as Christ requires that his gospel shall be com- 

 mitted to "faithful men who shall be able to teach 

 others also," and that his ministers shall u be able 

 by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the 

 gainsayers, " we will require all ministers of the gos- 

 pel asking our recognition and fellowship, whether 



