126 cnuRcn unity 



appeal to come together on the one Chris- 

 tian basis of faith, hope, and charity. 



"Why, sirs, have not Independents, Pres- 

 byterians, Episcopal, etc., one God, one 

 Christ, one Spirit, one Creed, one Scripture, 

 one hope of everlasting life ? Are our dis- 

 agreements so great that we may not live 

 together in love, and close in fraternal union 

 and unity ? Are we not of one religion ? 

 Do we differ in fundamentals or substantial ? 

 Will not conscience worry us ? Will not 

 posterity curse us if by our divisions we 

 betray the gospel into the hands of the 

 enemies ? And if by our mutual envyings and 

 jealousies and perverse zeal for our several 

 conceits, we should keep open the breach for 

 all heresies and wickedness to enter, and 

 make a prey for our own poor people's souls ; 

 Brethren, you see other bonds are loosed; 

 Satan will make his advantage of these daises 

 of licentiousness. Let us straiten the bond of 

 Christian unity and love, and help each other 

 against the powers of hell, and join our 

 forces against one common enemy." 1 



As a probable ontgrowth of Baxter's 

 able pleas and efforts for union, a move- 

 ment among the clergy in Cambridgeshire 



1 Christian Concord, London, 1653, p. 96, quoted by 

 Briggs, Presb. Rev., 1887, p. 454. 



