A Temple Of God

The Church of Christ opened ta doors and began its work some weeks ago, but the ceremony of formal dedication was deferred until last Sunday . At ten o'clock in the morning a special train arrived from Detroit bringing about 230 members of the Uisciples' congregation in that city. They ctme from the depot directly to the churoh, where the pastor, Rev. C. A. Yoiing, administered ihe sacrament of the Lord' Supper and preached to the students upon the missionary work that was before them. At 2:30 in the afternoon the pretty Btone church on South University-ave was filled to its utmost capacity. Beibre the opening anthem was sunpj every seat had been taken and many were standing in the aisles. After responsive reading of the twenty-fourth ppalm, led by Rev. J. W. Bradshaw, the congregation rose and joined in the grand words of the "Coronation" hymn. Rev. J. Mills Gelston, of the Presbyterian church, offered a prayer, and Rev. Camden M. Cobern, of the Methodist Episcopal church, read a portion of the scripture. This was followed by the dedicatory bymn: O bow thine ear, Eternl One, On thee our heart adoring, calis: To thee, the followers of thy Son llave rai8ed, and uow devote these w&lls. When the last notes of the hymn died away, Mrs. Maria Jameson, of Indianapolis, gave a short history of the building of the church - the nappy choice of a location, the generous bequeathal of Mrs. Sarah Hawley Scott, and the contributions from other sources, which augmented the sum to $17,000 and enabled them to build this beautiful structure to the glory of God, The church is a mission of the Chrlstian Woman's Board of Missione. Rey. B. B. Tyler, of New York City, then delivered the dedicatory address, which, very appropriately to the occasion, was designed to set forth the aim and work of the Disciples' of ChriBt. It was an eloquent plea for Chrisian unity. "I wish to cali attention," said he, ' .o what Jesus and the inspired A postles said on this subject: to indícate the present condition of the church and the feeliHg in Protestant Christendom; to describe the foor plans that have been proposed to bring about the union of the church of God; and to briefly sketch the one that seems best to me. First, as to what was said by Jesus and his authorized representatives. In the tenth chapter of John, Christ says, "Othersheep I have whieharenotofthis fold: them also must I bring and they shall hear tny voice : and these shall be one fold and one shepherd.' And again, in his prayer for the apostles, Jesus said, 'Xeittier pray I for these alone, but for them also that shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee.' He prayed for himself, that he might be glorified; for his iinmediate followt-rs, tbat they might be as one; and for all believers, that the world might be persuaded. The first two prayersare already.answered. May ■ffe not hope, also, that the prayer for all believers will be granted? The apostle Paul was constantly exhorting the churchea to be of one mind. His epistle to the Kphesians is an essay on unity. The perfect unity which blessed the Disciples in Jerusalem is not now manifest in the Christian church. When I was a boy mj idea of the origin of denominations.was that a body of clericals would meet together and say, 'Go to, now, let us tb articles of a new faith, which will win followers and redound to our own glory.' I know better now. I know that each new creed was an eifort, though perhaps a misguided one, to get nearer the divine truth. Aa the church was leftby Christ, 'the surging wavea of heil could not prerail against it.' But pseudo-philosophy was introduoed, the doctrine was corrupted, and the faith poisoned. Even in the lifetime of the Apostles the iniquity was airead at work. Through thedisinal night of the Dark Ages carne the voice of something better. Sayonarola, Wycliffe, Jerome, lluss, Tyndale appeared, and the earnest Germán monk whose fierce words reached the pope, on the banks of the Tiber. The doctrine of justification by faith was carried to an extreme, but it was necessary to set it over against the doctrine of justification through works of supererogation. Christendom should be his debtor, if for that doctrine alone. Wycliffe saw the doctrine of divine sovereignty, as found in the tenth chapter of the Confession of Faith, over which the Presbyterians are having so much trouble now. It was worth holding. Bluff King Hal made himself head of the English church, and.while he did not go so far back toward the right as the movement in Germany did,yet it was a step in the right direction. Wesley organized a class for the study of the Word, but he proteBted that his followers would not leave the English church, 'to dwindle into a dry, dull, separate sect.' [Turning to Rev. Cobern] He was not a prophet, was he? But, far from being simple disruptors of the church, the reformers should be praised as men who have earnestly tried to get away from the Babyion of corraption back towdid the true Jerusalem, but have made a mistake and stopped at the wrong station. jWe must go clear back- back through Geneva, Rome, and Constantinople, to Palestine; and learn tfhat to do and how to live. It is not necessary now to prove the sin of sectarianicm. To-day, in newspapers, magazine articlep, public addresses, and private prayera is found a deprecation of división. The queslion is, on what basis shall we unite? Four principal bases of union have been propoeed : submission, the Roman Catholic plan ; confederation, advocated by Dr. McCosh, which organizes the churches on the same principie a our national and state governments, and which overlooks the fact that present denominations are bound to pass away; conaolidation, the scheme voiced by the House of Bishops in Chicago, in 1886, and which demands the acceptatioirof the doctrine of epiBcopacy; and restoration, a return to the simple doctrine of belief in the Saviour of the world. The last is what we believe to be the only trne basis of union - not an Apostles' creed of which the Apostles never heard, bat the only divinely authorized creed: 'I believe that Jesus of Nazareth ia the Christ, the son of tlie living God, and, therefore, the only and all-sufficient Saviour of men.' Asto baptism, I believe that Christ was immersed, that he taught immersion, and that his folio wers practiced it. And now, if we are to bring about unity we must approach each other in a spirit of love, and make Jeeus the pat - tern of our lives. This feeling is fostered by the American bible and tract societies, missions in foreign landa, Christian associations, the King's Daughters.Christian Endeavor societies, W. C. T. IL, and a host of other. And, as I look about me and see the Increasing spirit of brotherly love thatactuates the Chriatian world, I tbank God and believe tbat, though I may not live to see it, the church will some day be again united on the basis of the original creed, the original ordinance, and the original word." Rev. J. B. Johnson, of Detroit, then offered the dedicatory pray er.after which President Angelí followed with a few graceful and earnest words of welcome. "I do not come among you today with studied words," Dr. Angelí said, "but with a grateful heart. I speak in behalf of the University when I say that I profoundly rejoice in the scènes of this day. We acknowledge our indebtedness to you and to the noble friends through whose gonerosity thiswork bas been done, for opening, under the very walls of the University, a new fountain of moral and spiritual life for cur sake. I do not know how many members you have among the student?, but I do know that they are among the most highminded. Many students are more or less tempted, when away from home, to take a short spiritual vacation, and it is to that class that these religious homes are of the greatest benefit. All of the churches have kindly co-operated with us in this work, and I wish to take the opportunity of thanking them, too. I sincerely hope that the catholic spirit heard here today may be cherished forever in our midst." Rev. A. S. Carman voiced the same tsentments, and then Mra. O. A. Burge8S, president of the Christian Woman's Board of Missions, replied in behalf of that body. She asked the clergymen of the city to receive Mr. Young as one of their number, proniising that he would co-operate with theuof in all.that was good. Professor D'Ooge pronounced the benediction, and the exercises were over. The nmsic was by the Business Men'a Quartette, and was excellent. Rev. J. B. Johnson preached ín the evening. The visitors from Detroil returned at 10 o'clock.