Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

MORAVIAN CHURCH MISCELLANY.

No. 1.

JANUARY, 1854.

VOL. 3.

The daily word and doctrinal text of the Protestant Church of the United Brethren for January 1st, 1854:

"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper." Is. 54, 17. Plagues and doubts around me fly ;-Till he bids, I cannot die; Not a single shaft can hit,-Till the God of love sees fit.

"Peace I leave with You, my peace I give unto You." John 14,27.

Lord God, our salvation-Let thy grace and favor

Rest upon thy Church for ever.

THE DAILY WORDS AND DOCTRINAL TEXTS
OF THE UNITAS FRATRUM.

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[blocks in formation]

In this very day and hour

To enjoy the same word's power.

11. Oh, my happy heart then springs
Heavenward, and humbly sings:
"I am join'd with Christ in union
And belong to that communion,
Where unseen, he's nigh to all
Who in truth upon him call."

As a little child in the house of my parents, I first became acquainted with the Daily Words and Doctrinal Texts of the Brethren's Church; and the older I grew, the more I learned to value them. I am therefore in the habit of using them in my familydevotions; and we have often thanked God, our wonderful counsellor, that, either in the daily word or the doctrinal text, he had provided us with an appropriate passage of scripture against some especial occasion of joy or pain.

(Pastor Storch, in Luditten, near Konigsberg, Prussia.)

THE WORD OF GOD!

Is spiritual and heavenly light.

The bread of life. Angels' food.

The mariner's compass, without which it is impossible we can steer our course right, or arrive at the haven of rest.

The pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night, going before us in the wilderness of the world.

The ballast of the soul, without which we swim light in the sea of this world, and every wind of temptation is in danger of overturning us.

The finger of God, pointing to eternal blessedness.

The statute-book of heaven, and a transcript of the book of life.

THE BRETHREN'S CHURCH.

No. 4.

WE had originally not intended to continue our articles on the Brethren's Church, but several pieces which lately appeared in the Miscellany, and which were evidently called forth by our No. 1, seem to demand that we resume the pen once more. In some of these there are personal attacks and mis-representations, as to our motives and intentions, which will hardly need any refutation. But where Principles are discussed, we claim our right, to give an opinion also, even if this should be construed again, as tending to neutralize the endeavors of our brethren, to give an intelligible and consistent character to our Church in America."

This is the charge which has been preferred against us in a public conference of some of our Western Ministers in Hope. This has called forth the "Unanimous Declaration of Principles of the Western Ministers' Conference."

To answer this charge we must briefly refer to our former articles. Our object was not to give any new character to the Church, for we believe, that if the character of the Moravian Church should not any longer be intelligible to the American mind, nor consistent with the religious requirements of our times, it would be the duty of our Synods, not of individuals,—to make the necessary alterations. Our object therefore in our individual capacity could only be, to state, as clearly as we could, the character of the Moravian Church, as it really is, or, as we expressed it, to point out some peculiarities of the Brethren's Church.

66

Always preferring facts, which can be proved by history, to fanciful theories and ingenious arguments that "beat the air," we spoke firstly of the peculiar organization of the Brethren's Church, representing it as an independent Protestant Episcopal Church, but at the same time, to a certain extent, as ecclesiola in ecclesia ;" and in corroberation of this view we need only refer to the first chapter of the Synodal Results of 1848, where the three terms, "Brethren's Congregation, Brethren's Church, and Brethren's Unity," are fully explained, as denoting one and the same thing in different relations. If this should not be considered satisfactory enough, there is yet another chapter to be found, viz., chapter ix, on the "relation of the Brethren's Church to other protestant

« AnteriorContinuar »