ONE CHURCH FOR SCOTLAND
(To THE EDITOR OF TH1 "SPECTATOR.")
Sin,—" A Scotchman in London," at the close of his letter in your last week's issue, bearing upon the advancing liberalism of religious thought in Scotland, takes occasion to express a regret that the three Presbyterian Churches "cannot formulate some common terms of agreement, by means of which the future of Scotland might be secured, in any event for truth and liberty, and charity." 'presume your correspondent expresses thus the natural longing among many people for outward unity among those who profess the Christian faith. The circumstances of Scotland, with three great Churches differing slightly in creed and character, give peculiar force to any argument in favour of unity. But it is my opinion that unity would be productive of anything rather than" truth, and liberty, and charity," and that not because of the sacrifice of crotchets or principles necessary to union, but for quite other reasons.
I do not think it is good for any country to have only one Church, any more than I believe it is good to have onlyone party in the State. A strong, united Church goes in one of two directions in course of time. It either becomes a tyrannical Church, or it degenerates into a lifeless Church. It either persecutes or dies. While zeal remains, it is intolerant; when zeal dies, as it must and will die, as it has always died, the fabric rots. The priesthood become openly immoral. The Church ceases to be a religious power. It has always been so. The great movements of reform that have taken place in the religious life of the world have been rendered necessary by strong, united Churches being dead reli- giously,—and dead religiously, according to my reading, because an outward unity had stifled inquiry, and the removal of the competitive element paralysed all desire for action. This was so in Europe when Luther came. It was so in England when Wesley came. It was so in Scotland when Chalmers came. It would be so in Scotland again, were one strong, united Church to embrace the whole religious life of the country. Wherever men's minds are free and active, there will always be divisions in religions opinion. Englishmen may smile at the theological hair-splitting of their neighbours across the Tweed, but it is largely by this means that the sentiment of liberty has been kept alive. Had it not been so, the devout religious spirit of the Scotch would have kept them up to this day as priest-ridden as the people of Spain. I trust never to see the day when one Church shall be wide enough to embrace the religious activity of Scotland. It would be a sign that the mind of the country had become less acute, and proof that the people had become less active in reli- gious inquiry. No one rejoices more than I do at the break-up of dogma there, or sympathises more strongly with the Liberal movement. But unity is not life, or the sign of life, but the rigidity of death.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Tynemouth. JAMES ANNAND.
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