Church and Nation: The Bishop Paddock Lectures for 1914-15Temple, William
Religion
Church and Nation: The Bishop Paddock Lectures for 1914-15
Temple, William
Church and state
If it is true that it was largely, and perhaps mainly, the fault of the
medieval Church that the split became a necessity; if it is true that it
was partly, and perhaps mainly, the fault of the Church of England that
the Wesleyan movement (for example) ever broke off, because we refused
to make room for what was in its early stages most undoubtedly a
movement of the Spirit of God in the world, then we have no right to
condemn those who by reason of our sin, at least as much as their own,
are outside our fellowship; and we must recognise that, just as in St.
Paul’s argument about the true Israel, blindness in part happened to
Israel, and so God used the Gentiles to provoke them to jealousy—so
blindness in part happened to Catholicism, and God is using the
Protestant bodies to provoke us to jealousy.
We must, I believe, maintain that our order is for us the only possible
order for the reunited Church. But order is not everything. The wall
of the Holy City is minute. When the time for reunion comes, we must
insist upon our own part of the truth in such a way as to avoid all
condemnation of other bodies for having been separated during this
time—at least, all condemnation which we do not pronounce quite equally
upon ourselves. What has happened in the divisions of the Church is a
severance from one another of elements which are every one of them
necessary to the healthy life of the Body. If one set of people could
only get dry food and no drink, and another set could only get drink and
no food, neither would be healthy. They would have to combine their
stores before health was possible. Catholics have preserved perhaps a
fuller sense of worship and of the gifts of God; Protestants have
perhaps a truer zeal for righteousness and a more intimate access to God
in prayer. Let us not judge the past; God will judge. But let us
recognise our need of one another and accept from each other the
positive truth and life which God has given to either.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account