individual man the fountain of religious truth. Such a church as that of
Rome may be properly called socialistic because of its corporate nature,
because it maintains that revelation is to, and by means of, an
institution, an organic religious body.[1]

Catholicism, whether of Rome, Greece, or England, makes the church as a
great religious corporation the organ of religious expression. Such a
corporation is the source of authority, the test of truth, the creator of
spiritual ideals. On the other hand, such a church as the Protestant may be
called individualistic because it makes the individual the channel of
revelation. It emphasizes personality as of supreme worth, and it makes
religious institutions of little value in comparison.

Practically, the difference between the socialistic and the individualistic
church is as wide as it is theoretically. In all Catholic churches the
child is born into the church, with the right to full acceptance into it by
methods of tuition and ritual, whatever his individual qualities or
capacities. In all distinctly Protestant churches, membership must be
sought by individual preference or supernatural process.[2] The way to it
is through individual profession of its creed or inward miraculous
transformation of character by the profoundest of personal experiences. In
all socialistic or Catholic churches--whether heathen, ethnic, or
Christian--young people are admitted to membership after a definite period
of training and an initiation by means of an impressive ritual. In all
Protestant churches, initiation takes place as the result of personal
experiences and mature convictions, and is therefore usually deferred until
adult life has been reached.

When we bring out thus distinctly the ideals and methods of the two
churches, we are able to understand that the Puritans were theoretically