liberty to the oppressed, elevating the down-trodden, and are giving to
all these divers tongues and kindreds their customs, traditions, and
laws. I reverently believe that the Anglo-Saxon Church has been
preserved by God's Providence (if her children will accept this Mission)
to heal the divisions of Christendom, and lead on in His work to be done
in the eventide of the world. She holds the truths which underlie the
possibility of reunion, the validity of all Christian baptism in the
Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. She ministers the two
sacraments of Christ as of perpetual obligation, and makes faith in
Jesus Christ, as contained in the Catholic Creeds, a condition of
Christian fellowship. The Anglo-Saxon Church does not perplex men with
theories and shibboleths which many a poor Ephraimite cannot speak--she
believes in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in
Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, three Persons and one
God, but she does not weaken faith in the Triune God by human
speculations about the Trinity in Unity. She believes that the sacred
Scriptures were written by inspiration of God, but she has no theory
about inspiration. She holds up the Atonement of Christ as the only
hope of a lost world; but she has no philosophy about the Atonement.
She teaches that it is through the Holy Ghost that men are united to
Christ. She ministers the sacraments appointed by Christ as His
channels of grace; but she has no theory to explain the manner of
Christ's presence to penitent believing souls. She does not explain
what God has explained, but celebrates these Divine mysteries, as they
were held and celebrated for one thousand years after our Lord ascended
into heaven, before there was any East or West arrayed against each
other in the Church of God. Surely we may and ought to be first to hold
up the olive branch of peace over strife, and say, "Sirs, ye are
brethren."