Page:The Doctrines of the New Church Briefly Explained.djvu/187

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Catholicity is not properly a doctrine, but rather a spirit or characteristic. Yet its presence in, or its absence from, any church or system of doctrines, is a pretty good indication of the general character of that system or church. Catholicity is the opposite of bigotry, or the narrow and exclusive spirit of sect. And the student of ecclesiastical history knows that sectarianism has been the bane of the Christian Church almost from its commencement. And although less virulent now than formerly, it still hovers around our ecclesiastical bodies, displaying its dark and repulsive shadow and causing its malign influence to be felt in nearly all the churches.

But the authorized teachings of the New Church are free from the least taint of anything like sectarianism. Their spirit is large, free, comprehensive, and inclusive as the angelic heavens—yea, as the Divine Love itself, of which they are a true revelation and grand expression. They do not teach nor encourage the belief, that the followers of the Lord are, or will ever be, all organized under one name, or worship according to one and the same ritual, or profess one and the same creed—unless, indeed, that creed be extremely brief and simple. They teach us rather to expect endless variety in the church of Christ. Why should