Bishop Vincent's Address.

Bishop Vincent addressed the Oxford Club in Epworth Church last evening on "The Methodist Church and its Relation to Other Denominations."

He first compared the Methodist Church with the Episcopalian and Roman Catholic Churches, both of which refuse to recognize the Methodist as a legitimate branch of the Church of God. It is natural to look up to the power and splendor of churches so long established and to be dissatisfied with the newness of the Methodist sect. Yet the creeds of these denominations express belief in the Holy Catholic Church and the Communion of Saints. The Catholic Church denotes in its broadest sense all who are saints in Christ. The phrase, "Communion of Saints," also should be taken in its broadest meaning. It does not refer to monks and anchorites alone, but to all who now or at any time since the creation of man have lived up to the higher thought within them. All men are saints who carry lofty purposes into the business of every-day life. There can be no perplexity in regard to the redemption of the heathen or of mankind's living before the coming of Christ. Christ has been a saving power since the creation of the first man, and saves even those who are ignorant of their saviour. A man's salvation does not depend upon his interpretation of the truth of God, but upon his realization of it in the great principles of nature and life. Socrates was as truly saved by Christ as is any man nowadays.

No denomination can claim to be exclusively Christian. Since the Holy Catholic Church embraces the whole body of the church of God, it must include every branch. The communion of saints implies no identity of denomination, but sympathy of purpose and belief. We must recognize our relation to the disembodied spirit of saints in Heaven. It is from them that our true succession comes, a succession far more important than an apostolic transmission of sanctification. It is better that we cannot hold intercourse with them. Our belief in them and reverence for them gives inspiration and strength to our Christian faith.