which he taught. They _all_ believe him to have been a divinely-inspired
teacher, and his religion, therefore, to be a revelation of eternal truth.
They regard him as the only authorized expositor of his own religion, and
believe that to apply in practice its principles as promulgated by him,
and as exemplified in his life, is all that is essential to constitute a
Christian, according to his testimony, (Matt. 7:24,)--"_Whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man
which built his house upon a rock,_" &c. Hence they believe that to make
it essential to Christianity to assent to all the opinions expressed by
certain men, good men though they were, who wrote either before or after
his time, involves a denial of the words of Christ. They believe that,
according to his teachings, true religion consists in purity of heart,
holiness of life, and not in opinions; that _Christianity, as it existed
in the mind of Christ, is a life rather than a belief_.

This class of persons agree in the opinion that _he only is a Christian
who has the spirit of Christ_; that all such as these are members of his
church, and that it is composed of none others; therefore that membership
in the Christian church is not, and cannot, in the nature of things, be
determined by any human authority. Hence they deem all attempts to render
the church identical with any outward organizations as utterly futile, not
warranted by Christ himself, and incompatible with its spiritual
character. Having no organized society, they have no stations of authority
or superiority, which they believe to be inconsistent with the Christian
idea, (Matt. 23:8,)--"But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master,
even Christ; and all ye are brethren." (Matt. 20:25, 26,)--"Ye know that
the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are
great exercise authority upon them. _But it shall not be so among you._"

As might be inferred from the foregoing, they discard all outward
ordinances as having no place in a spiritual religion the design of which
is to purify the heart, and the extent of whose influence is to be
estimated, by its legitimate effects in producing a life of practical
righteousness, and not by any mere arbitrary sign, which cannot be
regarded as a certain indication of the degree of spiritual life, and must
consequently be inefficient and unnecessary.

Their views of worship correspond, as they be