"In my travels I can say with propriety that I have experienced much sorrow from the 'divisions' that exist among Christians, the party censures that are cast one upon another, and the imprudent conduct that obtains among public and private members of different churches. Such things harm 'the oil and the wine;' by them candid friends are caused to stumble in their way, and the hands of the wicked are strengthened. I have concluded, Sir, that a great amount of the divisions that now exist arose very much from tradition and the different ways in which men have been educated, though we must confess that the instructors or preachers are the principal cause of the divided state of the Church. The censures to which I allude flow often from ignorance, from self-righteousness, from a lack of the 'fear of God before their eyes;' and we may say that true brotherly love will remedy all the imprudent conduct by which brethren of the Christian profession annoy and perplex each other. These divisions do not arise so much from different parts of the doctrine of Christ as many imagine; but from the doctrines and commandments of men, which St. Paul, 2 Tim. 2: 23, speaks of as 'foolish and unlearned questions that do gender strifes;' questions which confuse the minds of thousands, which separate chief friends, and in which often the mind is lost in its deliberations as it turns upon subjects we cannot comprehend or understand; sometimes on things of futurity which do not immediately concern us. Thus we get lost, and the foundation is laid for Deism; and there appears the worst of fruit. It is a matter of joy to me that divisions among Christians are to end at last, 'and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd.' I do not make these observations to cast reflections on any religious people, but because these things have and do greatly occupy my mind.
"It may not be amiss for me to offer a few remarks on our present circumstances, although it is with great delicacy and tenderness that I would mention things of this nature. Our condition, and the condition of the people in this vicinity at the present time, is very critical. I can truly say that the thought of a division among the faithful ones grieves my heart. I am unwilling that the living child should be divided. I have it in contemplation to lay before you a few propositions for your consideration, as we both have the responsible care of others, and as it is now becoming necessary that I should attend to some regulations that belong to the form of a church. I think it proper to make my feelings known to you, and I seek to know the liberty wherein you stand more perfectly, before I proceed to the organization of a church in this vicinity. I thus proceed to offer my propositions in the hope that they will meet your approbation:
"1. I propose that you and I labor to have all the disciples in this vicinity become united in one church.
"2. I propose that we appoint a time for all who profess Christ to meet and confer on this subject.
"3. We will agree not to adopt any measures, rules, or doctrines, but what are clearly exhibited in the Scriptures.
"4. We will not call ourselves by any name but such as the New Testament gives.
"5. If there are points in the Scripture on which we cannot all see alike, we will not resolve ourselves into disagreement upon them, but each shall offer his light in friendship on the subject, which is the only way for truth to shine in its various lustre. If we form a society in this manner we shall be in a situation to receive all preachers who may find it in their way to call on us, and to receive the truth, in the love of it, from every quarter. The truth will make us free. The above are a few of many things I shall wish to converse upon when a suitable opportunity presents. With love and respect, I am your servant for Jesus' sake,
J. Badger."
This strikes us as a noble effort at organizing into the unity of the pure religion of love and experience, the existing theological divergences of the town; and though the idea was greatly in advance of the religious culture of the persons he sought to reach, it proves the religious elevation of Mr. Badger, and his extreme unwillingness to multiply unnecessarily the number of religious organizations. That mere doctrine, or theological opinion, is not the true basis of the church; that the life of God in the soul should be a bond sufficiently strong to inclose harmoniously the honest intellectual differences of the disciples of Christ, is a truth yet destined to appear in power, in the embrace of which, a church, more truly and influentially catholic than any which has, since the days of the Apostles, figured in the ecclesiastical history of the world, will probably exhibit itself to mankind. But it strikes us as a rich phenomenon, that an idea so great in itself and in its probable results should have lived so steadily in the mind of a minister, at a time when the severe doctrines of Calvin were so widely received, and that it should find in his discourse an expression so calm and various. Many smaller men, in the possession of so great a thought would have made much ado and noise about it, but with him it easily held its place along with other important principles of religious reformation.