To Kerke the narre, from God more farre.

To Kerke the narre, from God more farre.

"What is a church?" Let Truth and reason speak,
They would reply, "The faithful, pure and meek,
read more

"What is a church?" Let Truth and reason speak,
They would reply, "The faithful, pure and meek,
From Christian folds, the one selected race,
Of all professions, and in every place."

"What is a church?"--Our honest sexton tells,
'Tis a tall building, with a tower and bells.

"What is a church?"--Our honest sexton tells,
'Tis a tall building, with a tower and bells.

God never had a church but there, men say,
The devil a chapel hath raised by some wiles,
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God never had a church but there, men say,
The devil a chapel hath raised by some wiles,
I doubted of this saw, till on a day
I westward spied great Edinburgh's Saint Giles.

In that temple of silence and reconciliation where the enmities
of twenty generations lie buried, in the Great Abbey, read more

In that temple of silence and reconciliation where the enmities
of twenty generations lie buried, in the Great Abbey, which has
during many ages afforded a quiet resting-place to those whose
minds and bodies have been shattered by the contentions of the
Great Hall.

Whenever God erects a house of prayer
The devil always builds a chapel there;
And 'twill be read more

Whenever God erects a house of prayer
The devil always builds a chapel there;
And 'twill be found, upon examination,
The latter has the largest congregation.

It is common for those that are farthest from God, to boast
themselves most of their being near to read more

It is common for those that are farthest from God, to boast
themselves most of their being near to the Church.

The church alone beyond all question
Has for ill-gotten goods the right digestion.
[Ger., Die Kirch' allein, read more

The church alone beyond all question
Has for ill-gotten goods the right digestion.
[Ger., Die Kirch' allein, meine lieben Frauen,
Kann ungerechtes Gut verdauen.]

An instinctive taste teaches men to build their churches in flat
countries with spire steeples, which, as they cannot read more

An instinctive taste teaches men to build their churches in flat
countries with spire steeples, which, as they cannot be referred
to any other object, point as with silent finger to the sky and
stars.