St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-03-29
Hepworth and Heterodoxy.

from the nltarIan church. and Joined
the ranks of those who believe in the
divinity of Jesus Christ. as the Trnita-
rlanS believe in it. One needs. not to
seek far to find the reason. Mr.. Hep
worth gave it very naturally ut the
congregational Conference, on the 18th
of january, i'll Plymouth Church. Brook
lyn. Taking himself to represent the
average man i'll moral weakness, wick
cdnesS, and need, he said to himself: "A
man cannot save me. | don't care how
hig he Is. cannot he saved bv He
brew philosopher. He must he more
than that" That little statement coy
ers. or suggests, the whole philosophy
of the matter Earnest men be
lleve that Jesus Christ was only man.
or truly God, according to their views
of their own nature and needs. \ man
who bcliVes that his nature is wholly
good. that he bears within himself no
hereditary depravity and no dominant
principle of ScltiShncsS. feels, neceSS;iri-
| ly, that he does not need to he saved.
Jesus Christ the man-thc great human
teacher is enough for him. In his
opinion, all he needs is to bc led and
taught. He apprchends and feels no
hand. the man who believes his nature
to he dcpraved. and realizes that he
needs something more than instruction.
that he needs and must have help.
inspiration, salvation,- must believe in
Il Jesus Christ armed with divine pow
cr. and ''mighty to save He sees him
self To be lost and he believes that the
being who came ito seek and to save
that which was lost came to that
office of purpose. from some realm and
form of prc-eXistcnce, divincly ordained.
dlNlnely Informed. and divimely endow-
ed. He must believe this. or conclude
that Christianity is IL powcrless scheme.
81 far as he is concerned.
We suppose ii must be Il matter of
common observation that aS soon aS Il
| nitarian clergyman really hcgim~ in
earnest the work of saving men. ne he
gins to drift tnWnrd tho .->"nSrii' II
view of Christ. 50 long aS tnitaliam-
ism works among the refined and the
highly educated, if they are politely
selfish, it gets along very well. Int the
moment it is called upon to present the
motives of reformation to the wicked.
the brutal, the degraded. in finds itself
ineNprcS>ihly weak. The man who
breaches nurture and culture and de
Ncl"pmcnt to Il congregation of brutal
men and vicious women. breaches that
which every man and woman before
him knows to bc nonsense. There is
not one of them that does not need to
he saved, and who does not know that
the process of salvation involves Il rev
olution. OF il reformation. or Il rc"cncr-
alton a change. possibly. that com
hIncS all these processes. They are
weak. and need help: they are sinful
and need pardon; they are lost. and
need to hc saved. To tell such people
that - Hebrew philosopher" who pre-
tended t" hc inspired. and to teach with
authority. hut who was in reality only
Il good man. can save them. i To feed
starving men with chatf. The wicked.
selfish. degraded world We live in can
never hc under very great obligations
t" Il religious teacher VIII" laughs at the
phrase "a change of heart" ~ soon
;I> Il man realizes the necessity of such
Il change for himself and the world. he
realizes the necessity of hnlding a> the
central figure of his religious system
something more than Il "lIchrcw phi
l">"phcr." Only his God can he his
saviour, and his SaNiour must hc his
God.
Those VIII" have commented on Mr.
llcpWortlS conversion to the cVaugrli-
cal view of Christ have praised on blam-
ed according To their own views of the
nature and needs of men. .'Warring-
ton. the Wcll-known correspondent of
The SpriHaGcId HepHbIicdh. has spoken
with his usual tulmcsS upon the matter.
though. of course. with the gentle for
hcarance which is his distinguishing
characteristic. He only calls Mr.. Hep
worth IA humhug. when il would have
been 81 easy To have called him il viii
lain, or Il Scalawag. or an incendiIry
and to have done il with no greater
sacrifice OF truth. But "Warlington" is
untitled 10y his nature and his needs to
comprehend Mr.. Hepworth's position
\ man who does not need to be saved
has no right to criticiSe one whose need
is overwhelming. If Mr.. Hcpworth h
possessed ''Warlington's" religious
nay. his angelic lic-tempcramcnt, his
sweet and tender ways, his broad char
ity. his white innocence of soul his cX-
quiSite delicacy of scnSiblity. his trans
cendent lovelinesS of character; if his
brow and his form had been impressed
ness and kingliness which enable War
rington" to present so grand and gra
cious il front to mankind ; if his life had
been, like "Warrington's,' an unbroken
series of personal sacrifices for the pub
lie good; if he had labored sing
handed like him for the delight, the
comfort, the consolation, the puritica-
ton and the spiritual up-building of
if in oh h. .I A
'WarIingtOn," "been sanctiiied i'll the
womb Ito Use the impressive phrase of
our Puritan great grand mOthers), then
he would have felt no need to be saved.
either from the devil at whom good
people throw ink stands, or the devil
who throws his ink stands at good peo-
pie.
The most ordinary observer cannot
have failed to notice two diverging
drifts of belief in the Unitarian church /:
and these will make their deposits in
the future as they have made them in
the past. One has borne Huntington.
Osgood and Hepworth out of the church
into Irlnitarianism the other ought
long ago to have carried out of the
church, III the opposite direction, Others
as well known as those whose names
we have mentioned. One can hardly
understand the motive which induces
Il certain class of ratiOnalists to cling to
Il church which calls itself Christian. If
they were as candid and conscientious
as those from whom they have so wide
ly separated, they would cut loose from
: the body whose strength they so sadly
weaken. Another fact is just as evil
dent as that these drifts of opinion exist