, 1876-07-17
Dedication Of Moody's Tabernacle
by tho Rev. ]. II. Brooks,
of st. Louis.
Laying Of the Cornerstone Of
the Synagogue Of B'naf
ShO1pm.
Progressive Religion" by the
Rev. S. n. Adams.
WIIAT UNITAR1ANIsM ?

, a nall ms Occn nLkGG up 1oF OHl1FlAu 6cEfls3o
on Sunday afternoons during the summer, at
M. $40 Cottage Grove avennc. Tho following
sermon was preached at The opening Of the hall,
by the Rcy. ]. r. Sunderland, Of the Fourth
Unitarian Church:
TINT askcsh yon reason for the hope that In you
!. f%feF, H.. Is.
Unitarians have no creed. Wo do havc, how
ever, central principle, and ali our distinctive
beliefs spring Immediately from, this principle.
What Is this princEplol Probably nlnety~ntne
persons In every hundred will declare at onco
that It Is our notion Of tho Unity Of God, "a or-
posed to the Trlnity.' BY no moans. That Is
not tho fontal ldea from which the stream Of our
Unttar1anism has flowed. Il fs truo thnt
TINT has given Us our namo, "Unttar'ans,"
But there is something good deal deeper tllan
that, In which our existence as body or q
movement roots itself. That deepest, central,
fontal thing With US is our belief in tho ctoEnal
and essential harmony between religion and
reason, or, perhaps better, In the necessity Of
always interpreting religion IN tho light OF
reason, Or, possibly bost Of all, IN tho nppiica'
tion Of tho scientific ctbod TO religion. This
fixed and incradlcablo belief Of ours Is the key
and the only koy that unlocsss Unitatlanism. II
Is true that wo believe, as q body, IN tho
u1UtJ AS VfpOoCA w kt4lity ~ NVA* oNS wv
believe this because our principle OF interpreting
religion In tho light Of reason, or Of applying
the scientific method TO religion, compcls US
titus to believe. Tho Bible, studied fn tho light
OF this principle, we do not find to teach any
trinity, but always md everywhere QUO God,
Turning from this great book, which comes.
down to Is from the Jews, and which VIC call
the Bible to that other great Bible Of God, tho
book Of nature, which sclence is 90 fast reading,
6%lk kAN~N Hnf ffHAHt rf1A 3ff1
Everywhere In nature Is unity, correlation, har-
mony Ut design and Of action, which tells Of ono
supreme, undivided Wisdom md Power which is
over all, under all, through al. And there d
Whom wo go into heathcn n,ythologlcs, and 70
tho spccnlattons md crude notions Of men who
lived in the old, dark, un6ccnttdc ages, then VIC
lind ut once traces OF plurality OF Eods--two,
three, dozen, any number. II PSrsa We ana
In Greece, Of tho great gods Of Olympus, VIC
find twelve; in Scandinavia wr find also twelve
principal goda; while among somo peoples OF
the earth Wo lnd thousands and millions. But
plicatton OF thu scientific methods OF iuvestiga.
tlon To them Examined with the caro and
thoroughncss and lmpartiaiity with which
sctonce Investigates all things, these mythoMlo- ~
million gods, or tho dozen gods, or. tho trim
ity Of gods, or tho duality Of gods, passes
AWAY, and there Is left only tho one God, whom
the Bible teaches, whom nature In all hcf won
derful unltles procafms, whom Jesas Worship
lieyc In ono God, aud only .one;, md lind our,
sclycs compelled 10 reject Ill sucll NEUROLOGICAL
nDtinns o. pluralis!cs Of gods, whether tho plu-
rall.ies take thy form of trinity or any
else give up our Fundamental princlplc,-.out
distinguishing princtple,-ylz: Tint religion Is a
thing of light, ind not Ok darkness; q thing to
b Investigated, Judged OF, Interpreted In tho
Again. another doctrine held almost untvcr~
| sally by unltarians Is tho doctrine that Jesus
was not God, nor betng half God md hall
man; but that uo was man simply,--a great,
world iu religion, sono sach as Homer did for
tue world IN poetry, or plato Ia philosophy, oI
Bacon IN sclcnce. a continental man, q Mont
Blanc among incn, but man still. why 90 Wo
Scl;evo thlsi L tls doetFias CT which un,ta
tuate, saying, ~ will make this ono OF my
eosner.st0ncs, which nothing 10 TO be allowed te
! mose1" Not Mt all. Nothing bf this kind was
done on The eo1trary ths i do;trns @ a Iks tat 1n
sulted from tho principle that true religion n,uai
bc reasonable, and TINT the scicntllc method II
10 bu applied "a much to religion % to anything
else. Applying thy principle, the result va!
Unitarlans stopped at the halfway house, ant
aald that Jesus, though not God, was yct auper
hu,nau,-an augeltc Of supcraugclic DO
tng; tegserga Ana m isw st 0'a Il. E L q d0ftta log
ical; our principle doom. It soon to pass away
AL that class Of persons In the world who woult
a4 soon believe IN Irrational religion as q ratlon
al, and who say t4at religion Is something Il
yoa u III nppy n9 sspI .aetan, eonaas
lluld TINT Jesus Christ was God; but those win
cannot eonscnt to tho divorce Of religion from
reason, and who hold that true religion onl
shows ltselt moro clearly trae tha moro ta1t ~
position which have stated to DO the tcgltimat
Unitarian position, that Jcsns Was inAn,-
great provlacntiA man, who ca1ne In Gods tlHi
10 lead large part Of tho race forward and uF
Tho far past Of tho Old World, "a wc ar
learning from tho Researches .! scholars IN phi
osophy and ancient history, aud tile literature
aud Asia, il full of accounts d incarnattons. q,
raeulous conceptions, Gods dwelling on eartl
men descended from the gods, being half no
and halt gotls, anl such llko things. But thet
thu toucll-stono Of careful, sctont!ac tnvestig'
tion. They arc found to he lncra myths on
far,cIcs Of i cretlulous, unscientilc age. No MOI
10 tho theological notlUns Of Chrlstcndom th'
fro,n God through W human father, az
ODD aud tn.te man, stand the test Of souu
criticism. There arc very few passuses, fndoe
in the New Testament that, undcF my sout
in.efpretatton, can 10 said to give tile least su
| port lu atly sueh notlnn concerning Jesus: Al
tho few thcee are can certainly mitch mo
| easily 1u SUPPOSED to be erroneous, thai, We u
suppose things to nave occurred 30 abnos'n'
certaInly!s not scientific or reasonable to q
miss at anca Us not eyeu worthy Of careful
ycstIgatiot1, tuo stories of lIlnd0o Incarnation
q aSa 9sSs e ssa s .a a FS1 is .n fs q
ti,.nrn Tint $40 hare (which tha best echOluEI0