Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1880-01-02

helped ON by the church and the SUNDAY
school. Charity is another object, and nc
society according to it, members has been
more active in this direction than Christ
church. As to social life, il 10 the duty of the
church to regulate and promote it, and to see
that it is made religious. The church should
be like family. and whatever tends to de-
velop the domestic life, should be encouraged
by the church. Indeed the church in its 80
cial relations, amusements, &C., should be
like q family. The church that cultivates
most the social element, has the most OF re-
ligiOn.
In all these various departments he invited
the hearty cooperation of the people with
their pastor, and asked . ''lift from the
pews" in the sacred desk.
In closing he referred to the sacred and
precious memories of the church. The
church could not be dedicated without recol-
lecting the labors OF the late Mr.. Curtis.
Justice demanded that he should live to see
this structure completed: but destiny forbade
it. He lived long enough to build his own
monument, and although to-day he is absent
from US in body, No one is more truly present
than he. and his spirit installs his successor
to his place. Another name of sacred memo
~ is that Of Judd, vino labored on this spot
for thirteen years; and whose ambition it
was to worship in an ideal church. He must
feel joyous in Heaven over the finished work.
He then referred to Bartlett, another pastor,
~hose name is precious, and closed by wish
ing the people happy New Year.
The choir sang further selection, prayer
very interesting exercises closed with q bene.
diction by the pastor.
The dedicatOry exercises were held in the
evening, there being crowded house. The
anthem 80 Come Hither," was sung, and
the Introductory service read by Rev. l. F.
Warehouse. This was followed BY another
anthem. and the impressive services of dedi-
cation were read in concert BY Rev. Mr..
Thatcher and his people. An impressive
prayer of dedication was then made by Rev.
r. X. Shipper. The tie Deum" was sung,
and the Sermon was then preached by Rev.
NJ. J. Savage Of Boston.
The subject of the discourse was 1.-The
Work Of True Church." Text. Matthew,
5:4.-''Ye are the light fthe world" The
work of the church is to achieve mans true
destiny. The old Catechism defines the chief
end of man to glorify God. and enjoy him
forever. We cannot add anything to Gods
glory, which is already infinite, but we may
recognize him in his works, his laws, and
lovingly to obey them-tO know and to love
them in our natures and in the universe
about us. This is the condition of our pro-
gress and happiness. So to glorify God is
to enjoy him. in this world and in all worlds.
The work If a true church, then, is to de-
velope, advocate and direct the religious and
moral nature of man, to the end that his
highest welfare and happiness may be attain
ed. When q man decides to go abroad, he
inquiries what route he will take, what kind
of conveyance, the amount and kind of his out
fit; or when general determines to take a
certain city, the details of the enterprise are
duly considered. The journey of the church
is towards the highest welfare and happiness
Of man. 1t is the New Jerusalem that we
are to capture. How? BY what means?
Shall we try the Catholic approach to the
city, the Anglican, the Orthodox, or the
Unitarian. He was no partisan of either of
them. The only way is to find the will of
God, as written in the nature of man and the
universe about him, and faithfully and hum
bly, obey these laws Neither the Roman,
the Anglican, or the Orthodox protestant
method is what we want, for each of them is
hampered by assumed infallible creeds and
methods that stand square in the way Of their
simply and humbly looking for Gods laws.
They hamper freedom of inquiry and search.
Unitarianism is not so much a fixed system
of belief as it is a method of religious study
and life. We have not an infallible
church or an infallible book as a
guide. An infallible guide would not
only be convenient in religion, but in bust
ness As we'll. When the Romanist asks me
why do not take his infallible church, and
the Orthodox asks me to accept his infalli-
BILE Bible, reply that will gladly accept
either the one or the other when find it.
The pretensions of both are unsupported
each had NATURAL human origin, and a ma
tural human growth, and each bears the
marks Of hnman fallibility. We oppose no
Bible claim, for it never makes any claim to
be infallible. 1t is noble, inspiring book,
and we use it for what it is. But We do not
need an infallible guide, unless God is God
who will damn people for intellectual mis-
takes, after they have done their best to find
the truth; and if he is unjust and cruel like
that he had no desire to worship, him or en-
ter his heaven. There need be no misunder-
standing as to the duties of lite.
We fall back, then, on the only guide we
have-rcason, and the experience of man.
kind. We do not expect to avoid making
mistakes, but we do intend to use all the light
we can get from any quarter. God is speak
ing to-day, in all the wonders Of the nine
teenth century, as he was in the first. We
are glad of the noble work accomplished by
the old churches, but We cannot follow their
lead, because they belong to the past Let
them have the past, and hold the present as
long as they can; the future is ours. The
preacher then proceeded to show the grounds
for this claim. We are really living in new
world, made new not by changing it, but by
seeing it as. it is. Objection is made to
preaching science, but why not preach science?
What is it? 1t is knowledge verified and or
ganized knowledge. DO men want us to
preach ignorance. guesscs. and the fancies of
past ages? The old theology was founded
upon science, only the science was false and
fanciful. Why is it religious to preach the
old, false science. and irreligious to preach
the new and true science? The last thing
that men are ever willing to improve is their
theology, and SO the ghost of old theology
lives, but it is growing dim and shadowy. If
to-day, all the people who do not really in
their hearts, believe the old theology, were
in Unitarian churches, we should be the larg-
est body in Christendom.
Therefore, a new knowledge of the uni
verse has given US . new idea of God. We
may have our ideal of God, and not be able
to comprehend him fully because he is inf
mite The old ideal Of God is crude and alto
gether of the past age. We do not believe
in q great man-like God sitting on a throne ;
we do not believe in one that comes down to