The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-10-19
A Life, NOT A DOGMA,
Such Is True Christianity as Inter-
preted by the Believers In
Unitarianism,
Distinguish Between Command
ments OF God and Tradi-
tions of Men.

NNN----' /
upssus SAID. Aook and See for Yourself DO
not Take MY Word
For 1t.
Rov. J. II. Croker preached to the Uni
tarians at Grand Army hall, on Park ave-
nue., yesterday morning and evening. His
morning asrlnon was, The Commandments
of God md the Traditions Of Men."
Laying aside the commandments OF God,
ye hold the traditions Of mem Mark vii:
8. Al Christians we follow the method Of
Jesus Of Nazareth in seeking truth and or
dering our life. Jesus ID not the object, but
the author OF the Christian faith. He did
not ask for the worship of his person, but
for likeness of our life to the spirit OF His
life. He commended the teaching Of Isaiah,
who represented God as saying: '.In vain
do they worship me, teaching for doctrines
tho commandments Of men," Jesus did
not ask any slavish copying OF his
" conduct, but he turned
the hearts OF men upward toward
the divine projections of the Heavenly
Father and commanded: 'Te ye perfect
like Him." Jesus sought not to exalt Him
self, but to show the Father; not to bind
men to His word, but to inspire them with
love; not to make slaves, but to bring men
to a knowledge of their divine soulship.
And true Christianity is not q dogma, but
a life; it ia not a theory about His person
and Mission. but His gospel OF love and
holiness, hid like leaven in the heart; it is
not the translations of the church respect
ing Him, bat His method taken up and put
to use in our own And
what was the method of Jesus,
the realization of which in character
makes one q Christian? Matthe " Arnold
has called 1t a method of inwardness. IT IS
taking counsel of ones own soul TO ind the
truth, looking i'll rather than out for tho
oracles of God: blessed are the pure in
heart for they shall nee God" 1t is taking
counsel of ones own soul to find the way OF
life. living from the hoart out rather than
in slavish obedience to external statutes:
"A good man OFT OF the good treasure OF
his heart b~ringetn forth that which Is good,
for of the abundance of the heart his mouth
speaketh." II is taking counsel of ones
own soul to discoyer what is in reality the
life, testing all rites and institutions by
what they add to inner life: The king
dom OF heaven il within you" Ii IS
fixing counsel OF ones own soul to discover
what is duty to ones neiglhbor, testing 90
the claims of a common humanity inter
preted by sympathy. "Love thy neighbor
as thyself." Thus, the method Of Jesus is
applied to bring answers to these two quo
~tations: What is duty?" and What is
truth?" We are to use it, as 10 used it, to
distinguish between the commandments OF
God and the traditions Of men.
Jesus did not define His method, but it Is
easy to see what it was. And 1T was simply
this: The free but r~everent application of
reason and conscience to the problems OF
life. He did not ignore the past;
He was a true conservative: l DO
not come to destroy but to fulfil
the law and the prophets. He built upon
in bondage, separating the essential from
the accidental, and rescuing the kernel
from the husk. And while obedient to
ss ,ery ancient rule that could Justify itself
Jesus freely cut away everything, that the
councils Of his own heart declared dead
and useless. He WAS therefore a true radi-
cal, penetrating to fundamental truths and
allowing no mere opinions to stand between
him and God. Proceeding by this method,
Jesus set at naught with much vigor and
some impatlence the rabbinioal traditions
which in his day had come
to obscure the essential PRINCIPLES, OF
true piety. When the pharisees complained
to hlm about his disciples, because they
neglected the regulations respecting the
manner of eating, he turned upon them and
sharply condemned them FOR making the
word OF God of none effect through the ira
ditions that they had devised;'' that is:
man is not denied by his manner Of eating,
but by the quality of his heart. The rab-
bis had substituted the traditions of men
lin place of the commandments of God by
making the washing Of cups Of more i'm
portanoe than the exercise of love. Now.
the method of jesus was to look directly at
these problems OF life and decide them by
his own reason and conscience, with sole
reference to what was best for humanity.
EIe did not care for text or tradition. Only
one thing is essential: Y What is best for
man?
This was therefore the method of Jesus:
To take a fresh view of life, looking di-
rectly at the facts of human experience,
and declaring as tho commandment of God
what wsn thus approved az the good Of
nature Of the soul and as calculated to ben
aft humanity. In this way He treated the
Sabbath, separating tho traditions OF men
rom the commandment Of God: 1.-THE
Sabbath is made for man II not man
for the Sabbath In this way he treated
The minute and burdensome regulations Of
he Levitical law rs Interpreted by the rab-
bis of his day. enforcing the elements of
character as vastly superior to traditional
fitualism: ''Yo pay tithe Of mint and anise
and cummin, and have omitted ths weight
or matters of tho law-judgment, mercy
and hdolity.'' In this way he treated the
problem Of human brotherhood, BY ap-
poaling to the common sentiments Of mercy
ind compassion, and revealing the COM
nand of God involved in human need. He
old the incompatible story of the Samari-
ian, and made his appeal, not to text or
tradition. but directly to the heart. (which
now of these three thinkest thou was
hsighbor unto him that fell among the
[hieves2" And these truths of the spirit
Eouehsd BY His own reason and conscience,
Jesus affirmed with tremendous earnest
less; and there He left them. He kept say
ng: This ia what I see, but I ask you to
ook and SEQ for yourself. Do not take My
word for it, but know the truth for your
brlf, and learn to separate the command
nents of God from the traditions of mon.
hgd it is interesting to note that He pro-
oundly impressed the people as one speak
ng glad tidings with authority, not in view
bf nAy marvels which He wrought, but
when He appealed directly and earnestly to
Eho reason and conscience of the people.
What then are tho commandments of
God and what the traditions of men? The
traditions of msn are the guesses at truth,
~ which people once lived, hardened into
logmR; the shadows of reality to which
mon cling when the reality il at hand;
he working theory of one age made
nto a finally to cramp the mind of
subsequent age: the opinions of our