The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-08-05
only sacred book OF the world, nor by any

only sacred book OF the world, nor by 'anv
means an infallible book.
Accepting the Bible teaching that all men
are sons OF God,' we vet believe that
Jesus, by reason of the exceptional purity
and perfectness of his character, was pre-
emlnently what the New. Testament in a
number OF places calls him. the son of God,
we believe him to nave been divine, but
not Deity,-as we believe that humanity, in
the degree of its perfection is everywhere
divine. We teach tender love and earnest
reverence toward him, but we do not wor-
snip hlm, because, among other reasons, he
himself, both by word and example. taught
US to worship only God-his Father and
ours.
VS. believe in salvation by character, not
salvation by purchase or transfer; and that
Jesus saves men solely by helping them to
become better, not by v%icariously atoning
for their sins.
The whole idea, in all its forms, that God,
before he can or will pardon mems sins,
must have some third party to make him
willing, or some sort Of plan or "scheme,"
whereby he becomes able to pardon, we ut
terly reject. We believe that Gods pa
ternlty is real: and not a mere p%retsnse of
paternity, and therefore that the moment
any human child of his manifests sincere
penltence and seeks forgiveness of his ain,
God freely and joyfully forgives-without
any thought. ever. of requiring first the
SUFFERING OF an innocent person in the place
of the guilty. We believe that nobody can
DO guilty for anybody's sin but his own.
We believe that the world is not fallen,
but lncomplete; and that, in the nature Of
things, evil is transient and good eternal.
We believe that human nature is imper-
feet, but not inherently bad; that it has
been wisely appointed to man to Use by
slow degrees and long and even painful eff
fort out of low conditions into conditions
pvar n1OAar and haitian and not thot xya n %
the degenerate descendants of pure and
perfect ancestors in some remote past. We
believe that the race as a whole occupies a
higher plane to-day than ever before, and
that this progress Of the past gives us
ground for faith in a greatly increased
We believe that no wrong-doinR will go
unpunished, and no right-doing unre-
warded; that all punishment for sin is nat
ural, not arbitrary, reformatory in its aim,
not vindictive, and therefore cannot, in the
nature of things, be everlasting.
The doctrine of an eternal hell we I'M
qualifedly reject, as the foulest imputation
upon tho character of God possible to be
conceived, md as something which would
rende happiness in heaven itself impossi-
BILE, since no beings whose hearts were not
stone, could be happy anywhere knowing
that half of the human family, including
many of their own loved ones, we're in tor
ments. Instead of such a dark and God
dishonoring doctrine. We believe that the
future existence will be one ruled by eter-
nal justice and love, that he whom in this
world we call our Father" will be no less
a father to MI his human children in the
world to come, and that that world will be
SO planned as not only to bring eternal
good to all who have done well here, but
also to offer eternal hope to such as have
done i'll here.
We believe that science and religion, hav-
ing the same author, can never, by any
possibility, be antngonlstic; but that true
religion ia scientific and true science Is re-
ligion. We cheerfully acknowledge that
science has already been of incalculable ser-
vice to religion, i'll helpingt to rid it Of many
degrading and hurtful supeistitions and
errors: and we bid all scientific investigat-
ors Il most sincere god-speed in any and
every investigation which can throw light
upon any of the great religious questions of
the time.
While we believe that Christianity is the
highest and best religion of tho world, we
believe also that the other great religions of
mankind have in them much that ia true
and of God; and that God. instead of hav-
ing arbitrarily chosen out ono single people
and made it the sole %cAaanel of his COM
munication with the race, leaving the rest
in midnight darkness. has not loft him
self without Witness among any people,
and TINT lin every nation he that feareth
God and worketh righteousness according
to the best light he hasl il accepted with
God"
The above. while not a Q cod or nuthori-
tative statement, or ono binding upon any
but the writer, il yet believed to be in ca
sential harmony with what il commonly
held and taught AZ fundamental among