The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-02-09
THE OLDEST PREACHER
The Rev. Dr.. Thomas -TreadweII
Stone Spoke.
AE is 81 YEARS OLD TODAY.
The subject: "Tho Dcfensible Grounds of
Religion Discussed at the Unitarian
Club Last Evening by several Ministers

The subject Of discussion last evening at
the meeting of the Unitarian Club was
s.The Defensible Grounds of Religion y
President Calder presided, and after the
supper had been enjoyed, introduced as
tho first speaker the Rev. Thomas Tread
wen Stone, ID. ID. of this city, who is the
Oldest Uniyersalst minister now living.
lie is 9l years old to-day.
DIR. Stone said the first question TO be
considered was What is Religion ?''
yhen considered i'm the abstract it is love
and the practice of righteousness. Taken
in the concrete it is the love aud worship
OF a Supreme Being, aud this righteous
ness Is supposed to be perfected in Him.
In regard 10 the other side, II is love 10 all,
especially 10 our own kind, TO the human
race. God is love Thus, religion is sim
ply love TO the infinite righteousness, and
10 each and all individual eXistences.
Fvervthing Of virtue, of justice, of love
that fills our hearts with gladness, all
these are elements and germs of religion,
and religion is these In consumation,
The Rev Everett l.. ReXford of RoS
bury. Mass, was the next speaker. He
said that the religious world was larger
than IL used to be- Religion is defensible
ON the ground of the religious instinct in
men. You might destroy all the churches
to-day, and all the people, but II the world
was repeopled from an infant pair, there
would be churches, unless the religious
instinct be removed.
The Rev. William III. Savage of Water
town. Mass, was next introduced. He
thought that evolution was the only
theory of history which has facts before
and behind it, Great difficulties have
arison in connection with this doctrine of
evolution in the minds of men. There are
nf hu Xn
been developed from one or few germs
without any divine interference. That is
the extreme view. 1 hold that we have in
the existence OF religion the defensible
grounds of religion. We have the effects
OF religion developed by environment
Men coming in contact with invisible
forces have made their guesses as TO what
they may be In regard TO the contents of
the faith of men, hold we have not only
the justification of the practical side Of
religion. but of the highest dream which
we can imagine.
The Rev Francis A. Horton. ID. d., was
the last speaker. He spoke of the radical
difference between his faith and that of
the Unitarians. He said that when we
are talking about eternal things we can
not make a football of those things This
is contest within the Christian camp.
Back OF all forms of thinking is an ulti-
mate truth. We are talking about criti-
cism, science, philosophy. There are be-
lated minds in all denominations. The
great mass ef thinking men pushing
forward. If there is anything that is a
whole truth that we thought half truth,
we want to know it, III we are pushing
along these lines, every generation that
goes by we come closer together We are
getting where we can get across these
differences and join hands across the
chasm