Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1893-03-17

prove himself the Son of God, in an
special sense, and yet we are told tina
the whole ministry of Jesus, his suffer
ing and death were to establish tn
proposition that he was the Son c
the Living God" in a sense that mad
him equal with God. Here, in thi
connection We are told that it is at
surd to suppose that Jesus did no
claim to be the Son of God in a sens
that made him equal with God, Will
in another portion of the discourse al
ready referred to, Jesus is quoted t,
show that he was not equal to tn
Father. l must confess my unregen
crate mental disability to put the tw,
statements together without ON
knocking the other down.
The fact that Juses refused to ac
cept the title Good Master is cited a
proof that he held himself to be bette
and more exalted than man. We ar,
told that unless homage were paid t,
him As the only begotten OF the Fathe
he could not accept it. The phras,
only begotten OF the Father, If
mistake not does not, occur in th'
first three gospels. When Jesus wa
once addressed as Good Master, h,
said, "Why callest thou me good?'
and adds "There is none good sav,
one, that is God" Here again | mus
confess to mental disability to un
derstand that these words show con
clusively that Jesus did not wish t(
place himself on the same rank will
human beings, and that he refused tc
accept regard for virtues common onl,
to humanity. Many noble-heartet
man has refused praise on exactly tht
same grounds.
The sermon concludes with a per
Grafton which declares that Jesus wa.
not myth, and this very discourse
to many unregenerate minds woult
give additional evidence in the con
trary direction.
| THERE'S another brace of statements
that do not hang we'll together. We
are told in one That Jesus was simp
ly man as they (the desciples) were
men," A little farther on we are tolt
that scripture everywhere teaches
that Jesus was more than u perfect
man. The argument, we are told
has proceeded on the assumption thai
scripture, not human reason, is the
final authority. Hence to attempt
to set up defense would be unreason
able for the simple fact that the CASE
is ruled out of Reasons court. Ir
passing / must notice here one othel
thing in the discourse that is mental,
confusing. Unitarians are branded
with the crime of being illogical, ant
at the same time our preacher con
fesses that his arguments have pro
ceeded not upon the final authority O
reason but upon the final authority O
the Scriptures. If the Scriptures ar,
to be accepted as final authority, wha
is the use to be logical'
According to the discourse, the mis-
take of the Unitarians, their unpardon
able sin, 80 to speak, is she fact thai
although some of them may regart
Jesus as spiritually the most perfec
man, they reverence him only for hi
human excellencies, and this we are t.
understand is very offensive to Jesus
Unitarians ought to reverence Jesul
not because of his noble human vir
tues nor yet because He is God, bu
because he is the only begotten Son ol
God, something which, according tt
the three most reliable gospels, ht
never claimed to be.
1t is difficult to understand, at leas
for Unitarisn's unregenerate mint
to understand, what special advantage
there is to our spiritual nature in be
lieving that God has only one begotter
Son. Unitarians are inclined to fine
more help to their own spiritual ma
ture in believing that Gods family il
not so limited. Hence they are mo-
afraid to examine the evidence which
supports such belief. Unitarians, b,
their leading representatives. do no
say nor teach that Jesus was a mer,
man. They do not teach for that mat
ter that any man is a mere man
Herein is the great sin of the Unitar
ians. They are inclined to believe
that Jesus is not without spiritua
kindred among the sons Of men, hence
they do not close their eyes to fact,
which point to that conclusion. Il
may be said that there has been but
one Jesus. So it may be said there
has been but one Buddha or Confu
cius, one Homer, one Plato, one Shak
speare, one Columbus, one Washing
ton, or one Lincoln.
No one man is an exact duplicate O
any other man. The difference from
high to low is only one of degree
Unitarians are not those who see Goo
only in the remote and special. The,
see Him in the near and universe
also. They think less of trying te
say where God is not, and more of try
ing to recognize where God is. To
gether with the advanced thinkers
the untrammeled souls of all ages, the
poets and prophets and teachers of the
race, the Un.tarians recognize God a,
the divine Spirit which pervades tn.
universe in whom all that lives, doth
live and move and have its being
Hence God il not thought of as absent
from the world or from the soul O
man. AS one of our own poets ha.
written
Draw ii thou csnst the mystic line,
Severing rightly His from thine.
which 10 human, which divine"
The human and divine merge like
the night into the day. 1t is not eas,
to say where the one ends or the othel
begins, but we do know that ever,
night blossoms into day.