The Portland daily press., 1893-03-06
PHILLIPS BROOKS AND HIS THEoL'
OGY.
The Sermon Delivered by Rev DR., BIan.
chard Yesterday,


Rev. DR.. Blanchard delivered a sermon
yesterday morning, in Congress Square
church to very large congregation, on
Bishop Phillips Brooks and his Theolo-
gy.'' The texts were taken from John
l, 6, I, and Sth., verses There was
man sent from God, whose name was
John. The same came for a witness to
bear witness of the Light. He was not
that Light, but was sent to bear witness
of that Light 1t was solemn and ex-
alting scene in Copsley Square in Boston,
when the noble form of Phillips Brooks,
lying in its casket, was borne into the
open air in front of his majestic church.
When the young men from Harvard had
placed their burden in position, solemn
hush fell on the great concourse in the
spacious square. Then the worthy sue
cessor in the rectorship, DR.. Donald, lift
ed up solemn prayer, and this was fol-
lowed by hymn sang by the great crowd
of mourners. Men felt that they had lost
great friend and teacher, and that the
world was poorer now for them. DR..
Blanchard shared their feelings. With
reverence and love and consciousness of
great indebtedness. he would speak of
Phillips Brooks and his theology. Pro-
found as was always his faith in Univer-
salism, Phillips Brooks emphasis on the
value of the human soul hid made his
universalism still more strong. His the
ology was this: God is the Infinite Love;
God entered into the man Christ Jesus so
completely as to make him the Divine
Man; that God may enter and will enter
into all men so that, at last, all shall be
divine. Appeal was made to Bishop
Brooks books. He was not Unitarian,
but his Trinitarianism is not too difficult
to accept. On page 255 of "The Candle
of the Lord these words appear:
sThe Incarnation then, the beginning
of the earthly life of Christ was the full
fillment, the filling full of a human
nature by the Divine 1t did not
make Him something else than man. If
it had done that, all His value as a pat
tern for humanity, all of His temptation
of men to be like Him would be gone.
On page PSI, are these words "The
Incarnation, let us always be sure, was
not unnatural and violent, but in the
highest sense supremacy natural. 1t is
| the first truth of all our existence that
man is externally the man of God.
On page 249 are these words: "* men
| began to believe that they might be that
divine thing too when they saw it in the
| incarnate God. in Christ.
| From these truths, certain results came
the value of the human soul-the sure
/ ty that all men would one day be re-
| deemed Quotations were read from
| the lectures to the students at Yale and
from "The Candle of the Lord and
1.-THE Light of the World Among
others, these were cited, page Is of the
latter s'Among all the PHILOSOPHERS OF
| the world, where is there one that
matches with this simple story (the
Parable of the Prodigal.S SOM that man is
| the child of God, forever drawn to his
Father, beaten back from Him by base
waves of passion. but sure to come to
Him in the end''; page $50 of ..The
Candle l Of the Lord that man is
still the child of God, and that the way
| is wide open for every man to come TO
] his Father, and that the Christ who has
| redeemed us to the Father must ulti-
mately claim the whole world for his
own"
1 Phillips Brooks, under the influence
| of this theology, recognized all followers
| of Christ as members of the church uni
! versal. He loved the Episcopal church,
| he accepted the bishopric in hope OF
making it greater power in the world,
| but he was ever strenuous opposer OF
the High church party in England and
| America.
Canon Farrar in the March Review of
| Reviews, page 176, shows how Bishop
| Brooks regarded all his fellow Chris
| tians. He did not believe in apostolic
| succession nor in sacraments as neces-
sary to salvation. For him Christian
| was one who loved and followed Christ.
For him, that man is a minister OF COD
| who shows that he has power to reach
i souls. He was the ardent advocate of
Professionalism, of the right of private
Judgment. His noble influence will live.
1t is needed today to oppose the tendency
to sacerdotalism. Even in the diocese OF
Maine, it is taught that there can be nc
sacrament without wine and no salvation
without sacrament 1t is needed to
make all men fee, in the awful mystery
of the universe, that God loves each
soul. that all are His children and joint
heirs with Christ. The Liberal church
gladly halls him as leader 1t will
follow him as it proclaims the great
truths that God is the Infinite Love; that
the God who was in Christ is in all men
that they have been made for God and
are to become divine.
Don't make the mistake of putting the