Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1895-10-10
ID AUTHORITY or JESUS
ow 1t is Regarded from a
Unitarian Standpoint.
Discourse BY Mr.. BOWSER
The Sermon Preached by Him
Sunday Morning.


At the Unitarian Church Sunday
morning, the pastor, the Rev. Alexander
II Bowser, preached on Tho Authority
of Jesus for Unitarians,n taking for his
text Matthew vii, 30. After describing
several kinds of authority, and indi-
eating its laws and limitations, he said:
Besides all these various kinds OF
authority there is that of religious in
s'g-tand conviction, and this is essen
TALLY different from all the others. A
man who is inspired with profound
conviction of the supreme beauty and
truth of the religious i2eas he wishes
to impart 10 others has something in
the expression of his face, the luster of
the eye, the tone of the voice, the
4 quiver of the lip, that gives him
authority independent of what he says.
YFut add to this the force Of statements
lshttered from clear spiritual vision
and profound faith in God, and his
L kintiuence becomes irresistible. As you
listen you feel sure that he speaks the
truth, his words need no other support,
they are their own authority. This was
the power of all the great religious
teachers OF the world, such as Luther,
Wesley and Charming. Each of these
mighty reformers without official posi-
tion or ecclesiastical reputation, by tine
depth and power of his conviction
alone, changed the whole current of
thought for his time. Luther, an un-
known priest, having learned by his
own experience that forgiveness of sin
and peace of mind come into the heart
from sense of the goodness and love
of God revealed in the life and teaching
of the Christ, and not by the interces
sion of saints, or the absolution of
bishop or pope, so fixed the hearts of
his countrymen that half Of Europe
threw off the yoke of the Catholic
Church, and new epoch in history
was begun, new era for man com
menced. And Wesley, having only the
authority of his own conviction of the
tender mercy and ,forgiiving grace Of
God as manifested in the Gospel, not
only founded the Methodist Church,
\ but impaired a new spiritual life to
n the Church of England and gave
4 fresh moral impulse to the world of
English speaking people. Charming
also, in spite of youth and obscnrity,
{set in motion wave of interest in re-
sigious ideas which Is carrying the
lpeople of this generation far beyond
1.-THE shadows of theological opinions
iinto the open sea of intellectual free
itlom and spiritual progress. His
\ authority was the profound conscious
ness that the human soul is divine in
its origin and endowment, and there
fore we are all Gods children by ma
ture. 1t was this that "caused Him
to speak with the tongue of men and
angels, :" giving utterance TO thought
as clear and strong as the current of a
mighty river.
fnba,f Of tho ina Of
men of great religious faith help us TO
understand the spiritual power of
Jesus, who was (as the Apostle says
sin all things made like unto His
brethren;n and they show also how
Unitarians may accept his authority in
perfectly natural and rational way.
AT the end of the sermon on the Mount
We are told that "t.-s people were as
tonished at His doctrine, for He
taught them as one having authority,
and not as the scribes." :" These scrihes
were the acknowledged teachers of the
time. They had on their side knowledge
and position, precedent and reputation,
and yet they failed to exert the intiu
ence over the people that the young
Nazarene preacher possessed. There
fore His authority differed from theirs
in both quality and power. 1t was
that tradition had handed down from
the past centuries and that the scribes
discussed and argued over, it was the
clear and vivid statements of insight
and conviction, the profound earnest
ness of a man whose soul was filled
with the inspiration of the living God.
Jesus claimed that He was sent by
the Father to seek and save His lost
children; that lie had power to give
the weary rest and peace; that He was
the King of Truth, the way of Heaven,
the light Of the world; that He was in
the Father and the Father in Him, and
that love and obedience would bring
Him and God into the hearts of His
disciples; that if He were lifted up
before the world, He would draw all
men unto Him. This was the convIc-
tion of His heart that made Him the
Christ And because He has proved to
be all that He claimed, because thou
sands of human souls have found, and
still find, in His words "a well OF
water springing up into everlasting
life'i to quench the spiritual thirst OF
mind and heart; because the weary
and heavy. laden who take His yoke
and learn of Him the lessons OF truth
and duty find restsand comfort and in
spiration in His perfect trust in the
living God; because lle brings US to
the heavenly Father and shows lis His
eternal love and forgiving compassion,
thus removing from our hearts all feai
Of death and filling them with the hope
pf immortal life; because He fultils the
Ideas of all the other great founders oi
religion, uniting the past with the flu
ture, this world with the world tc
come, bringing Heaven down TO earth
and lifting man up TO God, we Unita
fians accept the authority of His
leadership, follow His convictions ol
huth and duty, call Him Master anc
Lord, and desire to be counted among
His disciples.
The experience of the Christian
world proves the authority of Jesus
He is not teacher dead and buried
two thousand years ago.
No fable old, nor mythic lore,
Nor dream of bards and seers,
No dead fact stranded on the shore
Of the oblivious years.
But warm, sweet, tender, even yet
A present help is He;
4 And faith has still its Olivet,
| And love its Galilee.
2 Although we do not allow tn
1 authority of the Christ that dog
n natists have entombed in the theologi
N lal statements and creeds of by-gon
IN ,,xor x,at our Taaaher and Euida in ra