The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-04-27
THE ADVANCE MOVEMENT IN
THEOLOGY.


Central Music Hall congregation, is
giving weekly proof in the sermons
which he breaches of his sympathy
with the onward movements in the
religious world which made Prof.
Swings pulpit so celebrated. In gen.
eral style and spirit the discourses of
DIR. Hills resemble those of his great
predecessor. But he is even more
pronounced on certain points than
was Prof. Swing. We recently quo
ted from him paragraph in which
he affirmed the Eternal Hope" in a
more explicit manner than we remem-
Der Prof. Swing to have done. Amid
the rich exuberance of his rhetoric
there appear many gems of thought
set in fine literary style. His SER
mons abound in illustration and deal
with the great topics OF the Christian
religion and life in marked and
very attractive manner DIR. Hills is
man who does his own thinking. He
is not afraid to discuss the impotence
of the old creeds and to show how
far in advance the religious thought
of the age is beyond medieval con-
captions. We extract from his SER
mon of last Sunday morning the fol-
lowing paragraph in which he com
ments upon the changes which are
taking place in the religious world.
1t is decidedly refreshing to find
such an utterance addressed to the
large Music Hall congregation and
reported for the benefit of the public
in the Monday morning Inter Ocean:
Rebellion Against the Creeds.
Moreover, there has also been great
change as to the place and value of
creeds. Not that men disclaim or un-
derestimate the Importance of clear,
sound thinking. Today no university
would install man as professor of as
tronomy who disclaimed any preference
for the theory of Ptolemy or Newton.
Society demands safe thinking on the
part of its officials as to finance and all
matters of public policy. Similarly as
to the essential facts of human life So
ciety honors clear, strong convictions as
to conscience and duty. and reveres un-
swerving fidelity thereto. But there is
ct fur Of hn mo
dieval creeds. Men no longer look upon
the confessions of faith as safety vaults
in which piety is preserved. All that
abomination of horrors represented by
such paintings as 1.-THE Last Judgment"
of Michael Angelo. in which Jesus Christ
is depicted as huge avenging Hercules
and the angels are armed with pitch
forks for prodding lost souls back into
the cauldron, while the outlying earth
represents vast machine for propagat-
ing and supplying material for endless
torment-these views lie dead and buried
in the creeds as corpses lie in sepulchers.
In the olden times, 300 years ago. the
people were rude and ignorant; all
wealth, wisdom. and power resided in
the throne and the upper classes stand
ing thereabout. From these ruling
classes came the scholars who construct
ed the theologies and patterned them
after the patrician institutions OF which
they were part. Therefore the elect
were always about equal to the patri-
clan class, and the non elect were the
plebeian folk; God was the monarch.
But modern democracy has exercised
profound influence upon scholastic doc
trines. In an age when Clay and Web
ster come from the fields. the doctrine Of
human liberty strengthens and fatalism
declines Not that the Creator has
changed, but there has been a change in
mans views about him. The old theol-
ogies are like icebergs caught in the
Gulf Stream. The sun smites them
from above, the tropic waters gnaw from
beneath; soon will they dissolve and be-
come a part of the universal ocean,
bathing every continent with its dew
and rain. Claude Lorraine once said the
most important thing for a landscape
painter to learn was where to sit down.
Theology also has learned the same les
son, and has altered its view point, ex-
changing the monarch for Jesus Christ.
DIR. Hills is not like some others
who offer advanced opinions, at sea
as to the supreme authority of Chris
tian truth, He is established on the
foundations and is secure in his feal-
ty and loyalty to Jesus Christ, and
the revelation which he brought into
the world. "The old theology" he
says, sis passing away like lurid
thunderstorm dying away on the hori-
zon before the clear shining of the
sun. But as the creed declines, mans
hold upon the living vital truth under
the creed strengthens more and more.
Society is turning toward Jesus
Christ as the revelator of mans ma
ture, duty, and immortal destiny.
Theology, once constructed upon the
model of the throne and king, is be-
ing rewritten, with the cross for its