The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-04-01

the last WORD Oh reVeiation VI oNeh % ~
solutely correct in every particular. III IS
literature rich in the thought Oh
God. 1t represents the growth Oh
religious thought from creed 10
more highly developed concep-
tion as held by people whose genius was
religion. 1t is literature that leads from
the worship of the creature tothe Creator,
from the worship OF little gods TO the
worship OF the one God Almighty ruler
of all the earth, from the worship OF a
God terrible to God of justice, mercy
and paternal love. But we make no claim
for the Bible not made by itsslf.
We accept it as literature, to be studied
as such, and for just what IL is worth;as 1t
appeals to our only way OF estimating
wort b, namely; our reason and conscience.
Instead OF d Is believing in Gods revelation
of himself in the Bible, we believe that it
is revelation, only we do not believe
that it is the only revelation
He has given TO man. We
do not believe that God spoke
to some OF his children thousands OF years
ago, and has remained dumb ever since.
We believe that the divine voice still
speaks to those who have souls 10
hear. We worship a God who is
neither dumb nor decrepit. We worship
not q God OF the dead, but of the living !;
One who is as active rs ever in the forces
OF Nature and the life of the world, and
Who speaks in the highest thoughts of
man today as we'll as in the days of old,
when eProphets to the guilty nations
spoke His everlasting word."
Some people may feel more comfortable
In the belief that God has spoken once for
all, and that He has now retired from the
world and partially surrendered it to the
devil, but Unitarians believe with Jesus
and Paul that "God il not far away from
any one of u.s." and that Gin Him we live
and move and have our being" Or, to
put IL in another way, God lives in us
and in all things. God Is here as much as
anywhere.
Hence we do not talk of dying in order
to go to God. We are with God while we
live, and the better we live the more
clearly shall we see Him and feel Him.
Jesus did not say "you must wait till you
are dead to see God" He said: ''The pure
in heart shall see God" They shall see
God now and everywhere, because they
are God. That is to say. they have the
divine nature. 1t is impossible for us to
see what is not first in rs. A blind man,
form no conception OF color.
Believing as we do that God reveals
himself to the mind of man, through rea-
son aud conscience we believe in exercis-
ing these faculties as means Of arriving at
truth. Not that reason and conscience
are infallibIe but they are the most trust
worthy guides we have.
While we believe in profiting by the re-
suits OF other peoples thinking and
views of right, yet we believe that the
best use even OF teachers and creeds is to
encourage us to think and feel rat her
than to persuade. us that it is unneces-
sary and superfldpus. SO we believe In
the right of eaek individual to think
for himself; nay, we believe it is
the duty of every body to prove
all things for himself OF herself and to
hold fast to the good. Reason must be
OF God, for it is that which makes man
most like God SO far as power Is con-
cerned of any other created being on the
earth. Hence we do not regard 1t as i'm
pious or irreligious to exercise our reason
even in regard to matters Of religion.
And we believe In being loyal to our own
reason rather than to that of any other
man or set OF men however good they
fUuy Dc. VIC DciloNc thut fcooOh
and conscience comes the revelation of
God of highest authority, and that to
ignore and repudiate that which speaks
to us in our own souls is to dishonor God
and cheat ourselves of Gods best
help. While we do not believe
that ever reason and conscience
are infallible, we do believe that they are
to be trusted. We believe they are worthy
of being trained and developed. We be-
believe that in our own deepest reason
and conscience God speaks to US more
directly than through any reported
message to another person. Conse-
quently we do not accept creed
or Bible as final authority, for
we do not believe that revelation stopped
1000 years ago. But that,
Answering unto mans endeavor,
Truth and right are still revealed.
As TO the doctrine of the Trinity,
which limits the manifestation of
God to but three forms, we would
say we believe not only i'm
a God in Trinity, but in multiplicity. We
believe that every form that hath power
and iife is a manifestation OF God, and
yet that there is not many Gods, but one
God. "One law, one life, one element"
Then In regard to Jesus, we not only be-
lieve he was all he claimed to be in the
most authentic gospels, bat we believe
is all He claimed for II. In the
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