The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-10-31
BY REV. MD SHUTTER, D. D.

with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and
thy neighbor as thyself."-LUKE Y. "a.
THERE is legend III one OF the
i Swiss villages concerning the
neighboring monastery. The monks
had in their chapel beautiful organ,
the gift of their patron. 1t was the
pride and glory of their establish
ment. 1t was the wonder of the vii
lage. It's music used to cheer the
hearts of the peasants at their toll
when it was played in the morning
and evening service of praise. One
day they all heard that hostile
army was approaching. Rather than
have their treasure fall into the hands
of the foe, the brothers carried the
organ by night and sunk it in the
waters of neighboring lake. Cen
erations have come and gone since
that Hateful night, since the day that
followed when the men of war came
down with fire and sword. But the
villages of today tell us that there are
times when the music of that buried
organ is still heard; its tunes rise
above the waves and fill the plain
still bringing helpfulness and peace
to the v.ity aud bnrdened.
There are voices that come from
the past,-from the midst of buried
centuries. There was once a voice
that spoke on Judean hills and by
the lake of Galilee. It's tones were
hushed in the sepulcher,-men then
thought, forever. But its music has
burst from the tomb and comes across
seas of oblivion, outriding the tenn
pest and thunder,-to cheer and in
spire our hearts ON fields of toll and
in the arena of conflict.
What is that message? What is
that word, spoken once, never to
perish7 What is Jesus still saying
to the ages and nations? We shall
find the gist and substance of his
teaching in these words: "Thou shalt
love the Lord, thy God, with all thy
heart, soul, strength, and mind; and
thy neighbor as myself. On these
two commandments hang all the law
and the prophets;" and we may add
'the Gospel also" We are, there
fore, furnished with two main lines
of inquiry, in seeking the teachings
of Christ: a. What has he said OF
Coda and (2) What has he said of
Man?
FIRST OF ALL, LET Us SEE WHAT JESUS
HAS TAUGHT US CONCERNING GOD.
God was central in his thought;
and the emphasis that he laid there
may be seen in the text: 'Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God," with
every power and faculty. Two or
three aspects of his doctrine of God
must be specially mentioned.
1. The Unity of God. 1t is a
matter of historical record that the
doctrine of the Trinity, SO far from
having issued from the lips of the
great prophet of Galilee, received
its final formulation in the latter part
of the fifth century, at the council
of Chalcedon; and the article which
originally contained it, closed with
these words: "He that will be saved,
must think thus of the Trinity" and
Except everyone shall keep the same
whole and undefiled, he shall with
out doubt perish everlastingly."
But there is nothing like the mod
ern doctrine of the Trinity in the
teachings of Jesus. From his open
ing proclamation, "The kingdom of
heaven is at hand" to his expiring
breath upon the cross, Into thy
hands 1 commend my spirit" there
is no utterance of his that, even when
placed upon the rack of the exegete,
can be made to shrek out anything
that sounds like the doctrine of the
Trinity. Jesus himself could not
have been saved according to the
creed of Chalcedon.
Everywheredo does Jesus distinguish
between himself and the Father. He
does not claim to be third part of
Him, or the Father himself in some
other form and under some other
name. He assumes lower plane.
He takes humber place. He does
not make himself equal to the Faith
er. He prays to God, acknowledges
himself to be dependent upon him,
declares that he came not to do his
own will, but Gods; that he speaks
not his own words but the message
of higher; that without God he can
do nothing.
In a single place does he use the
expression, 81 AND THE FATHER ARE
ONE" Then he adds the prayer that
his disciples may become one in the
same sense. The union with the Fa-
thor 10 a union of sVmnathv. a har-