The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-02-03
THE HARRINGTON PUBLISHING co.
ANrEDArEs CHRISTIANITY.
Unitarianism Was the Subject of an In teresting Talk at the Church of the Mes-

|
 Unitarianisin Was the, subject of an In- teresting Talk at the Church of the Mes-
 siah.
 The sermon by Rev. William r. Dick
 erman last evening on 'The Good
 Things of Unitarianism" was, like all
 his sermons in this line, very interest," ing. He said in part:
 "The Unitarians cannot be antedated.
 There are churches who are always
 seeking a remote date in history for
 their origin. No religion except that of the Jews can antedate Unitarianism. It
 is older than the Christian religion and
 was established even earlier than the
 Bible.
 | Tt is well for me to quote in begin
 ming some of those passages to which the Unitarians are fond of referring
 l. Corinthians, S:6, But to us there is
 but one God, the Father, of whom we are all things, and we are in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all lHlllSS, ttlli Wt Ny iIlAi.
 From this passage comes the basis of Christianity, and from Christianity
 comes religion echoing down the centu-
 ries with sublime significance. Another passage of scripture which | Unitarians like is from Deuteronomy, | GA, Hear, o Israel, the Lord our God, is one Lord;' and from Mark 12:32, And
 the scribe said unto Him. Well, Master, Thou hast said the truth, for there is
 none other but He
 1 Those who study the New Testament
 will discover that Jesus was a Unitari- an He believed that there was one
 Savior. Jesus was nothing but an or thodox Jew. He was placed on earth to bring Israel back to righteousness, for which, indeed, Israel always stood. I Adam Duff was the first martyr to
 burn for his belief in Unitarianism, ard
 Michael Sevitus, to whose burning John 1 Calvin gave consent, was the last, To-
 day the most populous body of the sect
 are in England and the United States, and some of the noted names that were connected With the church during the lperiod of its reorganization were John
 Bidliff, John Milton, Isaac Newton and others of like position, ability and fame
 "The Unitarnns established their creed in this country, first in New Eng 1 land, and they are still strongest, al- i though they are rapidly spreading in the west The leader of the movement
 in New England was William E. Chat | field, who lived when a child with his father in Newport, R. I. When still q child he listened to a sermon on the Calvinistic theory, during which the statement was made that some persons
 were doomed to be damned, and among l the doomed were many little children. 1 The child was greatly affected and
 when he reached home told his father of it and wanted to know if his play l mates would be damned, saying, I am
 no better than my playnates, and if any of them are damned I am just as | likely to be- His father replied that all
 things were arranged iby the Heavenly Father and we must abide by His de- cree. The boy thought his father took l it pretty calmly, and said to himself, 1 He don't believe it, and I don't, either Here was the germ of what afterward
 proved to be a great power The little home at Newport is standing to this | day, and is now home for children. "Unitarianism says it makes no diff l ference about your creed, but it does about your character. Unitarianism af- firms the dignity of man and says that
 man is bad because he is ignorant, not because he is wilful. The aim of the Unitarian and all that is commanded iby his church is embodied in this, TO
 do justice, to love mercy, and to walk
 humbly in the sight of God.'" | The next sermon will be on The Good Things of Universalism." This will be delivered on next Sunday evening, and will close the series.