The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-06
OUR CONTRIBUTORS.
IAN MAOLAREN'S' TEACHINGS
AGAIN.
BY REV. LEE s. NC coLLEsTER.

he iOuo pOoHlOh VI A)A' w oo
son is easily gathered from his writ
ings. 1t is briefly this: God is the
universal Father, and the fatherhood
idea is the true description of his ma
ture. Man is not condemned by any
wrong done by his ancestors; or, as
DIR. Watson puts it, in rather sar-
castle manner, overthrowing in
single sentence the theory of original
sin: "Before and since Jesus day
people have been invited to hold an
inquest on the sin of Adam, and have
discharged this function with keen
intellectual relish. 1t was Jesus who
made sin of the present date and in
vited every hearer to see the tragedy
of Eden in his own experience"
Personally, l feel rather sorry for
poor Adam. All these centuries he
has been held up as great man of
the world. All men have turned to
him and laid the glory of their guilt
on him, and he has ever seemed able
to bear still more of that kind of
honor. And now here comes canny
Scot-even from the haunts of John
Knox-who reduces him to the level
of us all and opens his ancient gar
den to the twentieth century men,
"bidding each enter and see the
tragedy of Eden in his own exper-
ience." DIR. Watson holds further
that salvation is by character. SAC
cording to Jesus" he says, "the sell
fish man is lost, and the unselfish
is saved" Man is saved or lost in
the proportion that his character cor
responds to the character of Jesus.
Respecting Jesus Office, he says,
"Jesus proposed to ransom the race,
not by paying price to the devil or
to God, but by loosening the grip of
sin on the heart and in reinforcing
the will"
Life, he says, is an eternal prog
ress. Death is birth into the lar
ger privileges of the soul. Such is, in
brief, DR.. Watson's position as seen
in his books. And the question pre-
sents itself, what effect has this on
the religious life of the world7 DR..
Watson's anomalous position pre-
sents fine opportunity to indulge in
satire, for we have here Scotch do
mimic denying original sin, salvation
by profession, and affirming salvation
by character and the Fatherhood of
God to Presbyterian congregation
in church set apart to pure Calvin
ism.
1t is impossible to see how DIR.
Watson can harmonize his confession
of faith with his sermon. He is in
very peculiar position. He stands
midway between the freedom of lib
eralism and the dogmatism of ortho-
doxy; between the Unitarian and
trinitarian ideas of God; between the
Universalist and partialist ideas OF
salvation. His sermons are what lib
erals have been brought up on. Really,
what seems to be most enjoyed in his
sermons are the liberal doctrines he
has introduced with appropriate
trimmings of orthodoxy to disguise
them. l like to see liberalism in all
pulpits, but like to have ministers
honest enough to tell their people
that the new thoughts they are de-
lighting their people with they got
from the writings of the Universalist,
Unitarian and other liberal thinkers.
This, at least, is honesty. And in the
pulpit there ought to be honesty of
thought and honesty of speech, so
that we could believe that the preach
ers are giving the best things they
think and that they think the best
things the world brings them. No
minister is true to God who is not
truer to the thoughts of his heart
than to the commands of his creed,
even if this make him hereto. Bet
ter be an honest hereto than dis
honest churchman.
One effect of DIR. Watson's position
is to weaken the power of creeds. 1t
calls for revising of the statements of
faith so that creeds shall be as broad
as the sermons. There is only one logi-
cal position for men in his position;
either to give up their progressive
positions and go back to their creed,
or to hold to their advanced thought
and bring their creeds to correspond
to his. While DIR. Watson's position
is generally helpful, it has its dan
gers, for some will only grasp part
of his meaning and go from a strict
creed to no creed; from the whole
Bible to no Bible. From strict or
thodoxy people swing to the position
of no faith. But while there is the
danger to few, most will have life
made larger for them. DR.. Watson's
position also means humanizing of
man. IL YOU will read the old books.