The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-02-27
of the Sermon on the Mount. He
contends that it contains the kernel
of Christianity.
Maclaren's Views.

"When one asks, he says, "what is
a Christian? the creeds and the Ser
mon on the Mount not only do not
give the same answer, but models so
contradictory that from the success
sive specifications he could create two
types of Christians without any ap-
parent resemblance" And again he
says "What must strike every person
about Jesus sermon is that it is not
metaphysical, but ethical. Christ did
not ground his Christianity in think
ing or in doing, but first in being.
And according to his words life is
the true measure of mans Chris
tianity; church, sect, piety, all are
nothing compared with life which is
lived after the plan of the Sermon on
the Mount"
In leading up to the creed which
he deduces from the sermon DIR. Wat
son says mo church since the early
centuries has had the courage to for
mulate an ethical creed. Imagine
body of Christians who should take
their stand on the sermon of Jesus
and conceive their creed along his
lines-imagine how it would readV"
And now give it to you as it ap-
pears in DIR. Watson's sermon "Jesus
the Supreme Teacher" in the book.
"The Mind of the Master"
al believe in the Fatherhood of God;
| believe in the words of Jesus;
believe in the service of love;
| believe in the unworldly life;
l believe in the beatitudes;
/ promise to trust God and follow
Christ; to forgive my enemies and seek
after the righteousness of God"
1t seems as if all Christendom
ought to be able to accept this. 1t is
founded on the words of Jesus, and
they are better than any deductions
of Calvin, Wesley, Murray or anyone
else. 1t is but description of the
life that was practiced by the Master
himself in his life with men. 1t is
creed of life, not faith.
For a pastor of Presbyterian
church he makes daring statement
when he says, "The Sermon on the
Mount has been until lately very
much shelved by theologians, but it
nevertheless remains the manifesto
of Jesus religion and carries in spirit
his irresistible charm-the freshness
of new revelation"
The Value of Life
In all the other sermons of the vol
ume, "The Mind of the Master" DR..
Watson insists on the value of life
and the superiority of character
Character is the only basis of judg-
ment. There is nothing men differ
on SO hopelessly," he says, "as creed.
nothing on which they agree so
utterly as character" And in an
other place, when speaking of the too
common habit of judging people by
their churches and professions of
belief, he says: Nothing will more
certainly debauch the religious sense
than shifting of label, SO that one who
keeps Jesus commandments in life
is denied his name, and one in whom
there is no resemblance to Jesus re-
ceives it on the ground of correct
opinion" And yet that he may not
seem to undervalue faith he says one
must have faith in the life and works
of Jesus. Faith in Jesus is the pro-
cess of life, and character is the re-
suit"
Evidently he does not feel particu-
lar about the machinery of religion;
he wants results. Zone who puts his
faith in as evidence of his discipleship
is" he says, giving check on a bank
beyond reach, but when he puts in
his character he pays in gold.". DR..
Watson finds good in all the faiths
that have appeared in the world, and
thinks that behind all has been God,
and in all lands there has been the
true spirit of the Lord, even if all was
much obscured by the crude customs
of the people. Man has not been
working out his own plans, but behind
all times has been the planning and
working force of God. In reviewing
Christian history he says: at is in
excusable that the central idea of
Jesus teachings should be ignored or
mimimized in the creeds of the great
churches. The Anglican communion
has 80 articles, with one on oaths, one
on hell, one on marriage of priests,
one on how to avoid people that are
accommodated, and not one on the
fatherhood. The Presbyterian com
munion has a confession with 33
chapters, which deals in a trenchant
manner with great mysteries, but not
one respecting the fatherhood of
God. This silence, from the date of
the Greek fathers to the arrival of the
modern Broad Churchman, has been