The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-08-14
aS595353S 81
Ky ~ Universalist Thought " y
M OUR OWN WRITERS. ~
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The Survival Of the Fittest.

The Survival of the Fittest.
A very intelligent Methodist clergy
an with whom we recently conversed
on the subject of conditional immortal
ity cited in illustration of the spiritual
suicide hypothesie, the Darwinian doc
trine of 1.-The survival of the fittest."
But many of the fittest, morally and in
tellectually, in past ages have never
k nown Christianity. and. according to
this test must have perished. The doc
trine of limited Immortality is uncon
genial with the Christian optimism of
the age, and is not destined to prevail
ReU. L. c. Broa0ne.
Political Parties.
Political parties ought to be, and
SO me day will be. SO managed as to be
promotive at all times of personal and
social advancement in the good and
wholesome virtues OF honesty. purity
and justice. To bring about this desir-
able etate of things in the political world
it is necessary that men. and women
too, who believe in applying the higher
! virtues to every department of human
| effort, express themselves to this effect
in unmistakable terms and exhibit that
manly independence in their political
action which they exercise in other
waye. Thus will come to pass better
co ndition Of things in political, busir ess
and social life.-Rev, ~. Mead.
The Function Of Music.
| To degrade music is to degrade man,
he home. the family. and society. Its
influence is pre-eminently domestic and
social. 1t operates powerfully On the
domestic, moral and religious emotions
and affections; and these control life,
character and conduct 1t is all import
ant that music should attain and main
tain high moral standard. The purity
of society demands this; and the moral
elevation of the church and the state
alike make it necessary. 1t is not sur
prising that music should be degraded
from it's high moral function in the
world. We know that all the great
forces of nature. life and society can be,
have been, and are being, perverted by
man to purposes of evil and wrong. Why
should not music meet the same fate of
all the great natural. moral, social and
religious forces of the world? This re-
suits from the weakness and the wicked
ness of men. The moral degradation of
mans divinely endowed nature is the
cause of the vital, social and moral de-
generation of society. Music with every
thing else that belongs to mans social
condition must share in this degenera-
tion.-Rev. William Tucker, DID.
The Church and its Ideals.
The church must have ideals. What
ever men may say about the necessity Of
being practical. contend that the most
impractical man in the world is the
man without an ideal, and the most un-
practical reformer in the world would
be reformer without an ideal. heard
of a man, in the good old days when
plows were run by oxen. who was con-
stantly worried because his oxen would
not keep the furrow. They were now
ut on the right, now on the left, now
M king bee-line for water, and again
bee-line for grass. At last. entirely
worn out and thoroughly vexed, the
driver used the lash vigorously and
said. There, go where you like. This
fl cid is all to be plowed, anyhow" We
admire the philosophy of the driver but
we cannot recommend his wisdom. This
may do for an overworked man trying
to drive an unruly pair of oxen, but it
will not do for the social reformer. The
social refoImer must have ideals, the
hurch also must have ideals, and every
man who shall amount to anything in
this world must have ideale.-Rev. Geo.
L. Perrin, DID.
The Poorest Kind of Policy
1t is reported, though it seems incred-
Id le, that some OF our churches have
never yet made an offering toward the
m aintenance of the japan mission. Let
US not mieiudge them. Perhaps they
have been difident about offering the
mite that is all they can give. They
must not forget the poor widows tribute
in the temple and what our Lord said of
it-"more than they ALL" Perhaps it
has seemed poor economy to give Of their
sle nder means when their own Obliga.
tions at home were not fairly or seasona-
bly, met. But the experience of all the
great missionary bodies is that the dead
est local church is always the non-mis-
sionary church. Said the treasurer of
the Baptist Missionary Society Of Eng
land in 1889-the year in which that de-
nom ination of non-cOnformists raised
the splendid sum Of 100000 for their
annu al missionary output. and resolved
to m axe it $500. 900 the next year: THE
Congo mission"-he was referring to
that one particularly been Of i'm
mense spiritual advantage to all our
home churches, reViViDg Us and stimu-
lating us, and creating in US missionary
zeal and enterprise by which our own
souls have been blessed" There is NOT
a church in our communion today that
| "a ha rfahar in nhuwoh