The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-02-06


been supposed to have little faculty
for combining. There, too, you will
observe that it is for an ethical idea,
pure and simple. l need not pause
here to speak of the value of combin-
alton. 1t needs no justification. 1t
is law or nature. The waters COM
bine. Many leaves grow on ore tree.
By an unerring instinct men flock
together.
ii. You will notice that every COM
bination is made in the interest of an
idea; sometimes political, sometimes
commercial, sometimes ethical. This
is but saying that every combination
has an end, an object. The lower
men are, the less intelligent they are,
the more the combinations will be
upon the plane of mere self-interest.
But have already pointed out some
notable examples of great combina-
ton in the interest of ethical ideas.
Would it not, then, be singular if men
had not combined for the promotion
of their religious ideass And in
truth the moment it is suggested we
see here in the field of religious ideas
some of the most notable combina-
tions of men that the world has yet
shown. Almost at the outset we see
it illustrated in the marvellous growth
of the early church. But not only in
the early formation of Christian lines,
but in their reformation again and
again under Protestant influences.
What was the building up of
the Puritan colonies in America
but another example of the same
tendencya Just as in politics men
form and re form the political lines,
so in religion the same thing is going
on in the formation of all the relig-
ious denominations.
But is it not singular that any
one should question the perfect ra-
tionality of such organization? Men
speak of UNCONVENTIONAL organiza-
tons as if they were an evil. That
they become an evil is perfectly clear.
But that they are fundamentally ra
tional is also clear. You belong to
political organization7 Yes" You are
an Odd Fellow? YES" You belong to
several bodies of Masons' "Yes." You
are also member of a business firm7
"Yes." A member of trusts "Yes."
And yet an organization around
a religious idea seems to you
irrational, does iti Is it, then, that
mems religious ideas are less prec-
ious than others? Is not the absur-
dity of the proposition manifest in its
bare statement? Is it not clear that
men have acted in perfectly rational
way when they have organized for the
defense of those ideas which stand
central in Christianity? Not to have
done so would have been sad COM
mentary upon mems love of truth. De
nominational organization becomes
reprehensible only when it is carried
so far as to become really disorgani-
zation. So long as the central ideas
are great, and vital, and essential, and
are not being earnestly defended
elsewhere, it is perfectly legitimate
for any body of people to organize
for their defence. 1t has ever been
true, and probably ever will be, that
one of the closest bonds of sympathy
between men is that of similar great
religious hopes and ideas. For these
they will stand together, work to-
gether, pray together and die to-
gether.
Ill. If, then, religious denomina-
tional organization is legitimate, it
may be profitable for US to take
fresh look at our own and see whether
we have great ideas worth defending,
and whether they are being we'll de-
Tended by anyone else.
a. In peculiar way we believe
in the Fatherhood of God; that is,
the universal fatherhood, the natural
fatherhood of God. A great modern
preacher used to put in this way:
"The sun does not shine for a few
trees and flowers, but for the wide
worlds joy. The lonely pine on the
mountain top waves its somber
boughs and cries, Thou art my sum-
And the little meadow violet lifts its
cup of blue and whispers with its per-
fumed breath, Thou art my sum-
And the grain in thousand fields
rustles in the wind and makes ans.
wer, Thou art my sum- ," So God sits,
effulgent in Heaven, not for favor
tie few, but for the universe of life;
and there is no creature so poor or so
low that he may not look up with
childlike confidence and say, ''My
Father, Thou art mineP" In the same
way each church spire points towards
the heavens, and each Christian COM
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