The record-union., 1897-11-14
IN RELIGIONS REALM.

EXPRESSIONS FROM VARIOUS
RELIGIOUS NEWSPAPERS.
The Religious Thought Of the Day
as Expressed in the Sec
tartan Press.
Deeply as we owe to the youth OF
the land sound education, says the
interior Pres.) of Chicago, stu
more solemnly do we owe to them
just and impartial one. The Whole
history of the papacy is not told when
we have read the life of Rodrigo Bor-
gia, any more than the character OF
John Calvin understood from the single
, incident of Servetus. In Puritan Sa-
lem the witch was put to death, and in
Plymouth of the Pilgrims, protected. 1t
| is useless to deny that some of the
laws of Connecticut We're blue, but is
the mark of bigot to make us forget
the charter of Connecticut was dis
tinct advance in the progress of liberty
for nation and world? 1t is as
vain to affirm that the federal theory
of Government lay as an axiom under
meath the constitution as to deny that II
follows as corollary of the war. No
individual, no sect, no party, has
monopoly of the TRUTH and no man is
fit to teach at all who does not consider
himself responsible to teach all aspects
of it. The very first requisite in an
instructor, be he called to occupy the
desk or the pulpit is fairmindedness.
and too often it is the least gift ne
possesses. Given this, he may be
trusted-and long after his errors are
forgotten his scholarly spirit will be
bringing forth the fruit in love-
There are a great many sincere and
| honorable men and women, with a fine
sense of independence, who are generous
! in giving and niggardly in receiving,
who bestow upon others with liberal
hand, but who find it hard to accept
/ those services and kindnesses which
| they love to bestow," says the New
| York "Outlook." But one cannot be
really generous who refuses to his fell
| lows the pleasure he takes to himself
IieIt IL uOlnIilS Nitiiiii S'A~
quite so satisfying as throwing door
of opportunity open to some one VINO
stands in sore need of the larger
chance; nothing quite so delightful as
putting one who Graves music, art,
books, nature, in the way OF enjoying
these things. In a thousand ways life
gains sweetness through the conscious
ness of the ability to do small KIND
nesses, to render minor services, TO px-
ercise a little thoughtfulness and eour-
tesy. But no one has a right to take
this pleasure to himself and deny it 10
| others; to insist upon giving, and at
| the same time refuse to receive. he
| only truly gives who receives as gener-
ously as he bestows. He who gives
| lavishly to me, but refuses to allow me
| to give to him. declares to all the world
| that he recognizes his own stewardship
of all that he possess, but denies mine,
| he affirms his own duty, but ignores
mine. This means the division of
| responsibility which ought to rest whole
and entire on all men and women"
"Unitarianism is also, so it claims,
| somewhat aggressive in these days, not
| only in point of its rambling religious
| speculations, but also laterally and ec-
clesiastically into folds generally known
as evangelical. AT the recent Unita-
rian conference at Saratoga DR.. Minot
j. Savage declared that the greatest
hindrance to the multiplied ton Of Uni
tartan churches avas the spread of Uni
tartan doctrines in other churches. IN
this case" says the New York COB
server" Pres.), 'the wish was prob
ably father to the thought. DR.. Sas-
age probably overestimates the amount
of Unitarian leaven there is working
mong the evangelical denominations.
That there are signs of it's working here
and there, however, among those sup
posably orthodox cannot, unfortunately.
| be doubted. What might be called a
kind of anonymous Unitaria nism, a
Unitarianism which does not frankly
own itself, is but too prevalent in some
local churches of nominally evengeli-
cal faith While we emphatically dis
sent from many of Dr. Savage's views
and conclusions, we cannot but respect
the manliness of his tones when he says
that we must protest for intellectual
honesty. There are too many VINO
remain in churches whose doctrines
sAA~S iNPoA kOO manly piCaIhSIS W lO
declare in their sermons what is con-
tradicted in the creeds of their
churches 1t would seem, therefore.
that the best Unitarians do not want
their so-caled system to be aggressive
in the sense Of broadly acting as a Sc
cret underminer of the faith of the
evengalical ia sinful This is to the
credit of their honesty as. of course, an
open pronouncement in favor Of Unita-
rianism would be to the advantage of
its advertising bureaus
In the course of a recent sermon the
Rev. DR. Tucker, President of Dart
mouth College. dwelt upon the distinct
ton between the specialized and the
generic Christian. The distinction" says
The Watchman" CBapt) of Boston,
lis an important one, fully warranted
by the New Testament, and failure to
recognize it has been the prolific cause
of erroneous and fantastic conceptions
Of the Christian life. All through the
history of the Christian Church this dis
tinction has been too much overlooked.
And one result is that Christianity has
too largely usurped the place of Chris
tianity. Religion has constantly tend
ed to become thing of the sacred edi
flee and of the pew, to the exclusion OF
the home and OF the workman's bench.
The ministers of religion have been re-
garded as pre-eminently religious men.
and the equal claim of the Christian
iaborer or merchant or professional
man has been somewhat obscured.
When a young man is converted he
finds that the general sentiment is that
il he is going 10 he a devoted Christian