The Portland daily press., 1898-10-17
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THOUGHT.
DR.. Blanohard's Sermon at Congress
Square Church Yesterday.


Rev. DR.. Blanchard preached a sermon
Yesterday morning on Establishments of
Thought in the churches. The text was
taken from Ephesians w., verses 4, 5. g..
The apostle Paul passed through the
experience Of readjusting his thoughts.
He had been Hebrew Of tho Hebrews.
he had become q Christian. He had
thought that death upon the cross was
a degradation; he had come to believe
that in the person of Jesus Christ, 1t
was glorious. Strong in his convictions
he felt that othsrs must readjust their
thoughts. He believed, therefore, that
all would come to make one body with
one spirit; one faith; one Lord; one bap
tism in worship of one God and Father.
1t was in Paurs spirit that he should
speak on "Readjustments of Thought in
the Churches" Two reason induced him
to speak ON this theme. Tho first was an
invitation to do SO at the Biennial Uni
versalise New England conference in
Boston on Wednesday night; the second
was the growing knowledge that many
excellent, noble people who have aban-
doned old beliefs have given up attend
ance ct church. There Is q class Of peo-
pie, thoughtlesa. lazy, selfish, unspiritual,
who do not attend because their intellec-
tual life ID not large enough to enable
them to be interested In the great theme
Of the church. But there is another, q
much smaller GLASS, intelligent, earnest,
noble, who are psrplexed and panied by
all the horrors and the SORROWS of men
who find no help in churches. He would
like to reach these. He would like to
have them know how great is the change
in the thought of the churches. The ap-
peal then should be made to the churches
to declare their changed opinions. The
appeal should be made to those who do
not attend church, to come and hear.
That readjustments Of thought are
going on, the churches, many books and
many speeches in conventions show. DR..
Harris's ssMoral Evolution" DR.. Cor
don's "The Christ Of Today" DR.. Van
Dykes "The Gospel for an Age of
Doubt DR.. Cards Evolution Of Rslig-
ion, y and many others reveal the fact Of
establishments. President Hyde Of Bow
Idoin College says: 1.-THE current creed
Of Christsndom is a chaos of contradic-
tion. He pleads for Reorganization Of
lfaith.
sEaDr. Blanchard would. therefore. repeat
some Of these readjustments and show the
results in which all the churches can
rejoice.
The first Is concerned with the origin Of
man. The old thought was that man
named Adam was born from the dust and
sinned because his wife, under the infiu-
ence of the serpent who was the devil,
tempted him to eat an apple. That story
is no longer believed. It is no longer
believed that death came because Adam
sinned. Evolution destroys the ancient
doctrine. DR.. Harris says that evolution
is now accepted by all scientific authori-
ties and by the great majority of educated
men. But the fall Of man was the cor
ner stone Of the old system of theology.
With its destruction the whole fabric
falls, death because of sin, wrath OF God,
atonement by the blood Of Jesus.
Thoughtful men outside the churches
should know how generally the old
thought of mans origin has been put
away.
Of God. The old thought was that He is
apart from the world. The new is that
He Is everywhere present-the immanent
and yet transcendent God.
So thought has changed concerning the
Scriptures. and Jesus, and Immortality ),
be noble literature; the Trinity is ex-
planned away; Jesus's humanity is en-
p,asized. No longer God, nor second per-
son of the Trinity, he is seen to be
greatest of men; the encourager of the
discouraged; the helper Of thoselwho can-
not see infinite love and wisdom. guiding
Infinite power. The creeds remain, in.
deed, unchanged, but more and more is
Jesus preached as our elder brother. DR..
Cairo: says that Jesus's secret is that he
faced the evils Of the world and death
itself In full assurance that omnlpotent
ROOuH66Ss uc6plVe Va blAcS0 anu GnFOu2Q
these, is .irresistibly realizing it's divine
purpose.
Immortality is now believed because of
its reasonableness. The churches may
still teach bodily or spiritual reappear-
ance Of Jesus, but they are emphasizing
the declaration that there is no meaning
to this life unless there Is another and
higher ono. They listen to Prof. LIE
Conte, who says: "Without immortality
this whole process of cosmie evolution is
futile. Shall God he SO long and at such
great pains to achieve spirit capable of
communicating with Him, and then
allow it to lapse again into nothingnessp"
The new thoughts concerning destiny
are on the part of some that the wicked
shall be annihilated and, on the part of
others, that, as DR. Gorde says, if God
shall succeed, lall souls will be..finally holy
and happy. But Prof. John Fiske, as an
evolutionist, condemns the doctrine of
humiliation. Pausing to say, eff God
shall succeed the churches will pass on