The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-06
TRINITARIANs AND UNITARIANs.

TRINITARIANS AND UNITARIANS.
The Christian Register, Unitarian jour
| nal printed at Boston, declares that the diff
| ferences which mostly make sects and de-
nominations do not any longer represent
religious life, but the want of it." 1t says
that the men and women of the deepest
and most vital religious experience do not
care about the Trinity, everlasting punish
ment or any other dogma; that they agree
that this is somehow Gods world. wherein
it is safe and only safe to do right, and
that the type of life known as ''Christ-like'
is the imperative and winning type to con-
form to which lifts every son of man to
be child of God.
The Register has aptly expressed the feel
ing of those Oft own way of thinking, but
it is to be feared that the premises are
not sufficient basis for a general applica-
ton. 1t is very easy to confound a purely
aesthetical impulse with the religious i'm
pulse. The Unitarians in the United States
have been among our most cultivated peo-
pie, who have sought instinctively the best
that has been thought and done in the
world; but it cannot be claimed that, for the
great body of Americans, Unitarianism has
any great message. There is no intellectual
freedom possible among Unitarians that is
not also possible among orthodox Chris
tians. So far as the passing of dogma is
concerned it must be clear to every OBJ
server of current thought that, while great
pressure has been brought to bear against
orthodox Christianity, the champions of the
ancient faith have not been Indifferent and
they have certainly not been less power
fully equipped than their antagonists for
their task While rationalism has gained
tremendously, there has nowhere been any
weakening of the orthodox lines. Now and
then there is sharp firing between the
pickets, but the upholders of the orthodox
faith through years of controversy have
become skilled and ready fighters. They
are not easily stampeded.
1t is probably true, as the Register
charges, that the average church member
does not know, with any certainty, just
what his own denomination stands for, but
it is also to be considered that these merely
nominal affiliations would not be possible
if such a member did not have faith that
there was something pretty tangible to
justify the existence of the organization
with which he is allied. If the whole world
could be put on a Unitarian basis, say, it
might be possible to bring within the fold
thousands of civilized people who now have
no connection with religious societies, but
it would probably prove to be case of
easily won, easily lost Loose bonds are
easily and carelessly assumed, but they
are also easily thrown off, The Apostles
and Nicenet creeds make a pretty sub
stantial foothold of dogma. These creeds
are spoken in the course of every year
many times by thousands; and, where they
are not embraced within rituals, they GER
tainly embody the faith of many sects
which teach them wholly or in part.
1t would puzzle most Unitarians to ex-
plain with precision their belief There are
many kinds of Unitarians-even what may
be called high church Unitarians and ritu-
| alistic Unitarians. The great Christian
creeds certainly make a background to
which those who subscribe to them may
point with security. And where explana-
tons are asked such persons can refer in
some of the keenest minds the world has
known.
1t will always count against Unitarian
| ism that, in presenting no absolute and
inexorable dogmas, lit fails to appeal to
the great mass of mankind, which is in
| tellectually disinclined to accept something
negative and nebulous. Probably it is true
that great many Protesants do not think
much about the Trinity or everlasting pun
ishment or any other dogmas, to quote the
Registers words, but if all these dogmas
! were abolished and the Christian religion
represented by nothing more steadfast than
a series of ethical and aesthetical societies,
there is no assurance that good morals
would be promoted. Professionalism has
served a great purpose, and rationalism
and criticism within Professionalism are
serving good purposes, but it is not to be
| lightly assumed that Trinitarian Chris
tianity might be pushed aside, while
| "Christ-likeness'' would remain the great
| inspiration that it has become And it is
always to be borne in mind that the Greek,
the Roman and the Anglican churches
alone form a bulwark of orthodox Trini-
| tartan Christianity that cannot easily be
! weakened or destroyed. These vast COM
munions and the essentially Protestant re-
| ligious societies that are everywhere in
| dustriously at work show no diminishing
vitality. 1t is wholly likely that they will
| continue to grow immensely, enlisting re-
| cruits from among all sorts and conditions
| of men.