The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1898-02-25
PULPIT EDITORIALS.
Delivered by Dr. Frank Crane at Trinity
Church, Chicago. Preceding the Usual
Sermon Sunday, Feb. O. 1898.
PRESENT THEOLOGICAL UNREST.
Copyright. 1881

copyright, 1881
There is much uneasness in religious
| thought just now. 1t is day of theo-
| logical unsettling. / have just been
| reading an address delivered recently
| by Professor Felix Adler, the noted
| free thinker. in which he treats of this
matter, and. while dealing with his usu-
| al courtesy with the fond convictions of
| religious folk. considers them after all
as but imperfectly cultured and devel-
| oped. According to hira religion has
| played good part but Anow ready to
| be laid aside that we may use pure"
| ethics instead. There are some others
| who do not consider religion so gener-
ously, but openly condemn it as a hin
drance to human progress. There are,
| again, some Christians who see in these
times of intellectual turmoil the appar-
| ent topping over of all the ancient
faith. who mourn the good old days
when the word of the church was I'M
| questioned, who sing in tears the hymn
Of Bernard of Cluny:
| 1.-THE world is very evil,
The times are waxing late"
|
Now, both of these classes, the nom
| Christian optimists on the one hand and
| the Christian pessimists on the other,
| make precisely the same mistake-that
| OF taking non-essentials for essentials.
Much theology and tradition is certain
| ly going to pieces; but that Is far diff
| ferent from the downfall of the religion
| of Christ itself. The true view is to
combine the optimism of the one with
| the faith of the other class; not to con-
slider progress as doing away with re-
| ligion, but religion as doing away by
| its progress, with forms no longer
suited to its growth. The present pangs
are merely growing pains" The re-
| ligion of Jesus is not a set form; 1t Is
a principle of human development. AS
/ 1t masters one age it forms a certain
! body or shell for itself out of the cur
| rent notions of that age. Perfectly true
and pure in itself, yet it must get such
imperfect form as the imperfectly
| formed ideas of that age may furnish,
having, as Paul says, this treasure in
| an earthen vessel" BY and by, when
| it has grown and lifted men up into an
other plane of thought, coming into a
larger age, the old shell becomes too
narrow, 1t cramps its contents, the form
that formerly protected its growth now
hinders it's growth. Then like the chick
in it's shell it picks and picks till it
comes out into the fuller life for which
it Is prepared. That picking is what
| we call doubt. All advance in thought
life begins in skepticism. Not the ir-
reverent sort which revolts at religion
because it forbids sin, but the reverent
sort that longs for a deeper, truer word
for the growing idea. This is what
| Tennyson meant when he wrote:
| fol In
Believe me, than in half the creeds."
80
The history of the church illustrates
this God has been always calling a
chosen few. But He called them to de-
velop; they constantly misunderstood
Him, thinking they were called to Sc
| curity. They were elected to progress;
| they thought it a fixed state of divine
| favor. So He has always been at last
; rejecting those whom He called and
| raising up others. Thus He selected the
| Jewish nation to develop the idea of
| God among men. When they persist
| emily construed their privilege to be
| merely a selfish heritage because they
| were better than gentiles He cast
| them off. He raised up then the church
that through this the influence of His
| spirit might develop men. The church
| made the same mistake, thinking it was
| segregated TO be secure, not to progress.
| It conceived itself to be colonization
| society to transport few souls from q
| hopeessly lost world into heaven.
| Therefore in these times we see God
| doing great works outside of the
church, through Christian, yet monde
nominational agencies, such as the Y.
| M. c. A. and the thousands of charities
and humane institutions. While church
| ly dominancy as such is on the wane,
| the ideas the church stands for never
had so much vitality. Thus He con-
stantly chooses and lays aside His agen-
cies, as they obey or disobey Him. Out
| of the old comes the new. What of it?
'"Thou fool, that which thou sowest is
not quickened except it die"
|
In theology, or our intellectual ap-
| prehension Of God, the same growth is
| manifested. He is the same forever
| Our conceptions of Him change with
our growth. That is the intention. We
change not from but to Him. His pur-
pose is to change u.s. He Is always
saying: eco cn!' Come UP higher!"
Let us not mourn the old garments If
the real body is still strong and healthy
/
stituted that they cannot doubt relig-
iously; that is. they cannot leave an old
form without rejecting also it's con-
| tents. / speak for myself when l say
| that 1t seems better for me to hold on
to and preach through the traditional
forms of ancient faith, endeavoring to
ill them with new meaning, to suffuse
them with spiritual meaning. not Of
| fapJ,ry tho belief of the weak not AL
| lowing my good to be evil spoken Of"
rather than violently to unsettle the
| many who cannot distinguish between
| clothes and body. Above all, a cheap
! parading Of "liberality." an abuse and
| carica;ure of old and dear modes Of
| thought merely for the sake of the SEN
| saton it will create, seems to me to
be wrong. Let us be liberal modestly,
in all generosity and thoughtfulness
for others, and not parade liberality
| ,.,;.h m Image hand Tbua did Christ