The herald., 1898-03-28
IND 5 SERMONS
pa. wzNDrz PRzAcHEs ON ssTHE
BELIEF I'M GOD"
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN PULPIT
Occupied for the Last Time by Burt
Estes Howard-Rev. A. A. Rice
on "Christianity and Culture"

The Rev. c. w. wendte preached at the
Unity church yesterday morning on Be
lief in God" He said in part:
1.-THE God Of our fathers has largely be-
come untrustworthy to the intellect OF the
present generation. The enlightened AND
enlarged conceptions Of the universe which
modern science has introduced render
more and more incredible to us the old
theological notions Of the Diety which salts
fled the men of former times. Hence be-
lief in God is wavering in thousands OF
minds, has faded entirely out Of many
minds. Multitudes of persons, both in and
out of the church. may not consciously dis
believe or question 1t, yet the thought or
God exercises little or no influence on their
lives. 1t does not awe. command. restrain,
inspire or comfort them, as 1t did their
spiritual fathers.
'"This is great calamity. An absolute.
inspiring trust in God is the necessary
foundation for both individual and social
exertion and happiness. Many suppress
their spiritual instincts and primal trusts
and call themselves atheists or agnostics
because they think an antagonism exists
between modern science and the God-idea
This is profound error. 1t is the old and
mistaken notions about God which science
destroys, not faith in God itself. The new
est science vividly apprehended in Its
largest meaning compels us to recognize
that God whom religion aff1rms.
1--WE need not to surrender our thought of
God We need rather to reconstruct 1t; to
reconceive the nature and methods of De-
ity; to refashion His divine personality in
the light of the new knowledge which has
dawned upon us.
Much is said in our day concerning the
need of a Christo-centric theology-that Is,
a system of belief and morals in which
Jesus shall be the central object Of mans
alteration, obedience and hope, his charac-
ter divine and impeccable, his teachings
the ultimate authority, his promises the
solace and reliance of the soul. But for
minds imbued with the conclusions of mod
ern science and the higher criticism, such
an ascription is impossible. They recog-
nize no substitute for the infinite and eter-
nal God, the executive spirit and provi-
dencc Of the universe. Idealize Christ as
muchias you will; laud and glorify his char
acter and services to mankind as he de-
serves still his historical and human lin
itations will not disappear, and to be lin
tied is to fall far short Of the infinite Creator
of the heavens and the earth. Jesus him
self never claimed to be substitute for
God, but pointed his disciples away from
himself to the infinite power, wisdom and
holiness that are centered in his Father
and our Father. why callest thou me
good? There is none good but one, that is
Cod This simple theistic faith sufficed and
sustained Jesus throughout his heroic and
holy career. 1t should be adequate to sup
port and inspire all men who rightly con-
ceive and devoutly avail themselves of it.
God is the true center of the physical and
moral universe, To know, adore and obey
him is the supreme ethic of the human soul.
Theism is the most potent force in relig-
ious history. The story Of ancient Israel's
marvellous loyalty and persistence, even
unto this day, is a sublime testimony to
this truth. 1t is because the Fatherhood of
God Is supreme in Christ's teaching that
1t holds the hope Of the future. Even Mo-
hammedanism, in spite of its errors and
abuses, makes more converts from polythe-
ism to the one God, Allah, among the saw
age races of Africa and Asia than Chris
tian missions can boast. What is known rs
Christian Science, in spite of crudities and
extravagances, succeeds in impressing so
many minds because 1t believes so intensely
in God as the supreme source of life, inspi-
ration, healing and help
what is needed is not q Christo-centric
but a Deo-centric faith, which believes that
in God we live and move and have our be-
ing; that of him, through him and in him
are all things. The church which shall
most firmly grasp this central truth Of
spiritual Christianity and most faithfully
apply it to religion and life will sway the
religious future Of mankind. Unitarian
ism possesses this divine truth, but it does
not yet possess Unitarianism as it yet, let
us pray, will possess and inspire it. To ap-
prehend it vividly and to order our lives by
1t will give us new birth in God. 9When
it shall have taken full possession of the
modern mind, new era of faith will dawn
upon humanity. 1t will have found the
solution of its mental perplexities, it's So
cial problems and it's spiritual unrest
Once more, as in the days of Jesus, of Paul
and of Luther, reborn faith in God will
have saved and inspired the world"