The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-11-02


| Himself in life and death. with a thor
ough consciousness OF its reality The
idea OF changing the moral aspect or
the whole earth. Of recovering all ma
tons TO the pure and inward worship
of one God, and to a spirit OF divine
and fraternal owe. was n OF which
we meet not a trace in philosopher or
legislator before Him. The human
mind had given no promise of this ex-
tent of view The conception or this
enterprise, and the calm. mistaken
expectation OF success. in who had
no station and no wealth. who cast
| from Him the sword with adherence.
and who forbade His disciples to use
n weapo but those OF love. dis
cover a wonderful trust In the power
Of roc and the power OF owe and
when to this we add that Jesus looked
mo- only to the triumphs OF His pure
faith in the present world. but to a
mighty and beneficial power in Heaven.
we witness a ~vastneSS OF purpose, q
grandeur OF thought and feeling. 50
original. so superior to the workings
of all other minds. that nothing but
III familiarity a prevent our con-
temptation Of it with wonder and pro-
found awe. / confess. when I can es-
cape the d~eadening power of habit and
can receive the full import OF such pas
sage as the following: Come unto me
all we that b and are heavy laden.
and / will give o rest i am come
to seek and to saw that which was
lost He that confesseth Me before
men, him will / confess before my
Father in heaven whatsoever shall be
ashamed OF Me before men, of him shall
the Son of Man be ashamed when He
cometh in the glory of the Father with
with the holy angels In my Fathers
house are many mansions, / go to pre-
ma re- a MA na for vQn'- saw whon II car
succeed in realizing the import of such
passages, / feel myself listening to a
being such as never before and never
since spoke in human language. / ann
awed by the consciousness of great
ness which these simple words express;
and when / connect this greatness with
the proofs of Christ's miracles which
I gave you in a former discourse. 1 am
compelled to exclaim with the centu-
rion. Truly this was the Son of God"
These are the words of a Unitarian.
and one whose intelligence no intelli-
gent man will question. Many persons
would consider this quotation a con-
fession of Christ's divinity. 1t is not
such a confession, although it ex-
presses what might be called a pro-
found sense of His divineneSs. 1t is
substantially the confession Of Peter
"a confession of the Messiahship OF
Jesus, of His unique and Incompatible
SOifSIlp. TOIu SUCH dn dUltLuuS Oh
reverence for Christ, and from the
character of such men as Claiming
and Longfellow, the reader may draw
his own conclusions.
Cd The view that an acknowledge
ment of divinity of Christ is nee
essary for salvation is a subversion of
the very genius of the Gospel. 1t null
liies it's distinctive principle. 1t takes
from it that which makes it good news
RI ipY0r "a MT a nd nr-~in man tn hold
that no man can deny the deity OF
Christ and not be His follower is to
believe that the mercy of God is me-
dated to man through the apprehen-
sion of a theological dogma, and not
through simple faith,a dogma wrought
out amid doubt and conflict 800 years
after ChriStS ascension. 1t is virtual
ly to believe that when some ignorant
person, oppressed with a sense of sin
and estrangement from God, goes to
Christ, he must be stopped on the
threshold with some such formality as
this: M friend, / am able to help
you, Ia willing to do so, but / must
first enquire whether you distinguish
between power delegated and power
intrinsic, between ethical unity and
community of essence" In other
words, Christ offers the water of life
to whatsoever WILL" but conditions it's
efficacy upon a knowledge of it's chem
- Il od1h a view Ia SoScillIcliIy IlCNl-
eva and rituaIistic. 1t finds no
shade of support in personal expert
ence, in the mercy of God,
or in the attitude of our Saviour to-
wards the men and women of his day:
and only the e~xigencies of a prevail
ing false tradition give it V e a pass
ing plausibility If it were true, It
would be we'll for the prodigals of this
world to be thoroughly grounded in
metaphysics and theology before they
start home
On the contrary, there is but one
condition of entrance into the kingdom
Of God-faith in Gods forgiving mercy
and there is but one credential of cit
izenship in that Kingdom life that
manifests the spirit OF Jesus Christ.
such a view of the nature of the
Christian religion means this: Tha
Christians should regard as their
brotheTs all men, ProtestantS, Roman
lists, or Unitarians, who are striving
in humility and truth to do the will
of God as revealed in Christ; that the
tie that binds such men is of so vital
and fundamental a nature as to admit
of abrogation by no other principle
whatever; and therefore that the re-
| lation subsisting among such persons
should be one of sympathy and ser
vice, and not of suspicion and es-
| arrangement.
| This view, ait least in its application
to Unitarians, has been described as
| dangerous" and against 1t protest"
has been made. UGH an application
| Of it endangers the doctrine of the di-
vinity of Christ in the same way that
Professionalism Is endangered by n
admission that Catholics may be
| Christians; or hat Calvinism is en-
| dangered by the admission that Armi-
mans may be Christians.
What such a conception of Chris
tianity does endanger, in every part
Of it's dominion, is not the ruth OF
theological doctrine, but its dedication,
it's absolute sovereignty. The suprem-
acy of dogma, and therein its utter
p~erversion. has been the distinctive
curse of the church in every period OF
it's history.
1t has virtually given to men a new
mediator and Eredeemer. Having mar
rowed the revelation of God in Christ
to the confines of logical definitions.
it has Ssuned that to know these
formulate is to know the Christ of his
tory; yet they only u h hem Of