The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]) 1901-1902, 1901-08-25
miscellaneous Hooks.

James Martineau: a Study and a Biog
raphy," by Rev. A. W. Jackson, is bool
which will probably be of interest Il
clergymen, theologians and others con
cerned in the study of modern ecclesiasti
cal history. Whether Martineau was a:
great as his biographer evidently think:
he was may be a matter of some ques
ton; but that he was n strong and nee
essary link in a certain chain of religion:
development there can be no question. A
man of thorough scholarship, conscien
tious habit, and pure aims can hardly fai
to be of great use to his generation, ant
Martineau was in England, to some ex
tent, what Theodore Parker was in Ameri
ca-an interpreter of Unitarianism.
There is one passage in the chapter or
Martineau as theologian which ought tc
be particularly interesting to anyone who
is attentive to theological distinctions. II
is that in which the biographer defines
DR.. Martineaus idea of Trinitarianism as
distinct from Unitarianism. and it ex-
presses so exactly the difference that does
exist, in the popular mind, that it is
worth general quotation. 1t is as follows
THE Unitarian genius has been, pre-
vailingly, little speculative, little mys-
teal. 1t has an Impotence OF what
ever doctrine cannot be presented
with distinctncss Of outline. Accord
ingly the Unitarian has conceived his
God rather practically and as he is
met in his relation with the universe,
as Its creator and sustainer. With
what God is in himself, or was before
the creative fiat went forth, he gives
himself but slight concern. His God
is not an abstract essence, but an
active agency lie is the Source of
Nature. Soul Of Souls, Lord OF the
O., g.Ff-
under every aspect that is divine, and
fills TO our thought the whole space
that is accessible to affection, trust,
and alteration.
such is the Unitarians one God In
one person. over against this the
Trinitarian offers the conception of one
God in three persons. Here, to many
minds, is a source of confusion-one
God. three persons. 1t contradicts
arithmetic, and while II is tercely
maintained on one side that arithme-
tic must stand, 1t is maintained as
fercely on the other side that arith-
metic must stand contradicted. Many
TrinitarianS and most UnitarianS
might well thank DR.. Martineau for
his luminous exposition of this riddle.
If we use the word person here in
the distinct and definite sense In which
we are accustomed to employ II, the
formula undoubtedly yields us three
natures whose oneness 1t is quite i'm
possible to conceive, and that multi
tudes unequal to the subtleties of
Greek speculation so use II, and thus
find in their Trinity a Tritheism is
apparent enough. But this, though a
misconception to which the doctrine
IS peculiarly liable, is not Mt all Its
meaning. To come to its meaning,
our idea OF personality must part with
its clear distinctness; we must melt,
as IL were. says DIR. Martneau, Its
edges away until the sharp outline is
gone and we can no longer tell where
one ends and another begins, for both
merge in common ground. We
must think of the three persons as SO
many nuclei of intenser light, distin-
guishablc amid the universal element
of divine thought, around which the
attributes cluster with a certain pref
erential affinity, without. however.
ceasng to exist in the same essence,
OF which all are alike aifirmable. In
short, the ground color Of the doctrine
is laid in the Greek Pantheism, which
of the universe. In comparison with
this infinite element, personality, i'm
plying concentration and distinction
OF qualities, appeared finite and made
quate. To reconcile the two-tO retain
the mystic breath OF the one, with
the human intensity of the other
personal differences were supcrinduced
upon a divine essence that uudcriies
them. and the absolutely one Is re-
vealed as relatively Three If Trini-
tartan apologist has ever offered a
more satisfactory account of his doc
trine we have not met II.
From this account of the doctrine II
is easy to SEQ that distinct predicates
regarding the First Person should be
difficult TO form. He may be vaguely
conceived like space without worlds.