The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-01-22
MAN AND RELIGION.
DIR. Lyman Abbott on the Individual
and His Beliefs.

Literary Digest.
In his latest book, THE Rights of Man."
DR.. Lyman Abbott undertakes to classify
human rights and duties by principles of
division that may be considered as prac-
teal rather than theoretical and abstract
He discusses rights in particular-pOlitical
rights, industrial rights, educational rights,
religious rights, etc.-rather than rights in
general-'natural" and artificial"
In the discussion of religious rights he
takes his most positive stand. He main
tains that it IS the right and the duty Of
every man to know God in his own way.
apart from the methods for doing so laid
down by church, or creed, or even in the
Bible
He traces historically the growth of the
doctrine that the state and church COM
bined are TO determine religious truth and
10 protect the community from religious
error. Though Jesus Christ came preaching
that the kingdom of heaven is a spiritual
Kingdom and would proceed by spiritual
FORCES, the same absolute loyalty was re-
quired by Him in the new theocracy that
had been required by Jehovah in the old
theocracy. BY the fifth or sixth century
this new theocracy had become a hierarchal
organization, teaching philosophy OF re
ligion, and requiring the same loyalty that
the old Hebrew commonwealth had de-
manded. But ii required loyalty, not to an
invisible king but TO visible hierarchy
and a visible creed. During the Middle
inflicted penalties for heresy, leaving it to
the state TO protect the community from
raise doctrine, IL did determine what Is
true and what is false. Such was the
growth OF the doctrine which rests upon
four postula ties: % That the fundamental
and pre-eminent need of humanity is the
need Of religious truth; (2) that there is a
system Of comprehensive truth which can
be known, and every man ought to be en-
abled 10 learn it; CD that If every individual
is left TO find out truth for himself, and to
preach truth or error as he pleases, the
foundations Of accuracy and gertrude in
the whole realm Of religious teaching are
destroyed; "a that If the state has the pow
eT, II should punish the teacher OF error.
If not. the church should punish him by
turning him of its membership. DIR.
Abbott then proceeds explicitly to repudi-
ate this doctrine lin all it's parts" He
writes:
Il deny that a knowledge of religious
truth is the great desideratum Of life.
deny that there is or can be any complete
or comprehensive system or religious truth.
L deny that there is or can be any organi-
cation which can furnish such a system OF
religious truth. And. therefore, of course,
i deny that there can be any right, either in
church or state, to punish, by either physi-
cal or moral penalty. the man who dissents
from the commonly received religious opin-
ion"
Mailing these theses of negation TO the
door of the modern church, this dissenter
from established theology states afflrma-
lively his view Of religion:
What is religion? Max Muller defines
it such a perception OF the manifesto
tons Of the Infinite as produces moral
influence on the conduct and character of
man The perception of the Infinite is not
religion that is theology; a recognition OF
the moral relation of man with his fellow
man is not religion, that is ethics but such
perception as enlarges and enriches the
moral life and conduct of man Is religion.
DIR. Abbott then, in the language of mod
ern ethical thought, discusses the theme OF
How TO Know God"
The quest OF humanity is after this per
ception of the Infinite. 1t is a quest. not
after the truth about God, but after God
himself. knowing a man is not the
same as knowing about q man. Knowing
God is not the same as knowing about
God. The office of religion is not TO tell
men about God; it is to bring them into
personal acquaintance with God; 1t is tC
bring them into a perception of the Infinite
himself. Truth about God is some one
else's perception of the Infinite. 1t is not
the perception of perception that is re-
lgion it is the perception of God. 1t is not
the understanding Of what some one else
says about Him; it is acquaintance with
Him.
DIR. Abbott accordingly declares that ''the
Bible cannot take the place of God Faith
in the Bible is not religion; faith in God is
religion" Sc, too, he maintains that faith
in the church is not religion" All that the
church can do is to report the experience
of men who have had religion. We quote
again
Acceptance of a creed is not religion
The creed is something which the philos-
Opher, more or less Skillfully, has wrought
perceived the Infinite. To perceive their
PERCEPTION is not religion.
This is not religion-the personal per
ception Of the Infinite. This is the quest OF
humanity-not a complete knowledge, not q
comprehensive system, but God himself
nothing less than God himself"
John Henry Newman is quoted TO the
effect that the difficulty in the way of using
private judgment in forming or choosing
a religion is that private Judgment leads
different minds in such different direc-
tons" DR.. Abbott rejOins:
This is the glory of 1.-THE splendor OF
il! Send ten thousand men in different d.
rections, each to look with his own eyes
feel with his own heart, realize in his owl
experience some aspect of the divine char
acter, and they will bring back from their
quest ten thousand manifestations of God
each that manifestation which he is capable
of receiving
With characteristic catholicity Dr. Alb
bott thus gathers all the seekers after
God" into the scope Of his broad theology
"AH creeds have some truth in them; nc
creeds have all truth in them. l am almost
prepared TO say that it would be safe e
believe all the affirmations of all the creeds
and to reject all their denials. Whenever
q body Of devout men have come saying
we have found this in the Infinite their
report is presumptively true. Whenever
they have come back saying, We have moi
found this, 1t does not in the least indi-
cate that what they have not found may
not be there"