The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-02-26
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
SUBJECT "WrAT ARE The reSwt
kEkT ELEMENTS CT REliCioN7"
An Eloquent and Toreeful Discourse hy
the Rev. John NJ. Dsvidson-Man'si In
isrest in the Incsrnstion-A striking
Thought About the Divinity of Man

Il
the pastor, the Rev. John NJ. Davidson,
preached on What Are the Permanent
Elements OF Religion lie said:
In this period OF questioning, when Old
structures Of religious faith are belng tom
down and new ones are taxing their PAGES
when what seems the very foundation OF
faith j. beng removed here and there 20
make way ioS new material, u rs well
worth our while 10 ask the question that
T. consequent upon such condition, What
elements CT ouT religious faith are perma-
nent and are likely to resist the tendency
10 change IL is question that Il agitat'
ing more people than ever before IN hls.
tory We have been told that there IS
growing indifference TO religion, that men
are abandoning the churches, that pagan
ism has re-absorbed large sections OF the
country. even Puritan New England shar'
ing IN the general dissolution.
No one can deny that the influence OF
the church Is not az great as IT was when
Amos. the only educated men were MN
sters. We who occupy the pulplts to-
DAY frankly recognize the fact that the
occupants Of the pews are not only our
equa,s in intellect, but are capable OF glv.
ing us instruction in many departments oil
thought wherein the minister oi Old time
was held 10 be supreme. The minister OF
to-day must recognize has relatively
changed condition lie addresses minds
at least a. well informed and as bright as
b,s cwn-and on many subjects more So
And he j. woeluly mistaken and uua.ert
# be does not welcome the change as an
advantage TO himself and his work rather
than a detTiment. Nevertheless, Ter the
time beng this condition tends TO bring
down the church attendance figures and
to lessen the church's influence. IL will
continue TO do 20 until the church finds
men VINO are leaders tIt not IN intellect
IA the effort for social ameAoraton. They
must bo specialists and authorities IN
their field, as the physicians and lawyers
are IN medicine and Jurisprudence.
hat the temporary falling on IN the m
Huence OF the church as an institution ar
CUES Tor an indifference TO religion ! do
not believe. The church has not yet
learned Il. welk Ii 1t stia delyIng III
theo'ogies and pAilosophies, when men
Rre no more interested IN the one than
the other. Both theology and philosophy
are vital matters, but the old manner OF
discussing these subjects cannot now inter
est men who are touched 10y the spirit
! Of the scientific age. Until science and the
! whole new method OF thought that iol-
/ lows upon recent scientific discovery have
! entered INTO and vIviied theology and phIl'
esophy, they viii cease TO interest or IN
| huenCe man. They have no point OF con
! tact with has interests. But men are IN
terested IN religion. This very question
lnp aud unrest proves IL. Even the return
| to paganlsm, as II has been called, that
trend particularly noticeable IN rural New
England, away from the tormiilsm oi the
| church and back 10 nature, II not so
alarming as appears at first glance. We
are learning to see that, although for cen
turies We have called certain peoples pa
| pans.' thinking 10 give them bad name
| and so 10 avoid more tedlouJ investigation
| INTO the character Of these same pagans,
| we have much 10 learn about religion, and
we may not seldom sit with profit at the
| feet ei many pagan prophet. Men are
asking whether. after all, a comparatively
small sect IL right and all the rest wrong,
OF whether there ~ net bIt OF truth IA
| them all. They 20 further. They ask
! now whether that truth may not make all
I peoples Free they are wondering whether,
| aite! all. salvation ~ 10 be found with one
! and universal destruction with the other,
whether the Creator of all nations ~ like
| " to make one of them His favoute, 10
/ give that on' a true and iiuai revelation
and to withhold 1t from all others. Men
D are going even further than tins IN Their
! questioning. They are putting the Iehg'
/ IONS side by side for comparison. They
! are lnQurBE whether or not the truth
I that Is ~ one may not be found OCCASION
: Bliy IN another. and they are finding
through this comparative study OF rtilg-
| ions that, at bottom. all are alike. Great
areas of parallel beliefs and aspirations are
/ found making the claim oi exclusive 1eve'
| lat.un ridiculous. In fact, when lt j.
/ found that every single form OF religion
! on the face OF the earth lays claim 10 an
! exclusive revelation of some sort, and we
! tnd that the term "heretlC' is merely an
! expression t one mans or group OF mes =,
! point Of view. we begin TO open our eyes
! TO the fact that our own past claims IN the
matter may not carry so much weight as
We had thought.
= 81 .,+ b,, H.. Il
ing the last century abeut the habits Of
| hie and the character OF thought OF the
{ other half OF the world, the scientific meth
! ods Of investigation INTO the subject OF re
| hgIon u origin, rise and-oiten-lts de
/ cav. INTO religious hteratuTes, and among
| them our own Bible, are broadening in
/ view, even while, and perhaps because,
I they disturb our compiacency Religion ls
! given new interest. we find that we
| Christians arc not the only members ct
/ Gods family, and that there are others
| who care for Him as much a. We do end
whom lie loves as greatly as He loves US.
! say that this is the tendency Of mems
minds to-day. Hardly do the most OF us
| admit the changed point OF view az an
! accomplished fact even 10 ourselves, and
! m many localities the old eXclusIvoness -
! az Imuenetrab.e as ever 10 was IN the dark
! aaos Universally. where religious cXclu-
sveuess - found IT II accompanied, bred
and saieguarded by some form OF claims 10
! final revelation OF final authority for truth
/ some artificial guarantee that the doc
| trne preached IN that church m the be
ginning - now and ever shall be preached
! without change, world wIthou; end. That
! such claim II maniestiy impossible to sub
| stant,ate has never deferred the church
/ from making II. IL ls one recognition
| though a weak one-tbat absolute truth
| - uucLangoabie. and every religion and
| every church that claims &c have a final
! aud true revelation must Of course, clam
! 10 possess a knowledge Of that absolute
| which Spencer calls "unkuowable' Not
| one suC1 body could step forth body and
/ lay Eod on the great affirmation of to-day.
/ that the faith cf to-day y but the stepping
stone 20 the faith Of tomorrow. hat rev.
,lation D. not scaled; that truth - lIy.
! my thing, growing az We grow, that man
KIND - saved through perpetual cvo,G.
! tc1 from lower 10 higher. OF, IN other
words. by fulfilling one meted destiny q
becoming rCTieCt as the Father In Heaven
| - TcriCCt. Our business to-day s frankly
| % admit that the final revelation y yet
| iar of and that We have by no means
| found the "su-o.Ute' truth. The kn, V.-
! edge o. TO-DAY D. but 4 little section a that
| absolute. The thing for us 20 remember,
! and o. take courage from remembering. is
| that We are here 90 enlarge. nd that we
| are charging. that section Of knowledge.
! nave said that whatever religious q.
ClusIvcues- b. found 10 D. accompanied Dv
some KIND oi authority pufporttnT 20 guar.
antcC the peTmanenry and integrity 81 10
faith. The creed has been changed from
| its 0ugral meaning cfCdo. ! be.cve '-
| &C aD imperative "thOl shalt believe
| From feIng a simple statement o. an indI.
| yIdaai faith u has become a formal state
rr.H atf.v.. 81