The Penn's Grove record., 1904-02-26

this world in order to grow. We are not
universally interested in speculatlons about
Nirvana, or about a~tonements, or %Jout
the survival of the ~fittest," nor IN the
discussion as to the proper aim, whether
for happiness or virtue. Perhaps every
one is interested in one OF another OF
these means to the end, but we are all IN
terested in the characterization for the
human race. 1t is a universal longing. IL
is one of the permanent things Of religion
Then mankind has been universally IN
terested in another thing-the incarnatioD-
Ever since man became man and learned
that there was a power outside OF himself
to which he was bound, he has thought Of
this power as IN some way entering into
and becoming the guiding power Of some
object of the visible world. At first It
was a mere stick or stone, a tree OF river
or wild beast that was the chosen dwelling
place of deity. Then in good time the feei-
ing grew that none but man would make a
suitable habitation for the Creator; so we
hear of the Greek heroes, descendants OF
the gods" of Druidic and Delphic oraeles
and OF prophets in all lands whose speech
was controlled in an especial way By Deity.
We hear of a perfect incarnation Of Deity
in Buddha, born Of a virgin, with his d.
vim parentage attested by miracles OF va
rious kinds, and teaching that there are
man incarnations similar to his own,
that whenever the world has advanced to
a condition IN which its needs are different
from the old, God incarnates Himself in a :
mortal who thereupon becomes a great
leader and prophet. Our minds, of course,
now revert to another incarnation, that Of
God in Jesus, who also taught that there
are many inearDations; who prayed that
His disciples might be one with God as He
Himself was one with Him. And again we
see the tendency of men to obscure the
great truth by the particular example The
truth which has most obviously appealed
to men is the incarnation Of God in a sin
gle man, or, formerly, in a class of men,
as prophets OF priests. The truth Of that
endures, and that has been pointed out
by Jesus and all the greatest leaders Of
men is that of perpetual and universal IN
carnation. God has breathed the breath Of
life and has lit the spark of divinity in
mankind, for we are His children, made in
His moral image, inheritors of His divinity
because we are natural sons and heirs.
This is the tremendous fact toward which
the world is cropping. 1t explains the now
proven fact that m~ankind's trend is up
ward rather than downward. 1t gives US
the courage for going on, for keeping mp
the struggle when to our restricted yieFs
the obstacles seem insupeFable. 1t COM
pels US to believe that this world Is found
ed upon good, that the good is Fastening
III tONdLQ 4A1inOIldilys While evil 10 Hcli
destruction. IL Gods in His heaven"
Gods in His world as well, the gaarantor
Of its fundamental integrity, the inspIrer
of every good thing in the heart of man.
Do you not see how intimately connected
are the two ideas, the incarnation of God
and the divinity of man? Both ideas are
everywhere %reeurrent in the theoIogies Of
the world, though their particular express
sion in one faith is utterly different from
fhof IN onCthar an1 - - The I1He-ouno -
the isolated expressions of the truth that
keeps men apart. The permanent thing,
the larger truth must wait upon our fur
Their enlightenment and broadening of view
before it can bring us together. We are
learning, it is true. The existence of an
unwonted spirit of liberation and unity in
religion, the modern armation of the
universally of spirit shows that we are
catching some glimpses OF the larger truth
that hes behind our i~ncarnations and
atonements, our t~heophanies and o~racles,
our Buddhas and Jesus of past time. II
we had heard the real message OF Jesus and
the prophets and poets we should long ago
have discovered this truth. To be a man
is to be a descendant of God, to be a de-
scendant Of God is to be His prophet, His
Incarnation, the inheritor of His divinitFs
lethis is the larger permanent truth, one
which is prepared for By SveE relsgioQa
that the world has ever known.
After having agreed that to do right Is
the end of conduct, can we not take each
other by the hand in the fellowship of that
profession, even though we may differ as
to the adoption of means to that ends IF
we all recognize the fact that the salvation
of humanity is the permanent object Of all
religious effort, then our various methods
of attaining salvation win soon take their
proper places as subordinate elements OF
faith and variable according as the needs
of men vary. The creed then win be not
a Shibboleth by which to save one and 60
exclude another, but a covenant Of kindred
minds bent upon a common object and
drawn together by the natural sympathy
of similar beliefs. Religion viii be no
longer made up of religlons-some false,
some true-but will be recognized as fun
damentally a unit wherever man has lifted
up his head and called ON the power that
is above him. We shall see that the essen
tial elements of religion are not the differ
ences that divide, they are the permanent
and fundamental things upos which all
forms of religion are founded, and which,
if we but let them, will unite men in the
sympathy of Common aspirations and in
spirations.