The Penn's Grove record., 1904-02-26
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
SUBJECT WHAT ARE THE PERMA
NENT ELEMENTS OF RELlcloN2"
An Eloquent and Forceful Discourse by
the Rev. John NJ. Davidson-Man's In
terest in the Inca ation-A Striking
Thought About the "Diyinity of Man,

tartan Church, Flatbush, Sunday morning,
the pastor, the Rev. John NJ. Davidson,
preached on What Are the Permanent
Elements of Religion?" He said:
In this period of questioning, when old
structures of religious faith are being torn
down and new ones are taking their places,
when what seems the very foundation of
faith is being removed here and there to
make way for new material, it is well
worth bur while to ask the question that
Is consequent upon such a condition, What
elements. OF our religious faith are perma-
hent and are likely to resist the tendency
to change? 1t Is a question that is agitat-
ing more people than ever before in his
tory. We have been told that there is a
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 as great as it was when
almost the only educated men were min
listers. We who occupy the pulpits to-
day frankly recognize the fact that the
occupants of the pews are not only our
equals in intellect, but are capable Of Civ
ing us instruction IN many departments VI
thought wherein the minister of old time
was held to De supreme. TIL minister of
to-day must recognize his relatively
changed condition. He addresses minds
at least as well informed and as bright as
his own-and on many subjects more so.
And he Is woefully mistaken and unalert
if he does not welcome the change as an
advantage to himself and his work rather
than a detriment. Nevertheless, for the
time being; this condition tends to bring
down the church attendance figures and
to lessen the church's influence. 1t will
continue to do so until the church finds
men who are leaders lf not in intelleet)
in the effort for social amelioration. They
must be specialists and authorities in
their field, as the physicians and lawyers
are in medicine and Jurisprudence.
That the temporary falling off in the in
huence of the church as an institution ar
CUES for an indifference to religion l do
not believe. The church has not yet
learned its work. 1t is still delvipg in
t~heologies and philosophers, when men
are 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 by the spirit
of the scientific age. Until science and the
whole new method of thought that fol-
lows upon recent scientific discovery have
entered into and viviied theology and phil
osophy, they will cease to interest or in
huence man. They have no point of con-
luGO ~ IL ICANctC O0N AA~A -
terested in religion. This very question
ing and unrest proves it. Even the return
to paganism, as it has been called, that
trend, particularly noticeable in rural New
England, away from the formGlism OF the
church and back to nature, it not so
alarming as appears at first glance. We
are learning to see that, although for CEN
turtles we have called certain peoples "pa-
gans," thinking to give them a bad name
and so to avoid more tedious investigation
into the character of these same pagans,
we have much to learn about religion, and
we may not seldom sit with profit at the
feet of many a pagan prophet. Men are
asking whether, after all, a comparatively
small sect is right and all the rest wrong,
or whether there is not a bit of truth in
them all. They go further. They ask
now whether that truth may not make all
peoples free; they are wondering whether,
after all, salvation is to be found with one
and universal destruction with the other,
whether the Creator of all nations is like
" to make one of them His favorite. to
give that one a true and final revelation
and to withhold it from all others. Men
are going even further than this in their
questioning. They are putting the relig-
ions side by side for comparison. 1hey
are inquiring whether or not the truth
that is in one may not be found occasion
ally in another, and they are finding
through this comparative study OF reiig-
ions that, at bottom, all are alike. Great
areas of parallel beliefs and aspirations are
found making the claim of exclusive reve-
lation ridiculous. In fact, when it Is
found that every single form of religion
on the face OF the earth lays claim to an
exclusive revelation of some sort, and we
find that the term "heretic" is merely an
expression If one mans, or group of mems,
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.
The discoveries that we have made dur
ing the last century about the habits OF
life and the character of thought OF the
other half of the world, the scientific meth
DDS of investigation into the subject OF re-
ligion, it origin, rise and-often-its de-
cay, into religious hteratures, and among
them our own Bible, are broadening In
view, even while, and perhaps because,
they disturb our compiaceney. Religion IS
given a new interest. we find that we
Christians are not the only members OF
Gods family, and that there are others
who care for Him as much as we do and
whom He 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 as an
accomplished fact; even to ourselves, and
In MANI localities the old exclusiveness is
as jmnenetrable as ever 1T was IN the dark
ages. Universally; where religious exclu-
siveness is found it is accompanied, bred
and safeguarded by some form of claims to
final revelation or final authority for truth
some artificial guarantee that the doc
trine preached in that church in the be
ginning Is now and ever shall be preached
without change, world without end. That
such claim is manifestly impossible to sub
stantiate has never deferred the church
from making it. 1t is one recognition
though a weak one-that absolute truth
is Interchangeable, and every religion and
every church that claims to have a final
and true revelation must, of course, claim
to possess a knowledge of that absolute
which Spencer calls "unknowable. Not
one such body could step forth boldly and
lay hold on the great affirmation of to-day.
that the faith of to-day is but the stepping
stone to the faith of tomorrow; that rev
elation is not sealed; that truth is a liv-
ing thing, growing as we grow; that man
kind Is ) saved through perpetual evoiu-
ton from lower to higher, or, in other
words, by fulfilling Que melted destiny of
becoming perfect as the Father in Heaven
is perfect. Our business to-day is frankly
to admit that the final revelation is yet
far off and that we have by no means
found the absolute" truth. The knewl-
euSS OF tO-udy Is Out q ilCtie SecllOn OF lndl
absolute. The thing for us to remember,
and to take courage from remembering, is
that we are here to enlarge, md that we
are enlarging, that section Of knowledge.
l have said that whatever religious ex-
clusiveness is found it is accompanied by
some kind of authority purporting to guar
antee the permanency and integrity of it's
faith. The creed has been changed from
it's original meaning-"credo, l believe
to an imperative thou shalt believe"
From being a simple statement Of an indi-
vidual faith it has become a formal state
ment of a system of dogma to which all
who would be saved must subscribe. No
latitude is allowed for individual iater-
pretations or for the growth of religious
and theological conceptions. The aim is
simply to lay Gown a body of dogma that
embodies final truth, and a confession to
which tne whole world must subscribe re-
CARELESS of individual reason and unaf-
fected by the growth of knowledge and
moral consciousness The attempt has al
ways failed. There is no creed that holds
the same meaning for US to-day which it
held for mankind a century ago. If it is
not now actually changed in form. as in
the case IF a notable number, it is changed
IN content 40 fl,e mfnda Of its adharanfa