The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-25
UNITARIAN PROTEST
AGAINST ORTHODOXY
Rev Newbert Discusses "Unita-
rianism as Thought Movement
and Religious Advance.
FACING \ REVOLUTION

At All Souls Unitarian Church yesterday
the Rev +. Z. Newbert gave the first of
two sermons upon "Unitarianism
Thought Movement and a Religious Ad-
vance" He said in part: The church
throughout history has feared reason; it has
feared SCIENCE it has feared a fact Dogma
has ruled the world. Intellectual progress
has been slow. but the stream of thought.
charging it flows. never turns back. And
were | asked to define Unitaranism. l
could do no better than TO point to the
worlds intellectual advance. Unitaranism
began as thought movement. Cool think
ers and educators led.s The new faith took
the form of thought. expressed itself in
literature. and had it's seat where ducation
| and intelligence were enthroned. 1t rightly
has taken rank as philosophy of religion.
! Its prophets have been widely read; English
and American literature has drunk at its
springs; philanthropy has gone to it for
aims. 1 make apology for the historic
Unitarian protest against orthodoxy. 1t had
its source in the best New England culture
of fifty and one hundred years ago. Mind
and heart arose in rebellion. The free spirit
| of man started for something better There
was a break with the mockery of form and
test against Calvinism has helped to clear a
| way i'm this fair world for the more glad
some journey of man It is something to
! have surveyed the celestial railroads and 10
have reported to an age of fear that
{ tracks lead to hell. 1t counts for much to
have sworn by the innocence of babyhood.
| to have built on the instincts of mother
hood. to have said love is sovereign i'm the
4 universe The CnI--infSu1 with which early
| Unitarians came into conflict had no ray of
! hope. no line of poetry. not a glimmer of
| beauty. 1t denied the humanity of the
| world. To-day the old Calvinistic despair
| gives way to hope A joy has come
! into life. Death is free from its worst fears.
Man can look into the blue sky and walk
| the earth conscious that above and around
him are benefcent nature forces. He sees
more clearly his origin and is able to medi-
/ tate his destiny from new vantage ground.
In all this change of attitude, largely con-
sequent upon the advent of science and the
new spirit of the age, Unitaranism has
played an important part And to-day it
| stands for the forces of intellect that are
emancirating the world from remaining
| fears.
RADICAL REVOLUTION.
To-day we are facing the most radical
the midst of the transition OF thought from
crude first beginnings. heritage of pre-
historic times. to something like scientific
conclusions. The old thinking for what it
is worth. with a motive, new point of
view. religion begins new era with
wealth of material for the grandest faith
the world has known. Myth cannot long
stand before science, nor legend before his
| 10
ends which gave rise to the body of Chris
tian belief are everywhere within the
realm of knowledge, meeting denial These
have no place in the present. They are
survivals OF darkened past Early man
is child in the lap of nature neither
knowing asking. \ later man more
| keenly feels the universe. He tries to ex-
| plain it, He sees the lightning play and
! hears the roll of the thunder BY night and
by day the heavens teach him the language
| of fear and hope. But this man does not
| know causes: he has no law. The next
| grand division is dualism More highly
| cultured man tries TO explain the universe
! on the assumption of two ruling wills Still
there is no law: science is many centuries
| away. Such was the crude philosophy,
! whether its source be Hebrew or Persian.
| which profoundly influenced Christian
thinking at the beginning of the Christian
| era, and which to-day fingers half forgotten
i'm many creeds. The atonement has it's
place in Christian mythology and pagan
| leRen0. II STANDS or rails with the old
| dualistic theory Of the universe. And
apart from the poor philosophy and bad
! science upon which it is erected. the atone
| ment is immoral 1t belongs to the brutal
! ages, and can have no real part i'm the
| ethical spendor of modern thinking Ii is
! a blot on any religious system which en-
bodies it. The atonement is immoral be-
| cause il would give something for moth
! ing. 1t is immoral because it is in opposi-
| ton to a fundamental moral law. 1t is
immoral because il provides an easy moral
| mai <oG of he
| 1t is immoral because ii would make one
man die for another. In the moral life
! every must die for himself. The in
dvidual soul must tread the wine press
alone But much of night is gone. The
| dawn is spreading fast. The great fears
| are behind. Ahead is promise. The old
dualistic world theory. which has worked
! so much harm, has been fought into it's
/ last ditch. and better thoughts of life and
man and God and the future take pos
! session of the human soul