The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-12-23
LYMAN ABBOTT
EXPLAINS POSITION
SAYS Harvard Sermon Contained
Nothing He Has Not Said Re,
peatedIy in Other Forms.
GIVES HIS CONCEPTION Of GOD
Believes in One Eternal Undcrly.
ing Cause as Truly Op"ratiE"
To-Day as 1t Was the
First Day.
E~ErrBLlc SPECIAL

EErrBLrc SPECIAL.
New York. Dec. en- answer to . 20
quest for fuller information concerning
his famous Harvard sermon. Doctor Ly-
man Abbott issued to-day tho following
statement.
"Your request for Information respect
ing the sermon delivered by ne Sunday
evening. Dec, mber Is. in Appleton chapel.
Harvard University, IS received. The ser
mon WAS not written. 1t was delivered.
as all ny addresses arc. oXt"mDoraue-
ousIy. Its theme was. Til" Divine Pres
cncc:' it, object to awaken in IN" cons"t-
business Of the congregation the sense II
that presence Of God which is the fnuu-
dalton OF religion and the inspiration Of
life.
1T contained nothing which I have not
been saying IN one form or another in
spoken word and printed page for years
past. and thu substance ~ it might all be
found. though in a different form. in my
latest volume, Tie Great Companion Il
followed along the lines 81 IN address de-
liyered at Des Moines before the National
Congregational Council. October 70. 1901.
This address was taken down ~stou0Gfaphi-
ca!ly. and it Is on the steHosraphic report
of that address that I depend in rcproduc-
ing here what I said at Harvard on the
two subjects which have provoked criti-
cism-thc personality Of God and the lii
vinitv of Christ.
CONCEPTION or GOD.
The conception OF God as i great First
Cause. who. ages ago set in motion certain
secondary causes which control the world
and with which he iuterfares from time 20
tim" as e~NiSoucy may require. T. giving
place to a conception of one great eternal
undertaking "lJS". as truly operative to-
day as he WAS in that first day when the
morning stars sang together: every tidy Is
Il truly creative day. .
This IS I'll. conclusion to Which science
has been leading. is expressed in the
words Of Herbert Spencer. VINO. though
not a great philosopher. is 4 great in
terpreter of the scientific thought Of his
time: We are ever in the presence of an
Infinite and Eternal Energy. from watch
all things are produced. This Eternal En-
crgy is NOT absent from To, universe. It is
in the unlvcrs". We are ever IN its pres
enCe. 1t is not many energies. 1t i one
Energy. Science has du. a grave ami
buried in il. beyond possibility OF resGr-
This Energy is an int.lli-eu, Energy.
The relations Of the physical world are
intellectual relations. Science do not Gre
ate them. It discovers them. Science thinks
IipH thoughts OF 'rtl stIl'I mini
While science has thus been leading ts
TO see Cos in physical nature. philosophy
has been leading US to see God in all the
events Of history.
the same as DarwIulsru. is the doCtrin.
that the worlds progress * from a lower
TO a higher stage. from II simple to q
more complex condition. Thus history il
or the story Of great lives; 1t is the philo-
sophicai unfolding Of a great Development.
the end and issue of which is the king
dom of God on the earth.
GOD IN HISTORY.
Matthew Arnold was not an orthodox
believer. but he has stated his fundamental
doctrine in the sentence. There is a power
not ourselves. which makes for righteous
ness This power Is as manifest to-day
i'll the worlds history "a 1t was 2.oOr or
more years ago in the history nf pilnS-
tine. And any power making for right
uosneSS must be 4 righteous power and
righteousness can be prCGiCatCd only OF a
personal God. God is present in human
history: this is the testimony OF philos-
ophy as God is present in physical phe-
ncrnena.
But has this Cod any relation TO the
individual 50 that W. can have some con-
seriousness Of him ana some connection
with him? Or is there an invisible curtain
between the soul and this power in nature.
this righteous director of history?
'Literatur" IS the Interpreter of life. and
to literature We turn for an answer to
this question. And this answer is given to
us by the great poets. and by no one
more clearly and beautifully than by Ten
nySon:
Speak to him. thou. for he hears. and spirit
with spirit can meet.
Closer is he than breathing, and nearer than
hands or feet.
'The notion of n humaHiZed God sitting !
in the center Cf the universe. ruling things.
is gone. and in The place or this, science
has brought us back this: We are ever in
the presence of the Infinite: and history
has brought us back this: There Is a
power. not ourselves. that makes for
righteousness and literature has brought
us back this:
Spirit with spirit can meet:
Closer is he than breathing, nearer than hands
or feet.
DIVINE PRESENCE.
we are in the presence OF the great
divine personality. What We mean by per
is this: The infinite and eternal
energy from which all things proceed is +,
an energy that thinks. that feels. that our |
poses and does and is thinking. and feel |
ing and purposing and doing as Il conscious
life. Of which ours is but a poor ami |
broken reflection.
Tho image which in my childhood 1
formed OF God as a great king sitting upon 1
q .2Ie2t white thrQpe Yas really n idol