The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-02-19
OLD EVANGELISM
IS PASSING AWAY
Such Is the Opinion Expressed by
Rev. Frank Fay Eddy in
Sermon.
MESSAGE OF UNITARIANS
HE TELLS WHAT CHURCH MAY
DO FOR HUMANITY.

''The Passing Of the Old Evangelist
was the subject OF the sermon of Rev.
Frank Fay Eddy at the services of the
First Unitarian society yesterday. Joseph
E. Poll sang the solo Queen of the
Earth" and the Misses Larson and Ma
han and Mr.. Poll sang a trio.
The world will not Outgrow evangel-
ism. We need the appeal to mysticism,
the rOusing of our emotions. The passing
of the old evangelism only means that the
ideas and conceptions it incorporates be-
long to former religious epoch and that
the manufactured excitement ana circus
methods are Outgrown. But because we
reject the old ideas and the old methods
we do thereby root out the eVangehStlc
impulse. We reject these because they
have become hindrances rather than
helps. The evangeliSttc impulse is primal
and instructive. 1t cannot be cast out Of
out natures. We are by nature eager TO
bear good news to our fellows.
Still, we must have clear ideas as to
what we are attempting or our evangel-
izing will accomplish little In the rel1-
giOus field this seems to me TO be the
great need of the present day. The old
time evangelist had a definite idea of
what he was attempting. His aim was
to save sinners by the grace or COO ana
the aid of Christ's redeeming blood, from
the influences of the devil and pros
pective hell to the influences of Christ
and prospective heaven.
SociaIistic EVangeIists.
In the field of economies we have to-
day the eVangeliStS of socialism They
know what they are aiming it and they
are making converts at a prodiglouc rate
But IN religion L am tlIled Win shame
to say we are apparently more capable
of criticism than action Even from the
lipS of orthodoxy comes Reputation or the
obsolete ideas of such old-taShioned evan
gelists who are still active, and the re.
Duke is richly deserved But what line OF
evangelism will replace it2
One thing seems sure; We must know
clearly what we are to try to save men
from and what we are trying TO save
thtem for. We Unitarians and other I'D
eral Christians have no right 10 criticize
our brethren of the evangelical denOml-
nations. They have not had time or op-
pOrtunity for readjustment yet. But we
have had time and we have the challenge
of a great opportunity.
speak 10 man as a growing and evolving
type If we cannot bid him read deVout-
" his Bible as verbally inspired, We can
point him to the wider scripture OF all
noble literature and great art, to ma
lures puIsing heart and humanity aspir-
ing, and bid him read as deeply and as
reverently as his capacity permits of an
endless volume.
Show a Noble Past.
IF we cannot point him to a Christ
dying on a cross to save him from his
will, we can show him the noble past OF
men with the long procession of race and
individual struggling vigorously 10 ere
ate an inheritance for him to use
If we cannot exhibit God to him as a
kind of larger man, listening to all MS
querulOuS petitions, we can Suggest 10
him aspects of the Infinite One as felt in
the sense of loving cOmpaniOnShip as seen
in all the manifold sequences of law and
mower in the universe. All this, and
more, lies in our gospel We should aim
to save man from SlOthfulneSS, Self1ShneSS
and degeneration: we should aim TO save
him for activity, love and growth. We
should try to link the present to all the
past and to all future.
'sThis is not the message of Unitarian
ism in any peculiar sense. 1t is the mes
sage of the modern era The spirit of a
new age is finding its voice, and evan
gelists of a new order are appearing in
every field of human endeavOr. In re-
ligion alone is there hesitancy and mac
ton Here we waver between attempting
to revive old traditions and trying to re-
build the habitation Of religion