The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-01-28
ANCIENT FAITH
is INADEQUATE
Religion Must Be Broad to Sat
ISfy Demands of Modern
knowledge.
UNITARIANISM is DEFINED
REV. L. G. WILSON LECTURES IN
SALT LAKE.

Rev L. G. Wilson. VINO Is one OF the
lecturers sent out by the American Unit
tartan association 10 do work along ed
ucatlonal lines to further the work of that
Dody. was the speaker at two services i'm
hitanan hall Yesterday Large congr,-
salons were present to listen to him and
were greatly. pleased with his masterlV
piTsel taton of the meaning and histor-
Ieal connections of Unitarianism Music
was furnished for both services nv T-nffs
quartette, the solo being taken in m
i illhg DN Mrs Bessie SpierS Brown
ing anu ir the evening BY Joseph Poll.
IN us morning address on The Future
81 Liberal Christianity" Mr. Wilson said.
m part, '''N'
There are thousands Of people TO-DAY
eSp;ecelaily among the men. who are not
Sesl'silSd With the popular Interpretations
or religion. and MANY of them are Ia
Uouot as 10 religion itself. so that the
Ii it question the man Of practical capa-
city asks is: Is religion itself necessa,,- ?.
some answer TO this question ms
SiNen before we can consider anv par
ucular interpretation OF it,"
An Uplifting Force.
Mr.. Wilson then went on 70 sbovc tba+
essential religion is force in human Ufe
IN the same sense that electricity is =
Iorce IN physical life and thai COM
munity that fails to encourage IL depep
crates. and individuals who fail 10 mr.
ture II gradually lose their svmpathefic
interest IN anything except their own per
so e9ii - WeiIare. The speaker then proceed
ca 70 explain the fundamental differences
between Unitarian Christianity and the
interpretations usually given
AS IN mathematics we have certain
aNl9matlc principles which cannot be de-
med, because they are seIf-evident tn the
human mind he said. "and as in uusic
we nave certain fundamental laws Of har-
mony that must be observed in order In
produce good music. SO in essenfiaT re
hglon there are certain laws which must
~, DS observed IA order to produce the right
These laws are not dependent upon any
ecclesiastical authority: they do nor ne
ceSSitate the acceptance OF any creed or
ceremony or sacrament. for they are
etSIhai forces which always have operat-
Ell ana always viii operate In human life
some OF these fundamental laws were
announced by Moses. some by Isaiah
some by Micah some by Jesus. some by
Paul and others by other great spiritual
leaders but none of them were created
by thought or power. It IS upon these
fundamental laws ana their observance
that the Unitarian church is based rath-
er than upon any Of the confessions or
creedS or ecclesiastical authorities OF
Christendom
In conclusion Mr. Wilson called atten-
llon 10 the Tact that the modern mind is
dissatisfied with small and petty and anti
Qudtcd beliefs about God and the future
OF the soul and said:
~ faith that was sufficient when the
earth was supposed to be flat and the sky
a solid crystal overhead is not sufficient
TO satisfy the demand OF modern knowI-
eage and Il ~ our great purpose To prop
agate 2 faith which is large and inclu-
siNe enough to cause human beings to
feel at home in Gods world without re-
sorting TO the mtolerable ideas OF an evil
deity. hell and a conception OF the uni
Verse which violates the present teachings
of geology biology and astronomy to
say nothing of common sense.
THE church which POUNDS itself upon
the simple and eternal laws OF the right
life cannot ultimately fail because the
trend of all human thought and OF all fu-
ture worship will be in its direction.
Historical Review.
The evening lecture was more in the
nature of an historical study i'm which the
history of Unitarianism and its present
organized strength was ably presented.
The origin Of Unitarianisn was referred
to as follows:
"Unitarianism in this country had its
beginning among the Puritan churches OF
New England. These churches were with
ont crcedS and their preachers gradually
disengaged themselves from the older the
illogical forms and formulas, and when ia
lS25 the system OF taxation for the sup
port of churches was abolished some Of
the Puritan churches adopted creed and
fixed themselves permanently 'OTthO-
dOX, while the remainder OF them clUng
TO the idea of no creed. These latter
churches being free to follow independent
lines of thought and investigation. be-
came Unitarian. and In 1875 they formed
association. Since.that time churches with
a similar line Of Independent thought and
freedom have sprung up in all parts Of
the country and have joined the associa-
ton
In defining Unitarianism Mr.. Wilson
said: "Unitariansm is a habit Of mind. Ii
consists far more in the way we have OF
looking at things than il does in the body
of the conclusions that we may reach
1T is generally supposed that Unfair
ianism consists Of a group Of beliefs about
God and the Bible and the personality of
Jesus and so forth but the views held
upon such matters generally by Unitar-
ians are rather the results of Unitarian
ism than the thing itself.
1--WE do not appeal TO any creed or other
external authority for the truth, but we
make the truth itself our authority. Uni
tarianism is movement to reach reality
in religion in the same way that the sci
enlist attempts TO find what is real and
true IN the natural world. All down
through the ages there have been men
who were governed by this habit of mind
and today count among our numbers
men who have had the greatest influence
i'm letters, in science, in statecraft, in
philanthropy and in every department OF
civilized life where truth and progress
have been sought"