The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-11-20
VOX POPULI
THE BELIEF OF
THE UNITARIANS.

Editor Pensacola Journal:
Your article on religion and poll
tics,' in which you show the DeFun-
lax Breeze that VIM. H. Taft is Uni
trian and not Catholic in his religious
belief, is well and good, except, per-
haps, little misleading when you
say that Unitarians do not believe in
the divinity of Jesus. And since the
names of such men as George Wash
ington, John Adams, Thomas Jeffer-
son, Benjamin Franklin, Horace Gree
ley, Daniel Webster, Abraham Lin
coln, j. Q. Adams, Willard Fillmore,
j. G. Calhoun, Emerson, Longfellow,
Lowell, Holmes, Bryant, Bancroft,
! Hawthorne, Whittier, Hale chaplain
of u s. senate), and Eliot president
of Harvard. might be placed in the
Unitarian column, the following con-
else statement of what Unitarians do
believe might be published in justice
10 them and to Mr.. Taft:
The name Unitarian is supposed
to have arisen to designate the be-
levers in the divine unity rather than
the trinity. That meaning still re-
mains, but has also unfolded into a
far larger one. The doctrine of the
divine unity now looks UNNECESSARILY
beyond the trinity TO the infinity OF
the oneness, through all places and
times and diversities, of that power
called God.
This unity is proclaimed not only
by theology, but through all modern
thought. History, science, evolution
all read it in the universal kinslip
of life and regularity OF law. Each
of the sciences, reports as the deepest
truth it has found. unity; all combine
to chant as the largest truth, unity
And religion hears this as another
psalm, Droclaiming more sublimely
the Unity of that God OF whom the
Hebrew seer sang ia Palestine and
uttermOst parts Of the sea, in morning
light and midnight darkness, in heav-
en- and hell. and whom the apostle
saw ''above all and through all and in
all. So abiding and infinite meaning
is in that divine unity from which the
UnitarianS are so fortunate as TO be
named
But this truth involves the prac-
teal lesson of religious unity. For,
If God is thus one and everywhere,
then his presence has halIowed not
tae Hebrew, but all nations; not only
the Christian, but all religions. Hence,
instead of a single Holy City and tenn
pie, Unitarianism sees every city holy
where just men dwell. every spot a
temple where they meet for worship
or work, all honest life a liturgy, all
love a sacrament Instead of & few
inspired writers. it sees all good lit
erature and speech inspired. and the
divine revelation ever --at!eir Eed
through human reason and conscience.
Instead of one sacred scripture, it sees
an infinite and endless Bible, reaching
from its Old Testament III nature to
its New Testament in man, from it's
Genesis in matter to its "Revela-
ton" in mind-a Bible wherein all
truth is, -the law" all human hopes
are ''the prophets" all good aspira-
tions are the psalms" and all love
a gospel telling of eternal life.
Nor have UnitaTians lost Christ
as a divine incarnation. They still see
him as a son of God and only add
his own saying that every peace-mai1-
er is another. and the apostles that
every one that loveth is begotten OF
God They still believe that God
dwelt in Jesus, and only add tae apos-
ties words that If We love one anOth-
er, God dWelleth in u.s. too. and that
whatsoever -dwelleth in love dwelleth
in God. and God in him UnitarianS
are often charged with denying the
divinity of Christ. Tney do not deny,
put declare IL They declare the di-
vinity of his lessons of love. the di-
vinity of the soul that felt them, the
divinity of the man who lived them.
But by the same principle they de-
clare the divinity Of that love every
where, the divinity of ali souls that
feel it, and of all the men who live
it, This is their theoiogy-that God
is love. and lived in the loving Jesus.
and lives in all love, and is worship
ped best by our love Of each other"
JOHN J. GIBSON.