The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-09-25
.NEWFANGLED CULT OF
A NOTED UNITARIAN
Learned Catholic Divine
Contributes an Article on
the New Religion Broached
by the Venerable DR.. Eliot
of Harvard College to the
Catholic World and Argues
That Mankind Will Have a
Real Religion or None.

Real Religion or None.
The following abstract from an ar
ticle in the Catholic World by Rev.
Francis P. Duffy, D. D., on president
Eliot Among the Prophets" is worthy
of perusal:
At the outset, our confidence in DR..
Eliot as prophet is somewhat di-
minished by the discovery that the
new religion which he announces i::,
in it's main tenets, fairly old relig-
ion, as Protestant sects go, ana one
in which his son is minister. What
he offers as the religion of the futu :c
the addition, as one critic remarks,
of dash of Escuapianisnn, j. e., the
cult Of physical well-being. The fact
that the proposed scheme Of religious
thought resembles form of Unita.
| ianism gives us a basis for gaugins
DR.. Eliot's trustWorthiness as a rro-
phet. 1t would appear that the pres-
ent situation in the intellectual Pro-
testant world is most favorable to
Unitarianism. For men who have lost
belief in positive authoritative reIlg-
ion, yet are striving to retain some be-
lief in God with reverence for Christ
as a moral guide, it would seem to
offer an. inviting haven. Yet it le
confessed by it's friends that it has
failed to grasp the situation. A num-
ber of eminent and worthy men have
found satisfaction in it's simple creed;
but it shows no mark of being one OF
the world religions. 1t is no suff
cient answer to say that Untarianism
| is contented to spread itself as :,
spirit and is comparatively indffer-
ent to success as Il religious organlza-
tion. If it were destined to be (,
prominent factor in the religious flu
ture of the race it would already have
developed along the lines both Of .or-
ganization and of proselytism. Such
has always been the story Of domln-
ant ideas. In nature, flabby, unds.
veloped organisms and lack Of fecun-
dity do not lead us to expect either
the dominance or the permanence o:
species.
| The fact of the matter is that Uni
tarianism lacks the initial impulse of a
rising faith. There is not enough leav-
en- in it. Most of those who come 10
it reach it along the path of denial,
who stay have too little confidence
in the religious truths they have re-
/, ing them. And most such men are
! carried along by momentum further
down into agnosticism about religion
and lack of belief in the permanence
of moral ideals. On the other hand.
! if the element Of belief in them retain
/; it's hold, it is likely to lead them back
into a fuller religion than Unitarias-
ism affords. In an article written 4
few years ago in the New York Re-
view, Mr.. Wifrid Ward mentions what
he calls a very curious experience
of the most illustrious OF English Un1-
NV Tor, MOI
| His (Martineau's) deep spiritual
| ity-which has been compared to that
of such great mystics as Augustine
and a Kempis-was coupled with \
certain readiness on the intellectual
side to follow the speculations of The
biblical and historical critics of tha
extreme left Toward the end of his
life he had a very singular expert
ence in consequence of the double in-
fluance which he thus exerted on his
disciples. He found some Of the mcn
whom he Influenced most deeply on
the ethical side, passing from their
early Unitarianisnl to an acceptance
! Of the Incarnation And he found
! those who were most closely in SYM
! pathy with his destructive criticism
! losing more or less completely that
spiritual and mystical type which was
| in his eyes by far the most important
clement in religion. In some cases
they appeared to lose all belief II
Theism itself"
DR.. F.liot's type of religion is not
stronger than DR.. Martineau's. 1t Is