The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-09-25
.NEWFANCLED 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-
ninished by the discovery that the
new religion which he announces is,
in it's main tenets, fairly old relig-
ion, as Protestant sects co. and one
in which his son is minister. What
he offers as the religion of the futu .e
Is watered down Unitarianism, with
the addition, as one critic remarks,
of dash of Esculapianisn, i. e., the
cult of physical well-being. The fact
that the proposed scheme Of religious
thought resembles form of Unita4
ianism gives us a basis for gauging
DR.. Eliot's trustworthiness as pro-
ent situation in the intellectual Pro-
testant world is most favorable Us
Unitarianism. For men who have lost
belief in positive authoritative refIg-
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 ls
confessed by its friends that it has
failed. to grasp the situation. A NUM-
Der 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 suffi-
cient answer to say that Unitarianism
is contented to spread itself as :,
spirit, and is comparatively indiffer-
ent to success as religious organlza-
ton. If it were destined to be a
prominent factor in the religious flu
! ture of the race 1t would already have
developed along the lines both Of d.
ganization and of proselytism. Such
has always been the story Of domll-
ant ideas. In nature, flabby, undo
veloped organisms and lack Of fecun-
dity do not lead us to expect either
species. ,..s
/ 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,
which is ever downhill road. Those
who stay have too little confidence
| in the religious truths they have re-
tanned to be very active in propaga,-
! ing them. And most such men are
carried along by momentum further
/ down into agnosticism about religion
and lack of belief in the pefmanence
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 fuller religion than Unitarian
ism affords In an article written \
few years ago in the New York Re-
view, Mr.. Wilfrid Ward mentions what
he calls very curious experience
Of the most illustrious OF English UNI
tarians, DR.. James Martineau.
Mt on VII y
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 very singular expert
ence in consequence of the double in-
fluence which he thus exerted on his
disciples. He found some Of the men
whom he Influenced most deeply on
the ethical side, passing from their
early Unitarianism to an acceptance
OF the Incarnation. And he found
i 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
element in religion. In some cases
they appeared to lose all belief n
, Theism ITSELF
I DR.. Eliot's type of religion is not
stronger than Dr. Martineaus. 1t IS