Los Angeles herald., 1909-05-17

II, rial Baptist church startled his
~ congregation yesterday morning
by d vehement declaration against
orthodoxy.
THE old-time foe of all progress" he
said, has been narrow, ignorant, self
sufficient bigoted, exclusive, intoler-
ant and ungenerous orthodoxy"
Several persons in the congregation
arose, and for moment it was unde-
cided whether they intended to protest
or to approve. until Rev. Edward H.
Brooks arose and strongly commended
Rev. Mr.. Pierce's assertion.
Preachers deliver too many SER
mons to those already indoctrinated
with their views" Rev. Mr. Pierce
continued. But changes are coming,
and coming rapidly. The serious as
pect of the question is, not how can we
save the church, but how can we
save mankind. The time has gone by
when we can put a big wall about the
| church and try to see how many we
| can fence out. Christian people must
cast aside old prejudices and acciden-
| tai differences"
When questioned about his sermon
| yesterday afternoon Rev. Mr.. Pierce
! reiterated his statements regarding
orthodoxy, and declared that the fate
| or the cnu1cn nlnBeu OH llS acceptance
OF the scientific method. His sermon
was, in part, as follows:
The Church In the New Era
Nothing is more fatal to life,
progress, development, then the belief
| we have arrived at the end of the
truth. If the church has reached its
limit and has nothing more to learn
and no more truth to discover then it
| is ready for the graveyard, and little
| else. People of the same opinions re-
peat their pet ideas till they lose their
effect. Preachers deliver too many SER
mons to those already indoctrinated
with their views, and we all fear too
much that we shall be called on to
listen to something we have never
heard before.
| But changes are coming, and COM
| ing fast. AS a lover of my kind, L am
| interested i'm knowing what is to be
the work and the place of the church
in the new era upon which we have
! already entered. The serious aspect of
| the question is not how can we save
| the church, but how can we save man
kind. Man was not made for the
church, but the church was made for
mankind, and we are interested in
knowing what church will best serve
humanity in the future.
lone thing is certain, and this is
that all who seek the advancement OF
| humanity must seek for a common
basis of action and service. The time
has gone by when we can put big
wall about the church and try to see
how many we can fence out, but we
must try to find out how many there
are who in one way or another are
contributing to the progress of human
ity and seek to cooperate with them
Points Out Danger
zone great danger of the past has
! been that good people have failed to
recognize their allies Christian peo-
! pie must cast aside old prejudices and
old accidental differences, and unite
even where there cannot be agreement
| in all things The old-time foe of all
progress has been narrow, ignorant,
| self-sufficient, bigoted, exclusive, intol-
: lerent and ungenerous orthodoxy.
1--WE must look on those about us:
we must listen to the messages OF
those who speak, not to pick flaws and
detect weaknesses, but to find out how
much of the truth they actually do
| possess even though they voice it in
| different terms and manifest it in
| different way than we would choose.
"As to what is to be done with the
! church in the new era, some Will say
| the church has fulfilled it's mission ana
| there is no longer any use Tor IL. There
seems to be constantly growing num-
ber who have apparently cast off the
church and its claims. Some say that
what the church did in the past we are
doing i'm a better way with other in
strumentalities Many of the doc
trines and creeds of the church and
much of it's religious philosophy they
cast overheard wholesale. The church
was once the school teacher; today we
educate principally in the public and
state schools Once the church did
the charitable work; now we do this
in a more general and systematic way.
| Once the church furnished the amuse-
| ment: now the theaters and concert
halls do this much better.
''In fact many say that about every
thing that the church did in the past
is now being achieved in better way
bv other means. We are passing out
of the realm of the authoritative and
the traditional into the scientific age.
Everything today must stand the test
of intellectual and rationalistic meth
ods The basis of authority is being
re-examined and in many cases found
wanting.
New System Demanded
"Now no doubt the Transforming
process has got to go a great deal far
ther than ii has gone. We cannot cast
off all that is old, but we must recog-
nize that the age demands much that
is new, The church itself will not go.
Nothing is so entrenched in human So
ciety as its religion, and the express
sion of that religion. There is moth
ing on earth that men would die for
today probably so unhesitatingly as
for their religion If they thought 1t was
to be taken from them The church
of the future must minister to the en-
tire man: it must harmonize all true