The farmer and mechanic., 1909-07-27
DR.. ELIOTS NEW RELIGION.

the promises of Christ is the sustain
ing power that cheers thousands Q
mankind and has been the suppor
and stay Of millions who have gon
into the other world cOmfOrted an
that nothing but the divine compass
sion of the Christ can impart.
The new religion that DR.. Elio
prophesies is to take the place Of tn
supernatural and have no deification'
is not new 1t is the same sort Of re-
ljeion that Culture offered in Greco
and Rome-a religion that will no
accept what the finite mind canno
measure or weight. It is born today
of the combination Of Materialism an,
the Culture that must bring Got
down to mans stature. The Materials
would like to believe that there i
nothing supernatural in religion, ant
that in no other world must maj
give an account Of the deeds done IL
the body To him the new religion
would appeal To the intellectual
man, who thinks the mind is greate
than the soul, it makes appeal be
cause he cannot understand the myS
terry Of the old religion, and he doe.
not like to admit he believes any
thing he cannot understand. This
type Of man who espouses the new
religion is unwilling to descend tc
the leve! Of the mere materia!ist Wht
would be glad to believe that there i
6,,fX hot no to hi fn
tunate neighbor. The intellectual MAI
sees a duty he must perform and h
advocates a religion that will 'strivt
to improve social and industrial con
ditions.' But. with most of them, the
'improving of social and industria
conditions must be done by writing
essays or some other method that does
not require contact with the poor anC
the degraded. Compare a priest O
the new religion who wishes to ''im
prove the social and industrial con
ditiOns' by writing and prOmulgatins
a man made religion with Jerry Ma
Cauley or Booth or the humber min
listers in the slums Of this country
and Europe, living with the neglected
Of the race and carrying them The
promises of Jesus Christ Or com
pare them with the thousands of mis-
sionaries, their hearts burning Will
the love OF the Risen Christ. goine
into the crowded and WretcheC
heather countries that those who
and be saved. Men who deny the
supernatural will often do generous
deeds and help their fellowmen with
unselfishness, but they have never
yet given the world a ministry to be
mentioned in the same breath with
the self-denial sacrifices of those who
have said Here / am, Lord. send me-
when they have heard His voice
and gone out without purse or scrip
to seek the lost No martyrs no mis-
sionaries, no men and women "who
count not their lives dear unto them
selves will be found in the New Re-
Hg1ons S ranks. 1t is Of the earth,
earthly, and though the men Of the
Eliot type are altruistic, there is no
constraining love Of Christ to call to
this highest service.
The so-called New Religion will not
thrive. 1t is not new in portions OF
New England. The Unitarians long
ago embraced the creed now enun-
ciated by DR.. Eliot They denied the
divinity Of Christ but their
priests have made no appeals
that reached the hearts of
mankind. Unitarian faith, embodying
the main creed now promulgated by
DR.. Eliot, has given the worlo a few
big men like DR.. Edward Everett Hale
and President Taft. But they were
great in spite of the circumscribed
faith of the creed that denies the
Vltalizing power Of the gospel. There