The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-06-20
PRES. HADLEY SAYS THIS IS
 AGE OF FAITH
Would Have Yale Seniors Exer. else Intelligent Judgment in
 Forming Ideas of God

New Haven, June 20-President Ar thur T. Hadley told the seniors of Yale University. in his !. .baecalaureate ser mon in woolsey Hall yesterday that they must exercise an intelligent pri- vate judgment in forming their ideas of God. He said that the present was an age of faith in God and man, and warned the members of the graduating class against the increased chances of error which he said had come with in- creased liberty.
 Thank God. gentlemen. said Presi- dent Hadley, that you are born into an age of faith, and into a land of faith. Many good people will tell you that this Is an age when faith has de- has lost its belief in the things which are most necessary to its life here and hereafter. This is a wrong view.
 We have lost faith in some things, but we have gained faith in others; and the faiths that we have gained are greater in number and importance and inspiration than the faiths that we have lost. We have lost faith in signs and portents and supernatural manifestations of power. in certain dogmas and formulas once supposed to be essential to salvation. We have gained in @their place faith in man, faith in law. faith in the truths of nature, and faith in the God of jus tice
 We must not, indeed, disregard the feelings and prejudiees of those who were brought up in the older faith by unnecessary denial of their premises or disregard of their observances; but we may thank God that our faith rests On surer foundation then the com rleteness of the evidence for this or bot IL ticity of this or that Scriptural pas sage.
 ''But do we see straight? Do we face things as they are? I wish I could think that the world today is as sound of head as it is of heart. The among OUT good men is Intelligence.
 There are several classes of mis- takes to which the present age is es- pecially subject. Our faith in man may lead us into an easy-gOing toler- ance which is neither intelligent nor Christian. Our faith in society may lead us to countenance the mistakes, if not the excesses. of Socialism. Our faith in science may be carried to the point of scientific bigotry. Our faith that God is fighting on the side of right may blind us to the responsibili- ties that we ourselves have in that fight.
 There is no field-I say it reverent- ly-in which it IS so necessary to com bine intelligence with faith as in our idea of God. In former years we were bound down by creeds which described in detail Gods attributes and Gods wishes. You accepted Him as He was pictured in those creeds or you reject ed Him altogether. Today we try to judge for ourselves regarding Gods attributes and Gods wishes Of all responsibilities which go with the ex- ercise of private judgment. this is the greatest.
 You call your God the God of jus tice: see to it that your faith takes such shape that you could worship Him only by doing justice. You call your God the God of love: see to it that your faith is so shaped as to make yCu give love instead of merely trying to receive it. You call Him the God of battles; see that your trust in Him is an inspiration to you to take your part in the battles both with courage and with intelligence