Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-02-02
PREACHER SCORES
DR.. EL|OT'S CRITICS
Rev. Henry r. Rose Declares
They Condemn Book of Re-
Iigion Before Reading 1t.

REV. Henry r. Rose scored those
who criticised DIR. Eliot's ideas on re-
ligion in his sermon yesterday. He
preached on CDR Eliot's Twentieth
Century Christianity in the Church
of the Redeeiner. He said in part:
THE trouble with those who crtti-
cise>Dr. Eliot Is that they do not read
what he actually said about the re-
ligion Of the future They only take
a fragment and proceed to condemn
him for that. This great scholar has
tried to point out the direction in
which Christianity Is travelling and
where it is going to land when tine
three most powerful forces of modern
times are through with Transforming
it.
"Christianity today is in the hands
Of the spirit of democracy. inductive
science and human brotherhood. 1t
is undergoing very radical changes,
especially on American soil, and 1t
viii not be tomorrow what 1t was
yesterday. Democracy demands a re-
ligfon OF the people and by the people
and for the people and will, therefore,
do away with ecclesiastical authority
IL It seeks to be arbitrary. No
church can boss the American peo-
pie, and no church can secure money
from the State for its support. In
ductive science says that Christianity
must be studied like any other re-
ligion and 1t must make good its Claim
of being the best religion In the world.
Science finds out the essential and
eternal features of Christianity and
tells preachers and laymen they must
accept them and let the non-essentials
go. The younger Americans are in
terested in Christianity only so far as
they see that it is in harmony with
science and will do the world good.
Too many young men and women are
coming from our colleges, trained in
the scientific habit, to believe in
miracles. They knew that nothing
ever takes place contrary to law;
that God never suspends His laws for
anyone If we tell them that Chris
tianity is a religion of miracles they
draw away from 1t. They must be
assured that it is religion OF law
which means that we must drop the
magic and miracle from it and get
back to the ethics of Jesus.
"Dr. Eliot has given us the best
definition of God of any man of mod
ern times. The Creator is for mod
erp man sleepless, active energy
and will, which yesterday, today and
forever actuates all things, as the
human spirit actuates it's own body,
30 small and yet so inconceivably
complex, and yet with that definition
before them some critics have risen
up and said that DR. Eliot would
have us believe in God who was
only energy. Does he not distinctly
add the word 'will?' That means a
conscious God; a being with mind
and will: God with a purpose and
a goal but we naturally personify
God and the only word that helps
u5 to get close to Him Is Christ's word
Father We do not think of Him
as having a body but as having a
mind with the powers of knowing.
feeEng and willing. AS a Father God
Is made in our image and that means
that we can walk and talk with him
spiritually as we can with our earth
fy father physically. This makes
cof1radesfiip with God possible and
thinkable; prayer possible and rea-
sonable and makes religion love in
stead of fear. The American has lost
a king and monarch from the throne
of the universe but found Father in
this mansion and every mansion in
his many mansioned house!
This religion is not a new pagan
ism as it has been called. We
have no right to assume that
men and women are incapable of
thinking when we bring them COM
mon sense and incapable of behaving
themselves unless we stir their emo
tions powerfully and try to brighten
them into being good. The American
people are not fools, although they
have been too long treated as If they
were In religion. They have had SO
much common sense that thousan ds
of them have left the church unable
to sit under sermons that ran con-
trary to science and reason. They
viii come back II the pulpits can
show them that the Christianity they
are now preaching Is in harmony
with the teachings of the schools and
colleges and the idea of God as
Father instead of a King or Judge"