The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-01-10
Rev. DR.. Washington GLADDEN.

WASHINGTON GLADDEN. resi- ned last week as
pastor of the First Congregational church OF CO.
lumbus, Ohio, after passionate OF thlrty-one
years. 1t comes matter tor regret TO all
parties in the church that this stalwart and ef1l-
Gent man has been compelled by advanced age
to retire from active service IN the Chrlst1an
ministry.
He is best known to the people of the country
as a writer on labor questions. His utterances
on these burning topics have always been char
acterized by a sanity and lack of ejudice very
unusual But it is as an interpreter and expon-
ent of the New Theology that DR.. GLADDEN. will
live longest in the memory of his compatr1ots.
Very few have been able to make the abstruse
and difficult problems of theology clear and
easy of understanding as he has been able to do.
On his pages the New Theology stands out as
clear and distinct as the stars that he who
runs may read.
At the base of Dr. Gaddens Interpretation of
Christianity lies his conception of God. To him
the Deity is not situated in remote place be-
yond the stars, but is everywhere present One
of his favorite quotations has been Tennys0n's
verse:
Speak to Him, thou, for He hears;
Spirit with spirit meet:
Closer is He than breathing
Ard nearer than hands and feet
Complementary to this is his sister doctrine
Of the divine sonship of man. Dr. GLADDEN. holds
that man is by his very nature a child of God
and that the end and aim of life is so to live that
one will develop to the full these divine poten-
tialites.
Dr. GLADDEN. could find no chasm between
God and man; their natures, he holds, are iden-
teal Man is the finite side of God; God is the
infinite side Of man. Standing on this assump-
ton he believes that Jesus was unique manifes-
taton and incarnation Of Deity just because he
completely human.
Man. says the doctor, is free in deep sense
and holds his own destiny in his hands. Sin is
the deliberate choosing Of the low when the high
is possible. 1t cannot be inherited but it is Gre
ated by each individual It brings its own pun
istment The penalty of lying, he argues, is to
be liar; the penalty of mpurity is to be las
cvous. Man creates his own heavens and bells
and in the next world, as in this, and each will
go to his own place. In the future world as
here, AYERS the doctor, heaven will be inward
condition of character rather than locality.
To MIN the Bible is the record of an exper-
fence with God which men had centuries ago. In
that experience God revealed Himself to man
the Bible is not that revelation, it is the record
Of it.
The New Theology is the result OF applying
the methods of modern science to the interpreted
ton of religious experience. One of the secrets
of DR.. GladdenS strength has been his familiar
ity with modern science. His pages are filled
with excerpts and quotations from leaders in
biology physics, astronomy, etc; a perusal Of
his chapters fills one with desire to read these
masters for himself. In this way he has per
formed service to his generation by melting
them to study science
It is not for US to sit in judgment the New
Theology to say whether DR.. Gladdens is an
adequate Interpretation Of Christianity: that
does not come within the province of a neWSpa-
per But can unite with his wide circle OF
friends and admirers in extending to him that
praise which is due to every man, whatever his
theology may be, who is big enough to remain
sweet amid the heats Of controversy. brave
enough to speak the truth to them it most hurts
and wise enough to know that he shares with al
others liberal amount of human fallibility
lnsuring City Property
The board Of public works has made very
favorable impression on the community by the