PRACTICAL RELIGION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18340, 2 September 1921, Page 6

PRACTICAL RELIGION

ADDRESS BY THE REV. ROSALIND LEE. The Rev. Rosalind Lee, Unitarian lady minister, from Enland, addressed a meeting of those interested in tlie Unitarian form of faith in the Early Settlers’ Hall last evening, the chair* being occupied by Mr S. Angel. In introducing Miss Lee, the Chairman, commenting on the smallness of the attendance, remarked that ho hoped it was only the forerunner of larger and enthusiastic meetings. He also introduced to the meeting Miss Hargrove, who is travelling with Miss Lee, and who is an ardent Unitarian. Miss Lee, in speaking on the subject of “ Practical Religion for To-day,” said that the Unitarian movement, which represented to her mind essentially the practical religion for the present time, did not constitute a now church. For nearly a hundred years there had been an association of Unitarians in London, and one in the United States, with its headquarters in Boston. The main principles stof Unitarianism were as old as Christianity itself, and last century had done much to bring Unitarian theology - to the fore. The knowledge and experience gained during this period pointed to; its peculiar fitness for man at his present stage of development. It had been well said that while theologies were many religion was one. Two things must strike the intelligent man to-day: First, the number of new movements in religion; and, second, the large number of men and women outside the churches altogether. Both these pointed to the conclusion that the theology of many of the churches did not satisfy the mind of the present day. No honest man could for long make himself believe what his mind did not accept as tame. Either the development of the religious side of his nature must' be abandoned or his beliefs must be brought into harmony with facta as known to-dav, and the first of these alternatives would he a disaster for society and for the individual. Religion was the vital need of to-day, and the question was: Could theology be brought into harmony with modern knowledge? The Unitarians believed it could. Broadly speaking, Christian theology was based on the fall of man and with it the doctrine of original sin, and this had led to a demand for some doctrine of redemption with the alternative of eternal punishment. The rise of man carried with it no such requirement. Science taught that man was still in the making. Man still felt, as did the most primitive savage, a dependence on some mysterious power not his own. The Agnostics of the nineteenth century deserved our gratitude for emphasising the mystery of our relation to this power; that was our religion. History had also taught us much. It had taught us the extraordinary} similarity of the ideas of different nations in different ages, and the almost, universal prevalence ol the religious attitude. A wider know- 1 ledge of history gave us a better sense of proportion. Scientific study of documents revealed the fact that the Bible was not cue but many books, and that in the Old Testament we read of the story of the long development of a people. Their early history, like that of all races, was vague and indefinite, and carried down to posterity in the form of stories of heroes. Gradually it became more distinctly chronological, and occasionally there flashed out the lights of great moral leaders, culminating in the greatest of the Jewish prophets, Jesus Christ. A small portion of the New Testament was the fragmentary record, probably at second or third hand, of the life of this Prophet, and the rest told of the efforts of His followers to form societies based on their ideas of His teaching and influenced by other ideas of the time. One ■of the principal ideas was that of personal salvation. The civilised world was suffering from disillusionment, "and individuals sought for consolation in various cults which promised some kind of personal salvation. These were traces of an attempt to make Christianity a cult of this kind. In this way there grew up what might be called a theological Christ in contrast to the prophet Jesus of Nazareth. But, while modern knowledge must profoundly change our ideas about man, about tho Bible, and about Christ, the fundamental elements of religion remained: (1) The power at the heart of the universe which we called God ; (2) man’s ‘consciousness of that power. As man developed his ideas about God developed, too, but few would claim that they could express their relationship to God in any higher way than that taught by Jesus Himself in the Lord’s Prayer, which implied the Brotherhood of Man. Man might be made conscious of God in various ways, but most certainly through his conscience. Though men had interpreted the voice of conscience differently, and some more sensitive than others to its commands, in nearly all men there existed some sense of duty. It was true there were some who tried to explain the sense of duty without reference to God. Many of these had lived noble lives and had been very faithful to their own sense of duty, but to them was denied the highest joy of willing self-surrender to the authority of God, the loving obedience of children to their father. If religion was for everyday life, surely the practice of true brotherhood inspired by a faith in a loving Heavenly Father was essentially the practical religion for to-day. During the evening Miss Simpson sang a solo, and at the conclusion of the address Miss Lee received a hearty vote of thanks.