H EW ^FORMATION. BR 115 .S6 N4 1890 ^ ot » IM*. £^> PRINCETON, N. J. ^i&jenfa/ /u BR 115 .S6 N4 1890 The new reformation 1! Shelf. i The New Reformation A LAY SERMON By Prognostic Published by The Author Address: New York P. O. Copyright by J. VAN BUREN. 1890. All Rights Reserved. To Unhappy and Oppressed Humanity Everywhere is Dedicated this little Volume, and Any Possible Service by its Author. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, 1 thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes." " Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the king- dom of heaven." " For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have where- with to complete it." " So, therefore, whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." " A man had two sons ; and he came to the first and said, ' Son, go work to-day in the vineyard ;' And he answered and said, " I will not ;' but afterward he repented himself and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, ' I go sir;' and went not. Whether of the twain did the will of his father." "Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that sayeth unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." " All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them." " Except your righteousness abound more than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall surely not enter into the kingdom of heaven." " But thou when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." " Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth laborers into his harvest." PREFACE. When Jesus gave thanks that certain things had been concealed from the learned and were revealed to others, he evidently, by babes, did not mean persons with imperfect or immature minds, but doubtless, those who were prone to reason from first principles as distinguished from those who relied for wisdom on much acquiring of the ideas of others. The following pages are not offered as an orac- ular deliverance on the subjects treated, but are expected, rather, to stimulate and influence thought by a suggestion of obvious facts and inferences such as seem to have a vital bearing on current beliefs and the march of events. <^PW ************************************ l he New Reformation GOD AND HUMANITY. The article with the above caption from the pen of the popular author of Robert Elsmere, together with the later discussion of Agnostic Criticism, by Doctor Wace and Professor Huxley, have attracted world-wide attention. The reason for this is ap- parent, since there are no questions so nearly affect- ing each one of the unnumbered millions of the earth's inhabitants as these : What is God ? What will He have me to do? While the distinguished disputants have cer- tainly handled the subject with great professional skill and ability, there is an apparent disposition to 8 THE NEW REFORMATION. form nice distinctions — a manifest attempt to nar- row the subject — which is not conducive to a can- did consideration of the whole vital matter. If, however, the learned professor and the astute nov- elist have presented their whole case, it is rather a matter of surprise that a sect with such a wide noto- riety should not rest on a more substantial basis. To know that authors of such known ability have written lengthy arguments, founded on their convictions against any belief, is to feel that some such belief, of more or less stability, is in danger, and we approach the perusal of their arguments with some degree of trepidation, which, however, rapidly disappears as we read, and discover only the old doubts of the old and new German critics, many of whose conclusions are now being scout- ed, first by their cotemporaries, and later by them- selves. While there is doubtless much truth in the as- sertion of Professor Huxley, that the English theo- logians refuse to give to the German discoveries THE NEW REFORMATION. due weight, that claim is easily balanced by the German avidity for something on which to hinge a doubt. It is the writer's opinion that a belief in a Su- preme Being that is a religious belief, should not rest on the researches of certain learned men — that in this matter of all others, each human being of accountability should think for himself, se- lect his own premises, and arrive at his own con- clusions regardless of the superior intelligence or research of any one. While it is true that Professor Huxley assures us that in order to understand agnoticism, it is quite necessary to have a complete knowledge of history, philosophy and physical science, the inducement offered is not sufficient compensation for the labor involved. Most of us have neither time, inclina- tion, brains or erudition to delve among the ancient Greek and Roman authorities in order to form a correct judgment as to the authenticity of certain ancient manuscripts. Neither will it do to follow IO THE NEW REFORMATION. the careful and learned critic, for while he may be able to fully convince us to-day of the truth of his deductions, his successors of the next century may make a discovery that will annihilate his establish- ed convictions, to which we have pinned our faith or unbelief. A more pertinent inquiry than this is: Does the simple story of the gospel itself, taken as an entity and alone — apart from all preconceived no- tions, and explanations and commentaries which have been so long received and believed, if not as a part, at least of equal authority with the gospel, and of- ten taught instead of it — do these simple statements then of doctrine and duty, commend themselves to my individual judgment as the truth; and do not the doctrines of the gospel supply the only rational theory of man's existence in the universe; and the only rule of life that is at all consistent with what we know of life itself— of humanity and that other greater existence through which humanity has and maintains being; and does not the history of its THE NEW REFORMATION. II transmission to us down the ages, indicate that it is the object of more than human origin and care ? It is therefore with a purpose of taking a prac- tical, common-sense — at the same time brief and comprehensive view of this whole important subject, that the writer has ventured to offer the following thoughts, in the hope that some one may be in some measure assisted to a correct conclusion, who is now halting in the midst of a diversity of creeds and beliefs. There will be no attempt to make an exhaustive argument in defense of Christianity, or even to prove the facts stated, but rather to offer suggestions which are self evident, or which lead directly to thoughts or information within reach of all, which are useful in weighing these matters. Within the last five years the thinking world has been mightily stirred by a few master spirits on the subject of man's relation to God and to his fel- low man. These do no not hesitate to predict a mighty revolution, some in religion, some in social institutions in the near future of the world's history. 12 THE NEW REFORMATION. Looking from different standpoints, and all agree- ing as to the necessity for reform, they differ as to the cause, the agent and the result of this upheaval; and there is certainly much in each, that, after thoughtfully sifting, we are constrained to reject. They are called fanatics by the wise men of our day — mr formally and without hesitation. Yet these savants are not a little disturbed by the reflection that each step in the advance from darkness into light, every important movement which has led to the uplifting of the human race to a higher plane of life, has been inaugurated by some one whom the wise men of his day placed in the same category. Tak- ing the revelations of Jesus as a basis and adding to these the best indications of the times, without presuming to meddle with dates, we ought to profit by a thoughtful consideration of what are recog- nized as facts in plain sight. Let us see then if there is not some ground on which we can stand in common with even our ag- nostic brethren. I think we all aQ-ree tnat there is THE NEW REFORMATION. 13 a God. This is amply attested by the horror de- picted on each agnostic page when called infidel, as with holy hands uplifted they disclaim the title. Having agreed thus far — What is God ? Undoubt- edly a Being with attributes beyond human con- ception, but from what we know His power and wisdom and goodness transcend anything human or earthly in such great degree that we are not able to make a comparison between the divine and human attributes that is at all intelligible, or that is received by the race with any degree of unanimity. Now there is, as stated, a vast expanse of differ- ence between the known attributes of God and those of man. This expanse the human race is now tra- versing, and has been for ages, in the direction of God. The progress attained in that direction de- pends largely on the assistance rendered by the greater power to the less ; by the divine to the hu- man. This assistance is always available when the conditions are complied with, and in proportion as these concessions are made by the human, so is the 14 THE NEW REFORMATION. assistance furnished by the divine. The advance- ment toward Godlike power and wisdom, and good- ness is in exact proportion to the amount of inspir- ation supplied by the divine to the human, and this is regulated by the extent to which the human is able to utilize certain elements of the divine nature; and this ability is commensurate with the belief of the human in the power and willingness of the di- vine, to supply this assistance, as well as complete submission to the divine will, and various degrees of this power, and wisdom, and goodness are evi- denced by the different nations of the earth, and their progress God ward for the past ages, except where the gospel has not been heard ; there the progress has not been realized. The advancement made, has under the most favorable conditions, been insignificant compared to the possibilities under a complete regime of Christianity, under which the doctrines of Jesus in their purity would be practiced by all the human race or any considerable contigu- ous portion of it. *&, •&!*. **to. ^t a, cio a»£. *g& At£- *g& £h.£lk f ability and not on account of any consideration for his neighbor. It is by for the most comprehensive, simple and thoughtful of all the schemes for the solution of the social enigma. And now, having briefly considered what has been planned, let us look at what has been done. Henry George's teachings have found disciples all over the country, and being first in the field of social reform have made such progress that they held a general convention in New York, September '&4 THE NEW REFORMATION. i st, for the purpose of national organization. As- sembled in Cooper Union were delegates to the number of four hundred and twenty, representing thirty-three states and the District of Columbia. It is not their purpose at this time to establish a single tax party, but they seem to rely on what can be done without such action. In fact, there is a lurking suspicion in certain quarters that Henry George has not proven himself equal, as a practical leader of men, to the working out of the theories he presents with so much ability. His ultimatum .as reported in the daily press at that time was : " Single tax and free trade are the cure for the dis- satisfaction existing between capital and labor." The seed sown by Bellamy took first root in Massachusetts and California, and there are now five hundred clubs of various degrees of strength in twenty-seven states. The organs are in Boston :and Los Angeles; and while a perusal of these periodicals is apt to disclose a vast amount of im- practical theory and numberless wild plans and sug- THE NEW REFORMATION. 65 gestions in direct contrast to the volume that made these publications possible, yet it also inspires a feeling that a wide spread movement is brewing, embracing within its scope many of the elements of national popularity only as yet in swaddling clothes, from whence, declare our wise men and statesmen it will never emerge. This, however, is not a foregone conclusion, but is yet to be deter- mined. With the advent of its third year the Boston Nationalist Magazine takes on a more practical as- pect, and being enlarged and otherwise improved, approaches more nearly the character of the great vehicles for the dissemination of the advanced thought of the world, which have grown to such magnificent proportions in our metropolis. A significant feature of the contents of these publications is that reflecting the sentiments of the leading newspapers and the utterances of represen- tative churchmen and statesmen of our day who cannot be charged with partisanism of any sort. 66 THE NEW REFORMATION. These are not unqualified approvals of national- ism, but temperate statements of facts in regard to existent social evils and abuses for which the exist- ing political organizations afford no remedy ; and the fact is we have made a long stride in the direc- tion of curing these evils when we have admitted their existence, and begun to search earnestly for a remedy. They have not as yet perfected a national organ- ization or made any concerted effort, or apparent- ly any sort of effort to obtain or assume political power, and viewed as a popular movement, its pro- gress is still insignificant. Americans are so dis- trustful of wild theorists, who, under the guise of reform, propose startling, impractical and destruc- tive innovations on the established social order that they are prone to stand aloof from all that looks suspicious. Bellamy himself is calmly confident of the result as witness the closing sentences of his reply to M. De Laveleye, in the July Contemporary Mag- THE NEW REFORMATION. 67 azine, of London, a periodical of world-wide circu- lation : " Unless humanity be destined to pass under some at present inconceivable form of des- potism, there is but one issue possible, The world and everything that is in it will, ere long, be recog- nized as the common property of all, and be under- taken and administered for the equal benefit of all. Nationalism is a plan for establishing and carrying on such an administration." The daily papers are wont to come to us these autumnal mornings, freighted each day with the complaints of some body of the sovereign people who have organized for protection against what they conceive to be the oppression of capital ; these in- clude almost every variety of skilled and unskilled labor in the cities and towns, and in this broad country of ours, we are seldom without a strike of more or less magnitude among these citizens to se- cure some right which they believe has been ap- propriated by their employers. Their leaders are not always the wisest among them, and their up- 68 THE NEW REFORMATION. rising does not always accomplish its object ; for although the general cause of discontent is the same, the protests come singly and instead of a general engagement all along the line, the contest assumes the form of a desultory skirmish among the outposts, while capital has learned that only in concerted ac- tion is safety; so that when employers organize, they now do so by combining the great bulk of capital employed in one branch of industry in the nation, and their alliance is not solely against the workmen, but against the whole world outside their combination. An organization apparently led by wiser coun- sels than these workmen, and the only one repre- senting both capital and labor in the same individual is the Farmers' Alliance. This powerful and pop- ular movement immediately invaded the domain of politics, and is beginning already to inspire gloomy forebodings among the politicians, as it promises to prove a factor in national politics and even threatens to hold the balance of power in the THE NEW REFORMATION. 69 coming House of Representatives. It has also suggested a new phase of politics in the Solid South — with a governor or two in sight in the very hot- beds of secession — in which region and the west it is strongest, though it is proposed to take the whole country in its scope. Even the astute and versatile Chauncey Depew thought it worth his while the other day, to tender some valuable advice about organization to the farmers of his state ; but these men in their race for wealth and power having sown the wind, are likely to reap the whirlwind in the ultimate dissipation of their power. The Alliance is fully organized in twenty-two states, and they have two million names on their rolls. Their com- plaint against the general government is that "its financial policy is peculiarly adapted to further the interests of the speculative class, at the expense and to the detriment of the productive class." They begin with a demand for a law providing a sub-treasury in each county in the nation where each farmer may deposit his total product of cotton, 7