GIFT OF tita atform offhritian A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY BY HENRY SAFFORD KING A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY BY HENRY SAFFORD KING DAVIS & BOND BOSTON : MASS. COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY HENRY SAFFORD KING All rights reserved THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDI- CATED TO MY MOTHER, TO WHOM FOR HER EXAMPLE OF CHRISTIAN LOVE I OWE A DEBT OF HOMAGE AND GRATITUDE THAT I CAN NEVER ADEQUATELY REPAY 468089 PREFACE Is the Bible authority? Is good more powerful than evil? These are the great questions of the age. On their correct answer depends the achievement of Christian unity. Many people who profess to believe the Bible, unconsciously reject it in daily life. Theoretically they accept its authority. Practically they deny it. And there are many who admit as a philosophical truism the assertion that good is more powerful than evil, and think in so doing that they are standing upon approved orthodox soil. But Christ's Christianity is not merely a philosophy. His Christianity came with power; and if it ever had power in the past, it has it now, and is able to retain it for ever. There- fore, the statement that good is more powerful than evil must be accepted if 9 10 PREFACE it is to have any force with all its im- plications. It must become recognized that good is divine substance, and that it is not merely morally superior to evil, and more legitimate, but intrinsically superior to evil ; that it is positive and self-existent, whereas evil is negative and not self- existent. Besides, it must be borne in mind that Protestantism stands or falls with the Bible, and the Bible cannot prove itself true. If the modern sciences challenge the truth of the Bible, then Christians must answer that challenge on the ground of the sciences' choosing. In short, the arena of religious conflict has shifted from the field of dogma to that of practical metaphysics. Those still leaning on dogma are out of touch with their age. They are supporting their systems of dogma. They are not supporting the Bible. But the Bible has its defenders. In this age thousands of Christians have answered the challenge of modern science. They have discovered the central truth of the PREFACE 1 1 scriptures; namely, that absolute good is more powerful than all evil. They have proved the truth of the Bible. They have restored its rightful authority. In doing this they have discovered the basis for Christian unity, and this dis- covery reveals the fact that all other ques- tions are secondary, are outer circles of this great central truth. This discovery has led to a movement for Christian unity that is already world- wide in its scope. It is drawing all nations into its current It is sweeping on. Are not those who stand aloof from this current cheating themselves of the in- spiration that flows from fellowship in a mighty movement? Are they not being left behind in the most significant event since the opening of the Christian era? Can Protestants afford to be content with their anomalous attitude toward the Bible? Can they be satisfied with an attempt to achieve mere church unity based on making a concession here, dropping a doctrine there? Will not such unity be merely 12 PREFACE external and their Christianity an emascu- late Christianity? Furthermore, are we not standing upon the threshold of an era in which the world is becoming a single community? And will not Christianity have to rise in true greatness and power to meet the demands of this era, or miserably fail in its mission? In the hope that a word might be said to bring home the issue to earnest people, the following lines were penned HENRY SAFFORD KING. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 15 I. Conflict of good and evil 21 II. Bible distinguishes between good and evil 23 III. Good denned 23 IV. Evil defined . 24 V. Superiority of good over evil 26 VI. Good eternally available 27 VII. Christian healing by divine Mind. ... 28 VIII. Mere healing no proof of Christianity 29 IX. The Bible the only documentary authority 30 X. Proof of authority of Bible is neces- sary 32 XI. Personal authority 33 XII. Personality not a factor . . 34 XIII. Spiritual individuality 36 XIV. Christianity an individual discovery. 38 XV. Christianity successful 39 XVI. Christianity to develop 40 XVII. Adding to the words of the book. ... 41 XVIII. Progress necessary 43 XIX. Need of self-sacrifice 44 XX. Intuition 45 13 14 TABLE OF CONTENTS XXI. True science 46 XXII. Reason and emotion 47 XXIII. God is Principle 48 XXIV. Nature, life, and law spiritual 49 XXV. Relative and absolute in Christianity 50 XXVI. Church and State 51 XXVII. Purpose of Christianity : . . . 52 XXVIII. The word heretic obsolete 53 XXIX. Christians can unite 55 XXX. " Come unto me" 57 INTRODUCTION The Bible is difficult to understand for several reasons. Among these the following may be mentioned : 1. It is the product of ancient times. 2. It is oriental. 3. It is a translation. 4. It is not one book, but many. . 5. It has a spiritual message. The first four difficulties may be lessened by bearing in mind that: (i) The ancient Hebrews had standards and conceptions very different from ours, and they did not express themselves as do we. The ancient Hebrews in many respects were very crude* Their scriptures were therefore addressed to a cruder civilization than ours. (2) . The orientals expressed themselves 15 1 6 * INTRODUCTION ancents. (4) The Bible is whole natio^Witemture. by means of an extensive symbolism, which was part of their idiom. In interpreting the Bible this symbolism must constantly be kept in mind. We must not make the mistake of inter- preting literally things that, to the oriental, had a symbolical meaning, or that repre- sented a type. On the other hand, great care should be exercised lest' the student fall into the habit of reading into the ancient accounts more than they intend to teach. Aside from its symbolism, the language of the Bible is usually simple and direct. The Bible is not subtle. Much of the Bible is to be interpreted literally. (3) The best translation of any litera- ture does not always succeed in reproduc- ing the exact flavor of the original. INTRODUCTION IJ Modern translations of the Bible have been of vast help to the student, but where difficult passages occur it is possible that the translator has been unable to catch the exact sense of the ~ original, which was no doubt perfectly obvious to the ancients. (4) The Bible is not one book, but a whole national literature. Its books may be likened to milestones in humanity's progress. But it cannot be maintained that every word of the Bible is inspired. On the other hand, inspiration is not to be regarded as abnormal. It does not involve a deus ex machina. Inspiration is partly illumination, partly discovery, partly logical reasoning. It involves aspiration, purity, consecra- tion, goodness, intelligence, intuition, cour- age. The Bible is the record of the struggle of the ancient Hebrews to discover, under- stand, and practise truth. Parts of the Bible are no longer necessary in the education of the human race. See 1 8 INTRODUCTION Deut. 18 : 15; Gal. 3 : 24-25; Heb. 7 : 1.9; Heb. 10 : 8-9. But its greatest messages have not been superseded. The Bible, in its highest teaching, is still authority, and will remain so until clearer views of truth than it gives have become the permanent possession of mankind. The fifth difficulty is overcome by spiritual interpretation. It is difficult to define spiritual interpre- tation, but if the spiritual message is the highest message, then spiritual interpreta- tion is that which traces the golden thread of the highest conceptions of the Bible, and shows their logical connection. Spiritual interpretation is like the soldier of fortune returning from the wars. He met an ancient woman who led him to a hollow tree. In the tree he found a room with a chest of copper money. After filling his pockets with this treasure, he went to another room, where he found a chest of silver. Throwing away his copper he laded himself with the more precious INTRODUCTION 1 9 metal. In the third room he found a chest of gold. Again he emptied his pockets, and filled them with all the gold he could carry away. The student of the Bible is like this soldier. He finds in the Bible various conceptions of God, man, and the church. Some of these conceptions are crude and primitive, corresponding to the crude and primitive state of the people to whom they were addressed. Other conceptions are the highest teach- ings that have been presented to the human mind. To have a logical system of thinking, the student must discard the copper; he must reject all teachings that do not har- monize with the highest concept. Both his premises and conclusions must be pure gold. Says Lessing: " To acknowledge a God, to seek to arrive at the highest conceptions of him, to take into consideration these highest conceptions in all our actions and thoughts, constitutes the most complete essence of all natural religion." A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY i CONFLICT OF GOOD AND EVIL* 1. The starting-point of all religion is the conflict of good and evil. 2. It furnishes the universal human problem. 3. If there were no belief in evil there would be no need of religion. 4. The essential function of a religion is to define and separate good and evil, and to solve the human problem. 5. The state which results from the solution of the problem is called salvation. * The reader is reminded at the outset that this book is not intended to be a textbook of Christian unity. - It is merely a primer, a "small book of ele- mentary principles" of this subject. 21 22 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 6. It means health, wholeness, holi- ness, satisfaction. 7. Salvation is on the side of good. 8. The method of attaining salvation is to destroy the belief in evil through the employment of an understanding of good. 9. The triumph of good is the solution of the human problem. 10. Elements of a religion that do not lend themselves to the solution of the problem are useless. 11. The more complicated and formal a religion becomes, the more useless it is. 12. The simpler and more direct a religion, the better. 13. That religion is the best which has the most propositions that can be used in destroying evil, and the fewest that cannot. 14. That religion should be adopted by mankind which fulfils its essential function : which furnishes correct definitions of good and evil, and shows mankind how to destroy evil with good, thus solving the human problem. A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 23 II THE BIBLE DISTINGUISHES BE- TWEEN GOOD AND EVIL 1. The Bible makes a sharp distinction between good and evil. 2. Good is never identical with evil. 3. Evil is never identical with good. 4. No good can proceed from evil. 5. No evil can proceed from good. 6. Good and evil are separate, dis- inct, mutually exclusive and repugnant. 7. The one cannot be used as a means of effecting the purposes of the other. 8. Good is constructive. 9. Evil is destructive. 10. Good is spiritual. 11. Evil is material. 12. Good is positive. 13. Evil is negative. Ill GOOD DEFINED i. Good is that which in blessing one blesses all. 24 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 2. Good is universal. 3. It cannot be monopolized. 4. It is not national, geographical, or denominational. 5. It has nothing to do with climate, temperament, or racial tradition. 6. It is fixed Principle. 7. It is changeless. 8. It is metaphysical: outside and beyond material brains and bodies. 9. It is the quality of divine Love. 10. It is very God of very God. 11. It is intelligence, Love, wisdom, strength, Soul, Life, Truth, law. 12. Good reflected by mankind is un- selfishness, generosity, kindness, mercy, patience, hospitality, forgiveness. 13. Everything is good that comes from God. IV EVIL DEFINED 1. Evil is the adversary. 2. It is all that resists good; the oppo- A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 25 site of good; the counterfeit of good; Satan. 3. Satan is not a personal devil. 4. He is " der Geist, der stets verneint." 5. A resisting state of consciousness to all that is good. 6. Self-love, hypocrisy, laziness are all adversaries. 7. Hatred of the spiritual idea is an adversary. 8. Envy, jealousy, hatred, subtlety, greed, false ambition all militate against spirituality. 9. Evil is the deceiver. 10. Evil disrupts, separates, destroys. 11. Evil produces confusion, division, disorder, chaos. 12. It engenders suspicion where there should be confidence. 13. Evil is everything that prevents the kingdom of heaven from being realized here and now. 14. Disease is an evil. 15. Death is an evil. 1 6. Evil challenges divine law. 26 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 17. It seeks to present an exception to God's law. 1 8. It would deceive the world into thinking that life and satisfaction are material instead of spiritual. 19 Evil is that which, in satisfying one, harms another. 20. Evil is not of God. 21. Evil cannot be said to have real, independent existence. 22. From God's standpoint evil does not exist. 23. Evil's only existence is in the mortal consciousness. V SUPERIORITY OF GOOD OVER EVIL 1. The central teaching of Christianity is the superiority of the power of good over evil. 2. Good can destroy evil, but evil can- not destroy good. 3. It is only through the understanding and practice of this truth that salyation may be attained. A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 27 4. The Bible in the Old Testament confidently promises that good is more powerful than evil. 5. But only in the New Testament do we have full proof of this fact! 6. Christianity was successful as long as in healing the sick and raising the dead it proved by practice the superior power of good over evil. 7. Christianity was a failure when it had ceased to prove and only preached. 8. Christianity is not merely a. pallia- tive to be applied to evil conditions. 9. The means of attaining salvation is the absolute destruction of evil in in- dividual human consciousness. VI GOOD ETERNALLY AVAILABLE 1. Good is eternally available. 2. It may appear or reappear at any time. 3. There is no limit to the universal availability of good in human experience. 28 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 4. Nothing shall hinder the pure in heart in any age from apprehending and utilizing good. 5. Christian healing is a logical corol- lary of the availability of good and the superiority of good over every form of evil. VII CHRISTIAN HEALING BY DIVINE MIND 1. Christian healing is a manifestation of the power of divine Mind in human affairs. 2. It is the operation of good in human consciousness. 3. It is based on divine law. 4. It destroys evil. 5. Just as the Bible distinguishes sharply between good and evil, so it draws the line between right healing and wrong healing. 6. Right healing is one of the safe- guards of religion. A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 29 7. It acknowledges good God as the only power. 8. Healing by the power of divine Mind by the power of good over evil, by the perfect idea of divine Mind is right healing. 9. By right healing no one can be harmed, because spiritual healing is the operation of the power of good in human consciousness, and in this power of good there is no element of destruction or harm. 10. If God is not the power in Christian healing, no mortal has ever yet been able to say what is the power. VIII MERE HEALING NO PROOF OF CHRISTIANITY 1. Mere healing is no proof of Chris- tianity. 2. The human mind is not a healer, 3. Emotion is not a healer. 4. Blind faith is not a healer. 5. Religious ecstasy is not a healer. 3O A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 6. Hypnotism is not a healer. 7. Personal magnetism is not a healer. 8. Suggestion in no way enters into Christian healing. 9. Hypnotism is not good. 10. Suggestion is not good. 11. Human will is not good. 12. The exercise of hypnotism, sugges- tion, or human will is not the practice of Christianity. '13. Hypnotism is the control of one will or personality by another. 14. This is not a demonstration of the superiority of good over evil, or of the overcoming of evil with good. 15. It is merely brute warfare. IX THE BIBLE THE ONLY DOCUMEN- TARY AUTHORITY lo The Bible is. the documentary authority of Christendom. 2. No other " tradition" is authority. 3. Historic Christianity is not authority. A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 3! 4. The Darwinian theory and material sciences are not authority. 5. The Christianity of the Bible raised the race to the highest level it has ever reached. 6. It should be the aim of Christians in this age to reach that level and exceed it. 7. If the Bible-teaching could elevate the race to such a high level of living once, it can do it again. 8. Philosophy has failed to do it. 9. Art has failed to do it. 10. Natural science has failed to do it. 11. Historic Christianity has failed to do it. 12. Historic Christianity has not been based solely on the Bible. 13. To recover the Christianity of the Bible, all outside authorities must be rejected. 14. With the exception of portions of the Old Testament and a few of the New, the Bible has not been outgrown. Cf. I. Cor. ii : 13. 15. It is still the teacher of the race, and 32 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY it will continue so to be until the race has been lifted nearer its spiritual level; until the race understands its truths and has made them its own; until the race is able to practise those truths without the help of its reminders. 1 6. The Bible is authority because it is true; because it has the clearest state- ments of the truth. X PROOF OF AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE IS NECESSARY 1. Merely to assert that the Bible is authority is "fatuous. 2. Merely to believe that the Bible is authority is not sufficient. 3. Many people reject its authority,, 4. They refuse to admit its truth. 5. They sneer at its inspiration. 6. Therefore pious profession alone will not sustain the authority of the Bible. 7. Neither will the keenest dialectic logic uphold its truth. A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UN.ITY 33 8. You cannot prove intellectually that the Bible is true. 9. The Bible teaches the truth about life. 10. Therefore the only proof of the Bible's truth and authority is in terms of human life. 11. If the truth of the Bible is under- stood, it can be practised and proved in actual human conditions. 12. A single proof in actual living con- ditions annihilates a thousand arguments in intellectual combat. 13. That religion deserves the most considerate hearing whose practice proves that the Bible is true. XI PERSONAL AUTHORITY 1. Personal authority is a matter of spiritual attainment. 2. It is not a matter of mystic succes- sion, of laying on of hands, or of taking orders. 34 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 3. Authority is not material. 4 It is not external. 5. Only he who correctly understands the definitions of good and evil, and is able to prove in the laboratory of actual human experience that good is more powerful than evil has authority to teach. 6. The more a person understands of divine good, the more humble he becomes, and the less liable to abuse his authority. 7. The greatest authority will always be associated with the greatest humility. 8. This humility cannot be feigned. XII PERSONALITY NOT A FACTOR 1. Personality is not a factor in Chris- tian activity. 2. Jesus said: "Of myself I can do nothing." 3. This "myself" was his personality. 4. Personality is a will-o'-the-wisp. 5. It is "man that is born of woman." 6. It is of the earth earthy. A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 35 7. It is subject to passions and caprice. 8. It is not the image and likeness of God. 9. There is no good in personality. 10. There is no power in personality. 11. This generation has been misled by psychology into a worship of personality. 12. Psychology is not divinely inspired and has failed to distinguish the material personality from the spiritual individuality. 13. Material personality has a somewhat similar relation to spiritual individuality that the law had to Christianity. 14. Jesus said of this relation: "I came not to destroy but to fulfil." 15. Paul said: "Not that we should be unclothed, but clothed upon." 1 6. It was Jesus' spiritual individuality, not his material personality, that healed and taught. 17. The significance of Jesus' life is that his material personality was perfectly in tune with his spiritual individuality. 1 8. His personality was always the servant, the instrument, the agent. 36 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 19. It always acted in obedience to individuality. 20. It never attracted attention to itself. 21. However, personality is not to be stultified. 22. Personality must become enriched by becoming the servant of individuality. 23. It must be corrected and trans- formed by individuality until it disappears and the individuality alone has full scope. XIII SPIRITUAL INDIVIDUALITY 1. The spiritual individuality is the expression and reflection of God's intelli- gence and power. 2. It is the one legitimate factor in Christian work. 3. It is God's image and likeness. 4. It is obedient only to divine Prin- ciple. 5. It is good. 6. It is perfect. 7. It is normal. A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 37 8. It is subject to the law of God. 9. Because God lives, spiritual in- dividuality lives. 10. But spiritual individuality is not God. 11. It merely expresses, reflects God. 12. It does what God does except create. 13. God is the thinker, spiritual in- dividuality the thought. 14. Since God, the Creator, is un- limited in power, intelligence, and good- ness, man in his spiritual individuality is also unlimited in power, intelligence, and goodness. 15. This power, intelligence, and good- ness are never underived from God. 1 6. They are never in brains and bodies. 17. They are eternally expressions of God's spiritual life. 1 8. The spiritual individuality is eternal. 19. It has individual existence. 20. It has unlimited freedom in God's unlimited freedom. 21. It is free to obey divine law. 38 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 22. It has dominion since God has dominion. 23. Jesus said of his spiritual individ- uality, "I and my Father are one." XIV CHRISTIANITY AN INDIVIDUAL DISCOVERY 1. Christianity is an individual dis- covery. 2. The letter introduces Christianity to the world, but individuals do not really discover Christianity for themselves until they get the spirit of it; until they are able to commune intelligently with God; until they are in harmony with God's law; until they become humble and pure; until they perceive the inherent power of good over evil, and are able to prove it by destroying evil in themselves and others. 3. I may accept Christianity as a system of thinking; I may subject my reason to its system of ideas ; but I have never really made that system of ideas my own until I A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 39 have actually practised them in daily life. 4. It is no great distinction to subject my reason to the propositions of Chris- tianity. 5. I am not necessarily a better man for assenting intellectually to its logic. 6. I actually establish my claim to being a Christian when by practice I identify myself with its program; when I do right whether any one is looking or not; when I throw myself heart and soul into the con- flict with evil, and really accomplish some- thing towards the destruction of evil. XV CHRISTIANITY SUCCESSFUL 1. Christ's Christianity is a success. 2 . It pays for itself because it arouses the gratitude of its beneficiaries. 3. If Christianity has ever failed, it was historic Christianity, the Christianity of creeds, councils, policies, and intrigues; it was not Christ's Christianity. 4O A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 4. There is no reason why a true system of thinking and a genuine remedy for the ills of mankind should have to seek en- dowments for its maintenance. 5. Christians should expect of Christ's Christianity that it be a success. 6. They should expect that Christ's followers be able to support themselves. 7. If a religionist cannot prove in actual human experience that good is more power- ful than evil he has no right to support from the community. 8. If a religionist can prove the power of good over evil to the extent of destroying evil, he has a right to depend upon that ability for obtaining his livelihood. 9. The community has no right to de- prive him of this means of support. XVI CHRISTIANITY TO DEVELOP I. Jesus had more, faith in the truth he taught than had his subsequent followers. A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 4! 2. He believed that the truth would be so universally understood that his own achievements would be surpassed.. 3. He placed no limit on the develop- ment of Christianity and the revelation of God to human consciousness. 4. He prophesied that Christianity would fill the earth and destroy all evil. 5. Christians should always expect and look for: clearer definitions of good and evil; further revelations of truth; greater proofs of the power of good over evil - than have been. XVII ADDING TO THE WORDS OF THE BOOK 1. Commentaries may be useful in elucidating the Bible. 2. Commentaries on the Bible and their prominent use in Christian activity are not necessarily " adding" unto the words of the book. 42 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 3. But it certainly is an act of "adding" to the words of the book, or " taking away" from them, to advance any teaching: a. that minimizes the healing ministry of Christianity; b. that denies the power of good over every form of evil; c. that makes good evil and evil good; d. that sets up ''traditions" instead of the Bible as authority; e. that in any way denies the authority of the Bible; /. that substitutes the dead letter for the spirit of Christianity; g. that claims Biblical authority for "healing" by will-power, suggestion, per- sonal magnetism, or hypnotism, instead of by the divine Mind alone; h. that condones evil or postpones its destruction ; i . that in any way makes of none effect the direct applicability of Christianity as a solution for all human woe; j. that in any way obfuscates the eternality of the order proclaimed by A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 43 the Bible of the operation of good in human experience. XVIII PROGRESS NECESSARY 1. A progressive attitude is necessary for the discovery of truth and the attain- ment of salvation. 2. Belief in the Lord Jesus Christ is not merely a supine assent to some creedal or doctrinal definition. 3. Belief in the Lord Jesus Christ is full and active acknowledgment of his teach- ing and practice. 4. His teaching was that good is more powerful than evil. 5. His practice proved his teaching. 6. The truth of his teaching is not avail- able through vicarious atonement. 7. It is available only through individual employment. 8. No one can really believe in Jesus Christ without employing practically the Master's method. 44 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY XIX NEED O'F SELF-SACRIFICE 1. Great sacrifices will have to be made in order to recover Christ's Christianity. 2. Personal leadership must be re- nounced and rebuked. 3. The Christ must be the one Master and the Bible the one teacher and authority. 4. Professions of Christian faith will have to give way to the Christ ideal of teaching by example and proof. 5. Much courage and heroism will be required in the process of sloughing off the old and putting on the new. 6. Willingness to sacrifice position for an idea is what this age demands. 7. Modesty must become a habit. 8. Humility must be a fixed attitude of mind. 9. Personal views must be sacrificed upon the altar of universal Christianity. 10. We must be great enough to let personality step down from the pulpit, off the platform, out of the chancel, that A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 45 humility may accept a practical per- haps obscure task. 11. We may be intelligent, but we must also be great. 12. Greatness is willing to serve in obscurity, or wait until God's plans have matured. 13. The man whom God calls need have no anxiety. 14. He can afford to bide his time. 15. In God's plan there is no haste; neither is there any delay. 1 6. When the man is morally and spirit- ually mature, his work will lie at his feet. XX INTUITION 1. Intuition must be respected as a factor in the discovery and practice of truth. 2. Woman is highly gifted with the in- tuitive faculty. 3. Therefore the place of woman in the work of attaining Christian unity will be great. 46 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 4. Revelation and inspiration also have their place in the economy of Christian activity. 5. Reason and revelation should be combined in order to discover and practise Christianity. 6. The method of the laboratory is not out of place in Christianity. 7. Christianity is scientific. 8. Careful observation, deduction, and classification are necessary. 9. Reason and demonstration test the gleanings of intuition, 10. But the place cf intuition must not be minimized in the future as it has been in the past. XXI TRUE SCIENCE 1. True Science is the demonstrable knowledge of absolute good. 2. To deny that good can be known is to deny that there is any true Science. 3. There is no mysticism in the Science of good. A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 47 4. It is as definite as the science of mathematics. 5. .It does not rest upon guess-work or blind faith, but upon the perception of good, the ability to separate good from evil, and the ability to see the impotence and nothingness of evil. XXII REASON AND EMOTION 1. Both reason and emotion have their place in religion. 2. But extreme sentimentality and emotionalism have no place in religion. 3. Cold, unfeeling intellect has no place in religion. 4. Reason is analytical and static. 5. It should be warmed and moved by the impulsion of true spiritual emotion. 6. Emotion should be held in check by reason. 7. In this way the balance of the human qualities may be maintained. 8. Only Christ Jesus of all men in 48 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY history exemplified the perfect bal- ance. 9. Our aim should be to express the true emotion of divine Love and the perfect order of divine Mind. 10. God's man is perfect. 11. Therefore he has perfect balance. XXIII GOD IS PRINCIPLE 1. God may properly be called Principle. 2. God is unchanging good. 3. God is eternally consistent. 4. Because God is eternally and con- sistently good, he is. the Father of all law. 5. God is also First Cause. 6. Therefore God is the Principle of the universe, creating and conditioning all. 7. God is also Spirit, Mind, Love. 8. God is a conscious Being. 9. Calling this Spirit, Mind, Love, this conscious Being, Principle, does not render him cold and lifeless. 10. It simply brings to the consciousness A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 49 of the religionist God's capacity as sole Cause, his quality of unchanging good. 11. A new definition does not change God. 12. It does not necessarily set up an idol. 13. But it may reveal more of his nature to us. 14. The Bible promises more revelation. 15. Then we must become reconciled to new definitions. 1 6. It is divine Principle that is the power in Christian healing. XXIV NATURE, LIFE, AND LAW SPIRITUAL 1. Nature, life, and law are spiritual. 2. They are not material. 3. They are the emanations of God's universe. 4. God's universe is spiritual. 5. Nature, life, and law must be like their Maker. 50 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 6. Is God all? 7. What is reality? 8. Is matter a part of God's creation? 9. Has it any part in the economy of God's universe? 10. These questions are not new to philosophy. 11. But historic Christianity has never thoroughly grappled with them. 12. Christianity will never be able to present a solid front to evil while it be- lieves in the divinity or reality of matter. 13. Christians must answer all questions from the standpoint of Principle, from the standpoint of God's infinite and eternally consistent perfection. 14. Only in this way can we live up to Lessing's definition of the essence of all religion. XXV RELATIVE AND ABSOLUTE IN CHRISTIANITY I. There are two sets of teaching in the Bible: the absolute and the relative. A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 5! 2. The relative prepares the way for the absolute. 3. The relative is never final. 4. The absolute is always final. 5. In the Old Testament much of the law was relative. 6. But the truth Jesus taught was absolute. 7. The absolute is the real. XXVI CHURCH AND STATE 1. The State is free. 2. The Church is free. 3. The one shall serve the other. 4. But neither shall be the master or the slave of the other. 5. They shall not be bound together. 6. The State shall make fair and im- partial laws which guarantee freedom and justice to all. 7. The Church shall uphold the State. 8. The ideal State is the Christian democracy. 52 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 9. The ideal Church is democratic Christianity. XXVII PURPOSE OF CHRISTIANITY 1. The sole purpose of Christianity is to do good. 2. True Christianity is not a political institution. 3. The only relation of true Christianity to politics is to endeavor to purify them and make them a channel for the overcom- ing of evil with good. 4. True Christianity has nothing to do with worldly pomp and splendor. 5. It has no desire to coerce or injure "heretics" and unbelievers. 6. It has no purpose to gather all into one fold as an end in itself. 7. If Christians do unite in one fold, it will be incidental to their becoming con- vinced that Christianity is able to realize its purpose to serve the race. 8. The eternal purpose of Christianity is to overcome evil with good. A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 53 XXVIII THE WORD HERETIC OBSOLETE 1. All men are involved in the human problem. 2. All are confronted with the necessity of choosing between good and evil. 3. Christianity has the solution for every ill that flesh is heir to. 4. It is not the province of Christianity to force anyone to accept the solution. 5. Therefore there is no such thing as a heretic. 6. The disposition to use the term pre- supposes an attitude that is inimical to Christian unity. 7. If Christians had been more Christ- like in the past, if they had proved the efficacy of Christianity by removing evil from human experience, there would have been fewer persons willing to be called "heretics," and the world would have been a happier place to dwell in. 8. Jesus was a gentleman. 54 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 9. It behooves his followers to be gentle- men. 10. If more ''Christians" had been gentlemen in the past there would be fewer divisions to-day. ii/ Jesus had a great tolerance for honesty of purpose and conviction. 12. He was loving and kind to those who differed with him. 13. He was even loving and kind to the wayward and disobedient. 14. It was the hypocrites for whom he showed no mercy. 15. His treatment of them was most severe. 16. They "added" or "took away" from the words of the book of life by sub- verting its simple and direct teaching. 17. They made the words of the book of none effect. 18. But the hypocrites were not "here- tics." 19. The hypocrites were ostensibly the "orthodox." 20. The "heretics" are usually sincere. A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 55 21. When they are sincere seekers of truth, they are the " little ones," whom Jesus warns against "offending." 22. Calling them heretics does not prove to them the power of Christianity. 23. It does not safeguard Christianity. 24. It is liable to give them a wrong conception of Christianity. 25. It may postpone their discovery of truth. 26. This is indeed an " offense" to them. 27. The word heretic should become obsolete. XXIX CHRISTIANS CAN UNITE 1. Christians can unite. 2. They can unite on definition. 3. They can unite on practice. 4. They can unite on method. 5. They can unite on form and organiza- tion. 6. But their definitions, practice, method, form, and organization must be essential, practical, necessary, and direct. 56 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 7. They must be essential, practical, necessary, and direct in the service of the central function of religion. 8. They must all conduce to the de- struction of evil with good. 9. Christians will never unite on dog- ma, on subtle philosophy, and fine-spun theories. 10. They will unite only upon essen- tials. 1 1 . They will unite only upon the basis of a truth that is useful to the entire race. 12. The first step toward unity is to realize that there is a basis upon which Christians can unite: namely, the central teaching of Christianity, that good is more powerful than evil. 13. The second step is to seek the religion that is best practising this truth, that is best organized to serve humanity in solving the human problem. 14. The third step is to be willing to unite. 15. The fourth step is to unite. A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 57 XXX "COME UNTO ME" 1. "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 2. These words are among the sub- limest ever spoken. 3. They were uttered by the greatest Gentleman who ever lived. 4. They breathe His gentle manner of making converts. 5. They contain no pompous boast. 6. They appeal to no traditions. 7. Neither do they say, "Away with the heretics." 8. They do not say, "Go." 9. They say, "Come." 10. But that is not all. 11. Jesus made a promise. 12. And he was able to fulfil that promise. 13. "Come unto me . . . and I will give you rest." 14. Jesus understood so well the power 58 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY of good over evil that He was able to satisfy restless humanity. 15. And He did not discriminate. 1 6. His invitation was to all: to rich and poor, high and low "all ye that labor." 17. Is not this text at once an inspira- tion and a warning to the zealots who would favor Christian unity if the world would come to them, adopt their way of thinking ? 1 8. What does it mean to say, Come unto me? 19. Does it not mean, Think as I think?" Come into my state of consciousness? Agree with me? 20. And what justification have we for asking others to think as we think? 21. Can we give them rest? 22. Is our teaching, is our organization, is our practice adapted to meet the needs of all mankind? 23. Can it solve the universal human problem? 24. Many ardent church members them- selves have no rest. A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY 59 25. They are not satisfied. 26. Their own problems remain un- solved. 27. If their religion does not meet the needs of those within its gates, how can it hope to help those without? 28. And what is it to have rest? 29. Is it not to be free from pride, envy, jealousy, ambition, greed, hatred, and all false appetite? 30. Is it not to understand and practise the power of good over evil? . 31. Is it not a progressive awakening in His likeness? 32. If we are able to quote and practise the compassionate words of Jesus, "all ye that labor," we cannot discriminate be- tween the " orthodox" and the "heretic." 33. We are forced to face the human problem, with which all, all are wrestl- ing. 34. If we are as compassionate as Jesus, then we are just as solicitous about the peace and joy and health and salvation ,of those who differ with us in religious belief 60 A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN UNITY as about those who have assented to our way of thinking. 35. "Come unto me . . . and / will give you rest." 36. The "I" that can give rest is not the miserable personality of anybody, with its opinions, foibles, and finite beliefs. 37. The only "I" that can give rest is the ever-present Christ; and the gentle activity of the Christ-spirit is breathed upon the minds of mortals through their direct reliance uopn the word of God ; also through the loving ministration of in- dividuals who rely utterly upon the word of God; of individuals who have been instructed in a correct system of teaching; who have lost much of self ; whose spiritual individuality has ascendancy over the material personality ; individuals who have seen a vision of the ever-present Christ; who can prove by their mental and spiritual practice that good is more powerful than evil even to the utter destruction of evil; who can prove that Christianity is true and is humanity's helper. A PLATFORM OF CHRISTIAN . VJNYTY 6 1 38. Will Christians unite? 39. The teaching is ready, the organiza- tion is ready, the workers are ready. 40. They are ready to serve a united Christendom. 41. They are saying virtually: "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 42. They are virtually saying this, be- cause they already are giving rest. 43. They are solving the human problem. 44. They are proving the truth of the Bible. 45. Will the Churches unite? 46. The churches, the organizations, the hierarchies probably will not yet. 47. They are apparently too crystal- lized, too irreconcilable. 48. Will Christians unite? 49. Yes. They already are uniting on the platform outlined on the foregoing pages. 50. "Can ye not discern the signs of the times?" UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY, BERKELEY THIS BOOK IS DUE ON T|HE LAST DATE r^' $ * DAMPED BELOW * Books not returned on time are subject to a fine of 50c per volume after the third day overdue, increasing to $1.00 per volume after the sixth day. Books not in demand may be renewed if application is made before expiration of loan period. Ill AUG 17 1925 lylord Bros. Makers practise, N. V. ' PAi. JAN, 21, 1908 ID 4880 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY