1931: A Glance at the Twentieth Century — John Shaqi
1931: A Glance at the Twentieth CenturyHartshorne, Henry
Science
1931: A Glance at the Twentieth Century
Hartshorne, Henry
Prophecies; Twentieth century -- Forecasts; Utopias
The World's Young Men's Christian Association now counts more than two
million members. Its annual conventions meet alternately at
Philadelphia, San Francisco, New Orleans, Washington, London, Rome,
Constantinople, Jerusalem, Calcutta, Melbourne, and Tokio. Women's
Christian Associations number, in the aggregate, almost as many members.
On New Year's day, 1932, a union prayer meeting of all nations is to
convene under the dome of St. Peter's at Rome. It will be continued
daily for two weeks. At least ten languages will be used by those there
assembled for united worship.
* * * * *
At the Pan-Presbyterian Convention, met at San Francisco on the 15th of
last month, a resolution was passed, after protracted debate, in which
it was declared to be the sense of that body that Christian doctrine, in
the progress of modern enlightenment, must not be hereafter fettered by
any prescription, however venerable, of merely human authority; no
minister being bound, therefore, to exclusive adherence, in his
statement of doctrines, to language not contained in the Holy
Scriptures. This was understood as allowing, as entirely optional, the
abandonment of what has been known as predestinarian Calvinism.
Three weeks later, in the Unitarian Convention at Boston, the following
resolution was brought forward:--
"Whereas, the occasion for the origin of New England Unitarianism was
the need of protesting against extreme and erroneous dogmatic teaching,
whereby the truth and beauty of Christianity were becoming obscured and
misrepresented; and whereas, at the present day, reform in this respect
has become general among the so-called Evangelical churches:
"Therefore Resolved, that the mission of Unitarianism in this country
may be regarded as having been performed and ended."
This was passed by a fair majority. The dissenters, after the
adjournment of the Convention, reorganized on the same basis as before,
with a view to permanence; but several of these joined, somewhat later,
the Association of Free Religionists, who have discarded the name of
Christians.
* * * * *
A Congress of German philosophers and advocates of free thought was held
some months ago at Munich. At its closing session, a declaration was
proposed as embodying the main present result of free thought in
Germany. It sets forth that the ideas of Christianity are necessary to a
satisfactory theory of man and the universe. These ideas are said to
be, the existence and eternity of God, the visible manifestation of God
to man, the suffering of God with and for man, and the visitation of
God, spiritually, to men.
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