Defense of the Faith and the Saints (Volume 2 of 2)Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Religion
Defense of the Faith and the Saints (Volume 2 of 2)
Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Latter Day Saint churches
I want to read to you some key-words of this new theology which is
making its way among all churches. It is' not an organized movement.
No one appears to know whence it springs. Indeed, it is spoken of as
being one of those pulsations of the "cosmic mind" which moves over the
people at intervals and proclaims some great truth. Now, you will be
astonished at the fundamental truth of this new movement, and the great
number of people who are accepting it as the "theology of experience."
Its fundamental principle is the recognition of the identity between
human nature and the divine nature.
In proof of it, I submit the following passages:
"Whence springs the deep-seated hostility of so man, of the
representatives of labor to the churches? It can only be from the
fact that organized religion has, in the immediate past, lost
sight of its own fundamental, the divineness of man." (Rev. R. J.
Campbell, in _Hibbert Journal,_ April, 1907, p. 487.)
"When the man with a burdened conscience comes to us for relief,
let us tell him that we all bear the burden together, and that
until he becomes a Christ all the love in the universe will come to
his help and share his struggle. His burden is ours, the burden of
the Christ incarnate for the redemption of the world." (_Ibid,_ p.
493.)
"The starting point in the New Theology is belief in the immanence
of God, and the essential oneness of God and man. * * * We believe
man to be a revelation of God, and the universe one means to the
self-manifestation of God. * * * * We believe that there is no real
distinction between humanity and the Deity.
"Our being is the same as God's, although our consciousness of it
is limited. * * * The new theology holds that human nature should
be interpreted in terms of its own highest nature, therefore it
reverences Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was divine, 'but so are we.'
* * * Every man is a potential Christ, or rather a manifestation of
the eternal Christ. * * * The new theology * * * is the gospel of
the humanity of God and the divinity of man." (Campbell, _London
Daily Mail,_ quoted in _Current Literature,_ April, 1907.)
"I shall continue to feel compelled to believe that the power
which produced Jesus must be at least equal to Jesus, so Jesus
becomes my gateway to the innermost of God. When I look at him I
say to myself, God is that, and if I can only get down to the truth
about myself I shall find that I am too. * * * In him (Jesus) the
humanity was divinity and divinity humanity. * * * But you make
him only a man! No, reader, I do not. I make him the only man, and
there is a difference. We have only seen perfect manhood once,
and that was the manhood of Jesus. The rest of us have got to get
there. * * * We have to get rid of the dualism which will insist on
putting humanity and Deity into two separate categories.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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