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1874.]
The Unitarian Name.
THE UNITARIAN NAME.
31
cX
In adopting the title “ Unitarian Review ” we have gone coun
ter to the advice of some whose judgment we so much respect,
that we feel called upon to give an explanation of our reasons for
taking this, rather than some one of the attractive titles which
have been variously suggested to us, by those who have taken an
interest in the arrangements for this Review.
The primary reason is that this name most simply expresses
its purpose and the place we intend it shall occupy. We hope to
make it representative of the thought and life of the Unitarian
branch of the Christian Church. In the multiplicity of excellent
periodicals, among which are several th^l are thoroughly liberal,
both in spirit and in culture, we should hesitate in assuming the
right of this journal i© exist,, if it were not that here is a place
which no other attempt® to fill, and! in which we believe there is
important work to do. But this general consideration, however
satisfactory it might have seemedti© first adopting the title, leaves
still unanswered certain serious objections which have been urged
against it and which deserve a rep^ The first is that “this
name,” it is said, “ will prevent any wide circulation outside our
own particular denomination.”
In answer to this we would say, —
I. Supposing this assumption to be true, the laudable desire
which is the basis of
objection is perhaps already.sufficiently
provided for. Our leading Unitarian writers are now welcomed as
regular contributors to the Secular periodicals which have the widest
circulation — and eve® y||thl most popular and influential religious
journals of other denominations. Besides this, * Old and New,”
established on precisely this plan, of carrying our liberal views far
and wide, by reason of its breadth and its freedom from denomi
national limitations, still exists, with a reputation which is perhaps as
extensive as that of any periodical in our country, and is welcom
ing to its pages the best of liberal thought and culture. We re
peat, that our only raison d'etre is in our attempting a different
plan; and the more we have considered the subject the more we
have felt satisfied that this plan deserves to be tried.
�32
The. Unitarian Name.
[Mar J
II. Perhaps we have carried our notion about' leavening other
denominations quite far enough, and there may be some use in try
ing to cultivate and unify and energize our own. We shall con
sider it no unimportant service if we can help to increase in the
Unitarian denomination that sentiment of unity and that interest
in itself and its position, which, in any organized body, is an
element of life.
III. But we are willing to confess that this purpose of service
within our own denomination is not our main desire, and we most
justify to ourselves the choice of name precisely on the ground
that we wish to reach and influence so far as possible the general
current of thought and life of our time. And our argument is
this: that what we may lose in diffusiveness we gain in concentra
tion. It is doubtless much for the summer’s growth that the at
mosphere shall be suffused with moisture, which the leaves inhale
and which sparkles every morning in refreshing dew-drops on the
exulting plant: but it is also good that the moisture shall some
times gather in a rain-cloud and break upon the earth in a hearty
shower. And so, glad as we are that our Unitarian writers are
permitted to swell that general liberalizing influence which, in all
kinds of literature, is doing so much to soften and invigorate the
thought and practice of our age, we venture to suggest that they
would have an added power if they could sometimes bring their
force together. The able papers now contributed by these writers
to orthodox or secular journals do much to keep open the doors
of Christian fellowship, and we would not have them withdrawn —
but, as to influence, they exert only what, individually, their intrin
sic excellence commands. Whereas, if some of them were col
lected, as we propose, under the distinctively Unitarian name,
they have, besides, the force which comes from their being the
opinion of a body of Christian thinkers, who, together with the
yet larger body of sympathizers whom they represent, have valued
these religious opinions enough to be willing, on account of them, to
separate themselves from the established churches, and to organize
for worship and for associated activities.
“But,” it is urged again, “there is a prejudice against the
Unitarian name which will prevent these pages from being read
at all by the class of persons whom we most wish to reach.”
�1874.]
■
The Unitarian Name.
33
Our first impulse always is, when we hear friends speak of
this “ prejudice, ” to suggest that they try to do such
prejudice away, by connecting with the name “Unitarian”
the best fruits of their own thought and'life which are really
due to its principles, and thus to win for it a respect. But,
in point of fact, we think this objection is to a great extent un
founded. It is true that there may still be persons, who hold the
sentiments which prevailed so largely half a century ago, when
the word “ Unitarian” gave a shock to the pious in some religious
communions, and would have debarred our books from their tables
and ourselves from their fellowship ; but this class of persons may
safely enough be left to the mollifying influences of the time, and
to the generous teaching of their own denominational journals, so
many of .which are nobly rooting out the spirit’of intolerance and
preparing the way for a true and large Christian fellowship. And,
on the other hand, we have reason. to know that there are great
numbers of inquiring men and women,*n the so-called evangelical
ranks, who are not only willing to read these writings, but are
eagerly asking for information as to the result of Unitarian thought
upon the pressing questions pertaining to theology and philosophy
and religious faith. They know perfectly well that to read our
publications does not commit them to our opinions. They would
ridicule the idea, either that they would be in danger of being
contaminated by our heresies, or of being subject to censorship by
their brethren for reading them. Thinking people nowadays dare
to read, and will read, anything that can help then!; and, provided
our-contributions are valuable, the best portion of other denomina
tions will thank us for bringing them conveniently together, into
something like a representative review, — instead of our asking
that they will take the pains to hunt them up in the great field of
the world’s literature where they are scattered now. Perhaps this
consideration has impressed itself upon us more strongly from the
fact that, during a visit in Europe, with some opportunity of
meeting persons of different views, who were interested in
the progress of religious thought, we were often asked where they
should look for the best information in regard to the current sen
timents and character of the church to which Dr. Channing
belonged.
5
�34
'
The Unitarian Name.
■ [Mar*
There is, however, one objection urged against our assumption
of this name, with the spirit of which we so completely sympathize
that we cannot omit to consider it. The objection is, that, by thus
putting at our front the name of a sect, we help to check the prog
ress towards that grand Christian unity in which denominational
lines shall disappear. One of those whose counsel we most value
has written to us that he fears this name will disappoint those
among us who have heretofore been glad to have the Religious
Magazine “ look to a broader, freer, and more catholic fellowship
among Christians than any one denomination can have.”
If the adoption of our denominational name were going to
change this generous attitude and this catholicity of spirit, we
should be the last to wish to assume it. We believe, however, that
this catholic spirit is the natural and inevitable result of the princi
ples of Unitarianism, and that we are fostering it best when we
do our best to make Unitarianism prevail.
There are, of course, individuals in other churches as generous
and broad as any in our own, but there is certainly no Christian
body whose professed principles so directly encourage such a spirit.
Unitarianism recognizes, as no other organized sect of Christendom
does, that Truth has many sides, and that, in all the seemingly
conflicting systems, there are elements that cannot be spared, and
thus it teaches us to respect the honest convictions of those whose
belief differs from our own. It also recognizes the superiority of the
heart and will, above the intellect, in religious culture; and it accepts
the Christian life as a truer test of fellowship than intellectual
consent. May we not also add, that the differences among enlight
ened Christians of the present day are largely in regard to dog
mas which , are embodied in ancient creeds, and that Unitarianism
has this advantage over others, in favoring the approach towards
unity, — that it has no such creeds ?
We fear that the large and generous spirit, so conspicuously
shown by many of our denomination, and which we also seek to
share, has sometimes lost much of its wholesome effect because it
has led them to oppose denominational action and increase. And
this has been the result, partly, because it has weakened the spirit
of associated action, — which is the great secret of efficiency, — and
partly, because, with those whom we most seek to win, the gener-
�P'74.J
The Unitarian Name.
35
osity has been in a measure despoiled of its value through a
mistake as to its motive. They, however unjustly, have inter
preted this catholic disposition towards other sects into indifference
to our own. They tell of a country, somewhere in the East, where
ecclesiastical politeness is carried so far, that, when two persons of
different faith meet, one says to the other, “ Tell me to what sublime
religion you belong, that, when we are together, I may call my
self by it; my own contemptible creed is, so and so.” We
do not tvish, by this, to caricature a sentiment of broad tol
eration with which we so sincerely sympathize, but only to suggest
that a generous attitude towards other, forms of faith is worth the
more when it is coupled with earnest loye for one’s own independ-'
ent convictions.
The recent meeting of the Evangelical Alliance in New York,
which, with all its shortcomings, was one of the grandest ecclesi
astical events of the year, found- its best sigrfhcance in fhe circum
stances that so many different sects, each adhering to its own sep
arate organization and form of worship and belief) had nevertheless
come to recognize a common bond to unite them that was far more
essential than the differences that divide — and thus were ready to
own each other as parts of the Christian church, and to consult
and labor together for God and man.
Rev. Dr. R. D. Hitchcock expressed this selmnfeit -well, in his
address before the Alliance, when he said, —
“ Each sect has its own errand. The doBtBnes are not yet
settled. We have, strictly speaking, no oecumenical creed, not
even the apostles’ creed, for each one of us interpret^it for him
self, making it mean more or less. Controversy must still go on ;
but we are very foolish to have it do so bitter. Communion is one
thing; intercommunion is another thing; just as national law is
one thing, international law another. Into the family of nations
the door is wide, admitting some nations that none of w would like
to belong to. But anything that governs at all is better than
anarchy. In Palestine beyond the Jordan, among wild Bedouin
men, Turkish troops are welcome to the traveler. So, in the'
church, Coptic Christianity in Egypt may be far enough beneath
our idea, but after all the cross is over them and not the crescent.
For myself, of course I prefer my own communion, or I would
�36
\ ■
The Unitarian Name.
[Mar.
leave it for another. But God forgive me if I ever looked or
shall ever look into any Christian face without finding in it some
thing of the old family look.”
Perhaps, after all, the Unity of the Christian Church, for which
we long, may not involve the merging of Christian sects, but only
the filling them all with a spirit of harmony while each performs
its separate mission — a unity like that of the “ body, with many
members,” every one of which, when properly adjusted, ministers
to the welfare of the whole. We are glad to believe that one of
the peculiar functions of the u Unitarian ” member is, to cultivate
a largeness of sympathy ; and we hope, at any rate, in the conduct
. of this Review, to make it appear that we labor for the efficiency
of our own denomination, with nonarrow sectarianism, and that we
shall never exalt the interests of the denomination above the inter
ests of the Truth.
Again, we have been urged, in case we adopt the title “ Unita
rian,” to use also the word “ Christian,” in a second title. In reject
ing this counsel, we wish to explain that it is certainly not because
we fail to accept this word as larger and better than Unitarian, but
because it is necessarily implied, and needs not to be repeated.
“ Unitarian ” means “ Unitarian Christian” as much as “ Baptist,”
means “ Baptist Christian,” or “ Orthodox,” “ Orthodox Chris
tian” or “ Protestant,” “ Protestant Christian.” To be sure,
there was a dispute, some years ago, in connection with a bequest
to one of our large institutions, by the terms of which the money
was to be applied to the support of “ Protestant Teaching” and
some claimed that an atheist was a Protestant, and that “ atheistic
teaching ” ought to be maintained. But the courts decided that
law as well as common opinion assumed the word “ Christian ” as
part of the word “ Protestant,” fixed there by the authority of
three centuries of use. Certainly the word “ Protestant ” itself
has not been more distinctly identified with “ Christian,” than has
the word “ Unitarian,” by all the acts and declarations of the
denomination as well as by the, tacit assumptions of its members.
Sometimes, because “ blood is thicker than water,” our feelings
of personal attachment for those whom we hold in close regard
has made us all glad, if possible, to avoid any exaction of our con
ditions of fellowship on those who can no longer call thepagelves
�1874.]
The Unitarian Name.
37
by the Christian name, and this has perhaps given an appearance
of looseness. But it will be noticed, that, after the point has been
actually raised, even those who argue against the need of with
drawal, do so only on the ground that the persons named have not
abandoned Christianity, but only some notions of Christianity
which they have feared were inevitably implied in the name.
Therefore we have felt no necessity for further proclaiming, by our
title, our Christian status, and, out of a regard for the past history
of this journal, we have taken for our second title, “ Religious
Magazine.”
There is yet another point to which we will briefly refer. It is
objected “ that, after all, the word ‘ Unitarian ’ does not adequately
express the position of our denomination and the precise attitude
it assumes in reference to religious thought.” In reply we would
ask if ever a name does completely describe the thing it is chosen
to represent ? Is “ Protestantism ” the best name to designate
the movement for which it stands ? The word “ Protestant,” by
itself, is suggestive chiefly of antagonism, of- negation, of conflict;
whereas it has its affirmations, its reverent attachment, its repose
in well-established convictions, as much as Catholicism with which
it is contrasted. A name often originates, as in this case, in some
historical incident, more or less essentially connected with the ob
ject named, and sometimes very imperfectly describes it. And in
deed, the principle of “ lucus a non lucendo ” is as often to be
observed in nomenclature as is that of perfect adaptation. So
that we instinctively come to. disregard etymology, and allow a
name to represent for us that with which it has become associated,
as this object may, in other ways, have been made to shape itself
in our minds.
The word “ Unitarian ” has attached itself, we need not inquire
how, to a distinct and well-established system of Christian faith,
which has its organized activities, and its well-recognized place
among the religious systems of Christendom, We cannot wipe it
out, if we would, from the history, of religious progress ; and, while
we would willingly consent to abandon it and the organization
which it denotes -whenever this shall be desirable, either for a
better progress towards truth, or for the sake of the greater unity
of the Christian world, yet, meantime, while there appears to be
�38
“ The Two (Treat Problems
still a need for the service of this denomination as a member of
the Christian body, with a distinct work of its own, we rejoice in
a name, which however confusing it may be if we consult only a
dictionary for its meaning, has clearly enough defined itself in the
intellectual and social and religious struggles of the last half cen
tury, and has gathered about itself memories and associations of
which we have such reason to be glad.
We will only add that this journal will have no official authority
of any kind, and that it is entirely independent of any organiza
tion — and we repeat that we shall rejoice in feeling that we are
working in co-operation with all, who, under whatever name, are
helping to advance the cause of Truth and to promote the interests
of Christian faith.
Charles Lowe.
“ THE
TWO
GREAT PROBLEMS OF
CHRISTIANITY.”
UNITARIAN
A short article, with the above heading, appeared in the last
number of the Religious Magazine, and read so much like a
wail from a sad heart that we have been prompted to write a rep]yIn the opening paragraph the writer says, “We believe that
Unitarian Christianity is a universal gospel; that it is for the
masses as well as for the cultured few, capable of stirring men
to greater action, and giving them a more ample religious growth
than previous forms of Christian truth. But, before it can become
the supreme gospel of the race, two problems must be solved.”
Before considering those two problems, I would like to say a word
on this opening paragraph.
That “ Unitarian Christianity is a universal gospel, intended for
the masses as well as for the cultured few,” I devoutly believe ;
understanding by Unitarian Christianity, simply the Christianity
of Christ. That is, so far forth as Christianity can be put into
words, into propositions, into philosophical statements. But are
we not in some danger of forgetting, that the vital part of Chris^
�
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Victorian Blogging
Description
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Title
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The Unitarian name
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Lowe, Charles
Description
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Place of publication: [Boston]
Collation: 31-38 p. ; 25 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. From the Unitarian Review and Religious Magazine. Vol. 1 (March 1874). For content of complete issue see: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89069654465;view=1up;seq=7 (accessed 11/2017).
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[Unitarian Review and Religious Magazine]
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[1874]
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G5432
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Unitarianism
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<p class="western"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br />This work (The Unitarian name), identified by <span style="color:#0000ff;"><span lang="zxx"><u>Humanist Library and Archives</u></span></span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</p>
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English
Conway Tracts
Unitarianism