What is Church?

In his (somewhat bewildered) response to the GA08 brouhaha, Rev. Daniel O’Connell speculates that for some people General Assembly functions as “church,” and that this could explain why they feel so personally outraged that i.d. will be checked.  He, on the other hand, feels that church is his fellow UUs and what they do together, and contrasts this with the idea that “church” refers to a physical building on a specific location.

So what is church?  Do UUs generally think of church as “that place we go on Sunday”?  Or “that thing we do on Sunday (and possibly other days)”? One sometimes hears people say things like: “Man, she gave some good church this morning!”  That’s usually in response to a particularly rousing sermon or service.  Are there indeed people who think of GA as church (there certainly are worship services during GA)?  How do you use the term church?

Universalist Quote of the Day #9

“Although a defensive war may be considered lawful, yet we believe there is a time coming, when the light and universal love of the gospel, shall put an end to all wars. We recommend, therefore, to all churches in our communion, to cultivate the spirit of peace and brotherly love, which shall lead them to consider all mankind as brethren, and to strive to spread among them the knowledge of their Savior and Redeemer, who came into the world “not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”

—Minutes of the General Convention, 1790

Universalist Quote of the Day #8

“A belief in God’s universal love to all his creatures, and that he will finally restore all those of them that are miserable to happiness, is a polar truth.  It leads to truths upon all subjects, more especially upon the subject of government.  It establishes the equality of mankind–it abolishes the punishment of death for any crime–and converts jails into houses of repentance and reformation.”

–Benjamin Rush, letter to Jeremy Belknap, 1791.

Universalist Quote of the Day #7

“God’s laws have not been given exclusively to any church.  God’s laws are the ways of living found to be good for us.  Truths are derived from the experiences of men and women living, not apart from the world, but within it–in all the temptations, problems, and perplexities of the daily round of human relations.”

–Dr. Clinton Lee Scott, Religion Can Make Sense.  Boston: Massachusetts Universalist Convention, 1949: 3.

Universalist Quote of the Day #6

“To the Universalists, heaven in its essential nature is not a locality, but a moral and spiritual status, and salvation is not securing one place and avoiding another, but salvation is finding eternal life.”

–Phineas T. Barnum, Why I Am a Universalist. Boston: Universalist Publishing House, 1890: 4.

Transient and Permanent: 2007 in brief review

Many UU bloggers are writing recaps of their output for 2007 in hopes of nomination for the annual UU Blog awards. There’s nothing here that merits special recognition, but reviewing previous efforts is a worthy project in and of itself. Thankfully, it’s also a short one for Transient and Permanent, because while this is the continuation of an earlier blog, it wasn’t resurrected until September.

Much of late 2007 was devoted to the continuing series Book Notes, which chronicles in brief primary and secondary sources that may prove interesting to those investigating (professionally or otherwise) the development of liberal religion in America. A number of posts also arose from commentary on current events in Unitarian-Universalism, either at the denominational level or on other blogs. Probably the best post of last year was stimulated in this way, Manufacturing Outrage as Religious Practice, in which a Ritual Studies perspective was applied to the protest (and anti-protest) culture of UUism. Perhaps a runner-up would be Defining American Liberal Religion or its follow-up Are Reason and Optimism Toward Human Nature Necessary Components of Liberal Religion?, although the former post was too long and dense to draw broad commentary from readers.

Unlike the vast majority of blogs, Transient and Permanent is not written in the first person. While this has certain advantages, that will probably always keep it from being among the best blogs–there are inherent limitations to the sort of posts that can be made, and the more detached voice cannot inspire the sort of comradery and familiarity that particularly active and enjoyable blogs produce. Nonetheless, hopefully Transient and Permanent will remain a useful resource for folks interested in thinking about liberal religion, in both its historical and present incarnations.

Universalist Quote of the Day #5

“The young lady received us with much kindness and condescension, while, as I glanced my eye upon her fine countenance, beaming with intelligence, mingling pity and contempt grew in my bosom. After the first ceremonies, we sat for some time silent; at length I drew up a heavy sigh, and uttered a pathetic sentiment, relative to the deplorable condition of those who live and die in unbelief; and I concluded a violent declamation, by pronouncing with great earnestness, He that believeth not shall be damned.

“‘And pray, sir,’ said the young lady, with great sweetness, ‘Pray, sir, what is the unbeliever damned for not believing?’

“What is he damned for not believing? Why, he is damned for not believing.

“‘But, my dear sir,’ she asked, ‘what was that, which he did not believe, for which he was damned?’

“Why, for not believing in Jesus Christ, to be sure.

“‘Do you mean to say that unbelievers are damned for not believing there was such a person as Jesus Christ?’

“No, I do not; a man may believe there was such a person, and yet be damned.

“‘What then, sir, must he believe, in order to avoid damnation?’

Why, he must believe that Jesus Christ is a complete Saviour.

“‘Well, suppose he were to believe, that Jesus Christ was the complete Saviour of others, would this belief save him?’

“No, he must believe that Jesus Christ is his complete Saviour; every individual must believe for himself that Jesus Christ is his complete Saviour.

“‘Why, sir, is Jesus Christ the Saviour of any unbelievers?’

“No, madam.

“‘Why, then, should any unbeliever believe, that Jesus Christ is his Saviour, if he is not his Saviour?’

“I say he is not the Saviour of any one, until he believes.

“‘Then, if Jesus be not the Saviour of the unbeliever, until he believes, the unbeliever is called upon to believe a lie. It appears to me, sir, that Jesus is the complete Saviour of unbelievers; and that unbelievers are called upon to believe the truth; and that, by believing they are saved in their own apprehension, saved from all those dreadful fears which are consequent upon a state of conscious condemnation.’

“No, madam; you are dreadfully, I trust not fatally, misled. Jesus never was, not never will be, the Saviour of any unbeliever.

“‘Do you think Jesus is your Saviour, sir?’

“I hope he is.

“‘Were you always a believer sir?’

“No, madam.

“‘Then you were once an unbeliever; that is, you once believed that Jesus Christ was not your Saviour. Now, as you say, he never was, nor never will be, the Saviour of any unbeliever; as you were once an unbeliever, he never can be your Saviour.’

“He never was my Saviour till I believed.

“‘Did he never die for you, till you believed, sir?’

“Here I was extremely embarrassed, and most devoutly wished myself out of her habitation; I sighed bitterly, expressed deep commiseration for those souls who had nothing but head-knowledge; drew out my watch, discovered it was late; and, recollecting an engagement, observed it was time to take leave.”

–John Murray, Records of the Life of the Rev. John Murray, Late Minister of the Reconciliation and Senior Pastor of the Universalists, Congregated in Boston. Boston: Munroe and Francis, 1816.

Confucian Chalice Lightings

One of the more interesting search engine hits that led to this page earlier this week was “Confucius Chalice Lightings.” Why it led here is a mystery. But since there apparently is a need for such things, here are a few suggestions for chalice lighting words taken from the Analects, the most important text of the Confucian tradition. If this relates to liberal religion in any way, perhaps it is because Confucianism is at heart a type of humanism, though quite different from the usual Western understanding of such things.

“Having only course food to eat, plain water to drink, and a bent arm for a pillow, one can still find happiness therein. Riches and honor acquired by unrighteous means are to me as drifting clouds.”

“If I am not to be a man among other men, then what am I to be?”

“At fifteen, I set my heart on learning. At thirty, I was firmly established. At forty, I had no more doubts. At fifty, I knew the will of heaven. At sixty, I was ready to listen to it. [Finally,] at seventy I could follow my heart’s desire without transgressing what was right.”

“When walking in a group of three, I always have teachers. I can select the good qualities of the one for imitation, and the bad ones of the other and correct them in myself.”

“By nature men are pretty much alike–it is learning and practice that set them apart.”

“Personal cultivation begins with poetry, is made firm by propriety, and is perfected by music.”

“You look up to it and it seems so high. You try to drill through it and it seems so hard. You seem to see it in front of you, and all of a sudden it appears behind you.”

“Tzu-Kung asked, ‘Is there any one word that can serve as a principle for the conduct of life?’ Confucius said, ‘Perhaps the word reciprosity. Do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you.'”

“The humane man, desiring to be established himself, seeks to establish others. Desiring himself to succeed, he helps others to succeed. To judge others by what one knows of oneself is the method of achieving humanity.”

“Riches and honor are what every man desires, but if they can be obtained only by transgressing the right way, they must not be held. Poverty and lowliness are what every man detests, but if they can be avoided only by transgressing the right way, they must not be evaded.”

“Tsu Lu asked about the worship of ghosts and spirits. Confucius said, ‘We don’t know yet how to serve men, how can we know about serving the spirits?’ The next question was ‘What about death?” Confucius said, ‘We don’t know yet about life, how an we know about death?'”

“You may be able to carry off from a whole army its commander, but you cannot deprive the humblest individual of his will.”

“The gentleman makes demands on himself. The inferior man makes demands on others.”

“The gentleman understands what is right. The inferior man understands what is profitable.”

Universalist Quote of the Day #4

“Universalists are often asked to tell where they stand.  The only true answer to give to this question is that we do not stand at all, we move.  Or we are asked to state our position.  Again we can only answer that we are not staying to defend any position, we are on the march. . .

“We do not stand still, nor do we defend any immovable positions, theologically speaking, and we are therefore harder to count or to form into imposing bodies.  We grow and we march, as all living things forever must do.  The main questions with Universalists are not where we stand but which way we are moving, not what positions we defend but which way we are marching.  Our main interest is to perceive what is true progress, and to keep our movements in line with that, and not to allow ourselves to move round and round in circles simply, like Fabre’s insects, or like a squirrel in its cage.  Of course we can always say that we stand for God and man, for Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, for the Bible and the immortal soul, for redemption from sin, and for a human race that, in some day yet to be, shall learn to move on in harmony with God.  But all these words and phrases take on new meanings, and therefore need new definition, in each succeeding age.  Nothing is clearer than the fact that the old definitions do not meet the needs of the new day, or that the old theologies do not function for the new occasions.  Our worn phrases are always losing their old meanings, and must forever be finding new meanings in the light of new experiences. . .

“No human word ever has reached or ever will reach finality of meaning.  Each living age always has defined religion in the light of its own experiences, and all ages to come will do the same.”

–Lewis Beals Fisher, Which Way? A Study of Universalists and Universalism.  Boston: Universalist Publishing House, 1921: 9-11.

Universalist Quote of the Day #3

“If we consider the outstanding and most significant teaching of the Universalist denomination in that it differentiated it from all others–the belief that all souls will ultimately be saved–what according to our appraisal today was the merit? The protest against endless punishment was moral, and the response to it was so general and widespread, showing that it was a real expression of our humanity. But was the proclamation on the positive side simply a swinging of the pendulum to the opposite extreme? And like most extremes was it too much; too optimistic even as a hope? What, if anything, was its merit? . . .What made it significant and gave it the highest ethical and human quality was its inclusiveness. It refused to allow that things right here or in any ideal heaven, so long as any were in outer darkness, could be cast as rubbish to the void, in the discard, no good. As long as that is so, humanity’s work, which is also God’s work, is not done. It was the spirit of the parable of the ninety and nine, the very essence of Christian motive in missionary work in your own town or faraway Africa. Not for any reason, racial color, condition, social or moral, because Russian, German, or Japanese, can we leave any outside our goodwill. There must always be humanity to the least of these, just as the social worker goes out to rehabilitate a home or person and is not to give up and get discouraged but to persist in her efforts for weeks, months, or even years or until the person of family is able to carry on successfully alone. This is the most difficult faith there is to live up to–no question about it–but it is also the most needed today and always. If we are Universalists really, we must never, never lose sight of this or of the imperative that rests upon us because of our very faith.”

–John Murray Atwood, in The Tao of Universalism: The Thoughts, Teachings, and Writings of Dr. John Murray Atwood, ed. by Rev. John Stewart MacPhee. New York: Vantage Press, 1989: 38-39.