As I read the New
Testament, I find that Jesus charged infidelity upon none but such as
these; the people who made religion a cloak for pride, selfishness, and
cruelty; the conspicuously saintly people, who could spare an hour to
pray at a street corner, but had not a minute for a dying fellow-man
lying in his blood in a lonely pass. In the judgment of these, Jesus was
the prince of unbelievers. Punctilious adherence to the letter,
practical disbelief in the spirit--this is infidelity."[264]
The most important event in the history of the American Unitarian Church
was the National Convention which met in New York, April 5th, 1865, and
was presided over by Governor Andrew, of Massachusetts. Six hundred
ministers and laymen, representatives of one hundred and ninety
churches, were in attendance. The debates indicated wide diversity of
sentiment, but there was no open rupture. The sessions were pervaded by
a spirit of devoted loyalty to the civil government, liberality toward
all Christian bodies, and zeal in organizing educational and missionary
agencies throughout the country.
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