The preface by Mr. Savage gives the reasons, clearly and concisely, why a book 1ke this is needed. It answers a great demand, and it will supply a serious deficiency. Having had the privilege of reading the contents very thoroughly, I gladly record my satisfaction in the character of the work, my hope of its wide acceptance and use, my appreciation of the author's motives in preparing it. The questions and answers allow of supplementing, of individual handling, of personal direction. It is not a hard-andfast production. There is a large liberty of detail, explanation, and unfolding. The doctrinal positions are in accord with rational religion and liberal Christianity, the critical judgments are based on modern scholarship, and the great aim throughout is to assist an inquirer or pupil to a positive, permanent faith. If any one finds comments and criticisms which at first sight seem needless, let it be remembered that a Unitarian catechism must give reasons, point out errors, and trace causes: it cannot simply dogmatize. I am sure that in the true use of this book great gains will come to our Sundayschools, to searchers after truth, to our cause. EDWARD A. HORTON. AUTHOR'S PREFACE. This little Catechism has grown out of the needs of my own work. Fathers and mothers have said to me, "Our children are constantly asking us questions that we cannot answer. Perfectly natural! Their reading and study have not been such as to make them familiar with the results of critical scholarship. The great modern revolu tion of thought is bewildering. This is an attempt to make the path of ascertained truth a little plainer. This is the call for help in the home. Besides this, a similar call has come from the Sunday-school. Multitudes of teachers have little time to ransack libraries and study large works. This is an attempt, then, to help them, by putting in their hands, in brief compass, the principal things believed by Unitarians concerning the greatest subject. The list of reference books that follows the questions and answers will enable those who wish to do so to go more deeply into the topics suggested. It is believed that this Catechism will be found adapted to any grade of scholars above the infant class, provided the teacher has some skill in the matter of interpretation. GEO. H. ELLIS. Publisher, 141 Franklin St., Boston, Mass. Published weekly. Price $1.50 a year, or 5 cents single copy Entered at the Post-office, Boston, Mass., as second-class mail matter. Christianity the Science of Manhood. 187 pages. 1873 $1.00 1881 1876 1880 The Religion of Evolution. 253 pages. 1883 My Creed. 204 pages. 1887. Religious Reconstruction. 246 pages. 1888 Signs of the Times. 187 pages. 1889 1.50 1.00 1 00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 Helps for Daily Living. 150 pages. 1889 Four Great Questions concerning God. 86 pp. 1891. The Evolution of Christianity. 178 pages. 1892 MISCELLANEOUS. Light on the Cloud. 176 pages. 1876. Full gilt. 247 pages. 1882. Full gilt. With portrait Sacred Songs for Public Worship. A Hymn and Tune .25 1.00 .25 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.50 .50 .75 1.00 Price, Cloth, per copy, 30 cents. Per dozen 2.50 Mr. Savage's weekly sermons are regularly printed in pamphlet form in Unity Pulpit." Subscription price, for the season, $1.50; single copy, 5 cents. GEO. H. ELLIS, Publisher, 141 Franklin St., Boston, Mass. WHY SHOULD I BE THANKFUL? "What hast thou that thou didst not receive? But if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?”— 1 COR. iv. 7. I SUPPOSE there are many things in the present condition of this country that at the first blush would seem to excuse a large number of us from any strong feeling of gratitude, and, perhaps, from any expression of it whatever. It has been a year of depression, not only of the ordinary troubles and misfortunes of life that ever come to us, but to many there have come extraordinary troubles, troubles hard to bear. And so, at first, it might not seem to be a good time to discuss the question of thanksgiving. The occasion of the first Thanksgiving in the old Commonwealth of Massachusetts was one of sudden prosperity following poverty, hunger, and threatened disaster of the extremest kind. When we are met face to face by some extraordinary good, long looked for, half-expected, gratitude naturally, spontaneously, wells up in our hearts and springs to our lips; but in the midst of depression and poverty, when the things that we have assuredly looked for have not come, can we then be thankful? I propose this morning to discuss the question, assuming that you ought to be grateful, and pointing out some reasons why, in spite of those that appear to stand in the way. In the first place, you ought to be grateful, because the feeling and the expression of gratitude are the fitting and natural manifestation of one who has received a benefit, however slight. Just as we would express any courteous feeling that is fitting and proper, so, when some good has come into our lives, there should be the feeling, and in some way the expression, of thankfulness. |
