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Can The Christian Churches Adjust Themselves To The Coming Age?, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

This manuscript has no explicit date. However the paper on which the manuscript is written is identical to paper used for manuscripts that can be dated to this period.

A concise statement of religion and science, the historical trajectory towards knowledge and democracy, and how the various Christian religions, including Unitarianism, fit within these.

The primary downloadable document contains the original document followed by the transcription. The bottom of each item page also features the primary document as an embedded pdf for browsing.

Transcription by Davis Baird. Item description based off writing and context provided by Davis Baird.

What Think Ye Of Man?, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

A concise statement of the divinity of man -- that Christ was a man and divine, as all men are divine and that it is through experience that each person learns the value of life.

Date refers to Date Given and The primary downloadable document contains the original document followed by the transcription.

The bottom of each item page also features the primary document as an embedded pdf for browsing.

Transcription by Davis Baird.Item description based off writing and context provided by Davis Baird.

Easter Sermon: A Carpenter In The Face Of Danger, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

This is from the bound collection—“bundle #5”—that includes sermons from January 2, 1910 to January 15, 1911.

A brief retelling of the last supper and Jesus' personal struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane. This is a moment Davis revisits repeatedly throughout his life, stating it as a "sublime moment in the life of a man, sublime moment in the history of humanity." Davis is concerned that the conventional ceremony, "the Lord's Supper," does not do justice to the power of that moment in history.

Date refers to Date Given and The primary downloadable document contains the original document followed by …

The Hope For A New Age [Notes], Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

This manuscript consists of six half-size pages held together with a straight pin. The contents appear to be early attempts to develop a sermon on “The Hope for a New Age.” Each page of the manuscript in individuated in this transcription between horizonal lines. On inspection, the pages as pinned together appeared to be out of order. The scan of the manuscript and the transcription presents the pages in a more sensible order with three parts: (1) an outline sketch (1 page); (2) A first version of the sketch of the sermon (2 pages); (3) A second version of the …

Reformation Without Tarrying For Any, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

The advances of history are made by men and women who do not tarry for any. They push forward for their ideals. Thus did Christianity supersede the Roman Empire (and thus did Octavius create the Roman Empire to begin with). But the danger of success comes when calcification and lower drives intercede.

This manuscript has no explicit date. However the reference at the end of the first paragraph to a “great war” suggests that this was written after the US entered World War I and before the conclusion of World War I, between April, 1917 and November, 1918. This is …

Can The Christian Churches Adjust Themselves To The Coming Age?, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

A concise statement of religion and science, of the historical trajectory towards knowledge and democracy, and how all the various Christian religions fit in, including Unitarianism. Davis states that "the Unitarian Church is an attempt to leave behind completely the idea of religion as a supernatural revelation, to organize a church without a creed, either stated or implied, and to work our way through into the Coming Age..."

The primary downloadable document contains the original document followed by the transcription. The bottom of each item page also features the primary document as an embedded pdf for browsing.

Transcription by Davis …

What Is The Nature Of Worship And Will It Have A Place In The Coming Age?, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

Worship is based in understanding the truths about our world and using the constraints of these truths to figure out how to make a better life. Davis likens it to a garden:

"I have a plot of ground which I call a garden and I have a desire to develop a more beautiful garden than the one that I had last year. I study my garden; I study the laws of flower culture, and I select seeds that I want and then develop a plan for planting the seeds and plants that, during the season, are to constitute the changing …

The Ethical Significance Of The Changing Social Order In Its Bearing On The Institution Of Education, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

A sermon centered on the idea that education is fundamentally about learning how to live. It comes in informal ways over centuries -- eons -- the ten commandments were not "revealed" but were the result of "hundreds of thousands of years, and millions of human lives." He laments "some people seem to imagine that God is some kind of an expert head accountant, who spends all his time pouring over balance sheets of individuals and nations", reminding that "we talk and act as if we really imagined God were such a creature as that, but the rain falls upon the …

The Ethical Significance Of The Changing Social Order In Its Bearing On The Institution Of Government, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

Davis discusses how the forces of history continue pressing forward in all areas, including the government. Nothing is static or finished, and change is constant: "the impulse of an ever-expanding conception of democracy, have the best of their effort and thought. Today this same unseen spirit, working in the minds of men and women all of the land is changing, the form and broadening the scope of the common efforts of humanity. Through the change is coming greater freedom, higher development, and a sturdier, and nobler generation of men and women."

The primary downloadable document contains the original document followed …

The Thirst For A Living God, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

In this sermon, Davis discusses God not as a static thing to be worshiped but as a symbolic way of "expressing our conception of the totality and essence of things".

The primary downloadable document contains the original document followed by the transcription. The bottom of each item page also features the primary document as an embedded pdf for browsing.

Transcription by Davis Baird. Item description based off writing and context provided by Davis Baird.

Sermon On Labor, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

A short and possibly incomplete sermon focusing on the need for "an abundant life," a life that provides for the necessities and speaks to our creative and adventurous impulses to discover more. Davis states that we must respond to those "knocked into the ditch of poverty," and coordinate labor with thought. He includes quotations from John Ruskin's Crown of Wild Olive and The Stones of Venice.

The primary downloadable document contains the original document followed by the transcription. The bottom of each item page also features the primary document as an embedded pdf for browsing.

Transcription by Davis Baird. Item …

Liberty And Responsibilty In Religion, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

In some cases, Earl Davis bound together manuscripts in bundles. This manuscript is part of one such bundle of seven, held together by four brass fasteners. Six of the seven can be dated to 1918.

This is another in a series of reflections regarding the meaning of World War I and the change it will prompt. Davis regards Christianity as a way of living while alive, not as a counsel to count on the second coming. He states that though we have given up the idea of a "ready-made Heaven" coming down to earth from above, this false idea …

The Compelling Power Of The Christ Like Life [Notes], Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

When Davis Baird was going through his grandfather's materials, he observed that many sermons were pinned together with a straight pin in the upper-left corner. This led him to expect another beginning-to-end sermon here, but it is clear that this sermon was never completed. Furthermore, the notes as they were pinned together are almost certainly out of order, with the last page of what we'll call “Version 3” out of place. We provide both the notes in the original order they were found, and the notes as Davis Baird reordered them. As always, there also a transcription of the reordered …

What Is Christianity? The Letter Killeth But The Spirit Giveth Power, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

In this sermon, Davis looks at various answers to this question. He rejects a supernatural answer, an "evolving, but continue with the old language" answer. He rests with the spirit of Jesus's life and these two commandments: "Thou shall love the Lord, thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and "Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself."

The primary downloadable document contains the original document followed by the transcription. The bottom of each item page also features the primary document as an embedded pdf for browsing.

Transcription by Davis Baird. Item …

Why Does No One Go To Church?, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

Davis ponders what is the purpose of going to church? It appears to waste a productive day. Most of the contributions of churches in the past -- education, culture, philanthropy -- have been taken by other institutions. Davis "rejoices" in religion's success in prompting other institutions to take on these tasks. But still, then, why go to church? It is important for community making and it is important for prompting us to "see the bigger picture." Nice history of the sabbath in this sermon.

While this sermon is not dates, it is almost certainly from the 1905-1906 period when Earl …

Behold: A Man, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

A concise statement on the ongoing vitality of human thinking and seeking, and against the "mindless" recitation of earlier thinking, particularly in religious matters. Davis says to forget miracles and instead look to current human experience and how to best understand it. He concludes that "God is much more the unborn future than he is the sealed past."

The primary downloadable document contains the original document followed by the transcription. The bottom of each item page also features the primary document as an embedded pdf for browsing.

Transcription by Davis Baird. Item description based off writing and context provided by …

The Democratization Of Industry I, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

There are two versions of this sermon. An earlier incomplete version, with a slightly different title, “Making Democracy Safe In America: Democratization of Industry,” was one of the sermons in the “Four Fasteners Bundle.” That sermon was substantially expanded and worked over into “The Democratization of Industry.” Both manuscripts and their transcriptions are provided here, with the latter being the primary document featured.

The primary downloadable document contains the original document followed by the transcription. The bottom of each item page also features the primary document as an embedded pdf for browsing.

Transcription by Davis Baird. Item description based off …

Obedience To The Will Of God, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

In this sermon, Davis considers the need for our obedience to God's will. He examines three aspects of Calvinism:
(1) Sovereignty of God (which Davis suggests is effectively the same as the sovereignty of natural law)
(2) Man's dependence on God -- again consistent with the idea that natural law covers the whole universe
(3) the doctrine of man's depravity and that of election by God. Davis calls this "obnoxious and revolting."

Obedience to the will of God includes "obeying the natural and moral laws." But it is more: it is a transcendent identification with God -- of all men …

The Richness Of The Religious Life, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

This sermon discusses three important elements to the religious life: (1) Evidence from nature of a powerful and ill-understood force behind the universe; (2) A realization that man is akin to God--both physically and more importantly mentally/morally; (3) A transcendent experience of being one with God and sharing God's purposes on earth. Davis is clearly motivated by his experiences in nature. He concludes that the religious life is not a sacrifice, but a "full complete, ever broadening life".

The primary downloadable document contains the original document followed by the transcription. The bottom of each item page also features the primary …

Growth And Salvation, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

Earl Davis approached this topic twice. While it is pretty clear that “Irrepressible Impulse to Growth” is the first attempt (it is short and does not really come to a conclusion), “Growth and Salvation” reads as a full completed sermon.

Here we provide both versions of the sermon. The primary downloadable document is for the combined text and translation of “Growth and Salvation". This is followed by the separate documents of the aforementioned, and then the corresponding three documents for “The Irrepressible Impulse to Growth.”

The primary downloadable document contains the original document followed by the transcription. The bottom of …

Channing, The Apostle Of Liberty, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

A discussion of William Ellory Channing's views about the dignity -- indeed deity -- of man and the importance of liberty in human life. Note that page eight of nine is missing.

Date refers to Date Given.

The primary downloadable document contains the original document followed by the transcription. The bottom of each item page also features the primary document as an embedded pdf for browsing.

Transcription by Davis Baird. Item description based off writing and context provided by Davis Baird.

Peace Service Sermon: A Dynamic Peace, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

Davis' first sermon following the Armistice of 11 November 1918, marking the end of World War I. He believed Woodrow Wilson had significantly changed the war's purpose to be one of democracy against autocracy. Included is a lengthy quote from the H.G, Wells novel Joan and Peter. He ends his sermon with the same words he spoke after the war's initial outbreak, remarking on the exciting work to establish democracy and humanity world-wide.

Date refers to Date Given.

The primary downloadable document contains the original document followed by the transcription. The bottom of each item page also features the …

Democracy And Socialism [Four Fasteners Bundle], Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

In some cases, Earl Davis bound together manuscripts in bundles. This manuscript is part of one such bundle of seven, held together by four brass fasteners. Six of the seven can be dated to 1918.

Earl Davis follows through on the common assertion at the time: "After the war, socialism." He ties democracy to socialism, stating that both give voice and power to all individuals. He then sees socialism as the obvious counterpoint to the surging inequities of industrial capitalism. Davis sees Socialism as the answer and felt it would be the obvious -- and salutary -- result of the …

Making Democracy Safe In America: Democratization Of America [Four Fasteners Bundle], Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

In some cases, Earl Davis bound together manuscripts in bundles. This manuscript is part of one such bundle of seven, held together by four brass fasteners. Six of the seven can be dated to 1918.

This is an incomplete earlier draft of "The Democratization of Industry" (also located in this series). It is a sermon on the history of democratic government as it emerged out of feudalism, and its current conflict (meaning World War I) with the autocratic Industrial Empire. Davis sees this conflict as the defining conflict of the age. He states that one system -- political democracy or …

Religion, In Life And In Reality [Four Fasteners Bundle], Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

In some cases, Earl Davis bound together manuscripts in bundles. This manuscript is part of one such bundle of seven, held together by four brass fasteners. Six of the seven can be dated to 1918.

This sermon is a commentary on the transformations being wrought by the war. Davis makes a case that "we are surging forward towards a better tomorrow." He supports this with some history: From the 19th century, "if we have learned anything at all, [it is] that God operates in and through human life, human history, human experience." God does not operate by revelation or miracles, …

The Undercurrent Of The Times, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

This is from the bound collection — “bundle #6” — that is labeled “Sermons During the War.” While there is no explicit date on this sermon, evidence in the text itself places it on Sunday April 29, 1917. The text references the recent entry of the United States into World War I (April 4, 1917) and the start of the Russian Revolution (March 8, 1917) the next Tuesday, May Day, May 1, 1917.

This sermon was given just after the US entry into World War I. Davis sees the war as the final nail in the coffin of what he …

The Spirit Of '76, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

This is from the bound collection — “bundle #6” — that is labeled “Sermons During the War.” In this collection were two sermons that noted in their first paragraph a request to ministers to preach a patriotic sermon, this one, and “A Sermon on Patriotism.” Both appear to be incomplete given their abrupt endings. These were likely two different attempts to draft “a patriotic sermon.” Neither has an explicit date, but internal evidence in “A Sermon on Patriotism” clearly dates them to April 15, 1917, very shortly after the United States entered “the Great War” on April 6, …

A Sermon On Patriotism, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

This is from the bound collection—“bundle #6”—that is labeled “Sermons During the War.” In this collection were two sermons that noted in their first paragraph a request to ministers to preach a patriotic sermon, this one, and “The Spirit of ‘76.” Both appear to be incomplete given their abrupt endings. Thus, our best guess is that these are two different attempts to draft “a patriotic sermon.” Neither has an explicit date. But internal evidence in “A Sermon on Patriotism” clearly dates them to April 15, 1917, very shortly after the United States entered “the Great War,” April 6, 1917.

Davis' …

The Church As Fellowship For Common Purpose, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

This is from the bound collection—“bundle #6”—that is labeled “Sermons During the War.” There is no explicit date on this sermon, but from the text this clearly is an Easter sermon. Also in the text there is reference to the Good Friday of that year — April 6, 1917 — being the day the United States declared war and entered World War I. Davis provides comments on this as well.

An Easter Sunday sermon in which Davis provides some personal history -- growing up on a farm, loving nature, encountering a strike as a young college student -- all to …

The New Era, Earl Clement Davis

Sermons, 1905-1919

This was Davis' first sermon after the outbreak of World War I. He blames the war on international industrial imperialism's century-long development. He states that this horrible consequence was to be expected given the imperialistic tendencies of all the nations involved (including the US), an imperialism driven by commerce and proselytizing so-called Christianity. Yet, Davis sees reason to hope, by working to establish a better world order based on democracy and humanity.

Date refers to Date Given.

The primary downloadable document contains the original document followed by the transcription. The bottom of each item page also features the primary document …