Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Buddhist
Abner Kneeland’s Passion and an Invitation to Cross the River

Abner Kneeland’s Passion and an Invitation to Cross the River

Last updated on: November 1, 2011 at 3:07 pm by James Ford

Abner Kneeland’s Passion and an Invitation to Cross the River 2011-11-01T15:07:33-07:00 James Ford

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

On this day in 1833 Abner Kneeland published a letter which was published in both the Universalist journal, the Trumpet and the Boston Inquirer. In it he officially repudiated the Universalist orthodoxy, following his earlier voluntary leaving of the Universalist ministry. The letter was simple enough. It was addressed to Thomas Whittemore, editor of the Trumpet and read:

Dear Sir: You observed to me the other day, that people still consider me a Universalist, and said to me “If you will acknowledge that you are not, I will publish it.” I told you, in substance, that in some respects I am still a Universalists; but that in others, I am not. I shall now answer you more at large, which I hope you will publish in full, and thereby redeem your pledge. I still hold to universal philanthropy, universal benevolence, and universal charity. In these respects, I am still a Universalist. Neither do I believe in punishment after death; so in this also I agree with the Universalists. But as it respects all other of their religious notions in relation to another world or a supposed other state of conscious existence, I do not believe in any of them; to that in this respect, I am no more a Universalist than I am an orthodox Christian. As for instance:

1. Universalists believe in a god, which I do not; but believe that their god, with all his moral attribures, (aside from nature itself,) is nothing more than a chimera of their own imagination.

2. Universalists believe in Christ, which I do not; but believe that whole story concerning him is as much a fable and a fiction, as that of the god Prometheus, the tragedy of whose death is said to have been acted on the stage in the theatre in Athens, 500 years before the Christian era.

3. Universalists believe in miracles, which I do not; but believe that every pretension to them can either be accounted for on natural principles, or else is to be attributed to mere trick and imposture.

4. Universalists believe in the resurrection of the dead, in immortality and eternal life, which I do not; but believe that all life is mortal, that death is an eternal extinction of life to the individual who possesses it, and that no individual life is, ever was, or ever will be eternal.

Hence, as Universalists no longer wish to consider me as being of their faith, and I no longer wish to be considered as belonging to their order, as it relates to a belief in things unseen, I hope the above four articles will be sufficient to distinguish me from them and them from me. I profess to believe in all realities of which I can form any rational conception, while they believe in what I believe to be mere ideal nothings to which they give both a “location and a name.”

In giving the above a place in the Trumpet you will let me tell your readers, in my own language, what I do, as well as what I do not, believe and thereby oblige your once brother of the same faith with yourself, and still your personal friend.

Abner Kneeland

For this and two other articles originally published in a Freethought journal, but reprinted elsewhere as well, Kneeland found himself tried, five times, and eventually convicted of blasphemy. A paper by Gale Alexander and Stephan Papa would call him the “last man jailed for Blasphemy.” At least in the United States…

The whole affair was aired in the papers of the day as a major scandal. Other liberal thinkers, mostly Unitarians, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Theodore Parker tried to intervene but to no avail. Kneeland served sixty days in jail.

Among the ironies in this, and there are many ironies in this, today a significant number of contemporary Unitarian Universalists, heirs to the institution from which he was excluded and for which he was imprisoned, hold views very similar to those expressed in that letter.

And I’m quite interested in his thinking. Now that letter was meant to express what he did not believe. Elsewhere he published what he called his “Philosopher’s Creed.” It expressed his views in more positive terms.

I believe in the existence of a universe of suns and planets, among which there is one sun belonging to our planetary system; and that other suns being more remote, are called stars; but that they are indeed suns to other planetary systems. I believe that the whole universe is NATURE, and that the word NATURE embraces the whole universe; that GOD and NATURE, so far as we can attach any rational idea to either, are synonymous terms. Hence, I am not an Atheist, but a Pantheist; that is, instead of believing there is no God, I believe that in the abstract, all is God; and that all power that is, is in God, and that there is no power except that which proceeds from God is all in all; and that it is in God we live, move, and have our being; and that the whole duty of man consists in living as long as he can, and in promoting as much happiness as he can while he lives.

I’m just fascinated with how much I am in agreement with the former reverend Kneeland’s sentiments expressed in 1833 some hundred and sixty six years ago.

Now I’m not in complete agreement. In particular the notion that there was no historical Jesus is not part of the mainstream of contemporary thinking. That is I have no doubt Jesus existed, although I reject the “orthodox” view of who and what he was, which of course, is Kneeland’s real point.

I’m also not completely comfortable with the part of his assertion about our purpose being to live as long as we can. But that’s something I need to think about more. I’m certainly in agreement with him that we have some sort of duty to further the project of happiness for all during our time on this planet.

But what most intrigues me is his pantheism.

For me the problem with contemporary atheism is its bare materialism.

It misses, I believe, something about what we really are.

Of course there is another view that is equally off the mark for me. And that’s anti-materialist spiritual assertions. We get a lot of this in various religions. Just as wrong.

For me the material and the spiritual are two ways of perceiving one thing. Each word fails as we approach the reality of what is.

Like all words at some point material and spiritual fail…

But Kneeland tries to put words to it. A noble if doomed effort.

And there’s another point here, the real point for us as we live in this poor, beautiful and hurting world.

I’m of the opinion that Abner Kneeland posits a view of reality that is about as close to what is as one can get by thinking about the great matter.

I’m unaware of what actual experiences he may have had that brought him to this place. What I have read suggests his vehicle was reason.

One wild spiritual teacher I once knew like to recite a little ditty.

You can get more stinking from thinking than you can from drinking, but the feel is for real.

Now that’s not completely right, either. Thinking and feeling are the two ways we perceive. In fact they’re not two but facets of one thing. So one without the other is, of course, incomplete. In fact to follow one without the other is to invite much tragedy.

And so, Mr Kneeland’s dilemma. As I see it reason alone only takes us to a view of the promised land, like Moses standing above the river Jordan gazing across to the Holy Land, to which he could not go.

He saw it. I’m sure Kneeland saw it. But I’m not so sure he made it to the farther shore.

Seeing through a glass darkly, he gets it, and he points.

But to cross the river and to walk into that land we need both mind and heart.

I cannot pretend to read Abner Kneeland’s heart. Maybe he made it. There is no doubt in my mind there is much heart about him and his life. Just as there is much wisdom in the teachings of our ancestors. And who knows how many of the ancestors made it, as well.

We only get partial stories.

Still, partial or not…

The stories our ancestor’s tell in fact point to how to do this. The analysis of Kneeland and other’s point to how we can do this.

But the key to building the boat or the bridge is bringing heart and mind together. Actually if you look at the picture of the river posted above, sometimes, all you have to do is roll up your pants and wade across. When we bring heart and mind together it is as easy as pie…

The good news is that’s all we need.

All we need do is open our hearts and minds

and the vastness that is will be there.

Always has been…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtHfLcp1F3U

Uncategorized

Previous Post

December 19, 2009

A Liberal Meditation on Advent

Next Post

December 20, 2009 The Snow Man

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Christmas Carol Abolitionist African-American Ahmadiyya Alan Watts Aldous Huxley Allen Ginsberg Amedkar Jayanti American politics American Zen Anaheim Zen Sangha Anglican Annie Besant April Fool Armageddon Art and Religion artificial intellegence Atheist Awakening B R Ambedkar Barlaam & Josaphat Beatnik Between Bhagavad Gita Bible biography birthday bodhisattva Bodhisattva Precepts Book burning Book of Common Prayer Book of Mormon Brahmo Samaj Buddha Buddhism Buddhist Buddhist Lord's Prayer Butterflies Calendars cartoons cat ChatGPT Chicken Tortilla Soup choices Christian atheism Christian mysticism Christian origins Christian Science Christian Zen Christianity Christianity and Buddhism christmas Christmas Truce Christopher Isherwood Church of Later Day Saints Cinco de Mayo circus covenant critical thinking culture D. T. Suzuki Dalit Buddhism Daniel Defoe Desert Fathers and Mothers dharma talk Dogen Donald Trump Dongshan's Five Ranks Dorothy Day dream Duty Easter ecology Edwin Arnold emptiness Empty Moon Zen Network Episcopal Church Eternal Now Ethics evolution existentialism Faith fantasy Fathers Day film film review fire Five Ranks Folk music food Form and emptiness Four Seals Francis of Assisi Francis Xavier Free thinker friendship George MacDonald Gerald Heard Glenn Taylor Webb God Good Friday Gospel of Gospel of Mark Gospel of Thomas grace Graduate Theological Unioin Graduate Theological Union Guanyin H R Blyth Hakuin Ekaku Hanamatsuri Hanukkah Harada Yasutani Zen Heart Sutra Henry David Thoreau Hermann Hesse Hinduism History and Religion history of religion Holy Spirit home Hospitality Icon Ides of March Isaac Newton Islam Islamic mysticism Jack Kerouac James Luther Adams Jiddu Krishnamurti Joan of Arc Johannes Gutenberg John Donne joke Judaism justice karma kensho King James Bible koan Koun Yamada Kyoto School Lewis Carrol Liberal Christianity Liberal Religion Life Plan Community Liminal literature Literature and Religion Liturgy Lord's Prayer Love Mahatma Gandhi Mahayana Martin Luther King Jr Mary Baker Eddy Mary Magdelene Mary Oliver Mayflower Compact Meditation memories memory metaphor money money and religioin Mormons Mother's Day movie review mysticism mythic Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church New Thought Nichiren Buddhism Nonduality not knowing Omar Khayyam Pacific School of Religion pagan Palm Sunday Passover peace Pentecost perennialism Phantastes Philip Kapleau philosophy Pilgrimage poetry Poetry and Religion politics Prayer Precepts Printing Press prophecy prophetic spirituality psychology Pure Land Queer religion queering religion Quietism Ram Mohan Roy rebirth recipe Relationships and religion religion religion and history Religious syncretism Resistance Retirement Retreat review Rissho Kosei Kai Ritual Robert Aitken Roshi Robert Ingersoll Rohatsu Romani religion Rosie the Riveter saints samadhi SanboZen Sangha Satyagraha science science and reigion science and religion science fiction seminary sermon Sesshin Sex and Religion Shinran Sikh Sikh tradition silence Social Justice Socially Engaged Buddhism Society and religion Soto Zen soul spiritual community spiritual practice Spirituality Sufism Suicide superstition Taoism Television Teresa of Avila Thanksgiving theological schools Theosophy Thomas Merton Time Transcendentalism Transcendentalist Trinitarian Trinity Uncategorized unitarian Unitarian Christianity Unitarian Universalist Universalism Vajrayana Vedanta Walking war Willa Cather William Ellery Channing wisdom women and religion women in religion World Teacher Writing zazen Zen Zen Center Zen inspired retriement zen meditation Zen Precepts Zen women

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Mark records Jesus' birth narrative in Bethlehem.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE