Extracted From The Proceedings Of The Unitarian Historical Society V13, Part 2, 1961.

This book concludes fifty years of research on the empirical tradition in American liberal religious thought. At the University of Chicago, I wrestled with the issue of how to make pre-scientific religion intelligible in our scientific world. Being a student of B. E. Meland and attracted by H. N. Wieman’s philosophy of creative interchange, I initially worked on the key thinkers in the Chicago School from Shailer Mathews to B. E. Meland. This resulted in books on Wieman, A. N. Whitehead (with C. Hartshorne), A. E. Haydon, and The Chicago School: Voices of Liberal Religious Thought (1987). While teaching at the U. of Glasgow in 1982, I began a research project on the empirical tradition in nineteenth century American liberal religious thought. Chauncy Wright led me to F. E. Abbot and the Free Religious Association. The past twenty five years has focused on the empirical tradition in this association, with writings on the thought of F. E. Abbot, W. J. Potter, D. A. Wasson. This work on Minot J. Savage concludes my research on the Free Religious Association. Nearing completion is a work tracing the empirical tradition through the four thinkers in the FRA and eight in the Chicago School.

There are five items in the miscellaneous folder, including: a letter to Savage from his brother Wilbur, dated 18 October 1856; two commissions from the Office of the U.S. Christian Commission, Philadelphia, one dated 13 August 1863, the other dated 21 September 1863 (these served as his identification papers and appear to have enabled him to board trains without charge); a commission, dated 6 August 1864, from the American Home Missionary Society appointing him missionary to "publish the Gospel in the State of California,--to any congregation or congregations, whose invitation, by the advice of the Agent of the Pacific Coast, You May accept"; and an acknowledgement of 3 November 1905 from Buckingham Palace, addressed to G. P. Putnam's Sons, reporting that "His Majesty...is happy to accept the Volume" by Rev. M. Savage.

"Our Unitarian Gospel" from Minot Judson Savage. Minot Judson Savage, american Unitarian minister and author (1841-1918).