Obedience to the Will of God

Authors

Earl Clement Davis

Document Type

Sermon

Files

Date

undated, circa 1905-1919

Summary

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 with God -- with God's purposes and being. It is a loss of self into God. Davis describes the feeling of this state of identification.

While this manuscript has no date, there are internal references (included in footnotes of transcription) that strongly suggest this sermon was preached during Earl Davis' time as minister of the Unity Church in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

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.

Keywords

Earl Clement Davis, sermons, minister, Unitarianism, Calvinism, religion, philosophy, John 10:10

Recommended Citation

Davis, Earl Clement, "Obedience to the Will of God" (2022). Sermons, 1905-1919. 5.
https://commons.clarku.edu/pittsfield_sermons/5

Rights Statement

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/