Miller Terms History, Tradition Major Parts of Living Religions

"Living religion is primarily history and tradition; from these are derived the ideals by which man lives," Alexander Miller, associate professor of Religion at Stanford University, said last night.

In the third of his Noble lectures, Miller discussed the relationship between Christianity and history. Our tradition is a Christian tradition, he said, and "even those who live out on the rebel fringe of society are stamped with the image of Christ."

Miller cited three ways in which "the person of Jesus Christ has meaning in our own life." First, he said, "without Christianity the Western World would be different and we would be different men."

He then cited the tie between Christianity and the intellectual world. Finally, he said, the Christian faith is a true faith.

Theology Explains History

Miller stated that Christian theology, when true to itself, explains history to the community. Therefore, he said, "to become a Christian is to make Christian history our history, to make community faith our faith."

Discussing the place which Christianity has in the analysis of history, Miller asserted that "the proper measure of mankind is not man but the true man in Christ."

He pointed out that in Christianity "the meaning of history is reflected in two days in the life of one man"--a reference to a New Testament description two days of Jesus' life.

Fourth Talk Tonight

The Stanford theologian, author of several books on Contemporary Christianity, will continue his talks throughout the week. Tonight in the fourth William Belden Noble Lecture of the 1957 series his topic will be "Our Intellectual Age.' He will discuss "The fallacy of conser vatism and the Church's debt to contemporary heretics."