,transcriber's ,note3 ,footnotes have   
been renumbered and moved to the end    
of the book4            ,the ,church and
 ,modern ,life    ,by    ,washington    
,gladden    #aijh                       
,preface        ,the time is come1 said 
a ,new ,testament prophet1 for judgment 
to begin  at the house of ,god4 ,perhaps
 that time ought never to pass1 but if1 
in  any measure1 the criticism of the   
church has of late been suspended1 it   
is certainly reopened now1 in good      
earnest4 ,nor is this criticism         
confined to outsiders2 the church is    
forced to listen in these days to       
caustic censures from those who speak   
from within the fold4    ,that such     
self-criticism is needed these chapters 
will not deny4 ,that  the church is     
passing through a critical period must  
be conceded4 ,but  the way of life is   
not obscure1 and it seems almost absurd 
to indulge  the fear that the church1   
which has been providentially guided    
through  so many centuries1 will fail to

 find it4    ,these pages have been     
written in the firm belief that the     
,christian  church has its great work   
still before it1 and that it only needs 
to  free itself from its entanglements  
and gird itself for its testimony to    
become the light of the world4          
,something of what it needs to do to    
make  ready for this great future1 this 
little book tries to show4    ,through  
all this study the thought has          
constantly returned to the young  men   
and women to whom the future of the     
church is committed2 and while  the book
 is most likely first to fall into the  
hands of their pastors  and teachers1   
the author hopes that ways will be found
 of conveying its  message to those by  
whom1 in the end1 its truth will be made
 effective4    ,w4 ,g4      ,first      
,congregational ,church1  ,columbus1    
,ohio1 ,december #ag1 #aijg4            
,contents       ,i4 ,the ,roots of      
,religion    ,,ii4 ,our ,religion and   
,other ,religions   ,,iii4 ,the ,social 

,side of ,religion    ,,iv4 ,the        
,business of the ,church     ,v4 ,is the
 ,church ,decadent8    ,,vi4 ,the       
,coming ,reformation   ,,vii4 ,social   
,redemption  ,,viii4 ,the ,new          
,evangelism    ,,ix4 ,the ,new          
,leadership          ,the ,church and   
,modern ,life          ,i    ,the ,roots
 of ,religion        ,the church with   
which we are to deal in the pages which 
follow is the  ,christian church in the 
,united ,states1 comprising the entire  
body of  ,christian disciples who are   
organized into religious societies1 and 
are  engaged in ,christian work and     
worship4    ,this church is not all     
included in one organization2 it is made
 up of  many different sects and        
denominations1 some of which have very  
little  fellowship with the rest4 ,among
 these groups are some who claim that   
their particular organizations are the  
true and only churches2 that the  others
 have no right to the name4 ,such is the
 claim of the ,roman  ,catholic church  

and of the ,high ,church ,episcopalians4
 ,their use of the  word church would   
confine it to those of their own        
communions4 ,others  would apply the    
term more broadly to all who profess and
 call  themselves ,christians1 and who  
are united in promoting the teachings   
and principles of the ,christian        
religion4    ,the church1 as thus       
defined1 has no uniform and             
authoritative creed1 and  no ruling     
officers or assemblies who have a right 
to speak for it2 it is  difficult1      
therefore1 to make any definite         
statements about it4 ,it is  possible1  
nevertheless1 to think of all these     
variously organized groups  of people as
 belonging to one body4 ,in some very   
important matters they  are united4     
,they all believe in one ,god1 the      
,father ,almighty2 they all  bear the   
name of ,christ2 they all acknowledge   
him as ,lord and ,leader2  they all     
accept the ,bible as containing the     
truth which they profess to  teach4 ,the

 things in which they agree are1 indeed1
 far more important  than the things in 
which they differ1 and it is our custom 
often to  speak of this entire body of  
,christian disciples as the church1     
forgetting their differences and        
emphasizing their essential unity4 ,this
  is the meaning which will be given to 
the church in these discussions4    ,the
 church is concerned with religion4 ,as 
the interest of the state is  politics1 
of the bank finance1 of the school      
education1 so the interest  of the      
church is religion4 ,religion organizes 
the church1 and the  church promotes    
religion4    ,religion is a fact of the 
first magnitude4 ,we sometimes hear     
ministers  complaining that the people  
do not give it so much attention as they
  ought1 but we shall find it true in   
all countries and in all the  centuries 
that it is one of the main interests of 
human life4 ,there are  few subjects1   
probably there is no other subject1 to  
which the human  race has given so much 

thought as to the subject of religion4  
,the  greatest buildings which have been
 erected on this planet were for the    
service of religion2 more books have    
been written about it than about  any   
other theme2 a large part of the world's
 art has had a religious  impulse2 many1
 alas6 of the most destructive wars of  
history have been  prompted by it2 it   
has laid the foundations of great       
nations1 our own  among them1 and has   
given form and direction to every great 
civilization  under the sun4    ,it is  
not a churchman1 or a theologian1 it is 
,mr4 ,john ,fiske1 one of the  foremost 
scientific investigators1 who has said  
of religion3 ,none can  deny that it is 
the largest and most ubiquitous fact    
connected with the  existence of mankind
 upon the earth4#a    ,about the size of
 the fact there is no disputing1 but how
 shall we  explain it8 ,where did it    
come from8    ,the scientific people    
have puzzled their heads not a little   
over the  question where the life on    

this planet came from4 ,they cannot make
 up  their minds to say that it came    
from non-living matter2 and some of them
  have ventured a guess that the first  
germs might have been brought by a      
meteorite from some distant planet4     
,that1 however1 only pushes the  mystery
 one step further back3 how did it come 
to be on that distant  planet8    ,the  
origin of religion has furnished a      
similar puzzle to these  investigators4 
,there are those among them who assume  
that religion is an  invention of crafty
 men who find it a means of obtaining   
ascendency over  their fellows4 ,that it
 is all imposture--the product of       
priestcraft--is  the theory of some     
small philosophers4 ,such being the     
case1 they expect  that the progress of 
knowledge will cause it to disappear4   
,to others it seems probable that       
religious ideas may have originated in  
the phenomena of dreams4 ,in the visions
 of the night those who have  passed out
 of life reappear2 this gives room for  

the belief that they  are still in      
existence1 and suggests that there may  
be another world  whose inhabitants     
exert an important influence over the   
affairs of this  world4 ,according to   
this ghost theory1 religion is all an   
illusion4    ,such crude explanations   
are1 however1 not much credited in these
 days by  thoughtful men4 ,it is easy to
 see that the foundations of religion   
are  deeply laid in human nature4       
,aristotle told a great truth1 many     
centuries ago1 when he said that man is 
a political animal4 ,that is to  say1   
there is a political instinct in him    
which causes him to organize  political 
societies and make laws2 he is a state  
builder in the same way  that the beaver
 is a dam builder1 or the oriole is a   
nest builder1 or  the bee is a comb     
builder4    ,with equal truth we may say
 that man is a religious animal4 ,the   
impulse  that causes him to worship1 to 
trust1 to pray1 is as much a part of his
  constitution as is the homing instinct

 of the pigeon4 ,this natural  instinct 
is1 however1 reinforced by the operation
 of his reason4 ,feeling  is deeper than
 thought2 we are moved by many impulses 
before we frame  any theories4 ,but the 
normal human being sooner or later      
begins to try  to explain things2 his   
reason begins to work upon the objects  
that he  sees and the feelings that he  
experiences4 ,and it is not long before 
something like what ,charbonnel         
describes must take place in every human
  soul3--    ,every man has within him a
 sense of utter dependence4 ,his mind is
  irresistibly preoccupied by the idea  
of a ,power1 lost in the immensity  of  
time and space1 which1 from the depths  
of some dark mystery1 governs  the      
world4 ,this power1 at first1 seems to  
him to manifest itself in the  phenomena
 of nature1 whose grandeur surpasses the
 power or even the  comprehension of    
mankind4#b    ,toward this unknown      
power1 or powers1 his thought reaches   
out1 and he  begins to try to explain it

 or them4 ,he forms all kinds of crude  
and  fantastic theories about these     
invisible forces4 ,at first he is apt to
  think that there are a great many of  
them2 it is long before he clearly      
understands that there can be but ,one  
,supreme4 ,the moral quality of the     
being or beings whom he thus conceives  
is not clearly discerned by him2  he is 
apt to think them fickle1 jealous1      
revengeful1 and cruel2 most  often he   
ascribes to them his own frailties and  
passions4    ,in some such way as this1 
then1 religion begins4 ,it is the       
response of  the human nature to        
impressions made upon the mind and heart
 of man by  the universe in which he    
lives4 ,these impressions are not       
illusions1  they are realities4 ,all men
 experience them4 ,something is here in 
the  world about us which appeals to our
 feelings and awakens our intellects4   
,being made as we are1 we cannot escape 
this influence4 ,it awes us1 it  fills  
us with wonder and fear and desire4     

,then we try to explain it to ourselves1
 and in the beginning we frame a  great 
many very imperfect explanations4       
,sometimes we imagine that this  power  
is located in some tree or rock or      
river2 sometimes it is an  animal2      
sometimes it is supposed to exist in    
invisible spirits or  demons2 sometimes 
the sky or the ocean represents it1 or  
one of the  elements1 like fire1 is     
conceived to be its manifestation2      
sometimes the  greater planets are the  
objects of reverence2 sometimes         
imaginary  deities are conceived and    
images of wood or stone are carved by   
which  their attributes are symbolized4 
,these religious conceptions of the     
primitive races seem to us1 now1 as  we 
look back upon them from the larger     
light of the present day1 to be         
grotesque and unworthy2 we wonder that  
men could ever have entertained  such   
notions of deity1 and we are sometimes  
inclined1 because of these  crudities1  
to dismiss the whole subject of religion

 as but a farrago of  superstitions4    
,but these imperfect conceptions do not 
discredit  religion2 they are rather    
witnesses to its reality4 ,you might as 
well  say that the speculations and     
experiments of the old alchemists prove 
that there is no truth in chemistry2 or 
that the guesses of the  astrologers    
throw doubt on the science of astronomy4
 ,the alchemists and  the astrologers   
were searching blindly for truth which  
they did not  find1 but the truth was   
there2 the fetish worshipers and the    
magicians  and the idolaters were also1 
as ,paul said1 seeking after the unknown
  ,god4 ,but they were not mistaken in  
the principal object of their search2   
what they sought was there1 and the     
pathetic story of the long quest for    
,god is a proof of the truth of ,paul's 
saying1 that ,god has made men and      
placed them in the world that they      
should seek ,god1 if haply they might   
feel after him and find him1 though he  
is not far from each one of us4  ,it was

 not a delusion1 it was a tremendous    
reality that they were  dealing with4   
,the fact that they but dimly conceived 
it does not lessen  the greatness of the
 reality4    ,not many intelligent      
thinkers in these days doubt the reality
 and the  permanence of religion4       
,herbert ,spencer did not profess to be 
a  ,christian believer2 by many persons 
he was supposed to be an enemy of  the  
,christian religion2 yet no man has more
 strongly asserted the  permanency and  
indestructibility of religion4 ,as to   
the notion that  religions are the      
product of human craft and selfishness1 
he says3 ,a  candid examination of the  
evidence quite negatives the doctrine   
maintained by some that creeds are      
priestly inventions4#c ,and again3  ,an 
unbiased consideration of its general   
aspects forces us to conclude  that     
religion1 everywhere present as a weft  
running through the warp of  human      
history1 expresses some eternal fact4#d 
,and again3 ,in ,religion  let us       

recognize the high merit that from the  
beginning it has dimly  discerned the   
ultimate verity and has never ceased to 
insist upon it4444  ,for its essentially
 valid belief1 ,religion has constantly 
done battle4  ,gross as were the        
disguises under which it at first       
espoused this  belief1 and cherishing   
this belief1 though it still is1 under  
disfiguring vestments1 it has never     
ceased to maintain and defend it4 ,it   
has everywhere established and          
propagated one or other modification of 
the doctrine that all things are        
manifestations of a power that          
transcends our knowledge4#e    ,that    
religion is1 in ,john ,fiske's strong   
phrase1 an everlasting  reality is a    
fact which few respectable thinkers in  
these days would  venture to call in    
question4 ,but1 as we have seen1 this   
reality takes  upon itself a great      
variety of forms4 ,looking over the     
world to-day1 we  discover many kinds of
 religion4 ,religious ideas1 religious  

rites and  ceremonies1 religious customs
 and practices1 as we gather them up and
  compare them1 constitute a variegated 
collection4    ,professor ,william      
,james has a thick volume entitled ,the 
,varieties of  ,religious ,experience1  
in which he brings together a vast array
 of the  documents which describe the   
religious feelings and impulses of      
persons  in all lands and all ages4 ,it 
is not a study of creeds or philosophies
  of religion1 it is a study of personal
 religious experiences2 of the  fears1  
hopes1 desires1 contritions1 joys1 and  
aspirations of men and  women of all    
lands and ages1 as they have been       
dealing with the fact of  religion4     
,not only do we find many different     
kinds of religion existing side by  side
 upon this planet2 we also find that    
each of these types has been  undergoing
 constant changes in the course of the  
centuries4 ,to trace the  religious     
development of any people from the      
earliest period to the  present day is a

 most instructive study4    ,take our   
own religion4 ,christianity is not an   
independent form of faith4  ,its roots  
run down into the ,hebrew religion1     
whose record is in the ,old  ,testament2
 and the ,hebrew religion grew out of   
the old ,semitic faiths1  and these     
again sprang from the ancient           
,babylonian religions or grew  alongside
 of them4 ,so we are compelled to go far
 back for the origin of  many of our own
 religious ideas4 ,jesus did not claim  
to be the ,founder  of a new religion2  
he claimed only to bring a better       
interpretation of  the religion of his  
people4 ,he said that he came not to    
destroy but to  fulfill the law and the 
prophets4 ,the ,new ,testament religion 
is a  development of the ,old ,testament
 religion4 ,it is a wonderful growth4   
,when we go hack to the old monuments   
and the old documents and trace the     
progress of religious beliefs and       
practices from the earliest days to  our
 own1 we learn many things which are    

well worth knowing4    ,the central fact
 of religious progress is improvement in
 the conception  of the character of    
,god4 ,as the ages go by1 men gradually 
come to think  better thoughts about    
,god4 ,little by little the old crude   
and savage  notions of deity drop out of
 their minds1 and they learn to think of
 him  as just and faithful and kind4    
,the ,bible shows us many signs of this 
progress4 ,the earlier stories  about   
,god give him a far different character 
from that which appears in  the later   
prophets4 ,it was believed by the       
earlier ,hebrews that ,god  desired to  
have them put to death all the          
inhabitants of the land of  ,canaan when
 they took possession of it2 and when   
they put to the sword  not only the     
armed men of the land1 but the women and
 the little  children1 they supposed    
that they were obeying the command of   
,god4 ,they  learned better than that1  
after a while4    ,when ,abraham started
 with ,isaac for ,mount ,moriah1 he     

undoubtedly  thought that he should     
please ,god by putting to death his own 
well-beloved son2 but before he had done
 the dreadful deed the  revelation came 
to him that that was a terrible mistake2
 he saw that ,god  was not pleased by   
human sacrifices4 ,that was a great day 
in the history  of religion4 ,because of
 that experience1 ,abraham was able to  
make his  descendants believe the truth 
that had been given to him1 and from    
that  time onward human sacrifices      
probably ceased among the ,hebrews4 ,a  
long  step had been taken toward the    
purification of the idea of ,god of one 
of  its most degrading elements4        
,this superstition lingered long in     
other faiths2 probably it survived      
among our own ancestors after ,abraham's
 day4 ,tennyson's poem1 ,the  ,victim1  
is a vivid picture of human sacrifice   
among the ,teutonic  peoples3--         
,a plague upon the people fell1         
,a famine after laid them low2          
,then thorpe and byre arose in fire1    

,for on them brake the sudden foe2      
,so thick they died the people cried1   
',the ,gods are moved against the land4'
      ,the priest in horror about his   
altar        ,to ,thor and ,odin lifted 
a hand3          ',help us from famine  
,and plague and strife6          ,what  
would you have of us8          ,human   
life8          ,were it our nearest1    
,were it our dearest1--,answer1         
,o answer6--          ,we give you his  
life4'    ,the ,gods seemed to say that 
the victim must be either the king's    
wife or  the king's child2 which it     
should be1 was the terrible question    
that the  king had to answer4 ,the      
choice seemed to have fallen on the     
child1 but  the wife would not have it  
that he was the king's dearest1 and she 
rushed to her own immolation4 ,the poem 
reflects the common notion of  those    
dark days1 that the angry ,gods could   
only be propitiated by the  slaughter of
 those whom men loved the best4 ,from   
this horrible idea the  ,jewish people  

were delivered by the insight of their  
great ancestor4    ,dark notions about  
,god still lingered among them1 however1
 and the ,old  ,testament record shows  
us how they slowly disappeared4 ,moses  
and ,samuel  were good men for their    
time1 but the ,god whom they worshiped  
was a very  different being from the    
,god of ,hosea or of the later ,isaiah4 
,this development of the idea of ,god   
has been going on in modern times4  ,it 
is not long since devout men were in the
 habit of saying that ,god's            
displeasure with the wickedness of      
cities was exhibited in the scourges  of
 cholera and scarlet fever in which     
multitudes of little children were  the 
victims4 ,not two hundred years ago the 
great majority of our ,puritan          
ancestors were believing in a ,god who1 
for the sin of ,adam1 was sending       
millions of infants1 every year1 to the 
regions of darkness and despair4  ,the  
,god of ,cotton ,mather or of ,edward   
,payson could hardly have lived in  the 

same heaven with the ,god of ,dwight    
,moody or ,phillips ,brooks4    ,the    
changes which have been taking place in 
our ideas about ,god have  been mainly  
in the direction of a purified ethical  
conception of his  character4 ,we have  
been learning to believe1 more and more1
 in the  justice1 the righteousness1 the
 goodness of ,god4 ,in the oldest times 
men  thought him cruel and revengeful2  
then they began to regard him as        
willful and arbitrary--his justice was  
his determination to have his own  way2 
his sovereignty was his egoistic purpose
 to do everything for his  own glory4   
,we have gradually grown away from all  
that1 and are able now  to believe what 
,abraham believed1 that the ,judge of   
all the earth will  do right4    ,in the
 presence of a ,god who1 ,i am assured1 
is a being of perfect  righteousness1   
who never blames any one for what he    
cannot help1 who  never expects of any  
one more than he has the power to       
render1 who means  that ,i shall know   

that his treatment of me is in perfect  
accord with my  own deepest intuition of
 truth and fairness and honor1 ,i can   
stand up  and be a man4 ,my faith will  
not be the cringing submission of a     
slave to  an absolute despot1 but the   
willing and joyful acceptance by a free 
man  of righteous authority4    ,now it 
is certain that the belief of the       
,christian church respecting the        
character of ,god has been steadily     
changing1 in this direction1 through    
the ,christian centuries4 ,enlightened  
,christians have been coming to         
believe1 more and more1 in a good ,god2 
and by a good ,god ,i mean not  merely a
 good-natured ,god1 but a just ,god1 a  
true ,god1 a fair ,god1 a  righteous    
,god4 ,the growth of this conviction has
 been purging theology  of many crude   
and revolting dogmas4    ,it is a great 
deliverance which is wrought out for us 
when we are set  free1 in our religious 
thinking1 from the bondage of unmoral   
conceptions1 and are encouraged to      

believe that ,god is good4 ,it is a     
great blessing to have a ,god to worship
 whom we can thoroughly respect4  ,a    
tremendous strain is put upon the moral 
nature when men are required1  by       
traditional influences1 to pay adoration
 and homage to a being whose  conduct1  
as it is represented to them1 is1 in    
some important respects1  conduct which 
they cannot approve4 ,all the religions1
 through the  imperfection of human     
thought1 have put that burden on their  
worshipers4    ,christianity has been   
struggling1 through all the centuries1  
to free  itself from unworthy           
conceptions of the character of its     
,deity1 and each  succeeding            
re-statement of its doctrines removes   
some stain which our  dim vision and    
halting logic had left upon his name4   
,what1 now1 has caused these changes to 
take place in men's thoughts  about     
,god8 ,what influences have been at work
 to clarify their ideas of  the unknown 
,reality8    ,from three principal      

sources have come the streams of light  
by which our  religious conceptions have
 been purified4    ,the first of these  
is the natural world round about us4 ,we
 are immersed  in ,nature2 it touches us
 on every side2 it addresses us through 
all our  senses2 it speaks to us every  
day with a thousand voices4 ,nature is  
the  great teacher of the human race4   
,she knows everything2 she waits to     
impart her love to all who will receive 
it2 she is very patient2 her  lessons   
are not forced upon unwilling pupils1   
but whosoever will may  come and take of
 her treasure4 ,longfellow said of the  
childhood of  ,agassiz1 that--          
,nature1 the old nurse1 took        ,the
 child upon her knee1      ,saying3     
',here is a story-book        ,thy      
,father has written for thee4           
',come1 wander with me1' she said1      
',into regions yet untrod2      ,and    
read what is still unread        ,in the
 manuscripts of ,god4'    ,it is not the
 child ,agassiz alone whom ,nature thus 

invited2 to the whole  human race1 in   
its childhood1 its adolescence1 its     
maturity1 she has  always been saying   
the same thing4 ,she has been seeking1  
through all the  ages1 to disclose to us
 all the mysteries of this marvelous    
universe4 ,we  have been slow learners2 
it took her a great many centuries to   
get the  simplest truths lodged in the  
human mind4 ,the cave-dweller1 the      
savage  in his teepee1 were able to     
receive but little of what she had to   
give4  ,yet before their eyes1 every    
day1 she spread all her wonders2 with   
infinite patience she waited for the    
unfolding of their powers4 ,all the     
marvels of steam1 of electricity1 of the
 camera1 of the telescope1 the          
microscope1 the spectroscope1 the       
,roentgen rays1--all the facts and      
forces with which science deals were    
there1 in the hand of ,mother  ,nature1 
waiting to be imparted to her child from
 the day when he first  stood upright   
and faced the stars4    ,slowly he has  

been led on into a larger understanding 
of this wonderful  universe4 ,and what  
has he learned under this tuition8 ,what
 are some of  the great truths which    
have gradually impressed themselves upon
 his  mind8    ,he has been made sure1  
for one thing1 that this is a universe2 
that all  its forces are coherent2 that 
the same laws are in operation in every 
part of it4 ,the principles of          
mathematics are everywhere applicable2  
gravitation controls all the worlds and 
every particle of matter in  every one  
of them1 and the spectroscope assures us
 that the same  chemical elements which 
constitute our world are found in the   
farthest  star4 ,on every hand1 says    
,walker1 we are assured that the guiding
  principle of ,science is that of the  
uniformity of nature4    ,it has also   
come to be understood that nature is all
 intelligible4  ,everything can be      
explained4 ,this is the fundamental     
assumption of  science4 ,many things    
have not yet been explained1 but there  

is an  explanation for everything2 of   
that every thinker feels perfectly sure4
  ,fifty years ago1 says ,sir ,john     
,lubbock1 the ,book of ,nature was like 
some richly illuminated missal1 written 
in an unknown tongue2 of the  true      
meaning little was known to us2 indeed  
we scarcely realized that  there was a  
meaning to decipher4 ,now glimpses of   
the truth are gradually  revealing      
themselves2 we perceive that there is a 
reason--and in many  cases we know what 
that reason is--for every difference in 
form1 in  size1 and in color1 for every 
bone and feather1 almost for every      
hair4#f    ,this is the latest word of  
the latest philosophy2 there is a reason
 for  everything4 ,as ,romanes says1    
,nature is instinct with reason2 tap her
  where you will1 reason oozes out at   
every pore4    ,if all things are       
rational and intelligible1 then all     
things must be  the product of a        
rational ,intelligence4 ,that conclusion
 seems  inevitable4    ,but we can go   

further than this4 ,it is not merely    
true that we can find  in the world     
about us the signs of an ,intelligence  
like our own1 it is  also true that our 
own intelligence has been developed by  
the revelation  to us of this           
,intelligence in the world about us4    
,if1 says ,walker1  human reason is but 
'the reflection in us of the universe   
outside of  us1' then1 clearly1 the     
,reason was there1 expressed in the     
universe1  before it possibly could be  
reflected in us4 ,it is our relation to 
the  ,universe that makes us rational4  
,and again1 ,apart from the ,reason     
expressed in the ,universe around him1  
man could never have become the         
rational being that he is4#g    ,this1  
then1 is the first great reason why our 
religion has gradually  become more     
rational4 ,the rationality of the       
universe constantly  presented to our   
thought has developed a rationality in  
our thoughts  about the universe4 ,the  
mind1 like the dyer's hand1 is subdued  

to what  it works in4 ,the response of  
primitive man to the pressure of ,nature
  upon him was a response of wonder and 
awe and fear2 his religion was          
instructive1 emotional2 but through the 
long tuition of the ages1 the  old nurse
 has taught him how to use his reason2  
and he now finds unity  where he once   
found strife1 and order and law where   
once confusion and  chaos reigned4 ,his 
religion has become rational4    ,but   
what do we mean when we say that man's  
great teacher has been  ,nature8        
,nature1 as we have seen1 is instinct   
with ,reason1 and the ,reason  which is 
revealed in ,nature is only another name
 for ,god4 ,it is the  immanent ,god1   
the ,eternal ,reason1 who has been      
patiently disclosing  himself to us in  
the world round about us1 and thus      
cleansing our minds  from the crude and 
superstitious conceptions with which in 
our ignorance  and fear we had invested 
him4    ,the second of the sources from 
which the influences have come for the  

purification of religion is humanity    
itself4    ,we are told1 in the ,book of
 ,genesis1 that man is made in the image
 of  ,god2 and the doctrine of the      
,fatherhood of ,god1 on which the entire
  teaching of ,jesus rests1 is but a    
stronger statement of the same truth4   
,it is true that we find human nature1  
as yet1 for the most part1 in  very     
crude conditions2 its divine qualities  
are not clearly seen4 ,it  does not yet 
appear what we shall be4 ,but we have   
learned1 in our  evolutionary studies1  
that no living thing ought to be judged 
in the  earlier stages of its           
development2 we must wait to see the    
perfected  type before we can make up   
our minds about it4 ,the eaglet just    
hatched  does not give us the right idea
 of the eagle1 nor does the infant in   
his  swaddling clothes reveal to us the 
man4 ,so it is with species and races2  
if they are undergoing a process of     
development1 we must wait for the  later
 stages of the process before we judge4 

,the apple is not the crab1  but the    
,northern ,spy2 the horse is not the    
mustang1 but the ,percheron or  the     
,german roadster4 ,in estimating any    
living thing1 you take into             
consideration its possibilities of      
development2 the ideal to which it  may 
attain must always be in sight4    ,in  
the same way when we think of man1 we do
 not take the ,patagonian as  the type1 
but the best specimens of ,european or  
,american manhood4    ,if1 then1 we are 
taught to believe that man is a child of
 ,god1 we should  be compelled to       
believe that it is the most perfectly   
developed man who  most resembles ,god4 
,we have some conception of the ideal   
man4 ,our  conceptions are not always   
correct1 but they are constantly        
improved1 as  we strive to realize them4
 ,and in the ideal man we see reflected 
the  character of ,god4 ,we are sure    
that a perfect humanity would give us   
the  best revelation we could have of   
divinity4 ,if we could see a perfect    

man1 we could learn from him more about 
,god than from any other source4        
,most of us believe that a perfect ,man 
appeared in this world nineteen  hundred
 years ago2 and the best that we know   
about ,god we have learned  from him4   
,more has been done by his life and     
teachings to purify  religion of its    
crudities and superstitions than by all 
other agencies4  ,the worst of the      
crudities and superstitions that still  
linger in our  own religion are due to  
the fact that the people who bear his   
name only  in part accept his teachings 
and very imperfectly follow his example4
 ,if  we could all believe what he has  
told us and do what he has bidden us1   
our religion would soon be cleansed from
 its worst defilements4    ,the         
manifestation of the life of ,god in    
,jesus ,christ we call ,the             
,incarnation2 and it was a manifestation
 so much more perfect than any  other   
that the world has seen1 that we do well
 to put the definite  article before the

 word4 ,yet it is a mistake to overlook 
the fact that  ,god dwells in every good
 man1 and manifests himself through him4
 ,and  whenever1 in any character1 the  
great qualities of truth and justice and
  purity and courage and honor and      
kindness are exhibited1 we see some     
reflection of the character of ,god4    
,in many a home the father and the      
mother1 by their faithfulness and       
kindness and self-sacrifice1 make it    
easy for the children to believe in  a  
good ,god2 and in every community brave 
and true and saintly men and  women are 
revealing to us high qualities which we 
cannot help  interpreting as divine4 ,we
 cannot imagine that ,god is less just  
or fair  or kind than these men and     
women are2 they lift up our ideals of   
goodness1 and they compel us to think   
better thoughts of him in whom all  our 
ideals are united4    ,thus it is that  
our humanity1 as glorified by the ,word 
made flesh1 and  as lifted up and       
sanctified by the lives of good men and 

women1 has been  a great teacher of pure
 religion4 ,we have learned what to     
think about  ,god and how to worship him
 aright by what he has shown us in the  
living  epistles of his goodness and    
grace which he has sent into the world1 
and1 above all1 in that strong ,son of  
,god whom we call our ,master4    ,the  
other source from which the influences  
have come by which religion  has been   
purified1 is that divine ,spirit who is 
always in the world1 and  always waiting
 upon the threshold of every man's      
thought1 and in the  sub-conscious      
depths of every man's feeling1 to       
enlighten our  understanding and purify 
our desires4 ,to every man he gives all 
that he  can receive of light and power4
 ,to many his gifts are but meagre1     
because their capacities are small and  
their receptivity is limited2 but  there
 are always in the world open minds and 
docile tempers1 to whom he  imparts his 
larger gifts4 ,thus we have the order of
 prophets and  inspired men1 whose words

 are full of light and leading4 ,in the 
,bible we  have a record of the messages
 given by such men to the world4 ,in    
that  teaching1 rightly interpreted1    
there is great power to correct the     
errors and cleanse away the delusions   
and superstitions which are apt to      
gather about our religion4 ,we cannot   
estimate too highly the work that  has  
been done by these sacred writings in   
purifying our conception of  ,god4      
,it is possible1 however1 to treat this 
book in a manner so hard and            
literalistic that it shall become a     
hindrance rather than a help to the     
better knowledge of ,god4 ,the one fact 
that it brings vividly before us  is    
that fact of progress in religious      
knowledge which we are now  considering4
 ,it shows us how men have gone steadily
 forward1 under the  leadership of the  
divine ,spirit1 leaving old conceptions 
behind them1  and rising to larger and  
larger understanding of divine things4  
,any  treatment of the ,book which fails

 to recognize this fact--which puts all 
parts of the ,bible on the same level of
 spiritual value and  authority--simply 
ignores the central truth of the ,bible 
and perverts  its whole meaning4    ,the
 truth which we need to emphasize in our
 use of the ,bible is the  truth that   
the same ,spirit who gave the men of the
 olden time their  message is with us1  
to help us to the right understanding of
 it1 and to  give us the message for our
 time4 ,nor is his illumination confined
 to  any guild or rank of believers2 the
 day foretold by the prophet has  surely
 come1 when the ,spirit is poured upon  
all flesh1 and the prophetic  gift may  
be received by all the pure in heart4   
,the one glorious fact of our           
religion--a fact but dimly realized as  
yet  by the church--is the constant     
presence in the world of the ,spirit of 
,truth4 ,if there is anything at all in 
religion1 this divine ,spirit is  ready 
to be the ,counselor1 ,comforter1 and   
,guide of every human soul4 ,and  we    

cannot doubt that the steadily enlarging
 conception of the character  of ,god is
 due to his gracious ministry4          
99       99       99       99       99  
,such1 then1 are the sources from which 
have come that better knowledge  of ,god
 which makes the religion of our time to
 differ from the religion  of past      
generations4 ,and it will be seen that  
these three sources are  but one4 ,it is
 the divine ,reason and ,love himself   
who has been revealing  himself to us in
 the unity and order of nature1 in the  
enlarging life of  humanity1 in the     
inspired insights and convictions of    
devout believers4  ,what we are looking 
upon is that continuing revelation of   
,god to the  world which has been in    
progress from the beginning1 and which  
will  never cease until the world is    
full of the knowledge of ,god as the sea
  is full of water4    ,with this great 
and growing revelation the church is    
intrusted4 ,its  business in the world  
is to take this truth about ,god1 this  

new truth1  this larger and fairer      
truth1 which ,god himself1 in the       
creation and  through the incarnation   
and by the ,indwelling ,spirit1 has been
 clearing  up and lifting into the      
light1 and fill modern life full of it4 
,this is  the truth which modern life   
needs4 ,religion is a permanent fact1   
but its  forms change with advancing    
knowledge4 ,there are forms of truth    
which  are suited to the needs of modern
 life4 ,god himself is always at work   
preparing the truth for present needs4  
,it is the function of the church  to   
understand this truth1 and make it known
 in every generation4          ,,ii     
,our ,religion and ,other ,religions    
,our religion is the ,christian         
religion4 ,this is the form of faith    
which  the church in our country is     
organized to promote4 ,ours is a        
,christian  country4    ,this is not by 
virtue of any legal establishment of    
,christianity1 for  one of the glories  
of our civilization is that first       

amendment to our  national constitution1
 which declares that ,congress shall    
make no law  respecting an establishment
 of religion or prohibiting the free    
exercise  thereof4 ,buddhists1 ,hindus1 
,mohammedans1 ,parsees1 ,jews1 are just 
as  free to exercise their respective   
forms of religion in this country as    
are the ,christians4 ,the government    
neither forbids nor fosters any kind  of
 faith4    ,ours is a ,christian country
 because nearly all the people of the   
country  are1 by birth and by choice1   
identified with the ,christian faith4   
,still it is true that the freedom      
extended by our constitution to other   
forms of faith has been claimed by some 
of their adherents1 and we have  in the 
,united ,states a goodly number of      
groups representing  non-,christian     
creeds4 ,of these the ,jews constitute  
much the largest  number1 there being1  
perhaps1 six or seven hundred ,jewish   
congregations  in all parts of the      
country4 ,there are also sixty or       

seventy ,chinese  temples1 a few groups 
of ,parsees and ,mohammedans1 a few     
hundred  companies of ,spiritualists1   
and a few scores of societies of        
,ethical  ,culture and ,free ,religion4 
,all told there are not1 probably1 among
 the  eighty millions of our people1    
more than a million and a half who are  
not either traditionally or nominally   
,christians4    ,our contact with the   
,orient1 on our western frontier1 is    
likely1  however1 to bring us into close
 relations1 in the near future1 with    
other ancient forms of faith4 ,the      
,christian church in modern life will   
be compelled to meet questions raised by
 the presence of ,buddhists and         
,confucians and ,mohammedans1 and to    
prove its superiority to these          
religions4 ,the study of comparative    
religion has had hitherto purely an     
academic interest for most of us2 in the
 present century it is likely to  become
 for millions a practical question4     
,many a young man and young  woman will 

be forced to ask3 ,why is the religion  
of my fathers a better  religion than   
that of my ,hindu associate or my       
,japanese classmate8 ,the  answer1 if   
wisely given1 may be entirely           
satisfactory1 but the question  must not
 be treated as absurd or irrelevant4 ,in
 the face of the great  competitions    
into which it must enter1 our religion  
must be ready to  give an intelligent   
account of itself4    ,one of the first 
questions to be asked when we take up   
this inquiry is1  ,what is the attitude 
of our religion toward the other        
religions8 ,perhaps  it is better to put
 the question in a concrete form and    
ask1 ,what is the  attitude of the      
,christian people toward the people of  
other religions8    ,the answer to this 
question may not be as prompt and       
confident as we  could wish4 ,many1     
people who profess and call themselves  
,christians are  not so broad-minded or 
so generous hearted as they ought to be1
 and they  are inclined to be partisans 

in religion as well as in art or        
politics2  they think that all the truth
 and all the goodness are in the        
institutions with which they are allied1
 and that all the rest are of  the evil 
one4 ,but such people are not good      
representatives of  ,christianity4 ,they
 never learned any such judgment from   
him whom they  call their ,master4 ,and 
we may safely claim that those who have 
the mind  of ,christ are tolerant and   
generous toward those whose opinions or 
whose  religious practices differ from  
their own4 ,they do not forget that     
their  ,master treated with the greatest
 sympathy men and women whose faiths    
greatly differed from his own2 that some
 of those who received his  strongest   
testimonies to the greatness of their   
faith1 like the ,roman  centurion and   
the ,canaanitish woman1 were pagans2    
that one of his most  intimate and      
gracious conversations on the deep      
things of the ,spirit was  with a       
,samaritan woman1 and that his          

representative hero of practical        
religion was a ,samaritan man whose     
genuine goodness he placed in sharp     
contrast with the heathen selfishness of
 the priest and the ,levite of  his own 
faith4 ,no ,christian ever learned to be
 a bigot by sitting at the  feet of     
,jesus ,christ4 ,and ,i think we may    
justly claim that those who  have       
entered into the spirit of the          
,christian religion are always  generous
 in their attitude toward those who     
worship by other forms of  faith4       
,they cannot forget that all these      
people whose creeds and rites differ  so
 greatly from their own are children of 
our ,father1 and that they can  be no   
less dear to him than we are2 and it is 
therefore hardly possible  for them to  
imagine that he can have left them      
without some revelation  of saving      
truth4 ,they approach1 therefore1 the   
religious beliefs of  other peoples with
 open minds1 expecting to find in them  
elements of  truth1 and desiring to put 

themselves into sympathetic and cordial 
relations with those whose opinions     
differ from their own4    ,as has been  
said1 not all those who are known as    
,christians have this  tolerant temper1 
because there are many who are known as 
,christians who  have but dim notions of
 what it means to be a ,christian4 ,it  
was once the  prevailing assumption that
 all religions were divided into two    
classes1  the true and the false2 that  
ours was the true religion and all the  
others were false religions4 ,that the  
heathen were the enemies of ,god  was   
the common belief1 and it was a grave   
heresy to insinuate that any  of them   
could be saved without renouncing their 
false religions and  accepting the true 
religion4 ,this was the basis upon which
 the work of  foreign missions was long 
conducted1 and there are still many who 
bear  the ,christian name who have not  
yet reached any other conception4       
,but the church in modern life is       
learning to see this whole matter in a  

different light4 ,our best modern       
missionaries decline to take this       
attitude in dealing with men of other   
religions4 ,they do not regard the      
heathen as outside the pale of the      
divine compassion2 they seek for  points
 of sympathy between their own beliefs  
and those of the people to  whom they   
are sent4 ,from no other sources have   
come stronger testimonies  to the       
sympathy of religions4 ,we must not1    
these veteran missionaries  insist1     
assume that our religion is the only    
true religion1 while all  the others are
 false religions4 ,we may well assume   
that all human forms  of faith are more 
or less imperfect--our own as well as   
theirs1 and  invite them to a candid    
comparison of the differing systems4 ,if
 our own  is really superior1 if it     
meets universal human needs more        
perfectly1 we  ought not to fear such a 
candid comparison4 ,but we must be ready
 to see  and approve the good that is   
theirs1 if we wish them to accept the   

good  that is ours4    ,this is not     
admitting that there is no              
difference--that one religion is  as    
good as another2 we should stultify     
ourselves by making any such  admission4
 ,but it is a willingness to recognize  
truth and goodness  everywhere1 and to  
rejoice in them4 ,and we must show that 
we are not  afraid to take from the many
 truth which has been revealed to them  
more  clearly than to us4 ,if we believe
 in the universal fatherhood and the    
omnipresence of the ,holy ,spirit1 we   
must expect to find1 in every form  of  
faith1 some elements that our           
,christianity needs4 ,in fact           
,christianity1 through all its history1 
has been appropriating truth  which it  
has found in the systems with which it  
has come in contact1 and  it is one of  
the glories of ,christianity that it has
 the power to do  this4    ,a great     
,christian scholar has just published a 
book entitled ,the ,growth  of          
,christianity1 in which he shows how    

this has been done4 ,he finds  that just
 as ,jewish morality was ennobled and   
beautified by the  teaching of ,christ  
and yet made an essential element of    
that teaching1  so the philosophy of    
,greece1 the mysticism of ,asia1 and the
 civic  virtues of ,rome were taken up  
by the ,christian religion1 which1 while
  remaining ,christian1 was modified by 
their influence4 ,this process  cannot  
fairly be called degeneration1 but      
growth1 such growth and  development as 
is the privilege of every truly living  
institution4#h    ,it is true1 as one   
critic suggests1 that in taking in these
 foreign  elements ,christianity not    
only made some important gains1 but also
  suffered some serious losses4 ,greek  
philosophy and ,asian mysticism and     
,roman legalism are responsible for     
certain perversions of ,christianity1   
as well as for enlargement of its       
content4 ,we have great need to be      
careful in these assimilations2 some    
kinds of food are rich but not  easily  

digested4 ,but it is1 as ,i have said1 a
 chief glory of  ,christianity that it  
possesses this assimilative power4 ,it  
is the  natural fruit of faith in the   
divine fatherhood4 ,we ought to be able 
to  believe that ,god has some          
revelations to make to us through our   
brethren  in other lands1 as well as to 
them through us4 ,it is the possession  
of  this power which fits ,christianity 
to be the universal religion4    ,it has
 already given some striking proofs of  
the possession of this  power4 ,we have 
had1 once1 upon this planet1 a great    
,parliament of  ,religions1 in which the
 representatives of all the great faiths
 now  existing in the world were        
gathered together for comparison of     
beliefs  and experiences4 ,it was1      
perhaps1 the most important religious   
gathering  which has ever assembled4    
,the presiding officer1 in his opening  
address1  thus described its import3--  
,if this congress shall faithfully      
execute the duties with which it has    

been charged1 it will become a joy of   
the whole earth and stand in human      
history like a new ,mount ,zion crowned 
with glory and making the actual        
beginning of a new epoch of brotherhood 
and peace4    ,in this congress the word
 'religion' means the love and worship  
of ,god  and the love and service of    
man4 ,we believe the ,scripture ',of a  
truth  ,god is no respecter of persons1 
but in every nation he that feareth ,god
  and worketh righteousness is accepted 
of him4' ,we come together in  mutual   
confidence and respect1 without the     
least surrender or compromise  of       
anything which we respectively believe  
to be truth or duty1 with the  hope that
 mutual acquaintance and a free and     
sincere interchange of  views on the    
great questions of eternal life and     
human conduct will be  mutually         
beneficial4    ,the religious faiths of 
the world have most seriously           
misunderstood  and misjudged each other1
 from the use of words in meanings      

radically  different from those which   
they were intended to bear1 and from a  
disregard of the distinctions between   
appearances and facts1 between  signs   
and symbols and the things signified and
 represented4 ,such errors  it is hoped 
that this congress will do much to      
correct and to render  hereafter        
impossible4    ,such was the purpose of 
this parliament1 such the spirit which  
prompted  the calling of it1 and found  
utterance in its conferences4 ,it was   
surely  a notable and beautiful thing   
for1 the adherents of these dissimilar  
faiths1 whose ordinary attitude toward  
one another has always been  suspicious 
and oppugnant1 to come together in this 
friendly way1 seeking  a better         
understanding1 and emphasizing the      
things that make for unity4  ,and whose 
was this parliament8 ,which religion was
 it that conceived of  it1 and made     
provision for it1 and set in motion the 
influences that  drew these hostile     
bands into harmony8 ,it was the         

,christian religion  which gave us this 
great endeavor after unity4 ,and it is  
highly  improbable that such a movement 
would have originated in any other than 
a ,christian country1 or among the      
followers of any other ,leader than the 
,man of ,nazareth4 ,it was the natural  
thing for the disciples of ,jesus to    
do2 and while many men of the other     
faiths yielded to this gracious         
influence1 and were thus brought under  
the power of the bond that unites  our  
common humanity1 it is not likely that  
any of them would have taken  the       
initiative in such an undertaking4      
,we may hope that this is not the last  
parliament of religions2 that in  the   
days before us such manifestations of   
the unity of the race will not  be      
uncommon4 ,and we are sure that the     
leaders of all such endeavors will  be  
found among the followers of the ,prince
 of ,peace4    ,here1 then1 we find one 
clear answer to the question with which 
we  started4 ,the ,christian confessor  

who is confronted with the question     
,what reason have you for thinking that 
the religion of your fathers is  better 
than any other form of faith8 may       
answer1 first1 ,it is better  because it
 cares more for the unity of the race   
than any other religion  cares2 because 
it believes more strongly in the        
essential brotherhood of  all           
worshipers2 because it teaches a larger 
charity for men of  differing beliefs1  
and more perfectly realizes the sympathy
 of  religions4 ,it is far from being   
all that it ought to be1 on this side of
  its development2 many of its adherents
 are still full of bigotry and          
intolerance and ,pharisaic conceit2 but 
these are contrary to its  plainest     
teachings1 and all its progress is in   
the direction of larger  charity for men
 of all religions4 ,already1 in spite of
 its failures1 it  has shown far more of
 this temper than any other religion has
 exhibited2  and when it gets rid of its
 own sects and schisms1 and comes closer

 to  the heart of its own ,master1 it   
will have a power of drawing the peoples
  together which no other religion has  
ever thought of exercising4    ,i have  
spoken of the fact that ,christianity   
claims to be a universal  religion4     
,that was the expectation with which its
 first messengers were  sent forth4     
,they were bidden to go into all the    
world and preach the  gospel to every   
creature4 ,there has never been any     
other thought among  the loyal followers
 of ,jesus than that the day is coming  
when every knee  shall bow to him and   
every tongue confess him4    ,this      
expectation of universality is not      
shared by all the religions of  the     
earth4 ,many of them are purely ethnic  
faiths2 they grow out of the  lives of  
the peoples who adhere to them2 it does 
not seem to be supposed  that any other 
peoples would care for them or know what
 to do with them4  ,the old ,romans had 
a saying1 ,cujus regio1 ejus            
religio--which means1  ,every country   

has its own religion4 ,the earlier      
,hebrews had the same  idea2 they       
thought that every people had a god of  
its own4 ,jehovah was  their ,god2 ,baal
 was the god of the ,phoenicians1 and   
,chemosh was the god  of ,moab4 ,they   
believed that ,jehovah was a stronger   
,god than any of these  other deities1  
but they did not seem to doubt their    
existence or their  potency4 ,even the  
prophet ,micah says3 ,for all the       
peoples will walk  every one in the name
 of his god1 and we will walk in the    
name of  ,jehovah our ,god for ever and 
ever4#i ,the later prophets gained the  
larger conception of universality2 they 
believed that there was but one  supreme
 ,god1 and therefore but one religion1  
to the acceptance of which  all mankind 
would at last be brought4 ,the narrower 
conception of  religion as a national or
 racial interest has1 however1 prevailed
 and  still prevails among many peoples4
 ,the ,hindu religion1 which numbers    
many millions of votaries1 has no       

expectation of becoming a world         
religion4 ,indeed1 it could not well    
entertain any such expectation2 the     
system of caste1 on which it rests1     
makes it necessarily exclusive4 ,it  has
 no missionary impulse2 its adherents   
are content with a good which  they do  
not seek to share with other peoples4   
,the same thing is true of  many of the 
minor faiths4    ,now it is manifest    
that religions which do not expect to be
 universal  are not likely to exceed    
their own expectations4 ,according to   
your  faith be it unto you is as true of
 systems as of men4 ,and none of us is  
likely to be strongly drawn to a faith  
which has really no invitation  for us1 
no matter how stoutly it may maintain   
its own superiority4 ,no  religion which
 has only a tribal or racial            
significance can make any  effective    
appeal to our credence4 ,the note of    
universality must be  struck by any     
religion which claims our suffrages4    
,there are certain great living         

religions which make this claim of      
universality4 ,judaism and ,parseeism   
have both entertained this  expectation1
 but the fewness of their adherents at  
the present time  indicates that the    
expectation is but feebly held4 ,the    
three living  faiths which aspire to    
universal dominion are ,buddhism1       
,mohammedanism1  and ,christianity4#aj  
,each of these hopes to possess the     
earth4 ,each of  these is strong enough 
to enforce its claim with some measure  
of  confidence4    ,recent estimates    
give to ,buddhism #adh1jjj1jjj of       
followers1 to  ,mohammedanism           
#agg1jjj1jjj1 and to ,christianity      
#dgg1jjj1jjj4  ,mohammedanism has been  
rapidly extending its sway in ,africa   
during  recent years2 ,buddhism is not1 
probably1 making great gains at the     
present time4    ,if any form of        
religion is to become universal in the  
earth it would  appear that it must be  
one of these three4 ,if any of us wishes
 to  exchange the religion of his       

fathers for another faith1 his choice   
will  be apt to lie between ,buddhism   
and ,mohammedanism4 ,what claims to our 
credence and allegiance could either of 
them set up8    ,it would not1 for most 
of us1 be an easy thing to turn from the
 faith of  our fathers to any other form
 of faith4 ,the ideas and usages to     
which  we have been accustomed all our  
lives are not readily exchanged for     
those which are wholly unfamiliar4      
,rites and ceremonies and customs of    
other religions1 which may be           
intrinsically as reasonable and reverent
  as our own1 strike upon our minds     
unpleasantly because they are  unwonted4
 ,it would1 therefore1 be somewhat      
difficult for us to put  ourselves into 
a mental attitude before either of these
 great religions1  in which we should be
 able to do full justice to its claims  
upon our  credence4    ,yet if we could 
gain the breadth of view to which the   
disciples of  ,christ ought to attain1  
we should be compelled to admit that    

each of  these great religions has      
rendered some important service to      
mankind4    ,what those services have   
been can only be hinted at in this      
chapter4 ,of  ,islamism1 ,bishop ,boyd  
,carpenter testifies that it has been1  
and still  is1 a great power in the     
world4 ,there is much in it that is     
calculated  to purify and elevate       
mankind at a certain stage of history4  
,it has the  power of redeeming the     
slaves of a degraded polytheism from    
their low  groveling conception of ,god 
to conceptions which are higher2 it has 
set  an example of sobriety to the world
 and has shielded its followers from    
the drink plague which destroys the     
strength of nations4 ,and1 in so far  as
 it has done this1 it has performed a   
work which entitles it to the  attention
 of man and no doubt has been a factor  
in ,god's education of  the world4#aa   
,of ,buddhism even more could be said4  
,in the words of ,mr4 ,brace3--         
,sometime in the sixth century before   

,christ there appeared in ,northern     
,india one of those great personalities 
who in a measure draw their  inspiration
 directly from above4444 ,when he says1 
',as a mother at the  risk of her life  
watcheth over the life of her child1 her
 only child1 so  also let every one     
cultivate a boundless good-will towards 
all beings1  444 above and below and    
across1 unobstructed1 without hatred1   
without  enmity1 standing1 walking1     
sitting1 or lying1 as long as he be     
awake let  him devote himself to this   
state of mind2 this way of living1 they 
say1  is the best in this world'--when  
these words come to our ears we hear    
something of a like voice to that which 
said1 ',come unto me1 all ye that  are  
weary and heavy-laden4' ,from a thousand
 legends and narratives we  may gather  
that to ,gotama the ,enlightened 7the   
,buddha7 the barriers of  human         
selfishness fell away4 ,to him the      
miseries of the poor1 the slave1  the   
outcast1 were his own2 the tears which  

men had shed from the  beginning1       
'enough to fill oceans1' were as if     
falling from his eyes4  ,the great pang 
of sorrow1 piercing the heart of the    
race1 inconsolable1  unspeakable1 struck
 to his own heart4 ,for him the sin of  
the world1 the  unsatisfied desire1 the 
fierce passion and hatred and lust1     
poisoned  life1 and he cared for nothing
 except for what would change the heart 
and remove this fearful mass of evil4#ab
    ,the character of ,gotama as it     
emerges from the reek of tradition is   
one  of the noblest in history1 and     
while the religion of which he was the  
leader has been defiled by all manner of
 corruptions and superstitions1  it has 
borne much good fruit in the life of    
many peoples4    ,it would be easy to   
point out the radical defects in both   
these  religions2 let me rather call    
attention to some of the distinguishing 
peculiarities of our own faith4    #a4  
,the ,god whom ,jesus has taught us to  
believe in1 is a far nobler  object of  

affection and trust than is ever        
presented to the thought of  the        
followers of ,mohammed or of ,gotama4   
,he is our ,heavenly ,father1  infinite 
in his purity1 his truth1 his kindness1 
his compassion1 his  care for all his   
children4    ,now it is true that the   
central and fundamental difference in   
religions  is that which concerns the   
character of the deity4 ,the best       
religion is  that which worships the    
best god4 ,and when we compare the      
,christian  conception of ,god with the 
,buddhist conception or the ,mohammedan 
conception1 we cannot fail to see which 
is the highest and the purest4    ,a    
brilliant ,japanese scholar1 discussing 
this subject of the relative  values of 
religions1 was asked if1 in any respect1
 the ,christian  religion was better    
than the ,oriental religions1 and he    
promptly  answered3 ,yes2 the ,christian
 conception of ,god as the ,heavenly    
,father  is higher and better than that 
of any ,oriental religion4 ,if that is  

true it settles the whole question4     
,it is1 perhaps1 inaccurate to speak of 
,buddhism as having any conception  of  
,god4 ,the very idea of a god as        
creating or in any way ruling the       
world1 says one authority1 is utterly   
absent in the ,buddhist system4  ,god is
 not so much as denied1 he is simply not
 known4 ,buddha taught  men to be       
compassionate to one another1 but he did
 not teach them to  look above          
themselves for any divine compassion4   
,it is true that they  now venerate him1
 and even pray to him2 for the human    
soul will  pray1--its instinct of       
dependence1 its craving for fellowship  
with  something higher than itself will 
prevail over all theories2 but this     
prayer must be somewhat incoherent1 for 
the worshiper believes that  ,buddha has
 no longer any conscious or personal    
existence4 ,and there is  certainly no  
conception in his mind of any such      
fatherly relation with  any ,power above
 himself1 who loves him and cares for   

him and knows how  to help him1 as that 
which ,jesus has revealed to us4    ,the
 ,mohammedan ,deity is indeed a person1 
but he is a relentless1  omnipotent     
,will4 ,the worst phases of the old     
,calvinism--those which have            
disappeared from ,christian thought--are
 the central ideas of the  ,mohammedan  
creed4 ,god is represented in the ,koran
 as fitful and  revengeful1 as arbitrary
 and despotic2 he is a very different   
being from  the ,god and ,father of our 
,lord ,jesus ,christ4    #b4 ,the       
religion of ,jesus emphasizes1 as no    
other religion has done1  the redemptive
 principle in its idea of ,god4 ,it does
 not hide the fact  of moral evil as the
 source of all our woes1 but it shows an
 eternal  purpose in the heart of ,god  
to save man from sin1 even at the cost  
of  suffering to himself4 ,this is the  
meaning of redemption2 it is the        
salvation of men through a divine       
self-sacrifice4 ,no such revelation of  
the love of ,god as this has ever been  

made to the world1 except through  the  
life and teachings and death of ,jesus  
,christ4 ,no wonder that when it  is    
simply and clearly presented to men it  
wins their hearts4 ,a ,chinese  woman1  
listening to a recital of this          
redemptive work of ,god1 turned         
suddenly to her neighbor and said1      
,didn't ,i tell you that there ought  to
 be a ,god like that8    ,we shall look 
in vain through the scriptures of the   
other religions for  any such conception
 of the relation of ,god to men4 ,men   
must save  themselves by their own      
endeavors2 they must obey or they will  
suffer2  perchance by their own         
suffering they may be purified3 but that
 ,god  should stoop to earth and stand  
by the side of sinning and suffering    
man1 and save him by suffering with him1
 is a truth to which none of  them has  
risen4    #c4 ,christianity1 above all  
other faiths1 is the religion of hope4  
,it  not only kindles in our hearts the 
hope of overcoming the sin which is  our

 worst enemy1 but it conquers in our    
hearts the fear of death and  opens up  
to us the prospect of unending and      
glorious future life1 in the  society of
 those most dear to us4                 
,mohammedanism also permits us to hope  
for future blessedness1 albeit its      
representations of the life to come are 
not always such as to purify and        
elevate our thoughts4 ,buddhism1 on the 
contrary1 though it tells us that  we   
may be reborn many times1 assures us    
that each reappearance in this  world   
will be attended with suffering and     
struggle2 from which1 if we  continue to
 walk in the true path1 striving more   
and more to conquer our  desires1 we may
 at length hope to be delivered2 but the
 blessedness  which comes at the end of 
all this struggle is simply             
forgetfulness3 we  shall lose our       
identity and be remerged in that fount  
of ,being from  which at first we came4 
,existence is the primal evil3 to get   
rid of  ourselves is what we are to     

strive for2 salvation is our            
disappearance  out of life1 our         
absorption in the ocean of              
unconsciousness4 ,this is the  best that
 ,buddhism has to offer us4 ,not many of
 us1 ,i dare say1 will  wish to exchange
 for this the ,christian hope4    ,there
 are many other characteristics of the  
,christian faith on which it  would be  
interesting to reflect1 but these three 
great elements are  sufficient to enable
 us to form our judgment as to its      
comparative  value4 ,no religion which  
in these particulars is inferior can    
ever draw  the world away from the      
leadership of ,jesus ,christ4 ,and it   
ought to be  clear to all who can       
comprehend the needs of human nature    
that while  these other faiths1 in view 
of the great services they have rendered
 to  mankind1 are not to be despised2   
and while it is probable that the       
world1 until the end of it1 will be     
indebted to them for contributions      
which they have made to our knowledge of

 the highest things2 yet there  is no   
good reason why any one who has been    
walking in the light that  shines from  
the life and teachings of ,jesus ,christ
 should wish to turn  from his way into 
the ways of ,mohammed or ,gotama4    ,it
 is not by any happy accident that      
,christianity is growing far more       
rapidly than any other form of faith1   
and now vastly outnumbers every  other2 
it is not a strange thing that the lands
 in which it prevails  are far more     
prosperous and far more powerful than   
the lands in which  other religions     
prevail4 ,it is winning the world4 ,it  
is winning the  world because its       
interpretation of life is a truer       
interpretation than  any other religion 
has offered2 because it meets and       
supplies the  deepest wants of men more 
perfectly than any other religion meets 
and  supplies them4    ,the great       
evolutionary law is at work here1 as    
everywhere4 ,there is a  struggle for   
existence among religions1 as among all 

other forms of  life4 ,the law of       
variation has had full play in all this 
realm2 human  nature has produced a     
great variety of religious ideas and    
forms1 and  natural selection is doing  
its work upon them4 ,the fittest will   
survive4  ,and the fittest religion will
 be the religion that ministers most    
perfectly to human needs2 that makes the
 best and strongest men and  women2 that
 rears up the most fruitful and the most
 enduring  civilization4    ,everything 
visible within the horizon of our       
thought to-day indicates  that the      
religion which will survive--the        
permanent religion1 the  universal      
religion--will be the ,christian        
religion4    ,it will gather into itself
 the best elements out of every other   
form of  faith1 but the constructive    
ideas will be those which have found    
most  perfect expression in the         
teachings of ,jesus ,christ4            
,,iii    ,the ,social ,side of ,religion
        ,we have found in our previous  

studies that religion is a central and  
permanent element in human nature1 and  
that ,christianity bids fair to be  the 
permanent form of religion4    ,but the 
readers of these pages are constantly   
meeting with those who  would admit both
 these statements1 yet who are disposed 
to deny or  ignore the value of the     
church in modern society4 ,they believe 
in  religion1 they say2 they even       
believe in the principles of            
,christianity2  they may go so far as to
 say that they believe in ,christ2 but  
they do  not believe in the church4     
,what they seem to object to is         
organized  religion4 ,they appear to    
think that it ought to be diffused1     
somehow1  like an atmosphere1 through   
the community4 ,we hear ,christians     
talk1  sometimes1 about the invisible   
church2 that is the only kind of church 
which these objectors are disposed to   
tolerate4 ,institutional religion  is   
the special object of their distrust4   
,some of the more radical among them    

oppose religious organizations1 not     
because these organizations are         
religious1 but because they have an     
antipathy for all forms of social       
organization4 ,it does not take an      
open-eyed onlooker long to discover that
 social organizations of all  kinds are 
infested with many evils4 ,social       
machinery is never perfect in  its      
construction or operation4 ,it is always
 getting out of gear2 there  is endless 
friction and clatter and confusion2 it  
takes a great deal of  trouble to keep  
it moving1 and its product is often of  
poor quality4  ,when men get together   
and try to coperate for any purpose1 by 
orderly  methods1 they are always sure1 
because of the imperfection of human    
nature1 to do a certain amount of       
mischief4 ,often their organization     
tends to tyranny2 freedom is unduly     
restricted2 selfish men get  possession 
of the power accumulated in the         
organization1 and use it for  their own 
aggrandizement2 it becomes1 to a greater

 or less extent1 an  instrument of      
oppression4 ,thus government1 which is  
normally the  organization of political 
society for the protection of liberty   
and the  promotion of the general       
welfare1 sometimes becomes1 as in       
,russia1 a  grinding despotism          
despoiling the many for the enrichment  
of the few4  ,thus1 in our ,american    
politics1 we have the machine1 which is 
simply the  perversion of party         
organization1 and which in many         
instances has  become1 under the        
manipulation of greedy and              
conscienceless men1 an evil  of vast    
proportions4    ,looking upon these     
abuses with which political             
organizations of all  kinds are always  
encumbered1 some men propose to abolish 
all forms of  political organization4   
,this is anarchism1 of which there are  
two  varieties1--the anarchism of       
violence1 and the anarchism of          
non-resistance4 ,czolgosz represents one
 type and ,tolstoy the other4 ,for  the 

anarchism of violence we can have only  
detestation and horror2 to  the         
anarchism which expects to abolish laws 
by ignoring them and  suffering the     
consequences1 we must extend a          
respectful toleration4  ,nevertheless   
the anarchism of ,tolstoy offers us a   
programme which is  hardly thinkable4   
,for we are made to live and work       
together2 and if we  work together      
effectively we must have rules and      
working agreements1  methods of         
coperation1 and these1 whatever name we 
may give them1 will  have the force of  
constitutions and laws4 ,the great      
coperations1 on  which the welfare of   
society depends1 involve social         
organization4 ,even  if the form which  
this takes should be largely economic1  
it would have  political force and      
significance4 ,man is a political       
animal2 it is his  nature to live       
politically2 and1 as ,horace says1 you  
may drive out  nature with a pitchfork1 
but she is sure to come back4 ,and the  

same  weaknesses of human nature which  
infested the old forms of organization  
would be found in the new ones1 unless  
human nature itself were  regenerated4  
,those who would destroy political      
society on account of its abuses are1   
therefore1 guilty of the same           
foolishness as that of the man who      
burned  his house to get rid of the     
rats4 ,doubtless the rats all escaped   
and  were ready to enter1 with          
reinforcements1 into the new house as   
soon as  it was builded4    ,the same   
reasoning applies to ecclesiastical     
anarchism4 ,those who1  because of the  
defects of church organizations1 would  
abolish the  churches1 are equally      
unpractical4 ,for it is not only true1  
as we saw in  our first chapter1 that   
religion is a primal fact of human      
nature1 it is  equally true that        
religion everywhere has a social        
manifestation4 ,the  same impulse which 
moves men to worship1 draws them        
together in their  worship4    ,any deep

 or strong emotion makes human beings   
congregate4 ,just as a  flock of sheep  
huddle together when they are           
frightened1 so men1 when  deeply moved  
for any cause1 seek one another4 ,as the
 impulse of religion  is one of those by
 which men are most deeply moved1 it    
always brings  them together4    ,so    
long as religion keeps the form of fear 
it produces this result2 when  fear is  
succeeded by more grateful emotions1 and
 men begin to have some  sense of the   
goodness of the ,power they have been   
blindly worshiping1  then their gladness
 and gratitude bring them together4     
,religion1  therefore1 in all lands and 
ages1 has been a social interest2       
indeed1 it  has been the strongest of   
the bonds uniting human beings4 ,to     
demand a  religion which should have no 
social expression is to fly in the face 
of  nature1 and forbid causes to bring  
forth their normal effects4 ,wherever   
there is religion men will be           
associated1 and their worship and their 

work will be carried on under forms of  
social organization4 ,anarchism is  no  
more thinkable or workable in religion  
than in politics4    ,if this is true of
 religion in general1 it is eminently   
true of the  ,christian religion4 ,the  
characteristic note of ,christianity is 
its  emphasis on the social relations4  
,in this it simply exhibits what we may 
call its scientific temper1 its tendency
 to keep close to the facts of  life1 to
 give the right interpretation to nature
 and to human nature4    ,a modern      
sociologist#ac tells us that the sole   
point of view1 aim and  goal of ,jesus1 
in all his teaching and by implication  
of all his acts1  was social4 ,the      
divine ,father whom he proclaimed was   
social--a ,being  whose one attribute   
was love4 ,when we say that ,god is     
love1 this is  what we mean4 ,he        
delights in ,companionship1 and finds   
his happiness in  the relations which   
unite him with his creatures4 ,since his
 own supreme  good is in these          

reciprocal affections and services1 we  
cannot imagine  that he could expect us 
to find our good in any different way4  
,if we  share our ,father's nature1 we  
must seek our happiness where he finds  
his4 ,the blessedness of life must      
therefore be in our social relations4   
,such is the teaching of ,jesus4 ,such  
is the essence of ,christianity4        
,while1 therefore1 every religion by its
 very nature tends to bring men         
together1 ,christianity lifts the social
 impulse into the light and  sanctifies 
and transfigures it1 making it not      
merely a concomitant of  religion but   
the heart of religion4 ,the effect of   
this revelation was  seen in all the    
ministry of ,jesus4 ,whereever he went  
the people flocked  together4 ,great    
multitudes followed him4 ,into the      
wildernesses1 up to  the mountain tops1 
across the stormy lake1 they made their 
way2 it was a  day of great             
congregations4 ,it was because they     
wanted to be with him1  of course2 but  

when they came to him they came         
together1 and one of the  things he     
sought for them was that they should    
like to be together4 ,that  was surely a
 lesson that they learned of him2 for as
 soon as he had gone  they began to     
gravitate together4 ,every day they met1
 sometimes in the  temple courts1       
sometimes in their own homes1 for praise
 and prayer2  every evening they partook
 together1 in little groups1 of a simple
 meal1  in memory of him4 ,their        
religion1 from the start1 manifested a  
marked  social tendency4 ,indeed1 we    
might give it a stronger word1 and say  
that1  in the beginning1 it was         
socialistic2 it seemed to threaten a    
complete  reconstruction of the         
industrial order4 ,for all that believed
 were  together1 and had all things     
common2 and they sold their possessions 
and goods1 and parted them to all1 as   
every man had need4#ad    ,just how far 
this communistic experiment was carried 
it is difficult to  say1 but it is      

evident that the disciples felt that    
their religion ought  to permeate and   
control their entire social life4 ,and  
there has never  since been a day when  
the social side of religion has not been
  recognized and provided for4 ,the very
 impulse which is kindled in their      
hearts when they are brought into       
association with ,christ1 brings men    
together4 ,communion1 fellowship1 these 
are the first words they learn4  ,it has
 been so from the beginning4 ,one of the
 great ,christians of the  apostolic age
 admonished his converts against        
forsaking the assembling  of themselves 
together1 and that admonition has always
 been heeded4 ,no  other religion has   
brought people together so constantly   
and in so many  ways as ,christianity   
has done4 ,christian people are always  
getting  together1 to pray together1 to 
sing together1 to partake together of   
the  sacraments1 to listen together to  
the teaching of the pulpit1 to study    
the ,bible together1 to take counsel    

together about their work1 to unite     
their efforts1 in manifold coperations1 
for the upbuilding of the  ,kingdom4    
,they have even come to believe--and    
they are profoundly right  about        
it--that it is a good thing for people  
to come together just for  the sake of  
being together1 even when no distinctly 
religious business  assembles them4 ,to 
establish and promote pleasant and      
amicable social  relations between human
 beings is a ,christian thing to do4 ,it
 is a sign  of the progress of the      
,kingdom1 and a preparation for it1 when
 men and  women enjoy meeting one       
another for no other reason than that   
they like  to be together4 ,it is a     
condition of the manifestation of the   
love which  is the fulfilling of all    
law4 ,the stranger1 as many languages   
testify1  is apt to be the enemy4 ,the  
chief reason why he is dreaded and hated
 is  that he is not known4 ,acquaintance
 allays suspicion and promotes  sympathy
 and kindness4    ,not the least of the 

services which ,christianity has        
rendered to the  world may be seen in   
what it has accomplished in bringing    
human beings  together socially4        
,setting aside its purely religious     
function1 it has  done1 in ,europe and  
,america1 more than all other agencies  
put together  to promote acquaintances  
and neighborly relations among men4 ,it 
has  done1 as we shall see by and by1   
far less than it ought to have done in  
this direction2 its failures in this    
department of its work have been        
manifold and grievous2 but after all    
this is admitted1 it must still be      
affirmed that it has done most of what  
has been done to socialize  mankind1 and
 no other institution or agency is      
entitled to throw stones  at it because 
of its deficiencies4    ,when1          
therefore1 those who read these chapters
 hear the criticisms and  cavils to     
which ,i referred at the beginning1 they
 will know how to reply  to them4       
,when they hear an argument which       

assumes that the church is worse than   
useless because all social institutions 
are worse than useless1 they may  answer
 that the reasoning is unsound1 because 
it repudiates the deepest  facts of     
human nature2 that social institutions1 
the church among them1  are natural     
growths as truly as the cornfields and  
the forests4    ,when they hear any one 
maintaining that he believes in the     
principles of  ,christianity but not in 
the social organizations which embody   
these  principles1 they may well reply  
that the principles of ,christianity    
naturally and inevitably embody         
themselves in forms of social           
organization2 that you could no more    
prevent it than you could prevent  light
 from breaking into color or spring from
 coming in ,may2 that1 as a  matter of  
history1 the growth of ,christianity has
 been signalized by a  marvelous        
development of the social sentiments and
 habitudes which must  find expression  
in some kind of social coperation2 and  

that1 as a  matter of fact1 after all   
necessary deductions have been made1 the
  church has been a powerful agency in  
developing that temper of               
likemindedness which makes civilized    
society possible4    ,there is still    
another cavil to which it may be needful
 to refer4 ,it is  based on the notion  
that religion1 after all1 is a purely   
individual  affair2 that it concerns    
only the relations between the soul and 
its  ,god2 that therefore public worship
 is not only needless but unseemly4     
,prayer is sometimes described as the   
flight of one alone to the only  ,one2  
and it is sometimes contended that any  
other than private prayer  is a         
violation of all the higher sanctities4 
,if this were true1 of  course the      
church would be an anomaly or an        
imposition4 ,and while there  are not   
many who would urge this argument       
unfalteringly1 some such  notion as this
 may be found lying at the bottom of a  
good many minds4    ,the words of       

,jesus1 in the sixth chapter of         
,matthew1 are sometimes  quoted in      
support of this criticism upon public   
worship3 ,and when ye  pray1 ye shall   
not be as the hypocrites2 for they love 
to stand and pray  in the synagogues and
 in the corners of the streets1 that    
they may be  seen of men4 ,verily ,i say
 unto you1 ,they have their reward4 ,but
 thou1  when thou prayest1 enter into   
thine inner chamber1 and having shut thy
  door1 pray to thy ,father which is in 
secret1 and thy ,father which seeth  in 
secret shall recompense thee4#ae    ,but
 we must learn to interpret the words of
 ,jesus as meeting the  occasion on     
which they were spoken2 and before we   
base any  generalizations or rules of   
conduct upon them1 we must bring        
together  all that he said and did which
 bears upon the case in hand1 and try to
  arrive at some meaning which shall    
include and explain it all4 ,when we    
treat the utterances and acts of ,jesus 
after this manner1 we shall find  that  

no such deduction as that which we are  
considering can be drawn  from them4    
,we discover1 in the first place1 that  
he himself did not always pray in       
secret2 for several of his prayers made 
in public places are reported  for us4  
,moreover1 he told his disciples that   
when even two or three of  them were    
gathered together in his name1 he would 
be in the midst of  them4 ,the          
implication is that they would be in the
 habit of gathering  together in his    
name1 and that there would generally be 
many more than  two or three of them4   
,the only form of prayer which he has   
left us is manifestly intended          
primarily1 not for secret worship1 but  
for social worship4 ,the pronouns  of   
the ,lord's ,prayer are all in the      
plural number3 ,our father who  art in  
heaven2 ,give us this day our daily     
bread4 ,for solitary  prayer these      
phrases are not suitable4    ,when he   
went away from his disciples he left    
them a great promise of the             

manifestation to them of that ,spirit   
which had been given without  measure to
 him2 and he bade them tarry in         
,jerusalem until that promise  should be
 fulfilled4 ,accordingly they assembled1
 about one hundred and  twenty of them1 
in an upper room in ,jerusalem1 and     
continued  steadfastly in prayer        
together for many days4 ,the response to
 this  prayer was that outpouring of the
 ,spirit by which the apostolic church  
was inspired1 and equipped for its work4
 ,saint ,peter told the disciples  that 
this was the gift of the ascended       
,christ1--the fulfillment of his        
promise to them4 ,if this was true1 it  
can hardly be conceived that he         
disapproved of the common prayer in     
answer to which this gift had come4     
,nor can any reasonable interpreter of  
his words and deeds imagine that  he    
intended his admonition in the sixth    
chapter of ,matthew to be taken  as a   
prohibition of public worship or of     
social prayer4 ,those words were  simply

 a reproof of ostentation in worship4   
,the ,pharisees1 whose conduct  he is   
castigating1 loved to pray standing in  
the synagogues and in the  corners of   
the streets1 that they might be seen of 
men4 ,it was a  private and personal    
prayer1 offered in a public place1 to   
advertise the  devotion of the          
worshiper4 ,with our private and        
personal prayers the  public has no     
concern2 it is a manifest indelicacy to 
thrust them before  the public2 the     
place for them is the secret chamber4   
,individual sins  and sorrows and needs 
we all have1 and when we talk with our  
,father  about them we ought to be alone
 with him2 but we have also common sins 
and sorrows and needs1 and it is well   
for us to be together when we talk  with
 him about them4 ,it is therefore a     
gross perversion of these words  of     
,jesus to quote them in condemnation of 
acts of public worship4 ,his  entire    
life and the example of all those who   
were nearest to him1 as  well as the    

testimony of the best ,christians in all
 the ages1 unite to  render such a      
notion incredible4    ,if ,i have       
succeeded in answering the cavils which 
seek to discredit the  church as a      
social organization1 and especially as  
an agency for the  maintenance of social
 worship1 let me go on to suggest some  
positive  reasons for the existence of  
such an agency4    ,such an opportunity 
as the church offers for social worship 
is essential  to the maintenance of     
religion4 ,religious feeling the        
expression of  which was confined to the
 relations between the individual and   
his ,god1  would become self-centred1   
egoistic1 and morbid4 ,if there were no 
praying but secret praying1 if the      
social element were eliminated from     
prayer and praise1 faith would take on  
ascetic forms1 devotion would  become   
rancid1 sympathy would be smothered1 and
 the character of the  worshiper would  
be hardened and belittled4 ,there is a  
place and a time1  as we have seen1 for 

private devotion2 probably many of us   
make far less  use of it than would be  
good for us2 but any attempt to shut our
  religion into the closet would be     
suicidal4 ,it would mould there4 ,to    
keep it fresh and wholesome it must be  
taken out into the light and air2  the  
winds of heaven must blow through it2   
our desires must mingle with  the       
desires of others2 our voices must join 
with their voices2 we must  learn to    
think of the needs1 the struggles1 the  
sorrows1 the hopes that  are common to  
us all1 to put ourselves in other       
people's places when we  pray1 to feel  
that our religion is a bond that binds  
us to our kind4    ,there is a kind of  
prayer which we could only use in the   
closet1--intimate1 personal1 dealing    
with matters of which no one else  has  
any right to know4 ,but there is another
 kind of prayer for which  there is no  
other place than the great congregation2
 a prayer in which  many pleading hearts
 unite2 in which the sympathies and     

hopes and  aspirations of a thousand    
worshipers are blended4 ,such a prayer1 
if some  one can give it voice1 is      
something far higher and diviner than   
ever  ascended from any secret shrine4  
,it is true that the prayer of the great
 assembly does not always find a        
fitting voice4 ,it is sometimes arid and
 formal2 it is sometimes palpably       
insincere and perfunctory1 alas for our 
human disabilities and  infirmities6    
,the power of the leader to forget      
himself1 to gather up  into his heart   
the common needs of those who are       
listening1 and pour  them out before    
,god1 is sometimes wanting4 ,not seldom 
we may find  ourselves wishing for those
 forms of prayer1 sanctified by         
centuries of  use1 in which the         
,christian church1 in all the lands of  
earth1 has made  known its requests to  
,god4 ,these are always dignified and   
reverent2  every truly devout heart may 
find utterance for some of its deepest  
needs in the petitions of the ,book of  

,common ,prayer4 ,but most of us have   
heard prayers in the sanctuary which    
lifted and kindled us as no written     
prayers could ever do4 ,if the leader of
 the devotions could be in the  ,spirit 
on the ,lord's day2 if he could forget  
himself2 if the simplicity  which is in 
,christ could take possession of his    
thought1 if he could  look over the     
company round about him before he closed
 his eyes1 and  with a swift glance     
could glean out of that field of human  
experience  some inkling of the trials1 
the perplexities1 the griefs1 the       
struggles1  the tragedies of the lives  
there before him1 and with a great1     
fervent1  energizing#af prayer could    
carry them all up to ,god1 there would  
be  something in that which would       
convince all who were listening that the
  highest form of prayer is not secret  
prayer1 but social prayer4 ,nor is  it  
an uncommon thing to hear1 even in      
humble pulpits1 prayer which            
effectually meets this great demand4    

,it goes without saying that1 for the   
highest forms of praise1 we must  have  
the conspiring voices of the great      
congregation4 ,we cannot let  loose the 
hallelujahs in the closet2 that would be
 almost as unseemly as  to pray on the  
street corner4 ,if the ,bible is any    
guide as to the forms  which our worship
 should take1 praise must constitute a  
large part of  it4 ,and praise is mainly
 a social act4    ,even the preaching   
gathers much of its impressiveness from 
the  congregation4 ,the message which   
stirs the hearts of five hundred        
worshipers would make much less         
impression upon any one of them if he   
heard it alone4 ,it could not be given  
to him alone1 as it is given to  the    
five hundred2 that is a psychological   
impossibility4 ,there is  something in  
it when the five hundred hear it that is
 not in it when the  single auditor     
hears it1 and that something is1 far and
 away1 the best  thing that it contains4
    ,all these considerations show that 

public worship is essential to the      
vigorous maintenance of true religion4  
,the elements which it supplies to      
religion are vital elements4 ,let no man
 imagine that by reading the  ,bible and
 good books at home1 and by worshiping  
in his closet1 or1 as  some are fond of 
saying1 in ,god's first temples1 the    
life of religion  can be successfully   
maintained4 ,it never has been          
maintained in that  way1 and it never   
will be4 ,when men forsake the          
assembling of themselves  together for  
worship1 there is no more reading the   
,bible and good books  at home1 and no  
more praying in the closet1 much less in
 the woods4  ,single individuals might1 
if the religious atmosphere of the      
community  were kept vital round about  
them1 continue to enjoy religion4       
,invalids  are often forced to deprive  
themselves of social worship2 but if    
they  are there in spirit1 something of 
the benefit finds them4 ,but a          
community which deliberately abandoned  

social worship would be a  community in 
which no private worship would long be  
maintained4    ,if1 then1 we agree that 
religion is an essential element in the 
life of  mankind1 we must see that it is
 necessary that some institution should 
exist which shall make provision for    
social and public worship4 ,the         
,christian church undertakes primarily  
to fulfill this function4 ,it has  other
 large and important relations to       
society1 of which we shall speak        
further on4 ,but this is its first      
concern4 ,i hope that it has been made  
evident in this discussion that it is a 
very important function4 ,i hope  that  
those who read these pages may be able  
to see that if we are to  have any      
religion in our land1 the kind of work  
which the church  undertakes to do      
cannot be neglected4 ,that the church is
 not doing this  work as well as it     
ought to be done is true enough2 we     
shall have all  that before us          
presently2 but the vital necessity of   

the work is not  therefore disproved4   
,the work would be better done if those 
who now hold  aloof1 because they see   
its defects1 would put their lives into 
the  business of mending them4    ,there
 are very few men and women1 after all1 
in our modern society1 who  do not say1 
without hesitation1 that we must have   
churches2 that it  would not do to let  
them die2 that they are essential to the
 social  welfare2 that1 imperfect as    
they are1 they supply a need which every
 one  can recognize4 ,they have no      
hesitation1 either1 in admitting that if
  there are to be churches1 somebody    
must belong to them1 and share the      
responsibility for their maintenance4   
,but when the question is asked1  ,if   
somebody must1 why must not you8 a good 
many of them are not able  to give a    
very clear answer4 ,very often the      
excuse that is set up is  some form of  
theological dissent4 ,but that is not1  
in many cases1 a  serious barrier4 ,it  
might shut some men out of some         

churches2 but there  are great varieties
 of creeds1 and the conditions of       
membership in some  churches are so     
simple that no really earnest man is    
likely to feel  himself excluded4 ,if it
 is essential that the work of the      
church be  done1 and if the reader of   
these pages has not convinced himself   
that he  is exempt from the common human
 obligations1 then he can find1 if he is
  in earnest1 some church with which he 
can conscientiously ally himself1  and  
in whose work he can bear a part4       
,,iv    ,the ,business of the ,church   
,we have seen that religion is a social 
fact2 that religious feeling  creates   
social organizations1 and is preserved  
and promoted by them4 ,god  is love1 and
 love is social attraction2 the children
 of ,god1 who are  made in his image1   
must find in their hearts a tendency to 
get together  and worship and work      
together4    ,we find here a            
reciprocating action4 ,an apple seed    
produces a tree which  in its turn      

produces apples with seeds4 ,so the     
religious impulse  organizes the church1
 and the church cultivates and          
propagates religious  impulses4 ,the    
point to be emphasized is that religion1
 and especially  the ,christian         
religion1 is inseparable from social    
forms2 that its  natural result is to   
bring human beings together in          
coperative groups4    ,it is the        
business of life to organize matter2    
there is no life without  organization2 
the inorganic is the lifeless4 ,these   
are facts which  should be borne in mind
 by those who approve of the religious  
life but  object to religious           
organizations4 ,if religion is life1 it 
will create  organic forms4    ,in our  
last chapter we showed how worship1 in  
its highest expression1 is  essentially 
social1 and how impossible it would be  
to maintain it  without the aid of      
institutions having the same essential  
purpose as the  ,christian church4 ,let 
us turn our thought now to the other    

great  function of the church1 the      
regeneration of human society4          
,religion cannot be kept alive without  
alliance with the social forces2  the   
social forces cannot be kept in         
healthful operation without the aid  of 
religion4 ,neither blade of a pair of   
shears will cut without the  other4 ,you
 cannot raise corn without seed1 and you
 can only get seed  from corn4          
,religion is not an ultimate fact4 ,when
 men are religious just for the  sake of
 being religious1 their religion is good
 for nothing4 ,religion is  for         
character4 ,its end is gained when it   
has made us good men and women4         
,religion is for service4 ,it finds its 
justification in the work that it  can  
do in making a better world of this4    
,jesus gave us the truth about  it when 
he said1 ,the ,sabbath was made for man 
and not man for the  ,sabbath4 ,and he  
carried the truth forward to a larger   
application when  he said1 ,i came not  
to judge the world1 but to save the     

world4    ,to save the world4 ,that was 
the errand of the ,christ2 that is the  
business of his church4 ,it is not      
merely to save a certain number of      
people out of the world1 and to get them
 safely away to another world2  it is to
 save the world4    ,there is no danger 
of giving to this phrase too wide an    
application4 ,we  are entitled to the   
expectation that this salvation is to   
have a large  scope2 that it is to      
include the earth and all its tribes of 
life4 ,when  we speak of making a better
 world of this1 we ought to mean the    
physical  world as well as the social   
world and the moral world4 ,it is a true
  insight of faith which makes the poet 
say3--        ,the world we live in     
wholly is redeemed2      ,not man alone1
 but all that man holds dear3      ,his 
orchards and his maize3 forget me not   
,and heartsease in his garden1 and the  
wild      ,aerial blossoms of the       
untamed wood1      ,that make its       
savagery so homelike2 all      ,have    

felt ,christ's sweet love watering their
 roots3      ,his sacrifice has won both
 earth and heaven4      ,nature in all  
its fullness is the ,lord's4      ,there
 are no ,gentile oaks1 no ,pagan pines2 
,the grass beneath oar feet is          
,christian grass2      ,the wayside weed
 is sacred unto him4      ,have we not  
groaned together1 herbs and men1        
,struggling through stifling            
earth-weights unto light1               
,earnestly longing to be clothed upon   
,with one high possibility of bloom8    
,and ,he1 ,he is the ,light1 ,he is the 
,sun      ,that draws us out of         
darkness1 and transmits      ,the       
noisome earth-damp into ,heaven's own   
breath1      ,and shapes our matted     
roots1 we know not how1      ,into fresh
 leaves1 and strong1 fruit-bearing      
stems2      ,yea1 makes us stand1 on    
some consummate day1      ,abloom in    
white transfiguration robes4    ,this   
vital sympathy between man and his      
environment is never lost sight  of by  

the great prophets4 ,the redemption of  
man must mean1 as they  clearly see1 the
 redemption of the world in which man   
lives4 ,when the  drunkard is reformed1 
the house which he inhabits puts on a   
new face and  there are flowers instead 
of weeds in his garden4 ,isaiah knew    
that when  his people were redeemed from
 their captivity1 the wilderness and the
  parched land would be glad and the    
desert would rejoice and blossom as  the
 rose4    ,that wonderful passage in the
 eighth chapter of the ,romans shows how
  strongly ,paul had grasped the old    
prophetic idea2 he beholds the whole    
creation humiliated and disfigured by   
its share in man's degeneration1  and   
waiting to be delivered with man from   
the bondage of corruption  into the     
liberty of the glory of the children of 
,god4 ,that expectation  is yet to be   
realized4 ,it is an essential part of   
the ,christian  expectation4 ,it is part
 of what redemption means4    ,true1 it 
is that by the selfishness and          

thoughtlessness of man large  portions  
of the earth's surface have been        
despoiled2 mountains have been  denuded 
of their forests2 fertile lands have    
been worn out1 and fruitful  fields have
 become wildernesses4 ,but we are       
beginning to reverse this  tendency1 and
 now many a wilderness is being         
reclaimed1 arid plains are  green with  
corn1 and the forests are creeping back 
upon the hillsides4  ,as men become     
socialized1 as they learn to coperate   
for the common  good1 as some sense of  
their social responsibility gets        
possession of  their minds1 we shall see
 this process extending2 the waste of   
the  common resources of the earth will 
cease2 deserts will be visited by the   
life-giving water2 swamps and jungles   
will be subdued2 the earth1 in  many    
regions now uninhabited and desolate1   
will be made to bring forth  and bud    
that it may give seed to the sower and  
bread to the eater4    ,all this is the 
natural result of the quickening in     

human hearts of the  social sentiments1 
by which they are drawn into closer     
coperation for  the common good2 and    
this quickening of the social sentiments
 is the  work that ,christ came to do1  
and the work that his church will be    
doing1  with all her might1 as soon as  
she fully understands what is her       
business in the world4    ,the          
redemption of the physical order will be
 the result of the  socialization of    
mankind4 ,it is an integral part of the 
work that ,christ  came into the world  
to do4 ,it is part of what he meant when
 he said that  he came to save the      
world4 ,when we realize this1 we get    
some idea of the  scope of the          
redemption which he proclaims4 ,it is   
not a superficial or a  sentimental     
thing that he proposes2 it takes hold of
 life with the most  comprehensive      
grasp2 it proposes to redeem not only   
man but his  environment4    ,it is not1
 however1 the redemption of the physical
 order to which ,christ  primarily      

addresses himself4 ,he begins in the    
spiritual realm4 ,he begins  with the   
individual4 ,his first concern is to    
reveal to every child of  ,god the great
 fact of the divine ,fatherhood1 and to 
bring him into  filial relations4 ,his  
whole programme for humanity rests on   
this simple  possibility of realizing   
the ,fatherhood of ,god4 ,if this can be
 realized1  everything else will follow4
 ,if any man is in the right filial     
relations  with his ,father in heaven1  
he cannot be in wrong social relations  
with  his brother on the earth4 ,if he  
is in harmony with ,god in thought and  
feeling1 he must think ,god's thoughts  
about his neighbor1 and the law of  love
 will be the law of all his conduct4 ,no
 man can love the ,god and  ,father of  
our ,lord ,jesus ,christ with heart and 
soul and mind without  loving his       
neighbor as himself4 ,heartily to       
believe what ,jesus has told  us about  
the ,father1 and fully to enter into    
fellowship with him1 is to  put         

ourselves into such relations with our  
fellow men that every duty we  owe them 
will be spontaneously performed4 ,in a  
society composed of men  who were thus  
in harmony with ,god the only social    
question for each man  would be1 ,how   
can ,i best befriend and serve my       
neighbor8    ,that the religion of      
,jesus begins here1 in the heart of the 
individual1  cannot be questioned4 ,and 
it must never be forgotten that there   
can be  no sound social construction    
which does not build on this foundation4
  ,but it is well to remember also that 
here1 as everywhere1 a foundation  calls
 for a building1 and is useless and     
unsightly and obstructive  without it4  
,the foundation of ,christianity is the 
reconciliation of  individual souls to  
,god1 and the establishment of          
friendship between  these individual    
souls and ,god2 but what is the         
structure for which this  foundation is 
laid8 ,it is the establishment of the   
same divine  friendship among men4 ,that

 is the building for which the          
foundation  calls4 ,if the building does
 not go up1 the foundation is worthless4
 ,if  the building does not go up1 the  
foundation itself will crumble and      
decay4 ,the only way to save a          
foundation is to cover it with a        
building4    ,fault might be found with 
the figure1 but the fact which it       
imperfectly  illustrates is beyond      
gainsaying4 ,the right relation to ,god1
 which ,jesus  always makes fundamental1
 cannot be maintained except as it      
issues in  right relations with men4    
,here is the apostle ,john's blunt way  
of  putting it3 ,if a man say1 ,i love  
,god1 and hateth his brother1 he is a   
liar2 for he that loveth not his brother
 whom he hath seen1 cannot love  ,god   
whom he hath not seen4 ,and this        
commandment have we from him1 that  he  
who loveth ,god love his brother also4  
,the commandment is1 in fact1 only the  
statement of a logical necessity4  ,how 
could any human being enter into a      

loving communion with that great        
,friend whose love is always brooding   
over our race1 who is seeking to do  us 
good and not evil all the days of our   
lives1 who is kind even to the          
unthankful and the evil1--and not be a  
lover of his fellow men and a  servant  
of all their needs8    ,it is evident1  
therefore1 that a religion which has no 
room in it for  social questions cannot 
be the ,christian religion4 ,the social 
question  is the one question which     
,christianity--genuine                  
,christianity--never  ceases to ask4    
,the first thing it wishes to know about
 your religious  experience is1 how it  
affects your relations with your fellow 
men4 ,it  insists that your relations   
must first be right with ,god1 but in   
the  same breath it declares that there 
is no way of knowing whether or not     
your relations are right with ,god      
except by observing how you behave      
among your fellow men4 ,faith is the    
root1 but faith without works is  dead1 

being alone2 and works concern your     
human relations4    ,these principles   
enable us to determine what is the      
business of the  church4 ,its business  
is to foster and propagate              
,christianity1 and  ,christianity exists
 to establish in this world the kingdom 
of heaven4  ,the church is not1         
therefore1 an end in itself2 it is an   
instrument2 it  is a means employed by  
,god for the promotion1 in the world1 of
 the  kingdom of heaven4 ,the kingdom of
 heaven is not an ecclesiastical        
establishment2 it includes the whole of 
life1--business1 politics1 art1         
education1 philanthropy1 society in the 
narrow sense1 the family3 when  all     
these shall be pervaded and controlled  
by the law of love1 then the  kingdom of
 heaven will have fully come4 ,and the  
business of the church  in the world is 
to bring all these departments of life  
under ,christ's  law of love4 ,if it    
seeks to convert men1 it is that they   
may be filled  with the spirit of       

,christ and may govern their conduct    
among men by  ,christ's law4 ,if it     
gathers them together for instruction or
 for  inspiration1 it is that they may  
be taught ,christ's way of life and sent
  out into the world to live as he lived
 among their fellow men4 ,its  function 
is to fill the world with the knowledge 
of ,christ1 the love of  ,christ1 the   
life of ,christ4 ,that is what ,christ  
meant by saving the  world4 ,the world  
is saved when this is true of it1 and it
 is never saved  till then4 ,the work of
 the church is successful just to the   
extent to  which it succeeds in         
,christianizing the social order in the 
midst of  which it stands4    ,if by    
means of its ministrations1 the         
community round about the church  is    
steadily becoming more ,christian2 if   
kindness1 sympathy1 purity1  justice1   
good-will1 are increasing in their power
 over the lives of men2  if business    
methods are becoming less rapacious2 if 
employers and  employed are more and    

more inclined to be friends rather than 
foes2 if  politicians are growing       
conscientious and unselfish2 if the     
enemies of  society are in retreat      
before the forces of decency and order2 
if  amusements are becoming purer and   
more rational2 if polite society is     
getting to be simpler in its tastes and 
less ostentatious in its manners  and   
less extravagant in its expenditures2 if
 poverty and crime are  diminishing2 if 
parents are becoming more wise and firm 
in the  administration of their sacred  
trust1 and children more loyal and      
affectionate to their parents1--if such 
fruits as these are visible on  every   
side1 then there is reason to believe   
that the church knows its  business and 
is prosecuting it with efficiency4 ,if  
none of these effects  are seen in the  
life of the community1 the evidence is  
clear that the  church is neglecting its
 business1 and that failure must be     
written  across its record4    ,even    
though it be true that large numbers are

 added to its membership1  that its     
congregations are crowded1 its revenues 
abundant1 its  missionary contributions 
liberal1 and its social prestige high2  
yet if  the standards of social morality
 in its neighborhood are sinking rather 
than rising1 and the general social     
drift and tendency is toward  animalism 
and greed and luxury and strife1 the    
church must be pronounced  a failure3   
nay1 even if it be believed that the    
church is succeeding in  getting a great
 many people safely to heaven when they 
die2 yet if the  social tendencies in   
the world about it are all downward1 its
 work1 on  the whole1 must be regarded  
as a failure4 ,its main business is not 
saving people out of the world1 it is   
saving the world4 ,when it is  evident  
that the world1 under its ministration1 
is growing no better but  rather worse1 
no matter what other good things it may 
have the credit of  doing1 the verdict  
is against it4    ,this judgment rests1 
of course1 against the collective church

 of the  community or the nation1 rather
 than against any local congregation4   
,it  may be that there are a hundred    
churches in a city1 and that ten of them
  are working efficiently to leaven     
society with ,christian ideas and       
principles1 while the other ninety are  
content to fill up their  membership    
lists and furnish the consolations of   
religion to the people  who make up     
their congregations4 ,the church of that
 city would probably  be a failure1 but 
the ten congregations which had accepted
 ,christ's idea  of the church and were 
striving to realize it could not be     
charged with  the failure4 ,they would  
have done what they could to prevent it4
 ,if the  rest had been working in the  
same way1 the results would have been   
different4    ,the point on which       
attention must be fixed is simply this1 
that the test  of the efficiency of the 
church must be found in the social      
conditions  of the community to which it
 ministers4 ,its business is to         

,christianize  that community4 ,there is
 no question but that the resources are 
placed  within its reach by which this  
business may be done4 ,if it is done1   
the  church may hope to hear the        
commendation1 ,well done1 good and      
faithful  servant6 ,if it is not done1  
no matter how many other gains are made1
  the church must expect the            
condemnation of its ,master4    ,it must
 not be gathered from this argument that
 the church in modern  life is a        
failure4 ,there may be discouraging     
signs1 reasons for  solicitude2 but it  
may appear1 after all1 that the signs   
are on the  whole encouraging4 ,we are  
not maintaining that the social         
tendencies in  modern society are all   
downward2 far from it4 ,we are simply   
pointing out  that it is only by        
observing these tendencies that we can  
judge whether  or not the church is     
fulfilling its mission4    ,it is       
greatly to be feared1 however1 that many
 of the churches of the  present day    

fail to apply this test to themselves4  
,their social  responsibility is by no  
means so clear to them as it ought to   
be4  ,indeed1 there are not a few among 
them that spurn it altogether1          
declaring that their business is to save
 souls2 that the condition of  the      
social order is no concern of theirs4   
,there is some reason to believe that   
phrases of this kind are often used     
without due consideration of their      
meaning4 ,what is meant by the saving   
of a soul8 ,is not the one sin from     
which souls need to be saved the sin  of
 selfishness8 ,is not the death that    
threatens the souls of men1 from  which 
we seek to rescue them1 simply the      
result of the violation of  ,christ's   
law of love8 ,what is salvation but     
bringing them back to  obedience of this
 law8 ,and this law finds expression in 
the social  order--can find expression  
nowhere else4 ,it is the law of our     
social  relations4 ,what possible       
evidence can you have that a soul is    

saved  until you see it entering into   
social relations and behaving properly  
in  them8    ,it is to be feared that   
these very simple truths are not always 
so well  understood as they should be4  
,there is a notion that salvation is    
something metaphysical1 or legal1 or    
sentimental2 that it consists in  the   
belief of certain propositions or the   
experience of certain  emotions4 ,but   
all this is delusive and puerile4 ,if it
 is with the heart  that man believeth1 
he believeth unto righteousness2 that is
 the  destination of his faith2 and     
unless his faith goes that way and      
reaches  that goal1 there is no         
salvation in it4 ,righteousness is the  
result of  saving faith2 and he that    
doeth righteousness is righteous--none  
else4 ,righteousness is right           
relations--first with ,god1 and then    
with  men4 ,and no man can have any     
evidence that he is in right relations  
with  ,god except as he finds himself in
 right relations with men4    ,the      

message of ,christianity1 we often hear 
it said1 is to the  individual4 ,yes1 it
 is2 and what is the message of         
,christianity to the  individual8 ,the  
first thing that it tells him is that he
 is not1 in  strictness1 an individual1 
any more than a hand or a foot or an eye
 or  an ear is an individual2 that he is
 a member of a body2 that he derives    
all that is highest and most essential  
in his life from the life of  humanity1 
to which he is vitally and organically  
related2 that no man  liveth to himself2
 that his good is not1 and can never be1
 an exclusive  personal good1--that it  
is in what he shares with all the rest4 
,the doom  from which ,christianity     
seeks to save the individual is the doom
 of  moral individualism2 the           
blessedness into which it seeks to lead 
him is  the blessedness of love4        
,thus it appears that even these cant   
phrases by which the church  sometimes  
tries to fence itself off from the world
 into a pietistic  religiousness that   

has little or nothing to do with life1  
all point1  when you get their real     
significance1 to a relation between the 
church  and the social order so close   
and vital that any attempt to sever the 
bond must be fatal to the life of both4 
,the church is in the world to  save the
 world2 that is its business2 and it can
 never know whether it  is succeeding in
 its business unless it keeps a vigilant
 eye on all that  is going on in the    
world1 and shapes its activities to     
secure in the  world right social       
relations among men4    ,in what manner 
the church is to carry forward this work
 of  ,christianizing society is a       
practical question calling for great    
wisdom4  ,it may not be needful that the
 church should undertake to organize the
  industrial or political or domestic or
 philanthropic machinery of  society4   
,its business is not1 ordinarily1 to    
construct social machinery2  its        
business is to furnish social motive    
power4 ,it is the dynamic of  society   

for which it is responsible4 ,but the   
dynamic which it furnishes  must be a   
dynamic which will create the machinery4
 ,life makes its own  forms4 ,and the   
church must fill society with a kind of 
life which will  produce such forms of  
coperation as shall secure the          
prevalence of  justice and friendship1  
of peace and good-will among men4 ,it   
may not be  required to look after      
details1 but it must make sure of the   
results4 ,if  the results are secured1  
if society is ,christianized1 if the    
social  order is producing a better     
breed of men1 if the business of the    
world  goes on more and more smoothly1  
and all things are working together to  
increase the sum of human welfare1 then 
the church may be sure that the  life   
which she is contributing to the        
vitalization of society is the  life    
that is life indeed4 ,but if the social 
tendencies are all in the  other        
direction1 then she should awaken to the
 fact that the light that  is in her    

must be darkness1 and that the          
responsibility for this failure  lies at
 her doors4    ,it is the recognition   
and acceptance of this responsibility   
for which we  are pleading4 ,that the   
church1 in all the ages1 has very       
imperfectly  comprehended this          
responsibility is a lamentable fact4    
,what the social  aims of ,jesus himself
 were1 most of us can fairly understand4
 ,the ,sermon  on the ,mount indicates  
to us the kind of society which he      
expected to  see established on the     
earth4 ,he never defined the kingdom of 
heaven1  which he bade us seek first1   
but he described it in so many ways that
 we  know very well what manner of      
society it would be4 ,but the church    
which  has called itself by his name has
 but feebly grasped the truth he        
taught4 ,as a late writer has said3 ,as 
soon as the thoughts of a great         
spiritual leader pass to others and form
 the animating principle of a  party1 or
 school1 or sect1 there is an inevitable

 drop4 ,the disciples  cannot keep pace 
with the sweep of the ,master4 ,they    
flutter where he  soared4 ,they coarsen 
and materialize his dreams4444 ,this is 
the tragedy  of all who lead4 ,the      
farther they are in advance of their    
times1 the  more they will be           
misunderstood and misrepresented by the 
very men who  swear by their name and   
strive to enforce their ideas and aims4 
,if the  followers of ,jesus had        
preserved his thought and spirit without
 leakage1  evaporation1 or adulteration1
 it would be a fact unique in           
history4#ag    ,that his disciples held 
fast so many of the ideas and impulses  
he  imparted to them1 and that they have
 been turned to so large account in  the
 reconstruction of the social order1 is 
matter for profound  thankfulness4 ,but 
much of this has been indirectly        
wrought2 the  ,christian elements which 
appear in the industrial order of to-day
 are  largely of the nature of          
by-products4 ,it can hardly be said that

 the  church of ,jesus ,christ has ever1
 in any age1 consciously and clearly set
  before herself the business which he  
committed to her hands4 ,she has  always
 been putting the emphasis somewhere    
else than where he put it2  she has     
always been doing something else instead
 of the great task which  he began and  
left her to finish4 ,it is the great    
failure of history--the  turning aside  
of the ,christian church from the work  
of ,christianizing  the social order1   
and the expenditure of her energies1 for
 nineteen  centuries1 on other pursuits4
    ,the writer from whom ,i quoted     
devotes a very interesting chapter to   
the  reasons why the church has never   
attempted the work of social            
reconstruction4 ,he shows that it would 
have been almost impossible in  the     
early ,christian centuries for the      
,christians to have undertaken any  work
 of social reform2 if1 under the rigors 
of the ,roman despotism1 they  had      
meddled with politics1 they would have  

lost their heads4 ,then they  began to  
look for a miraculous return of ,jesus  
to set up his kingdom in  the world1 and
 they waited for him to reconstruct the 
social order4 ,that  expectation held   
them for a thousand years4 ,when it     
failed1 they turned  their thoughts to  
heaven1 and as the eternal life came to 
the front in  ,christian hope the       
kingdom of ,god receded to the          
background1 and with it  went much of   
the social potency of ,christianity4    
,the kingdom of ,god was  a social and  
collective hope1 and it was for this    
earth4 ,the eternal  life was an        
individualistic hope1 and it was not for
 this earth4 ,the  kingdom of ,god      
involved the social transformation of   
humanity4 ,the hope  of eternal life1 as
 it was then held1 was the desire to    
escape from this  world and be done with
 it4 ,and this led to the ascetic       
tendency1 which  made men think this    
world not worth mending4 ,then came in  
the paganizing  influences of the       

,middle ,ages1 which made ritual the    
supreme thing and  paralyzed the ethical
 motive2 and then followed the          
controversies about  dogma1 which       
deadened the life of the church1 until  
finally the great  ecclesiasticism was  
developed1 and the church1 instead of   
being the  instrument for the           
,christianization of the world1 became  
an empire in  itself1 separate from the 
world1 arrogating to itself all the     
honors and  powers of the kingdom of    
,god4 ,by that substitution1 says       
,professor  ,rauschenbusch1 the church  
could claim all service and absorb all  
social energies4 ,it has often been said
 that the church interposed  between man
 and ,god4 ,it also interposed between  
man and humanity4 ,it  magnified what he
 did for the church and belittled what  
he did for  humanity4 ,it made its own  
organization the chief object of social 
service#ah4    ,this is only a hint of  
the process by which the church has been
  deflected from its course1 and        

hindered from undertaking1 with         
conscious  purpose and consecrated      
power1 her own proper work4 ,she has    
done many  other things1 some beautiful 
and excellent things1 but the one thing 
she  was sent to do she has not done4   
,it is only in our own time that she has
 begun to get hold of the true          
conception of her business in the world4
 ,that the church is here to seek  first
 the kingdom of ,god and his            
righteousness1 to concentrate her       
energies upon realizing the kingdom of  
,god in the world1 now begins to  be    
evident to men of insight2 and there is 
a loud call upon her to  bestir herself 
and take up this work so long neglected1
 and give to it  all her energies4 ,that
 is the meaning of the cry1 ,back to    
,christ1  which we are hearing in this  
generation4 ,it means that the church   
needs  to get into sympathy with its    
,leader and ,lord1 to try to understand 
his  social aims1 and to understand what
 he meant when he bade us seek first    

the kingdom of ,god and his             
righteousness4    ,two or three         
practical suggestions may be ventured   
here to those who  have followed this   
argument4    ,we have seen that1 since  
religion is a permanent need of human   
nature1  and since the church is        
indispensable to the maintenance of     
religion1 it  becomes the duty of good  
men and women to ally themselves with   
the  church and help to make it         
efficient4 ,but there are churches and  
churches4 ,we cannot help noting1 as we 
look over the community1 some  churches 
which at least dimly understand their   
business1 and some which  obviously do  
not4    ,some of us may be connected by 
birth or confession with churches that  
do  comprehend their true function4 ,if 
so1 let us rejoice in that fact1 and    
give our strength to the support of such
 churches in their work4 ,it is1  far   
and away1 the most important work that  
is being done in the world at  the      
present day4 ,if we can have part in it1

 we ought to rejoice in that  privilege4
    ,we may be connected with churches  
which do not understand their  business4
 ,possibly we may think that the best   
thing for us to do is to  come out of   
them1 and seek fellowship with churches 
more enlightened4  ,let us think two or 
three times before we decide upon this4 
,perhaps the  best thing we can do is to
 stay where we are and use our best     
endeavors1  modestly and patiently1 to  
bring our own church to a realization of
 its  responsibilities4    ,we may not  
be identified with any church4 ,if we   
are not1 then it is  clearly the part of
 wisdom for each one to find the church 
which seems  to him to understand its   
business best1 and to give the strength 
of his  life to making its life vigorous
 and its work efficient4          ,v    
,is the ,church ,decadent8        ,the  
assertion is often made that the church 
is an effete institution2  that its     
usefulness is past2 that it is sinking  
into innocuous  desuetude4 ,that        

assertion has been current for a        
thousand years--perhaps  longer2 there  
have been many periods in which it was  
urged much more  confidently than it is 
to-day4 ,this fact would suggest caution
 in  pressing such a judgment4 ,wise    
physicians do not hastily pronounce the 
word of doom4 ,they have seen too many  
patients return from the gates of       
death4 ,men and women who1 in their     
younger days1 appear to have a  slender 
hold on life1 often reach a vigorous old
 age4 ,the same thing is  true of       
institutions4 ,it is not prudent to     
assume that because they are  ailing    
they are moribund4    ,the ,christian   
church1 as we have seen1 is far from    
being in perfect  spiritual condition4  
,some of her symptoms are disquieting4  
,but even as  we often have good hope   
for our friends when their health is    
impaired1  and find that there are good 
reasons for our hope1 so we need not    
despair of the recovery of the church   
from the morbid conditions which  we    

acknowledge and deplore4 ,that the      
patient has a good constitution and     
surprising vitality is indicated by the 
experience of nineteen  centuries4 ,more
 than once1 through this long lifetime1 
she has been in a  worse way than she is
 to-day1 but she has rallied1 and       
returned to her  work with new vigor4   
,at the beginning of the sixteenth      
century her case seemed to be           
desperate2 but heroic remedies were     
used1 and while the cure was far  from  
complete1 and did not reach the root of 
the malady1 there was at  least a       
partial recovery4 ,in ,england at the   
beginning of the eighteenth  century1   
and in ,america at the end of the same  
century1 the symptoms  were alarming2   
but she lived through those critical    
periods1 and has  done better work since
 than ever before4    ,that the work of 
the church has been sadly misdirected2  
that she has  often put the emphasis in 
the wrong place2 that while she has been
 doing  many things that were worth     

doing she has largely left undone the   
main  thing she was sent to do1 was made
 plain by our study in the last         
chapter4 ,and there can be no doubt that
 this misdirection of her  energies1 and
 this failure to exercise her strength  
in normal ways1 have  resulted in many  
morbid conditions1 some of which she has
 partly  overcome1 but from some of     
which she is still suffering4    ,with  
the disorders from which the church has 
suffered in past  generations we need   
not now concern ourselves4 ,but the     
weaknesses and  ailments of the present 
time demand our attention4 ,we must know
 what  they are that we may help to cure
 them4 ,that responsibility rests upon  
us all4 ,if the church is to be made    
whole1 it must be by the intelligent    
and normal action of the men and women  
who are members of the church4 ,we  must
 know1 to begin with1 what health is1   
and what is disease2 we must  have some 
clear idea of what would be the normal  
condition of ,christian  society4       

,men sometimes mistake conditions of    
disease for conditions of health4 ,in   
cases of nervous breakdown1 patients are
 often spurred on1 by the malady        
itself1 to work when they ought to rest4
 ,the less able to work they are1  the  
harder they work4 ,they do not know that
 this restless activity is a  sign of   
disease1 they think it is proof of      
abounding vitality4 ,and there  are many
 ways in which morbid conditions tend to
 propagate themselves4  ,the instinctive
 impulses of an invalid are not safe    
guides4 ,yet there  are many cases in   
which1 even if the man is not his own   
medical adviser1  he must have an       
intelligent idea of what ails him1 in   
order that he may  be able to follow    
medical advice1 and adopt the regimen   
which leads to  health4 ,his reason must
 be summoned to discern and resist his  
morbid  impulses1 and keep himself in   
the ways of life4    ,equally true is it
 that if the church1 which is the body  
of ,christ1 is  out of health1 the men  

and women who are the members of that   
body must  know what ails them1 and how 
to supply the remedy4 ,and when they    
summon  their reason and seek to have it
 divinely enlightened1 they are likely  
to discover that many of their worst    
disorders are conditions which they     
have been cherishing2 that some of the  
things they have been most proud  of are
 ills that they must pray and work to be
 rid of4      #a4 ,the first and the    
worst of the church's infirmities is    
unbelief4 ,in  one of the moments of    
vision1 when the long obscuration of his
 light in  the future centuries was     
revealed to him1 ,jesus sadly wondered  
whether1  when the ,son of ,man came1 he
 would find faith on the earth4 ,the    
pathetic  query has always been         
pertinent4 ,faith is the vital force of 
,christianity1 and the weakening of that
 vital force is the prime cause  of all 
its disorders4    ,the unbelief which   
brings enfeeblement and decay to the    
church of ,christ  is not1 however1 the 

kind of unbelief which the church is    
most apt to  reprove4    ,there is1     
doubtless1 in the church of to-day some 
weakening of faith in  the historical   
facts of the ,christian religion1 and in
 the central  doctrines of the          
,christian creed4 ,science and criticism
 have rendered  incredible some         
statements which once were universally  
accepted4  ,considerable revision of    
theological belief has been found       
necessary1  and it is probable that in  
this process the hold of some upon the  
central verities has been relaxed4      
,it may even be that the theories of    
some ,christian confessors respecting   
the person of ,christ have been         
modified1 so that his humanity is more  
strongly affirmed than once it was4 ,to 
some persons this change of  emphasis   
may seem to be a serious form of        
unbelief4    ,admitting all this1       
however1 these intellectual changes are 
not the  principal cause of the         
enfeeblement of the church4 ,these      

changes1  however we may regard them1   
have affected but a small minority of   
the  members of our churches2 the great 
majority of them continue to hold       
substantially the same theological      
opinions that they have always held4    
,the trouble with the church is not     
chiefly a lack of faith in the  creeds1 
it is a lack of faith in ,christ4 ,and  
it is not a lack of faith  in the       
metaphysical theories of ,christ's      
person1 but a lack of faith in  the     
truth of his teaching4 ,it is an        
unbelief in which the most orthodox     
people are quite as much involved as    
those who are considered heretics4      
,the central question is not1 after all1
 what we think about the nature  of     
,christ4 ,there is good reason to       
believe that none of the twelve         
apostles held1 during the life of our   
,lord1 opinions which would be  regarded
 as orthodox concerning his person4     
,they believed that he was a  great     
,prophet1 a revealer of ,god2 nay1 they 

believed that he was the  ,messiah1 the 
long promised ,king1 who was to set up  
his kingdom in this  world4 ,of this    
they had no doubt4 ,this was the belief 
that ,jesus himself  sought to fasten in
 their minds2 and when he had drawn from
 ,simon ,peter  a confession of this    
faith he cried out1 ,blessed art thou1  
,simon son of  ,john2 for flesh and     
blood hath not revealed it unto thee1   
but my ,father  which is in heaven4 ,it 
was this faith in him as ,lord and      
,ruler of men1  as the ,founder in this 
world of a kingdom of righteousness and 
peace1 on  which1 as he declared1 his   
church should be builded4 ,such faith as
 this  these twelve men had4 ,they would
 have found it difficult1 probably1 to  
assent to the ,nicene ,creed or the     
,athanasian ,creed2 but they believed in
  ,jesus as ,lord and ,king1 and they   
believed every word of his ,magna       
,charta  found in the ,sermon on the    
,mount2 and they were ready to do what  
they  could to establish that kingdom in

 this world4 ,it is just here that the  
faith of the church is lacking4 ,it     
believes the ,nicene ,creed1 but it     
does not believe the ,sermon on the     
,mount4 ,it believes what men have said 
about ,christ2 it does not believe what 
,christ himself said4 ,it does not      
accept the practical rule of life which 
he has laid down4 ,it does not  believe 
that the ,golden ,rule is workable in   
modern life4 ,it does not  believe that 
it is feasible to love our neighbors as 
ourselves4 ,it does  not believe in the 
kingdom of heaven as a present          
possibility4 ,it  expects that ,christ  
will come1 by and by1 in person1 with   
miraculous  power1 to revolutionize     
society1 and that after that it will be 
practicable to follow the law of love1  
in all our human relations2 but1  for   
the present1 we must let the law of     
competition control all our  practical  
affairs4    ,of course it is not often  
that the teachings of ,christ are       
directly  controverted2 they are        

generally ignored1 or passed by1 as     
counsels of  perfection which we are to 
admire rather than obey4 ,but we        
sometimes  find arguments in which      
disbelief in the teachings of ,jesus is 
distinctly justified4 ,in a late volume1
 one of the great leaders of the        
,german church elaborately contends that
 we cannot follow ,jesus in his  social 
teachings4 ,our attitude toward the     
world1 says ,herrmann1  cannot be that  
of ,jesus2 even the purpose to will that
 it should be so  is stifled in the air 
that we breathe to-day4 ,the state of   
affairs is  very clearly described by   
,naumann1 who says with truth3          
',therefore we do  not seek ,jesus'     
advice on points connected with the     
management of the  state and political  
economy4' ,but when he goes on to say3  
',i give my  vote and ,i canvass for the
 fleet1 not because ,i am a ,christian1 
but  because ,i am a citizen1 and       
because ,i have learned to renounce all 
hope  of finding fundamental questions  

of state determined in the ,sermon on   
the ,mount1' we can detect a fallacy4   
,he regards as painful renunciation     
what ought1 on the part of the          
,christian1 to be a free1 decisive1 and 
voluntary act4#ai    ,naumann           
repudiates1 rather regretfully1 the     
counsels of ,jesus about  economic and  
civil affairs1 but ,herrmann says that  
he does it  light-heartedly1 because he 
has found out that these counsels are   
not  applicable to existing conditions4 
,it is evident that these counsels must 
be rationally applied1--the  spirit and 
not the letter of them is the essential 
thing2 but what these  teachers mean is 
more than this4 ,how far they have      
departed from the  spirit of the ,sermon
 on the ,mount is indicated by the words
 already  quoted4 ,the reason why       
,naumann does not seek the advice of    
,jesus in  questions of public concern  
is that he is determined to give his    
vote  and influence for the ,german     
fleet2 and ,herrmann is following the   

same  impulse when he characterizes the 
call for the disarmament of the  nations
 as a noble folly4 ,it is evident that  
the reason why these  teachers feel that
 the way of ,jesus is impracticable is  
that they are  fully committed to the   
ideas of ,german imperialism4 ,to       
conceive that  nations could dispense   
with war is a noble folly4 ,and1 for the
 same  reason1 they conceive that any   
attempt to substitute coperation for    
competition in the industrial world     
would be disastrous to modern  society4 
,the morality of strife outranks1 in    
their judgment1 the  morality of service
 and sacrifice4 ,the law of ,jesus may  
be permitted to  hold some subordinate  
place2 it will be found useful in       
mitigating the  savagery of strife2 but 
as the regulative principle of the      
industrial  order it is not to be       
considered4    ,the attempt of these    
,german theologians to frame a          
philosophical  refutation of the ,sermon
 on the ,mount gives us something of a  

shock2  but1 practically1 this has been 
the attitude of the church in all the   
generations4 ,the hopeful sign is that  
it does now give us a shock to  have the
 doctrine badly stated4    ,through a   
large part of the ,christian era the    
teaching of ,jesus with  respect to     
strife has been flouted by the church4  
,the bitterest and most  wasteful wars  
have been religious wars4 ,the disciples
 of the ,prince of  ,peace saw no       
incongruity in the settlement by the    
sword of such  questions as whether     
,jesus ,christ was of the same substance
 as the  ,father or of a similar        
substance2 and whether the cup should be
  administered to the laity in the      
,eucharist or only the bread4 ,the      
,thirty  ,years' war in ,europe was a   
religious war4 ,roman ,catholic theories
 still  maintain the right of the church
 to enforce its teachings by the sword4 
,all these facts show how far1 through  
all its history1 the church has         
departed from the teaching of ,jesus4   

,when our ,german theologians set       
themselves to prove that the ,sermon on 
the ,mount is no sufficient guide  for  
public affairs1 they have the whole     
history of the church behind  them4     
,nevertheless they might have noted that
 the drift1 for the last few  centuries1
 has been in the direction of the       
teaching of ,jesus4 ,it is  hardly      
conceivable that ,christian nations     
should go to war to-day for  the        
settlement of points of doctrine4 ,three
 hundred years ago the whole  church    
thought that necessary2 to-day a very   
large part of the church  would think it
 horrible and monstrous4 ,it is not very
 long ago that the  church believed in  
the settlement by force of disputes     
between  individuals4 ,the wager of     
battle was supposed to be a proper and  
,christian way of determining the guilt 
or innocence of an accused  person4 ,to 
most of the great ,christians of the    
fifteenth century the  proposition to   
dispense with that would have seemed a  

noble folly1  just as the proposition of
 general disarmament now seems to some  
twentieth century ,christians4 ,but the 
church has learned that there are       
better ways of settling personal        
quarrels than the wager of battle2 and  
it is likely to learn1 after a while1   
that there are better ways of  settling 
international and industrial            
difficulties than the way of war4  ,the 
church is beginning to see that the way 
of ,jesus is not1 after all1  so        
impracticable as it has always been     
supposed to be2 it is beginning  to     
discern the truth that the law of       
service is a stronger law than the  law 
of strife4 ,one of these days we shall  
find the church of ,jesus  taking its   
stand on the ,golden ,rule as the       
practical rule of everyday  life1 and   
insisting upon the organization of the  
industrial and the  political order on  
the basis of good-will4 ,when that day  
comes we shall  have a right to say that
 the church believes in ,jesus ,christ4 

,when that  day comes it will be evident
 to all that the main cause of the      
church's  enfeeblement through all these
 centuries has been her unbelief4 ,and  
we  shall marvel that it took her so    
long to find out what might there is in 
meekness and what force in gentleness2  
and that it was so hard for her  to     
understand that the foolishness of ,god 
is wiser than men and the  weakness of  
,god stronger than men4    #b4 ,the     
second of the church's chronic          
infirmities has been orthodoxism4       
,perhaps it was the recoil of her       
unbelief in ,christ that sent her over  
into the intellectual prostration of    
orthodoxism4    ,orthodoxy is defined as
 correct belief4 ,but when we ask what  
is correct  belief1 orthodoxy answers3  
,that which is generally believed to be 
correct4 ,its demand is1 therefore1     
conformity to current opinion4 ,it      
assumes that essential truth has been   
sought out1 registered and  certified   
once for all and finally3 this you must 

believe1 and you must  believe nothing  
other or more than this4 ,of course1    
then1 belief must  be stereotyped and   
stationary4 ,there can be no growth of  
doctrine2 no  new light can break forth 
from ,god's holy word4    ,orthodoxy    
begins1 says ,phillips ,brooks1 by      
setting a false standard  of life4 ,it  
makes men aspire after soundness in the 
faith rather than  after richness in the
 truth4444 ,it makes possible an easy   
transmission  of truth1 but only by the 
deadening of truth1 as a butcher freezes
 meat  in order to carry it across the  
sea4 ,orthodoxy discredits and          
discourages inquiry1 and has made the   
name of free thinker1 which ought  to be
 a crown and glory1 a stigma of         
disgrace4 ,it puts men in the base  and 
demoralizing position in which they     
apologize for seeking new truth4  ,it is
 responsible for a large part of the    
defiant liberalism which not  merely    
disbelieves the orthodox dogma1 but     
disbelieves it with a sense  of         

attempted wrong and of triumphant       
escape4 ,it is orthodoxy and not  truth 
which has done the persecuting4 ,the    
inquisitions and dungeons and  social   
ostracisms for opinion's sake belong to 
it4#bj    ,it is evident that when for  
loyalty to the truth is substituted     
loyalty  to a prescribed statement of   
truth1 the entire moral order is        
subverted4 ,truth for me is what        
justifies itself to my reason and       
insight2 to that my choices must        
conform2 by that my conduct must be     
guided4 ,to accept statements to which  
my judgment does not assent1 which  are 
repugnant to my reason1 because others  
seek to impose them upon me1  is in the 
highest degree immoral4 ,let every man  
be fully persuaded in  his own mind1 is 
the apostolic maxim4    ,every honest   
man wants to know what is true1 and     
seeks to have his  character and his    
conduct conform to the truth4 ,but      
orthodoxy insists  that he shall limit  
his acceptance to fixed and definite    

statements  prepared for him by others4 
,freedom of investigation is denied him4
 ,the  limits are set1 beyond which his 
thought must not range4 ,if there is    
truth outside of the boundaries of      
orthodoxy1 he must not reach out  after 
it2 if he does1 he shall suffer the     
consequences4    ,for there always is a 
penalty for heresy4 ,those who diverge  
from the  orthodox standards are always 
exposed to some measure of censure or   
discredit4 ,in former days the stake or 
the gallows was the penalty4 ,john      
,huss and ,michael ,servetus1 ,ridley1  
,latimer1 and ,cranmer were put to      
death on the demand of orthodoxy4 ,it   
was not because they were not  lovers   
and seekers of truth2 it was because    
they declined to assent to  the         
statements which authority sought to    
impose on them4 ,orthodoxy has  found a 
great variety of methods of enforcing   
its demand2 in recent  times it does not
 often resort to physical coercion1 but 
it never fails  to use some kind of     

pressure4 ,those to whom orthodoxy is   
dearer than  truth have ways of their   
own1 even now1 of making uncomfortable  
those to  whom truth is dearer than     
orthodoxy4 ,thus it is that the progress
 of  truth has been greatly impeded4 ,ye
 shall know the truth1 said ,jesus1  and
 the truth shall make you free4 ,ye     
shall know1 says orthodoxism1  only the 
truth that has been prescribed and      
ticketed by authority2 ye  shall be     
taught what is orthodox1 and orthodoxy  
shall keep you safe and  sound4 ,the    
entire attitude of the mind is changed1 
under this demand4  ,it is no longer    
that of free inquiry1 of open-minded    
search for truth2  it is that of passive
 assent1 of unreasoned submission to    
authority4    ,just to the extent to    
which orthodoxism succeeds in forcing   
its demand  is progress rendered        
impossible4 ,there have always been     
brave men to  whom truth was dearer than
 orthodoxy1 and to them we owe all the  
gains  the church has made4 ,the lower  

orders of the church's workers1 the mere
  runners of her machinery1 says ,bishop
 ,brooks1 have always been strictly  and
 scrupulously orthodox2 while all the   
church's noblest servants1 they  who    
have opened to her new heavens of vision
 and new domains of  work1--,paul1      
,origen1 ,tertullian1 ,dante1 ,ablard1  
,luther1 ,milton1  ,coleridge1 ,maurice1
 ,swedenborg1 ,martineau1--have again   
and again been  persecuted for being    
what they truly were--unorthodox4#ba    
,the temper of coercion1 physical or    
moral1 which is an essential element  in
 orthodoxism1 always produces1 in those 
who do not submit to it1 the  temper of 
resentment and rebellion1 which largely 
characterizes what is  known as         
liberalism4 ,those who are thus flung   
off into opposition are in  no mood to  
examine fairly the truth that there is  
in orthodoxy4 ,their  mental attitude is
 apt to be quite as unfavorable to the  
discovery of  the truth as that of the  
other party4 ,between those who affirm1 

with  the threat of the withdrawal of   
fellowship1 and those who deny1 with the
  sense of injury and oppression1 the   
truth has a poor chance for itself  in  
this world4 ,the enfeeblement of the    
church1 in all the generations1  has    
been largely due to this cause4    ,what
 orthodoxism produces when it has free  
course and is glorified1 may  be seen in
 the ,greek church4 ,more than any other
 branch of the ,christian  church the   
,greek church has put the emphasis upon 
orthodoxy4 ,the natural  and inevitable 
result has been that that church has    
destroyed itself and  the nation whose  
life it has dominated and blighted4 ,it 
is the ,greek  church that has led      
,russia to its doom4 ,and it is         
orthodoxism that has  made the ,greek   
church a blind leader of the blind1 and 
has plunged  nation and church into the 
ditch together4    ,truth1 not          
orthodoxy1 is the sovereign mistress of 
the human intellect4  ,what ,i must     
know1 for my salvation1 is not what     

everybody says1 but what  is true4      
,there is old truth--truth that has     
nourished the lives of men  in many     
generations2 let me cling to that and   
feed my soul upon it4  ,there is new    
truth--some fuller outshining of the    
great revelation of  ,god1 in nature or 
in human nature2 let me hail that light 
and walk in  it4    ,it is often useful 
for me to know what others have believed
 and now  believe4 ,not to be influenced
 by the consenting voices of the great  
and  good of the past would be childish 
egotism4 ,but it is always needful  that
 my mind should be open to new truth and
 that ,i should be free to  seek it4    
,orthodoxism restricts this right and   
disparages this privilege1  and in doing
 this it has greatly weakened the       
,christian church4    ,several other    
sources of weakness must be treated much
 more briefly4    #c4 ,sectarianism is  
not the least among them4 ,to a large   
degree it is the  product of            
orthodoxism4 ,men who venture to think  

for themselves are  driven forth from   
the fold of the faithful and compelled  
to organize in  separate groups4        
,sometimes they are not driven out1 they
 go out and slam  the doors behind them4
 ,the seceders often claim a superior   
orthodoxy2  their separation from the   
fold is an act of judgment on those they
 leave  behind4 ,the responsibility for 
these divisions sometimes rests more    
heavily on those who go out1 and        
sometimes on those who stay in4 ,on the 
one side or the other1 often on both    
sides1 pride of opinion is a main       
procuring cause4 ,sometimes men go out  
because they desire to hold fast  in    
peace the truth which they have found1  
and sometimes they are thrust  out      
because they will not permit those who  
are within to hold fast in  peace the   
truth which is their inheritance4       
,the ambition of leadership also figures
 largely4 ,men who are not able to      
control the church to which they belong 
are often tempted to lead away a        

faction in which they may be more       
conspicuous4 ,satan1 according to the   
,miltonic mythology1 was the founder of 
the first sect2 and his  philosophy was 
that it was better to reign in hell than
 serve in heaven4  ,the leaders of many 
of the sects have had a similar         
inspiration4    ,it would not be true to
 say that all schisms have sprung from  
selfishness3 they have often originated 
in a larger vision of the truth1  and   
their testimony1 which has cost them    
many sacrifices1 has enlarged  the      
thought and enriched the life of the    
whole church4    ,it must1 however1 be  
admitted that selfishness1 in the forms 
of ambition  and pride of opinion1 has  
had more to do with the multiplication  
of  sects than love of the truth or     
loyalty to the ,master4 ,the existence  
of  such numbers of organizations1      
differing from one another only in the  
most trivial particulars1 cannot be     
reconciled with the plain principles  of
 ,christian morality4 ,there is no      

justification1 in reason or  conscience1
 for the existence of so many sorts and 
kinds and classes of  ,christian        
disciples4 ,even if we could admit the  
wisdom of the larger  divisions1 what   
excuse can be offered for the endless   
subdivisions8 ,what  possible need can  
there be for thirteen different kinds of
 ,baptists1 and  twelve kinds of        
,mennonites1 and eleven kinds of        
,presbyterians1 and  seventeen kinds of 
,methodists1 and twenty-three kinds of  
,lutherans8  ,could any rational man    
maintain that these multitudinous       
variations on a  single string represent
 distinctions that are useful8    ,the  
rivalries and competitions which these  
sectarian divisions promote  are the    
scandal and the curse of ,christendom4  
,the sectarian procedure  habitually and
 brazenly sets aside the ,golden ,rule  
and pushes partisan  interest1 with very
 slight regard for fairness or equity4  
,churches are  all the while doing to   
other churches what they would not like 

to have  other churches do to them4     
,every church for itself1 and the angels
  take the hindmost1 is the sectarian   
motto4 ,the competition which exists  in
 the ecclesiastical realm is almost     
always cutthroat competition2 it        
destroys property and crowds out rivals 
with merciless purpose4    ,no argument 
should he needed to show that the       
existence of such a spirit  and tendency
 in the church must cripple its power   
and impede its growth4  ,the sect spirit
 is the antithesis of the ,christian    
spirit2 the sectarian  propaganda is an 
attack upon the fundamental principle of
 ,christianity1  which is unity through 
love4 ,the superior loyalty of every    
true  ,christian is due to the kingdom  
of ,god4 ,seek first the kingdom of ,god
  and his righteousness6 ,what makes a  
man a sectarian is the fact that he     
loves his sect more than the kingdom of 
,god1 and is willing that the  kingdom  
of ,god should suffer loss in order that
 his sect may make a  gain4 ,sectarians 

are doing this very thing1 all over the 
land1 every  day4    ,how great have    
been the injuries suffered by the       
,christian church  through the existence
 of this antichristian spirit of sect it
 would be  difficult to estimate4 ,how  
alien it is to the spirit of ,jesus     
,christ  one does not need to point out4
 ,it is simply amazing that the         
followers  of him who prayed1 in his    
last prayer1 that his disciples might   
all be  one1 in order that the world    
might believe in his divine commission1 
should imagine that they can be pleasing
 ,christ while they persist in  these   
childish divisions4    ,some sense of   
the shame and sin of sectarianism has1  
of late years1 been  getting possession 
of the mind of the church1 and the      
tendencies toward  unity are stronger   
now than the tendencies toward division4
 ,splits and  secessions are rare in    
these times2 movements toward unity are 
multiplying4 ,all this is hopeful1 but  
many generations of toil and  sacrifice 

will be required to recover for the     
church the ground she has  lost by the  
ravages of sectarianism4    #d4 ,only   
one more cause of the enfeeblement of   
the church can be  mentioned here2 that 
is her too close reliance upon the      
principles and  forces of the material  
realm4 ,she too often forgets whence her
 help must  come2 she is too willing to 
go down to ,egypt for her allies instead
 of  trusting in the ,lord of ,hosts4   
,she cannot always understand that she  
is  safer and stronger when she puts her
 entire reliance on moral and  spiritual
 forces2 when she refuses to sacrifice  
truth for the revenues  of the rich or  
the friendship of the strong4    ,the   
church is probably suffering more from  
this cause at this day than  she has    
ever suffered in any former period4 ,she
 lives in the midst of  the abounding   
marvels of the materialistic            
civilization2 she sees how  much is     
accomplished through the use of material
 forces2 and the spirit  of the time    

gets into her brain and blood1 and she  
begins to think that  money and the     
things that money can buy are the most  
essential  conditions of her growth and 
usefulness4 ,therefore she makes such   
friendships and adopts such policies as 
will bring to her the revenues  she     
thinks she must have for the prosecution
 of her work4 ,and thus her  vision is  
dimmed for the truth she needs to see1  
and her arm is weakened  for the work   
she has to do4    ,no influence so      
insidious as this1 and none so fatal1   
has ever assailed  the ,christian       
church4 ,she is passing through her     
greatest temptation4 ,it  is ,mammon who
 has taken her up into an exceeding high
 mountain and  shown her the kingdoms   
she wants to conquer and the glory she  
hopes to  win1 and is saying to her3    
,all these things will ,i give thee1 if 
thou  wilt fall down and worship me6    
,may ,god grant her the grace to answer 
,get thee behind me1 ,satan2 ,i hear the
 voice of one who said3 ,thou shall     

worship the ,lord thy ,god1 and him only
 shalt thou serve4    ,that the church  
has suffered serious injury and         
enfeeblement from the  causes we have   
considered1--from her lack of faith1    
from her subjection  to orthodoxism1    
from the ravages of sectarianism1 from  
her entanglements  with ,mammon1 no one 
can deny4 ,but that these evils are     
tending to  increase is not evident4    
,there is reason rather to hope that    
they are  all on the wane1 unless it be 
the last4    ,that the church is far    
from being in perfect spiritual         
condition we will  all admit4 ,but that 
she is growing worse rather than better 
we need not  believe4 ,most of these    
maladies are of long standing1 but they 
are less  acute now than once they were1
 and there is better hope of recovery4  
,above all1 we may say that the church  
knows to-day what ails her better  than 
she ever knew before1 and that she may  
therefore more  intelligently proceed to
 apply the needful remedies4    ,what   

kind of treatment is called for will be 
the subject of the next  discussion4    
,,vi    ,the ,coming ,reformation       
,it would be instructive to study the   
attempts which the church has made1  in 
past generations1 to escape from the    
evil conditions into which she  has     
fallen4 ,for she has been convicted more
 than once of her sins of  omission1 of 
the perversion of her powers1 and the   
misuse of her  opportunities1 and has   
bestirred herself to cast off the yokes 
that were  oppressing her1 and the bands
 that were impeding her progress4 ,it   
cannot  be said that she has ever yet   
become fully conscious of her radical   
defect4 ,she has never quite clearly    
discovered that her enfeeblement and    
failure are primarily due to the fact   
that she has been neglecting her  real  
business in the world1 or making it a   
secondary concern4 ,when she  gets that 
truth fully before her mind1 and that   
conviction upon her  conscience1 we may 
hope for better things4    ,there was1  

however1 one epoch in her history when  
she came very near  making this         
discovery4 ,that was the period of the  
,reformation in the  sixteenth century4 
,what happened then is full of interest 
for us in  these days2 it throws a flood
 of light on the problems with which we 
are  dealing4    ,we have been taught by
 the historians of the ,reformation to  
think of  that event as mainly a        
theological crisis1 as an intellectual  
revolt  against certain doctrines       
imposed by the church upon the faithful1
 or a  rebellion against the stringency 
of ecclesiastical discipline4 ,that     
issues of this nature were deeply       
involved in it is true2 but these were  
by no means the only causes of that     
uprising4 ,it was largely a social  and 
economic movement4 ,it was1 in its      
inception1 less a reaction against  bad 
theology than a revolt against          
unchristian social conditions4 ,what    
weighed most heavily on the people who  
started the uprising that we call  the  

,reformation was not theological error  
and confusion1 it was their  poverty1   
their servitude1 the miseries and wrongs
 of their daily life4  ,they knew       
something of the ,christ of ,nazareth1  
and they could not  believe that he     
meant to leave them in that condition1  
and therefore  they began to have a dim 
sense of the truth that the church which
 bore  his name was misrepresenting him1
 and needed to be reformed4 ,this was   
the source of the movement known as the 
,reformation4 ,it was1 therefore1  a    
sharp reminder to the church that she   
had wholly forgotten her main  business 
in the world4    ,one of the latest of  
the histories of the ,reformation1 that 
of ,dr4  ,thomas ,m4 ,lindsay1 brings   
this truth into clear light4 ,his       
chapter on  ,social ,conditions gives us
 a vivid sketch of the economic and     
social  forces which were operating at  
the end of the fifteenth and the        
beginning of the sixteenth century4     
,it was the time of transition from the 

old system of home production and  home 
markets to the era of world-wide        
commerce4 ,under the old system1        
industry had been largely regulated by  
guilds1 and there was a fair  measure of
 equality2 while trade1 though not      
extensive1 was regulated by  civic      
leagues4    ,but the end of the         
fifteenth century brought the great     
geographical  discoveries and the       
beginning of a world trade4 ,the        
possibilities of a  world commerce1 says
 ,dr4 ,lindsay1 led to the creation of  
trading  companies2 for a larger capital
 was needed than individual merchants   
possessed1 and the formation of these   
companies overshadowed1  discredited1   
and finally destroyed the guild system  
of the medival  trading cities4 ,trade  
and industry became capitalized to a    
degree  previously unknown4444 ,this    
increase of wealth does not seem to have
  been confined to a few favorites of   
fortune4 ,it belonged to the mass of    
the members of the great trading        

companies4444 ,merchant princes         
confronted the princes of the state and 
those of the church1 and their  presence
 and power dislocated the old social    
relations4#bb    ,this enormous increase
 of wealth manifested itself in every   
form of  senseless luxury4 ,of          
refinement there was little2 pleasures  
were coarse1  indulgence was beastly4   
,preachers1 economists1 and satirists1  
says ,dr4  ,lindsay1 denounce the luxury
 and immodesty of the dress both of men 
and  women1 the gluttony and the        
drinking habits of the rich burghers and
 of  the nobility of ,germany4 ,we learn
 from ,hans von ,schweinichen that      
noblemen prided themselves on having men
 among their retainers who could  drink 
all rivals beneath the table1 and that  
noble personages seldom met  without    
such a drinking contest4 ,the wealthy1  
learned1 and artistic  city of ,nrnberg 
possessed a public wagon which every    
night was led  through the streets1 to  
pick up and convey to their homes       

drunken  burghers found lying in the    
filth of the streets4#bc    ,such were  
the manners of the house of mirth at the
 beginning of the  sixteenth century4   
,it might be supposed that when luxury  
was so riotous  the poor would have     
plenty1 but that is never the case4     
,profusion at the  top of the social    
ladder means poverty at the bottom4 ,the
 world has  never yet been so rich that 
waste did not work harm to the neediest4
  ,even if the poor had been actually no
 poorer in these flush days than  they  
had been when manners were simpler1 the 
glaring contrasts would  have been      
maddening4 ,but multitudes of them were1
 no doubt1 not only  relatively but     
positively poorer2 the destruction of   
the guilds of  labor1 the displacements 
in industry1 had left great numbers not 
only of  the peasantry and the artisans 
but also of the poorer nobles in        
practical destitution4 ,the organization
 of society was giving strength  to the 
strong and weakness to those of no      

might--thus exactly reversing  ,mary's  
prophecy of what her royal ,son should  
bring2 and those who were  thus         
dispossessed and scattered felt1 and had
 a right to feel1 that the  social      
organization under which such things    
could be done was  antichristian4       
,while1 says ,dr4 ,lindsay1 the social  
tumults and popular uprisings  against  
authority1 which are a feature of the   
close of the ,middle ,ages1  are usually
 and rightly enough called peasant      
insurrections1 the name  tends to       
obscure their real character4 ,they were
 rather the revolts of  the poor against
 the rich1 of debtors against creditors1
 of men who had  scantly legal rights or
 none at all1 against those who had the 
protection of the existing laws2 and    
they were joined by the poor of the     
towns as well as by the peasantry of the
 country districts4 ,the peasants       
generally began the revolt and the      
townsmen followed1 but this was not     
always the case4 ,sometimes the mob of  

the cities rose first and the  peasants 
joined afterwards4 ,in many cases1 too1 
the poorer nobles were  in secret or    
open sympathy with the insurrectionary  
movement4 ,on more  than one occasion   
they led the insurgents and fought at   
their head4#bd    ,the uprising against 
the church was due to the fact that the 
church1  instead of being the friend of 
the poor1 had become their social       
oppressor4 ,through all these social    
mutterings runs the outcry against  the 
priests1 and this was not because the   
priests were teaching a false  theology1
 but because they were grinding the     
faces of the poor4 ,not only  in        
,germany1 but all over ,europe this cry 
was heard4 ,the priests1 says  an       
,english reformer1 have their tenth part
 of all the corn1 meadows1  pasture1    
grain1 wood1 colts1 lambs1 geese1 and   
chickens4 ,over and  besides the tenth  
part of every servant's wages1 wool1    
milk1 honey1 wax1  cheese1 and butter2  
yea and they look so narrowly after     

these profits  that the poor wife must  
be accountable to them for every tenth  
egg1 or  else she getteth not her rights
 at ,easter1 and shall be taken as a    
heretic4 ,i see1 said a ,spaniard1 that 
we can scarcely get anything  from      
,christ's ministers but for money2 at   
baptism money1 at bishoping  money1 at  
marriage money1 for confession          
money1--no1 not extreme unction  without
 money6 ,they will ring no bells without
 money1 no burial in the  church without
 money2 so that it seemeth that         
,paradise is shut up from  them that    
hath no money4 ,the rich is buried in   
the church1 the poor in  the churchyard4
 ,the rich man may marry with his       
nearest kin1 but the  poor not so1      
albeit he be ready to die for love of   
her4 ,the rich may eat  flesh in ,lent1 
but the poor may not1 albeit fish       
perhaps be much dearer4  ,the rich man  
may readily get large indulgences1 but  
the poor none  because he wanteth money 
to pay for them4#be    ,this revolt     

against priestly oppression was by no   
means1 however1 an  irreligious         
uprising4 ,it was characterized by      
intense religious feeling1  with which1 
as ,dr4 ,lindsay says1 was blended some 
confused dream that  the kingdom of ,god
 might be set up on earth1 if only the  
priests were  driven out of the land4   
,among a populace so ignorant it was1 of
 course1  inevitable that the social    
revolt should take on fanatical forms4  
,wild  zealots arose1 drawing the       
multitude after them1 and inciting the  
people  to revolution4 ,hans ,bhm1 a    
wandering piper1 had visions and went   
forth  as a preacher of righteousness1  
railing against priests and civil       
potentates4 ,true religion1 he declared1
 consisted in worshiping the  ,blessed  
,virgin1 but the priests were thieves   
and robbers1 the ,emperor  was a        
miscreant1 who supported the whole vile 
crew of princes1  overlords1 tax        
gatherers1 and other oppressors of the  
poor4 ,he  predicted the coming of a day

 when the ,emperor himself would be     
forced1  like all poor folks1 to work   
for days' wages4 ,the people flocked by 
thousands to hear him preach1 but his   
day was brief4    ,they burnt him at the
 stake1 but multitudes venerated him1   
and made  pilgrimages to the chapel     
which had been the scene of his triumph4
 ,the  ,bundschuh revolts which broke   
out in ,elsass and spread through       
,switzerland and ,germany were of a     
similar character4 ,then came years of  
famine1 which deepened the popular      
disquiet1 and which help to explain  the
 fact that on the eve of the            
,reformation the condition of ,europe1  
and of ,germany in particular1 was one  
of seething discontent and full of      
bitter class hatreds--the trading       
companies and the great capitalists     
against the guilds1 the poorer classes  
against the wealthier1 and the  nobles  
against the towns4    ,these were the   
social conditions in the midst of which 
,luther appeared4  ,it was on this      

turbulent flood of social unrest that   
the ,reformation  was launched4 ,when   
the great reformer's voice was heard1   
denouncing  priestly misrule and        
hierarchical tyranny1 these were the    
people who  listened1 and they          
interpreted his words by their own      
experience4 ,if his  quarrel was largely
 with theological or ecclesiastical     
abuses1 theirs  was mainly with         
industrial inequalities1 but it seemed  
to them that he  was fighting their     
battle4 ,indeed1 his brave words gave   
fit utterance to  their hopes4 ,for1 as 
the historian reminds us1 ,luther's     
message was  democratic4 ,that must have
 been its character if it was1 in any   
proper  sense1 a return to the          
simplicity that is in ,christ4 ,it      
destroyed the  aristocracy of the       
saints1 it leveled the barriers between 
the layman  and the priest1 it taught   
the equality of all men before ,god1 and
 the  right of every man of faith to    
stand in ,god's presence1 whatever be   

his  rank and condition of life4 ,he had
 not confined himself to preaching a    
new theology4 ,his message was eminently
 practical4 ,in his ',appeal to the     
,nobility of the ,german ,nation'       
,luther had voiced all the grievances of
  ,germany1 had touched upon almost all 
the open sores of the time1 and had     
foretold disasters not very far off4    
,nor must it be forgotten that no  great
 leader ever flung about wild words in  
such a reckless way4 ,luther  had the   
gift of strong1 smiting phrases1 of     
words which seemed to cleave  to the    
very heart of things1 of images which   
lit up a subject with the  vividness of 
a flash of lightning4 ,he launched      
tracts and pamphlets from  the press    
about almost everything1 written for the
 most part on the spur  of the moment1  
and when the fire burned4 ,his words    
fell into souls full  of the fermenting 
passion of the times4 ,they drank in    
with eagerness the  thoughts that all   
men were equal before ,god1 and that    

there are divine  commands about the    
brotherhood of mankind of more          
importance than all  human legislation4 
,they refused to believe that such      
golden ideas  belonged to the realm of  
spiritual life above4#bf    ,when1      
therefore1 the religious reformation was
 fairly launched1 a great  uprising of  
the poor people speedily followed4 ,it  
seemed to them that  the return to      
,christ meant1 for them1 the breaking of
 yokes and the  enlargement of          
opportunity1 and they proceeded to claim
 for themselves  some portion of the    
liberty that belonged to them4 ,their   
demands1 as  voiced in their ,twelve    
,articles1 were by no means extravagant1
 from  our point of view4 ,the abuses of
 which they complained were flagrant1   
the rights they claimed were far less   
than are now1 even in despotic  ,russia1
 fully granted to the humblest people4  
,and they protested most  earnestly that
 they wanted nothing contrary to the    
requirements of just  authority1 whether

 civil or ecclesiastical1 nor to the    
gospel of  ,christ4    ,it would1       
however1 have been unreasonable to      
expect that such people  would confine  
their protest within the bounds of law  
and order4 ,it was1  in fact1 a         
revolution1 and it discerned no way to  
its goal but the way  of violence4      
,that1 indeed1 is the path that most of 
the seekers after  liberty have felt    
constrained to take4    ,what was       
,luther's relation to this uprising8 ,it
 cannot be said that he  had kindled the
 flame1 but he had fanned it to a       
conflagration4 ,and yet  when it began  
to rage1 he found himself unable to     
control it4 ,it had  come to pass1 in   
the exigencies of the warfare he was    
waging1 that his  allies were the       
,german princes4 ,only through them1 as 
he believed1 could  he hope to win the  
fight he was making against the ,roman  
hierarchy4 ,if  he put himself at the   
head of the peasants' movement he would 
alienate  the princes1 and it seemed to 

him that the ,protestant cause in       
,germany  would he stamped out in blood4
 ,and therefore1 after vainly attempting
 to  quiet the insurrection1 with whose 
principal aims he had confessed  himself
 in sympathy1 he turned upon the        
peasants in almost savage wrath1  and in
 his tract ,against the ,murdering1     
,thieving ,hordes of ,peasants1  he     
urged the princes to crush the          
insurrection4 ,in the case of an        
insurgent1 he says1 every man is both   
judge and executioner4  ,therefore1     
whoever can should knock down1 strangle1
 and stab such  publicly or privately1  
and think nothing so venomous1          
pernicious1 and  devilish as an         
insurgent4444 ,such wonderful times are 
these that a  prince can merit heaven   
better with bloodshed than another with 
prayer4    ,the princes followed        
,luther's counsel1 and the peasants'    
uprising was  put down with relentless  
severity4 ,thus ended in blood the      
movement  which promised to make the    

church the champion of social freedom4  
,it  seems1 as we look back upon it1 a  
tragical issue4 ,what these poor people 
asked for was really only a crumb or two
 from the table of the lords of         
privilege2 they thought that the        
brotherhood taught by ,jesus warranted  
them in expecting it1 and they seemed to
 hope that the church of ,jesus         
,christ1 when purified from formalism   
and superstition1 would support  that   
expectation4 ,it must have been a bitter
 disappointment to them4 ,and  it is a  
sorrowful reflection that the great hero
 of the ,reformation  fell1 in this     
matter1 so far below the ,christian     
ideal4    ,doubtless his strenuous      
repugnance to revolutionary methods was 
a good  trait in his character2 but     
surely revolutions are sometimes        
justifiable1 and it looks1 at this      
distance1 as though this one was as     
nearly so as most of those that have    
succeeded4 ,if ,luther had put his      
great heart and mighty will at the head 

of this movement which he  confessed to 
be most righteous1 it might have        
succeeded1 and  ,protestantism1 in its  
beginnings1 might have made a firm      
alliance with  those whom ,jesus ,christ
 recognizes as his representatives in   
the earth4  ,but it was hard for him to 
believe that the poor of this world1    
chosen  to be rich in faith and heirs of
 the kingdom1 were stronger allies than 
the ,german nobles4 ,he thought that he 
must have the support of the  princes1  
and he turned his back on ,christ's     
poor4    ,it was a melancholy           
conclusion1 not only for ,luther but for
 the cause  which he represented4 ,it is
 probable1 says ,dr4 ,lindsay1 that he  
saved  the ,reformation in ,germany by  
cutting it free from the revolutionary  
movement1 but the wrench left marks on  
his own character as well as in  the    
movement he headed4 ,one wonders whether
 success won at such cost is  worth     
having2 and whether1 if he had gone down
 with the peasants in  their struggle   

for freedom and opportunity1 the        
sacrifice would not have  brought a     
larger and fairer ,reformation4    ,it  
was the coming reformation to which your
 attention was called1 and we  have kept
 our eyes for a long time upon the past4
 ,but this history has  been uttering1  
through the entire recital1 its own     
prophetic word4  ,conditions have       
greatly changed since the sixteenth     
century2 but we are  still confronting  
the same issue which forced itself upon 
the church in  the days of ,luther4     
,many of the disabilities and wrongs    
under which the  common people were     
suffering then have been removed1 but   
the poor are  still with us1 and the    
cries of millions of overworked1        
underfed1  pale-faced men and women and 
children have entered into the ears of  
the  ,lord of ,sabaoth4 ,there ought not
 to be any poor people in this country2 
if it were a thoroughly ,christian      
country there would not be4 ,if there   
were those who because of mental or     

physical defect were unable to care  for
 themselves1 we could easily provide for
 their wants1 and in the  exercise of   
such compassion we should find an       
abundant reward4 ,if there  were those  
who because of idleness and vice were   
indisposed to provide  for themselves1  
we should find a way of inspiring them  
with a better  mind4 ,but1 if this were 
a thoroughly ,christian country1 there  
would be  no willing workers dwelling   
anywhere near the borders of want4      
,there are  resources here which are    
ample for the abundant supply of all    
human  needs2 if ours were a completely 
,christianized society1 the needs of    
those who were able and willing to work 
would be abundantly supplied4    ,we are
 often told that this is already done2  
that there are no poor in  this country 
save those who are either incompetent or
 indolent or  vicious4 ,if that could be
 proved1 the question would still remain
  whether the incompetency and the      
indolence and the viciousness may not1  

to a considerable degree1 be the effects
 of causes for which society is         
responsible1 and which1 in a thoroughly 
,christianized society1 would not  be   
permitted to exist4 ,but it cannot be   
proved that poverty is wholly  the fault
 of the poor4 ,the fact is that a very  
large number of those who  are doing the
 world's work to-day are receiving less 
than their fair  share of the wealth    
they produce4    ,it is true that there 
are many laborers who earn large wages4 
,compactly  organized labor unions have 
been able to secure a favorable         
distribution  of the product of their   
industry4 ,but we are often reminded    
that but a  small percentage of the     
laborers of this country are organized2 
and the  wages of those thus unprotected
 are often lamentably small4 ,many      
attempts have been made to find out what
 is the average wage of the  average    
workman2 our census reports contain very
 carefully prepared  statistics4 ,i have
 taken pains to go over some of these1  

and here are  the results4    ,in the   
textile trades1 with #ffa1dea workers1  
the average weekly wage of  all workers 
is #f4jg2 of men over sixteen1 #g4fc2 of
 women1 #e4ah2 of  children under       
sixteen1 #b4ae4    ,in the iron workers'
 trades1 with #bbb1fjg workers1 the     
average weekly  wage is #aj4df4    ,in  
the boot and shoe trades1 with #adb1ibb 
workers1 the average for all  is #g4if2 
for men over sixteen1 #i4aa2 for women1 
#f4ac2 for children  under sixteen1     
#c4dj4    ,in the men's clothing trades1
 with #abj1iej workers1 the average for 
all  is #g4jf2 for men1 #aj4ij2 for     
women1 #d4hh2 for children1 #b4fa4      
,these weekly wages are obtained by     
dividing the annual wage by #eb4 ,often 
the weekly rate is much higher1 but for 
many weeks the workers are  unemployed2 
the only fair estimate is that which is 
based upon the  annual wage4    ,have we
 any right to be content with conditions
 like these8 ,is the  average wage of   
the average worker1 as it is here       

indicated1 all that he  ought to ask8   
,should society wish him to be content  
with such an income8  ,sit down yourself
 and figure out just what it would mean 
to be obliged  to maintain a family of  
four or five on such a stipend as is    
indicated  in any of these trades--even 
those best paid4 ,find out how much     
should  have to go for rent1 and how    
much for food1 and how much for the     
plainest clothing1 and how much for     
doctor's bills1 and school books1  and  
street-car fare1 and how much would be  
left1 after that1 for books  and church 
contributions and the wholesome         
pleasures which we ought to  count among
 the necessaries of life4 ,life can be  
maintained on such an  income1 but is it
 the kind of life that we wish our      
fellow men to live8  ,and is there any  
need that life1 for the humble laborer1 
should be  reduced in this rich land to 
its lowest terms8 ,with the marvelous   
productiveness of fields and mines and  
forests and waters1 with the  immense   

development of machinery1 by which the  
wealth of the nation is  multiplied1    
might we not have an organization of    
industry and a method  of distribution  
which would give to the army of manual  
toilers a much  larger average income8  
,that is the question they are asking1  
and it calls for a candid answer4       
,their needs are not as dire as were    
those of the ,german peasants of the    
sixteenth century1 but they are real and
 serious needs4 ,now1 as then1 a        
tremendous industrial revolution has    
dislocated industries and  demoralized  
and impoverished many2 now1 as then1 the
 concentration of  capital in great     
companies has destroyed small           
enterprises and left  many who were once
 thrifty stranded and discouraged2 now1 
as then1  glaring contrasts in condition
 excite the resentments of the needy2   
now1  as then1 the propertiless are     
wondering whether this is the kind of   
thing that the church has been looking  
for when she has prayed that the        

kingdom of ,god may come4 ,and there is 
a feeling now1 as there was then1  among
 the millions of the toilers1 that the  
church which assumes to  represent      
,jesus ,christ needs to be reformed1 in 
order that through its  testimony and   
its leadership the kingdom of ,god may  
come4    ,it is sadly true that there   
are many among these toiling millions   
who  are embittered against the church1 
who have no faith in it1 and no         
expectation that any good will come out 
of it2 but the great majority  are not  
hostile to the church2 at worst they are
 indifferent1 and this  indifference is 
due to their belief that the church no  
longer represents  ,jesus ,christ4      
,toward him there is often a pathetic   
outreaching of hope2  if the church     
would come back to the simplicity that  
is in ,christ and  would plant itself on
 the ,sermon on the ,mount1 it would    
quickly win  their loyalty4 ,and ,i     
cannot help feeling that now1 as in the 
sixteenth  century1 there is in the     

minds of the toiling millions a confused
 dream  that the kingdom of ,god might  
be set up in the land1 and that the time
  is ripe for it4 ,nor can ,i deem it   
possible that this great expectation  of
 the multitude will now be disappointed4
 ,the church of this day must  be able  
to see that this call of the poor and   
the humble is the call of  its ,master4 
,it is with the weak and the needy that 
he is always  identified2 service of    
them is loyalty to him2 neglect of them 
is scorn  of him4 ,it is his own word4  
,the coming reformation will be         
signalized by a great change in the     
attitude of the church toward the       
toiling classes4 ,it will not turn its  
back on them1 as it did in ,luther's    
day2 it will not maintain toward  them  
an attitude of kindly patronage1 as it  
has done in our day2 it will  recognize 
the fact that its welfare is bound up   
with them2 that the  barriers which     
separate them from its sympathies and   
fellowships must be  broken down1 at    

whatever cost2 that it must make them   
believe that the  church of ,jesus      
,christ is their church2 that it needs  
them quite as much  as they need it2    
that it is a monstrous thing even to    
conceive that a  church of ,jesus       
,christ could exist as a class          
institution1 with the  largest social   
class in the community outside of it4   
,the coming reformation will consist in 
the awakening of the church to  its     
social responsibilities4 ,it will see   
more clearly than it has ever  yet seen1
 that those who pray that the kingdom of
 ,god may come1 and who  are            
responsible1 as citizens of a republic  
are responsible1 for the  answering of  
that prayer1 must see to it that justice
 and liberty and  opportunity are       
established in the land4 ,the church of 
,jesus ,christ1  with a passion that is 
born of loyalty to its ,master1 must set
 itself to  the task of realizing1 in   
the social order1 the principles of his 
teaching4 ,that was what the peasants of

 the sixteenth century called  upon it  
to do2 and for answer it turned and     
smote them to the earth4 ,it  will not  
repeat that blunder1 which was nothing  
short of a crime4 ,it  hears the same   
call to-day1 and when it obeys1 as obey 
it must1 it will  save its own life and 
that of the nation with whose destiny it
 is put in  trust4          ,,vii       
,social ,redemption        ,the ,new    
,reformation will be wrought out with   
weapons that are not  carnal4 ,one of   
the lessons that the church has learned1
 in the nineteen  centuries of its      
history1 is that it must keep itself    
free from all  suspicion of entanglement
 with physical force4    ,that statement
 needs qualification4 ,it is not        
universally true4 ,the  ,greek church1  
as we have seen1 is still fatally       
involved in political  complications2   
the ,roman church1 while forced to      
abstain from the use of  the temporal   
power1 has maintained its right to use  
it2 and other state  churches1 as those 

of ,england and ,germany1 retain some   
hold upon the  political arm4 ,but we   
are speaking of the church in our own   
country2 and  of the ,american church it
 is true that it has ceased to rely upon
 the  power of the state4 ,the entire   
divorce which our constitution decrees  
between the government of the church and
 the government of the state has        
become1 with us1 a settled policy1 which
 we do not wish to disturb4 ,it  is     
doubtful whether intelligent ,roman     
,catholics in the ,united ,states  would
 be willing to have this condition      
changed1 and no other ,christians  would
 for one moment consent to it4    ,what 
the church does in the way of improving 
social conditions must1  therefore1 be  
done by purely moral and spiritual      
agencies4 ,society is  not to be        
,christianized by any kind of coercion4 
,the church cannot use  force in any    
way1 nor can it enter into any coalition
 with governments  that rest on force4  
,it is not by might nor by power1 but by

 my ,spirit1  saith the ,lord1 that the 
kingdoms of this world are to become the
  kingdoms of our ,lord and of his      
,christ4 ,it is as irrational to try to 
propagate ,christianity by coercive     
measures of any description1 as it      
would be to try to make plants grow by  
applying to them mechanical  pressure4  
,nor can the church undertake to dictate
 or prescribe the forms of  industrial  
society4 ,its function is not the       
organization of industry4 ,it  would not
 wisely attempt to decide between       
different methods of managing  business4
    ,it would not1 for example1 be      
expedient for the church1 at the present
  time1 to take sides in the controversy
 between collectivism and private       
enterprise4 ,the ,socialists declare    
that the wage system1 based on  private 
capital1 tends to injustice and         
oppression2 the advocates of the        
existing system contend that ,socialism 
would destroy the foundations of  thrift
 and welfare4 ,the church cannot be the 

umpire in this contest1 nor  can it take
 sides with either party4 ,questions of 
economic method are  beyond its         
province4 ,its concern is not with the  
machinery of society1  but with the     
moral motive power4 ,or1 it might be    
truer to say that it  seeks to          
invigorate the moral life of men1 and   
trusts that reinforced  life to make its
 own economic forms4 ,its business is to
 fill men's minds  with the truth as it 
is in ,jesus1 and to make them see that 
that truth  applies to every human      
relation2 and it ought to believe that  
when this  truth is thus received and   
thus applied1 it will solve all social  
problems4 ,when employers and employed  
are all filled with the spirit of       
,christ1 the wage system will not be a  
system of exploitation1 but a  means of 
social service4    ,here is an employer 
of many hundreds of men1 at the head of 
a very large  business1 which is rapidly
 increasing4 ,this is not an imaginary  
case4  ,this employer is a man of flesh 

and blood1 and he is in the very thick  
of the competitive mle2 he is using the 
machinery of the wage system1  but he is
 governing all his business by the      
principles of ,christianity1  and the   
business is thriving in a marvelous way4
 ,this does not mean that  the manager  
is piling up money for himself1 for he  
is not3 he is living  very frugally1 and
 is adding nothing to his own           
accumulation2 but the  business is      
growing by leaps and bounds4 ,the       
increasing profits1 every  year1 are    
distributed in the form of stock among  
the laborers who do the  work1 and the  
customers who purchase the goods4 ,the  
men who do the work  are buying for     
themselves beautiful homes in the       
vicinity of the  factory2 in a few more 
years they will own a large part of the 
stock of  the concern4 ,this manager is 
not getting rich2 but he has the        
satisfaction of seeing his business     
prospering in his hands2 he is  helping 
a great many men to find the ways of    

comfort and independence1  and he       
insists that he has himself found the   
secret of a happy life4 ,it  is evident 
that if all employers were governed by  
the same motives1 the  wage system would
 be an instrument of philanthropy4      
,whether this man is  a church member or
 not does not appear1 but he is         
certainly a ,christian2  he has learned 
the way of ,jesus1 and is walking in it4
 ,if the church  could inspire all its  
members with this kind of social        
passion1 all  social questions would be 
solved4 ,and this is the church's       
business--to  inspire its members with  
this kind of social passion4 ,without   
this  spirit in their hearts1 no matter 
what the social machinery might be1  the
 outcome would be envying and strife and
 endless unhappiness4    ,we have had   
the inside history of some of the many  
communistic  enterprises that have come 
to grief1 and all of them have been     
wrecked  by the selfishness of their    
members1 most of whom were seeking for  

soft  places1 and shirking their        
duties1--each trying to get as much as  
he  could out of the commonwealth and to
 give in return for it as little        
service as possible4 ,these contrasted  
cases show that the machinery of  the   
wage system cannot prevent the exercise 
of brotherliness1 and that  the         
machinery of communism will not secure  
it4 ,no kind of social  machinery will  
produce happiness or welfare when       
selfish men are running  it2 and no kind
 of social machinery will keep brotherly
 men from  behaving brotherly4    ,we   
are often told by ,socialists that the  
present rgime of individual  initiative 
and private capital tends to make men   
selfish and  unbrotherly1 while the     
tendency of ,socialism would be to make 
men  unselfish and fraternal4 ,if the   
church were sure that this is the truth1
  she would be inclined to throw her    
influence on the side of ,socialism4    
,but1 on the other hand1 it is urged    
that ,socialism tends to merge the      

individual in the mass1 to destroy the  
virtues of self-respect and             
self-reliance1 and to weaken the fibre  
of manhood4 ,if the church were  sure   
that this is true1 she would be         
constrained to pause before  committing 
herself to the socialistic programme4   
,she knows1 in fact1 that there is truth
 in both these contentions4 ,that  the  
individualistic rgime has bred a fearful
 amount of heartlessness  and rapacity  
is painfully evident2 that such         
socialistic experiments as  have been   
tried have weakened human virtue appears
 to be true4 ,under  which rgime the    
greater damage would be done is not yet 
quite clear4  ,therefore the church     
cannot commit herself to either of these
 methods4  ,the best work she can do1 at
 the present time1 is to inspire men    
with a  love of justice and a spirit of 
service4 ,she must rear up a generation 
of men who hate robbery in all its      
disguises2 who are determined never  to 
prosper at the expense of their         

neighbors1 and who know how to find     
their highest pleasure in helping their 
fellow men4 ,if the ,christian  morality
 means anything1 it means all this4 ,a  
church which represents  ,jesus ,christ 
on the earth must set before herself no 
lower aim than  this4 ,and a generation 
of men whose hearts are on fire with    
this purpose  may be trusted to fill the
 earth with righteousness and peace1    
whether  they work with the machinery of
 the wage system or with the machinery  
of  ,socialism4    ,there are many good 
men1 outside the church as well as      
within it1 who  believe that the        
existing social order can never be      
,christianized2 that  it must be        
replaced by a new social system4 ,but   
most of us are still  clinging to the   
belief that the existing social order   
can be  ,christianized1 so that justice 
may be established in it1 and good-will 
find expression through it4 ,that it has
 been sadly perverted we all  confess2  
we acknowledge with shame that it has   

become1 in large measure1  the          
instrument of injustice and oppression4 
,but we believe that it may  be         
reformed1 so that it shall represent1 in
 some fair degree1 the  kingdom of ,god4
    ,the redemption of the social order 
is1 then1 the problem now before us4    
,can it be accomplished8 ,president     
,roosevelt thinks that it can1 and      
those who stand with him and support him
 assume that the existing  competitive  
rgime can be moralized and made to      
represent the interests  of equity and  
fair dealing4 ,if this can be done1     
nothing more is needed4  ,if it cannot  
be done1 the existing rgime must make   
way for something  better4 ,the         
conviction that it can be done is       
finding expression just  now in the     
vigorous efforts that are being made to 
amend and strengthen  the laws which    
restrain plunderers and oppressors1 so  
that opportunities  may be equalized and
 the paths to success be kept open for  
men of all  ranks and capacities4 ,this 

is simple justice1 and for this the     
church of  ,god must stand with all the 
might of her influence4    ,that she has
 been derelict in the discharge of this 
duty must be  confessed4 ,if she had    
kept the charge committed to her1 the   
inequalities  and spoliations now       
burdening society would not be in       
existence4 ,for  although it is not the 
business of the church to furnish to the
 world an  economic programme1 it is her
 business to see that no economic       
programme  is permitted to exist under  
which injustice and oppression find     
shelter4  ,the right to reprove and     
denounce all social arrangements by     
which the  few prosper at the expense of
 the many is one of her chartered rights
 as  the institute of prophecy4 ,a      
church which fails to exercise this     
function is faithless to her primary    
obligation4    ,that the church has     
incurred heavy blame because of the     
feebleness of  her testimony against    
such wrongs must now be confessed1 and  

the least  she can do to make amends for
 this infidelity is to speak now and    
henceforth1 with commanding voice1      
against all the corporate wrongs that   
infest society4 ,it may be that by her  
testimony the magistrates will be       
strengthened so to enforce the laws that
 aggressors shall be restrained1  and   
freedom and opportunity secured to all2 
and that thus the existing  industrial  
order may become1 so far as law can make
 it1 the servant of  justice and        
good-will4    ,this is the first step   
toward social redemption4 ,the          
renthronement of  justice is the primary
 obligation4 ,john the ,baptist must    
speak first4  ,the conviction of social 
sin is the beginning of social          
righteousness4  ,the church has a great 
work to do in awakening the public      
conscience to  forms of injustice which 
are so involved and concealed that our  
attention is not fixed upon them4       
,professor ,ross has just announced a   
volume with the title ,sin and ,society4

 ,it is an illuminating word4 ,the      
deadliest of the evils which are        
oppressing the community to-day come    
under this category4 ,they are hidden   
from the public view4 ,they assail  you 
from ambush and you are helpless4 ,the  
deadly missiles smite you on  every     
side1 but there is no revealing flash by
 which you can locate your  foe4 ,the   
social order is so complex that wrongs  
of this nature are  easily perpetrated4 
,many of the transactions by which we   
are wont to  profit are veiled          
injustices4 ,they are of a nature so    
subtle and  indirect that the law has   
not yet defined and forbidden them4     
,those who  suffer these injustices are 
at a distance from us1 and there is a   
network of legal and commercial         
relations between ourselves and them2 we
  know that they will never confront us 
and call us to account2 it is  safe for 
us to do wrong1 and we keep on doing it 
until our consciences  are dulled1 and  
we are not able to see that any wrong   

has been done4    ,the fact is1 that    
such a complex social system as ours    
needs for its  safe administration a    
kind of conscientiousness far higher and
 finer  than that which men needed for  
honest living fifty years ago4 ,unless  
our  minds are trained to see the right 
and wrong of very intricate             
transactions2 unless our ethical        
imagination is sensitive enough to      
discern the nature of far-reaching and  
wide-spreading social relations1  we    
shall constantly be profiting by the    
injury of our neighbors4    ,it is the  
business of the church to train the     
consciences of men for the  moral       
problems that confront them1 and this   
work has been but  indifferently done4  
,the first step in the redemption of the
 social order  is the education of the  
,christian conscience to discern the    
smokeless  sins4 ,it is with evils of   
this character that the nation is now in
 a  life and death grapple2 the church  
ought to be able1 by its testimony1  to 

lend effective aid in this conflict4    
,the nature of the testimony needed may 
be indicated by a typical  instance4    
,not many years ago a very prosperous   
manufacturing company was doing         
business in a thriving ,american        
village1 giving employment to fifteen   
hundred men and women1 many of whom had 
purchased homes1 in the  expectation of 
having permanent occupation and         
livelihood4 ,it was known  to be a      
well-paying business2 its stock1 which  
was in few hands1 was not  in the       
market4    ,suddenly a project of       
reorganization was announced1 and stock 
amounting  to five times the value of   
the property was placed upon the market4
 ,it  was eagerly taken1 for the        
reputation of the company was very high4
 ,with  the proceeds of this sale of    
securities the managers made themselves 
very rich men4 ,it was not necessary for
 them to do business any longer4        
,indeed1 they could not have continued  
to pay dividends on the amount of  stock

 which they had sold2 they had never    
expected to do any such thing4  ,what   
they did was promptly to close the      
business4 ,the price of the stock       
dropped immediately to the neighborhood 
of zero1 millions of values were        
canceled1 and thousands of investors    
were made to suffer loss4 ,but the      
direct consequences were seen in the    
village whose prosperity was  suddenly  
destroyed4 ,fifteen hundred men and     
women were deprived1 at a  stroke1 of   
employment and livelihood4 ,in many     
homes there was  destitution and hunger2
 hundreds of men were compelled to seek 
employment elsewhere1 sacrificing the   
homes whose value had been greatly      
reduced2 businesses that depended on the
 patronage of the mill hands  were      
ruined2 churches were paralyzed2        
families were scattered2  discouraged   
men fell into ways of dissipation2 young
 women were led into  the paths of      
shame4    ,all this was done under the  
forms of law1 and yet it would be hard  

to  find in the annals of crime an      
instance more flagitious4 ,and the men  
who  did this thing were church         
members--members in good standing1      
leading  members of an evangelical      
church4 ,nor does it appear that they   
suffered  any discredit in the church to
 which they belonged1 and to whose      
revenues they continued to contribute   
out of the plunder by which they  had   
impoverished and ruined so many4 ,the   
church had not sufficient moral  sense  
to reprove and denounce this iniquity4  
,what is worse1 the church  had not had 
enough moral sense to make these men see
 beforehand that  such an act was       
infamous4    ,undoubtedly they would    
have promptly justified themselves4     
,such  transactions1 they would have    
said1 are occurring every day2 what the 
law does not forbid1 and what everybody 
else does1 cannot be wrong4 ,the        
property was ours1 and we had a right to
 put our own price on it1 and  sell it  
for what it would bring4 ,the business  

was ours1 and we had a  right to do what
 we pleased with it1 to keep it running 
or shut it down  when we got ready3 it  
is a free country3 do you think you can 
compel a  man to go on doing business   
when he prefers to quit8 ,we never      
guaranteed  permanent employment to     
these people3 we paid them their wages  
while  they worked for us1 and that is  
the end of our obligation to them4      
,some such answer they would1 no doubt1 
have made to any one who called  in     
question their conduct2 and by such an  
answer they would have  revealed the    
failure of the church to which they     
belonged to bring home  to them their   
social obligations4    ,the existing    
social order can never be redeemed      
unless a fire can be  kindled on the    
earth in whose clear shining light such 
deeds as these  can be seen in all their
 deformity1 and in whose purifying flame
 such  excuses as these will be utterly 
consumed4 ,we must have laws to make    
such wrongs impossible2 but behind the  

laws must be the moral insight  and the 
social passion which shall make them    
effective1 and it is the  business of   
the church to furnish these4 ,when this 
is done we shall have  made a good      
beginning in the work of social         
redemption4    ,but it will be only a   
beginning4 ,the work of ,john the       
,baptist comes  first1 but one mightier 
than he must follow4 ,the voice of one  
crying in  the wilderness is but the    
prelude of that larger revelation which 
is  made upon the mountain top4 ,to     
bring home to men the obligations of the
  law1 and to show them wherein they are
 failing to obey it1 is the first  duty 
of the church in the present crisis2 but
 it is the gospel with  which she is    
primarily put in charge4    ,clearer    
teaching about social morality is       
fundamental1 but the great  need1 after 
all1 is the vitalization of morality4   
,the moral code1 no  matter how accurate
 may be its precepts1 tends to become a 
dead letter1  unless it is constantly   

revivified by the spirit of religion4   
,the ,sermon on the ,mount is often     
conceived of as purely ethical          
teaching1 but the heart of it all is    
religion4 ,the revelation of the        
,fatherhood of ,god is the light which  
shines through all these words and      
furnishes the motive of all this        
morality4 ,if we do the things here     
commanded1 in the way that ,jesus       
expects us to do them1 it is because we 
know ourselves to be the children of our
 ,father in heaven1 living in his       
presence1 rejoicing in the great love   
wherewith he has loved us1  trusting in 
his care1 seeking his kingdom1 doing his
 will4 ,the church  which represents    
,jesus ,christ in the world will never  
forget that its  business is the        
leavening of society with the life of   
,christ2 but  neither can it forget that
 the life of ,christ can only be        
maintained by  constant communion with  
the ,father4 ,that the spiritual life of
 ,jesus  himself was thus maintained1   

the record makes clear4 ,the central    
fact of  his experience was his living  
union with the ,father4 ,we talk of the 
practice of the presence of ,god2 ,jesus
 was the only man who has ever          
perfectly realized it4 ,and no one who  
knew him ever failed to see that  it was
 the ,father's kindness and compassion  
and grace and truth that  were being    
manifested in his life4 ,it was because 
he was filled with  all the fullness of 
,god that he imparted to those who      
received him the  spirit of good-will1  
the passion for social service4    ,the 
church which represents him in the world
 will need1 for its social  service1 the
 same inspiration4 ,unless its life is  
fed from this  fountain1 its stream will
 soon run dry4 ,there are those who seem
 to  think that sociology can solve all 
the problems of our modern life4 ,if    
sociology be sufficiently expanded1 this
 may be true2 for a truly  scientific   
sociology would have to explain how men 
came to be social  beings1 and what is  

the bond that unites them4 ,if it finds 
that their  relation to a common ,father
 is the fundamental fact of their       
existence1  then it would know that     
religion is at the heart of it1 and that
 right  relations with ,god are the     
spring and source of right relations    
with  men4 ,but a sociology which       
ignores this primary fact has in it no  
redemptive power4    ,the more          
earnestly1 therefore1 we contend that   
the business of the  church is the      
,christianization of the social order1  
the more strenuously  we must maintain  
that she is powerless to do this work   
except as her  life is fed by faith and 
prayer4 ,the redemption of the social   
order is  the greatest task she has     
undertaken1 and she needs for it a      
strength  that can only come from       
conscious fellowship with ,god4 ,if she 
ever  needed inspiration1 she needs it  
now4 ,if there ever was a time when she 
could dispense with the divine guidance 
and grace1 that time is not now4  ,the  

churches which desert the places of     
prayer1 and think to substitute  the    
wisdom of men for the power of ,god1 are
 not going to give much aid  in this    
struggle4    ,it must be claimed1 says  
one1 on behalf of the passion for ,god1 
that  where it exists it                
will--automatically1 as has been        
said--set charity1  love1 all sweet     
graces of philanthropic activity1 into  
quick and  ceaseless play4444 ,if the   
emphasis of religious thought be made to
 fall  upon the idea of life1 this      
cannot fail to be2 for to have the      
divine  life is to be possessed of and  
to give out the divine love4444 ,the    
regeneration of human society is found  
to come from the dominance of  spiritual
 passion1 even though it be not the     
first thing on which  spiritual passion 
is set2 the saint will be--just because 
he is a  saint--a philanthropist too1   
since a true sainthood must number love 
among the graces of character it brings4
 ,it is a fact--one has to make  the sad

 admission--that religious people1      
professedly spiritual men and  women1   
have been and still are in some cases   
eaten through and through  by           
selfishness2 these are those who1 so    
that they can declare heaven to  be     
their own1 have no care for the present 
hell in which so many of  their fellows 
spend their days and years4 ,but that is
 not because they  are too deeply       
immersed in the passion for ,god1--it is
 because they have  not really immersed 
themselves in its flood4 ,and in        
claiming for a  ,godward passion the    
regulative and supreme place among the  
elements of  life1 we do but secure a   
fuller tenancy among those elements of a
  manward love2 for the nature which    
sets itself to receive the whole of     
,god will1 ere it knows it1 and as an   
automatic effect of the new life it     
wins1 give itself to its brethren in    
their need4 ,for ,god is love1 and he   
must dwell in love who dwells in        
,god4#bg    ,we may hesitate to say that

 when the passion for ,god is the only  
thing  aimed at it is bound to result in
 social regeneration2 there are too     
many facts which prove the contrary4    
,the aim must always include both  the  
,godward and the manward obligations2   
the first and the second great          
commandments are of equal rank2 what    
needs to be insisted on is the          
impossibility of divorcing them4    ,the
 church which seeks the redemption of   
society cannot1 then1 dispense  with its
 religion4 ,nothing has been made       
plainer1 during the recent  exposures of
 social decay1 than the fact that our   
social morality must  have a religious  
foundation4 ,even the man on the street 
is ready to  concede that no            
righteousness is adequate for the       
present emergency but  that which       
springs from faith in a righteous ,god4 
,and nothing is more  needed1 at this   
hour1 than the deepening of men's faith 
in the great  religious verities4    ,it
 is often said that the only cure for   

existing social ills is a great  revival
 of religion1 and this is true4 ,but the
 revival of religion which  is needed is
 not the kind which the churches are    
most apt to seek4 ,the  religion which  
needs to be revived is not that which   
puts the sole  emphasis on the safety   
and welfare of the individual1 but that 
which  equally exalts the social        
welfare2 which identifies the interests 
of  each with the interests of all2     
which makes men see and feel that no    
salvation is worth anything to any man  
that does not put that man into         
,christian relations with his neighbors4
 ,nothing but religion will do  this for
 any man1 and the religion which fails  
to do this is a spurious  ,christianity4
    ,a great revival we shall see1 one  
of these days1 which will have this     
character4 ,it will bind together the   
two great commandments of the law1  and 
make men feel the weight of both of     
them4 ,it will compel them to  recognize
 the truth that1 while the root of their

 religion is faith in  ,god1 the fruit  
of their religion is love for men4 ,it  
will drive home the  fact that the      
religion which does not hinder a man    
from being a boodler  or a grafter2     
which permits a man to enjoy religion   
while fleecing his  neighbors by crafty 
schemes of finance or artful legalized  
robberies2  which allows the love of    
gain to triumph over truth and honor and
  brotherly kindness2 which sits serene 
and complacent while social  classes    
make war on each other1 and children's  
lives are consumed by  grinding toil1   
and women are forced by want into the   
ways of shame1 and  the enemies of      
society are set free to make gain by the
 ruin of human  souls1 is a religion    
which is not worth having4 ,it will     
insist that a  religion which is rightly
 described as the life of ,god in the   
souls of  men1 would begin in the house 
of ,god itself1 and kindle there a      
consuming flame before which such       
iniquities could not stand4 ,perhaps it 

would set men to saying--they might not 
feel like singing--,thomas  ,hughes's   
great hymn3--        ,o ,god of truth1  
whose living word        ,upholds       
whate'er hath breath1      ,look down on
 thy creation1 ,lord1        ,enslaved  
by sin and death4        ,set up thy    
standard1 ,lord1 that we        ,who    
claim a heavenly birth      ,may march  
with thee to smite the lies        ,that
 vex thy groaning earth4        ,we     
fight for truth1 we fight for ,god1     
,poor slaves of lies and sin6      ,he  
who would fight for thee on earth       
,must first be true within4        ,thou
 ,god of truth1 for whom we long1       
,thou who wilt hear our prayer1      ,do
 thine own battle in our hearts1        
,and slay the falsehood there4          
,still smite6 still burn6 till naught is
 left        ,but ,god's own truth and  
love2      ,then1 ,lord1 as morning dew 
come down1        ,rest on us from      
above4        ,yea1 come6 thus tried as 
in the fire1        ,from every lie set 

free1      ,thy perfect truth shall     
dwell in us        ,and we shall live in
 thee4    ,it is hardly needful to say  
that the redemption of the social order 
will  not be wrought out without        
sacrifice4 ,the redemption of the soul  
is  costly1 says the ,psalmist4 ,no man 
is rescued from moral degradation and   
death without suffering and sacrifice4  
,those who are saved are more  often    
saved by the suffering of others in     
their behalf than by their own          
suffering4 ,but the price of a soul is  
apt to be high1 and love is  sometimes  
able to pay it4    ,the redemption of   
society from the welter of selfishness  
and brutishness  and cruelty into which 
it is now plunged will be a costly      
undertaking4  ,the church is here1 as   
,christ's representative1 to take up    
this work2  and it must not expect to   
accomplish it without suffering4 ,it is 
enough  for the disciple that he be as  
his ,master1 and the servant as his     
,lord4  ,if the ,church is ,christ's    

servant1 she must not expect to find any
  better way than his way of saving the 
world4    ,it is true1 as we have seen1 
that the present deplorable conditions  
are  due to the failure of the church to
 enforce the ,christian morality4 ,the  
price that she must pay for the         
redemption of society is heavy because  
of her own neglect4 ,but it must be     
paid4 ,there is no other way of         
salvation4    ,thus it appears that the 
church which bears the name of ,jesus   
,christ has  come to its testing time4  
,it finds itself in the midst of a      
society  whose tendencies are downward4 
,mammon is on the throne2 the greed of  
gain is eating the heart out of         
commercial honor2 reputations are       
crumbling2 confidence is rudely shaken2 
the most cynical schemes for  plundering
 the multitudes are daily brought to    
light2 social classes  stand over       
against each other distrustful and      
defiant2 the house of  mirth resounds   
with the mad revelry of the wasters1    

while the purlieus  are noisome with    
poverty and vice4    ,can this society  
be redeemed8 ,can this all-ruling       
commercialism be held  in check1 and    
this reign of plunder be overthrown1 and
 all this seething  selfishness and     
heartlessness and suspicion be made to  
give place to  good-will and kindness1  
to trust and truth1 to faith and honor8 
,it will  never be done without a vast  
expenditure of sacrificial love4 ,this  
kind  goeth not forth but by prayer and 
fasting4 ,is the church ready for  this 
struggle8 ,is she willing to put forth  
the effort and pay the cost  which is   
required for the redemption of society8 
,,viii    ,the ,new ,evangelism         
,those who have followed these          
discussions from the beginning will not 
be  inclined to hesitate in answering   
the question with which the last        
chapter closed4 ,that society can be    
redeemed1 and that the church can  and  
will purge herself from the things that 
defile her beauty and  corrupt her      

powers1 and gird herself for the        
redemptive work assigned  her1 is the   
faith of every loyal ,christian4 ,the   
grievous failures of the  church we     
cannot deny and must not palliate2 it is
 of the utmost  importance that she be  
brought face to face with them1 and be  
made to  see how far short she has come 
of her high calling4 ,such criticism she
  has received from the beginning4 ,the 
seven churches of ,asia were sharply    
called to account by the beloved        
disciple2 their faithlessness and       
neglect were unflinchingly brought home 
to them4 ,the churches at ,ephesus  and 
,sardis and ,laodicea had as hard things
 said about them as have been  said in  
these chapters of the churches of this  
generation1 and probably  deserved them 
no less4 ,we cannot doubt that that     
clear-eyed witness1 if  he were         
confronting the church of the twentieth 
century1 would be  constrained to say3  
,i know thy works1 that thou hast a name
 that thou  livest1 and art dead4444    

,because thou sayest1 ,i am rich and    
increased in  goods and have need of    
nothing2 and knowest not that thou art  
the  wretched one1 and miserable1 and   
poor1 and blind1 and naked3 ,i counsel  
thee to buy of me gold refined by fire1 
that thou mayest become rich2  and white
 garments1 that thou mayest clothe      
thyself1 and that the shame  of thy     
nakedness be not made manifest2 and     
eye-salve to anoint thine  eyes1 that   
thou mayest see4 ,as many as ,i love1 ,i
 reprove and chasten2 be  zealous       
therefore1 and repent4 ,in every        
generation such chastisement  has been  
needed2 the need is no greater to-day   
than in past generations1  and the      
chastening love no less4 ,what ,lowell  
says of this country1 many  a ,christian
 believer has been constrained to say of
 the church3--        ,i loved her old  
renown1 her stainless fame2      ,what  
better proof than that ,i loathed her   
shame4    ,but this keen sense of her   
shortcomings is not inconsistent with an

  unfaltering faith in the recovery of  
her integrity and in her final  triumph4
 ,and those who have read the history of
 the ,christian church  with sympathetic
 vision can hardly doubt that her       
brightest days are  still before her4   
,for while it must be admitted that she 
has neglected1 hitherto1 her  great work
 of social redemption1 it cannot be said
 that she is more  neglectful of it now 
than she has been in past years2 the    
truth is that  she is nearer to the     
recognition of it to-day than she has   
ever been4  ,derelict as she is to her  
primary obligation1 it must yet be said 
that a  consciousness of that           
dereliction is beginning to make her    
uneasy1 and  that has never before been 
true of any large portion of her        
membership4  ,since the earliest        
centuries the possibility of            
transforming the social  order by purely
 spiritual influences has scarcely      
dawned upon her4 ,so  long as society   
was feudalistic or aristocratic1 the    

problem seemed to  be beyond her reach2 
she might hope to improve society1 by   
inculcating  kindness and charity1 but  
hardly to reconstruct it upon new       
foundations4    ,the advent of democracy
 has brought home to her her social     
responsibilities4 ,here in ,america1    
more than anywhere else1 the nature  of 
her social obligation has been revealed4
 ,here the fact cannot be  disguised    
that the people are the sovereigns1 and 
that social as well as  political       
relations are under their direct        
control4 ,the sovereign people  have    
pledged themselves one to another1 in   
their constitution1 to  refrain from    
establishing1 by law1 any form of       
religion2 but they have  also covenanted
 together to promote the common welfare4
 ,this puts the  responsibility for     
social conditions upon the whole people1
 and the  ,christian people are among   
them4 ,they cannot avoid the obligation 
to  apply ,christian principles to      
social conditions4 ,power is theirs to  

be  used in ,christ's name and for the  
promotion of his kingdom4 ,to see that  
society is furnished with right ruling  
ideas1 and organized on ,christian      
principles1 is their main business4 ,and
 while there are many by whom  this     
obligation is still but feebly felt1 yet
 there is a goodly number  of those in  
whose minds the leaven is working1 and  
to whom the nature of  the kingdom that 
,jesus came to establish is being       
clearly revealed4 ,that  this number is 
destined to grow very rapidly we may    
reasonably hope4    ,the present        
situation is so clearly outlined by a   
recent writer that we  may welcome a    
liberal quotation3--    ,the first      
apostolate of ,christianity was born    
from a deep  fellow-feeling for social  
misery1 and from the consciousness of a 
great  historical opportunity4 ,jesus   
saw the peasantry of ,galilee following 
him  about with their poverty and their 
diseases1 like shepherdless sheep  that 
have been scattered and harried by      

beasts of prey1 and his heart  had      
compassion on them4 ,he felt that the   
harvest was ripe but there were  few to 
reap it4 ,past history had come to its  
culmination1 but there were  few who    
understood the situation and were       
prepared to cope with it4 ,he  bade his 
disciples to pray for laborers for the  
harvest1 and then made  them answer     
their own prayers by sending them out   
two by two to proclaim  the kingdom of  
,god4 ,that was the beginning of the    
world-wide mission of  ,christianity4   
,the situation is repeated on a vaster  
scale to-day4 ,if ,jesus stood  to-day  
amid our modern life1 with that outlook 
on the condition of all  humanity which 
observation and travel and the press    
would spread before  him1 and with the  
same heart of humanity beating in him1  
he would  create a new apostolate to    
meet the new needs in a new harvest time
 of  history4    ,to any one who knows  
the sluggishness of humanity to good1   
the  impregnable intrenchments of vested

 wrongs1 and the long reaches of time   
needed from one milestone of progress to
 the next1 the task of setting  up a    
,christian social order in this modern  
world of ours seems like a  fair and    
futile dream4 ,yet1 in fact1 it is not  
one tithe as hopeless as  when ,jesus   
set out to do it4 ,when he told his     
disciples1 ',ye are the  salt of the    
earth2 ye are the light of the world1'  
he expressed the  consciousness of a    
great historic mission to the whole of  
humanity4 ,yet  it was a ,nazarene      
carpenter speaking to a group of        
,nazarene peasants and  fishermen4      
,under the circumstances at that time it
 was an utterance of  the most daring   
faith1--faith in himself1 faith in them1
 faith in what  he was putting into     
them1 faith in faith4 ,jesus failed and 
was  crucified1 first his body by his   
enemies and then his spirit by his      
friends2 but that failure was such an   
amazing success that to-day it  takes an
 effort on our part to realize that it  

required any faith on his  part to      
inaugurate the kingdom of ,god and to   
send out his apostolate4    ,to-day1 as 
,jesus looks out upon humanity1 his     
spirit must leap to see  the souls      
responsive to his call4 ,they are sown  
broadcast through  humanity1 legions of 
them4 ,the harvest field is no longer   
deserted4 ,all  about us we hear the    
clang of the whetstone and the rush of  
the blades  through the grain and the   
shout of the reapers4 ,with all our     
faults and  our slothfulness1 we modern 
men in many ways are more on a level    
with  the mind of ,jesus than any       
generation that has gone before4 ,if    
that  first apostolate was able to      
remove mountains by faith1 such an      
apostolate as ,christ could now summon  
might change the face of the  earth4#bh 
,the time is ripe for such an           
apostolate4 ,the old type of evangelism 
has  plainly had its day4 ,strenuous    
efforts are put forth to revive it1 but 
their success is meagre4 ,it is easy by 

expending much money in  advertising1 by
 organizing a great choir1 and employing
 the services of  gifted and earnest    
men1 to draw large congregations2 but   
the great mass  of those who attend     
these services are church members1--the 
outside  multitude is scarcely1 touched 
by them4 ,those who are gathered into   
the  church in these meetings are mainly
 children from the ,sunday schools4     
,there may be evangelists who1 by an    
extravagant and grotesque               
sensationalism1 contrive to get the     
attention of the non-churchgoers1  and  
who are able to report considerable     
additions to the churches2 but  the     
permanence of these gains is not yet    
shown1 and we have no means of          
enumerating the thousands who1 by such  
clownish exhibitions1 are driven  in    
disgust from the churches4    ,the      
failure of the modern evangelism is not 
conjectural3 the year-books  show it4   
,the growth of membership in several of 
our leading  denominations has either   

ceased or is greatly retarded2 the      
,sunday  schools and the young people's 
societies report decreasing numbers2 the
  benevolent contributions are either   
waning1 or increasing at a rate far     
less than that of the growth of wealth  
in the membership4 ,it is idle to  blink
 these conditions2 we must face them and
 find out what they mean4  ,this        
slackening and shrinkage is not a fact  
of long standing2 it  represents only   
the tendencies of the past twenty years4
    ,we hear rather frantic demands for 
a return to the old methods of          
evangelism1 but that is a foolish cry3--
        ,the mill will never grind      
,with the water that is past4    ,the   
old appeal1 which fixed attention upon  
the interest of the  individual1 has    
lost its power4 ,it is not possible to  
stir the average  human being of this   
generation1 as the average human being  
of fifty  years ago was stirred1 by     
pictures of the terrors of hell and the 
felicities of heaven4 ,these conceptions

 have far less influence over  human    
lives than once they had1--less1        
doubtless1 than they ought to  have2 for
 there are realities under these symbols
 which we cannot afford  to ignore4 ,but
 the fundamental defect of that old     
appeal was the  emphasis which it placed
 upon self-interest4 ,look out for      
yourself6  was its constant admonition4 
,think of the perils that threaten1 of  
the  blisses that invite6 ,do not risk  
the pain2 do not miss the blessedness6  
,to-day this does not seem a wholly     
worthy motive4 ,at any rate1 it is      
below the highest4 ,men feel that the   
religion of ,christ has a larger        
meaning than this4 ,a presentation of   
the gospel which makes the welfare  of  
the individual central does not grip the
 conscience and arouse the  emotions as 
once it did4 ,for the conception of     
human welfare as social  rather than    
individual has become common2 that great
 fund of altruistic  feeling1 which1 as 
,mr4 ,benjamin ,kidd tells us1 is the   

motive power of  all our social reforms1
 is constantly stirring in human hearts2
 and  although there are few whose lives
 are wholly ruled by this motive1  there
 are fewer still who do not recognize it
 as the commanding motive2  and a       
religious appeal which is based upon    
considerations essentially  egoistic    
does not1 therefore1 awaken any large   
response in human hearts4    ,if the    
church wishes to regain her hold upon   
the people1 she must learn  to speak to 
the highest that is in them4 ,a man's   
religion must  consecrate his ideals4 ,a
 religion which invites him to live on a
 lower  plane than the highest on which 
his thought travels cannot win his      
respect4 ,and therefore the new         
evangelism must learn to find its motive
  not in self-love1 no matter how       
refined1 but in the love that identifies
  the self with the neighbor4 ,it must  
bring home to the individual the  truth 
which he already dimly knows1 that his  
personal redemption is  bound up with   

the redemption of the society to which  
he belongs2 that he  cannot be saved    
except as he becomes a savior of others2
 nay1 that the  one central sin from    
which he needs to be saved is           
indifference to the  welfare of others1 
and a willingness to prosper at their   
expense4    ,the time has come for the  
church to take an entirely new attitude 
in  offering men the gospel4 ,it has    
been too well content with pressing the 
personal advantages of religion1 with   
trying to lure them into  discipleship  
with baits addressed to their           
selfishness4 ,it has been  inventing    
attractions of all sorts1--fine         
buildings1 sumptuous  upholstery and    
decorations1 artistic music1 brilliant  
oratory2 it has  thought it possible to 
enlist men by pleasing their tastes and 
gratifying their sensibilities4 ,so far 
has this gone that the average          
churchgoer consciously justifies his    
presence in church or his absence  from 
it on the ground of pleasure4 ,if it    

pleases him enough1 he goes2 if  not1 he
 reads the ,sunday paper or goes out    
with his automobile4 ,it is a  simple   
question of enjoyment4    ,the response 
of those invited shows the nature of the
 invitation4 ,it  indicates that the    
church has been putting a great deal of 
emphasis on  the attractions which it   
has to offer4 ,we can hardly imagine    
such  replies to be made by those who   
were invited to listen to the preaching 
of ,jesus or his apostles4 ,they did not
 suppose that it was a question of      
entertainment that they were            
considering4 ,they knew that it was a   
summons to service and sacrifice4 ,that1
 beyond all doubt1 was the nature  of   
the appeal of the church in those       
earliest centuries1 when it was         
marching over ,asia and ,europe1        
conquering and to conquer4 ,it was not  
baiting men with soft cushions and      
pictured windows1 with coddlings and    
comfits2 it was calling them to hardship
 and warfare1 to ignominy and           

ostracism2 the words of the ,master to  
which it gave emphasis were not  mere   
metaphors3 ,if any man will come after  
me1 let him deny himself and  take up   
his cross and follow me4    ,the call of
 the cross has never failed4 ,the power 
of ,god and the wisdom  of ,god are in  
it4 ,and it is time for the church to   
take up this heroic  note and sound it  
forth with new power4 ,this is the new  
evangelism for  which the world is      
waiting4 ,it is not a call to be carried
 to the skies  on flowery beds of ease2 
it is not an invitation to the          
sentimental  soul to sit and sing       
herself away to everlasting bliss2 it is
 the  clarion of battle2 it is the      
challenge to an enterprise which means  
struggle and suffering and self-denial4 
,the redemption of society is the       
objective of the new evangelism4 ,how   
vast an undertaking this is was         
indicated in the last chapter4 ,let us  
look at it a little more in detail4 ,how
 much does it signify1 here and  now1 in

 the ,united ,states of ,america8    ,it
 means1 first1 the reconciliation of    
races4 ,one thing that must be  done is 
to take this chaotic mass of dissimilar1
 discordant1 suspicious1  antipathetic  
racial elements and blend them into     
unity and brotherhood4  ,the first      
,christians had a task of this nature on
 their hands2 they had  to bring        
together in one fellowship ,jews and    
,gentiles4 ,but that was a  pastime     
compared with the herculean labor       
intrusted to us1--the bringing  together
 of whites and blacks1 of ,caucasians   
and ,mongolians1 of scores  of groups   
divided by the barriers of language1 of 
religion1 of custom1  and fusing them   
into one nationality4 ,no task of the   
same dimensions was  ever undertaken by 
any people2 but this is ours1 and we    
must perform it4  ,it is the task of the
 nation2 but the church of ,jesus       
,christ is charged  with the business of
 furnishing the sentiments and ideas by 
which alone  it may be accomplished4    

,it means1 secondly1 the pacification of
 industry4 ,the contending hosts  of    
capital and labor must be brought       
together1 and constrained to cease  from
 their warfare and become friends and   
coperators4 ,it is absurd to  suppose   
that the war of the industrial classes  
can continue to be waged1  as at        
present1 each seeking to overpower the  
other4 ,such a condition of  things is  
simply irrational4 ,all warfare is      
illogical and unnatural4  ,human beings 
are not made to live together on any    
such terms4 ,they are  made to be       
friends and helpers of one another4 ,the
 elimination of war is  the next step in
 industrial evolution4 ,and it is the   
business of the  church of ,jesus       
,christ to speak the reconciling word4  
,she has the word  to speak1 and when   
she utters it with authority it will be 
heard4    ,it means1 thirdly1 the       
moralization of business4 ,the trouble  
with  business is simply covetousness4  
,the insatiable greed of gain is the    

source of all the dishonesties1 the     
oppressions1 the spoliations1 the       
trickeries1 the frauds1 the             
adulterations1 the cutthroat            
competitions1  the financial piracies1  
the swindling schemes1--all the abuses  
and  mischiefs which infest the world of
 commerce and finance4 ,against all     
these forms of evil the church must bear
 her testimony2 but the root  from which
 they all grow is the love of money1 and
 it is this central  and seminal sin of 
modern civilization that the church must
 assail with  all the weapons of the    
spiritual warfare4 ,covetousness is     
idolatry--so  ,st4 ,paul testifies2 and 
a grosser or more debasing idolatry has 
never  appeared on earth than the       
worship of material gain4 ,unless the   
bonds of  that superstition can be      
broken1 the race must sink into         
degradation4 ,it  is the one deadly     
enemy of mankind4 ,and the church of    
,jesus ,christ is  called to lead in the
 battle with this foe4 ,against no other

 social evil  was the testimony of      
,jesus so trenchant and uncompromising4 
,nothing more  clearly evinces his      
unerring vision of moral realities than 
his judgment  upon this encroaching     
passion4 ,in his day it was an evil     
almost  negligible compared with what it
 is to-day4 ,it was because he foresaw  
the conditions which prevail to-day that
 his words were so hot against  the rule
 of ,mammon4 ,the church is face to face
 with the danger which he  discerned1   
and she must meet it in his spirit and  
with the energy of  his passion4 ,to    
make men see the hatefulness and        
loathsomeness of this  greed of gain is 
the first duty of the church4 ,when that
 is accomplished  the worst evils of the
 business realm will disappear4    ,it  
means1 fourthly1 the extirpation of     
social vice4 ,when covetousness is      
conquered1 the procuring cause of much  
of this kind of evil will be cut  up by 
the roots4 ,the greed of gain is the    
motive which breeds and  propagates     

social vice4 ,but there are animal      
propensities to which these  incitements
 make their appeal2 and some way must be
 found of quickening  the nobler        
affections1 so that the spirit shall    
rule the flesh and not  be in bondage to
 it4 ,to fill the thoughts and wishes of
 men with  something better worth while 
than the joys of animalism is the       
radical  remedy for these degradations4 
,and the church ought to be able to     
supply  this remedy4    ,the redemption 
of society means1 in the fifth place1   
the purification of  politics4 ,the     
dethronement of ,mammon will go a long  
way toward this  also2 most of the      
corruptions of our political life spring
 from the love  of money4 ,graft is the 
first-born of covetousness4 ,but the    
love of  power also plays a part in the 
debauchery of citizenship2 and the      
central sin of using men as means to our
 ends is exhibited here on a  stupendous
 scale4 ,this is the vocation of the    
boss and the briber and  the political  

machinist2 and a deadlier way of        
destroying manhood it  would be hard to 
find4 ,it is not only the interest of   
other individuals1  but the interest of 
the whole community that the corrupt    
politician  sacrifices upon the altar of
 cupidity or ambition2 and when a man   
has  learned to turn the one great      
privilege of service and sacrifice which
  citizenship offers into an opportunity
 of private gain1 he has sunk  about as 
low as man can go4 ,what more urgent    
task has the church upon  her hands than
 that of making men see the treachery   
and infamy of this  kind of conduct8    
,and unless men can be made to see it   
and feel it1 what  hope is there for    
free government8 ,can anybody imagine   
that democracy  can long endure if the  
ruling motive of the citizen in his     
relation to  the commonwealth is a      
purpose to get as much out of it as he  
can and  give it as little as he can8   
,all political reforms which leave the  
citizen in this state of mind are       

futile4 ,there is no salvation for a    
democracy which does not change the     
direction of the motive in the  heart of
 the individual citizen4 ,and this is   
the business of the church4  ,without   
this1 social redemption is impossible1  
and there is no other  agency which even
 proposes to accomplish this4    ,and1  
finally1 the redemption of society means
 the simplification of  life4 ,here1    
perhaps1 we strike more nearly than     
anywhere else at the  heart of the whole
 problem4 ,the bottom trouble of the    
world in which we  live is the enormous 
over-multiplication of our wants4 ,in   
the multitude  of ministrations to our  
senses1 the life of the spirit is       
overlaid and  smothered4 ,jesus said    
that a man's life consists not in the   
abundance of  the things which he       
possesses2 it is this elementary truth  
which the  world has ceased to believe4 
,for the most part our life is in our   
things2 our happiness depends on them2  
our desires do not often rise  above    

them4    ,the complexity1 the           
artificiality1 the profusion of our     
belongings  absorbs the larger part of  
our interest4 ,the energies of invention
 are  mainly directed to the creation of
 new wants4 ,as the resources of the    
earth are developed1 life takes on an   
accumulating burden of cares and        
conventions and superfluities4 ,we read1
 with a wonder which is a thinly        
disguised admiration1 the stories of the
 extravagances of the people of  the    
whirlpool1 but most of us are jogging   
along after them1 wishing that  we could
 get into the swim ourselves4 ,our      
houses are cluttered with  adornments2  
our social functions are spending       
matches2 our feasts invite  to          
satiation2 our funerals are exhibitions 
of extravagance4 ,this thing  has been  
growing by leaps and bounds1 and the    
time has come when we are  fairly       
swamped by the abundance of the things  
which we possess4 ,nay1 it  can hardly  
be said that we possess this abundance2 

it possesses us3--        ,things are in
 the saddle      ,and ride mankind4     
,in recent years the cry has been rising
 for a simpler life4 ,it is a  voice in 
the wilderness2 in the din and clatter  
of our complex  civilization it seems   
faint and far off1 but it is making     
itself heard2  it begins to be evident  
to all thoughtful people that we must   
somehow  manage to get away from these  
entanglements of sense and live a freer 
life4 ,in these artificialities and     
extravagances the soul is enfeebled  and
 belittled1 and the national vigor is   
lost4 ,if we want to save our  nation   
from decay we must learn to live a      
simpler life4 ,and this change  will not
 be wrought out by evolutionary         
processes2 it means revolution  rather2 
not by violence1 we may trust1 but      
certainly by choice1 by  effort1 by     
struggle and resistance we shall turn   
back these tides of  materialism1 and   
lead the current of our national life   
into safer  channels4    ,we are not    

going to strip our lives bare of beauty1
 or to consign  ourselves to the        
meagreness of the anchoretic regimen2 we
 shall have  beautiful homes and        
abundant pleasures2 but we must learn to
 make our  spiritual interests supreme1 
and not suffer our thought to be blurred
  and our faith enfeebled and our love  
stifled in the atmosphere of modern     
materialism4    ,such1 then1 are some of
 the phases of that great work of social
  redemption which now confronts us4    
,other aspects of the work1 not less    
serious1 might be presented1 but these  
are some of the outstanding needs  of   
modern society4 ,certainly it is a      
tremendous work4 ,to reconcile  hostile 
and suspicious races2 to pacify         
industrial classes2 to moralize         
business2 to extirpate social vice2 to  
purify politics2 to simplify  life2--all
 this is an enterprise so vast that we  
may well be appalled by  the thought of 
undertaking it4 ,but this1 and nothing  
less than this1 is  the business which  

the church has in hand4 ,for which of   
these tasks is  she not responsible8    
,from which of them would she dare ask  
to be  excused8 ,to what other agency   
can she think of intrusting any of them8
  ,nay1 this is her proper and peculiar 
work4 ,for this is she sent into the    
world4    ,in truth1 the one thing that 
the church needs to-day is to envisage  
this  task1--to take in its tremendous  
dimensions2 to comprehend the           
overpowering magnitude of the work that 
is expected of her4 ,it is this         
revelation that will rouse her4 ,never  
before1 in all her history1 has  such a 
disclosure of her responsibility been   
made to her4 ,and the  enormity of the  
obligation will set her thinking4 ,it   
will dawn upon her  after a little1 that
 it is for just such tasks that she is  
called and  commissioned2 that the      
achievement of the impossible is the    
very thing  that she is always expected 
to do2 that the strength on which she   
leans  is omnipotence2 that she can do  

all things through ,christ who          
strengthened her4 ,she will see and     
understand that her progress is not     
made by seeking the line of least       
resistance3 some such worldly wisdom  as
 this has been her undoing4 ,she will   
learn that it is only when she          
undertakes the greatest things that she 
finds her resources equal to her  needs4
    ,this is the heroic note of the new 
evangelism4 ,the work of making a       
better world of this is a tremendous    
work1 but it can be done4 ,it can be    
done1 because it is commanded4 ,if there
 is a ,god in heaven1 what ought  to be 
done can be done4 ,to doubt that is to  
deny him4 ,and there is one  way of     
doing it1 and that is ,christ's way4    
,for all this manifold1  herculean labor
 on which we have been looking1 there is
 no wisdom  comparable with his4 ,he    
said that he came to save the world1 and
 he is  going to save it4 ,he has waited
 long1 but he knows how to wait4 ,the   
day  of his triumph is drawing near4    

,this world is going to be redeemed4    
,this  social order1 so full of strife  
and confusion1 of cruelty and           
oppression1 of misery and sorrow1 is    
going to be transformed1 and the  love  
of ,christ shed abroad in the hearts of 
men will transform it4 ,we  are not     
going to wait another thousand years for
 our millennium2 we are  going to have  
it here and now4 ,this is the gospel of 
the new evangelism  which it has taken  
the church a long time to learn1 but    
which she is now  getting ready to      
proclaim with demonstration of the      
spirit and with  power4    ,we must not 
hide from ourselves the fact that some  
great changes will  need to take place  
in her own life before she can give     
effect to this  great evangel4 ,she must
 heal her divisions1 and fling away her 
encumbering traditions1 and greatly     
deepen her faith in her ,lord and       
,leader4 ,above all1 she must simplify  
her own life4 ,she cannot bear  witness1
 as she must1 against the deadly        

influences of our modern  materialism1  
until she utterly clears herself of all 
complicity with it4  ,this means1 in    
many quarters1 a radical change in her  
administration4    ,when the church has 
thus envisaged her task1 and            
comprehended its  magnitude1 and when1  
with her heart on fire with the         
greatness and glory  of it1 she has laid
 aside every weight and the sins that so
 easily beset  her1 and has girded      
herself with the truth as it is in      
,jesus1 and has  set the silver trumpet 
to her lips1 she will have a gospel to  
proclaim1  to which the world will      
listen4    ,it will tell the world1 as  
it has always told the world1 of        
forgiveness  and hope1 of comfort and   
peace1 of the help and guidance that    
comes to  the troubled soul in believing
 in ,jesus4 ,it will speak1 as it has   
always  spoken1 of the rest that        
remaineth1 and of the great joys and    
companionships of the eternal future4   
,but it will have something more  than  

this to tell4    ,the kingdoms of this  
world--this will be its message--are    
becoming the  kingdoms of our ,lord and 
of his ,christ4 ,it is not an event to  
be  awaited1 but to be realized1 here   
and now4 ,nothing is needed but that    
men should believe the word of ,jesus   
,christ and live by it4 ,we do  believe 
it1 and we mean to show our faith by our
 works4 ,we believe that  by simply     
living together as ,jesus has taught us 
to live1 we can make  this world so much
 better than it now is1 that men shall  
think heaven  has come down to earth4   
,we believe that the race question and  
the labor  question and the trust       
question and the liquor question and the
 graft  question and all the other      
questions will find a speedy solution   
when  men have learned to walk in the   
way of ,jesus4 ,and we call you to come 
and walk with us in that way4    ,it is 
not a smooth and thornless way4 ,it is a
 toilsome and painful way4  ,it is the  
way of the cross4 ,it means hardship and

 struggle and  suffering4 ,such         
intrenched and ingrained iniquities as  
now infest our  society will not be     
overcome without conflict4 ,we are not  
calling you to  a pastime4 ,we are not  
offering you riches or honors or sensual
 joys4 ,we  are calling you to service  
and to sacrifice4 ,but we are going to  
build  here in this world the kingdom of
 heaven4 ,we know that it can be done3  
we know how to do it1 and the glorious  
thing we have to tell you is that  you  
can have a share in it4 ,look forward   
with us to the day when--        ,nation
 with nation1 land with land1           
,unarmed shall live as comrades free1   
,in every heart and brain shall throb   
,the pulse of one fraternity2           
,new arts shall bloom1 of loftier mould1
        ,and mightier music thrill the  
skies1      ,and every life shall be a  
song        ,when all the earth is      
paradise1--    and come and help us to  
bring that glad time4 ,the ,leader whom 
we follow  knows the way1 and the future

 belongs to ,him4    ,that is the       
message of the new evangelism1 and when 
the church learns  to speak it with     
conviction1 and to make it good in her  
life1 she will  find that the gospel has
 a power that she has never even        
imagined it to  possess4          ,,ix  
,the ,new ,leadership        ,these     
discussions have failed of their purpose
 if they have not made a  few things    
clear4 ,let us restate them3--    #a4   
,the roots of religion are in human     
nature4 ,it is a fact as central  and   
all-pervasive in the social realm as    
gravitation is in the physical  realm4  
,it is no more likely to become         
antiquated or obsolete than oxygen  or  
sunshine4 ,it is an interest which no   
intelligent person can afford to        
ignore4    #b4 ,like every other living 
thing1 religion grows4 ,it is not       
outside the  sphere of operation of ,him
 who said1 ,behold6 ,i make all things  
new6 ,it  is subject1 continually1 to   
his wise economy of renewal4    #c4 ,our

 religion is ,christianity4 ,with the   
other religions of the race it  is      
destined to be brought into closer and  
closer comparison and  competition1 and 
that religion will survive and become   
universal which  most perfectly explains
 the universe and provides for the wants
 of the  human soul4 ,all the           
indications are that the religion which 
survives  will include the essential    
elements of ,christianity4    #d4 ,all  
religions are rooted in the social      
nature of man1 but  ,christianity1 more 
than any other1 is a social religion4   
,it depends for  its culture and        
propagation upon the social forces4     
,some form of social  organization1 like
 the church1 is necessary to the life of
 religion4  ,worship1 to be sane and    
salutary1 must be social2 and the life  
of  ,christianity can find expression   
only in such coperations as those for   
which the church provides4    #e4 ,as   
the life of religion is nurtured in     
social worship and service1 so  its     

fruit is gathered in the transformation 
of society4 ,the primary  function of   
the church is the ,christianization of  
the social order4 ,the  business of the 
church is to save the world by          
establishing here the  kingdom of       
heaven4    #f4 ,the church has very     
imperfectly performed this function4 ,it
 has but  dimly discerned and but feebly
 grasped the social aims of ,jesus4 ,it 
has  tried to do a great many other     
things1 some of them good things2 but   
the  one thing it was sent to do it has 
largely left undone4    #g4 ,a new      
reformation is therefore called for1 and
 that reformation must  accomplish what 
the reformation of the sixteenth century
 failed to  accomplish1--the restoration
 of the social teachings of ,jesus to   
their  proper rank and dignity4 ,as the 
reformation of the sixteenth century    
brought the individual to ,christ as a  
personal ,saviour1 so the  reformation  
of the twentieth century must bring     
society to ,christ as a  social         

,saviour1 and must make men see that    
there is no way of living  together but 
his way4    #h4 ,the church is therefore
 called to the redemption of society4   
,but the  work of redemption to which it
 is called is not a reconstruction of   
economic or political machinery2 it is  
the quickening of the social            
conscience1 and the renthronement of    
justice and love in the place of        
selfishness and strife as the ruling    
principles of human society4    #i4 ,for
 the redemption of society a new        
evangelism is needed4 ,the new          
evangelism will not emphasize the       
interest of the individual2 it will     
rather emphasize the truth that the     
individual can only be saved when he    
identifies his own welfare with the     
welfare of his fellow men4 ,and it  will
 not try to win men by offering them    
ease and safety and comfort1  but rather
 by showing them how tremendous are the 
tasks before them2  what a mighty work  
there is to do in delivering this world 

from the  bondage of corruption and     
selfishness2 what hardship and toil and 
sacrifice are needed2 but how sure the  
victory is for those who are able  to   
believe the word of ,jesus ,christ and  
follow1 whole-heartedly1 his            
leadership4    ,such are the characters 
and conditions under which the church of
 ,jesus  ,christ presents herself in    
this new day to modern men4 ,her record 
is far  from flawless2 it is the        
necessities of logic1 not the facts of  
history1  which make her infallible4    
,she has blundered along through the    
centuries1 missing much of the work she 
was sent to do1 and staining her        
garments not seldom with the soilure of 
greed and the blood of the  innocent2   
but through all these generations the   
patient love of her ,lord  has been     
chastening her1 and through many        
wanderings and stumblings she  has come 
down to this hour4 ,the light upon her  
candlestick has often  grown dim1 but it
 has never been wholly extinguished2 the

 fire upon her  altars has burned low1  
but it is still burning4 ,she has not   
done all  that she ought to have done1  
but she has done a large part of all    
that  has been done to enlighten1 to    
comfort1 and to uplift humanity4 ,and   
the  discipline through which she has   
passed gives some indication of the     
work she has yet to do4 ,it is not      
credible that a wise ,providence should 
have kept her alive so many centuries1  
and should have made so much use  of her
 in the establishment upon the earth of 
the kingdom of heaven1 and  should have 
led her into a constantly increasing    
knowledge of ,himself1  if he had not   
meant to make her his servant in the    
great work now  waiting to be done4     
,her hour has come1 and her task lies   
before her4 ,it might be urged that  she
 ought to have been better fitted for   
her work before she was called  to      
undertake it2 but that is not ,god's    
way4 ,we get our preparation for  great 
work in the work itself4 ,we are called 

from the sheepfolds to lead  the armies 
of ,israel4 ,we are sent out with a few 
loaves and fishes to  feed the          
multitude4 ,our powers are developed and
 our resources are  multiplied by using 
them4 ,and though the church is far from
 having the  equipment she needs for the
 redemption of society1 the power and   
the  wisdom will come when the work is  
bravely undertaken4    ,to whom1 now1   
does this great enterprise of social    
redemption make its  strongest appeal8  
,it ought to appeal to all good men and 
women4 ,it ought  to enlist the powers  
of those who are in the meridian of     
their strength4  ,the men whose vision  
has been widened and whose wills have   
been  invigorated in the great          
undertakings of industry and commerce   
ought to  find in this proposition      
something worthy of their powers4 ,it   
ought1  also1 to stir the hearts of     
those who have labored hard and waited  
long  for the coming of the kingdom to  
hear a great voice saying1 ,now is the  

accepted time3 behold6 now is the day of
 salvation6 ,to many of those  who have 
not much longer to live life never      
seemed a thing so fair as it  is to-day4
    ,but this great appeal ought most   
strongly to lay hold upon the hearts of 
the young men and women of this         
generation4 ,the enterprise is mainly   
theirs4 ,if the new reformation comes1  
they will lead it on4 ,if society  is   
redeemed1 it will be by their toil and  
sacrifice4 ,if the church ever  learns  
its business1 it will be under their    
tuition4 ,and it must be by  their      
voices1 chiefly1 that the new evangel   
will be proclaimed4    ,the young men   
and women who have had the patience to  
read these  chapters have been invited  
to consider some large and serious      
themes4 ,it  has been assumed that they 
did not care for kindergarten talk1 nor 
even  for the ethical platitudes to     
which youth are apt to be treated4      
,there  has been no talking down to     
them2 they have been asked to sit where 

,jesus sat1 among the doctors in the    
temple1 to hear and answer  questions1  
and to consider1 with the rest of us1   
our ,father's business4    ,all this    
tremendous work of social reconstruction
 about which we are  talking must be    
done1 and most of it must be done by    
them4 ,it is to be  hoped that they will
 be able to see the urgency of it1 and  
to feel that  it is something worth     
their while4    ,those of us who have   
been permitted to come in contact with  
the more  thoughtful young men and women
 of this generation1 especially those in
  the colleges and the professional     
schools1 have been made aware of a      
deepening conviction among the best of  
them that the kind of prizes for  which 
the multitude are contending are not of 
the highest value4 ,great  revisions    
have been taking place1 during the past 
few years1 in the  estimates of success4
 ,many careers which1 but a little while
 ago1  seemed enviable1 now appear much 
less alluring4 ,and while this change of

  attitude is far from being universal1 
there is a goodly number of young  men  
and women scattered through all our     
communities whose souls are  kindled    
with social passion1 and who are asking 
not so eagerly how they  may succeed as 
how they may serve4 ,to these we have a 
right to look for  leadership in the    
work of social redemption4    ,many     
phases of this work will appeal to them4
 ,in education1 in  philanthropy1 in    
journalism1 in literature1 in art1 they 
will be called  to serve2 many          
philanthropies will invite them2 the    
organization of  industry upon          
coperative lines will offer some of them
 a vocation1 and  the government will be
 upon their shoulders4    ,but what they
 are asked to consider here is the claim
 of the church upon  them4 ,that claim  
need not conflict with any of these     
other vocations1  unless1 indeed1 the   
work of the ,christian ministry should  
offer itself  to their choice4 ,that    
possibility1 by the way1 is well worth  

thinking  of4 ,some of them1 let us     
trust1 will keep it in mind for further 
consideration4 ,if the business of the  
church is what we have found it  to be1 
and the new evangelism is such as we    
have outlined1 the ,christian  ministry 
must offer to any man whose heart is on 
fire with social  passion a great       
opportunity4 ,but for the present let us
 note the fact  that upon those who are 
not to give their whole lives to the    
work of the  church1 the church has a   
claim1 which they ought seriously to    
consider4  ,whatever their callings may 
be1 in whatever fields they may be      
laboring1  the church will need their   
loyal service1 and they will need its   
goodly  fellowships and its inspiring   
coperation4    ,the church which ought  
to be1 and must be1 is not for some of  
us1 but  for all of us4 ,even as the    
state is the political commonwealth to  
which  all citizens belong1 so the      
church is the spiritual commonwealth in 
which all souls should be included4 ,the

 interests for which the church         
provides are the common human interests2
 it never can be what it ought  to be1  
or do what it is called to do1 until it 
gathers all the people  into its        
fellowship4 ,and therefore these young  
men and women to whom the  future is    
intrusted must find their places in the 
church4 ,the church  needs them2 it     
cannot fulfill its function without     
them2 and we have  seen that its        
function is a vital function2 that it   
furnishes the bond  by which society is 
held together4    ,the church is ,god's 
agency for leavening society with       
,christian  influences2 and these young 
men and women by whom the social order  
is to  be reconstructed will be in the  
church4 ,its leadership will be         
committed  to them4 ,they will have the 
shaping of its life4 ,its life will need
 much  reshaping1 and that will be their
 work4 ,what will they make of it8      
#a4 ,they will make it1 what it has     
always been1 a place of worship2 the    

shrine of the spirit2 the home of       
,christian nurture2 a school of         
instruction2 a fount of inspiration2 a  
seminary of religion2 the  meeting-place
 of man and ,god4    ,attempts have been
 made in recent years to organize       
churches--or1 at  least1 associations   
which should take the place of          
churches--in which  religion should be  
dispensed with2 in which there should be
 more or less  of ethical instruction   
and of charitable coperation1 but no    
recognition  of any connection between  
this world and any other4 ,that is      
simply a  reform against nature1 and it 
will never prosper4 ,for1 as ,professor 
,william ,james has taught us1 in a     
great inductive study1 the sum of all   
that is known about religion warrants us
 in saying3--    7a7 ,that the visible  
world is part of a more spiritual       
universe1 from  which it draws its chief
 significance2    7b7 ,that union or    
harmonious relation with that higher    
universe is our  true end2    7c7 ,that 

prayer or inner communion with the      
spirit thereof 444 is a  process wherein
 work is really done1 and spiritual     
energy flows in and  produces effects1  
psychological or material1 within the   
phenomenal  world4#bi    ,these are the 
indubitable conclusions of modern       
science2 and the  proposition to ignore 
the deepest fact of human experience    
will not be  entertained by the young   
men and women of the present day4 ,the  
church1  under their leadership1 will be
 a worshiping church1 a praying church4 
,it will keep itself in close relations 
with that unseen universe from  which   
its help must come4 ,it will be a       
channel through which the divine  grace 
will flow into the lives of men4 ,and it
 will also be1 what it has  always been1
 a school as well as a shrine1 a place  
where the teacher  searches out and     
unfolds the truth and the prophet       
proclaims the message  that has been    
given him4    #b4 ,under its new        
leadership the church will continue to  

be a minister to  human want and        
suffering4 ,the charitable work which   
has always been  emphasized in its      
administration will not be neglected1   
but it will take  on a new character4   
,there will be less almsgiving1 and more
 of the kind  of help which saves       
manhood and womanhood4 ,the young men   
and women who  are called to this       
leadership will understand the worth of 
souls--that  is1 of men and women2 and  
they will be careful lest1 in their     
relief of  want1 they undermine the     
character4 ,above all1 they will feel   
that while  it is the business of the   
church to care for the poor1 its first  
business is to cure the conditions which
 breed poverty4    #c4 ,they will       
thoroughly democratize the life of the  
church1 making it  the rallying place of
 a genuine ,christian fraternity1 in    
which men of  all ranks and stations    
meet on a common level1 ignoring the    
distinctions  of rich and poor1 cultured
 and ignorant1 and emphasizing the fact 

of  ,christian brotherhood4 ,we have    
churches which profess democracy1 but   
there is reason to fear that many of    
them are little better than             
oligarchies2 that some of them come near
 to being monarchies4 ,the new          
leadership will discern the importance  
of making every member of the           
brotherhood1 no matter how humble1 a    
partaker of its responsibilities1  and a
 helper in its services4 ,they will know
 that the problem of church             
administration is to make every man feel
 that he is needed4 ,they will  grasp   
the significance of ,paul's figure of   
the body and its members1 and  will see 
that those members of the body which    
seem to be more feeble  are necessary1  
and that those parts of the body which  
are less  honorable ought to receive    
more abundant honor4 ,they will have    
workingmen in their vestries and their  
sessions and their boards of  trustees4 
,they will show to all the world that   
they have accepted the  word of ,jesus3 

,one is your ,master1 even ,christ1 and 
all ye are  brethren4    #d4 ,this means
 that the life of the church will not   
only be thoroughly  democratized1 but   
greatly simplified4 ,all its            
administration will take  on plainer and
 less luxurious forms4 ,the splendors of
 architecture and  art1 of upholstery   
and decoration1 of ecclesiastical       
millinery and  music1 with which we now 
so often seek to attract men to the     
house of  ,god1 will be put aside2 and  
the followers of ,jesus ,christ will get
 near  enough to him to have some sense 
of the fitness of things in the         
ordering of the houses of worship where 
the ,carpenter is the social  leader and
 where rich and poor meet as one        
brotherhood4    ,instead1 therefore1 of 
permitting the church to be invaded and 
vulgarized by the luxury and            
extravagance of the world1 they will    
turn  the current in the other          
direction4 ,the church1 under the new   
leadership1 will not take its cue from  

the world2 it will enforce its  own     
standards upon the world4 ,out of ,zion 
will go forth the law4    ,bitter words 
were those spoken at a recent meeting of
 the ,congregational  ,union in ,england
 by one of the greatest of ,english     
preachers4#cj ,the  common life of the  
home1 he said1 is often a mere vulgar   
exhibition of  the means of living4 ,we 
try to persuade ourselves that showy    
living is  essential life4 ,in tens of  
thousands of ,english homes the mere    
show of  things is the goal of a        
restless and feverish ambition4         
,everywhere we  seem to be loitering and
 pottering about in the implement yard4 
,even in  our universities we must have 
showy buildings1 though we starve the   
chairs4 ,all this peril becomes the more
 insidious when we pass into the  realm 
of the church of ,god4 ,why1 the 'means 
of grace' are often  misinterpreted as  
grace itself4 ,we are obtruding our     
badges and ribbons1  our soldier's dress
 without the soldier's spirit1 our      

music1 our  ministers even1--how they   
look1 what they wear1 what they do--they
 are  all part of the wretched vulgarity
 of the modern spirit4    ,the two      
things are rightly put together4 ,the   
ostentation of the home1  the tawdry    
luxury and profusion of fashionable     
society1 creep into the  church and set 
up their standards there1 and the       
religion of ,christ puts  on a costume  
in which its ,founder would never       
recognize it4    ,we are dealing here   
with the very heart of the trouble in   
our national  life1 and the problem is  
one which must be solved by the present 
generation of our young men and women4  
,the social conditions which are        
depicted for us by close students of the
 life of our luxurious classes  are     
ominous in the extreme4 ,the cynical    
dishonesties and the brutal  spoliations
 which have come to light in the realm  
of high finance and  big business are   
the natural fruit of such a manner of   
life as many of  our recent novelists   

have vividly portrayed4 ,and the wanton 
extravagance  of the ,house of ,mirth   
would not exist if the majority of the  
people did  not admire it4 ,the outcry  
against it is oftener the voice of envy 
than  of moral revulsion4 ,the cure for 
this evil1 as of most others1 is found  
in public opinion2 and the church must  
educate public opinion to reprove  it1  
and the leadership of the church will be
 in the hands of the young  men and     
women of this generation4    ,it will be
 evident to them that the place to begin
 is in the church  itself4 ,the         
heartless luxury of the world will not  
be chastened into  simplicity by a      
church that surrounds itself with       
splendor and spends  money lavishly upon
 its pleasures4 ,they will know that a  
church which  wishes to reprove the     
vanity and ostentation of the outside   
world must  order its own life in such a
 way that its word shall be with power4 
#e4 ,finally and chiefly the young men  
and women who are to be called to  the  

leadership of the church will feel that 
their main business is the  work of     
church extension4 ,but they will give to
 this phrase a little  different meaning
 from that which it has generally       
carried4 ,the church  extension to which
 the boards and societies in the church 
have been  devoted is the work of       
building new churches in promising      
fields4 ,it is  properly denominational 
extension4 ,something of this kind will 
remain to  be done in the new day now   
before us1 and our new leaders will     
doubtless  have some part in it4 ,but   
the church extension which is most      
loudly  called for just now is the      
extension of the life of the church into
  every department of human life4 ,it is
 more analogous to what we call         
university extension work4 ,the business
 of university extension is not  the    
planting of new universities2 it is the 
projection of the university  into the  
community2 it is the attempt to carry   
the light and the  knowledge and the    

truth and the beauty for which the      
university stands  down among the       
people2 to popularize the higher culture
 and the finer  art4 ,that is a most    
praiseworthy enterprise1 a most         
,christian  undertaking4 ,and something 
very much like this will be the church  
extension for which the new leadership  
will stand4 ,its aim will be to  make a 
vital connection between the ,christian 
church and every  institution or agency 
by which the work of the world is done1 
so that  the influence of the church    
shall be directly felt in every part of 
our  social life4 ,it will consider the 
church as the nursery or conservatory1  
whose growths are to be planted out all 
over the field of the world4 ,it  will  
make the church the central dynamo of   
the community1 connected by a  live wire
 with every home1 school1 factory1 bank1
 shop1 store1 office1  legislative      
chamber1 employers' association1 labor  
federation1--with  every organ of the   
whole social organism1 so that the light

 and power  which are in ,jesus ,christ 
shall be the guiding influence and the  
motive  force of our civilization4      
,this is the work which remains to be   
done1 and for which this present  world 
is loudly calling4 ,it is the work that 
,jesus ,christ came into this  world to 
do1 and he will not see of the travail  
of his soul and be  satisfied until it  
is done4 ,the opportunity of realizing  
the social aims  of ,jesus1 of          
organizing society upon the principles  
which he laid down1  is offered to the  
young men and women of this generation4 
,it will be  open to them so to order   
the life of the church that in its      
democracy  and its simplicity it shall  
represent ,jesus ,christ1 and then to   
extend  this life into industry and     
commerce and politics and art and social
  diversion1 thus bringing all the      
kingdoms of this world into the kingdom 
of the ,christ4 ,it will be their       
principal task to translate the sermons 
and the prayers and the songs of ,sunday

 into the life of the shop and  the     
factory and the office on ,monday and   
the other days of the week4  ,that would
 mean1 of course1 a tremendous          
overturning in the business of  the     
world2 a radical revision of the ideals 
and standards of the great  majority2 a 
new point of view and a new aim in life 
for the most of us4  ,but such a        
peaceful revolution in our ways of life 
would be far less  painful and          
disastrous than the revolution which our
 present habits are  sure to bring1 and 
it is the only thing which will prevent 
it4 ,and if  the young men and women of 
to-day will but discern this truth1 they
 may  have the honor of leading in the  
new ,saturnian reign4    ,we hear in    
these days from earnest men many anxious
 questions why the  message of the      
gospel fails to reach and convince the  
outside multitude4  ,why is it1 good    
preachers say1 that there are so many   
people in all  our communities--some of 
them very good people--who are not at   

all  touched by our appeal8 ,they do not
 seem to be interested in what we have  
to offer them4 ,they do not appear to   
feel their need of it4    ,to this      
question more than one answer could be  
given1 but there is one  answer which   
needs to be well considered4 ,one reason
 is that these men  and women fail to   
discern1 in the life round about them1  
the reality of  the thing which we offer
 them4 ,for ,christianity is1 as we have
 seen in  these studies1 not only an    
individual experience1 but a social     
fact4 ,and  while we might not be       
qualified to judge whether the          
individual  experience1 in any given    
case1 is genuine1 we could see the      
social fact1  if it were in sight4 ,that
 social fact would be profoundly        
interesting to  us1 and it would be     
convincing4 ,nothing else is likely to  
convince us4  ,in truth1 we cannot      
understand ,christianity at all until we
 see it in  operation in society4 ,one  
man alone cannot give any idea of what  

it is4  ,as some one has said1 one man  
and ,god will give us all that is       
essential  in any other religion1 but   
,christianity requires for ,its         
operation at  least two men and ,god4   
,in fact1 it takes a good many men and  
women and  children1 living together in 
all sorts of relations1 to give any     
adequate exhibition of it4 ,what we     
need1 then1 first of all1 to convince   
men of its reality1 is a good sample of 
it1 in active operation--a great        
variety of good samples1 indeed4 ,when  
we have these to show1 we can get       
people interested4    ,it would be      
difficult1 if a very homely illustration
 may be permitted1  to enlist the       
interest of any boy in baseball if you  
made it with him an  individual matter4 
,you might try to train him for any     
given position on  the field1 but if he 
undertook to study it out alone it would
 not be  easy for him to understand it4 
,in fact1 it would be impossible4 ,no   
one  could learn the game all alone4    

,the team work is the whole of it4 ,and 
it  would be absurd to expect any one to
 become interested in the game  unless  
he could see it played4    ,to take a   
similar illustration from a somewhat    
higher form of art1 you  would not be   
likely to succeed in awakening          
enthusiasm in any one for  orchestral   
music by giving him his individual part 
of the score to study  and play over by 
himself4 ,no matter what his instrument 
might be1 the  solitary performance of  
the part assigned to it would be the    
dryest  possible business4 ,you could   
not convert any man to the love of      
orchestral music by any such process4   
,but if he could hear all the           
instruments played together1 and1 better
 still1 if he could play in with  all   
the rest1 that might be inspiring4      
,so you need not expect to convert any  
man to ,christianity unless you can     
show him ,christianity at work in human 
society4 ,in considering only the       
individual application of it1 its whole 

meaning and significance would  be      
hidden from him4 ,the team work is all  
there is of it4 ,let him see it  in     
active operation1 and it will awaken his
 enthusiasm4    ,this is1 in fact1 the  
essence of the new evangelism to which  
the young  men and women of this day are
 called4 ,their business will be to take
  ,christianity out into the field of   
the world and set it at work4 ,it is    
for this that the leadership is         
intrusted to them4 ,the church has been 
a  long time coming to this1 but it     
seems at last to be arriving1 and the   
young people of this generation will be 
summoned to the great  undertaking4     
,surely they may feel that a high honor 
and a heavy  responsibility are thus put
 upon them4 ,it is the most heroic      
enterprise  to which the sons of men    
have ever been called4    ,not all of   
them will respond to the call4 ,but we  
may hope that there  will be found among
 them a goodly minority to whom the     
appeal will come  with commanding voice1

 and whom we may hear answering3 ,yea   
and amen6  ,the work is ours1 and we    
will not shirk it4 ,it is work worth    
doing1 and  it can be done4 ,to make a  
better world of this is the best thing a
 man  can think of2 and we believe that 
,christ's way is the right way4 ,it has 
never yet had a fair trial1 and we are  
bound that it shall be tried4 ,we  know 
that we shall not make ourselves rich or
 famous in this  undertaking2 but we    
shall see the load lifted from many     
shoulders1 and  the light of hope       
shining in many eyes2 we shall hear the 
din of strife  changing to the songs of 
cheerful labor2 we shall share our      
simple joys  with those who know that we
 have always tried to make their lives  
happier1 and who cannot choose but love 
us2 we shall find life worth  living1   
and we shall die content4               
,footnotes        #a ,through ,nature to
 ,god1 p4 #ahi4    #b ,the ,victory of  
the ,will1 p4 #bac4    #c ,first        
,principles1 p4 #ad4    #d ,ibid4 p4    

#bj4    #e ,first ,principles1 pp4 #ii1 
#ajj4    #f ,quoted by ,walker in       
,christian ,theism1 p4 #dg4    #g       
,christian ,theism1 pp4 #dj1 #db4    #h 
,new ,york ,independent1 ,september #ab1
 #aijg4    #i ,micah iv1 #e4    #aj ,i  
do not include ,confucianism1 because it
 is1 primarily1 a system  of ethics or  
sociology rather than a religion2 and   
also because it seems  to have no       
missionary impulse1 and no expectation  
of universality4    #aa ,permanent      
,elements in ,religion1 p4 #adc4    #ab 
,the ,unknown ,god1 p4 #bbh4    #ac     
,professor ,d4 ,m4 ,fisk4    #ad ,acts  
ii1 #dd1 #de4    #ae ,matt4 vi4 #e1 #f4 
#af ,james v1 #af4    #ag               
,rauschenbusch3 ,christianity and the   
,social ,crisis1 pp4 #ic1 #id4    #ah   
,page #ahb4    #ai ,the ,social ,gospel1
 ,harnack and ,herrmann1 pp4 #baf1 #bag4
    #bj ,essays and ,addresses1 p4 #aid4
    #ba ,essays and ,addresses1 p4 #ahi4
    #bb ,a ,history of the ,reformation1
 vol4 i1 pp4 #he1hf4    #bc ,ibid4 pp4  

#hg1 #hh4    #bd ,op4 cit4 p4 #if4      
#be ,seebohm1 ,the ,era of the          
,protestant ,revolution1 pp4 #eg1eh4    
#bf ,op4 cit4 pp4 #cbg1 #cbh4    #bg    
,the ,philosophy of ,religious          
,experience1 by ,henry ,w4 ,clark1 pp4  
#bcd-bcf4    #bh ,rauschenbusch1        
,christianity and the ,social ,crisis1  
pp4 #dad-daf4  ,the volume is one that  
no intelligent student of present-day   
,christianity can afford to neglect4    
#bi ,the ,varieties of ,religious       
,experience1 p4 #dhe4    #cj ,dr4 ,j4   
,h4 ,jowett4