n pieR FOR GRGHTGR IIRITY SGTH ZU.GILKCY /0. 2.^,2-0. LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON, N. J. Presented by BX 8 .G5A 1919 c.l Gilkey, Seth Wison, 1850- A plea for greater unity iri Digitized by tlie Internet Arcliive in 2015 https://arcliive.org/details/pleaforgreaterunOOgilk_0 A PLEA FOR GREATER UNITY SETH W. '^GILKEY, D. D. BOSTON RICHARD G. BADGER THE GORHAM PRESS Copyright, 1919, by Szth W. Gilket All Eights Reserved Made in the United States of America The Gorham Press, Boston, U.S.A. PREFACE This volume is the outcome of an experience through which the author passed in the uniting of two rival congregations in an over-churched village and community. He was the pastor of the larger of these churches and continued for a few years the pastor of the united church. His study of the conditions by which he was surrounded and how to deal with them was the occasion by which was specially unfolded to him a vision of a united church not only in his own community but in the whole of Christendom. His surroundings and experiences were a special incentive to him to make a new study of the ideal church as presented in the Scriptures, to find out what others had thought and were thinking on the subject of organic church unity, and to think the subject through for himself so far as he was able. He has been rejoiced to find that many others have been thinking earnestly and deeply along these lines. He has found indeed that unity is considerably in the air. In the prepara- tion of this volume he has felt free to use the fine and vigorous expressions of conviction made by others on special phases of the discussion, and has interspersed the volume with numerous quotations. He has done this not only because others were saying things better than he could, but also to indicate the vigor, breadth and scope of the movement. He wishes to thank all these writers for the help he has received from the things which they have written. The author believes this movement toward unity to be the most significant movement of the present age, and wants to do 3 4 Preface his bit to help it forward. He has tried to be just and fair in his discussion of such phases of the question as seemed to him the most important, and is persuaded that his readers will peruse his pages in the same spirit. Whatever worth his thoughts may have is laid upon the altar of the great cause for whose sake he has written. Seth W. Gilkey, High Ridge Parsonage, Bridgeport, Ohio. Nov. 2, 1 918. \ CONTENTS PAGE Introduction 7 THE MOVEMENT TOWARD UNITY The Basis of the Movement 15 Increasing Manifestations 26 Onward Toward the Goal 35 Greater Unity and the Church's Mission ... 54 The Search for Essentials 77 A Possible Impossible 96 BARRIERS Tenacity of Opinion 113 Unreasonable Attachments 126 Ultra Conservatism 140 Selfishness 153 Sectarianism 166 Ambition 183 Militancy 188 IMPELLING FORCES The Power of the Truth 205 The Power of Love 216 The Power of a Great Ideal 227 The Sigh of the City 238 The Call of the Country 252 Contents PAGE The Appeal of Missions 262 The Cause of Religious Education 271 The Demands of Economy ........ 279 The Demands of Democracy 287 The Spur of a Great Task 300 DUTIES Confession of Sin 313 Prayer and Supplication 323 Perfecting of Love 332 Stressing Community Welfare 343 The Larger Loyalty 356 Patience 367 INTRODUCTION No greater and more significant movement than the one now going on within the church with respect to the unifying of its many divisions has taken place for many a year. A wonderful revolution of sentiment on this subject has been going on quietly but very effectively during the last decade or two. The great war now apparently drawing near its end after more than four years of unprecedented frightfulness and horror has spe- cially intensified the growth of this sentiment. The necessity for unity in political affairs has also been made apparent in religious matters. The inability of a divided church to cope with the new conditions forced upon it was soon very evident. It quickly became apparent that united efforts must be under- taken to meet the pressing need of the hour. A new realization of the cause of the church's impotence in the face of a great task came to the minds of many Christian men and women, who have seen that the weakness of the church to meet great tasks must remain so long as it remains in a divided state. Hence the acceleration of this movement. This movement toward unity has a broad and strong founda- tion. It rests upon the beliefs that are common to all Christian people. The manifestations of the spirit of unity have been increasing through many years, but especially during the last quarter of a century. The ultimate goal that is before it is the ideal of Christ in regard to His church. Intermediate goals may be more attractive to many minds but can be true and valuable only as they are in harmony with Christ's goal. These 7 8 Introduction intermediate goals are a beginning in the right direction and will naturally relate to the union of churches within the family groups, but may also relate to the union of all the churches of any one community, town, city, state or nation. The church was created for an important work in the world and the relation of its unity to the accomplishment of that work is exceedingly important. This importance is clearly indicated by the symbols used in the Scriptures to indicate its office and mission. These symbols show that the church was designed to be a special representative of the Kingdom of God on the earth, the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, a Christian brotherhood, the pillar and ground of the truth, and a universal peace society. For the better fulfilment of its office and work as suggested by any and all of these symbols much greater and more perfect unity is essential. What are "the essentials"? A right answer to this ques- tion is vital. The search is going on, and has been in progress for some time. Many are coming to believe that they will finally be found in the beliefs now held in common by the churches. They are seeing more and more clearly that they are not to be found in the region of extreme ideas, into which category the distinctives are rapidly descending. Is the unification of all the churches, or even a large part of them, possible? Some say yes and some say no. But while the number saying no have been a large majority, the number saying yes have been rapidly increasing and bids fair to soon become the greater. The evidences of this growth, and the consequent change of sentiment that is transpiring, are numer- ous and far-reaching and show that this movement is a broad stream, and very deep. It is but natural that it should have barriers to impede its progress. In the past these barriers have been a great blockade, but now are much reduced in their obstructive power. They Introduction 9 include such things as men's natural tenacity in holding on to their opinions, their unreasonable attachments to things of little value, the tendency of some minds to ultra conservatism, the natural selfishness of the human heart, sectarianism, ambition, and the militant spirit deeply set in human nature. These are serious hindrances to the cause of unity, but not insur- mountable. Most men are reasonable when the necessity for a new, calm, and honest consideration of their past beliefs be- comes apparent. It would seem as though such a necessity was now brooding over Christendom. Doubtless a careful and con- siderate examination of these barriers by the great body of Christian people will soon lead to sweeping them away. Great impelling forces are at work for its promotion. They are quiet forces, but eii'ective, and the results of their power have been multiplying and will continue to increase. They include such forces as the power of the truth, the power of love, the power of a great ideal, the need of the city, the call of the country, the appeal of missions, the cause of religious education, the demands of economy, the spur of a great task, and the demands of democracy. Each of these forces is a great power in itself; their combination surely makes them mighty for the pulling down of strongholds. They would seem to be such as are well suited to arouse all the enthusiasm necessary to go " over the top " with this movement before any great period of time has passed. In the meantime there are duties in relation to this move- ment which need to be recognized. These duties are specific and concern the responsibili<:y of every Christian man and woman. The first one is the recognition of the sinfulness of the divided state of the church and the confession of our personal sin in regard to this state of division. Another is that of prayer for personal guidance, and for the guidance of the whole body of Christian people everywhere by the Holy Spirit in regard to lO Introduction the proper steps to be taken to reach the final goal. Our Christian love is not yet perfected and needs to be purified and widened. Our interest in the welfare of the community in which we live is ytt too limited and narrow and needs to be broadened and strengthened by our thoughtful and active ef- forts in its promotion. Discouragements and hindrances are sure to come and much patience — too often wanting — will be needed. The want of this virtue has been the source of failure to many a good cause. Our loyalty may be of different kinds. Its relation to this movement will reveal what kind it is, whether it be loyal t}^ to Christ and the general interests of His kingdom, or to the special interests of a certain group within that kingdom. All these points have been considered at some length within this volume. It has not been the aim to present an exhaustive treatment of any phase of the great movement under considera- tion, but to suggest, out of personal experience, such lines of thought as might prove helpful in the solution of its problems. Supposedly this volume was almost completed more than three years ago. For special reasons the work was temporarily laid aside. Within the last few months it has been rewritten for the most part and somewhat enlarged. Within these years the sentiment for greater unity has grown rapidly, and many facts concerning this progress have been noted. The church's rela- tion to democracy, whose cause is one of our great moral aims in war, has been made more fully manifest and greatly em- phasized by the stirring events of these years. In this period the conviction has been greatly deepened that the people are the source of authority and power within the church as well as within the state, and that the people, as the last court of appeal, have the right to determine, better than any individual or group of individuals, whether or not any matter of Faith and Order can claim for itself a " Thus saith the Lord." Introduction II This movement is sure to continue its growth. The signs of the times are indicative of this, and that it comes from God. As one of old has said, " If this work be of men, it will come to naught; but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it." If it is of God, to oppose it is to fight against God ; to espouse it and work for it is to work with God. THE MOVEMENT TOWARD UNITY A PLEA FOR GREATER UNITY THE BASIS OF THE MOVEMENT HEN a surveyor begins any new piece of work his first ' ' duty is to find his base line, or meridian. In the dis- cussion of any movement it is essential to find the basis upon which it rests and from which effective procedure must take place. Every movement has some fact, or facts, that are the foundation of its existence and progress. Whatever it is, this basis must be recognized in any discussion that would reach conclusions that are right, just, and fair. This chapter is an attempt to recognize and appreciate some facts which lie at the foundation and progress of the modern movement toward Chris- tian unity. The first basal fact that will be mentioned is the unity of belief among all Christian people in regard to the being and character of God. The members of all Christian denomina- tions believe that there is One God and that he is the Father of us all. They are all assured that He is one and only one in His essence, nature, thought, feeling, will and action. They all ascribe to Him glory and honor as the Great Creator of all things, and as the Maker of this world with all its materials, laws and forces. They all honor and adore Him as the creator of man and as the source of all human qualities, endowments and possibilities. They all recognize Him as the fountain of life and the source of all the blessings which come to men both here and hereafter, and seek to honor Him as the One in whose image man was originally created. They all see in this One God the same attributes and perfections. They agree that He i6 The Movement Toward Unity is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, holy, just, wise and good. All trust Him alike to be merciful, gracious and for- giving. All rely on Him as gentle, kind, patient, longsuffer- ing and forbearing. They all confide in Him as a Father who loves his children and unitedly address Him as " Our Father who art in Heaven." Another point in the base line of this movement toward Christian unity is the common faith of all Christendom in Jesus Christ as the son of God. A very large proportion of the great body of Christian people believe alike that He is God equal with the Father and the same with Him in substance, power, and glor\^ They are very fully persuaded that He was truly God " who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached among the nations, received up into glor}'." They believe in the power of His blood to take away sin and that His atonement upon the cross is effective in securing their salvation. Even those who doubt the divinity of His nature for the most part see in Him a sinless character, the embodiment of highest wisdom, the possession of a nature, character, and worth infinitely above man, and recognize Him as worthy of the adoration and worship due to one who is surpassingly and preeminently Godlike in his character and mission. They be- lieve in Him as the ideal man, and as more than man, a special messenger from God to men and worthy of the fullest imi- tation and obedience. It was one of these who wrote: " In the cross of Christ I glory." Notwithstanding the misgivings of some about the divinity of Christ there is very complete unity in much the larger part of Christendom in regard to this belief, and there is much unity in all Christendom in regard to the value and importance of Christ's mission and work. He is recognized by all to be the most unique, the most wise, the most exemplary, and the most wonderful personality that has ever appeared among men. The Basis of the Movement 17 Another point in the basis of this movement toward church unity is the unity of belief there is among Christians in regard to the Holy Spirit. The same beliefs as to His personality, mission and work are the common possession of the various de- nominations. They all recognize Him as the person of the Godhead whose special mission it is to apply the truth of God to the consciences and lives of men. They all acknowledge Him to be the source of divine revelation and its interpreter to the minds, hearts and wills of men. They all ascribe to Him the work of regeneration and the processes of sanctification through which men are saved. With them all He is the divine personality who teaches, inspires, leads and guides men in ways acceptable to God and men. They all believe that He dwells within the heart of every true Christian and produces such thoughts, feelings and habits of life as are known to be " The fruit of the Spirit." They all agree that His work is most essential and important in the conversion and salvation of men and in the building up of the church. They all teach that it is the duty of the church to be subject and submissive to His control and guidance. Again, there is great unity among Christians, in most of the denominations, in the belief that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one and the same God in substance, being, power and glory. With all these believers these three persons are the one Living and True God as he may be engaged in the varied and wonderful works of God. In creation and provi- dence he is the Father, as the teacher of men and revealer of divine love He is the Son, in the inward work of grace He is the Holy Spirit. In His threefold personality He is God above and beyond us, God with and beside us, and God within and through us, and thus God everywhere and in every needed aspect. Another point in the basis of unity among all Christians is i8 The Movement Toward Unity their common acceptance of the Bible as the word of God. They all agree that it is the book of books and receive it as a message from Heaven and as the revelation of such great truths as men need specially to know^. They all believe that in it is to be found the true solution of the world's great problems, and especially such problems as relate to man's origin, nature and destiny. They all recognize it to be the ultimate source of authority, instruction, and guidance in all moral and religious questions. They may differ somewhat in their interpretation of some of its statements but agree to make it the court of final appeal. Until very lately, for the space of about three hundred yearS; all the Protestant and English speaking churches have had the same translation of the Bible, and so have had identically the same book in every feature and form of expression. The same commentaries upon the whole Bible, or any part of it, have circulated freely throughout all Christendom. The same lessons or portions of the Scriptures for study in the Bible school have been used very generally in these later years by all denominations. Thus in a large way the same inculcation of truth and the same inspiration of motives has been going on throughout Protestant Christianity. The unity of the churches in respect to the Bible and its use is surely very great. Another point in this basis of unity among Christians is their common belief in regard to the nature and destiny of man. They all believe that man was made in the image of God and that a high destiny has been placed before him. They all teach that he is an immortal being and should live with constant reference to this fact. They place high emphasis upon the teaching that his high destiny can be made secure only by faith in God, a faith that trusts and obeys. They all believe that every man has great possibilities of development in character and attainments through the inspirations and stimulus which the gospel has power to work in human lives. They all recog- The Basis of the Movement 19 nize salvation through Jesus Christ to be the greatest good which men can possibly secure. Another point of unity among Christians of every name is their conception of sin and realization of its ruin. There is wide agreement in their teaching that all men are sinners and need just such a Savior as the one revealed. They unite in the recognition of sin as the cause of all human degradation, misery and woe. They all emphasize the need of repentance and divine forgiveness. They all teach that men should seek the remission of sin through the pardoning mercy of a gracious God. They all insist that men should turn away from sin and learn obedience to the will of God. They all recognize that men are weak in the face of temptation and liable to go astray, and that they need divine help and guidance in resisting and overcoming it. They all insist that the evil of sin is so great that only a divine Redeemer can rescue men from its power and enable them to make the most of themselves in the development of the nobler elements of their manhood. There is great unity among Christians of all denominations in regard to the duties which belong to all the followers of Christ. They all teach that faith in Christ is an essential to salvation, that love is a first duty both toward God and man, and that obedience to the will of God is most imperative. They all insist that love and faith are manifested through good deeds and unite in urging upon men the importance of right living in relation to both God and man. They all endeavor to arouse the consciences of men to proper action, and urge men to adopt high standards of moral living and to earnestly press onward to the attainment of these standards. They en- treat men to seek that help from God which will insure their /victory over great and powerful enemies and their triumph over their severe hardships and insurmountable difficulties in their life of service to their Lord and Master. 20 The Movement Toward Unity There is great unity throughout the churches in regard to Christian virtues, what they are and what their value and im- portance. It is heartily agreed that honesty is an essential qual- ity of worthy manhood. All join in unison with Burns who sings " An honest man's the noblest work of God." They all earnestly insist that truthfulness must be recognized as a Christian virtue, and that the man who loves the truth, always speaks the truth, and is ever ready to defend the truth is worthy of high respect and confidence. The clean man, the pure-minded man who is chaste in all his thoughts, words and actions is sought by all the churches. The liberal man whose generosity is a constant stream, the cheerful giver to the various needs of Christ's Kingdom, the philanthropist whose heart and hand are ever ready to help the needy, has a grace and virtue acceptable in every church. The person who is kind, thoughtful, gentle, obliging, amicable and friendly will be recognized in every church as the possessor of valuable and im- portant virtues. The person, who ever shows a readiness to do his bit and to help in any and every way he may be able, has a spirit needed and appreciated in every church. There is much unity among the churches in regard to the nature and value of worship. All denominations recognize the reading and exposition of the Scriptures, the offering of prayer, the singing of praise, and the giving of money to the Lord's work as proper and important acts of worship. They all em- ploy substantially the same " means of grace." These may vary a little in the outward form but are the same in spirit and in essence. All denominations honor the woid of God as the source of truth and wisdom, and make it their great text-book in moral and religious instruction and their guide in finding the pathway of duty. They all believe in prayer as an essential act of worship and that God is honored and blessings secured The Basis of the Movement 21 by the earnest and sincere pouring out of the heart before Him. Everywhere these prayers contain the elements of adoration, thanksgiving, confession, petition and communion. All believe in praise and use it as a means to arouse and quicken good emotions and to stimulate courage and zeal in gaining triumphs for the Kingdom of Christ. The early church was a singing church, the church of the reformation was a singing church, the church of the Wesleys was a singing church and the only grow- ing and victorious church is the singing church. There is also great unity among the churches as to the essen- tial characteristics of worship. The conviction is ver>' wide and deep that to be real it must be sincere. It must be free from simulation, without hypocrisy and pretense. " God is a spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." It must be in earnest. It must express the pas- sion of a heart poured out to God, a heart which rises above all dead formality and the perfunctory rendering of a routine serv- ice. It must be reverent. It must recognize the majesty of God and express the homage of the finite for the Infinite. It must be humble. It must recognize God as the source of life and every blessing and express a sense of dependence on Him for every good and perfect gift of His providence and grace. It must reveal the spirit of the child who realizes that he is in the presence of a Father upon whom he is utterly dependent and who is also most benevolent, kind and loving. There is great unity throughout Christendom in regard to the value and importance of the church. All Christians be- lieve in the church as an institution appointed by Christ to represent and manifest the Kingdom of God on earth and to have been handed down to us from the days of the apostles by whom it was established. It is accepted by all that it is to be composed of tliose who believe the gospel and thus accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Master and have a will to work for the 22 The Movement Toward Unity upbuilding of His kingdom. It is a divinely ordained assembly for worship and for opportunity, inspiration and guidance in the service of God. It has a great mission in the work of re- ligious instruction in arousing, stimulating and strengthening all good emotions, and in awakening and enlarging noble pur- poses of service for the Master. Moreover, all believe that the True Church is one church composed of all who truly believe in Christ. All the churches put forth the claim to belong to the Holy Catholic Church. In this claim there is a recognition that unity is a very vital and important condition in the real body of Christ and an implied admission that unity ought to be a prominent characteristic of the institution which is the out- ward manifestation of that body. Still further there is great unity among the churches in their chief aim and purpose, as frequently avowed. This aim is the salvation of sinners and the building up of Christ's Kingdom. Whatever may be their views as to how this should be done and by what means best to accomplish it, they all protest that this is their aim and desire. They all strive earnestly to win men to Christ, and pray eagerly that those outside the church may be saved. They employ similar means and agencies for the accomplishment of this end. They present the same kind of appeal, emphasize the same religious truths, and seek the guid- ance and help of the same Almighty Spirit. They all want the church to be a power for good in the world, a blessing to every community, a help and support to every agency and in- stitution beneficial to mankind, and a means of strength and uplift to the state. They all seek to create and inspire worthy and noble ideals in individual men, in families, in the community, and in the state, and thus to ennoble and purify all the rela- tionships that exist among men. They look and work for " A new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness." This presentation of points of unity among all denominations The Basis of the Movement 23 is by no means exhaustive. It is merely suggestive of lines along which the consideration of things held in common may proceed. It is sufficient, however, to show that the present movement toward greater unity has a broad foundation. It is well worth while to examine this foundation carefully as to the number, nature, and importance of the things in which all Christian people agree. It is a good thing to realize how much is held in common by all Christians and how important these things are. It is well for us to see clearly that the rela- tion of any denomination to the True Church of Christ depends upon its possession of those beliefs which are common to all and that these are the beliefs most vital and important to the individual Christian and to all bodies of Christians organized for Christian worship, fellowship and service. It is good for us to realize that this movement has a substantial and effective cause, that it is not merely idealistic, but has much ground for rapid and vigorous development. It is essential for us to gain a full appreciation of the unity which now really exists. The people of the world do not believe that this unity exists, because they do not see it. They see the diversities, the rivalries, and the strife and contentions, which appear in open evidence, and fail to recognize the general beliefs, aims and purposes which lie underneath. Even church members often do not realize how much of truth is held in common by all Christians. This is the natural result of stressing their diversities. These di- versities are emphasized by the very existence of different or- ganizations, houses of worship, equipments, and a few varying forms of worship. People continually see these evidences of diversity rather than tl\ose of unity and thus the diversities are magnified in their minds in accord with the law that what men think most about has to them the greatest value. In former generations much of the preaching was controversial and the religious press was much used in the support and de- 24 The Movement Toward Unity fense of denominational diversities. This kind of preaching and press work has largely passed and yet there are such evi- dences of diversity and such use of these evidences as greatly minimize and discredit the broad substratum of unity in doc- trine and practice which underlies all true worship and serv- ice. The time has surely come in which it is fitting to stress more prominently the fact that the great mass of religious truth, and the most fundamental things, are held in common, and thus to give to this fact its true place in our religious think- ing. In addition to this underlying unity' among all Christians which exists in spite of all their diversities, there is at the basis of the present movement a further fact. This further fact is the plain and natural interpretation of the intercessory prayer of Jesus as the High-Priest of His people on the eve of His great sacrifice for them when he besought the Father " That they may be one, even as we are one," and " That they may be perfected into one." The plain and natural interpreta- tion of these words is that our Savior earnestly desired the most complete and perfect unity among his followers, an outward and visible unity as well as one inward and spiritual. Many are believing that this plain and rational interpretation of the Savior's prayer is the true one and the only just and fair one. Still further there is at the basis of this movement a strong belief peculiar to no denomination that the Holy Spirit is the author and source of the visions which Christians now have in regard to things to be accomplished by the church. The promise of Jesus in regard to the work of the Holy Spirit is interpreted to mean a continuous work and not one that ter- minated with the Apostles. It is a work necessary to the right understanding and appreciation of men's visions and revelations in regard to the future of the church. It is a work without which there can be no progress and no development in the The Basis of the Movement 25 Kingdom of God. Every Christian worker has visions of things to be accomplished in his field of effort, and believes the source of these visions to be the Holy Spirit. Many have large and comprehensive visions in regard to things to be ac- complished in the state, nation, world, through the church and are persuaded that the Holy Spirit is the source of these visions. Unity is a work of the Spirit which He is ever seeking to pro- mote, according to St. Paul, and in doing so gives conceptions of its possibilities and power for good. Such conceptions have been coming to many Christians in all denominations in late years, and many of those who have received the vision are con- fident that it is from the Holy Ghost. In view of the great number and vital importance of the be- liefs held in common by all Christians, and in view of the plain and reasonable interpretation of Jesus' prayer for the perfect- ing of unity among his followers, and in view of the special work of the Holy Spirit in giving visions of unity to Christian people in all churches, is it any wonder that many are getting this vision? Rather is it not strange that it has remained so long concealed, or been so long delayed? When this vision takes full possession of one's being it becomes very entrancing and inspiring. It reveals a future power and glory in the church which will bring great honor and glory to its King and Head, and of wonderfully enlarged and perfected blessings to its members and to all mankind. INCREASING MANIFESTATIONS FIFTY years and more ago there was very little visible unity among Christian denominations. Each of them was striving eagerly to build up its own interests regardless of the v/elfare of others. Rivalries were very keen and antagonisms were often very bitter. Their diversities were accentuated both in the pulpit and religious press. Oppor- tunities were too often seized to harangue one another in re- gard to distinctive doctrines and practices. An illustrative story is told of the way one opportunity was used. Two denominations were accustomed to worship alternately in the same house. On one occasion by some mistake, or misunder- standing, both pastors had an announcement for the same day and hour. The first to arrive was chatting familiarly with some of his people around the stove when the other pastor arrived. The latter saw his opportunity and at once ascended the pulpit and thus gained its possession which is nine points in law. He improved the occasion to reason vigorously and vehemently for four hours with the other pastor and his people in regard to the falseness of their doctrines and the error of their ways. In those days each denomination was very anxious to gain a strong foothold while our country was in a stage of rapid development and growth. Their efforts brought them into rivalry and often aroused strong antipathies between them. They often defended vigorously their own distinctive doctrines and practices and declaimed vehemently against those of other denominations. Sermons in regard to Christian unity were very rare, and editorials and articles on this subject were very a6 Increasing Manifestations 27 seldom seen in the religious press. But there was much ef- fort to justify a separate existence and to show that their diversities were irreconcilable. They claimed respectively that their denominational teachings were vital and could be supported properly only by a separate organization. These efforts to justify and uphold a separate existence bred strife, animosities, and even hatred among those who should have been good neighbors and friends. The effect of the preaching of those days is shown in the case of a member in one of the denominations who had formed a great dislike for the " Seceders " in his community. He believed that he was justifiable in his animosity because he had read in the Scriptures that "Seceders (Seducers) shall wax worse and worse." Back in those days, however, there were the beginnings of the present movement. Among both ministry and laity were those who saw the value and significance of comity and cooperation between the different denominations and realized the necessity of uniting their efforts along certain lines, at least, of Christian work. In the early part of the last cen- tury The American Tract Society was organized as an inter- denominational institution for the purpose of bringing to- gether all evangelical denominations in certain lines of re- ligious enterprise. Its founders realized that its purpose " To diffuse a knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of sinners, and promote the interests of vital godliness and sound morality " was a purpose in which all Christians might well be united. They were fully persuaded that this union of workers from many denominations in the accomplishment of its purpose would glorify God, save men, and build up the interests of His Kingdom. For more than a century it has been a standing manifestation of the spirit of unity among the followers of Christ and has done much toward the develop- 28 The Movement Toiuard Unity ment of the present movement. In Europe The Religious Tract Society of London and kindred organizations in other countries have been a similar manifestation. The American Bible Society and The British and Foreign Bible Society for more than a century have been visible and tangible evi- dences of the unity of Christians in the printing and wide circulation of the Scriptures, and have had their influence in producing the present fraternal relations among Christian people. The American Sunday School Union, and the Sunday School Associations, County, State, National, International, and World, have both promoted and given expression to the unity there is among the churches as to the importance of Bible study and the best methods of securing it. Within the last fifty years The Young Men's Christian Association has brought together the denominations in a united effort on behalf of young men, and in these later years The Young Women's Christian Association has done a similar work on behalf of young women. For about a third of a century The Women's Christian Temperance Union has sought to bring together the Christian womanhood of all the churches in a united effort to destroy the drink evil and during the last quarter of a century The Anti-Saloon League has secured the cooperation of many churches in the effort to overthrow the liquor traffic. For the last thirty- five years The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor has been a bond of union among many of the young people in several denominations and has nurtured the spirit of union in many youthful minds and hearts. The Students' Volunteer Associa- tion has given expression to kindred aims and desires among those willing to serve the Master in whatever field He might open before them. The Layman's Missionary Movement has shown that devotion to missionar\' enterprise and effort is found in all the churches. The Men and Religion Move- Increasing Manifestations 29 ment has demonstrated that all denominations are alike in- terested in the salvation of men and in so presenting the Christian religion's appeal to men as to arouse their interest in its manliness and power. Another manifestation of the spirit of unity worthy of more than a passing notice is The Evangelical Alliance. This alliance was the result of a growing desire among Protestant Christians for greater unity than had existed. It was made a voluntary association of evangelical Christians from different churches and countries for the purpose of pro- moting religious liberty, Christian union, and cooperation in every good work. For almost three quarters of a century this organization has welcomed into its membership all Christians who may fairly be regarded as evangelical. It has not endeavored to create a formal union, but to acknowledge, exhibit and strengthen that spiritual union which has always existed and ever will exist among true Christians as members of Christ's body, but which is sadly marred and obstructed by the divisions and rivalries of Protestant Christianity. It has aimed, not at organic union, nor even federation, but to develop that spirit of unity which harmonizes individual Christians with one another, and has claimed no official authority over those churches which have joined in its work and received its help. But it has been such a manifestation of unity as would naturally awaken and strengthen the desire for a closer fellowship and more perfect union. Doubtless it has done much to create the present wide-spread desire for one great outward fellowship among all Christians, at least all of closely kindred faiths. Still another manifestation of the spirit of unity is to be seen in The Alliance of the Reformed Churches throughout the World holding the Presbyterian System. This alliance has helped to make unity more manifest in the family of 30 The Movement Toward Unity churches which it affiliates. In this family the following unions have been consummated: the union of the Associate Presbyterian Church and The Associate Reformed Presby- terian Church in 1858, forming the United Presbyterian Church of North America; the union of "The Old" and "The New" School Presbyterian Churches in 1869, forming The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America; the union of several distinct bodies of Presbyterians in 1875, forming the Presbyterian Church of Canada ; the union of The Presbyterian and The United Presbyterian Churches of England, forming the Presbyterian Church of England; the union of the Free Church and The United Presbyterian churches of Scotland in 1900, fonning the United Free Church of Scotland; the union of six distinct bodies in Australia and Tasmania in 1901 forming the Australian Presbyterian Church ; the union of two Presbyterian churches forming the New Zealand Presbyterian ; the union of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1907 with The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and the near union in 19 16 of The Presbyterian Church and The United Free Presby- terian Church of Scotland. The spirit of unity has been manifested also in the forma- tion of unions in other family groups. All the Methodist denominations in Canada came together in 1883 in the forma- tion of a single Methodist church for all of that dominion. In 1902 the different Methodist denominations of Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the South Sea Islands united in the formation of The Australian Methodist Church. Among denominations whose congregationf, are under an in- dependent fomi of government organic union is not so readily effected. But these churches have manifested in some very practical ways that the spirit of unity is brooding over them. Ministers and members of Congregational, Baptist and I Increasing Manifestations 31 Disciple Churches have taken active part in conferences re- lating to unity and have permanent commissions, or commit- tees, on church union. During the past decade or two all denominations have taken an active part in stressing the im- portance of comity and cooperation in their relations to each other. These things have had a large place in both denomi- national and interdenominational conferences, and in the re- ligious press. All these things are the manifestation, valuable though not complete, of that spiritual unity which pertains to all true followers of Christ. A late manifestation of Christian unity and a very important one is The Federal Council of The Churches of Christ in America, founded in December, 1908. Like the Evangelical Alliance its work is one of counsel and recommendation, and not one of legislation. It has already become a very prominent and effective agenc}' in the manifestation of unity in the thirty denominations whose cooperation and support it has secured. Through its different commissions it brings together the representatives of these denominations in con- ferences to consider and advise in regard to the different lines of work in which the churches are engaged. It has commis- sions on Inter-Qiurch Federations. Evangelism, the Church and Social Service, the Church and Country" Life, Temper- ance, Christian Education, International Justice and Good- will, and Relations with the Orient. Through the work of these commissions and their special committees the Council be- comes a clearing house for all the denominations it represents. Its object is declared to be: " To express the fellowship and Catholic unity of the Christian Church. " To bring the Christian bodies of America into united service for Christ and the world. " To encourage devotional fellowship and mutual counsel 32 The Movement Toward Unity concerning the spiritual life and religious activities of the churches. " To secure a larger and combined influence for the churches of Christ in all matters affecting the moral and social con- dition of the people so as to promote the application of the law of Christ to every relation of human life. " To assist in the organization of local federations and to promote the aims of the Federal Council in their communi- ties." The Federal Council is both the result and the expression of a growing spirit of comity and cooperation among the churches. It indicates the development of an eager and earnest longing for greater fellowship and efficiency' in the upbuilding of Christ's Kingdom. It is to be recognized as an encourag- ing manifestation of progress toward the union of the parts of a divided church into one body in Christ Jesus. Another encouraging manifestation of the growing spirit of unity and of strong desire for its realization is The Christian Unity Foundation started in 1910 by a few prominent members of the Protestant Episcopal Church. This Foundation aims at " the union of the Christians of all the world, Protestant, Eastern, Catholic, everybody, everyv^here." The announcement of such an aim indicates a great vision and a great purpose. This organization has already done much valuable work of agitation and education along the line of its purpose, and no doubt will continue with increasing in- fluence and power to do efTective work for this great cause in days to come. Another field where increasing manifestations of the spirit of unity have abounded is the field of missionary enterprise and effort. In this field there has been much planning, pro- posing and putting forth of effort toward unity. Mission- aries are wont to get such a vision of the need and the work Increasing Manifestations 33 to be done in non-Christian lands as emphasizes in their minds the essential importance of united efFort in every mission field. They came to realize the importance of so dividing missionary territory among different denominations that there would be no overlapping, nor competition in the work, and besought the governing boards to establish such divisions. They have realized the significance and importance of united effort and freedom from all divisive competition as these things have not been realized in America, or in any other Christian country. They have come together in local, national and international conferences, or conventions, in which comity, co- operation and union were subjects of special and favorable con- sideration. They have formulated and adopted many plans for united action and in some instances have united into one organized body. The World's Missionary Conference, held in Edinboro, Scotland, in 1910 was a striking manifestation of the spirit of unity among missionaries. It was the outcome and full expression of many other conferences which had preceded it in missionary fields. It was the flowing together of missionary forces from all parts of the non-Christian world, the blend- ing of hues and colors of missionary enterprise into one beautiful mosaic. Missionaries from all lands joined heart and soul in the work and fellowship of that wonderful convention in which the spirit and expression of unity was so evident. Many of those who were present and experienced its power were ready to pronounce it " the greatest meeting ever held." Another and still later manifestation of the spirit of unity is the readiness of a great multitude of young ministers, since the beginning of the present great world war, to volunteer their services to the Young Men's Christian Association in its war work, and the readiness of the masses of Christian 34 The Movement Toward Unity people of all denominations to give liberal support to the work of this association. Thousands of young ministers are ready and eager to engage in this unsectarian work and thus show their appreciation of a work which represents united purpose and effort. The people have shown their appreciation of united Christian work in their ready response to the first ap- peal of Dr. John R. Mott, its national president, for $50,- 000,000 with which to carry on its work. Such a manifesta- tion is surely suggestive and very significant. This brief review of ways in which the spirit of unity has been manifesting itself is suggestive of the broad underlying current of conviction among Christian people that unity of aim, purpose, organization, effort, is the ideal condition in which the church should have its existence and do its work, and deepens the conviction that a still greater unity is soon to come. ( ONWARD TOWARD THE GOAL ALTHOUGH considerable progress has been made in the manifestation of unity among the churches during these later years, they have not yet reached that ideal of unity which is according to the scriptures. The advancement already made is very encouraging in many respects and yet much re- mains to be accomplished before unity has reached anything like its highest degree of perfection. While we have great reason to be thankful that so much progress has been made, we must maintain the forward look toward the achievements yet to be won. While we rejoice that the spirit of unity has been dif¥used into the minds and hearts of many of God's people, it is still possible for this work of diffusion to be greatly enlarged. All that is beautiful, praiseworthy, and truly Christian in the present conduct of the various denominations in their relation to one another may well be stimulated toward greater perfection. The spirit of jealousy, unseemly rivalry, unfriendly competition, and antagonism has yet to be sup- planted in many individual hearts and in many congrega- tions by the spirit of brotherly love, kindness, good will, comity, and cooperation. The vision of what the church as one body in Christ Jesus can be and do has not yet very fully filled the minds of many denominational leaders, nor the thought of the masses of church members, and may well be quickened, enlarged, and intensified. Many steps are yet to be taken before the goal is reached. The present seems to be a fitting time to seek an enlargement of the vision and to press onward toward the goal. One great lesson which the church may well learn from 35 36 The Movement Toward Unity modern business is the value and significance of complete unity and cooperation, and this truth has been apparent to many in the church. It has been very clearly proven in commercial afiairs that a large number of people acting to- gether under one management can produce more perfectly, abundantly and cheaply, can secure a larger and more ad- vantageous use of by-products, establish greater and more sub- stantial credit, procure a wider distribution of products, and stimulate and strengthen foreign commerce much more ef- fectively, than can be done by the same number of people acting in small groups, or as individuals. The great reason for the organization of so many large business corporations in modern times has been the vision which came to business men in regard to the possibilities and value of cooperation. Again, the great lesson which the church may well learn from the unprecedented world war which is now being waged is this same lesson on the value and significance of unity under the leadership of one supreme power. The central powers have been able to gain a number of advantageous victories because, no doubt, their forces were all fully united and harmonious in their action and under the guidance of one controlling mind. On the other hand the allied armies have met with serious failures and disasters because of the want of unity and harmony in their control. It has taken the allied nations four years and through successive disasters to learn that there must be complete unity of aim and action among their forces before defeats and disasters can be avoided and substantial victories gained. It has surely become evident that the plan of having allied armies act largely independent of each other against the same enemy is not the way to make very much advancement, or to gain permanent and decisive victories. Why should not the church be doubly and deeply impressed Onward Toward the Goal 37 with this great lesson? Its business is "the greatest business in the world " and is worthy of the highest and most pro- ductive vision of which the human mind is capable. Its warfare is against a mighty host which is arrayed under the leadership and control of one mind. " The Prince of This World," the arch-enemy of the King and Head of the church, is a very crafty and cruel foe, and has every depart- ment and division of the forces of evil under his control. If it were not so his Kingdom could not stand, as Jesus explicitly declares. The failure of the church to make any very great and rapid progress against the forces of evil and to gain great and substantial victories over these forces, has been due, no doubt, to the want of unity and cooperation between the divisions of the allied armies of the churches. The great lesson to be learned from the business world and from outstanding facts pertaining to the gigantic struggle of the present world war is being learned by many in the churches, as is evident in many ways, but not yet has it been learned by the controlling influences in the various denomina- tions and by the masses of church members. Will it be learned by these? Is there anything more needed by the church to-day than the learning of this lesson ? What possi- bilities of progress and of triumph there would be to the Kingdom of Christ in the world by a more perfect unity of the allied, but now separated, hosts which make up the army of the Lord! What a sad hindrance to the welfare and progress of Christianity upon the earth would be the failure of the church to learn this lesson! In pressing onward toward the goal it will be most help- ful to keep before our minds what this goal really is. There is possibility of limiting our vision in regard to it. Our minds may become fixed on some end very remote from the true goal, and only a very small beginning in its direction. It is true 38 The Movement Toward Unity that we may have intermediate goals, and they may serve a good temporar)' purpose in stimulating dur activities, but these must lie in the direction of the true goal and be in harmony with all that makes it the great end to be sought. These intermediate points may have much value as guides toward the right end, as helps to larger vision, and as measures of attainment in the forward steps of progress, but have their special power for good in the real progress which they secure toward the true goal. In the use of intermediate goals it is very important that no backward steps shall be taken, but that forward steps toward the true goal shall progress as rapidly as possible. This goal has been fittingly expressed by The Christian Unity Foundation which aims at " The union of the Christians of all the world, Protestant, Eastern, Roman Catholic, everybody, everywhere." This is the goal because it is the ideal condition of the church as taught by the scriptures. Many Christians of the present day have seen this vision and have felt the pressure of its power upon their minds and hearts. This is the ideal which keeps intruding itself upon the souls of these earnest workers for the Kingdom of Christ in the world, and will not cease to fascinate and charm them, and the number of those who see the vision and feel the power of this ideal seems to be growing rapidly. By its influence they have wider aims in all their efforts to advance the reign of Christ among men and are stimulated in their purpose to put the interests of His Kingdom above those of any sect, or denomination. Through its benign effect upon their hearts, their goodwill, kindness and sympathy go out to Christian people and their work wherever they are found. It stimulates them to pray for the fulfillment of the vision. For many centuries this ideal of unity has been largely lost to the church which has gone on dividing and subdivid- Onward Toward the Goal 39 ing until we have in America, according to a late bulletin of the United States Census Bureau, two hundred one denominations, and in other Christian countries similar divi- sions are alike numerous. The Church of Christ is surely a divided house. How can it continue to stand if it remains divided? The great wonder is that it has stood so long in its divided state. But it has lost much of its vitality and power and needs to be revived and reinvigorated. The restoration of Christ's ideal for the unity of His Church would surely prove an effective means in securing such a re- vival and reinvigoration. The trend toward unity now in evidence is one which shows that the restoration of His ideal is making progress, and bids fair to extend itself through- out Christendom. The full recognition of this ideal by all those who profess to be the followers of Christ would soon make the church to be a much better representative than it now is of the Kingdom of God upon the earth, and would secure for it those conditions and characteristics which would establish its claim to be a special representative and exponent of that Kingdom. That Jesus' ideal for his church was one of complete and perfect unity is evident from what He said and did regard- ing it and from the standards of living given to His fol- lowers. In the first place all His teaching in regard to the Kingdom of God is very suggestive of His ideal of unity for His Church. He spoke very often of this Kingdom and always referred to it as a united Kingdom. In His presenta- tion of the laws and principles of government for this King- dom, in His inaugural address as the King appointed and anointed for this Kingdom He provides for only one body of citizens. All His commandments and all His instructions are for the entire body of His subjects. All His illustrations by parable of the growth and development of His Kingdom 40 The Movement Toward Unity make manifest his idea of a single body, or organization. In the parable of the Good Shepherd He asserts that there shall be " one flock." Again, when He came to speak of His church, which He intended to found, He spoke of it as one church, calling it " My church," and not " My churches." His language indicates that in his mind and purpose it was to be a single body composed of all His followers. His language not only reveals His thought and aim, but also shows the desire of His heart concerning it. His thought, purpose, and desire were that it should all be His — His verj' own — in the fullest and completest manner and form. He made no suggestion that any divisions could exist in any way ac- ceptable to His mind and will, or that divisive courses could ever secure His approval. The absence of any such sugges- tion from His words in connection with His positive refer- ences to a single church is strong evidence of His ideal. But a fuller proof of His ideal is His prayer as the Great Intercessor of His people. In this prayer He pleads " that they may all be one, even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou didst send me. And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them, that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that thou didst send me, and lovedst them even as thou lovedst me " (John 17:21-23). In this prayer Jesus shows that He was well aware of the weakness of human nature and the possibility of division in His church because of this weakness, and that He was anxious to guard His followers against such a con- dition. It was His consciousness of their danger that led Him to plead so earnestly with the Father for the preservation and perfection of their unity. In this prayer He gives His ideal of a model for their unity. This model is the oneness Onward Toward the Goal 41 of the Father and the Son : " Even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee " ; " That they may be one even as we are one." Jesus' repetition of reference to this model seems to stress its importance as one to be sought after and foUovped by His people. The oneness of the Father and the Son is a unity of administration as well as one of thought, disposi- tion, and general aim; a unity of organized effort as well as one of mind and heart. The beauty and excellence of this model can be seen and appreciated only by the clear vision of the eye of faith. As the church is full of faith in the Father and the Son its vision of their unity becomes a power to bind its parts together and make of them one body. Again, this prayer of Jesus reveals His ideal in regard to whom this unity shall include. His prayer " that they all may be one " shows the wide range of His anxiety and the universality of His desire for His people. Whatever their condition and circumstance in life, His great concern is that they may be one in their fellowship and intercourse as well as in their inward spirit, thought, and purpose. Whatever their differences of knowledge, taste, disposition, and like qualities, these are to be reconciled and harmonized in a unity which shall in- clude " all," and the term " all " as used by Him is to be understood in its widest and most comprehensive sense. At least it includes every follower of Christ who at any given time is dwelling on the earth and is connected with any of the organizations which claim to be a part of His church. His ideal was world-wide in its inclusion. Still further, the intercessory prayer of Jesus shows that His ideal of unity among His people includes its outward manifestation. He was concerned about a unity that could be seen' and by which the world might learn the nature of His mission and the reality of the Father's love for His children. He is anxious that the evidence of outward mani- 42 The Movement Toward Unity festation be clear and effective. He wants the world to have the proof that there is a real spiritual unity among His people and thus to get the evidence that there is power in His gospel to affect the lives of men, and therefore that it is true. What proof is there to the world concerning the mission of Jesus and the love of the Father in a spiritual unity which is largely hidden and entirely too invisible because of the rivalries, jealousies, animosities, strifes and wasted effort and resources of a divided church? Jesus was anxious for a unity which would be in evidence for the good of His Kingdom and would prove to men the power of His gospel to transform men and enable them to dwell together in peace and harmony. This unity was not merely one which He himself could see and appreciate, but one that the world could see and feel the power thereof. But the church has not fulfilled His ideal. It has not been a good witness to His mission and the Father's love, because of its dissensions and divisions. Men of the world are unwilling to believe that there is any unity of great value among Christians of different denominations because the evidences of division and separation are much the greater to them. They see in abundance, the signs of rivalry, competition and antagonism, and sometimes of enmity, and too few that any real unity exists. Great power would be given to the church's testimony concerning the character and work of Jesus and the love of the Father by the coming together into one great visible body of all who profess to be His followers. Moreover, the ideal of Jesus for His people, as shown by this praj'er, includes the perfection of their unity. He en- treats the Father " that they may be perfected into one." He wishes for them a unity outwardly manifested which is adapted to every condition, circumstance and attainment to which the church may come, a unity that is commensurate with its high- Onward Toward the Goal 43 est possibilities and progress. Perfection of unity is a very high ideal, and yet this is just what Jesus longed for, not only in the case of His disciples then, but also in the case of all who would believe on Him through their word. When He offered this prayer He was well aware of all the difficulties that might lie in the way of attaining this perfection, for He knew what is in man, and yet this was His ideal for His church, and He must have thought it both possible and practi- cable. He was one who understood thoroughly the weak- nesses, follies, foibles and sins inherent in human nature, but He perceived also its possibilities when regenerated and brought under the full power of great and high ideals. He carefully weighed the tendency and power of selfishness and its allied sins, to hinder and mar that perfection of unity which He so earnestly desired, but was assured that the abundant life which he could impart to them would gain for them a triumphant victory over this evil tendency and power. While He saw the possibility of discord, dissension, defection, and division among them, yea even the reality of these evils, He provided a powerful panacea for such ruinous conditions in the exaltation of His ideal for their unity and in His prayer for its realization. Surely the fact that this is His ideal and that as the Great High Priest of His people He interceded on its behalf ought to be an effective antidote against such evils, and a great source of healing when they have arisen. The ideal of Jesus in regard to the unity of His people is shown, also, by the " new commandment " which he gave them. This commandment requires " that ye love one another " and is followed by His declaration that this love shall be a test of their discipleship. In this commandment and its accom- panying declaration strong emphasis is surely placed by our Savior upon that grace and virtue which is " the bond of perfectness." He was certainly very anxious that His disciples 44 The Movement Toward Unity should realize and manifest the power of love in their fellow- ship with one another both for their own good and for the good of humanity. He thoroughly understood how great an antidote it would prove to be against all rancorous feelings and divisive courses and knew that where love reigns peace and harmony are sure to prevail. He was anxious, too, about its influence upon those belonging to the world because of its power to prove to them the truthfulness and efficacy of His gospel as well as the sincerity of His followers' discipleship. In His new commandment as well as in His intercessory prayer the Great Teacher showed His deep concern that His disciples should come into the possession of that ideal and its cor- responding grace which are so essential to their perfection as individual Christians and as well to their perfection as the organized body of His people. He wanted them to realize that in the fullest possession and development of this ideal and grace they Avould have those qualities which would make them most acceptable to Him and most useful to the interests of His Kingdom in the world. It is very significant that on another occasion, that of His inaugural address as King and Head of the Church, He gave the commandment " Be ye perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect " in regard to love in its fullest and widest application, and thus He taught that the highest perfection of character for the individual and the church is possible only through the possession and manifestation of this grace. He was presenting the laws of His Kingdom when He gave this commandment and no doubt intended it for the special guidance and development of His church, for He could appreciate, as no one else, the power of love to bind and hold men together and make their work most effective in the interests of His Kingdom. Jesus' ideal of unity among His people was very fully in- dorsed by the work of the Holy Spirit in the early days of Onward Toward the Goal 45 Christianity. The Spirit's influence and power in carrying forward Jesus' ideal into the infant church is shown by the fact that the concord and peace of the church was recognized as the result of the Spirit's work and called " the unity of the Spirit." It may well be claimed that it was a most im- portant part of the Spirit's mission and work to nurture and perfect this ideal in the minds of the Apostles and their fol- lowers as the founders of the Christian church. Under His influence on the day of Pentecost a fine spirit of concord pre- vailed among the multitude of worshippers who were present. The members of that large assembly had come together from all quarters of the compass and from long distances and were bound together in one body with one mind and one heart. The Spirit so controlled that mixed multitude that all its parts were firmly cemented in the bonds of Christian faith and love, and so thoroughly united them that they were willing to possess all things in common. It is evident to the Bible student that the beginning of the Christian church was char- acterized by the presence and power of that ideal of unity which Jesus taught, and which the Holy Spirit was sent to inculcate and perfect. Again, the Holy Spirit bore witness to this ideal in the council at Jerusalem. A very delicate ques- tion had been brought before the Apostles and elders for settlement, and the guidance of the Spirit was necessary to the preservation of the unity and peace of the primitive church, for there had been much discussion and contention over this question in Antioch, a very active part of the church. After appropriate discussion in the council at Jerusalem a decision was reached which preserved the church's unity and assured the Apostles and elders that they had been guided by the Spirit in reaching their decision. They believed that the promise of the Savior in regard to the sending of the Spirit as their teacher and guide had been fulfilled to them in their united 46 The Movement Toward Unity action as a body of believers, and that it was fitting for them to say in the report of their action, " It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us" (Acts 15:28). The Holy Spirit has borne witness to this ideal, too, in the fruits which He has ever produced in the lives of those in whom He dwells and to whom He gives continually the light of life. These fruits are the graces which ennoble and purify Christian character. He is ,the special source of all such virtues as enable the followers of Christ to live, worship, and work together in peace and harmony, and from the begin- ning of the Christian church He has been striving to instill these graces and virtues into the minds and hearts of all who are willing to receive His guidance and to be obedient to His teaching. Wherever and whenever these fruits abound, there the spirit of unity is found and manifests itself in the har- mortious condition of the church, but where these fruits are deficient and defective, there alienations, discord, and separa- tions are wont to take place. When the members of the church are walking in the Spirit, gentleness, kindness, gener- osity, brotherly love and goodwill are much manifested, and it is through the production and perfection of these fruits that the unity of Christ's people is nurtured and made strong. In so far as the harvest of such fruitage has been short in past years of the church's history the cause has been in the nature of the soil in which the seed was sown and not in the quality of the seed sown by the Spirit. He has sown good seed in His field! Jesus' ideal was recognized and taught by the Apostles. The apostle Paul showed his apprehension of its significance when he wrote: " Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, long suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a complaint against any: even Omvard Toivard the Goal 47 as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye: and above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness: and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body: and be ye thankful" (Col. 3: 12-15). Again and again in his epistles he emphasized the importance of such graces and virtues as make for unity and censured the evils which destroy it. His first letter to the church at Corinth is an argument and appeal in regard to the con- servation of the unit\- of that church. The Apostle Peter stresses the importance of this ideal when he writes: " Finally be ye all likeminded, sympathetic, loving as brethren, tender- hearted, humble-minded : not rendering evil for evil, or re- viling for reviling: but contrariwise blessing: for hereunto were ye called, that ye might inherit a blessing" (I Pet. 3: 8, 9). The apostle James gave recognition to Jesus' ideal when he wrote " And let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire lacking nothing" (Jas. 1:4). " But the end of all things is at hand ; be ye therefore of sound minds and be sober unto prayer; above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves; for love covereth a multitude of sins" (Jas. 4:7, 8). The Apostle John shows his high appreciation in his exaltation of love as a grace among brethren. How significant such statements as these: "We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren " (I John 3: 14) ; " If we love one another, God abideth in us, and His love is perfected in us" (I Jno. 4: 12) ; " Hereby we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do His commandments " (I Jno. 5:2). The writings of the Apostles are full of earnest exhortations in regard to the cultivation and development of those graces and virtues which make for unity in the church. Their ideal was very clearly one of the complete inclusion of all believers in any city, town, or community, in one church, and a per- 48 The Movement Toiicrd Unity fectly harmonious adjustment of the churches in different cities, towns and communities toward one another. The stress which they place upon the virtues which make for harmony and peace among brethren is evidence of the strong hold which this ideal had taken upon their minds and their hearts. The Scriptural ideal of unity is also indicated by the cen- sures and penalties which are shown to have been visited upon those who marred and destroyed it. In the Old Testa- ment the curse pronounced by the angel upon Meroz was uttered because that city had failed to recognize and assume its responsibility in defending and maintaining the unity of God's chosen people. The punishment visited by Gideon upon Succoth and Penuel was on account of their refusal to recog- nize the unity of all those whom he was fighting to deliver. The sacred historians put a severe stigma upon the name of Jereboam when they repeat so often the description of him as the man " who taught Israel to sin." His great sin was his destroying of the unity of God's people. In the New Testament the Apostle Paul taught the members of the Cor- inthian church that they were " carnal " because of their divi- sions, and the Apostle James in his message to the church at large wrote: " If ye have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, glory not and lie not against the truth. This wisdom is not a wisdom that cometh down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where jealousy and faction are, there is confusion and every evil deed" (Jas. 3:14-16). Thus it is seen that from every standpoint of fair interpretation and just inference the Scriptures uphold a unity in the church that is complete and perfect in both its spirit and manifesta- tion. This ideal of unity does not exclude diversities of talent, effort, and accomplishment, but implies the necessary existence of such diversities. Unity is not the same as uniformity where Onivard Toward the Goal 49 everything is just alike, but means that while there may be many and very marked diversities the most vital and im- portant things are held in common. It is the fact that unity transcends in importance these diversities of gifts and talents that gives to it its great value. It is because it can bind and hold together those who differ from one another in many respects and very greatly that it is so essential to the welfare of the church. It brings these differences of talent and at- tainment into harmony with one another and with the most vital truths of the Gospel, and brings to the light the most noble and praiseworthy of all Christian qualities. It is the great diapason of the church's life in harmony with which every manifestation of its life must be properly attuned. Jesus was well aware of these diversities when He prayed that His followers might " be perfected into one," and Paul showed his full recognition of their nature and of the relation of unity to their existence in his letter to the church at Corinth. The church needs many diversities of gifts, talents and attain- ments. It needs a better distribution and use of them than it enjoys to-day. There is abundant room in every part of the Christian world for " diversities of gifts, ministrations and workings " rather than for so many administrations and divisive teachings and duplicate equipments. It is not necessar>' to inquire here when and how the church took its departure from the ideal of Jesus in regard to its unity. It is sufficient to recognize that the church's apostasy from this ideal became exceedingly great and wrought much injury and harm to the Kingdom of Christ, and to know that a return to this ideal has begun to appear. As has been shown on previous pages, manifestations of the spirit of unity have been increasing and have shown encouraging signs of progress. And there is no movement within the churches of to-day of greater significance than this. It has been said again and 50 The Movement Toward Unity again that Christianity is now on trial before the world. In such a time it specially needs every grace and quality possess- ing proof of its divine origin and its power to help men to solve rightly life's great problems. It is a time when the great- est of the graces and the highest of all virtues in the church should be exalted to its proper place in the life of the church. It is a time to press onward toward the goal of Christian unity, the ideal of the church's Founder. Many steps are yet to be taken before the goal of unity is reached, but the number of steps ought not to hinder the effort to press onward. The way of progress is by successive steps, but there must first be the desire and purpose to go for- ward. The thought that will awaken such desire and purpose is very vital as the procuring cause of forward effort. This thought is often an ideal whose moving power is great according to its own inherent greatness and its hold upon the mind. Jesus' ideal for his church is a great ideal and when fully and keenly grasped has great power to fill the mind with such thoughts of unity as will awaken desires and purposes to move forward toward the goal of a united and universal church. No greater and more essential work can be accomplished than the dissemination in the minds of Christian leaders, workers, and professors in general, Jesus' ideal of Christian unity. The general recognition and acceptance of this ideal would work wonders for this cause. The propagation of this ideal is a fundamental and most substantial step toward its realization. Why should it not become the leading propaganda in the educa- tional work of all denominations? A very important step that could be taken in many towns and country places is the union, or federation, of the several small congregations located in these places into one strong and well-equipped body of Christian workers and people. This has been done already in an encouraging number of places and is Onward Toward the Goal 51 a plan which might be generally adopted in both large and small communities. A single congregation well supported and equipped will serve any town or community infinitely better than several weak and struggling congregations can do, and will remove the chief cause of jealousies and strife, which are so likely to be aroused in overchurched communities. No greater and better work could be accomplished in many places than the union, or federation, of the churches located in them. Such a step would bring peace and prosperity to the Kingdom of Christ, growth in grace to all believers, and evidence to the people of the world that the church has great power for good to its conununity. Further steps toward unity are still possible and desirable by the union of the different members in family groups of churches. The process of unification that has been going on in all the great families of the church may well be broadened, enlarged, strengthened. The different members of these families are close of kith and kin and already have many points in common. Because they have kinship and so much in common they ought the more easily and readily to come to- gether, and that they are the more readily united is evident from the list of unions that have been formed within the last half century and more. This uniting of different members of family groups is a work of great possibilities in the on- ward progress of the cause of unity toward its goal. Another great step toward the goal would be the complete uniting into one large body of all the denominations which have joined together in forming the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. The formation of this Council was in itself a great step toward unity, and it has brought the churches in it together in a very useful and effective way, but surely this was not the last step to be taken. The fact that these denominations have come together in the work of 52 The Aloiement loiiard Unity the Council is very suggestive that they may soon be ready for a still greater and more vital step, — that of their com- plete union in one great body of a single church. The good that has already been wrought by the formation and workings of the Council would be greatly enlarged and perfected by their uniting in one great organization. The vision of such a union is ver\" entrancing and inspiring. A still greater step toward the goal would be the coming together of all the churches in America in the formation of one great American church. The possibility of such an event was discussed at length some years ago by Professor Charles W. Shields, of Princeton University", in his book, " The United Church in The United States."' He had a deep conviction that in America are to be found the most favorable conditions for the solution of the problems pertaining to unit}'. Un- doubtedly the tendenc)" among the churches in this country- through social intercourse and unconscious imitation to be- come alike has been very strong. It is very- evident to every observer that forms of worship and methods and means of service are \er\ similar in all denominations. One church has been influenced by another until great uniformity prevails among them ever\-\vhere. It would require \tr\ little change in the churches of any city, town, or rural community, to become one assembly of worshippers and to carry on all the Christian work the>- all respectively are doing, but the economy and efficiency of the work would be much enhanced. The vision of a great American Church may well be cherished. The various denominations have already joined their efforts in many forms of war-work in the united senice of their country, and thus the possibility of their uniting in every form of Christian worship and work has been foreshadowed. Those who have wrought together for the good of their country' along religious and benevolent lines and have realized the Onward Toward the Goal 53 need of such united service, will soon be persuaded that the welfare of the church demands the united strength and ef- fort of one great body of Christian workers which extends to ever>' nook and corner of the land. It does not seem too visionary to hope and believe that out of the conditions now prevailing there is possible to the whole church of Jesus Christ in this country such a spirit of unity as shall soon result in one great American Church. The thought of such a possible outcome ought to make a strong appeal to the hearts of all who love the Lord Jesus Christ and are deeply interested in the progress of His Kingdom. But such a church would be a failure without a universal vision, and an aim and purpose comprehensive of the highest welfare of the whole human race. It could not truly represent the Kingdom of God and be simply a national institution. Its national organization as well as local must relate in its administration, spirit, and activity to the interests and welfare of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the world. GREATER UNITY AND THE CHURCH'S MISSION REATER unitj' than now exists is necessary for the Vj better fulfillment of the Church's mission. That the church was created and appointed by its Founder to be the special instrument for a particular work exceedingly important to the welfare of humanity has long been the accepted belief of Christian people everywhere. Just what its special mission is may be rather vague in the minds of many, and yet they have heard and seen so many illusions to it in religious teach- ing and in current religious literature that they are impressed with the fact that this mission is one of great importance and value. No one, indeed, is competent to fully comprehend the nature and scope of the work which the church was created to accomplish. It is a work which is so very far-reaching in the range of its effects. While its mission is spiritual and has to do with spiritual results, yet it is one in which material organization and agencies are appointed to be used in the at- tainment of its spiritual ends. Its work is the greatest in the world and requires the most harmonious cooperation of all its agencies for the best accomplishment of that work. Any condition which hampers, hinders, restrains, or to any degree makes ineffective the accomplishment of the church's mission ought to be removed. Such a condition is antagonistic to the wise and benevolent plans and purposes of its Founder, who gave it existence and appointed it its special field of work. The removal of such a hindrance is surely a first duty. In its divided state the church has reached a condition very harm- ful to the best efficiency of this work, and the removal of this 54 Unity and the Church's Mission 55 hindrance naturally becomes an object of great desire and concern to all who love the church and want it to gain the fullest success in the fulfillment of its proper work. Nothing better could be done to insure to the church a more perfect accomplishment of its work than such a state of unit^' and co- operation as would give unmistakable evidence that it was fully under the dominion and power of the ideals which were given it at its beginning, and being so, was fully guided by the Spirit in its work. No condition conducive to the church's welfare is now demanding a fuller recognition and acceptance than the necessity of the most complete and perfect manifesta- tion of unity which it is possible to secure. A fuller apprehen- sion of the mind and heart of its Founder wrought out in the union of the parts of the church now separated would surely insure to it much greater power in the accomplishment of its appointed work and enable it to do much greater things for the cause of Christianity in the world than are now being done by it, however great the good now being accomplished. I. Greater unity than now exists would enable the church to accomplish more perfectly its mission as the special repre- sentative of the Kingdom of God on the earth. It was created and established as a corporate institution to be such a repre- sentative. This is evident to all who have carefully read and studied the teaching of the Apostles to whom Christ gave authority and commission to organize the work of His Church and to start it forward in the accomplishment of its mission. After beginning the work in Jerusalem they went from city to city organizing the church in ever>' place where converts were secured so that worship might be regularly held, the truths and principles relating to the Kingdom of heaven taught, and the work of building up the church as an institu- tion of God's Kingdom carried on. The history of their work as given in the Acts, and their messages written in connec- 56 The Movement Toward Unity tion with their foundation work as given in the epistles, make such statements about the church and its work as show their full apprehension of its divine origin and purpose. The name by which it soon came to be known is indicative of its nature and appointment. The term translated " church " means an assembly or association of those " called out." They could not be " the called out " unless some one had made the call, and to be called out is suggestive that some definite end is to be gained, some particular work to be done. In the beginning of the church its members were called to be the possessors of certain moral qualities in their relations to each other and to the world, and to manifest in their daily intercourse and conduct the presence of these qualities, and thus to make known the Kingdom of God. The church was called into existence to supersede the Israel- itish nation as the divinely accepted representative of the King- dom of God among men. During a period of fifteen cen- turies this nation had been such a representative, but had been found very deficient and sadly wanting in the accom- plishment of its mission as such a representative, and had lost its position as such, at least for a time. Whatever may be true in regard to its restoration, as taught by prophetic revela- tion, the church is now the divinely chosen representative of the Kingdom of God and is to continue to be so until the Kingdom itself has fully come, when it will be exalted and absolutely perfected in the glories of that Kingdom. But as the nation of Israel has lost for a time its glorious position and privilege as the chosen representative of the Kingdom of God why may not the church through its weakness, sins, and follies bring upon itself the same or a similar result? The nation of Israel failed for want of unity as a distinguishing characteristic. Why is not the failure of the church invited Unity and the Church's Mission 57 and its welfare much endangered by the same outstanding cause ? The church is not the Kingdom of God, but a divinely ordained representative of that Kingdom, a corporate institu- tion to carry on that Kingdom's work. The Kingdom of God in its fullest meaning includes all of God's creation, which is under His dominion and subject to His absolute and ultimate control. In this wider Kingdom there are enemies and op- posing forces, over whom He is sure in the end to be com- pletely victorious, and to gain perfect subjugation and com- plete control. This is the universal Kingdom of which the scriptures often speak, as when the Psalmist says: " The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens, and His Kingdom ruleth over all" (Psalm 103:19). But the Kingdom of God in its more limited sense, and as it is to be represented by the church, is His Kingdom of grace composed of those who recognize His sovereign rights, accept Jesus Christ as their king, and are obedient to all the laws which His love has provided for their welfare. This is the kingdom for which Jesus taught us to pray in the petitions, " Thy Kingdom come," " Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This Kingdom is wholly spiritual in its nature and work, but has ver>' much to do with spirits yet embodied and therefore is necessitated to employ an institution in its work which has a corporate existence. It is thus seen that the Kingdom of God, which the church is called to represent, is a part of His larger and universal Kingdom, that part in which His authority is recognized. His laws obeyed and His control most perfect and complete. It is the special office of the church to make known His character, the nature of His Kingdom, His plans and purposes for men, and to urge subjection to His authority and obedience to His laws. 58 The Movement Toward Unity When the Kingdom of Heaven is spoken of as the Kingdom of grace, one of its prominent characteristics is presented. The grace of its Author and Founder are revealed in its purposes and products. Grace and truth were the two great facts specially exhibited in the life and character of Jesus Christ. Grace expresses beauty of form and character, holiness, justice, purity, goodness, gentleness, sympathy, kindness, all summed up in the sweetest and best of all graces — love. Grace means divine goodness and favor manifested toward the world in the bestouTnent of unnumbered blessings upon the objects of God's sovereign good will and free choice. As the power of God's grace pervades the lives of men it brings them close together and makes their relation to each other most gracious with its spirit of concord and peace. The church can truly represent such a kingdom and promote its highest welfare only through full outward manifestations of a gracious spirit in all its parts. Men's conception of the Kingdom of God comes into their minds through their knowledge, understanding, and apprecia- tion of what the church was ordained to accomplish. Spiritual ideas are gained through the suggestive power of material things. Our truest and best conception of God is attained through our knowledge of the man Christ Jesus, who is a per- fect representative of what God is. So our conception of the Kingdom of God is gained through the church as a visible representative of its nature and its work. The fact that God has given us such a corporate expression of His spiritual Kingdom, so that we may have some comprehension and knowl- edge of its nature and blessed work, is a display of His love akin to that which gave a body of flesh to His only-begotten Son, when He came to earth as the Savior of mankind. It is clearly the province of the church to so represent the King- dom of God that its character and work may be most fully and perfectly apprehended by the average man. In its work Unity and the Church's Mission 59 of instruction it is the church's mission to so represent the King- dom before men that they shall see the King in His beauty, the righteousness of His laws and the goodness of His ad- ministration in respect to the welfare of all His subjects. It has a work of greatest value in the development of that con- ception of the Kingdom which harmonizes all its members and all its parts in one body of loyal subjects obedient to its glorious King. The church's appeal to men to accept Jesus as their King, to be obedient to His laws, and thus to glorify Him in their lives, can be most effective only when it is most evident that the church itself is faithfully doing these things in every way and manner. It will be able to harmonize men and unite them in great undertakings for the Kingdom as its own spirit of harmony and concord is evident. Much has been done toward the manifestation of this spirit. Much more can yet be done. 2. Greater unity would enable the church to fulfill more per- fectly its mission as the body of Christ. When the Scriptures call it " His body " and use the human body as an illustration of its nature and mission, they present a very vivid concep- tion of its relation to His work and Kingdom in the world. The bodies of men are the means, the agencies, by which they are known, the channel through which each individual spirit is revealed, and by which it accomplishes its work. The mission of every body is to be a fit dwelling place for the spirit which inhabits it, a suitable instrument for the expres- sion of its thoughts, aims, and purposes. A healthy body is one which is fully responsive to its spirit's commands, obedient to its requirements, and subject to its control. It has power to accomplish things because every part yields promptly to the bidding of its rightful master. It gets results in life be- cause of its prompt and faithful obedience to the will of its own proper spirit. A sickly body is one which is unre- 6o The Movement Toward Unity sponsive to its spirit's mandates, refuses to obey its require- ments, and is not subject to its control. The aching brain will not think, the rheumatic arm refuses to be lifted or do its work, the dyspeptic stomach spurns its food, the gouty joints protest against activity of any sort, the inflamed muscles are soon bereft of strength and vigor. The degree and dura- tion of its infirmity mark the measure of its failure to be a suitable home for its spirit. When Jesus took to Himself a human body it became the earthly home of His spirit and the instrument by which His thoughts, feelings and purposes were made known to men. That body was the vehicle by which He conveyed to the minds of men the truth which He wanted them to learn. That body was the instrument by which He brought healing and health to many a sufferer. It was the agent through which the great- ness of His love was shown. It was the tool by which He exhibited and claimed His right to be recognized as King. The body of His flesh was one of perfect health. It was always responsive to the call of His spirit, and although it became weary under the burden of His arduous work it soon recuperated and responded readily to His demands upon it. It was a perfect body perfectly adapted to its particular office and work. When the church was called to be the body of Christ it was called to a very high and honorable position. He had promised to send His Holy Spirit to abide with His followers, and it was fitting that His Spirit should be given a body suited to the Spirit's mission and work among them. The church was made that body when it was born upon the day of Pente- cost and the Spirit took possession of it as a home in which to dwell and carry on His special work. This body was nurtured and guided by the Spirit in the days of its infancy and as it grew and expanded in the early days of Christianity, Unity and the Church's Mission 6l and it has been guided and helped through all the centuries by the same divine person, however unresponsive, weak and sickly it may at any time have become. He has ever sought to give it wisdom, energy and strength. He has used many remedies in His efforts to revive and restore its state of health- fulness. He has striven to make it a vigorous body, full of harmonies throughout of part with part, and having no envies, jealousies, strife, or contention, but perfectly responsive in all its parts and members to Him and to each other as re- lated parts of the same body. He has sought to keep it a body fitly framed together so that every part of it would be in perfect sympathy with every other part and ready to co- operate with it in every good work. He has endeavored to make of it a body perfectly adapted and fitted for the work it was created to accomplish. But the Spirit's relation to this body, which was given Him at the birth of the infant church, has been sadly injured by the power of the infectious disease of sin which was soon in- jected into the church's life. The body of Christ thus be- came affected with a very serious and dangerous malady. The disease with which it became inoculated has affected all its parts, made them more or less unresponsive to His call, and filled them with many discords and disagreements in rela- tion to each other. For this reason it has not been able to stand against many of its foes, and is weak and ineffective in the accomplishment of much of its work. Its weakness and want of power have been the subject in late years of much discussion, in which some have regarded the church as an utter failure, while others recognizing its imperfections yet see in it an institution which has been a great blessing to man- kind and one which is yet to accomplish great things for human welfare, when its health has been more perfectly restored. Those who see the good already done, and great possibilities 62 The Moi'ement Touard Unity in it for good in the future, are surely in the right. But the healing of its diseases must go on. Much progress already has been made in the return toward more perfect health, and ever\- means by which it can be stimulated and accelerated should be speedily employed. Everv' movement and agency that can be made helpful to such progress ought to be en- couraged and supported by all those who profess to look upon the church as the body of Christ. Progress in the cause of unity would, undoubtedly, prove ver>- helpful to this body in fitting it for the accomplishment of its mission. 3. Greater unity would enable the church to fulfill more perfectly its mission as the bride of Christ. The conception of the church as a bride is apostolic and worthy of sympathetic and appreciative consideration. It is a conception, too, which suggests that the relation of the church to the Lord Jesus Christ ought to become a ver>' charming and attractive one. A bride is the subject of general interest and good will as one whose life is under the dominion and power of one of the most charming and greatest of human emotions. She is recognized as one whose thoughts, feelings, and activities are ven" largely devoted to preparation for that union which is to bring to her a full cup of happiness, prosperity, and peace. Two qualities are preeminently essential to her welfare. First, she needs a heart of vital sympathy with her aflRanced in all his plans of life concerning their mutual welfare. It is hers to think of him as one possessed of noble aspirations and worthy aims and to give to these aspirations and aims the full consent of her mental and moral nature. It is hers to be interested ver\- deeply in all that concerns his success and prosperity in life and to give to it ever}" possible encouragement and support. Another quality she greatly needs is a lovable disposition. This will make her attractive and prove her worthy to be loved. It will show the nature of the emotions Unity and the Church's Mission 63 that reign within her, demonstrate the nobility of her character, and prove that her betrothed has made no mistake in his choice. Her loveliness of disposition will reveal her worthiness of the deep affection bestowed upon her by her be- loved and her right to the constant faithfulness of his attach- ment. The Apostle Paul had a full appreciation of this relation when he wrote: " Christ loved the church, and gave himself up for it; that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water by the word, that he might present the church to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish " (Eph. 5:25-27). It is a fair interpretation of these words to understand them as indicating the process and purpose of the preparation through which the church is passing as a bride while it looks forward to the coming of its bridegroom. The same conception of the church is seen in the Apostle John's record of one of his visions when he writes: " I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband " (Rev. 21 : 2), and when he tells us that an angel spake to him and said: " Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife " (Rev. 21:9). This vision was given for the comfort, en- couragement, and inspiration of the church in the midst of trials. John had previously seen a vision of the risen, royal, and glorified Christ in the midst of the church, and also visions of the struggle of the church in its historic progress. Both of these Apostles suggest the value and importance of preparation for the future union to be consummated between Christ and the church. John sees the church " made ready as a bride adorned for her husband." He has previously seen the work of preparation going on. Paul sees the purpose and the plan according to which this work of preparation 64 The Movement Toward Unity must proceed, and indicates the fulness and completeness of Christ's design concerning it. That design is " to present the church to himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." This work of preparation is still going on and much is yet to be accomplished before it is completed. There are still many spots and wrinkles and such things to be removed before her glory is very fully manifested, and much is yet to be accomplished in the development of holiness and blamelessness before her character is made perfect and her preparation completed. Her preparation for His coming to receive her as His bride can be greatly helped by more earnest and devoted efforts to remove every feature of her character and equipment displeasing to her Bridegroom, and by bringing herself into more perfect sympathy with all His plans concerning her. Her fitness for her position as His bride is yet to be made more perfect and more evident by a fuller manifestation of such a lovable disposition as rejoices in the companionship of all the Bridegroom's friends and is full of goodwill to all His servants, the willing and obedient subjects of His Kingdom. This conception of the church is a very charming one and suited to inspire the cultivation of those qualities, and the attainment of those conditions, which will give to her the most perfect adornment, and complete her preparation for the coming of her Bridegroom. 4. Greater unity in the church would enable it to accomplish more perfectly its mission as a Christian brotherhood. " And all ye are brethren " are the significant words of Jesus to His disciples when He was discussing on an important occasion the spirit that they ought to have and to show toward one another. " And who are my brethren? " He asked on another occasion, and pointing to His disciples, replied, " Behold my brethren." He repeatedly urged upon His disciples the at- Unity and the Church's Mission 65 tainment and exhibition of such qualities as pertain to a state and condition of brotherhood. It was evidently His desire and purpose that His followers should constitute a true and universal fraternity. The apostles recognized this fact. After His death they were accustomed to speak of themselves as " the brethren " and to apply the name to all who became His followers through their ministry. They addressed each other as such, wrote letters to the churches in which they ad- dressed the members of these churches as brethren, and in their teaching laid great emphasis upon those qualities of mind and heart which foster and develop the true spirit of brother- hood among the people of the Church. The gist of their teaching is found in Peter's terse exhortation, " Love the brotherhood." A brother is one whose relationship is very intimate and tender. He is the object of special interest, affection, and fellowship because of this relationship. He was born of the same Father, has many of the same qualities of mind and heart, and is an equal heir with us to the same inheritance. He is one whose main purposes in life are kindred to our own and whose greatest hopes and best aspirations are close akin to those which rule our lives. He is therefore one with whom our ties and bonds of friendship should be tender and strong. How fully this was realized by the early church is shown by Stephen, one of its first deacons, when he tells how Moses chided with the Hebrews for striving with each other by saying, "Sirs, ye are brethren: why do ye wrong one to another?" The early church was very fully taught that brethren ought not to strive with one another, but live in harmony and peace. It was made very plain to it that the possession on the part of its members of those mental and moral qualities, which constitute and cement the relation- ships of men to one another as brethren, is most vital and im- 66 The Movement Toward Unity portant. To be a true follower of Christ, with the teachers of the early church, was to be a brother in the best and truest sense. Those who were accounted " brethren " were also spoken of as " saints " because of their possession of Godlike qualities. These qualities made them not only acceptable with God but useful and helpful to each other as bound together in one common aim to glorify God and uplift humanity. As saints they were imitators of divine perfections, and as brethren they sought preeminently to provoke one another to love and to good works. The apostolic recognition of this relationship is very signifi- cant. They were appointed to start the church in its career and therefore to impress upon it such characteristics as would distinguish it through all its future years. Their effort to im- press it with the spirit and power of a true Christian brother- hood was very marked. They endeavored very earnestly to instill within the hearts of its members such affections and emotions as make brotherhood a reality and a blessing. Note the earnestness and ideal of the Apostle Paul, when he wrote: " In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another: in honor preferring one another"; of the Apostle Peter, when he wrote: " Be ye all likeminded, compassionate, loving as brethren, tender hearted, humble-minded " ; and of the Apostle John, when he wrote: "We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death." And their efforts were successful. This characteristic of the church is said to have been very conspicuous in the early centuries. The spirit of brotherhood was so true and strong that men were wont to say: "Behold how these Christians love one another." And those were days in which the church gained rapidly in mem- bership, influence and power. But the spirit of brotherhood in course of time began to wane and the manifestation of it Unity and the Church's Mission 67 to be greatly diminished. One part of the church became arrayed against another part and it became in a ver>' real- istic way a militant church. It has continued so through many centuries. The possibilities of the church as a brotherhood are very great, however meagrely and imperfectly they have been realized through all these centuries. In these later years Christian men have begun to realize to some degree the nature and scope of these possibilities. Many brotherhoods have arisen in many different denominations, and some of an inter- denominational nature have been formed. But these possi- bilities cannot be fully realized until the purpose and desire of the church's Founder, and the teaching of His apostles in regard to this characteristic, shall have again permeated the mind and heart of all God's people. While this conception of the church as a brotherhood is growing, it is still very limited and very narrow in the minds of many. With not a few it is limited to their own denomination. Many members cannot understand why a minister or member of another denomination should be called a brother. Their idea of brotherhood is so very narrow and so very limited in its range of application to church people. Jesus' conception of it in- cluded everybody in the church and everjrwhere. " All ye are brethren." The true conception of brotherhood in the minds of many in the church very much needs to be awakened. Such an awakening would greatly enhance the meaning and value of the church as an institution composed of such as were designed to be brethren in reality and in manifestation, and would greatly increase its power for good in the world. The idea of brotherhood needs also to be intensified in the minds of many where it is very vague and unproductive. These scarcely think of other church people even in their own church as brethren, or if not wholly indifferent to them as such, are 68 The Movement Toward Unity wont to think of them more especially as competitors, or rivals for social standing, honor, or advantage in the church. The idea of an intimate and tender relation is not very deeply impressed upon their minds. A more vigorous conception of their real relation to one another as brethren would work wonders in their individual lives and bring a great blessing to the church. The awakening and intensifying of this con- ception of the church, in harmony with the ideal of Christ and His apostles, is now going on and is well worthy of en- couragement and stimulation by all such as have a large vision of its mission and its possibilities as the divinely appointed in- stitute of brotherhood among men. 5. Greater unity would enable the church to accomplish more perfectly its mission as the pillar and ground of the truth. The Apostle Paul's designation of it as such is in har- mony with many statements of Christ and the other apostles in regard to the nature and importance of the truth. Near the beginning of his gospel the Apostle John writes: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father) full of grace and truth " (John i : 14). A little further on he says, " Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." He with all the rest of the Apostles and the whole body of the early church recognized truth as an essential and important attribute in the character of Christ. In answer to Pilate Jesus said: " Thou sayest that I am a King. To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice" (John 18:37). When teaching His disciples He assured them on one occasion that the truth which He was speaking to them would make them free, and at an- other time asserted of Himself, " I am the truth." He also asserted that the word of God is truth, when He prayed the Unity and the Church's Mission 69 Father to sanctify His disciples " in the truth." The apostle Paul also upholds the majesty of the truth when he writes, " We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth " (II Cor. 13:8). Jesus Christ is the truth; His Kingdom is a Kingdom of truth; His word is truth; His mission was one of truth ; and His church whose mission it is to make known His claims and the nature and blessings of His Kingdom may well be called the pillar and ground of the truth. This representation of the church's mission is very suggestive in regard to an exceedingly important phase of that mission. It is the office of a pillar to hold up the object laid upon it, and it is the office of the ground of any object to provide the place upon which it may securely rest. When the church is called the pillar of the truth it is indicated that its office is to hold up the truth so that it may become manifest to the minds and hearts of men. When it is called the ground of the truth it is indicated that its office is to provide a sub- stantial place, or location, on which the truth may rest, where it abides, and is to be seen and recognized. It is therefore the mission of the church to embody in itself the most essential and important truth in existence in relation to human welfare, and to make this truth manifest before the world. This truth has been committed to its care. The revelation of truth given to men in Old Testament times was committed to the care of the Kingdom of Israel, the divinely appointed representa- tive at that time of the Kingdom of God. The revelation of truth given to men in New Testament times was committed to the church which had recently been organized as a new representative of the Kingdom of God. The truth of Old Testament revelation also came into its hands so that it has the entire truth of divine revelation in its care. It is therefore its mission as the pillar and ground of the truth to hold up the truth revealed so that men may see and know the truth 70 The Movement Toward Unity as it is, and to furnish in itself the place where the truth has a secure resting place and where it is surely to be found. The Great Architect of His church planned that it should be the bearer before the world of such special truth as would mould and modify all other truth with its agencies and in- stitutions so as to make them the means of the greatest bless- ing to mankind. He designed it to be the embodiment and upholder of such truth as will make business, agriculture, manufacturing, education, government, and social intercourse, as well as religion, to be highly conducive to the welfare of men and instrumental in building up the Kingdom of God on the earth. He planned that it should be the constant presentation of all essential truth and nothing but the truth and that it should rightly divide the word of truth and not pervert any part of it by erratic interpretation, or distort its meaning and application by undue emphasis. Who will say that the church has been holding up the whole truth laid upon it and rightly dividing the word of truth? Certainly no one meagrely familiar with its history and having a fair knowl- edge of revealed truth will do so. In every age its testimony to the truth has been limited and much distorted. Certain ages have been marked by special emphasis upon some phase of truth in some great religious movement. In this way progress has been made. Neglected truths have been held up before the minds of many and they have gained a better view of the whole of truth though only a fragment of it was being emphasized. This progress, however, has been more or less retarded by sectarian standards. These standards emphasize as most important truths certain special interpretations of the word of truth and thus each denomination differentiates itself from all others. False philosophy and selfish ambition have, no doubt, often been a close adjunct with Christian faith and de- Unity and the Church's Mission 71 votion to the truth in the formation of these standards. Be- cause of these standards each denomination is holding up its own particular view, and by its existence as a separate organi- zation is stressing that view. As the result of so many differ- ent and diverse claims to be holding up the truth, the truth most needed by all men has been very much obscured, and not a few, who are anxious to behold the truth that saves men, have become confused by the distortions that they see and thus made sceptical in regard to the church as an exponent of the truth. These things ought not so to be. Let the truth to which all can agree be magnified and given the high place of honor in the teaching of all denominations. This is essential to the church's fulfillment in any good degree of its office as the pillar and ground of the truth. Moreover, there are great and vital truths which sectarian standards have tended to suppress and which ought to have a high position in the testimony of the church, but have not held such a position. These are the truths specially relating to the heart and will as most important factors in Christian living. The importance of the New Commandment, of the spirit of forgiveness, and of love toward enemies, are truths which ought to be highly exalted in the church's testimony, but whose exaltation is limited and hindered by devotion to denominational standards in their connection with that philosophy of selfishness ever so prone to creep into the human heart and at all times so prevalent in the world. The cause of truth can be advanced by giving to love, forgiveness, and the surrendered will, a higher prominence in the testimony of the church than they have received in the past. The elimina- tion of divisive standards, which now in any manner or to any degree distort the truth, would help the church in the accomplishment of its mission. Progress in the cause of unity is essential to the cause of truth. 72 The Movement Toward Unity 6. Greater unity would enable the church to accomplish more perfectly its mission as a peace society. When Jesus came to earth the angels sang " Peace on earth, good-will among men." They evidently understood His mission to be one of peace. Hundreds of years before His coming the greatest of the Hebrew prophets described Him as " the Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9:6), and declared of Him that "Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end " (Isa. 9:7). The God who sent Him to establish this govern- ment is the God of peace and has ordained that His Kingdom shall have this characteristic; for it is declared of it that it " is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17). In His presenta- tion of the characteristics and great principles of this King- dom Jesus made peacemaking to be one of the distinguishing qualities of its citizens, when He said, " Blessed are the peace- makers; for they shall be called sons of God" (Matt. 5:9). As a corporate institution established for the purpose of glorify- ing Him who came to earth on a mission of peace what else ought it to be than an active and effective peace organization? The Apostle Paul assures us that it was so intended when he writes " And let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the which ye are called in one body" (Col. 3: 15). On a special occasion just before the close of His ministry Jesus made a particular bestowment of His gift of peace upon His assembled disciples, and while so doing assured them that this was no ordinary gift and thus suggested that it was one to be cherished, appreciated, and used, and also one to be ap- plied to all their relations to each other and to the world. The early church was fully taught its mission as such a society. The beatitude of Jesus in respect to peacemakers was proclaimed as an essential part of His gospel. The Apostles frequently referred to peace as a state which every Unity and the Church's Mission 73 member of the church should experience and enjoy and which the whole body of its members should possess and promote. Its members individually and collectively were exhorted to " follow peace with all men," and were encouraged to do so by the assurance that, " The fruits of righteousness are sown in peace of them that make peace" (Jas. 3: 18). It is beyond question that it was the design and the desire of Jesus that His church should be a special agency in the promotion of this great cause. The vision of His character and mission as seen by angels, prophets, and apostles is evi- dence of this. His own beatitude and His special emphasis in teaching the necessity of love, that moral quality which is the greatest possible guarantee of peace, strengthen this evi- dence. His special gift of peace to His church rounds out the evidence most perfectly. Its mission was made very similar to His own, the carr\'ing on of the work begun by Him, the proclamation and the establishment of the conditions by which peace is sure to come. He gave to it a wonderful work in the promotion of those ideals by which differences among men are reconciled, their good fellowship established, and their happiness secured. Its great mission is to discover, know, proclaim and urge upon men the necessary conditions upon which abiding peace can be established and maintained. Its work relates to the peace of each individual person, the family, the church, society, the state, the whole world. Has the church fulfilled its mission as a peace society? Only in a meagre way and to a very limited degree. It has done much for individual Christians, considerable for the family and something for society and the nation, and yet only a small part of what it ought to have done. In regard to in- ternational relations it seems to have been an utter failure in view of the terrible world war now being waged. But how can the church be an effective peacemaker in any of the 74 The Movement Toward Unity social relations of mankind while it remains in its divided state? In any effort it might make, it may well be said to it, " Physician, heal thyself." It is shorn of much of its prestige and power by its own want of harmony as shown by its many divisions with their envies, jealousies, keen rivalries, and bitter competitions. Its failure within itself is good cause for failure elsewhere. Its mastery of peace problems and its appreciation of their significance have been ver>' limited and defective, and therefore it has too often failed to have a message of peace for those at variance and becoming embittered in the turmoils of contention and strife. What failures it has met in the conflict ever waging between morality and vice! How many and how great have been its shortcomings in the never ceasing struggle between capital and labor! How weak its harmoniz- ing power has often been shown to be in the political arena! How very impotent has lately seemed to be its influence in international affairs! As the messenger of peace the church has been sadly ineffective and distrusted in those relationships among men in which the conflicts of life are most liable to come and be most fiercely waged. And this, because it has not realized the great significance and scope of its mission as the promoter of peace in all the relationships of life, nor set itself to find the right solution of all the problems in- volved in each conflict and thus to gain for itself a message of peace to those engaged in the world's great struggles. While it has given much attention to the salvation of in- dividual men, it has given too little thought to the problems of social, national, and international welfare. But the bring- ing of peace to society as truly belongs to its mission as the bringing of pyeace to human hearts. Why did not the church begin to stress in its teaching the importance of a League of Nations in the establishment and preservation of a world-wide peace until the exigencies of the present war suggested it? Unity and the Church's Mission 75 Such a league has been advocated and discussed for several years by the organizations known as peace societies. But the church for many years before the war was almost wholly silent in regard to the essential conditions under which peace is made secure. Had the church in all lands advocated and urged the establishment of those righteous relations and conditions on the part of nations which make for peace, with one tenth of the time and thought, energy and money, as it now gives to the winning of the war in a fight for peace, would this tragedy have come? Is not the church now suffering the penalty of past failure? And what about other problems in- volving the harmony of the world, such as the relation of the white and j^ellow race? Will the church rise to its respon- sibility as a messenger of peace and secure the establishment of those righteous conditions and relations which will prevent another great world tragedy? In view of all this the mission of the church as a special agent for the promotion of peace, by its insistence upon those righteous conditions which make for peace, lays upon it a tremendous task and a very grave responsibility. In the ac- complishment of this task it needs the best possible centrali- zation of its powers and the most complete control of all its available resources. Its work is greatly hampered and hin- dered by the present division of its forces and the waste of its resources. Is there not possible and near at hand such a uniting of its divided parts as will greatly strengthen it for its tremendous tasks and fit it for the proper meeting of its grave responsibilities? Apropos the foregoing and some time after it was written Bishop Charles Gore, of Oxford, has issued a pamphlet (The League of the Nations the Opportunity of the Church) in which he says in the opening paragraph : " Surely the Christian Church, in all its parts and members, 76 The Movement Toward Unity should welcome the project of the League of Nations and organize itself into vigorous unanimity to press it to the front in the attention of all civilized peoples; both as a practical proposal made to us by our most experienced and most trusted statesmen and as a proposal profoundly congenial to the Christian Spirit." Toward the end of this pamphlet he inquires: " Why should not all the portions of Christendom in every nation combine into a single body to welcome and to propagate the principle of the League? For, indeed, it is its own voice that the church hears echoed back by the statesmen who propose it. . . . There can be few practical measures which would be so strong a witness to Christian principles as the formation of a League of Nations to promote and maintain peace, and nothing would make the peoples of the world understand what Christianity stands for better than the spectacle of a divided Christendom reunited at least to promote this purpose." THE SEARCH FOR ESSENTIALS THE question of essentials in Christian belief and conduct is fundamental in this movement. That there are some things that are essential in both Christian theory and practice, while others are non-essential, is recognized by all. Just what the things are that are essential is the point on which men dif¥er. On the surface there seems to be much difEer- ence now upon this point. The progress of this movement depends upon the reaching of a substantial agreement by Christian people in large numbers as to what beliefs and practices among men are essential to the Christian life and necessary to determine their fitness to be members of the church. Whatever real difFerences there are, will be revealed by an honest ef?ort to find a basis of doctrine, polity, and practice, to which all will agree. This search will naturally and fittingly proceed in the effort to get the viewpoint of every denomination, and will endeavor to get a clear under- standing of every particular standard which the denominations are organized to support and propagate. A late bulletin of The Census Bureau at Washington contains this statement: "The total number of church organizations (congregations) in igi6 was 228,007 reported by 201 denominations." The same bulletin shows that there are 17 species of Methodists, 17 varieties of Baptists, 21 distinct bodies of Lutherans, and 10 kinds of Presbyterians. The search for essentials would seem to require the earnest and faithful consideration of the standards of all these denominations. Whatever of essential truth these standards may contain ought to be recognized and duly accredited in the summing up of the things that are really essential. 77 78 The Movement Toward Unity In the progress of this search doubtless it will become evident to the great body of believers, as already seen by many, that none of the distinctive and divisive doctrines or practices of any of the churches are essential either to the Christian life, or to the church's welfare. These beliefs and special forms of worship and service may be helpful and strengthening to the Christian people who accept and observe them, and no doubt are so, but these beliefs and practices are not essential when any other belief and practice can take their place and produce the same results in other lives. Es- sential beliefs and practices are only those that cannot be dis- pensed with or ruin is sure to follow. Essential doctrines, beliefs and standards of conduct are found in all the churches, but these are not their distinctive and divisive features. These are the things that are the common possession of them all. Indeed, very few Christians of the present day in any of the denominations believe that their distinctive principles are es- sential to salvation and necessary to make the church a soul- saving institution and a fitting instrument in building up the Kingdom of God in the world. They would not dare to say that the members of other churches, who do not ac- cept their distinctive beliefs, are not saved, and that these other churches do not at all represent the Kingdom of God on the earth. They recognize the Christianity of other churches, which they could not do if their own particular dogmas were essential in determining who are Christians. Christian men and women in all the churches are perceiving more and more distinctly that the great truths now held in common by all the churches are more essential by far than the things in which they differ. They are realizing as never before that men are being saved and are doing effective Christian work in all the churches. With increasing clearness they are see- ing that when a man believes in God as his Father and in The Search for Essentials 79 Jesus Christ as his Savior in such a way as to purify his heart and to enable him to overcome the world, it makes no difference which of the distinctives he accepts or rejects. These persuasions of Christian people everywhere are strongly indicative that these distinctives are not to be regarded as among the essentials of Christian faith and practice. The Episcopalian brethren who established the Founda- tion of Faith and Order proceeded in a practical way in their investigation along this line of search for essentials when they successively invited groups of members of several other denominations, including all the larger ones, to conferences and asked them to consider with them the following ques- tions: " Will you please tell us, in the first instance, what are the distinctive principles which caused your forefathers to organize in separation from the great body of the Christian church that they might emphasize those principles?" "Do you maintain those principles to-day? and if so, do you think that the conditions existing in the Christian Church at large are so similar to those that obtained when your fore- fathers separated from the great body that it is necessary to remain in separation in order to emphasize these principles? " " Will you tell us, if you say no, what principles you are emphasizing to-day, for the emphasizing of which you con- sider it necessary to remain still in a state of separation, and whether you think the conditions are such that it is necessary so to remain, and why do you think so, and why you have changed ? " " Will you tell us what are the lessons which you have learned which you think of importance to contribute toward the solution of the problem of Christian union ? " The earnest and deliberate consideration of such questions in conference could not fail to throw light upon the real con- 8o The Movement Toward Unity dition that exists in the churches in regard to essential prin- ciples and facts. Such questions would be useless and such conferences of no value, if the attitude of Christians in the different churches toward their distinctive principles remained unchanged. It is a matter of common observation that denominations are ever modifying and changing the interpreta- tion of their standards, although the form of statement of these standards may remain the same. Bodies of men, as well as individuals, do not for any great length of time remain exactly of the same opinion, or belief. It is the nature of man singly, or in groups, to modify and change his way of thinking. This is the result of changing conditions, increasing intelligence, and new emotions. Recognition of the fact and significance of such change is shown in the common saying that, " Wise men change their minds, but fools never." According as the people of the churches are wise, changes of belief and practice are sure to appear. While changes on many points of belief are continually transpiring, some articles of faith are more permanent than others. Those most essential to the Christian life and to the building up of the Kingdom of God in the world are among those most abiding. These are the facts, the truths, the beliefs that Christian men and women everywhere are wont to recognize as fundamental to the Christian life. They are such as are accepted by the Christian people of all the churches as the plain and unequivocal teaching of divine revelation. These are the things that abide, because they are the things which must exist to make men right with God and one an- other. They are the things without which, it is universally perceived by those who are themselves Christians, no man can be a Christian and have any right to be recognized as such in the church of Christ. The finding and recognition of these essentials is a great desideratum in the present movement The Search for Essentials 8i toward which the people of all the churches may wisely and well direct much special effort. Until they are found and recognized the movement is sure to be delayed. In a great and comprehensive organization which would unite all Christendom only things that are vital and generally accept- able could find a place. Its foundation must be broad enough on which to build a universal church. In the progress of this search for essentials it is becoming evident to many earnest thinkers that these essentials are few and simple. Unquestionably it has been made clear to many Christian people that they are such as are within the mental capacity and range of the lowly and unlearned to apprehend and appreciate. It is becoming more and more evident that the essentials of Christian faith and duty are not such as require subtility of argument to explain and de- fend, or demand highly developed mental faculties to com- prehend and understand. As already indicated it has already caused the masses of the members of the church to realize that while denominational dogmas may be necessary as a justi- fication for separate denominational existence they are not es- sential to individual salvation, nor to the church's office in representing the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. The kind of change that has taken place, and is taking place in the minds of a ^reat multitude of devoted members of the churches is well illustrated by the experience of Dr. J, H. Sheakspeare, of Norwich, England, who tells of the transfor- mation that came to him in the following way: " More than twenty-five years ago I began my ministry in this fair city. I was but a child in many things. I thought that our sectarian differences were a part of religion. But now I know that the things that matter are a clean heart, a pure spirit, and a will surrendered to God. I see now that the true church is the church of all the saints saved by the 82 The Movement Toward Unity everlasting mercy, redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. I see now that men are sad at heart amid their pleasures, that dreams are more potent than appetites, that they are lonely as life advances and that as the sky darkens they want to be sure of a refuge from the gathering storm." The men who organize religious movements outside the church see the non-essential nature of distinctives and their hindrance to a comprehensive work. They become convinced that some important religious effort for the good of the com- munity, state, nation, or world, must not be hampered and hindered by denominational promotion and control. This is why these Christian organizations now exist outside the churches. There would be no need of them if all the churches were united in one body. It is because the church was divided and rivalry and jealousy existed between its branches that these outside organizations ever became necessary'. They succeed in uniting many men and women of many different churches in Christian fellowship and work. Why cannot the church do this? It could if the denominations would come together on a basis on which a large proportion of all the churches could agree, and if minorities would have respect for the judgment of the greater numbers. This search for essentials has already revealed, and doubt- less will yet reveal more and more, that they are to be found in the middle ground between the regions of extremes. Every passing day makes it more evident that the sectarian principles which have made and perpetuated divisions among Christians belong to these regions. These dogmas emphasize some single truth pushed far beyond its proper relation to other truths equally important. They give expression to the truth as seen from some particular angle of knowledge, desire or purpose, but not as seen from other angles. It need not be discussed The Search for Essentials 83 whether truth is a reality, or a relation. It is certain that it is always a related thing and that what is true from one view- point is not wholly true from every other. At their best, denominational dogmas represent the truth from single view- points. They do not represent a complete and comprehensive view of the whole truth. They are at best but half-truths. A larger vision reveals them as such. It causes men to sec that most essential truths are not those of the narrow angle, but of the broader range of view. This broader range is not at the extremes of vision but at its central point. The middle ground is not merely the place of truest vision, it is the place of life, growth, and happiness. This becomes very evident when we think of it in other than religious lines. It is in the middle ground between heat and cold that our earthly existence is at all possible. The life, health, and strength of our bodies, and their comfort and efficiency depend upon our remaining near the border line between extremes. Excessive heat or cold soon becomes ruinous. The temperate zone is the place of human progress and most perfect develop- ment and not the torrid, nor the frigid. Between extremes is the place where health, vigor, and efficiency are at their best. The superabundance of either heat, or cold, is antagonistic to the fulness and efficiency of life. When heat becomes ex- cessive, our health and vigor demand the moderation of its power by the rigor of the cold. When cold becomes rigorous, our vitality and strength require the moderation of its power by the effects of heat. Each Ls good, a great blessing, when rightly tempered by the other. The same is true of light and dark- ness, sound and silence, rain and sunshine, and other opposing forces in the realm of nature. In relation to all of these op- posing elements the place of life, vigor, and efficiency, is in the middle zone. These facts about material welfare are very suggestive, in 84 The Movement Touard Unity regard to man's religious welfare. They indicate how much his social and religious life, vigor, and power depend upon con- ditions that lie far within the extremes of many of men's beliefs and practices. Social and religious welfare and prosperity are in the temperate zone of moderate views. Extremes are dangerous and hurtful to the spiritual life as well as else- where. Such extremes are found in the opposing theories of individualism and socialism. Each of these two theories con- tains much truth in relation to religious views but not the whole truth. This can be seen only when the one is rightly tempered by the other. It is in the right combination of the two that the essential conditions of man's social and religious well-being in church and state are found. It is in the con- ditions produced by the blending of the two that life, peace, and prosperity, are enjoyed in any of the associations which bring men together in the work and fellowship of life. Like the oxygen and nitrogen of the atmosphere in which men live, and move, and carry' on the work of life, these must be mixed in right proportion if the health and vigor of social organiza- tions are to be secured. An excess of individualism will make men selfish, egotistic, conceited, proud, haughty, stubborn and imperious, while its more extreme results are lawlessness, anarchy and chaos. An excess of socialism produces results that are very similar and equally harmful to the welfare of church or state. The effect of any great predominance of either of these opposing theories upon the life and vigor of any social organization is deleterious and destructive. For several generations the growth and development of the church in America has been marked by an excess of individual- ism. This excess has shown itself in the multiplication of sectarian standards which have been made and propagated for the pleasure and seeming profit of individuals and limited groups of individuals. During this period socialistic theory The Search for Essentials 85 has been very much subordinated to individualistic theory, and the welfare of the individual has far transcended the welfare of society. The special need of the present day and hour seems to be the application of a better and wider social theory to the affairs of the church to bring it into proper balance with a true and proper individualistic theory. This does not mean that the church should be turned over to the hurtful dominance of socialistic theory, which would be as harmful as the pre- dominance of the individualistic theory has been. It means that that social organization, which we call the church, has rights and imposes responsibilities and duties as a social institu- tion that are as great and important as those pertaining to individuals, or special groups of individuals. It means that the welfare of society as composed of all the people shall have its rightful proportion of interest in its relation to individuals or any class of individuals. The great bane of socialism has been its application to class interests rather than to the com- bined interests of all the people. Its extremes are in its local, narrow and too-limited applications. Its broad application to the interests of the whole community, nation, race, would surely give to it great value and power. In this search for essentials in the beliefs and practices of men as members of the church it has become evident to many minds that an excess of individualistic theory has been very harmful to the best interests of the church as an institution designed to establish and promote right and healthful social relations among men, and especially among Christians. Christian men and women in all the churches have become convinced that a more comprehensive and better social theory than has prevailed is now necessary to enable the church to fulfill its function in the world. They are seeing that the gen- eral interests of the whole body of believers are greater, more vital, and important, than the supposed interests of any in- 86 The Movement Toward Unity dividual, or group of individuals. It is clearly perceived that special individualistic beliefs and opinions may seem very necessary and helpful to the minds and hearts of special groups of individual believers, and yet not be at all essential to the welfare of the whole body of believers. Such opinions are being modified, or abandoned, as Christian people are coming to realize more perfectly their social duty and responsibility to the church as a universal institution. This will not destroy individualism. It will put it in its proper place and let it have its proper power. Two other extremes which affect the life of the church are those of liberty and law. It is in extreme views that their antagonism appears. As they are tempered by each other they make the condition in which the life of the church can be vigorous and strong. Liberty is a great good, a blessing of incomprehensible value, when its proper limitations have been fixed by law. Where no law has brought restraint, it is an evil and a curse. Where liberty and law are rightly blended, the results are most useful, happy, and blessed. Liberty un- restrained by righteous law is sure to lead to anarchy and crime. Madam Roland was conscious of its tendency to evil in a state of unrestraint, when she cried: "O liberty! liberty! how many crimes are committed in thy name! " On the other hand law without liberty is cruel and severe. It acts with decision, rigor, and dispatch. It is unmerciful, im- placable, and inexorable. Its spirit is unforgiving, unrelent- ing, and unyielding. Until its extreme tendencies have been checked and held in sway by liberty, life of any kind cannot be happy and prosperous. It is in the happy blending of the two that the high interests of the church can be realized. Still other extremes that affect the welfare of the church are those of authority and private judgment. Claims of authority in opposition to those of private judgment, and ad- The Search for Essentials 87 versely, claims of the right of private judgment in opposition to authority, have wrought much evil in the history of the church when carried to extremes. Extreme views on the rights of authority lead to tyranny, oppression and cruelty, while extreme views on the right of private judgment lead to disobedience, resistance, and rebellion. The temperate zone of thought where each has proper sway insures the peace and joy of vigorous life. One more couplet of extremes that has marred the welfare of the church is that of the divine sovereignty and man's free moral agency. The extremes of these great truths have made dividing lines. The extreme of the one is fatalism ; of the other the deification of man. Each have their place and func- tion in the modification of the other. Their proper combina- tion brings life, and vigor, and joy to the souls of men, and health and power to the Church of Jesus Christ. There seems to be in human nature a tendency toward ex- tremes. A great many of us keep going on in the pursuit of lines of thinking which are leading us astray. The results of this tendency toward extremes are very manifest in the multiplied divisions of the church. In the study of some particular question suggestions have come to the minds of active and influential workers in the church which they have followed out into the region of extremes. In this region they saw what seemed important and essential to the church's welfare. But others could not see as they. The view^point made the difference. And thus one mind moves toward one extreme and others toward another. Thus it has been until the number of vie\vpoints in divisive doctrine shows great divergencies of thinking among the people of the churches. All this is perfectly natural. All men are not created to think alike, and the very best of men are liable to make mistakes. Every man sometimes fails in his reasoning and stumbles in 88 The Alovement Toivard Unity his judgment. Every man's vision of the truth has points where it is more or less imperfect. " We see through a glass darkly." Our most perfect and complete knowledge is only partial. It is wise to recognize our possibility of error when others cannot see as we. With this in mind our search for essentials is sure to lead us from the region of extremes into those realms of temperate opinion in which the church's best life and vigor are secured. Moreover, in this search for essentials the influence of men's emotions upon their beliefs needs to be recognized. The fact that many of our religious opinions and beliefs are to no small degree the fruit of our emotions is not always realized. That men readily believe in what pleases them and disbelieve in what displeases them is often overlooked when thinking of religious views. That men believe readily what they want to believe and refuse to believe what they do not want to believe is too often forgotten in the consideration of the causes of religious belief. However, it is a fact that never fails. Emo- tion is always an efScient cause in the formation of sectarian doctrines as well as in establishing and preserving forms of wor- ship and methods of church work. The analysis of the sources of every Christian man and woman's religious beliefs will show that their emotions had much to do in forming them. In his " Essays on the Formation and Publication of Opinions," Dr. Silas Bailey presents this fact as follows: " This attribute of drawing and fixing the attention, be- longs in a remarkable degree to all strong emotions. Every one must have felt, while he has been aflFected by any particular passion, that he could scarcely attend to anything but what had some connection with it; he must have experienced its power of presenting exclusive and strong views, its despotism in banishing all but its own ideas. Fear, for example, may so concentrate our thoughts on some particular feature of our The Search for Essentials 89 situation, may so absorb our attention, that we may overlook all other circumstances and be led to conclusions which would be instantly rejected by a dispassionate understanding. " While the mind is in this state of excitement, it has a sort of elective attraction (if we may borrow an illustration from chemical science) for some ideas to the neglect of all others. It singles out from the number presented to it those which are connected with the prevailing emotion, while the rest are overlooked or forgotten. In examining any question, it may really comprehend all the arguments submitted to it; but, at the conclusion of the review, those only are retained which have been attended to, and are in sight, not of such as have been overlooked and have vanished, it is those by which the judgment will be determined. In this way self-interest, hope, fear, love, hatred, and the other passions, may any of them draw the mind from a perfect survey of the subject and fix its attention on a partial view, may exaggerate the importance of some objects and diminish that of others, and by this virtual distortion of appearances affect its perceptions of truth." The elimination of all such denominational doctrines as are found in the region of extremes and of all such as based upon biased emotions, will leave the residuum in which the es- sentials of Christian faith yet remairu This process of elimination is not an easy one. It calls for a thorough exami- nation of the sources, aims, and ef¥ects of one's belief not only upon himself but also upon the interests of Christ's Kingdom. Many of our viewpoints have been given us by our forbears and have become well grounded in our thinking. They have had a large place in all our religious emotions and attach- ments. Hut if they are not seen to be essential by the great body of believers and our method of defending and promoting them is a hindrance to the higher interests of Christ's Kingdom they ought to be modified, or abandoned. Men are modify- 90 The Movement Toward Unity ing their opinions and changing them on other subjects every day. They get another viewpoint. They gain a larger and better comprehension of things relating to their earthly af- fairs and occupations. They set aside extremes. They are moved by new and broader emotions. They grow^ in in- tellectual character and stronger manhood. Just this too is what is taking place in the Christian world. Christian men and women are getting new visions, feeling new emotions, and forming new opinions on religious matters. They are eliminat- ing many of their extreme ideas and giving up beliefs that have rested on narrow and fallacious emotions. They are re- alizing more and more that Christianity is a life more than a speculation, a will to serve Christ and help others rather than some divisive or particular belief. They are deciding for themselves that the great essentials of Christianity are to know God truly, to love the Lord Jesus Christ sincerely, and to glorify Him on the earth by a life of faith, righteousness and charity among men. They so interpret the words of Jesus when He says: " Not every one that saith unto me. Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven ; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven "(Matt. 7: 21). The late Pastor Wagner, of Paris, declared that he asked but one question for membership in his church which he called " The Home of the Soul." This question was, " What are you doing for Jesus Christ?" He regarded the aim and ef- fort to honor Christ as more essential than any particular form of belief. He was more concerned about the expression of faith in a life devoted to Christ than the impressions on the mind in regard to any special form of doctrine. Undoubtedly the will to serve the Lord Jesus Christ is at least one of the essentials to right living and in determining fitness for church membership. All this does not mean that there is no necessity for creeds. The Search for Essentials 91 It simply means the trimming of our creeds according to the truth in its varied range of application. It means the sloughing of extraneous matter. Every man must have a creed. What he believes has very much to do with what he is and what he does. His creed is an essential part in the composition of his Christian character and becomes the source of his ac- tivity and efficiency in Christian service. Not only this, but every Christian man should make his creed as broad and com- prehensive as possible. The broader and more comprehen- sive it is the more it will contribute to the evolution of his Christian manhood. Every truth added to his personal beliefs and experimentally realized in his own life contributes to the volume of his intellectual, moral, and spiritual assets. The catalogue of faith given in the Eleventh of Hebrews exalts the value and potency of an individual creed. The church, also, must have a creed. It cannot be a living organism without some kind of corporate faith. Community of belief among its members is essential to its life and welfare. It can possess a faith as comprehensive as that of all its mem- bers in their community of thought, feelings, aims, and pur- poses. But this united faith of all its members as a social organization cannot include all the individual beliefs its mem- bers may possess. It is a social organization, as well as re- ligious, and can fittingly include in its organized belief only such things as are believed in common. The church should have a creed as broad and comprehensive as the general con- sensus of its members can secure. Such a consensus would, no doubt, give to it all the great and fundamental truths of the gospel. As already pointed out the whole of Christen- dom is practically at one in many of its great beliefs. The churches hold many things in common, and these would seem to be the things that are really essential. The formation of a creed of universal range and application 92 The Alovement Toward Unity would seem to be a movement worthy of the church's special effort. In the formation of such a creed it will be necessary to keep specially before the mind the nature of the church as a social institution, as well as religious, and that while its membership is made up of " many men of many minds " they yet have many and essential things in common. It would seem necessary, also, that in the adoption of such a creed it should be subject to the endorsement of Christian men and women as a body, or as bodies, of believers, and that their approval of it should be clear and unmistakable. Why would it not be fitting for the leaders of all the churches to unite in the formation of such a creed and in submitting it to the approval of all Christian people? The proposed World Con- ference on Faith and Order could do this. In all democratic countries, at least, this would seem to be very appropriate. Such a creed could be adopted and amended in a way similar to that in which state and national constitutions are adopted and amended in democratic countries. The initiative and referen- dum could readily be adopted as a method of change and amendment in the new organization of the united church for which this universal creed should be prepared. An institution which is to include the whole body of the Christian men and women in the community, the state, the nation, the world, must recognize their right to say what they unitedly believe and what unitedly they aim to do. It must realize that its chief earthly source of authority is the united will of its mem- bership. It must accept as true the old saying, " Vox populi, vox Dei." A plan of organization no doubt could be affected by which one section of the church might have a larger and more com- prehensive creed than another section, or part, of it. This would depend upon the intelligence, the devotion, and the larger spirit of unity and cooperation in the one section than The Search for Essentials 93 in the other. Some of our American states have items in their civil creeds which other states do not have, and yet are in harmony with the constitution of the general government. So while the universal church would have its creed, both larger and smaller sections of it could have special features by which their respective creeds were enlarged. In this way the re- ligious creed of Boston might differ considerably in some re- spects from that of New York, and that of Philadelphia from that of Chicago, while all were in harmony with the general creed of Christendom. It would seem possible to form a universal creed containing all the real essentials of Christian faith necessary to the ac- complishment of the church's aim and work. It has been noted repeatedly that there is much unity in the belief of all the churches. All these points of unity could be included in a general creed. Such a creed could have an article, or articles, about the being, character and work of God. It could have an article, or articles, about the person and work of Jesus Christ. It could have an article about the person, office, and work of the Holy Spirit. It ought to be easy to insert an article about the evil and penalty of sin and the way of deliverance from it. At the present time it would seem that righteousness and justice in their relation to personal, social, commercial, national, and international affairs, could be accorded a full and stong statement in such a creed. No doubt a statement could be framed that would be generally acceptable in regard to the nature and necessity of Christian faith. It ought to be possible to frame one in regard to Christian love which was specially designated by Christ as a test of discipleship, but has not had its proper emphasis in modern creeds. An- other article that ought to be included in this creed for all Christendom is one that places emphasis upon the ideal of Jesus for the unity of His people. This is a vital truth in 94 The Movement Toward Unity relation to the church's welfare and ought to be a forceful part in every Christian's creed. The importance of the united organization of the whole church of Jesus Christ and the formation of a creed for the guidance of its work is suggested by the political history of America. Though there was unity of aim and effort during the Revolutionary War under the Articles of Confederation, these were not sufficient, and a general constitution was neces- sary before peace and prosperity could be really established. The closer and more perfect union of the states by the adoption of our national constitution gave strength and stability to our national existence. When the unity of our country was after- ward endangered by our Civil War, our national creed of unity was effectively defended at the cost of great and willing sacrifice by those who believed in this creed, and the union was preserved. The present greatness of our country is the result of the establishment and maintenance of the great prin- ciple of unity in our national creed. A like creed of unity in the church established and faithfully maintained would doubtless bring similar blessing to the prosperity, strength, and power of its work. Another possible item in this creed of things that are essential would seem to be a statement in regard to toleration. Of course the kind of toleration that would be appropriate to the church would not be that which belongs to the lazy and in- different, who have no aspiration to find the truth and be obedient to its demands; nor that of the sceptic, who doubts the possibility of finding the truth and claims that all knowl- edge is too uncertain, and that one opinio.! is as good as an- other; but, the toleration of the earnest and devoted seeker, who believes that truth sufficient for safe guidance in life is possible and sure to the faithful inquirer, and who at the same time perceives the limitations of his own powers and his liability The Search for Essentials 95 to err. This toleration will cause a man to recognize the struggle of all other fellow Christians and teach him to re- gard them as companions and friends in the great inquiry after the truths by which men truly live and are prepared to die. In view of all this it would seem as though the essentials might soon be found and recognized by the whole church, the Body of Christ. The search which has been going on has certainly suggested that they exist ia the general beliefs of Christian men and women everywhere. To formulate a gen- eral statement of the truths that are commonly believed among us, such a statement as would be acceptable to the great masses of Christian people in all lands, though not stating all that we as individuals or in groups might believe, is certainly with- in the skill and wisdom of our leading churchmen in the various denominations. A plan by which a creed composed of these essentials can be submitted to the judgment and for the ap- proval of the whole body of believers has in a general way been suggested. Is it too much to hope that some effective plan will soon be inaugurated for the consummation of this end? A POSSIBLE IMPOSSIBLE '♦TMPOSSIBLE! " " Too visionary ! " " An idle dream ! " X"A vain ideal!" "Wholly absurd!" Such have been the exclamations that one was wont to hear in times past in regard to the complete unifying of the churches. As men have looked at the many divisions of the church and thought of the naturally combative disposition of the human race they have become very dubious about the possibility of such a union and pronounced it an impossible thing. More- over they have been accustomed to look upon the divided state of the church as a fixed reality and have been disposed to think that the present state is the best that could be de- vised. This is the natural attitude of conservatism. Such men do not believe very much in change, do not want any verj' great changes to take place, and are indisposed to think that they are possible. They are wont to look upon those who have a vision of such unity as too visionary, idle dreamers, mere idealists in regard to the matter of a united church. Those who have pronounced it impossible have been ac- customed to look chiefly at the difficulties to be encountered, the obstacles to be overcome, the barriers to be removed, and have failed to see the impelling forces at work to bring it to pass. They have thought of the great diversities of doctrine and the perverse tenacity of men in holding their opinions and were convinced that no reconciliation of beliefs is pos- sible. They have thought of the strong attachments which many have for a particular church, its people, forms of wor- ship, histor>', and were assured these would rebel against the project of a general union. They have thought of the natural selfishness of the human heart and felt that this made unity 96 A Possible Impossible 97 impossible. They have thought of the personal ambitions of some ecclesiastical leaders, the denominational politicians, and feared that they might be against it. They have thought of the hindrances rather than the helps toward unity. But quiet and effective forces have been at work impelling the move- ment onward. Their work has been effective in causing many to believe that the impossible is rapidly becoming possible. Twenty-five years ago the idea of its impossibility was very general. Very few were then bold enough to advocate the cause of organic unity as the right ideal. Its impossibility was frequently voiced. The late Bishop Brookes, of Boston, ex- pressed the general sentiment then prevailing among the leaders of the church as well as among the masses of Christian people, when he wrote: " I do not see the slightest promise in any dimmest distance of what is called the organic unity of Christendom on the basis of episcopacy or any other basis. I do not see the slight- est chance of the entire harmonizing of Christian doctrine throughout the Christian world — that dream which men have ever dreamed since Christ ascended into heaven, that sight which no man's eye has ever seen in any age." But great changes in men's thinking have come to pass within a quarter of a century. At that time doctrine was be- lieved to be the only basis of church fellowship and that only those who thought alike on mooted questions could properly be joined together in one body. To-day Christian men and women are realizing that there is enough of doctrine believed in by all to constitute a broad and firm basis of unity and that there is in addition enough of unity of heart and purpose on the part of Christian people everywhere to make such unity not only possible but very effective in making the King- doms of this world to become the Kingdoms of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 98 The Movement Toward Unity This great change has come about and is still progressing in a natural way. Growth is the law of every living thing. If growth is not transpiring it has begun to die. The law of growth in the church demands that changes shall take place. This change is in full and perfect harmony with Christ's ideal for His church and with all His teaching and that of His apostles in regard to it. Besides, the spirit and power of the gospel is one of change. The man whose heart and life are wrong and is persuaded to accept Christ as his Savior and to follow Him is " a changed man." Any Christian who forsakes " the plague of his own heart " and consecrates himself anew to the service of his God is " a changed man." The power of the gospel is to change men in their regeneration and growth in grace. And shall not this law of growth be effective in the church as well as in the in- dividual? Is it not according to a firmly established law of God that such a change should take place? Shall we not regard this change as the result of God's own quiet forces guided by His Spirit in preparation for a new and better mani- festation of power and fruitfulness than the church has ever •known? Is it not the sign that the springtime of a new era in the church's growth and progress is here? This change had made considerable progress before the outbreak of the present great world war. This was evident in the ready transfer of ministers from one denomination to another. The tendency to such transference had been grow- ing rapidly for several years. So much was this the case that a considerable part of the ministry in many denominations had come to it from other denominations. Evidently those who made these transfers did not regard denominational dis- tinctives as essential. The same readiness of transfer existed among the people. In all our congregations are found a con- siderable proportion of their membership that came to them A Possible Impossible 99 from other denominations. These members from other churches are as active and faithful in church duties as those raised within the churches. Besides, when Christian people changed the location of their home it was getting to be very uncertain what denomination they would join in their new location. Many had come to believe that the nearest and most convenient church was the one most deserving of their consideration as both church people and community builders. This fact in regard to transfers shows the possibility of union so far as a considerable proportion of the ministry and people are concerned. Another ground of possibility in relation to unity is found in the uniformity of worship that has prevailed. There has grown to be ver>' little difference in the forms of worship used in the churches. One church has influenced another until they have reached a unity of plan in regard to all their forms. When one church has adopted some new form that commended itself to the common sense of all its people, other neighboring churches have soon adopted this new form. The difference between denominations is often less than that between differ- ent churches of the same denomination. In going from the worship of one church to another worshippers are not disturbed by any such change of form as would mar the comfort and en- joyment of their worship. This unity of form in worship and methods of procedure among the various churches indicates the possibility of a more complete and perfect unity. Another evidence of this possibility is seen in the growing conviction for some years that these divisions are sinful. The persuasion has come to many minds that these divisions exist in direct opposition to the revealed will of Christ and that the people of God ought to repent of this sin and turn away from it. In the growth of this conviction there lies great possibilities in regard to the future of the church. The con- lOO The Movement Toward Unity viction of sin with its appropriate repentance is sure to bring a corresponding course of action. For some years a goodly and increasing number have been bemoaning the sin of these divisions, confessing their part in this sin, and are ready and anxious for such a change as will remove the outward evidence of their guilt. As soon as this growing conviction becomes the persuasion of Christian people generally the complete uni- fication of the churches will soon be an accomplished reality. Another evidence of this possibility is seen in the success already had by churches with brief and comprehensive creeds. The Protestant Church of Japan is an instance. With a very brief statement of creed it has, for several years, been doing a very effective Christian work. Combining all the Protestant denominations at work in the Empire of Japan it made its formula of doctrine such as could be readily endorsed by all, and it has proven fully sufficient for great efficiency in Christian work. The success of this one case is very suggestive of what might be expected in every country by a similar movement. There is no reason to believe that the result would be differ- ent in America, or in any other country, but every reason to believe that a similar result would be sure to follow. Still another evidence of this possibility is seen in the in- creasing ef?orts toward unity among the churches in these later years. Proposals to unite two or more churches have been on the increase and all these proposals have been seriously and faithfully considered and in some cases unions have been formed. In other cases the spirit of unity was strong, but not quite strong enough as yet to bring about the union proposed. Whether or not a union has resulted, tlie spirit of unity has been fostered and increased by such proposals and their honest and sincere consideration. The fact that such proposals have been made and seriously considered is very suggestive along the line of future possibilities. A Possible Impossible lOI A still further evidence of this possibility is seen in the organization and growing power and usefulness of the Federal Council. This partial union of many of the Protestant American churches was a great step toward a greater and still more perfect unity. The fact that it has been possible to unite all these denominations so fully and so far, is surely a hint at the possibility of going still further and of forming one completely united body. The Federal Council is doing a great work and its power is none the less because its methods are merely advisory and suggestive. Its success by means of these methods is very suggestive in regard to the possibilities of a thoroughly united church. Such a church can be man- datory and inhibitory only so far as the consensus of its con- stituents can be secured. Outside this consensus the teaching of any part of it will need to be recognized as merely advisory and suggestive. Surely it is possible to organize a united church on some such basis. Still another evidence of this possibility is seen in the Unity Foundation of the Protestant Episcopal church and in the pronouncements within the last decade or so of some of its lead- ing bishops in America. The Unity Foundation began to ar- range for a World Conference on Faith and Order, which has been delayed by the outbreak and continuance of the present war. In the meantime the work of this Foundation has gone forward in the line of inquiry and consideration of the prob- lems involved. The bishops of the last decade have seen dif- ferently from Bishop Brookes. The Bishop of Chicago, the Bishop of Michigan, and the Bishop of Quincy, all elsewhere quoted in this volume, have been the earnest advocates of the spirit of unity, and of its fuller manifestation in the outward unification of the church, and their utterances have been widely circulated. A vision of the possibility of a united church had evidently begun to fill the minds of leaders and laymen I02 The Movement Toward Unity of this church before the war began and has grown greater as the titanic struggle has gone on. Indeed, in every church and from every standpoint one great effect of this most frightful and most cruel of all wars has been to increase tlie possibility of a united church. The sin of its divisions soon became very evident under the white light of a continuous thunderbolt. The utter inability of a divided church to meet the demands coming quickly and heavily upon it were soon apparent. The weakness, narrowness, and folly, of mere sectarian efforts in any kind of war-work was soon recognized, and the people of the churches soon gave their largest and heartiest support to organizations which represent no sect, but bring many sects together in their special field of work. The importance of unity and cooperation in all re- ligious work have been emphasized during this war as they have never been before, and the willingness of ministers and people to set aside sectarian interests for the bigger and broader work of more general agencies has been very much in evidence during the last four years. Young ministers have been flock- ing into Y. M. C. A. work and chaplaincies and the people of the churches have been giving large sums of money to the Red Cross Society, the Y. M. C. A. and kindred unsectarian agencies. The idea of helping and working for some organi- zation that is great, and large, and comprehensive, and world wide, has taken a strong grip on the average American mind and after the war is over it is not at all likely that very many will be satisfied with the narrow limitations and efforts of any of the denominations. The possibility of a united church has surely been much strengthened by the war. Not a few writers have noted this effect of the present war upon sectarian interests and have realized its meaning. They are ready to declare that denominations are no longer needed, that their distinctive work has ended. Principal D. L. A Possible Impossible 103 Ritchie, one of Great Britain's forceful leaders, expresses a sentiment common to a great many Christian people of the present day, when in a press article on Denominationalism, he says : " Denominationalism is dead. It was slowly dying before the war; the war has dealt it a fatal blow. Its mummified body may linger long among the churches, but it will not en- able them to make any response to the aims and aspirations of the New World now in the making. One is not unmind- ful that there are still many faithful who bemoan what they call laxity in principle, and that, with many other reasons, such as practicality in religion, as in other affairs of life, has prevailed to produce denominational lukewarmness. Nor would one speak as if principles for which the fathers stood were no longer of value to churches and the nation. But facts must be faced. The whole drift of things has left denomi- nationalism stranded. The war has carried away any living interest that with effort might have refloated it. The New World will have problems too many and terrible to spare energy for mere denominational differences. The lurid con- flagration of the war is burning up not only ' wood, hay and stubble ' partitions, but, one fears, some solid foundations too. " It is a commonplace now to say that there is no denomina- tionalism in the trenches; there men are Britons and brothers. In the midst of this war's measureless calamity, only the things vital to the soul matter. The one thing needful is that re- ligious men should be ' white men.' Forgiveness of sins and life eternal in Christ Jesus are the themes that move and hold men out there, so that even clerics are getting their horizons widened. ... In the midst of the drawn-out agony of this war men are seeing clearly the things that matter, and learn- ing to love one another for Christ's sake. Moreover the men I04 The Movement Toward Unity on the field, surely with right instinct, blame denominational squabbles for the impotence of Christianity in the world. They recognize that human nature being what it is, uniformity can- not be expected, but hold that there should be unity, coopera- tion, and charity. Denominational quarrelling will certainly receive short shrift at the hands of men, who, having fought for England, return to build up in earnest a motherland worthy of the sacrifice made in her defense. And all the logic of fact — the need for national unity, the call for efficiency, economic stringency, the demands for social reform, and the urgency of righteousness seeking its Kingdom will be on their side. Mere ecclesiastical claims by any church will be counted as nothing in the presence of spiritual power and Christlike leadership and service. Would that any one could as confidently affirm that an outcome of the war will be a spiritual revival as it will surely be impatience with mere denominationalism." Another evidence of this possibility has lately appeared in the Conference of Theological Schools held at Harvard University, Aug. 13-16, 19 18. The representatives of fifty- three seminaries and fifteen of the leading denominations of the country were present. Every school of thought and every age of service w-ere represented there. Its great spirit and pur- pose was to face the present-day problems of the church. No sectarian claims or emphasis appeared. No counter-charges came from orthodox or liberal though both were represented. Before its close these delegates from all the leading churches of the country sat down together while Bishop Lawrence of the Episcopal Church administered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The statement of the findings of the conference ac- cord with its spirit and its purpose. The assembling of such a conference and the peaceful and harmonious continuance of its work is very significant. Surely the taking of this step by these theological schools is the sign of a growing possibility A Possible Impossible 105 in regard to a more complete unification of the churches, in the not very distant future. The possibility of unity in regard to some form of church government has grown greatly since the beginning of the present war. Christian men are coming more and more to realize that it is worse than folly to contend about a matter that Jesus and His apostles were so indii5erent about as not to be more specific in their directions about it. The London Correspondent of The Homiletic Review (September, 1918) indicates how the prospects of unity are growing along this line in Great Britain. He writes: " The movement toward church union has been making very rapid strides of late, and a new tone and temper indicate the growing desire for unity, even so uncompromising an organ of Anglo-Catholicism as the Church Times showing a Christian tolerance and largeness of outlook that no one could have dreamt of from that quarter four years ago. In a re- markable address given to the deputies of ' Protestant Dis- senters of the Three Denominations ' ( Presbyterian, Independ- ent, and Baptist) Canon E. A. Burroughs suggests a policy of union embracing ( i ) the recognition of nonconformist orders as valid, tho from an Anglican point of view irregular and (2) the acceptance of episcopacy, by nonconformists. He also advocates a united preaching mission, in which Cardinal Bourne might unite with General Booth.' Another significant pronouncement was recently made by the moderator of the Church of Scotland, speaking in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathe- dral. He stoutly maintained the validity of Presbyterian orders, but also exprest the view that the united church of the future must be episcopal in government. He hoped that in four or five years the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church would be united, and he looked beyond that for union with the Church of England and the Episcopalian Church of io6 The Movement Toward Unity Scotland, together with all the Presbyterian bodies. The Presbyterians would maintain all the distinctive features of their organization, from the Kirk sessions to the General As- sembly, but they would accept the historic episcopate, thus uniting themselves with the Anglican Communion and paving the way for union in the remoter future with Rome and the East. These and similar utterances point to a quickening of the pace toward corporate unity which may give us food for thought in more than one direction." Of like import in America has been the conciliatory spirit shown in friendly conference by the representatives of the three distinctive forms of church government. The large as- semblies and conventions of some of the churches have had their unit>' sessions in which this spirit was manifest by ad- dresses from well-known representatives of all these forms. A similar evidence of possibility along this line is found in the Second Interim Report, which has been lately issued by a joint Conference, or Commission, appointed by the Archbishops of Canterbury- and York and by the Free Churches of England. This Commission was appointed in response to the appeal sent out by the Unity Foundation of the American Episcopal Church in regard to a World Conference on Faith and Order. In presenting this second interim report the Com- mission says that it is not formulating any basis of union but is preparing for the consideration of such a basis. It is " ex- ploring the ground in order to discover the ways of approach to the questions to be considered that seem most promising and hopeful." The first item of this report is as follows: " I. In all our discussions (relating to Order) we were guided by two convictions from which we could not escape, and would not if we could. " It is the purpose of our Lord that believers in Him should be one visible society, and this unity is essential to the purpose A Possible Impossible 107 of Christ for His Church and for its eflEective witness and work in the world. The conflict among Christian nations has brought home to us with greater poignancy the disastrous re- sults of the divisions which prevail among Christians, inas- much as they have hindered that growth of mutual understand- ing which it would be the function of the Church to foster, and because a Church which is itself divided cannot speak effectively to a divided world. " The visible unity of believers which answers to our Lord's purpose must have its source and sanction, not in any human arrangements, but in the will of the One Father, manifested in the Son, and affected through the operation of the Spirit; and it must express and maintain the fellowship of His people with one another in Him. Thus the visible unity of the Body of Christ is not adequately expressed in the cooperation of Christian Churches for moral influence and social service, though such cooperation might with great advantage be carried much further than it is at present; it could only be fully realized through community of worship, faith and order, in- cluding common participation in the Lord's Supper. This would be compatible with a rich diversity in life and wor- ship." And yet another evidence of the possibility of organic union is found in the rapidly increasing propaganda for this cause. Much is now being said and written in regard to it. In former times it was not so. Frequent references to it are now found in both religious and secular press. It is a living topic of dis- cussion as it has never been before, and most of the discus- sion is in its favor. The most noted article along this line is that of Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., which appeared a few months ago in The Saturday Evening Post on The Christian Church: What of Its Future? The Christian Work reprinted this article and has since been carrying on a io8 The Movement Toward Unity discussion of its merits, in which its main positions have been very generally endorsed by numerous correspondents. In this article after showing the inability of the Church in its divided state to meet the present spiritual need of the world Mr. Rockefeller presents his vision of the future church which is very similar to the visions had by many others. He says: " I see all denominational emphasis set aside. " I see cooperation, not competition. " In the large cities I see great religious centers, wisely lo- cated, adequately equipped, strongly supported and inspiring all their members to participation in all community matters. " In smaller places, instead of half a dozen dying churches, competing with each other, I see one or two strong churches, uniting the Christian life of the town; great economy in plant, in money, in service, in leadership ; money enough saved in this way to support adequately home and foreign missions. " I see the church moulding the thought of the world as it has never done before, leading in all great movements as it should. " I see it literally establishing the Kingdom of God on earth. " Shall this vision be realized? The future of the Christian Church depends on the answer Christian men and women give to that question." Such a propaganda is sure to bring results. The philosophy and teaching of to-day becomes the practice and the habit of to-morrow. The agitation of a subject is in the line of its accomplishment. All that is necessary to make organic unity possible is for the leaders and people of the churches to think it possible. This growing propaganda is helping to make them think so. It would seem as though the cumulative force of all these evidences, or signs, of the possibility of the organic as well as the spiritual unity of the church in the not very distant future A Possible Impossible 109 would make that possibility appear quite strong. Any one or two of them may seem rather insignificant but their joint ef- fect is surely very encouraging to the belief that the impos- sible is rapidly becoming possible. BARRIERS r TENACITY OF OPINION MEN soon form an opinion on any subject to which they have given a little thought and the more frequently any opinion passes through the mind the more tenacious it is sure to become. Men are creatures of mental and moral habits and these habits become just as firmly fixed and difficult to change as their physical habits, and the older one gets the harder it will become to make any change whether it relates to those that are physical or to those that are mental and moral. The effort becomes more difficult when left to individual initiative, aim, and action and needs the help of such physical, social, and moral conditions as will awaken, encourage, and stimulate new thoughts, emotions, and purposes. It is more difficult for some people to change their habits of any kind than for others. Their temperament is different from that of others and makes their habits more fixed and harder to forsake. The change of any habit requires a strong conviction as to the value and importance of such change and a determined purpose that it shall be affected. All this applies to moral and religious habits just as fully as to any other kind, and with some these are the more tenacious as they touch more deeply what they are per- suaded is the wellspring of their lives. Religious opinions are ver>' easily and readily developed. They come as the result of parental. Bible school, and clerical instruction in the early and unfolding years of life. They come as the result of continuous association with those who think in certain ways and have particular and peculiar notions upon some certain particular and peculiar dogma. They come as the result of a preponderance of religious reading favorable to some particular denominational standards to which al- 1^3 114 Barriers legiance has been accorded. They come as the result of con- tinuous worship and active service with a certain body of people who hold special and peculiar views in regard to forms of church government, forms of religious rites and ceremonies, the parity of the ministry, Apostolic succession and like divisive questions. They are deepened by repeated recognition and acceptance, by argument in their defense, by efforts at their promulgation, and by association with others who have heartily accepted them and are eagerly and earnestly seeking their pro- motion. Continued and consecutive thought along the line of any set of accepted opinions, with corresponding activity in their support, will naturally give them a strong and tenacious hold upon the mind, and the more so when a man's temperament is of the more positive and aggressive type. This fact in human nature in regard to the formation of religious opinions and their hold upon the minds of men, must be fully recognized in the consideration of this whole subject and in the making of any efforts toward greater unity. The religious opinions of many devoted Christians in all the churches are very thoroughly fixed and have a tenacious hold upon their minds and hearts, and it will be very difficult for them to give up the notions, or ideas, which have kept them separated from the rest of their fellow-christians. They think strongly and feelingly on any subject which has approved it- self to their judgment, and are very much indisposed to take up anew the consideration of any subject which has already been thoroughly settled in their minds. Their convictions are so deep and strong that it will take a forceful appeal to rea- son and the power of logical persuasion to produce such a modification and change as would make greater unity by the uniting of separate denominations successful and effective. This formation of opinion on religious subjects is not only natural but right. Men have been given the power of judg- Tenacity of Opinion 115 ment by an all-wise Creator that they may use it in the great field of religious thought, the most important of all fields to human welfare and destiny, and their truest and best develop- ment depends upon the right use of this power of judgment by which such opinion is formed. It must be remembered, however, that religious opinion may be either true or false, right or wrong, good or evil. And still further, it must be remem- bered that many religious opinions held very ardently by their possessors and advocates, to whom they no doubt seemed to be true, right, and good, have proven to be extremely harmful and injurious to the welfare and progress of Christ's King- dom. This fact makes the formation, adoption and mainte- nance of religious opinion a serious and responsible thing. If men's opinions are rational and right in every way they become very useful and the means of progress, but if they are want- ing in good reason and are false and wrong in regard to any vital aspect of the truth, they are harmful to the church's work and barriers to its advancement. The religious opinions of very many of us belong to " the tradition of the elders," inasmuch as they have been largely received from our forbears and the religious teachers of our childhood and youth. Our bringing up, education, and train- ing have made us the heirs of those who have gone before. While we sometimes may thank God that we are not just like them, we still hold on to enough of their teaching and ways to make our religious life and activities divisive and separate. While we may think them to have been too stringent and vigorous in the upholding and defense of their particular and peculiar views, we nevertheless have still enough of con- fidence in what we were taught to uphold and propagate in a mild and modest way the viewpoints for which they so earnestly contended. These opinions were received by us with- out much question or examination ; or, if we were not fully ii6 Barriers satisfied with all the views of preceding generations there was so much of their belief that did appeal to us, that we accepted their entire dogma as a whole and made it the basis of our program in Christian worship and service. With some these traditions are fully satisfactor}\ Their mental and moral tendencies and characteristics are very similar to those of their kindred who have gone before and left them their heritage of church distinctions. The same aspects of truth and forms of worship appeal to their religious aptitudes and they find themselves in that particular group of believers which best satisfies their own peculiar bent of mind. Indeed, there are very many of us upon whom these traditions coming down from past generations have a rather strong hold. They are very much like sacred heirlooms and cannot be thrust aside with a wave of the hand. They are deeply rooted in our re- ligious thought and habits and will not be readily yielded until it has been fully shown that larger, better, more rational and more perfectly Christian ideas of church life and relationships are to supersede them. In many cases we shall have to be persuaded that some other interpretation of certain words, phrases, clauses and sentences in Scripture may be as true and good as our interpretation. As these traditions have been intimately associated with our holiest and most sacred aims and aspirations in religious fellowship and service, we shall have to see that their outgoing will not touch the real founda- tion of our faith before they are willingly surrendered. Another special and far-reaching cause for the tenacity of opinion in religious matters is self-conceit. When this par- ticular quality of mind gains the ascendency in a man's think- ing it makes him very much disposed to regard his own opinion as much better than those of other men and to hold it with special firmness. This is one of the weaknesses of human nature and Christian people are not always free from a vain Tenacity of Opinion 117 conception of the value of their personal opinions, from an overweening confidence in respect to the accuracy of their per- sonal judgment on all religious questions. Those who have this weakness are wont to look upon their own particular group as the special embodiment of wisdom and honorable distinction in all religious matters. " In man the blunder still you find All think their little set mankind." It is a very common failing for church people to think their church the very best, and more worthy of honor and support than any other church, and there are those who teach that they ought so to feel. Why so? Is such a feeling the best incentive, or even a good incentive, to church loyalt}'? Is it not in utter "variance with the beatitudes and the spirit and requirement of the second great commandment? The root ot such a feeling is selfishness and therefore completely out of harmony with the spirit of the gospel. // modest and rea- sonable respect for one's church is appropriate and necessar}', but a conceited view of its superiority is vain and harmful. This disposition to be conceited about one's personal opinions, or those held by his particular sect, has ^ wrought much evil in the past. It has been one cause of p>st separations and divisions and is still the cause of continued separation, rivalry, and keen competition. It is a sinister hindrance to the cause of unity because it inflames and perverts die natural tenacin* of a man's mind in holding to his old opinions, and makes it still more tenacious. It will prevent his possession of an open mind in regard to renewed examination and consideration of old subjects, and shut out the evidence of new knowledge and new aspects of the relative importance and value of religious views, opinions and conduct. Another similar and still greater cause for a perverse tenacity ii8 Ban-'iers of opinion is pride, personal and denominational. While con- ceit is weakness, folly, moral infirmity, a sign of degraded mental power and an evidence of unrighteousness in character, and therefore injurious to the individual and to the church, pride is a deeper mark of human depravity and of the more thorough sinfulness of a man's nature and disposition, what- ever his relation to the church may be. Pride is an unreason- able and arrogant assumption of superiority in judgment, rea- son and conviction, and when applied to religious affairs is not merely unbecoming but heinously wicked and sinful. It comes from the supercilious over-valuation of a man's self and along with this a want of a due sense of his dependence upon Al- mighty God for all that he is, and has, and hopes to be. The perverse nature of pride as an element in human character is fully shown in the Scriptures by its frequent and severe con- demnation. It is the first mentioned of the " six things " which the wise man testifies that " God hates," who also de- clares; " Every one that is proud in heart is an abomina- tion to the Lord." The Psalmist exclaims: "The Lord . . . plentifully rewardeth the proud doer." Isaiah saw its perversity when he wrote, " He bringeth down them that dwell on high ; the lofty city, he layeth it low ; he layeth it low even to the ground ; he bringeth it even to the dust " (Isa. 26:5). Jeremiah fully realized its evil nature when he wrote: "After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken. But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride: and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the Lord's flock is carried away captive " (Jer. 13:9-15). Many writers of our English classics have portrayed its evil nature. Addison says, " There is no passion which steals into the heart more imperceptibly, and Tenacity of Opinion 119 covers itself under more disguises, than pride." Bailey marks it as a great defect in human nature when it can be said of a man that he is " as proud as Lucifer." Coleridge shows his recognition of its source when he writes: " And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin Is pride that apes humility." Wentw^orth Dillon shows his apprehension of its danger- ous nature and influence when he writes: " Pride (of all others the most dangerous fault) Proceeds from want of sense, or want of thought." Pope shows his perception of its degrading and debasing influence upon men's nobler faculties in the lines: " What the weak head with strongest bias rules Is Pride the never-failing vice of fools." John Ruskin points out its far-reaching influences when he says: " In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mis- takes." Thus the pernicious influence of this evil has been por- trayed in the Scriptures and by well-known writers of the past, and thus it is continually being portrayed by the best writers, speakers, and teachers of ethics in the present. It is an evil to be feared, shunned, dreaded, forsaken. It is a very dangerous malady since it supplants that worthy con- fidence in one's own opinions which springs from the con- sciousness of rectitude in forming and holding these opinions and of their efficacy in meeting the demands of one's religious life, and puts in the place of such worthy confidence an ig- noble, degrading, and ruinous state of mind and heart. It is a very ugly deformity of mind when seen in others, but too I20 Barriers often blinds its possessor to any realization of its presence and hold upon his thought and action, and frequently makes him think he has an excellent virtue instead of a harmful vice. Even many eminent and worthy Christian men have been sadly affected with this malady. They were good and noble men in very many respects and yet they were much affected with an overweening confidence in the correctness of their own opinions on certain religious subjects. They were exceed- ingly sure that their judgment was almost, if not altogether infallible, and were unwilling to concede to others an equal power of judgment or an equal value of opinion. Their overmastering self-esteem made them inconsiderate of the rights of others, contentious in the field of controversy, more tenacious in holding to their own peculiar views and those of their own particular sect, and more determined on the propa- gation and perpetuation of these views. Thus it was in former years not long gone by, and thus to a modified degree it still is in the minds of those strong sectarians who think all the world wrong except themselves in face of the spirit of liberality which has grown so rapidly these later years. Good Christian men and women arc sometimes proud not only of their opinions and those of their particular sect, but also of the history and achievements of their denomination. With these no church has had such a wonderful history and wrought such mighty achievements as their church. It is " the biggest church," or '* the most orthodox church," or " the best Spirit-filled church," or " the most missionary church," or " the most influential church," or " the most popular church," in the whole city, community, nation, world. That pride of opinion, which was one great cause of past divisions and sepa- rations, will remain the cause of continued separation and con- flict so long as it is cherished and allowed to sway the minds Tenacity of Opinion 121 of Christian men in their religious activities. It will be a great barrier, not only to the cause of unity but especially to the cause of Christianity and the fulfillment of the church's mis- sion in the world. As an antidote against this treacherous and pernicious evil it is well for us to remember that religious opinion is a very different thing from Christian faith. While it is true that opinion is closely related to faith and is necessary to its ex- istence, it does not insure the possession of faith. There are multitudes who have opinion on religious matters, but are wanting in the possession of a real belief in the fundamental truths of Christianity. They are often very orthodox in re- gard to certain religious doctrines and practices, but show no special love for Christ and no earnest spirit of obedience to His will. Sometimes men who are very far from the Kingdom of God, as shown by their daily conduct, are nevertheless very rigid in some of their religious opinions. iVIen of this gen- eral character within the church often become earnest " de- fenders of the faith," in support of what is to them merely an opinion, however strongly they may hold it. It was of such that the late C. H. Spurgeon spoke when he said: "Another very numerous class have opinion but not faith: creed but not credence. We meet them everywhere. How zealous they are for Protestantism ! They would not only die for orthodoxy, but kill others as well. Perhaps it is the Cal- vinistic doctrine which they have received ; and then the five points are as dear to them as their five senses. These men will contend, not to say earnestly, but savagely, for the faith. They very vehemently denounce all those who differ from them in the smallest degree, and deal damnation round the land with amazing liberality to all who are not full weight according to their little Zoar, Rehoboth, Jireh ; while all the while the spirit of Christ, the love of the Spirit, bowels of compassion. 122 Barriers and holiness of character are no more to be expected from them than grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles." (Sermons, Vol. VIII, p. 171.) Another antidote against pride of opinion and the tenacity which it produces is the fact that opinion is also a very dif- ferent thing from pure and positive knowledge on religion or any other subject. This fact ought to be, and is sure to be, a very effective antidote, when its meaning and significance are fully realized by Christian men. Opinion is a mere conclu- sion or judgment drawn from known or supposed facts rang- ing from a high degree of probability down to the merest con- jecture. Its degree of probability depends upon the applica- tion of pure reason, unalloyed by prejudice or passion, to the greatest possible array of facts concerning which it is a con- clusion or a judgment. The two things that specially affect its probability are the range and number of facts and the ab- sence of all passion entering into it. When the array of facts have been full and complete and there has been freedom from all sinister emotions men have great reason to have strong confidence in their opinions, but when the facts have been few and of very limited range and the sway of passion has been free, opinion becomes a mere prejudice, or a conjecture, and is not to be trusted, accepted, or followed. The divisive standards and practices of all the different de- nominations are matters of opinion and cannot be classed as having certitude and as things of positive knowledge. Much that passes for certain knowledge in the field of religion as well as elsewhere, are merely matters of opinion with more or less of probability in them. Positive knowledge of any kind is very limited, while the knowledge of things that are probable may be very wide, extensive and possessed with much con- fidence. But the facts which give strong probability are so many and so varied, and the liability of some sinister passion Tenacity of Opinion 123 is so great, that it well becomes erring human nature to hold religious opinion with modesty and to recognize it as probable rather than positive truth. In all religious controversy the appeal always should be made to reason and not to prejudice or passion, as it too often has been done. Christianity, itself, is an appeal to reason, and so ought to be regarded every ques- tion concerning its propagation. If rigid sectarians would only realize how deeply the question of probability was in- volved in their peculiar and particular views, they would not be so persistent as they sometimes are in holding them, nor so eager in their propagation. The highest claim that can be made for them is a moderate degree of probability that they are true, and this claim needs to be substantiated by such facts as pure reason is willing to accept in its favor. A high degree of probability cannot be claimed for such opinions, because they have always been formed, and continue to be formed, under such conditions as make their probability of comparably little \ alue. Pure reason and complete knowledge of all necessary facts have never held sway in the formation of such views, but on the other hand pride, prejudice and passion have had much to do with their formation, propagation, and perpetua- tion. Besides such views have fallen far short in gaining the approval and support of universal reason, to which their ad- vocates made their appeal. Only a part of Christendom, and generally a very small part, has as yet accepted any one of these distinctive views, so that every one of them is far from being acceptable to universal reason. As soon as Christian men begin to realize that religious opinion is not an index of true faith, or of pure reason, and that it lies along the line of probability rather than of posi- tive knowledge, their dogmatism begins to subside and they become willing to concede to others the right to form and hold opinions different from theirs on the same questions on 124 Barriers which theirs are held, and to have respect for such opinions. When such facts as these take a deep grip upon men's minds, they become willing to re-examine the grounds of their own opinions, and to confer with those holding different views upon the same questions with reference to the reconciliation of their differences and the harmonization of their views. It is a hopeful sign of the breaking of this barrier to the cause of unity to see many churchmen anxious to get the view- point of others who differ from them that they may examine all with reference to reconciliation and the establishment of harmony among them. It is surely fitting that the appeal to reason, pure and unalloyed, should be both insistent and persistent in a field where the probabilities in their favor are no greater than they are in the field of divisive denominational standards, which by no manner of means are to be classed among the certainties of the Christian religion. Even in the case of those who may boastfully claim to be " led of the Spirit " the high place of reason must be in evidence, since the Holy Spirit is a spirit of wisdom and of truth, and there- fore does not lead men to adopt and maintain opinions which pure reason will not justify. Where the Holy Spirit truly leads, human reason is made more perfect, the probability of men's opinions becomes more certain, and the appeal to uni- versal reason more powerful and effective. Jesus wants His followers to reason out thoroughly and rightly the problems of their religious lives so as to be helpers to each other rather than rivals and opponents. When they have seen the folly and harmfulness of their conceit and pride and fully set aside these evil dispositions, and with pure emotion and copious information begin to reason justly and fairly on all religious questions, their tenacity of opinion on distinctive doctrines soon gives way, and they are ready Tenacity of Opinion 125 easily to be harmonized with others whose reason has brought them different views. They realize that such opinions must be held as are merely probable and tentative, rather than as positive and certain. UNREASONABLE ATTACHMENTS CHRISTIAN people naturally form strong attachments for the church with which they have been happily as- sociated and whose people and institutions they have learned to appreciate. They have found the people of their church to be helpful in the stimulation of the better elements of their nature and the worship and activities of the church to be the source of great good to them in the moral and spiritual aspect of their lives. They have seen that the church has much influence in the development of such ideals as are of in- finite value in advancing the welfare of the individual and of society in all its varied aspects. They have learned to ap- preciate the value of an institution which is doing so much for the uplift and well being of mankind, and been led to give to it their best thought and most consecrated efforts. They have come to admire the forms of worship with which they have become familiar, the methods of instruction to which they have been used, the sj'Stem of administration with which they are acquainted, and the special type of Christian manhood and womanhood with which they have been surrounded, and a special attachment has grown up for that in their religious experiences whicli is most in harmony with their individual tastes, and habits of thought and feeling. These strong attachments began to be developed in the days of childhood, when under the influence and guidance of wise and devoted workers in all the varied forms of church activity their tender hearts were filled with such emotions as bound them to the church as to a friend and benefactor. These attachments grew stronger with their growth to man- • 126 Unreasonable Attachments 127 hood and womanhood as their emotional nature was more and more unfolded under the benign influence of religious associa- tions and activities. These attachments reached high points of vigor and firmness in the midst of the fellowships and ac- tivities which characterized the days of life's maturity and strength, and in the advancing years of life they remain as a comfortable and enjoyable estate from earlier efforts and investments. They are therefore to be found in every period of life, but naturally stronger and more firmly fixed in the days of vigorous strength and more advancing years. These attachments for the church are the natural and legitimate result of its work. It is the special province of the church to awaken, stimulate, and strengthen, all worthy and good emotions, and thus to develop those elements of character which make men noble and most useful in the world. This work of the church is a very delicate and diffi- cult one, but a most vital, valuable, and important one. Good emotions of every kind must be aroused, encouraged, helped toward perfection in order that a true Christian life may be unfolded and realized on the part of those enjoying the church's opportunities and advantages. The church makes a special effort to reach the heart as the great motive power in life's activities that the influence of right emotions may rule in these activities. It seeks to get men right in heart with God and with their fellowmen knowing that " out of it are the issues of life." It realizes that unless the heart is reached and moved to right action its work is in vain. Truth in the understanding has very little value until right emotions have taken hold of it, modified and moulded it, and through their impelling power transmuted it into the activities of life. Knowledge of the right, which is merely in the mind, is unproductive, until the good affections of the heart trans- form it into action. Unless the heart is moved the good seed 128 Barriers will fall on barren soil. Realizing all this the church strives earnestly to gain such control and guidance of the emotions of men as will make the truth effective in their lives, and its success in doing so, though limited and imperfect, has been the means of doing infinite good in the world. As the natural result of its work in the development of men's emotional nature it secures a high degree of attachment to itself. Strong affection for the church is right. It is so because of its origin and the love that provided and bestowed it upon men as the means of bringing them God's great salvation. It is so because it is an institution whose work is most beneficial in every way to the welfare of humanity and one whose pos- sibilities for good to every other social institution in the world are unlimited. It is so because of the great number of per- sonal blessings which the church brings to every Christian. It has taught him all he knows of religious truth, awakened every worthy and noble aspiration of which he has ever been possessed, and has stimulated and strengthened all the good purposes with which his life has been filled. It has been both the instrument by which all the valuable qualities of his re- ligious life has been developed, and the appropriate channel by which that life has been expressed. All that he is in Christian character, or shall become, is due to its agency. He can do nothing less, as one possessed of a true Christian manhood, than have for it a strong attachment. Naturally this attachment will be felt first for the particular congregation of which he is a member. This congregation provides the Christian people with whom he is intimately associated in religious worship and activities and whose fel- lowship bring to him spiritual help, comfort, pleasure, joy. His higher and nobler emotions toward them are awakened and nurtured by the good he sees in them and the special bene- fits which come to him through their fellowship. The in- Unreasonable Attachments 129 timacy of his intercourse with them together with his faith in the sincerity of their character and motives insures the formation and development of strong attachments. This at- tachment for his own congregation is readily extended to other congregations, or groups of congregations, of the same de- nomination, and then to the denomination as a whole, as he becomes better acquainted with the people and the activities of the particular denomination to which he belongs. Church courts and other denominational assemblies furnish opportuni- ties for the promotion and enlargement of such attachments and church literature is an efYective agency by which they are fostered and strengthened. This attachment for the church is still further broadened when it is so extended as to in- clude the whole church of Jesus Christ as one body, and that one body is seen to be God's chosen instrument for bringing to men his great salvation and for the building up of His Kingdom in the world. Such love and attachment are the re- sult of a large vision of the church's mission, of the incom- prehensible importance of its work, of its unlimited possibilities for good in the world, and of the innumerable blessings it can secure for men. It is a much greater thing to love the church as a divine institution related to all men and for their benefit, than to love it as an institution whose personal benefits are the special cause of its appreciation. Love for the church as an institution designed by Jesus Christ for the good of mankind and adapted to their need is sure to be intense and strong as the vision of the Church's mission, work, and pos- sibilities in relation to the Kingdom of Christ is clearly seen and appreciated in the light of the Scriptures and by the agency of the Holy Spirit. This love is more ideal, more Christ-like, more perfect than any such narrower affections as may relate to any individual congregation, or to any par- ticular denomination, though love for these is good and right I30 Barriers when held in proper balance and recognized as steps of progress toward a greater and more perfect love. Just here is where the danger and the difficulty lie. The danger is that of losing the necessary and proper balance in the control and right exercise of these different affections, and the difficulty is to know just where this balance lies and how to restore it when it is lost. All right and useful emo- tions are rational as well. Their character, strength, and rela- tive consequence are under the domain of reason whose throne is the last court of appeal in regard to their nature, value, and importance. Many emotions that are right and rational in themselves become wrong and unreasonable through mistaken and injurious emphasis and application. Many a strong af- fection, or attachment, has been ruinous to the character and reputation of its possessor and harmful to the welfare of others because reason did not rule in its limitation and indulgence. Many a person has been judged insane because he had gone wrong in his affections. Most of us are more or less insane, since every form of sin is insanity, because we have all more or less gone wrong in the exercise and indulgence of some of our affections. Every one of us is liable to be unreason- able to some degree and consequently wrong in the relative strength and manifestation of our attachments. We fail to reason rightly because we fail to look broadly at all the in- terests involved and to distinguish the things that are greater from the things that are less. While therefore it is reasonable and right to have a strong attachment for the church whose influence and fellowship we first learned to enjoy, such attachment has its reasonable limita- tions and should not hinder or prevent our broader, more ideal, and more perfect attachments. And likewise, while it is reasonable and right to have a strong attachment for the denomination whose fellowship and activities have been to us Unreasonable Attachments 131 a great blessing, such attachment has its reasonable limita- tions and should not hinder or prevent our broader, more ideal, and more perfect attachment to the whole body of believers in Christ as represented by all denominations. Such narrower attachments become unreasonable and wrong when they usurp the place that properly belongs to those that are greater and nobler. A good illustration of this is seen in patriotism. It is ra- tional and right for every citizen to have a strong attachment for his own town or community, but this attachment ought not to interfere with a similar affection for his county, state, and nation. The love of one's country as a whole is broader, greater, and nobler than the love of one's state, county, and town or community, and a patriotism that embraces all human- ity and is ready to make the greatest possible sacrifices for its welfare is the most ideal and the noblest and the best. This is the kind of patriotism our country needs and is calling for to-day, and this is the kind that is being shown by multi- tudes of loyal citizens who are making the greatest sacrifices in support of its cause. Such love of country is most reasonable and right. In like manner the whole church of Christ as an ideal institution of heavenly birth needs the loyalty and devotion of Christian men and women with broad vision and strong affection for the wider and greater interests of Christ's Kingdom and for the highest welfare of all mankind, and to-day there are many in all the churches in whom this broader and more perfect loyalty is becoming more and more the ruling passion in their devotion to the Kingdom of Christ. This greater and more perfect loyalty is both reasonable and right. Growth in the reach and range of the affections, as well as in their intensity, is the law of human development in the sphere of the religious life as well as elsewhere. At first the 132 Barriers reach and range of these affections is narrow and limited and their intensity varied and uncertain, but in the natural order of the divine plan in human development they become more and more comprehensive as well as intensive and more and more sure and steadfast. Such progress is imperative. There is no such thing as standing still. The proper growth of the emotions is just as essential and necessary as growth in the possession of the knowledge of the truth and is a very vital part of such growth. Here as in every other phase of life un- less there is progress there is retrogression, and retrogression in the religious life is backsliding, the road to apostasy, a way of evil. It is therefore most reasonable as well as right that the proper steps of progress from the lower form and scope of the emotions to the higher and broader should be taken. It is reasonable that the less should be modified and moulded by the greater, the good and the better by the best, the perfect and more perfect by the most perfect. If the good, as has been often claimed, is the enemy of the best, anything less than the best is unreasonable. All such attachments as check and prevent our manysided development as the followers of Christ must be classed as un- reasonable, and some of them as very heinously so. They are directly contrary to reason's urgent appeal to us to make the most of all the powers which God has given us. He has given us the power to form attachments and marked the way and by what steps our progress in emotional development is to be made. As it is the part of reason to lead us in the steps of progress, it shows the want of reason to I'ail in taking these steps and in thus securing the attainment, or perfection, to which they lead. Through such failure we become warped and lop-sided in our moral nature. We permit one attachment to usurp and hold the place that rightly belongs to another and a greater. We limit the range of our personal development and Unreasonable Attachments 133 in doing so sin against our highest manhood. We do evil to our own higher and better nature by failing to gain for our- selves that nobility of heart which was possible for us to gain. We act unreasonably and sin against our own souls when we permit any attachment, however good it may be within its proper sphere, to prevent us from attaining a well-rounded Christian character. Again, all such attachments as hinder the proper spiritual growth and development of others are unreasonable and wrong. Reason and the Scriptures alike teach us that we should be con- cerned for the welfare of our neighbor, and are responsible for the kind of influence we exercise upon his life. It is possible that by our example and vigorous manifestation of some at- tachment that is narrow and one-sided we may lead a brother to become narrowed and warped in the reach of his emotions and that thus we shall become blind leaders of the blind. In all that we are and do we ought to have regard for others. " For none liveth to himself and none dieth to himself " (Rom. 14: 7). Honesty in leading others astray is no excuse for the evil that is done. Their imperfections and incomplete or ar- rested development will be just the same as though we in- tended it. If we had reasoned better we might have escaped the guilt of a wrong influence upon a neighbor and a friend. But we have been the cause of more or less stumbling on the part of others because some form of pride, prejudice, and pas- sion have put their taint upon our church attachments. Still further, all such attachments as hinder the welfare of the church are unreasonable and wrong. They are so because the church of Jesus Christ is the product of the highest reason, the gift of infinite love, adapted to the end for which it was created, and full of the greatest possibilities of good for men singly and socially. To interfere in any way and to any de- gree with its progress and prosperity is to manifest an errancy 134 Barriers of reasoning power and to establish a state of guilt before its Author and Founder. Perhaps the greatest vision ever wrought into the mind of any Christian by the agency of the Holy Spirit is his vision of the universal church, and to limit and restrain this vision is to sin against that inner light that comes from above. Any attachment which restricts and nar- rows this vision is contrary to the deductions and requirements of pure reason. It is ours always to remember that the in- terests and welfare of the church at large are greater and in- finitely more important than our personal comfort and enjoy- ment, or the prosperity of our peculiar sect. In placing undue emphasis upon our own, our minds become biased and we make ourselves incapable of judging on the great questions which most affect the interest of Christ's Kingdom and the well-being of humanity. Unreasonable attachments are liable to appear in relation to forms of worship, forms of religious rites and ceremonies, and systems of administration. How prone we seem to be to forget that the form of anything is a very different thing from its essence, and to fasten our affections upon the form as much or more than upon the substance, which is the real and es- sential thing! We see the form and are attracted to it, while we fail to realize and appreciate the value of the substance which it contains, or else in our thinking confound two things which are quite different. Forms of worship, of rites, and of government are the vessels in which are brought to us the water of life and this water may be just as satisfying and healthful in one form of vessel as another, until we have con- structed in our minds a prejudice for some certain form of vessel. So long as multitudes of other Christians are quaffing this water and finding its satisfying draughts from vessels of some other form than the one for which we have formed a strong attachment, it is unreasonable to contend that our ves- Unreasonable Attachments 135 sel is the only right one to be used. The Scriptures clearly in- dicate that different forms are acceptable to God and leave it largely to the occasion, circumstance, time, or age, to deter- mine what form shall be employed, but they make it very clear that the spirit, w^hich is the substance, must be right in quality and condition. The essence of all acceptable worship, and of all rites, is the faith and love which fills the heart and makes it right toward God and man, and these can be fittingly ex- pressed in any form which any body of reasonable and de- voted Christian people find to be in harmony with the teach- ing of the Scriptures and which has proved acceptable to God in other g°nerations. One form may be more convenient and suitable at one time and under certain conditions than another and a change of time and circumstances may reverse the order, while either would be a fit expression at any time of the reality of worship. These things arc worthy of our serious thought. They touch the lowest depths of our religious lives. These attachments for the church are associated with our noblest and best emo- tions and related to the deepest religious experiences through which it has been our privilege to pass, and they have been connected with our most earnest and energetic efforts for the Kingdom of God. It is hard for us to see that any of them may be unreasonable and wrong, and when persuaded that they may be so, it still is often hard to give them up. They are very much like our attachments for the old home, whose sacred memories, rich and happy experiences, and continued use as a dwelling place, make it dear to the heart. It has been to us a good home, the scene of many a joyous hour, the center of the best and worthiest affections, and every nook and corner is full of pleasant recollections. It is hard to leave behind. The heart is pained to sever the relations that have been so full of wholesome experiences. But there comes a time when these at- 136 Barriers tachments for the old home must be surrendered and its associa- tions sundered. Its mission to us has been accomplished. Its service has been a worthy one, but the time for the ending of this service has arrived. Its further use and enjoyment would be a hindrance to our welfare and prosperity, and perhaps of each and all connected with it. Progress and further develop- ment require the sundering of its bands, for a new home pro- vides better advantages and greater possibilities. In like manner the time is sure to come, and already may be here, when our personal growth and progress, and the growth and progress of the religious interests of our town, or community, demand the sundering of some of our strong attachments for the church and the formation of new ones. The old church in which we were reared has filled a very worthy mission. It has been the source of much happiness and joy to us, and the nurturer of our worthiest aspirations and purposes, but its day of useful- ness as a means of progress and of further development either to ourselves or to the community has ended, and the ties by which it has been bound to us ought to be sundered. A greater work than it can provide has opened up before us. Greater possibilities than it can give are now within our reach. Greater usefulness to the Kingdom of God than it can afford is now possible to our religious activities and efTorts in a wider and better field. Our own higher interests, the higher interests of the community, and the higher interests of the Kingdom of God, all demand that the old church home should be given up and new relationships established. It may be difficult, but it is reasonable and right. A very significant and suggestive illustration of the way in which an unreasonable and injurious attachment for some re- ligious object may arise is found in the Scriptures. It is ex- hibited in the case of the children of Israel when in the dajs of their good King, Hezekiah, they became ardent worshippers of Unreasonable Attachments 137 the brazen serpent that Moses had made. This serpent had once been the instrument of great good in the salvation of their progenitors at a time of special need, but it was no longer a channel of blessing to any one. The children of Israel, how- ever, became so strongly attached to it as to burn incense to it and thus to give to it a place in their worship which belonged to God alone. But their wisehearted King saw- the danger and the evil of their unreasonable attachment for it, destroyed it by breaking it in pieces, and emphasized the fact that it was simply a piece of brass and unworthy of any great attachment or devotion by naming it " Nehushtan." These unreasonable attachments have their prime source in the treacherous cunning of that arch enemy of the Kingdom of Christ who " is called the Devil, and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world." This great enemy assaulted the Founder of the church in the beginning of His work with a temptation of this kind when he urged Him to cast Himself down from a pinnacle of the temple, and suggested that He would be perfectly safe in any faith or feeling He might have in such an act in con- nection with God's holy temple and its worship. The Head of the church resisted him and overcame. At another time Jesus recognized this enemy as the source of wrong feelings in the heart of Peter when He exclaimed, " Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offense unto me" (Matt. 16:23). Still later He told Peter that Satan desired to have him that he might sift him as wheat. In one of His parables about His Kingdom Jesus represents Satan as a constant watcher and worker against His Kingdom by catching away the good seed out of the heart of any one who does not understand it, and in another parable declares that the devil is the enemy who sows tares among the wheat. Two of the evangelists tell us that the great sin of Judas in the betrayal of the Lord was " put into his heart " by this arch enemy. Peter recognized 138 Barriers the source of Ananias' sin when he protested, " Why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie unto the Holy Ghost?" Paul teaches us that " Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light," and that " his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness" (II Cor. ii: 14, 15), and urges us to " Put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Eph. 6:11). Jesus and the apostles give witness to the fact of Satan's entrance into human hearts and of his power for evil in them. As the great enemy of Christ's Kingdom he ever tries to hinder and prevent the growth and prosperity of the church which Christ has founded and is ever ready to suggest and foster any false or unreasonable attachment which he can use for the accomplish- ment of his purposes. He is ever ready to warp and distort our faith and our affections in every way he can to hinder our own spiritual growth and the church's most effective ac- complishment of its mission as the ordained representative of Christ's Kingdom. It may help us in temptation and protect us from his snares to realize that his entrance into our hearts is very subtile and his work very deceiving, and that that is why " the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked," as the Scriptures teach and as we are rather unwilling to believe. He is the great corruptor of the human heart and often leads astray the thoughts and feelings of the worshippers of God. No doubt it is for this purpose that he goes so regularly to church and tries to turn the worship of the Lord into the wor- ship of himself and to transform the house of God into a syna- gogue of his own. " Wherever God erects a house of prayer The devil always builds a chapel there." To be conscious of these things is to be on guard against his snares and the weakness of our own moral nature and thus Unreasonable Attachments 139 to find deliverance from the sin of unreasonable and wrong attachments. " Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the vvorldrulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." ULTRA CONSERVATISM TWO tendencies in human nature are ever apparent and insistent. These are the conservative tendency on the one hand and the radical or progressive on the other. They are opposing forces and each is ever seeking to gain the mastery of men. Ever\' man has both within his breast and society in all its varied forms is ever yielding to the persuasive power of the one or the other. Every man is either a conservative or a radical in regard to ever}' question affecting his life and character. WTiich he is is determined by the ascendency gained over his thought, feeling, and action by the one or the other. In the never-ceasing struggle sometimes one is in the lead and then the other gains the stronger hold. To-day a man may be a radical on some important question and to-morrow a conservative, or to-day a conservative and to-morrow a pro- gressive. Such is the case in politics, religion, business, social affairs, everywhere. To-day conservatism may have the as- cendency in organized society and to-morrow radicalism, or the ascendency- of one over the other may last for years, for a life- time, for an era in the development of causes and the progress of nations. The great struggles of the human race are but manifestations of the antagonism of these opposing tendencies. The struggle between patrician and plebeian, the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the old and the new, is ever re- appearing in all countries and all times. The contest rages in legislative halls, ecclesiastical assemblies, educational associa- tions and in business and labor conferences. The old world moves on whilst now the one and now the other of these op- posing forces gains the day, and still the contest renews itself Ultra Conservatism 141 as if for the first time under new names and different personali- ties. In the progress of this struggle from day to day and year to year strange contradictions and inconsistencies in human thought and conduct are made to appear. Not only are men liable to change from views and conduct that are conservative to those that are radical, or just contrariwise, but they may be conservative on one question and radical on another and this contrariety may have reference to a number of questions. A man may be a radical in religion but a conservative in politics, or otherwise and such is very often the case. He may be a conservative in business matters but a radical on educational matters or just the opposite. His attitude may change suddenly and without apparent reason in regard to all of these sub- jects. Through the action and reaction of these opposing forces in every man's breast an interesting and curious process is ever going on; but one or the other is quite sure to have the greater preeminence in the contest and mark a man as either a con- servative or a reformer. So it is in the collective body of persons composing a com- munity, or an association, or organization of any kind among men. This collective body will be conservative or radical ac- cording to the number and influence of those respectively on each side. A political party is progressive or conservative ac- cording to the sentiments and principles of those who form and support its policies. A church is conservative or progressive according to the particular sentiments and principles of those who mould its beliefs and practices. A business organization is conservative or progressive according to the kind of principles that control its activities. In all these and kindred associations cither conservative or radical ideas are quite sure to gain the greater ascendency and to mark the association as conservative or radical. 142 Barriers This irrepressible conflict and constant antagonism is deeply laid in human nature. It is the apposition of the past and the future, of memory and hope, of the judgment and the rea- son. It is the antagonism of things that are radically different and placed in opposition to each other in every man's experience. It is as old as the creation and as fixed as any other fact in human nature. It is a struggle worthy of the deepest study, the closest scrutiny, the deepest concern and the utmost care in regard to its results and the ef?ect of these results upon the life of one's own self, of the church, of the state, and of the world. Ancient mythology relates a fable which indicates the way in which this struggle was regarded by the ancients. Accord- ing to this myth the old god Saturn became weary of sitting alone, or with none but Uranus or heaven beholding him, and created an oyster. On his determination to act again he created another oyster and so went on creating a race of oysters. Uranus observing this cried out, " A new work, O Saturn ; the old is not good again." Saturn made answer, " I fear there is not only the alterna- tive of making and not making but also of unmaking. Seest thou the great sea, how it ebbs and flows? So is it with me; my power ebbs; and if I put forth my hands, I shall not do but undo. Therefore I do what I have done; I hold what I have got; and so I resist night and chaos." " O Saturn," rejoined Uranus, " thou canst not hold thine own by making more. Thy oysters are barnacles and cockles, and with the next flowing of the tide they will be pebbles and sea foam." " I see," Saturn retorted, " thou art in league with night, and art become an evil eye; thou spakest from love; now thy words smite me with hatred. I appeal to fate, must there not be rest ? " Ultra Conservatism 143 " I appeal to fate also," replied Uranus. " Must there not be motion? " Saturn made no answer but went on making oysters for a thousand years. After that long period the words of Uranus came into his mind like a ray of the sun, and he made Jupiter; and when he had done so he feared again, and nature froze, the things that were made went backward, and to save the world Jupiter slew his father Saturn. This old myth presents the most ancient conception of the origin of this conflict and describes the first contention between a conservative and a radical which has come down to us. This opposition never ceases. It is the counteraction between cen- tripetal and centrifugal forces. Radicalism is the progressive energy: conservatism puts a pause upon the last movement. " Behold what God hath done ! " the conservatist exclaims ; " Behold He maketh all things new! " the radical replies. Nevertheless these two tendencies in human life as well as in all nature are really complements to each other. One with- out the other is weakness, inefficiency, deformity, ugliness, death. In their mutual and appropriate adjustment they make a com- bination that is perfect in its power and beauty. Each is a good half, but an impossible whole. Each exposes the fallacies and abuses of the other, but in every true man and in every true society they come together in strength and beauty. Take an illustration from nature in the living oak. In it, conserva- tism preserves in its inner structure the results of growth in past seasons and provides the structure of its trunk and branches upon which radicalism places new material, enlarges its use- fulness, increases its strength and makes it a thing of grace and beauty. The right adjustment of these two elements gives conservatism both more matter and more power to conserve and makes possible the life and progress which radicalism se- cures. An oak in which conservatism has gained the ascend- 144 Barriers ency over radicalism soon begins to die and lose its value and to become deformed and ugly. Since beauty is nature's crown of approbation upon perfection, the living oak through its happy combination of these forces is the perfection of beauty of its kind. So it is throughout nature. So it is among men. The happy combination of these two elements gives strength, de- velopment, and beauty to human character. The predominance of one above the other is a sure cause of deterioration, decay, and death ; and deformity and ugliness of character are also sure to follow. The same is true of church, state, or any other collective body of men. The happy combination of its conserv- ative and radical influences gives strength, progress and charm of beauty to its character and work. Every stable and at the same time vigorous and progressive association, or organization, of any kind among men is one in which these two factors have become most perfectly adjusted and remain in that relation- ship. Now while the combination of these two forces is very per- fect in nature, and while no man or body of men can con- tinue to exist in whom both elements are not at work, their combination in men individually and collectively is often far from being perfect, and their adjustment far from being true and right. By reason of men's liability and proneness to err they not only permit one of these elements to gain an undue ascendency over the other but encourage, stimulate and strengthen such ascendency. Their bent of mind toward the one or the other readily makes them partizans and supporters of the side to which their bent inclines. Men are not generally philosophers, but rather are often very foolish children who by reason of their partiality see everything in the most absurd manner and are the victims of the nearest object. Even the most philosophic are not philosophic at all times. They take sides most readily with the cause which seems to them to in- Ultra Conservatism 145 sure the greatest good without careful examination as to whether it be true or false. Not unfrequently do they continue their adherence to the side of important questions to which their inclination, personal interest, and perversity of disposition lead long after its error has become apparent to the masses of man- kind. Thus they become extremists, ultraists on the side of conser\'atism, or of radicalism. The ultraist on either side is a great hindrance to the proper combination of these forces in the settlement of any question. Sooner or later he is sure to meet an opponent of like devotion on the opposing side. The conflict then is sure to rage with violence and persistence to the great injury of the cause with which their conflict is connected. But the ultraist of conserv- atism always has some advantage in the material reality of the things which he defends. The line of battle which he engages to protect is the actual state of things whether they be good or bad. His fingers clutch existing facts and his eyes will not open to the vision of better things. It is this fact that makes ultra conservatism a special barrier to the cause of greater unity. The existing condition of a divided church is on the side of conservatism and its Ime of battle is now well fortified. Its ultraist is now in possession of the ground to be contested. His work is that of holding what he has instead of taking from another. It is readily granted that conservatism has its proper field and necessary work. It is essential to the preservation and best use of past acquisitions and attainments. It is necessary, too, to hold in check the freakish and unreasonable proposals and efTorts of extreme radicalism. It is necessary to give stability, strength, and durability to any cause, to anv body of men associated or organized for any purpose, to anj' in- stitution established for human welfare. Yes, conservatism has a most important place to fill and work to do in securing the 146 Barriers welfare of every human being and of every institution in which mankind is interested. And yet it may become ultra and a hindrance rather than a blessing to the cause with which it stands connected. So it has often been. It is thus when the ultraist has control of the reins and holds back the steeds of progress. He is entirely satisfied with things just as they are and wants no alterations. He often says, with pride of heart, " It was good enough for father, and it is good enough for me." His attachment to old forms and usages is very great and he will brook no change, if he can help it. He claims that the state of things which now exists is the very best, and ought to continue. He is opposed to any disturbance of the present order by the introduction of new things. His slogan is, " Let well enough alone." The vision of better things is to him an idle dream. He has very little faith in the possibilities of the future. Ultra conservatism has been the source of much weakness and loss in national affairs. The Westminster Review says (Aug. 1891, p. 116) : " England lost her American Colonies through her blind conservatism and through the domineering, greedy, and insular egotism of her old Colonial system." Such blind conservatism is the enemy of all national reforms. Its principle in regard to every form of evil in civil and public affairs is " Let it alone." It had its era in American politics in regard to slavery when that great evil was a growing incubus upon our national life. Our Civil War in the early sixties of the last century was a reaction against its sway and power. It has had its long-continued era in many of our states, and in our country as a whole, in regard to the liquor traffic and our drinking habits, in the belief that all sumptuary legislation is unwise, and that prohibition is a failure. Ultra conservatism has ever been a great hindrance to the growth and power of the church. It is the persistent enemy Ultra Conservatism 147 of its development and progress. It has ever persecuted the church's reformers and thrown all its force against the new ideas they advanced. The Pharisees of Christ's time were ultraists of this kind. So was Saul of Tarsus when perse- cuting the followers of Christ. Wherever and whenever it has prevailed, it has prevented progress, it has decreased the vigor and vitality of the church's energy, it has introduced decay and death into the church's life. It does for the church what it does for the oak — makes dying and dead branches. Such ef- fects are readily seen in the case of the small competing con- gregations of villages and the open country. Surveys of church conditions in different states have shown that where the great- est conservatism prevails in a number of small congregations a dying or dead condition is sure to exist, and no converts arc being made, and that where a more progressive spirit pre- dominates among the people of the community in their united fellowship and work the church is prospering and growing. Ultra conservatism is antagonistic to the progressive and re- formatory spirit so fully shown in the Scriptures. The develop- ment of Israel as a nation and a church under the leadership of Moses was a new work. That was a great and significant message which said, " Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward." Samuel, the great reformer, had a very progressive spirit. David, the greatest of their kings, intro- duced many new things into the worship of Jehovah and unified his people in their worship. All the good Kings of Israel were reformers and therefore had a progressive spirit. The gospel of Jesus Christ is " good news " which means that there is something " new " about it and that its spirit is progressive. The establishment of the church by the Apostles of our Lord required and manifested a positive progressive spirit on their part. Their messages are full of exhortations and appeals to put on the new man and to walk in newness of life. The 148 Barriers Bible is a book of great ideals: ideals are possible conditions and attainments in the future; the life to which it calls is full of reformations; it is therefore a book of radical ideas, incen- tives, results. WHiile it recognizes the field and place of true conservatism it exalts the principles of progress and reform as characteristic of the church in representing of God's Kingdom. Ultra conservatism makes Christian men and women indiffer- ent to the claims of many progressive measures and efforts. It leads them to think that they have no responsibility in regard to the demands of movements which are seeking better con- ditions and a better state of affairs in the life of the church, community, or nation. They have neither time to spare nor money to give in the consideration and support of such move- ments. They have grown up under the present order of divi- sion in the church and are under the conviction that this order is permanently established. They are satisfied with it, think it good enough, and are persuaded that the idea of a united church is an idle dream and all efforts to make it real a use- less waste of time. They have never given much thought to the advantages and possibilities of a united Christendom, or even of a much greater unity than now exists, and do not care to do so. They claim that the churches are now prosperous and that it is better to let well enough alone. They take little or no interest in any measures or efforts looking to the unify- ing of the churches. Even ministers in considerable numbers are more or less in- different to the claims of this great movement. They, too, have been accustomed to look upon the present state of divi- sion as permanent, at least for a long period of years, and their conservative disposition of mind has made them indiffer- ent to the possibilities of any radical change. Their conser- vatism makes them adverse to a thorough study and investi- gation of the subject and listless to the arguments of those Ultra Conservatism 149 who are pleading for this cause. They are satisfied with the degree of prosperity in the churches now in progress and regard the present condition of division to be desirable. They think that the unity now manifested through interdenominational and outside agencies is all that is needed. They believe that we have the essence of unity now and that there is no need of taking any further steps toward a greater unity. This in- difference is a great hindrance to the movement. The inertia caused by the spirit of conservatism is seen in all great moral and religious movements. Many of the min- istry and large numbers of church members often take little or no interest in these movements. The most strenuous and exhaustive efforts to awaken interest in some good cause often fails because the spirit of indifference is so deepseated and thoroughly established. This inertia is seen in the cause of foreign missions. Only a very few of the membership of our churches are really interested in this great cause. The greater number give very little to its advancement and do not care to have its work and needs presented in an appeal to them for help. This inertia is seen in the cause of Christian educa- tion. Only a limited number of church people are interested to any special degree in this great cause and give liberally and largely to its promotion. The educational institutions of every denomination are made to realize the wide range of this lack of interest by the meagre material responses that come to their appeals for help. This inertia is seen in the temper- ance movement. Many members of the church are very in- different to the progress of this cause. They do not care to have it advocated in the pulpit and are unwilling to give for its advancement. They do not want any temperance league to come with an appeal for help, and are very much opposed to the church's activity in its behalf. These great movements have their special propaganda and channels of promotion with- I50 Barriers in the church's agencies, and yet this want of interest retards the progress of their cause, and in doing so hinders the growth of Christ's Kingdom in the world. The cause of Christian unity which has no special means of propagation and promotion is much restrained by this inertia of conservative tendencies. Ministers and members of the church who were once pro- gressive and energetic in their Christian work sometimes be- come rather too conservative in after years for their own good and for the good of the church. It is a sign that the decrepi- tude of their religious life has set in. They are guilty of the sin of backsliding. They failed to find the fountain of per- petual youth in spiritual things whence flows the sweet elixir of an unfading hope fortified and electrified by its close and spirited combination with unfaltering faith and radiant love. Their own spirituality has lost its vigor and the vitality of the church's life has lost strength by their spiritual indifference and decline. Churches, too, that were once progressive and full of spiritual vitality are liable to lose their radical spirit and become very conservative on many moral questions. It has been so in the history of many denominations. Although their numbers and wealth may continue to increase, this de- velopment of ultra conservatism is an evidence of spiritual de- cline and results in loss of power. The Rev. J. H. Sheaks- peare, of Norwich, England, felt this to be the case in the condition of the nonconformist churches of England just be- fore the great world war broke out, as is evident from his address before the National Council of Evangelical Free Churches in 1914, in which he says: "Nonconformity has always been noted for its backbone. Indeed, it has often been so proud of its backbone that it has put it in the front. It is one of the strange phenomena of physiology that the brain may sleep, but the spinal cord carry on the movements of the body, so that soldiers have continued to march, and swimmers Ultra Conservatism 151 like Holbein to swim, though they were fast asleep. I have great dread lest the backbone of Free Churchism should main- tain its automatic movements, while with brain and heart and even conscience asleep it should march on through this glorious new day, this wonderful new world, missing its fair landscapes, its golden harvests, and deaf to its significant calls." A similar condition in the American churches has been recognized by many. Their state of inertia in regard to the healing of divisions and the promotion of greater unity has been very marked and has shown a strong spirit of conserva- tism. The recognition of this state of indifference and in- activity has been well expressed by the Rt. Rev. Edward Fawcet, Bishop of Quincy, in the following manner: " Some- times the defense " (of sectarianism) " consists of the lackadai- sical phrase: ' O well they are all bound for the same place as though that atoned for the present hurt and waste. But the great multitudes involved do not pretend to defend sectarian- ism, for they take it for granted. It is so much in the air, it is so very familiar; children are born in it, reared in it, and men so live in its atmosphere now, that it is not so much as considered regrettable. This alone is a proof of the degeneracy incident upon it. And when men do think of it, and try to defend it in arguments called ' Charitable,' their arguments lack charity because they ignore all too patent evils flowing from unwarranted divisions. They are like the so-called ' Charitable views * of unwarranted divorce, which pay great respect to the idiosyncrasies of individuals, but wholly ignore the pitiful plight of children, and the effects upon society." Beyond doubt the prevalence of too much conservatism has been preventing in all Christian countries the most effective work and progress of the church in many ways. Beyond doubt it has been a barrier of no inconsiderable significance to the cause of Christian unity. It is a condition against which many 152 Barriers of the strongest warnings of the Scriptures are given. They are full of calls to activity and progress. The greatest of the prophets voiced the spirit and desire of all the sacred writers in regard to the church, when he cried: "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O arm of the Lord"; "Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion ; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city." The leaders of this conservatism in the churches, and especially in regard to their more perfect unification, are charge- able with ultraism in their attitude toward this question. They regard the divided condition of the church as a mark of progress rather than of decline. They quote and misinterpret the prophet's question, " Can two walk together except they be agreed ? " Instead of recognizing its appeal for harmony they make it a justification for disagreement and separation. The failure to get together has been the source of great harm to many a good cause. Often has it been the source of great evil to the church. To be responsible for the failure to agree upon the things that are most vital and important is to be charge- able with grave and reprehensible guilt. SELFISHNESS LOVE to one's self was recognized as necessary and right by our Lord in His announcement of the great command- ment, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." In this com- mandment He makes the love of self to be the measure and the motive of one's love for his neighbor. Self-love is very es- sential in procuring one's own well being and happiness. It is perfectly compatible with a full sense of justice, righteous- ness, generosity, charity, and all such graces and virtues, as per- tain to the most perfect Christian manhood. Love for one's self is necessary to all effort and use of means for self-protec- tion and self-development. It is the chief underlying motive in providing food, clothing, and shelter and in making needed preparations for any contingency of danger or destruction that may come. The love of self is the source of all personal prog- ress, for without it there would be no desire, no aspiration, and no effort, to improve. It is the first and chief cause of all per- sonal efficiency, since lacking it there would be neither desire nor effort to do any work in an effective and successful way. Self-love is a necessar>' element in fitting men for usefulness in the world, for wanting it there will be no sufficient incentive to serve others, no spirit of helpfulness and faithfulness toward any person, or toward any cause however worthy it might be. Self-love is therefore a natural necessity in human nature and a part of the divine plan for human development. But the great trouble with men is that they permit it to become ex- cessive and abnormal and a source of evil rather than a bless- ing, A limit has been placed upon it by the Great Creator of all things, as well as by the Lord's commandment, and to permit it to go beyond this limit is to enter the pathway of 153 154 Barriers disobedience and to become guilty before God, and in rela- tion to our fellowmen. Since our love of self is to be no greater than our love for our neighbor, the true and proper limit of its scope and exercise are made very plain. To love ourselves so as to seek after our own advancement and interests irrespec- tive of our responsibility to God, and of the claims and rights of our fellowmen, is to be guilty of the sin of selfishness — a sin very far-reaching in its effects and consequences, and fraught with mischief to the cause of Christianity. Selfishness is a very insidious and treacherous sin because of its close relation to self-love, a proper and necessary element in human character. Men and women who are guilty of a very high degree of selfishness still think and claim that they are moved only by a proper love of self in its right exercise and power. They are slow to believe and unwilling to admit that their love of self is in harmful excess of their love toward God and toward men. They claim to act from the worthiest of motives, and no doubt in most cases persuade themselves that they are doing so, although selfishness is securely seated upon the throne of their lives, and determines the character and issue of every thought, aim, and act. It is a sin which others often see in us while we ourselves are utterly oblivious of its existence, and it is a sin very disagreeable and disgusting in others though cherished as a virtue in ourselves. There is so much danger to us all that oft we need to cry with Burns: " O wad some power the giftle gie us To see oursel's as ithers see us. It wad frae mony a burden free us And foolish notion." Selfishness is a voluntary sin in which the will readily makes choice of self as the ruling interest and object in all of life's aims and activities, and therefore is particularly a sin of the Selfishness 155 will in control of the emotions. Christ's great commandment in regard to love of neighbor is willfully set aside and His will in regard to our personal emotions and conduct voluntarily ignored. We are wanting in our respect for His authority over us because of the spirit of disobedience lurking in our wills even more than in our hearts. Our faith in His wisdom and ability to teach us and to show us how to make the most of ourselves is defective, because of the perversity of will by which our lives are ruled. Selfishness is the wayward assump- tion of our own superior wisdom and ability to determine what is best for us and to take care of our own interests. It is a refusal to recognize the claims and rights of others except in so far as they may seem to us to suit our own comfort, con- venience and prospects. It is the voluntary determination to make our own pleasure, happiness, and prosperity, our first and our exclusive concern and care in daily life — even in religious affairs. It is the wilful preeminence of one's own prosperity and advantage as the center and substance of thought, feeling, and aim in all life's activities and efforts. In special relation to the church it is the ready choice of one's own ideals, plans and activities rather than the choice of the ideals, the plans and the activities of the Church's Founder. Thus it becomes a still more serious barrier to the cause of Christian unity because of the perversity of will which it reveals in the arrogant, im- perious and super-sensitive disposition of all such as are under the dominion of its power. Selfishness is a radical, deep-seated sin belonging to and per- vading the innermost recesses of the soul. It is a constitu- tional contagion which infects and debauches every moral power which men possess. It is a vicious propensity in human nature which will vitiate, if permitted, the whole outflow of life. It is a corruption of the moral powers which is closely related to what is generally and popularly called " Original 156 Barriers Sin," which has been described as " a corruption of a man's whole nature." It is the stimulating and efficient cause of many other sins apparently more flagrant than itself and there- fore it is the more dangerous and the more necessary' to be recognized and overcome. It constitutes a large element in all such moral defects as vanity, conceit, pride, envy, jealousy, arrogance, haughtiness, touchiness, irritability, censoriousness, ill will, anger and hate. If it were not for the largeness of the love of self and the smallness of the love of others, such wrong feelings as these would not appear. Jesus fully recog- nized and realized the fundamental nature of this sin of self- ishness and its potenc\' for degradation, injury, and ruin, in human lives when He made its subjugation to be the first con- dition of becoming one of His followers. He imposed this con- dition when He taught, " If any man will come after me, let him deny himself." He saw most clearly how self is always in the way of a full and heart\' acceptance of His gospel, and of Himself as the Lord and Master of the life. He knew full well that if the self was not denied, it would control the heart and will and prevent obedience to His demands and re- quirements in His plan of giving an abundant life. Self- denial is the crucifixion of selfishness. Such crucifixion is necessary-, or selfishness like a treacherous and ferocious beast will lie at the door of men's lives to attack and destroy them. Until the self has been mastered, tamed, and surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ, the desire and purpose to take up one's cross and follow Him will be weak and ineffective. He knew what was in man. One great peril to every Christian comes from his liability to be overtaken by this sin. It is so inherent in human nature to transgress the boundaries of our limitations, and this sin of selfishness is so deceptive, that it is possible for us to profess to have accepted the reign of Christ in our lives, while there Selfishness 157 has been a mental and moral reservation of a large place for self in religion as well as everywhere else. It is possible for professors of religion to be imbued with the idea that the out- ward forms of religion are all that are essential while the inward life may be unchanged. It is possible to think and believe oneself a good and substantial member of the church while this evil of selfishness remains the ruling power in his life and vitiates all his worship and service. It is possible to form a number of religious habits, such as reading the Bible, praying, and going regularly to church, and at the same time to make self the dominant power in all these habits and to think almost exclusively of their reflex influence upon ourselves rather than of the glory of Christ and the good of His Kingdom. It is possible to be robed in ministerial gown and to stand behind the sacred desk, and instead of holding up the ideals and the honor of the Lord Jesus, to seek continually great things for one's self ; and it is possible to be active and in- fluential in the administration of the afFairs of the church of Jesus Christ, and at the same time to seek the honor and the power that comes from men, rather than the honor that comes from God only. There was a son of perdition among the Twelve. The Scribes and Pharisees were religious, but Christ told them that they were hypocrites. Such as these are de- scribed by the Apostle Jude as " hidden rocks in your love- feasts, when they feast with you, shepherds that without fear feed themselves ; clouds without water, carried along by winds ; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wander- ing stars, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been re- served forever" (12, 13). This sin of selfishness is a very harmful and ruinous one whatever position one may assume or whatever claims one may make as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. 158 Barriers Selfishness is the great menace to the unity and progress of everj' congregation, every community', every denomination, the whole body of Christian people. It is a very special danger which is so exceedingly liable to creep into the midst of God's people everywhere and make more or less havoc of the Lord's work by its awakening of envieS; jealousies, suspicions, antip- athies, illwills, strife, contention, division. What a host of congregations have been injured in their work and how many of them ruined by such fruits of selfishness as these! What an injury has been done, for instance, by those common forms of selfishness known as envy and jealousy! These arc futile in themselves and a barrier to everything that is worth while. The person who gives way to envy or jealousy not only fails to achieve any good, but also loses everything of value which might have been won by a spirit of resignation and the will- ingness to be last until called upon to be first. Rare indeed is the church which has not been disturbed and its work injured by jealousy. One member refuses to serve on a reception committee because some other member is chairman. The reception goes on and is a success without him. But his jealousy and refusal to take part cast a shadow over an otherwise perfect evening. This form of selfishness, which seldom effects a change in the plans of others, leads to sulks, and the next step to sulking is unkind criticism, and unkindness cannot go far without becoming untruthful. It is a short course and quickly run, from jealousy to complete loss of spiritual power, and to the loss of the consciousness of God's love. Often the envious or the jealous person has real ability whose benefit the church fails to receive because of his besetting sin. His talents otherwise would have made him very useful and helpful to the church's activities, but his spirit was a cause of weakness rather than his talents a source of power. Selfishness 159 How much the efficiency of many a congregation has been weakened by touchiness, or readiness to take offense, another acute form of selfishness. These " touchy people " are to be found almost everywhere. They are very ready to be of- fended at any apparent sleight or neglect which they may receive at the hand of their fellow Christians. They want some special recognition of their talents and attainments and unless this recognition is promptly given they become incensed and withhold their fellowship and support from the church where they have been offended. Having low standards of Christian duty they readily take umbrage when higher stand- ards are urged upon them. However kind may be any criti- cism or suggestion in regard to some service they may be rendering, they become angry and soon want to sever their connection with those who have awakened their illwill. It has been said, and with a high degree of truthfulness, that the greatest hindrance to the welfare and prosperity of the church is " grouches." How often it occurs that one member will " take a grouch " at another and won't speak, or won't work on some committee, or won't support the church by regular attendance and liberal contributions! This spirit of selfish- ness not unfrequently manifests its presence and power in the disposition to rule or to ruin the work in which the church is engaged. The formation of rival and contentious parties, or groups of members, for the gaining or maintaining of personal and selfish ends has wrought much damage to the unity and to the life and work of many a congregation. O that the depths of the wickedness of this soul-destroying and church-ruining malady might be realized, deplored, and feared as a personal defect by every member in all our congregations! This same evil is a great peril of the church in all its wider and larger aspects. It has often been a fundamental cause of great significance in the formation and preservation of hostile i6o Barriers elements and parties within denominations, as well as of the divisions that have resulted. Many a denomination has been wracked and torn because the spirit of self-interest and selfish personal attachments dominated the minds of those who were seeking some personal advantage. These may possibly have thought, because of their self-righteous opinion of themselves, that they were fighting the battles of the Lord, but others did not fail to see the selfish spirit that was manifest in their contentions. This ensnaring evil of selfishness has been a very effective cause in producing the present divided condition of the church and will remain a potent cause for the continuance of these divisions, or any extension of them which may transpire. Selfishness is sure to have a large place on the one side or the other in every bitter contest and in every separation that divides the church and multiplies denomina- tions. It has wrought much evil in the past, is still a harm- ful power in the present, and will continue in the future to do great injury to individual Christian lives, and to the progress and welfare of the church. It has been a great barrier to the cause of Christian unity among denominations and will hinder the attainment of any greater unity until its true nature is realized, its awful wickedness recognized, and its seductions resisted and overcome. The early Christian Church soon began to be alTected with this evil. A case was quickly discovered which was rebuked and punished in such a way as to manifest the divine dis- pleasure and to cause great fear to come upon all that heard it. In course of time other cases began to arise and were admonished, rebuked, punished. The apostles gave solemn warnings and earnest exhortations in regard to its appear- ance and development in the church. Their teaching and the manifestation of the divine displeasure were effective to a re- markable degree in restraining it in those early days. For Selfishness i6i two or three centuries a high standard of purity and of free- dom from its ruinous ef¥ects gave great prosperity and rapid growth to the church. In those days the evidences of an un- selfish spirit among the followers of Christ were very great and abundant. Gibbon admits this fact. Without material agencies and worldly influences the church founded by Jesus and His apostles grew mightily and prevailed. In the lives, fellowship, and intercourse, of its members there were abound- ing proofs of the power of the gospel to give to men the spirit of self-renunciation and of self-denial, and to deliver them from the reign and ruin of this sin of selfishness. In those days the mission of the church was well wrought out and its blessings multiplied. In like manner throughout the whole history of the organi- zation of God's people the days of greatest prosperity and efficiency in their work has been the days when the spirit of unselfishness most perfectly prevailed. On the other hand their days of greatest weakness and want of power have been the days when the spirit of selfishness was most abounding. Thus it was during the era of the Jewish church. Its days of greatest prosperity and of greatest usefulness and blessing to the people were its days of devotion to the worship of Jehovah and of the mutual goodwill and helpfulness of the people of Jehovah toward one another. Its days of greatest weakness and inability to stand before the face of its enemies were the days in which the chosen people were the most selfish in all their conduct and relationships with men. When the long expected Messiah came the Jewish church was so fully per- vaded with the selfish spirit that it was impossible for Him to change its character and life. While He wept tears of sadness over its lamentable condition. He announced the complete desolation which was soon to come upon it as a judg- ment for its sin. Thus it has been during the era of the Barriers Christian church. Whenever and wherever the spirit of self- ishness gained a strong hold upon the life and the religious activities of its leaders and its people, its moral and spiritual power sadly waned and the fulfillment of its mission miser- ably failed. Whenever and wherever it became revived and reformed in the awakening of a new spirit of obedience to Christ and of brotherhood and service toward man, it be- came a great power in saving and uplifting men, and in bring- ing to them many of the blessings of Christ's Kingdom. Sometimes the organization of a new denomination has been the result of a protest against some form of selfishness in an older church, and when the superior unselfishness of the new organization was obvious to all, it prospered and became a power for righteousness in the world. When in turn it be- came deeply affected with this insidious evil, its tide of pros- perity and power decreased until it reached a low level. Per- haps the older church was led to see the error of its way through the power of the protest which was made against it, and began to cultivate and show a new attitude and spirit of Christian love. Such a change would bring to it a new era of prosperity and power. According to its freedom from this ensnaring and deceptive sin of selfishness has the church at any time and place been most successful and eflFective in the fulfillment of its great mission. Until the present war had made considerable progress the spirit of selfishness was very marked almost everywhere. The disposition to look out very exclusively for number one was very prevalent and multitudes believed this to be the true philosophy of life. But the necessities of the case in this great war are working a great change in the minds of multi- tudes. The spirit of cooperation and a deep feeling of in- terest in the other man or woman have taken deep root. The recognition of human brotherhood and of the solidarity of Selfishness 163 the whole human race has entered the minds of many to re- main. But the age in which we have just been living has been a very selfish age. It was the natural product of the individualism so prevalent in modern times. It has been an age of personal speculation, of the rapid growth of private fortunes, of money madness, of shoddy adulterations, of foolish pride, and of sensuous indulgences. Almost ever>- man has been eagerly seeking his own and not another's wealth, com- fort, progress, pleasure, power, joy, happiness. Many have been delighted to quote the lines: " To thine own self be true; And it must follow as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man," and to see in them the expression of a philosophy which makes self the sole arbiter of life. But a new spirit has arisen. It is a spirit of self-sacrifice and unselfishness. It has shown itself in great perfection on the battlefield, behind the lines, in the place of pestilence and among the starving villages. It has shown itself, too, in a very admirable way in the willing surrender of business interests and of comforts of the home, the giving up of loved ones, and the devotion of time and talent to war work, on the part of millions. A new and remarkable phase of brotherly love and charity has swept over a large part of the world and is being exemplified in a wonderful way. Will this spirit continue to abound after this great war has ended? It is to be hoped that abounding more and more it may last on and on and on. What shall be the ef- fect of this new spirit upon the church? Will it harmonize its parts and bind them into one? It will certainly be helpful to this end. And yet there are some who have not caught this spirit of goodwill and self-denial as it relates to national conditions 164 Barriers and affairs. They are " slackers " in a time of special need. They are unwilling to cooperate and sacrifice for the good of all. The spirit of self-interest continues to dominate their lives, and they make themselves a special hindrance to their country's cause and to the good of all humanity. And thus most likely it will be until the war is ended when their self- ishness will still remain a menace to some other cause. And thus it is and will be in the church. There are and will be those who put their selfish interests, desires, and aims above those of all others. They are not moved by love and gen- erosity to seek the general good. Their pride of opinion in regard to some particular views, their unreasonable attach- ment to some particular denomination, their special zeal for the particular organization to which they belong, and kindred selfish motives, makes them a positive menace to the larger interests and welfare of the whole body of Christian believers. All such are a special hindrance to the cause of greater unity. It is specially predicted that in the last days this evil shall abound. " But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self " (I Tim. 3: i, 2). These lovers of self are also charged with a long catalogue of other and kindred evil qualities which are sure to follow in its wake. Among other things they will have " a form of godliness " whose power they deny. They will be active members of the church and very observant of certain religious rites and forms, while the love of self will be the ruling pas- sion of their lives. The last days are not yx fully past. No doubt this prediction has already been fulfilled, and possibly many times, but has an application yet to come. This predic- tion contains a solemn warning to be on guard against the beginning and growth of any undue love of self. The present check on selfishness, caused by the great demands growing out of the world's greatest war, may cease ere long to have Selfishness 165 its force and new forms and more intense energ>' in the mani- festation of self-love may arise. Being so native to the human heart and so insidious in the gaining of its power, it is liable to become a dominating factor in men's lives at almost any time and to become a great barrier to the church's progress. I Dr. Horatius Bonar once had a dream, it is said, in which the angels took his religious zeal and weighed it in the balance. It was full weight, plump one hundred. He was very much pleased. But when they began to analyze it in various ways, they found that fourteen parts of it were selfishness; fifteen parts sectarianism ; twenty-two parts ambition ; and that only three parts of it were pure love to man and only four parts of it pure love to God. It became to him a matter of great concern that only seven parts out of one hundred in his devo- tion to Christian service were truly and purely good. This dream is very suggestive, to say the least, of every Christian's personal danger and of the place possible to selfishness in our denominational zeal. SECTARIANISM OVE of one's own church is natural and right. Such childhood into youth and from youth into manhood and womanhood. It is first given to one's teacher and class in the Bible School, and later to the congregation in which one is reared. The persons, the place, and the forms of worship and service become the objects of affection. As the circle of acquaintance widens to the people and activities of other churches holding the same particular views and having the same forms of worship denominational love is awakened and developed. And why not? To every Christian the church with which his life has been associated has been the source of many blessings. It has secured for him his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ and been to him the means of developing his best and noblest affections and aspirations. It has inspired within him his worthiest purposes and aims. It has stimulated the best activities of his mind and heart and given impetus and direction in the formation of his purest and most refined tastes. It has provided him with uplifting social advantages and opportunities and been an elevating influence in the de- velopment of his social nature and qualities. The responsive- ness of his whole mental and moral nature prompts him to the indulgence of a strong affection for the institution which brings to him so many blessings. Besides, the Scriptures teach that love for the church is an important Christian duty, and it is in the natural order of development to love first that particular part of the church which we have come to know. Continued intercourse, fellowship, and instruction, in any church are suited to produce attachment to its special forms of worship, grows as one passes from i66 Sectarianism 167 its special type of Christian character, its special methods of administration, and its particular forms of doctrine and belief. The knowledge of its struggles, its victories, and its heroes in past generations will insure increased devotion to its cause and interests. But there are limitations to this love. It may become ab- normal, unreasonable, selfish, narrow, and unchristian. It is a most excellent and commendable affection when it is modi- fied and moulded by the presence and power of other kindred affections as grev. or greater than itself. But unless it is so modified and m julded it will become sectarian and hence one- sided and narrow in its range of application. For what is sectarianism but excessive and unbalanced love for one's own denomination irrespective of the worthy characteristics and rights of all others? What is it but immoderate and undue adherence to some particular statement or formula of religious teaching? What is it but immoderate devotion to a particular group and type of Christian worshippers and workers? What is it but excessive allegiance to some particular form of church government, when the special advocates of other forms can, to their own satisfaction, prove them to be in harmony with the teaching of the Scriptures? What is it but a special form of selfishness which readily manifests itself in denominational pride and vainglory? What is it but undue devotion to some segregated part of Christ's body which has cut itself off and remains cut off from the rest of the body? It is sometimes characterized by a positive dislike and antagonism to other parts of the whole body and especially those parts which most seem to interfere with its own desires and efforts. It leads every sect to live for itself and is not so much concerned about the welfare of the community in which it is established or is striving to establish itself as about its own advancement. It is sometimes ready to employ the most questionable methods and Barriers plans for the gaining of some special advantage and power over the other denominations in the same community. It not infrequently lays great stress upon those qualities and instru- mentalities by which popularity and material gains can be secured, rather than upon the things most fundamental to Christ's Kingdom. It too often inspires and uses means to gain new members from other churches that are worthy of the gravest censure. Ardent sectarians are ever ready to justify the existence of divisions. They have always claimed that such divisions are necessary for the peace of the church, that the only way to stop and prevent strife and bitter contentions is by separation. No doubt church quarrels are among the bitterest of quarrels. No doubt the opposition and antagonism often becomes intense and violent. But does separation and division stop the strife and contention and bring peace? What does the past show? Does it not show that peace gained in this way is very brief and uncertain? Does it not show that the struggle in many cases merely changes its location and becomes a struggle with another denomination rather than a struggle within itself? Separation does not stop the spirit of strife and contention. This spirit, which ought to be entirely foreign to the church becomes interdenominational rather than intradenominational. Thus it has proceeded until we have in America enough divi- sions to insure perfect peace if this were the right way to secure it. But it has failed, miserably failed, as a peace measure. It has rather multiplied and intensified the outward causes and occasions of contest and strife. What is needed is not separation and division but a new spirit of love and forbearance. Besides, differences as great as many that have caused division often exist within denominations. In most of them such differences are found, but are so modified, moder- ated, and restrained as to prevent separation. The claim that Sectarianism 169 division is justifiable as a means of gaining peace is fallacious. It only means a drawn battle to be resumed in interdenomina- tional strife. The true panacea is that love that " suffereth long and is kind." Another claim of the sectarians is that denominations are necessary to the maintenance of creeds. They are wont to assert that distinctive creeds could not be formed and ef- fectively propagated without the existence of an organized denomination to back and defend them. But is it so? Are there not creeds formulated and propagated effectively with- out denominational backing and support? As an instance take the creed of premillennialism. This creed has been fully formulated and very effectively propagated within all the denominations and without denominational support and promo- tion. Another instance is that of the new theology. Its creed has been propagated in every denomination rather than in one, though gaining more rapidly in some than in others. Another instance is the creed of evolution in relation to theological belief and statement. Believers in the theory and creed of evolution are found in every denomination and no one sect is exclusively devoted to its support and advancement. Such instances show the fallacy of the claim that denominations are necessary for the support and defense of creeds. In addition, there is the fact that there are very few ministers or members who accept, support, and defend, the whole of their denomina- tional creed. They find some part or parts of it out of har- mony with their belief. They find enough of it which they are ready to support to make for them a working basis, prob- ably the best for them to be found anywhere, and continue earnest workers for the cause of Christ. Another claim of the ardent sectarians, closely related to the last, is that denominations are necessary to secure fidelity to the truth. It is inevitably assumed by them that the truth I70 Barriers for which the denomination assumes to stand is very important and needs to be especially emphasized. But all essential truth is non-denominational. It belongs exclusively to no one sect, but is the property of all. The interpretations for which de- nominations stand are merely personal or group opinions about the truth and are not necessarily the truth itself. These inter- pretations are not essential to salvation. Men, women, and children are being saved in all the churches, irrespective of their denominational affiliations, which could not be the case if the acceptance of any particular denominational standard is essential to salvation. These particular beliefs about the truth no doubt are very helpful to the Christians who accept them in living the Christian life, but the salvation of these believers does not depend upon their attachment and allegiance to any, or to all of these beliefs. Besides, the sectarian's view of truth is only partial. He fastens his mind upon some special phase or view of truth and so neglects every other phase that he is liable to get only a distorted and imperfect apprehension of its full meaning and compass. The truth which he seems to see is not the whole truth but a partial and too often a perverted view of it, so that the sectarian as a defender and propagator of the truth is a failure, and often a very harmful one. Another claim of the ardent sectarian is that denominations produce a healthy rivalry which is good for the cause of Christianity. They assume that, according to an old business maxim which teaches that competition is the life of trade, competition is conducive to the growth and welfare of the church. But they forget that in the business world there are various grades and kinds of competition and that theories of competition have been greatly modified during these later years. There have been kinds of competition in business that were very ruinous and it is very questionable whether any kind has been highly beneficial. So it has been in the church. Sectarianism 171 Methods and kinds of competition too often employed in the church have been too much like the " cut throat competition " of former business times and have wrought much harm to all concerned. And it is very doubtful whether any kind of competition among the churches can be looked upon as really beneficial. At least such competition as awakens pride and vainglory on the one hand or jealousy and envy on the other is injurious. And such has been the kind too commonly in vogue. The efforts among the churches to get the new families which move into their community are not merely strenuous, but often very unbecoming and reproachful to the cause of Christianity. Every possible method which the in- genuity of man can invent is employed to gain such families. Another claim is that the divisions of the churches are like the divisions of an army which are necessary to its control and efficiency. But there are marked and serious differences be- tween the divisions of an army and the divisions of the church. The army is a unit in regard to its highest visible authority and control. It is a unit, too, in regard to its local organi- zation and action. The church is divided in its general ad- ministration and in its local control and action. These two points of difference are radical and show the fallacy of the comparison of the divisions of the church to the divisions of an army. To be like the divisions of an army the divisions of the church must be under one visible controlling power and be a unit in its local organization and effort. As it is now every community is an uncertain mixture of several sects and no one denomination has any direction of the work of an- other. It may be willing to receive greetings and suggestions from another, but feels its independence in regard to the ad- ministration of its own affairs, and with reference to its own interests. An army constructed on this plan could have no great efficiency, and its success against a well organized army 172 Barriers would be impossible. It would be fitted only for guerrilla warfare. The greater unity of the church in harmony with the real unity of an effective and victorious army in both its general and local authority and administration would greatly increase the church's efficiency and success. Another claim of the ardent sectarian is that denominations are essential to liberty of conscience on the part of many de- voted and earnest Christians. In the name of liberty of con- science one denomination after another has been formed until the number of them is almost a host. In every case has been the assumption that conscience must be free in every particular in order that worship may be true and uplifting. Here is the conjunction of two very important things: namely, liberty and conscience, whose right adjustment to each other may be difficult but not impossible. The Bible teaches that true liberty consists in doing what is right and not in doing what we will. Conscience is the faculty which tells us what is right. Hence liberty and conscience are rightly joined in both the theory and practice of Christian duty. But the difficulty is in the waverings of conscience and at the same time the desire to do our own will rather than what is right. Our consciences are very important guides, but are not in- fallible as such. They are very much like the mariner's com- pass which is a very necessary guide in the sailing of the ocean, but which occasionally needs verification and correction. Many a vessel has gone wrong and been doomed because its compass was untrue and many a soul hc.s gone wrong and lost the way because its conscience was not true to right and wrong. The verification of the compass is a matter of serious importance in navigation. " The vessel is moored, and by means of warps to certain government buoys, she is placed with her head toward the various points of the compass, one after another. The bearing of her compass on board, in- Sectarianism 173 fluenced as that is by the attraction of the iron she carries, is taken accurately by one observer in the vessel, and the true bearing is signalled to him by another observer on the shore, who has a compass out of reach of the local attraction of the ship. The error in each position is thus ascertained, and the necessary corrections are made." A process something like this is very necessary in the verification of every man's con- science as the guide of his barque in sailing on the sea of life. It is worthy of note that one compass is used to verify an- other and that the one used to make the correction is the one free from the influences which surround the other and cause it to err. The vessel's compass is uncertain because of the material on board. This is just what happens to the con- science. It is always liable to be deflected from the right by the materialistic state and condition of its surroundings in human nature, and often is greatly deflected from the meridian of truth by these surroundings. Every man's con- science is readily affected by his disposition, his aspirations and ambitions. Pride of opinion often has much to do with the peculiar vigor and stress of its demands, and the course to which it urges, while the man who is following its guidance is blind to its errors. The lust of leadership has a very subtile, insidious, and injurious effect upon the nature of its guidance in relation to religious matters as well as elsewhere. The thirst for influence and power is full of potency to de- flect the conscience and make it harmonize with its demands. It is a clear and open fact that every man's conscience is af- fected very much by what his tastes, attachments, aims, and aspirations are in life and in relation to the church. How necessary, therefore, it becomes that he should seek its veri- fication before he starts on any particular and important course of action in relation to his own life and in his relation to the church! This is done by testing it with other consciences 174 Barriers that are free from the deflecting influences with which his is surrounded, — the consciences of the best and most unbiased minds, the consciences that are truest to the great Polestar of all religious truth, the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition to this deviation of the conscience from the meridian of righteousness the will of every man is liable to become more or less perverted, and often, indeed, becomes so. Men not only err in vision, but often will to do so. They re- fuse all methods of verifying their conscientious convictions, but persist in their demands that these convictions are right and must be recognized. An erring conscience and perverted will can work much havoc in the name of liberty. How true the words of Madame Roland: "O liberty! liberty! how many crimes have been committed in thy name ! " Both the deviation of the conscience and the perversity of the human will are fully recognized in the Scriptures. They point out that some consciences are weak, some ignorant, some seared, some evil, and some defiled, while others are pure, and good, and void of ofFense. They also teach us to respect the consciences of other men and to refrain from demanding liberty of conscience in our religious conduct when the con- sciences of others may be wronged. It is very significant that liberty of conscience for ourselves is the very thing we are taught not to demand when it is at variance with the con- sciences of others. And yet this is the very thing that is de- manded when such liberty is made the ground of separation, and of a new denomination. The testing and verifying of our own with the consciences of others involves an appeal to rea- son, that king of all our faculties, and to the Holy Spirit whose special mission it is to give enlightenment and guidance to those who seek sincerely and earnestly to find the right inter- pretation of the Scriptures and to discover the right pathway in all religious duties. This verification will involve the at- Sectarianism 175 titudc of our mind and heart toward the teaching of God's word and the mission of the Holy Spirit in regard to Christian unity and toward the importance and excellence of those graces and virtues which make for such unity. In view of all this, the theory, that liberty of conscience is a just ground for the divisions of the church, is seen to be fallacious. It assumes that the consciences of those who plan and perpetuate divisions on this claim are always right and that their wills are free from all perversion in their claim of liberty. This is too great an assumption. The errancy and frailty of human nature makes it so. Having seen that the special claims of the ardent sectarian are rather fallacious, it may be well to note that there are a number of possible injuries that may arise from his principle and practice of unduly magnifying and exalting denomina- tional interests, and to enumerate a few of them. These pos- sibilities of harm are varied, serious, and extensive. They re- late both to the individual and to the church, and have often been manifested in the histor>' of denominations. They show the danger and the evil of making sectarianism prominent in the life and work of any church. The harmful tendency of such a course is suggested by the following particulars: 1. It is conducive to the growth of selfishness in the life of every member. It has a philosophy of selfishness which per- vades the minds of all who come under its influence. It causes them to magnify their own group interests at the expense of all others, however worthy and honorable the others may be. It inspires them to seek their own comfort, enjoyment, and advantage irrespective of the welfare of others, or perhaps in antagonism to this welfare. It makes them willing to injure and destroy the prospects of other denominations for sake of some real or supposed advantage to their own. 2. It has been very frequently the source of contention and 176 Barriers strife. The selfish feelings it is likely to awaken are sure to find expression in unbecoming Christian conduct. Words will be spoken and criticisms made which are fitted to engender more ill-feeling. Things are quite likely to be done that awaken opposition and provoke enmity and the community is filled with contention and strife over disputed religious beliefs and practices. The peace of many a village, town, and community, has been greatly disturbed and destroyed by such strife. It is not nearly so prevalent these later years as it was in former times, and yet there is enough of it in various places to show that its spirit has not changed. Strong sectarianism is still the promotor of suspicion and illwill. 3. It destroys spirituality and unfits men to be spiritual leaders and guides. Being a particular form of selfishness which leads to contention and strife among those who ought to live as brethren, it diminishes and destroys that spiritual- mindedness which is the essence of true religion and robs the spiritual affections of their purity and power. It prevents all possibility of any great revival. It makes worship to be the formal following of ritual, or regular order and ceremony without much thought of the presence of God or a spirit of obedience to His will. Worshippers whose hearts are domi- nated by the spirit of sectarianism are not in good condition to be moved by the gospel of love and goodwill. The condi- tion of their minds prevents the noblest thoughts and the awakening of the liighest and best aims. The indulgence of their own tastes, notions, and attachments, supplants their obedience to Jesus' two great commandments of love. 4. Intense sectarianism has the power to blind the reason and judgment to the whole of truth. It takes some portion or portions of the Scriptures and decides upon its meaning and right interpretation irrespective of the reasoning ability and the judgment of a multitude of other Christian people who Sectarianism 177 differ from its view. It seeks to prevent the consideration of any other view than the one it has prescribed and thus nar- rows the mind to a particular groove and prevents the possi- ble apprehension of the whole truth. While it puts forth a strong claim of superiority in judgment and opinion on re- ligious matters, it is too often in reality a limitation of the power of reason and judgment, and an incubus upon their full- est and best activity. Saul of Tarsus is a good illustration of its blinding power. As a thorough sectarian he thought he was doing God service, he aftenvards declared, when he was persecuting the followers of Christ. He was familiar with the Scriptures, but his interpretation of them was according to the teaching of his sect, and he was blinded to their true purport and meaning. The same was true of all the Pharisees whom Jesus told that they were blind leaders of the blind. 5. Excessive devotion to any one denomination has subtile power to awaken prejudice against other denominations. As soon as any one's devotion becomes exceedingly zealous for his own, he is easily persuaded that the people of other denomina- tions are deficient in some special and important religious qualities which he and his co-religionists possess. He begins to judge them as inferior in knowledge, wisdom, and spiritual discernment. He is soon disposed to regard them as wanting in some important graces and virtues. He readily places a low estimate upon the value and significance of their efforts. Shortly he is ready to treat their special views as very trifling and unworthy of any serious consideration. It readily prompts him to cherish a low appreciation of all their special forms of worship and all their methods of Christian work. It soon gives bias to his judgment in regard to their special types of Christian manhood and womanhood. 6. Sectarian zeal readily engenders sectarian pride. Not unfrequently has it led the members of some denomination 178 Barriers or other into the persuasion that they were the very best people of the land, the very salt of the earth. In their active devotion to denominational interests they came to feel that their church was much better than any other and to be puffed up with an exalted idea if its importance and value above others to the cause of Christianity in the world. It has a tendency to make them conceited in, their own ecclesiastical opinions and to awaken the assumption of a superior degree of attainment in the power of spiritual discernment. If often induces men to think that they are righteous above others and to claim by act, if not by word, their superiority in the possession of Christian qualities. Intense sectarianism readily creates the presumption that adherence to some certain form of worship is evidence of greater loyalty to the truth and a more perfect spirit of obedience to its requirements than is possible otherwise and that those who give this adherence are more worthy and more per- fect. It readily leads to the unwarranted assumption that special goodness and worth are attached to the holding of some certain divisive belief, or the maintenance of some divisive practice among the followers of Christ. 7. Sectarianism discredits the divine origin of the church. It gives to the church the appearance and characteristics of an institution that is very human. It is the cause of that divided state and condition of the church which causes men to ques- tion its heavenly origin. The average man of the world is more conscious of its divisions than almost any other feature. To him the various churches are a crowd of rivals whose dif- ferences may be important, but whose efforts are strikingly competitive. The keenness of their competition and the worldliness of many of their methods lead him to look upon the church as an intensely human institution, whatever its claims may be as to its origin. Observing the spirit and methods of the various churches as competitors in seeking the Sectarianism 179 goodwill and support of the community, he comes to look on them in very much the same light as he does on rival agencies and organizations of other kinds. Even church people often seem to be most deeply impressed with its human characteristics and to lose sight of its divine origin and mission. In the rivalries that it engenders they come to think of themselves as Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, et cetera, rather than as members of the body of Christ. 8. It stultifies all claims of Christian unity. It advocates the necessity of different denominations and seeks the perpetua- tion of those already existing. The existence of these denom- inations with all their rivalries and efforts to surpass each other, is a striking and forcible manifestation of difference and diversity rather than of unity. In the face of this manifesta- tion it is difficult for many to see and believe that there is any unity among them. The claim of a vital spiritual unity is questioned. The wise man of the world reasons that spiritual unity ought to produce effects and that these effects ought to become visible. He does not see such effects as are sufficient to persuade him that such unity exists, but he sees such con- ditions in the churches as persuade him that the unity among them is very limited and uncertain. 9. Sectarianism detracts from the value of all religious work. It introduces a narrow and selfish motive. It prompts the worker to seek the advancement of his church's interests and honor rather than the interests and honor of Christ's Kingdom. It makes him more anxious to build up a church than to win souls for Christ and build them up in Him. When a Christian worker is known to be a zealous sectarian he fails to influence men for good as otherwise he would do. They come to look on him as actuated by unworthy aims and take little notice of his suggestions and appeals. The zealous sectarian breeds suspicion, too, that all Christian workers are i8o Barriers much affected by selfish motives and thus he diminishes the power and value of their work. 10. It produces an unyielding spirit. It makes many members of every denomination unready to give up their own. They are anxious for church union, but want the other churches to unite with theirs. They are unwilling to meet the other churches half way, or any part of the way, but de- mand that others shall come the whole way. This unyielding spirit, found to a greater or a less degree in all the churches, causes them to appear absurdly inconsistent in the effort to win men to Jesus Christ. Their appeal to men to be submissive to the will and ordinances of God is weakened and made in- effective by their own evident want of a submissive spirit. Is it any wonder that many of our churches are making no progress? Is it strange that many a church goes through the forms of worship and Christian work for a whole year with- out a single convert? 11. It is wasteful of resources. The resources of every com- munity available for the work of the church are limited in their amount and application. The best use of these resources re- quires that there be neither unnecessary duplication nor re- duplication in their use, which cannot be escaped in their di- vided use by several churches. These duplications and re- duplications often use up the resources of both men and means which are greatly needed for the amplification, systemization, and more perfect accomplishment of the work. It sometimes takes workers away from their own community where their help is greatly needed to some other community and thus in some measure dissipates their usefulness. 12. It degrades the cause of Christianity. It lowers the spirit and aim of Christian worship and service. It limits the variety of form and manner in which inspiring and uplifting worship may be rendered. It transmutes service for the glory Sectarianism i8i of God and the good of man into service for the glorj'^ of some church and the good of a particular set of people. It debases love for the house of God, the worship of God, and the people of God into love for a sectarian building, particular forms of worship, and a special type of Christian manhood and woman- hood. It fixes the mind, heart, and will, upon the external forms of worship and service rather than upon their inward spirit. Here are one dozen charges against sectarianism and still others might be added. These will suffice to help us see how great a multitude of evils are found to flow readily from an excessive devotion to some particular denomination and an in- temperate zeal for its cause. All these growths are not ap- parent and equally abundant in every congregation and de- nomination. Indeed, in most cases these later years these growths have been greatly checked and brought under more or less control. But these are true samples of its real prod- ucts. It has produced these evils in the past and is still doing so to a greater or a less degree. They show its natural tendency and legitimate effects when it has gained an ascendency of power in the churches. Some of these products are always to be seen and the crop is liable to become abundant unless rooted up and overcome by the faithful and effective cultivation of those products in the churches that are good and true. In Dr. Bonar's dream, referred to on preceding pages, the angels proved to him that his religious zeal and devotion were considerably tinctured with sectarianism. He was made to realize that its presence and power was a serious drawback to the purity of his zeal and devotion. He was much humiliated by his realization of its place and effects upon his life and work. He was distressed that there was so much in his re- ligious activities that did not proceed from pure love to God and man. What shall the angels find when they come to Barriers visit us? Shall they find the sectarian spirit to be a large ele- ment in our zeal and devotion to His Church? Our Savior would not have it so. He wants a bigger and a better love for His church than is possible to the sectarian. He wants a love for it that rises above all narrow limitations of the sectarian spirit. He wants a love for it that is kindred to His own. AMBITION MBITION is lust for honor, power, fame,. It is the .XjL special vice of many noble minds. It is a most seductive vice to many Christian people and has had much to do with the creation and perpetuation of divisions in the church of Christ. In Dr. Bonar's dream ambition was shown to be a large element — the largest single element of all — in his zeal for Christian service. Without doubt it has sadly tainted the devotion of many a Christian worker whose great endeavor was to build up some sect more than to build up the Kingdom of God. Ambition is a sin that dates back to the beginning of time. It was " the sin by which the angels fell." It was the sin of Cain who was so ambitious to surpass his brother Abel that when he failed he slew him. It was the sin of Aaron and Miriam when they spake against Moses and called down upon themselves the vengeance of Jehovah. This was the sin of Korah, Dathan and Abiram when they were swallowed up by the earth. This was the sin of Absolom who rose up against his father, David, and of David when he tried to find our his strength for war by numbering the people. This was the sin of Solomon when he married many a princess of foreign lands and multiplied horses contrary to the commandment. This was the sin of Jereboam, the son of Nebat, who taught Israel to sin. This was the sin of Jehoiakim who sought great things for himself. Our blessed Savior did not escape its temptation. In the wilderness Satan came to hiiti and took him up to the mountain top and showed him all the kingdoms of this world, and prom- 183 Barriers ised to give them all on condition that He would fall down and worship him. But He thrust away the tempter with the sword of the Spirit. Two of His disciples were yielding to this sin when they asked from Him a seat, one on His right hand and the other on His left hand, in His Kingdom. He re- buked them for their ambitious aims and pointed out that such aims were not compatible with the nature and work of His Kingdom. Jotham's parable is a warning against the danger of this sin. It represents the bramble as the ambitious one among the trees of the field. Zophar says of the ambitious man, " Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds, he shall perish forever " (Job 20: 6, 7). The Psalmist says that the ambitious man is " like the beasts that perish" (Ps. 49: 12). The prophets warn against ambi- tion. Jesus warns against it. Those that are ambitious for the " uppermost rooms " and the " chief seats " are condemned by Him. To those who are ambitious for power and wealth He offers the Socratic question : " What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own life" (Matt. 16:26). Ambition has wrought great evil in the affairs of state. The Earl of Strafford spoke out of his own experience, when in making his address just before going to the block, he said: " Amongst other things which pollute and contaminate the minds of great spirits there is none more heinous than ambition, which is seldom unaccompanied with avarice." Benjamin Franklin was well aware of the nature and power of ambition when he pointed out to the convention that was assembled to frame our national constitution the dangers of a salaried bureaucracy. In his address before that convention, he said : " Sir, there are two passions which have a powerful influence A mbition 185 in the affairs of men. These are ambition and avarice ; the lo\e of power and the love of money. Separately, each of these has great force in prompting men to action ; but, when united in view of the same object, they have, in many minds, the most violent effects. Place before the eyes of such men a post of honor, that shall, at the same time, be a place of profit, and they will move heaven and earth to obtain it." In his address at Edinburgh University on his installation as Lord Rector the famous essayist, historian and moralist, Thomas Carlyle, said : " On the whole, avoid what is called ambition ; that is not a fine principle to go upon, — and has in it all degrees of vulgar- ity, if that is a consideration. ' Seekest thou great things, seek them not: ' I warmly second that advice of the wisest of men. Don't be ambitious; don't too much need success; be loyal and modest. Cut down the proud towering thoughts that get into you, or see that they be pure as well as high. There is a nobler ambition than the gaining of all California would be, or the getting of all the suffrages that are on the planet just now." The following lines of N. P. Willis are pertinent: " How like a mounting devil in the heart Rules the unreined Ambition ! Let it once But play the monarch, and its haughty brow Glows with a beauty that bewilders thought And unthrones peace forever. Putting on The very pomp of Lucifer, it turns The heart to ashes." Ambition has wrought great evil in the church as well as in the state. Its nature and effects are the same wherever they are found. It is as a churchman that Cardinal Wolsey ad- dressed his servant Cromwell and thus points out the ruinous character of this sin: Barriers " Mark but my fall, and that that ruined me. Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition, By that sin fell the angels; how can man then, The image of his Maker, hope to win by it? Love thyself last ; cherish those hearts that hate thee ; Corruption wins not more than honesty." Ruskin's last words in his " Modern Painters," are of special significance to Christian workers: He says: " So far as you desire to possess rather than to give: so far as you look for power to command instead of to bless; ... so long as the hope before you is for supremacy instead of love; and your desire is to be greatest instead of least — first instead of last, — so long are you serving the Lord of all that is last, and least; the last enemy that shall be destroyed — Death ; and you shall have death's crown, with the worm coiled in it; and death's wages, with the worm feeding on them." What student of church history does not realize that ambi- tion has had much to do with the controversies and divisive movements which have befallen the Christian Church in all the past? In every age there have been men who greatly coveted the power of leadership and would compass sea and land to gain their purposes. The desire to be first and greatest was the power that fanned the flame of controversy to its greatest height and sometimes produced division. To be sure there was some bone of contention — some interpretation of Scripture words or phrases, or some speculative doctri.ie — but the thirst for power played a considerable part in the contest. The de- sire for supremacy became so strong sometimes as to incite to the most cruel and atrocious deeds. Men who were under its sway became the most hard-hearted and designing of men. The individualism of the Protestant churches and of modern times has been very stimulating to the spirit of ambition. It has created a wide spirit of independence and encouraged many A mbition 187 a man to think that he was born to rule. It has awakened the thirst for power in a great many minds and has been a special cause in the creation of new denominations and in the perpetuation of those already in existence. Intense individual- ism awakens ambition in the mind and prompts the expression and defense of personal opinion. It suggests separate organi- zation to propagate opinion and to furnish opportunity and oc- casion for leadership. Ambitious leaders expect and soon gain a following, for " There is no nonsense so transparent, no crotchet so ridiculous, no system so unreasonable, that it cannot find advocates and disciples." This has been a source of much trouble in many a con- gregation, causing its division into factions, its contentions and quarrels, and possibly its separation into two congregations or denominations. The determination to have one's way, and to create a following to secure it, has been the ruin of many a congregation. Selfish ambition is a great barrier to the wel- fare of any congregation, community, denomination, of the church at large, of the cause of union. But it can be removed if Christian men will only recognize its Satanic nature and sin- fulness and turn their backs upon it. Let them recognize its insidious and evil nature and patiently and persistently seek deliverance from its guilt and power. MILITANCY *T LIKE to read something that has fight in it," is the way ■■■ a small boy described the kind of reading he enjoyed. " I'd just give him a good whack," is the way another small boy indicated his possession of the same combative instinct on being told about the meanness of the devil. Sometimes the boy as he grows older gets to feel that he " would rather fight than eat." It is the nature of the boy to be combative. Mr. Henty and other popular writers of stories for boys have recognized this tendency in human nature. The average boy loves to play soldier and imagine himself to be the triumphant victor over strong and powerful enemies. This boyish tendency is sometimes carried into manhood and forward through the years. Some grown people seem to love contention and to be on the lookout for opportunities to have it. They are verj' ready to challenge the position or the rights of others and very aggressive in the defense and ad- vancement of their own personal interests, or of those with whom they are identified. Many think this to be the proper way to live. They believe in standing up for yourself and in taking care of number one with great promptness and vigor. They believe in being combative and in the ready use of ma- terial and worldly forces for personal ends and those of their group. The combative instinct in human nature is one that needs restraint and control rather than free exercise and scope. Both wisdom and religion teach the value of such restraint and control. It was a wise man who gave the proverb: " He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that i88 Militancy ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." It is the mission of the church by the precept and example of its people to teach men such restraint and control. The spirit of Christianity is one of mastery over the militant spirit. It has a special work in the subjugation and management of the combative disposi- tion, and in directing its energies against the things that are really harmful and ruinous. The Christian man or woman who has the militant spirit in regard to selfish interests, whether they be personal, or group interests, is yet in the early childhood of religious experience. It is natural for us to want our own way and to have people think as we think, and it is not always easy to accord to them a similar right. The kind of means which we are ready to employ in the enforcement of our opinions and views on others will depend upon our cultivated disposition, whether it be Christian and therefore reasonable, or militant and violent. The combative disposition sees little value in the mild methods taught by Christ, has little confidence in their efficiency, and thinks their range of application exceedingly limited. The more combative our disposition the more ready we are to use the kinds of worldly force the people of the world uphold and applaud. Our bent of mind is sure soon to manifest itself in outward action. We readily resort to such measures as we think are necessary to gain our ends and enforce our opinions. The more militant our spirit the more readily we grasp those agencies of force which are the instruments of violence and pain. Undoubtedly it is right and proper to want our own way and to have others think as we think, when we are sure that we are right. Moreover, we must accord to them the same right. This right to bring others to our ways of thinking is inherent in the nature of things. It is essential to every kind of human development and progress. It underlies the Barriers great work of the church in teaching men about God and His plan of salvation through Jesus Christ. It is basic to the whole work of education. It is fundamental to the existence and power of any kind of civil government. It is natural for us to think more of our own opinions than other people's and to want other people to accept our views, and it is right to do so with proper modesty and force. It is not a question of the right to try to bring others to our ways of thinking: it is a question of the kind of means to be employed in doing it. Som.e means are always commendable and right, others de- pend upon conditions and their application for their rightness, and still others are always wrong. The kind of force appropriate to the church in the accom- plishment of its work and in the management of its affairs, has been quite fully indicated by its Founder and His apostles. The means to be employed by it and by its members in their intercourse and work on its behalf are the impelling power of the truth, the force of reason, the potency of love, the in- fluence of kindness, the gracious effects of gentleness, and all such spiritual forces as are kindred to these. The Apostle Paul says: " The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds." His Christian armor in the Sixth of Ephesians is wholly spiritual. These spiritual forces like sunlight are very mild and gentle in their application but very effective in the final outcome of their work. Whatever real progress the church has ever made in the accomplishment of its own particular work in the build- ing up of society, has been secured through the power of these forces. But the church has not always kept itself within the range of the forces bestowed upon it by its Founder. It has often resorted to the use of kinds of force from which it was pro- Militancy 191 hibited, and has as often failed to employ the kinds that were bestowed upon it for its use. It has often made " war accord- ing to the flesh." In certain past ages it has adopted the most violent and cruel measures for the enforcement of its plans and purposes. Too often in its history the sword has been the symbol of its power and its instrument in the enforcement of its theories and opinions upon those who were of a different persuasion. The defense of the faith has too often meant the purpose and the effort to compel by violence the acceptance of certain theological formulas and definitions. In the effort to enforce these opinions the rack, the gibbet, the fagot, the prison, and the sword, have very frequently been used. The church itself has very often been the author and the agent of the direst persecutions. Thousands upon thousands of people have been put to death because their religious opinions and faith were different. It makes one very sad to think of the un- speakable cruelties which a wrong theory of force has wrought within the church, where it should never have been permitted to come. In modern times the recovery from this great apostasy of former generations in the use of violent force has not yet been made complete and perfect. Though great progress has been made in this recovery, there is still too much manifestation of the militant spirit in all the churches. The severe and cruel measures of former times have passed, but means that are questionable and are indicative of a spirit of worldly antago- nism are still in vogue in many places. Many of the efforts to gain the crowd are very selfish and have in them the element of cruelty toward other churches. Some of the competitive measures of modern churches are very much out of harmony with the kind of forces with which the church was endowed in its beginning. The strenuous efforts sometimes employed 192 Barriers to gain advantages over other churches and to hinder axid de- stroy their influence for good in the community necessarily come under the head of militancy. Even in civil and political affairs men are wont to recognize the limitations of compulsory agencies in the enforcement of civic and national ideals. As a nation we are very much op- posed to the ideas of militarism that have prevailed in Ger- many, and along with other nations are protesting with our might against any expansion, or even the continuance, of this militaristic ideal of force. We are fighting to rid the world of the theory that might is right. We want all mankind to realize that there are necessary and vital limitations to the kinds and degrees of force which nations may employ in the prosecution of their aims. It is certainly fitting that the nations should all be made to recognize these limitations and act ac- cordingly. It is also fitting that the church should recognize the limitations of the forces which it can rightly employ in the accomplishment of its work and aims. The failure of the church to recognize these limitations and to confine itself to the use of such spiritual forces as were bestowed upon it, has probably been due to a want of clear distinction between the respective functions of church and state. That there is a marked distinction is indicated by the Great Head of the church when He said to Pilate: " My Kingdom is not of this world: if my Kingdom were of this world, then would my servants (or officers) fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my Kingdom not from hence " (John i8: 36). In these words Jesus recognizes the right of civil and political government to the support and defense of its citizens by the sword, but denies that right as pertaining to His Kingdom, and hence to His church as the special representative of His Kingdom on the earth. Just a few hours before these words to Pilate, Peter had shown Militancy 193 a willingness to defend Him and His followers, but Jesus had said to Peter: " Put up the sword into the sheath " (John 18:11). He thus prohibited the use of the instrument of violence in His own defense or in the defense of His follow- ers, who afterwards interpreted His words to be a perpetual prohibition of the sword as a means of defense in their work of establishing His church. Several days before this, when James and John had shown their ambition for the highest places in His Kingdom and He knew of the indignation among the rest of His disciples. He called their attention to the difference between church and state by saying to them, " Ye know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise author- ity over them. Not so shall it be among you: but whosoever would be great among you shall be j'our minister; and whoso- ever would be first among you shall be your servant: even so the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20: 25-28). Here again the Head of the church indicates that while it may be fitting for civil rulers to enforce their ideas and aims upon their subjects by compulsory measures, such is not the case among His followers whose work is one of service rather than enforcing others. Only the night before this talk with Pilate and just after the institution of the supper, these disciples got into a contention about who was the greatest among them, when He again taught them that there is a marked distinction between His Kingdom and the kingdoms of this world in the matter of power and compulsion. On all these occasions Jesus taught that while physical force may be appropriate to civil rulers and in the support of right national ideals and aims, it is not to characterize His followers in their relation to His Kingdom and church. " Not so shall it be among you." No doubt these two coordinate institutions, the church and 194 Barriers the state, were intended in the mind of Christ to be mutually helpful to each other, but there are marked differences between them as to their nature, aims, and purposes. The church is the institute of brotherhood for the fellowship in worship and service of those who recognize a common Father and a common Savior. The state is the institute of justice among men. Its special work is the promotion of justice in every relationship of men to one another. Now the development and mainte- nance of brotherhood is quite a different thing from the promo- tion of justice among men, although they may have some points in common. The difference in the nature and aims of these two institutions is indicative that necessarily there will be some difference in the forces by which their work respectively is carried on. As already shown there is a recognition of this difference in the teaching of Jesus. The same is true in the teaching of the apostles. They recognized the right of civil rulers to use the sword in the establishment of justice and en- joined honor and obedience to such rulers, for the reason that civil government is an ordinance of God. They also fully recognized the rights of brotherhood within the church and con- tinuously urged the application of those gentle forces which bind men as brethren in loving fellowship and mutual helpful- ness. The failure of the church to clearly recognize this differ- ence in the forces which may appropriately be used by church and state in their respective fields of work has wrought much evil in the church. Possibly this failure was the reason why many of the early fathers, and the whole body of the early church, refused to use the sword in the support of civic and national undertakings. Without the recognition of this dif- ference men who were earnestly devoted to the aims and work of the church would naturally reach the conclusion that the kinds of force committed to the church for the propagation Militancy 195 of its work were the only kinds that the state could properly employ, and therefore that the use of the sword must never be employed. Possibly their opposition to the use of the sword and their refusal to employ it was because of the absence of moral aim in the wars of those early ages. A proper moral aim is necessary to justify the use of physical force anywhere and at any time. It is always the aim that vindicates the means employed. Our justification in the present war is our high moral aims. The wars of those ages seem to have been wholly for rapine and reprisal, and well might the church teach its members the wickedness of such wars and persuade them that the only right course to be pursued was to suffer persecution rather than take the sword to support such wicked aims. But in the course of time this failure to distinguish between the kinds of force appropriate to the church and to the state respectively, led to the employment by the church of such kinds of force as are appropriate only to the state, or even to the use of such as were too exceedingly cruel and barbarous to have a proper use in any institution. In doing this the church usurped the rights of its coordinate institution, and even passed beyond these rights. It even tried to dominate the state and make the state its agent in the use of severe and cruel measures. It arrogated to itself the right to act as arbiter and judge in the enforcement of civic and national decrees. It became a temporal power and used material forces and agencies in the accomplishment of its purposes. In modern times this distinction between the functions of church and state and their respective rights has been recognized somewhat, but not very thoroughly. There are many yet who think that the church may properly use almost any kind of force any of its members may feel inclined to employ. They arc willing to push a competing congregation to the wall and crush the life out of it. If the actual sword is not used, means 196 Barriers of a very worldly nature are readily employed. Social stand- ing, financial opportunities and advantages, and political pros- pects, are often used as weapons to gain the mastery over sinners and members of other churches and to lead them captive in the church. And there are those who think that physical force is yet proper in support and defense of the interests, or sup- posed interests, of the church. Within the last year in one of our larger cities the life of a judge and district attorney were threatened by a group of people who were the repre- sentatives of their local and particular church's spirit and pur- pose. Various kinds of intimidation are still resorted to in church matters by people who call themselves Christian. The boycott is the modern method of inquisition sometimes used and the church is believed by some to be justified in using it. We make " shibboleths " and demand that others shall pro- nounce them on pain of exclusion from our religious fellow- ship, and then go off in a crowd by ourselves and thank the Lord how good we are. Our sectarian standards are the forces that keep us divided and they are not the products of the spirit of Christian brotherhood. In America the functions of church and state have been differentiated so far as to give us separation of church and state. This is as it should be. But it should go still further. The respective functions, rights, and duties, that pertain to each should be more clearly defined and more generally under- stood. Let it be clearly apprehended, and fully appreciated, that it is the state's prerogative, ordained of God, to establish and maintain justice among men and that in doing so the sword is the appropriate symbol and instrument of its power, but that the church's prerogative, also ordained of God, is to bring men together and hold them together as brethren in Christ Jesus, and that in doing this its weapons must be spiritual. A clear conception of this distinction and full ap- Militancy 197 preciation of its importance would help to solve many a prob- lem of the interpretation of the Scriptures and of the practical duties of men as citizens and as Christians. It is not claimed that church and state can be entirely separated. This is impossible as they are not only coordinate but supplementary institutions having distinct and yet co- operative functions to perform. Being supplementary they are mutually dependent on each other. Human society cannot be made perfect without the work of both. The church is de- pendent on the state for a location and a home in which to assemble. Its membership is composed of those who are also citizens of the state. Through the power of the state it is protected in the opportunities and privileges necessary for its worship and its work. The weekly day of rest and worship and the defense of its assemblies against interference and inter- ruption are made secure to it by the power of the state. There- fore, the church cannot ignore the state. Neither can the state ignore the church. The character of the state is very much affected by the presence and influence of the church. To say the least, the church is a chief pillar of the state, a mainstay of its social order. And it is most surely this when there is no direct attempt on its part to control political issues in its own favor. In its lowest plane of in- fluence the church is a special creator of material values. So well is this recognized that men outside the church, and who make no profession of their Christian faith, will say that they would not live in a community where there is no church, and are very ready to contribute to its support on purely social grounds. An infidel newspaper has complained that this was true even among its patrons and supporters. Such men most probably realize in their own minds the thought of Dr. Bush- nell's question to a rich man who refused to help in the build- ing of a church in Hartford. He said to the rich man: " My 198 Barriers friend, I want you to think of something. What was real estate worth in Sodom? " On a similar plane of influence the church supplements the police force of the state. Wherever the church is most eflfective in its work the minimum of civil authority is all that is necessary to secure the highest efficiency and welfare of the social order. In general, the church is a better and more effective agency in preserving the good order of society than a standing army, though the latter may some- times be necessary. But the church has a still higher plane of influence in rela- tion to the state and that is as a moral tonic and mediator be- tween the various kinds of opposing forces in society. It has a special work to do in the development and maintenance of those moral sentiments which are necessary for the guidance of the nation in its efforts toward the settlement of interna- tional disputes and the adjudication of the disputes of the di- verse classes and contending interests within itself. While the church is a spiritual body and was created for particular spiritual ends, it is not so spiritual that it can altogether ignore the things that belong to social life and political duty. The whole force of Scripture shows that the church was ordained to be the special promotor of high ideals of righteousness and justice in all social, business, and political affairs, and that the working out of its power is to be accomplished by means of spiritual forces alone. Physical and merely worldly forces have been forbidden it. Prof. Robert Ellis Thompson, in his " Divine Order of Human Society," forcefully presents the limitations of the particular work of the church in its relation to the state in the following manner: " The relation of the church to public and social questions must always be different from that of the state. If we take our Lord's own method and that of the apostolic church as i Militancy 1 99 our standard, we shall see that the direct discussion and attack of social evils, the dealing with the evil branches of an evil tree, is not ' the ecclesiastical way.' Rather, as John foretold of Christ, it is the church's work to lay the ax at the root of the tree, to imbue society with the great principles of right action, and to leave these to work themselves into better social methods. It was a right instinct that brought the young man to Christ to ask that he persuade his brother to give him his fair share of the inheritance. He felt that Christ had a sense of such wrongs, and was come to do away with them. Yet for the sake of thousands our Lord must not deal in this direct way with one case. He answers: 'Who made me a judge or divider over you?* So he and his apostles dealt with such social wrongs as polygamy and slavery. They taught what made these things unendurable to an enlightened conscience, and they left the result to coming generations. " So will the church be wise to deal with our problems, not as having a cluster of ready-made solutions of those prob- lems, but as put in trust with great principles which are to lead to their solution. It will decline to be made a judge or a divider, while it accepts in some degree that of a mediator, who has no sentence to pronounce, but a great law of love and brotherhood to proclaim to both parties. The position claimed for the papacy in the Middle Ages, and often exer- cised, is exactly that which our Master refused. It was an at- tempt to elevate the papal see to the rank of final arbiter in all controversies, with the right to invoke the temporal powers to enforce its decision. The manifold evils which resulted from that, stand as a warning to all churches that they should recognize their proper sphere and its limits, and leave the state to do its proper work." The church, therefore, was never intended by its Founder to be a militant church in any materialistic or worldly sense. 200 Barriers It was designed to be a great spiritual power for gaining ends that are purely spiritual and for spiritualizing other institu- tions and agencies that are material and worldly. In doing its work for these it must needs adjust itself to their material nature, keep itself within its own proper sphere, and employ only such means and methods as are suited to its particular work. But the natural and acquired militancy of the human heart has found much expression in the life and work of the church. One of the philosophers of a non-Christian countr}' is reported to have said that his chief objection to Christianity was the militant spirit and methods of its devotees. Has there not been too m.uch ground for such a criticism? Is it not too often true that the disposition to use material and worldly means of force in the establishment of real or supposed righteousness has been keener and more manifest than the dis- position to be a brother and to use such means and methods of persuasion as the spirit of brotherhood requires? Have not many of us more confidence in mere worldly kinds of force to gain the ends which we desire than we have in reason, love, mercy, kindness and forbearance to gain these ends ? Are not all of us somewhat lopsided in our moral and spiritual tenden- cies and aptitudes because of our militant spirit? This militant spirit has been, indeed, the source of much error in the church. It has led to many false beliefs and wrong practices on the part of church people. Because of its influence they become unsympathetic, irritable, and contentious toward one another. It causes them to think that patience has ceased to be a virtue just at the time it is most needed and its luster begins to shine. It makes them very ready to force the issue in regard to their differences of opinion. Not- withstanding the great progress of these later years toward unit}' there is still too much of this spirit. The church needs still greater faith in the divine plan and method of procedure Militancy 201 in its work. It needs more confidence in the power of the truth, of reason, of love, patience, mercy, kindness and for- bearance. It needs a more perfect spiritual-mindedness, and less mere human wisdom, in all its aims, means and methods of work. It needs a great purpose to confine itself to the ways, means, and methods of the Master. " Blessed arc the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." I IMPELLING FORCES THE POWER OF THE TRUTH MONG the forces which are impelling forward the cause ^of Christian unity, the power of truth is worthy to be noted first. All truth has power, because it is the revelation of facts, the manifestation of things as they are, and the natural food of the human soul. It has power to satisfy the cravings of our inner life, and to persuade us that the acceptance of its reality is our primary and most essential need. It has power to arouse and stimulate the mental and moral faculties which we possess, to convey to our minds the sense of right, to mould our consciences, and to awaken within us the ideals which will make our lives useful and happy. It is the rock foundation of every great and noble character. "Truth is the oldest of all the virtues: it antedated man, it lived before he was man to perceive it or to accept it. It is the unchangeable, the constant. Law is the eternal truth of Nature — the unity that always produces identical results under identical conditions. When a man discovers a great truth in nature he has the key to the understanding of a million phenomena ; when he grasps a great truth in morals he has in it the key to his moral re-creation. For the in- dividual there is no such thing as theoretic truth; a great truth that is not absorbed by our whole mind and life, and has not become an inseparable part of our living is not a real truth to us. If we know the truth and do not live it, our life is — a lie" (William George Jordan). The word of God contains the truth which men most need to know about His church and plans for human welfare. Its truth has power to mould their minds and hearts so as to bring to them the greatest good in life. Millions of Christian 305 2o6 Impelling Forces men and women have seen enough of its truth to make for them a sure foundation upon which to build a worthy and substantial character. It has guided them in all their aims and efforts to live the righteous life. This truth is the rock upon which the whole superstructure of Christianity is built. It is the solid basis upon which the church of Jesus Christ is founded, and is the source of guidance in all its aflFairs. Truth prescribes the straight line in morals, which is the shortest dis- tance between a duty and the performance of that duty. It determines what emotions are right and what arc wrong, and has much power in persuading men to choose the right and shun the wrong. It strengthens men to stand alone when they are right, and in the wrong imposes that penalty of conscience which " makes cowards of us all." The word of God is the fountain of truth. The truth of God's word is old, yet ever new, a continuous revelation suitable to each particular age of His church. " Each period in civilization has had, in turn, its own peculiar interest and its own spiritual demands, and each, in turn, fol- lowing its own path back to the teaching of Jesus, has found there what seemed an extraordinary adaptation of that teach- ing to immediate issues and needs. This is one of the most surprising traits of the gospel. It seems to each age to have been written for the sake of the special problems which at the moment appear most pressing. As each new transition in human interest occurs, the teaching of Jesus seems to possess new value " ( Frances G. Peabody, " Jesus and the Social Question "). The age in which we live is one in which the idea of co- operation has been very prominent in the minds of men and in their activities. Within twenty-five years a great revolution has taken place in the business world. Many great trusts and corporations have been organized in which a large number I The Power of the Truth 207 of people have been united in some great enterprise. The value of such organization has been fully demonstrated in the business world. The old order of things will never return. Ever>' line of business has felt the importance and benefit of getting together. Great economic laws have been seen and appreciated as they never were before seen and appreciated, though they have alwaj's been in existence, and apprehended more or less fully by a few. Multitudes now see the value and necessity of these principles to the gaining of success, and realize that modem progress became possible only by co- operation. This revolution in the business world has made a strong impression upon the minds of many in the church, and has set them to thinking what the principle of co-operation might do for the church and in what way and how far the word of God sanctions this principle. They have found that the teaching of the Scriptures gives strong sanction to this principle and makes obedience to its requirements a thing of vital importance to the welfare of the church. They are per- suaded that the laws of Christ's Kingdom require a perfect spirit and practice of co-operation among Christians. They find in the words of Jesus, as well as in other parts of Scripture, the truth that complete co-operation among Christians is a duty, and that this co-operation demands per- fect unity. They find in the prayer of Jesus for unity a long- ing that his followers may be perfected in their expression of the most prominent principle of the present age. Many earnest Christians are seeing and believing that the most thorough, comprehensive, and complete organization of " the greatest business in the world," the work of the church, was in the mind of Jesus when he declared concerning his flock " and they shall become one fold, one shepherd," and also when he prayed " that they may be f>erfected into one." These Christian men and women arc seeing very clearly, too, what 208 Impelling Forces stress the Bible lays upon those qualities in men which make such an organization possible, and which will be necessary to make its work fully effective and prosperous. They are thus seeing the wonderful adaptation of the gospel message to this age of comprehensive organization and gigantic enterprises. They are fully persuaded that what they have seen is the truth of God ; and this new understanding of His truth has been taking hold upon their life and setting them to work for what they believe to be according to His will in the greater unity of the churches. This conviction has been fittingly expressed in " The Pulpit Commentary." The Rev. R. H. Reynolds, D.D., in com- menting on the prayer of Jesus for the unity of His followers, says (John 17:21-23): "It is impossible to exclude from these verses the idea of the visibility of the union and life of the church, and of the divine love to it. Nothing is said or hinted, however, about the nature of that visibility. Christians are not, by reason of their differences, to exclude from this passage the promise that the whole assembly of the Firstborn would make this gracious and convincing impression on the world. They are far enough in these days of mutual re- crimination, from realizing the Divine ideal, and should set themselves to remedy the crying evil; but they have no right to import into the words, by reason of their predilection for particular forms of Church organization, an identification of the body of Christ with any specific form. The spiritual union of Christendom in its one faith, hope, and character, is, notwithstanding the divergence of some of its forms of ex- pression, the most stupendous fact in the history of the world. The elite of all Churches are drawing more and more into a visible unity." This same conviction has been well expressed, also, by that distinguished and honored churchman. The The Power of the Truth Bishop of Chicago ("The Manifestation of Unity"), when he says: " The burden of our Lord's prayer was for the accomplish- ment of the will of God, and for the fruit of his own sacri- fice in the establishment of unity and in its manifestation among his disciples. It was a manifested unity for which Christ prayed. ' That they may be one,' was the prayer. ' Even as we are one,' is the foundation of the prayer. ' I in them and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that thou didst send me, and lovedst them even as thou lovedst me.' There is a unity to be believed in, as well as a unity to be exhibited to the world. It is im- portant to keep this in mind. It is essential to realize that the interior unity of the church is a divine, imperishable reality, and that our task is not to make unity, but to make it manifest. Extraordinary results are promised from this manifestation of unity. There is unity, but the world cannot see it. There is unity, but the world does not believe it. Our part is to co- operate with God and yield to the strivings of the Holy Spirit, so that the unity of the church will be actualized and visualized in such corporate manner that the world can see it with its own eyes, and seeing it, will believe in the power and love of God." The same conviction filled the mind of a well-known author on Missionary subjects. Dr. Arthur Judson Brown (" Unity and Missions"), when he wrote as follows: " The words of Christ appear to warrant the conclusion that he considered union an indispensable condition to the evangel- ization of the world. In John lo: i6, we read: 'And other sheep I have which are not of this fold ; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice and they shall become one flock, one shepherd.' Does not this suggest that when they shall hear his voice, that is as one result of hearing it, his followers 2IO Impelling Forces ' shall become one flock ' ? This may not be a necessary in- ference, but it is certainly a possible one. John 13:34-35 more definitely looks in the same direction. ' A new com- mandment I give unto you that ye love one another; . . . by this shall all men know that we are my disciples if ye have love one to another.' Here Christ explicitly declares that all men shall know that we are his disciples if we love one an- other. The emphasis becomes still stronger in John 17:21, ' That they may all be one ; even as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be in us; that the world may believe that thou didst send me.' What could be plainer than this statement? He prays ' that they may all be one ' in order that the world may believe that he was sent from God. One thinks of the majestic declaration of the sixty-seventh Psalm: ' God be merciful unto us and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us ; that! in order that, * thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.' " A comprehensive study of the Scriptures in regard to the principle of unity and co-operation reveals that this principle pervades the whole of Divine revelation. It was a conspicuous fact in the organization of the Old Testament church under the leadership of Moses. All the tribes of Israel were brought together in one body and bound together by the same forms of worship and the same civil and religious institutions. The division of tribes was geographical and not an incoherent mix- ture. All the tribes were constituted one church and one people. In their entrance and occupation of the promised land they acted as a unit and gave honor to the tribes which in- sisted on the manifestation of their unity. During the period of the judges the importance of unity in securing deliverance from their enemies was sometimes realized as is shown by the curse on Mcroz by the angel of the Lord (Judges 5: 23), and by the penalty visited by Gideon on the elders of Succoth and The Power of the Truth 211 the people of Penuel (Judges 8: 15-17) for their refusal to co- operate in the Lord's work. The great success of King David in the building up of a strong and prosperous people was due to the spirit of unity and co-operation which so fully pervaded the minds and hearts of his people. When he was made king of all Israel there was a wonderful expression of unity in the multitudes which joined in the ceremonies of that occasion. His appreciation of this unity is shown when he teaches them to sing: " Behold how good a thing it is And how becoming well, When those that brethren are delight In unity to dwell. *Tis like the precious holy oil Outpoured on Aaron's head, That o'er his beard and down his robes With sweetest fragrance spread. As Hermon's copious dew doth life To Zion's hills restore; The Lord commands His blessing there. Even life for evermore." (Psalm 133.) In many other of his psalms he sings of the universal empire of Jehovah and the uniting of the nations under Him. The great sin of Jereboam was his destroying the spiritual unity of God's people. This was easier to do because their organic unity had already been destroyed. Their organic separation was the beginning of that downward path which finally re- sulted in their ruin. This ideal of unity filled the minds of the prophets as they foresaw the future triumphs and glory of God's people. Isaiah looks forward to a time when unity shall be fully manifested in the church, in regard to which he says: "Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice: with the voice to- gether shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye" (Isa. 52: 8). The sacred historian tells us that the infant Christian 212 Impelling Forces church under the influence of the Holy Spirit, with which it had been baptized at Pentecost, was very fully charged with the spirit of unity. " And the multitude of them that be- lieved were of one heart and soul" (Acts 4:32). That the apostles taught the principles of unity and co-operation is very evident to every thoughtful reader of their writings. Their repeated exhortations in regard to peace and harmony show their realization of the importance of these principles, and the desire that their Christian readers shall practice them. The great stress that they laid upon those graces and virtues which unite people is convincing evidence that their aim in writing was to stimulate their readers to fulfill those conditions which are most conducive to the manifestation of unity among them. But this great and vital truth, which was presented so plainly and emphasized so fully throughout the Scriptures, and especially by Jesus and His Apostles, in course of time became dimmed in the eyes of those who claimed to be His people. They lost woefully their apprehension and appreciation of its significance and value. They became jealous and suspicious one of another and then contentious and hateful toward one another, and the reign of error and falsehood became evident in their strife and separations. In every age there were a few who saw the truth sufficiently to lament the divisions which had resulted from the general want of vision on this point, and the distortion of the truth as then generally per- ceived, but the great multitude had little thought about the need of unity and less care. So it has been through many cen- turies down to the present age. Within the present generation, however, a new vision of this truth has been developed in the minds of many. The place and importance of unity and co-operation in church life and work is being seen and apprehended in a new light. The folly and wickedness of modern rivalries and competitions have been The Power of the Truth 213 impressed upon the minds of many, who sadly lament the present divided condition of the church, and would gladly see its greater unity advanced. This new vision of the truth sufficiently accounts for the rapid growth of the interdenomi- national institutions of these later years and the ready support which is given to the comprehensive agencies and efforts of these institutions. Former generations sought to justify divisions. The note of justification during the present generation has been diminuendo. There are still those who believe in the neces- sity of divisions, and that any great change in the present order is too idealistic to bring practical results, but the number of those who believe that many of these divisions can be healed, and ought to be healed, is growing and their convictions be- coming stronger every day. The truth which they have seen has taken such a grip upon their minds and hearts that they are constrained to tell their vision and to seek its realization. It looms up before their minds as a matter of vital significance to the welfare of every community of Christian people and of the entire work of the church on behalf of Christ's King- dom. It has the zest of newly apprehended truth. It also carries with it the realization that it has been a truth long neglected on account of which the church has suffered many ills. It is clearly seen to be a truth that is able to insure great good to the church, great advancement to Christ's Kingdom and great glory to its King. Every great reformation, or revolution, in the church in the past has been marked by a new apprehension of some particular phase of truth upon which special emphasis was placed. The truth which was thus emphasized has always had an existence, but was apprehended only by a few, and per- haps not very strongly by these until the revolution came. But some event of providence came to pass, or some man, or 214 Impelling Forces set of men, was raised up, by which a new vision of some great and long neglected truth was impressed, first upon the minds of a few, and then upon the minds of many, the larger part of the generation then living. In this way God has used some succession of the events of His providence to awaken the con- sciences of men and teach them anew some truth which they have long neglected. Revolutions in the commercial, social, and political world have been made the occasion through which He caused men to see the greatness and significance of certain phases of truth, whose importance was long disregarded and set aside, in relation to the Church. As already noted the great commercial revolution which has come to pass within the present generation has opened the eyes of many to the possibilities of good to the church of Jesus Christ in the union and co-operation of His followers and that these possibilities are in harmony with His revealed will. They have seen that all the impetus and advantages which have come to commerce and trade through union and co-operation belong to the church and are according to the purpose of its Founder. They are persuaded that the great commercial revo- lution which has been going on has special significance and value in the opening of the minds of Christians to a new and just apprehension of a great truth pertaining to His Church, fully taught in the Scriptures, but very poorly apprehended through many centuries. They believe that the God of all providence would have His people recognize the greatness of this truth through this business revolution and come together in the most complete and perfect unity. The advent of the present great war has added strong emphasis to the idea of union and co-operation within the church. It has demonstrated the truthfulness and wide range of application of the old saying that " in union there is strength." It is working a great revolution in the minds of The Power of the Truth 215 men ever>-where in regard to the exceedingly great value of this truth to the success of any great cause. It is causing many Christian people to understand in a new light, and to appreciate more deeply, the teaching of the gospel as a system of truth in regard to the unity of believers. The importance of unity in national affairs in relation to our great struggle is thus effectively impressing the importance of unity in re- ligious afJairs. In this great world contest the significance and value of complete unity and cooperation are being manifested and being impressed upon the minds of men as never before. No wonder that this phase of gospel truth should take fast hold upon the minds of many earnest Christian people and retain them firmly in its grip. The truth thus seen in a new and providential light, which may fittingly be reckoned to be a divine light, has the power not only of persuasion, but also of corresponding action in efforts toward greater unity. THE POWER OF LOVE OVE is a very great power in the world. Its influence -L 'is very far-reaching and effective. Henry Drummond has called it, " The greatest thing in the world." It is truly the most important force which God has created and established in His universe. It is the one that best expresses His own nature. " God is love." It emanates from Him and permeates the whole of His creation, even where its presence is unrecog- nized and least expected. It is a very beneficent force that brings most important results to every kind of life, and especially to human life. It is a force whose range, compass, and power, are very meagerly realized. The law of love is sacrifice, — willing sacrifice. This is the thing by which it is expressed. Back of this expression is the motive, which is the disposition, the ready willingness, to make the sacrifice which will conduce to the welfare of another. This disposition to help others at the loss of one's personal interests reveals its presence by the sacrifice necessary to give the help needed. Our Heavenly Father shows a disposition of mind to help others by the sacrifices, which He is always, and ever has been, making on behalf of all His creatures. He is continually giving, giving, giving of His energy and resources for their good. Unceasingly He is bestowing invaluable gifts upon the human race, many of whom are ungrateful for these gifts. The most precious and important of His gifts to men is the gift of His Son for their salvation. With this great gift a multitude of other spiritual gifts are bestowed. All these gifts are the sacrifices of His love. They are the expression of that love, the proof of its existence and greatness, and the revelation 216 The Power of Love 217 of its beneficent and tender nature. He is truly " the great giver of all good." He lives according to that lavv^ of love of which He is the author and promoter, and which He exempli- fies in all His works. When He imposes this law of love on us, He only asks obedience to that law which He himself obeys. When He demands of us the surrender of self in readiness to sacrifice for others, He is acting according to a law which all His creatures are required to obey. Love is the law of life. It is the force that gives to life its value, determines its significance, and secures its best develop- ment. The scientists tell us that away down in the existence of the microscopic cell love is the law of life that rules. The individual cell gains the highest measure of life for itself through self-sacrifice. The tissues of brain, nerve, muscle, bone and other parts of our bodies can be living tissues only because love, which reveals itself by sacrifice for others, is the ruling force in cell life. But love as the law of life becomes more and more significant as the scale of being rises. The higher we rise the stronger and better love is, and the richer and nobler is life. The lowest forms of animal life are those which have the least of love in their nature. The higher the order of animal life the greater its capacity to love. Man is above the beasts of the field because of his superior capacity in the scope and power of his affections. The most important difference which is to be found among men, is that relating to the range and strength of good emotions. The importance of love in the development of character is thus presented by Prof. George E. Dawson: " He who loves most lives most. This is true whether the individual consciously seeks to increase the totality of love in himself and others or not. But it becomes a far more vital and energizing truth for him who intelligently compre- hends its meaning and accepts it as a law of life. Such an in- dividual then enters upon a higher form of self-control than any 2l8 Impelling Forces hitherto known to him. He begins to be self-determining, self- creative, in a sense hitherto unrealized. He becomes a power among his fellow-men, a benefactor, a creator of other lives to a degree surpassing his previous efforts. . . . Henceforth he is a co-worker with Him who is the source of life. Henceforth he consciously shares the strength and joy of Him who has created the world and all its creatures out of the fullness of His love." Love was the law of life with Jesus. It was the motive that impelled Him forward in His mission, the guardian of all His thoughts, and the efficient cause in all His activities. It was the creator of all His ideals, the f ramer of His philosophy of life, the core of all His teaching, and the mainspring of all His miracles. He loved men and sacrificed His own comfort, convenience, and life, that He might save them. Moreover, in the sacrifice of Himself He realized His own possibilities, se- cured the complete development of His own character, and gained for Himself that high excellence which constituted Him " the perfect man." Love was the special and most significant feature of His system of truth, which gave to that system a clear outline, like some bold mountain peak, and made it rad- ically diflFercnt from all other systems. In His philosophy of life the Father is the center of the universe, and as its creator binds the whole of it to Himself with the power of His love. He is deeply conscious of His oneness with the Father, and makes manifest His full confidence that the father and He are in perfect harmony in regard to every essential principle of being. He can do nothing without the Father and all their activities are the result of their unity in purpose and effort. They both arc anxious that men shall share in their life, per- fections, and glory, and agree that men are to be brought into this fellowship by the power of love. Jesus was confident in its I The Power of Love 219 power to do this, as is shown by His declaration: " And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Myself " (John 12:32). Love as the law of life was imposed by Jesus on his disciples. It was only in this way that they could gain likeness to Himself, and to the Father. It had been eternally decreed that it was essential to their Sonship in the household of God, and to their citizenship in the kingdom of heaven. He taught that the first great duty of men is to love God with all the heart, soul, and mind, and next to this, to love one's neighbor as one's self. He knew that men can realize their highest possibilities, and become worthy specimens of noble manhood, only through its power. The significance of this power is presented by the Rev. J. W. Lee, D.D., (" The Making of a Man ") in the following man- ner: " One life has appeared among men, then, that was all love. Jesus Christ is the only original, absolutely unselfish life that has been lived upon the earth. The saints have found the secret, and strength, and the inspiration of their unselfishness and love in Him. The love which matches and meets the illimitable nature of the human spirit is embodied in a life that cannot be measured by the ordinary rules and standards of men. The object of which hunger is the subject, is bread ; the object of which intellect is the subject, is truth ; the object of which the aesthetic sense is the subject, is beauty ; the object of which the spiritual nature is the subject, is Jesus Christ. The spirit of man, which has for its correlate in time, the race, has for its correlate in eternity, the life of one in which is summed up all power, all truth, all law, all beauty, and all love. As the em- bodiment of love the human spirit finds in Christ the climate and the conditions exactly adapted to its own civilization. The plan and pattern, the invisible framework and ideal of every 220 Impelling Forces man's life is Christian. To be an oak is to be a perfect acorn, to be an apple is to be a complete flower, to be a Christian is to be a complete man." The Rev. Thomas Arthur Smoot, D.D. (Jesus and His Phi- losophy of Love, The Homiletic Review, Oct., 1914), also presents the significance of love in Christian character in the following manner: " The efficacy of love to meet every possible social, economic, and political condition is clearly indicated by the claims of Jesus. To his mind, no contingency in life can possibly arise that is able to defeat love. Only by loving can the heart gain, and only by hating can it lose. It is the one positive principle of existence — the love which He declares in His doctrine to be His distinctive attribute. By it all enemies are to be overcome. And that seems a hard, not to say incon- ceivable, thing to believe. For my enemy is certainly hostile to my welfare; he is, by the nature of the case, unlovely, and may be, inherently, very wicked. But not totally so. For the Teacher of this new philosophy could not ask me to love any one that is totally bad ; that were a monstrous thing to require. But there is nothing arbitrary or unreasonable in the injunction: for to love an enemy is the only way by which I can work toward his uplift into a place of unity and utility in my own life. I am not to love him for the bad that is him, but the rather, despite the bad I am to love him for the modicum of goodness that he possesses. And when love has drawn whatever goodness there is in him to the plane of whatever goodness there is within myself, there is a union of two human forces that coalesces with that infinite force of divine love, and the united stream sweeps on ' toward that far-off divine event.' The supreme task of love is to draw into this current every indi- vidual force in the race. This achievement, as the ideal of Jesus, is the mystery of Godliness that so attracted and exer- cised Saint Paul. He had looked into various philosophies, The Power of Love 221 but none seemed to him to compare in reasonableness and essen- tial value with that of Jesus. For while other philosophers had toilsomely striven to reach a basis of absolute oneness and unity, clashing meanwhile among themselves in the midst and twilight of finite reason, here was a Galilean who de- clared that love will bring every force in the cosmos together in one point, namely, in the heart of the Father! And to Paul's mind the thongs of love predicated by eternal fatherhood posscst a strength that could never be broken." Love was ordained to be the ruling spirit of the Christian church. This is evident both from its nature as the greatest of divine attributes and the highest of all human characteristics, and from the fact that Jesus placed special emphasis upon it in His last talk with His disciples before His death, and made it the test of their discipleship before the world. It was a special gift bestowed upon the church in connection with the baptism of the Holy Ghost at its birth on the day of Pentecost and was made a vital power in its growth and development. The first members of the early church were filled with such a love that they were ready to sacrifice all their possessions for the common good. They realized the fullness of their new life through the law of love in self-sacrifice. The power of the love that wrought in their lives reached out to others and the church was greatly blessed. The first few centuries of its existence were characterized by a manifest spirit of love among the brethren and the church made a very rapid growth during that period. At that time it could be said " Behold how these Christians love one another." It was a day of spiritual power — a day when the power of love was realized and was mani- fested very fully. But there came a falling away in the spirit of love and a consequent decline in its power. The essential condition of power being absent, the power itself could not be realized. As 222 Impelling Forces the spirit of love declined the church failed before its enemies. Too often the spirit and power of love was supplanted by the spirit and power of hate. The bond of union being thus supplanted by the source of contention and strife, separations and divisions were sure to follow, and lasting enmities created. But whatever of influence for good remained in the church in its condition of decline, that influence was the result of the spirit of love that remained. And there have been periods in its history when the power of love was manifest in some important ways and the church was prosperous during these periods and exerted much influence for good. From time to time individual Christians have appeared who apprehended with great fullness the power of God's love and were made the means of trans- mitting it to others. These were noble characters who each realized in his own life its greatest fullness and blessedness. They were proofs that the power of love is unfailing where love itself exists. This power has never failed to be demon- strated where it was rightly tested. It cannot be questioned that the church's failure through the centuries to mould the characters of men and nations, according to Scriptural models and ideals, has been because the power of love was not present, and the commandments of Jesus in regard to love and for- giveness were misconstrued and their requirements ignored. But there are some evidences that the spirit of love is increas- ing in the churches of our day. This is surely indicated by the spirit of brotherhood that has grown up these later years. These brotherhoods of modern times are not ecclesiastical and monastic as were the brotherhoods of medieval times, but are for the Christian men who are active in the affairs of every day life. The message of these brotherhoods is one of love. Their name is evidence of this. A brother is one to be loved. He belongs to the same household. The family is " the institute of love." Every member is a member of an institution whose mis- The Power of Love 223 sion is to nurture courtesy, gentleness, truth, justice, unselfish- ness, love. The purpose of these brotherhoods is to help men in their relation to the work of the church, to inspire among men of the church and community the spirit of co-operation and social service, and to bring men into the membership and activities of the church. Within the last few j'ears a large number of these brotherhoods have been formed. Then there is the adult Bible class movement which, being organized inter- denominationally, has had a wonderful growth embracing at the present time over three million Bible students. Another evidence of the increasing spirit of love among the churches is the friendly fraternal relations now existing between them, and their continuance of standing commissions and committees on union, from year to year, especially in the larger denominations. The formation of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, the Free Church Council in England, and similar organizations in other countries, are evidence of a grow- ing spirit of love among Christians. All the movements and efforts which point toward the union of all Christian people are proofs that the power of love is at work in the minds and hearts of God's people. Many earnest Christians in all the churches, who have great love for the church as the body of Christ, and as the brotherhood of saints, and have recognized its nature as the pillar and ground of the whole truth including that about Christian love and kindred graces, and have seen that the church has been ordained to be an effective peace society, are being impelled by the power of this love to pray and work for organic union as well as the spiritual unity of all Christian people. This love which is impelling them thus to pray and work is truly a great affection. It is very comprehensive in its range. It embraces the highest welfare of the whole human race. It includes the people of every clime and every condition of 224 Impelling Forces life. It goes out to all mankind as the children of one Father. It seeks the good of every human being in the restored image of God upon character and life. It longs for the development of the noblest virtues in the lives of men everywhere. It sees the church's possibilities for the widest and fullest attainment of these ends. It recognizes in a new light that the church is intended for the benefit of all mankind, the salvation of the whole human race. It perceives as never before the greatness and the value of the blessings possible to men through the full accomplishment of the great mission for which the church was created by its Founder. It transcends, absorbs, modifies and purifies denominational love which too often is very narrow and limited in its range. It is as much bigger and broader than any denominational love as the whole body of the church of Christ is bigger and broader than any one of its members. It is not only bigger and broader in the scope of its application but also in the superior quality which it possesses. It has graces and virtues which a narrower range of affection cannot possess. Again, this love which is impelling many Christians of the present day to pray and work for the unification of the churches is an affection that is new in some important aspects. It is new in the quickening impetus it has received from modern progress through the development of international intercourse and the means of rapid intelligence. This progress has made the whole world seem much nearer than it did in past times. It has given a new and more intense interest in all the races of men. It is new in the momentum it has gotten from the modern means of rapid intelligence and the increased knowl- edge now possessed of the people of all lands. It is new in the breadth and scope of its conception of the mission of the church in the salvation of the whole human race. Christian men and women are learning to feel in the larger sphere of world emotions. It is new in the range of loyalty to the church which The Power of Love 225 it invokes. Its loyalty is to the larger group, not to the small group of some denomination, but to the highest interest of the universal group, the whole human race. It is thus close akin to the larger and better patriotism to which the nations are being called to-day. It is a new emotion in the fuller meaning and significance of its sacrifice. The sacrifice which it inspires is seen to have a world wide application and value. It gives a new zest to sacrifice to realize that its eflFect for good will help the cause of an institution whose uplift to humanit}' reaches the ends of the earth. Moreover, this love which is impelling Christian men and women to pray and work for greater unity in the church of Jesus Christ is more reasonable than any love which relates merely or largely to a denomination. In the special Greek word used to express this love, agape, the Scriptures teach that love for the church is to be rational. Surely love for the whole body of Christ is more rational than any special love for some particular member. A true love for the whole body insures a better love for every member than some special love for a par- ticular member insures for the whole body. It is more im- portant to love the whole body than any of its parts. Such love is also more reasonable because of its reflex influence upon the mind and heart of its possessor. He thinks and feels in larger terms, and " As a man thinketh in his heart so is he." Still further, this love which is impelling Christian men and women to pray and work for greater unity is more Christlike than any sectarian love can be. His love was for the whole world, and not some class or sect. " God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son." His thought and feel- ing embraced the whole human race. The group for which His love was manifested included everybody, everywhere. It was not limited to some particular group with some peculiar cast of mind. He associated Himself in thought, feeling and 226 Impelling Forces purpose with the universal group and died that it might live. His love was not for Jew alone, but reached out to all the Gentile world. His bestowal of love was not partial or limited, but includes the people of every race, every tribe and every tongue. THE POWER OF A GREAT IDEAL IT is the nature of man to form ideals. He is doing this continually and in regard to every phase of life. The character of his ideals is the measure of the man. What a man hopes to be is the index of what he will be. The habit of right thinking goes before the habit of right action. All fine and superior work is the result of an ideal. The picture was formed within the mind before it was painted on the canvas. The building in all its parts and features were clearly seen be- fore the plans and specifications were drawn. Men's lives never rise higher than their ideals and they are sure to fail of high at- tainment when their ideals are low. The boat that drifts is sure to go down stream, and if men would go up stream they must have a purpose of that kind. They have often made shipwrecks of their lives and wasted their talents and resources because their ideals were low and degrading. It is of the nature of all true ideals that their object should lie far beyond the present attain- ment. Their power over us i§ in their loftiness. What are a man's ideals in respect to the church? What are his visions for himself and others in relation to it? The answer to these questions will tell the story of his life and of his activities as a churchman. The faculty of mind by which ideals are formed is a very im- portant one: indeed, by some it is thought to be the greatest of human powers ; at least, it is one of the greatest. Without it man would not be man. Without it he would have no house in which to dwell, no furniture, no cooking utensils, no barns nor storehouses, no shops nor tools, no machinery, no factories, no carriages nor wagons, no automobiles nor railroads, no boats nor 227 228 Impelling Forces ships, no telephone nor telegraph, no microscopes nor tele- scopes, no papers, books nor periodicals, no schools, colleges nor universities, no government nor statesmanship, no courts nor established principles of law, no songs nor musical instruments, no churches nor great assemblies of Christian worshippers. It is a facult}^ tliat is constantly in use in every line of human endeavor and activity. Appeals are continually being made to it in every avocation and avenue in life. Men greatly differ in the nature of their ideals. They may be high, or they may be low. High ideals make men energetic, frugal, solicitous, effective, public-spirited, religious and suc- cessful. Low ideals make men lazy, wasteful, indifferent, in- ef¥ective, selfish, irreligious and unsuccessful in the real mission of life. Ideals are either true or false. True ideals are as cer- tain and permanent in their results as the truth is certain and permanent. Such ideals are the sure foundation upon which is built all the progress and all the prosperity of the human race. False ideals come from crude and sinful notions and lead to instability, degradation and ruin. In the formation of their ideals men need to distinguish between the Jack-o'-lantern and the lantern that is real, between the pole-star and a flashing meteor, between the light of the moon and a glaring bonfire. Men have often been wanting in the power of clear distinction, but that does not weaken or destroy the value of such ideals as are both high and true. The Bible is a book of such ideals. Its purpose is to hold up these ideals before men for their inspiration, guidance, and help. It does this in the commandments which it imposes, in the promises which it presents, and in the warnings it contains. It holds up these ideals in a very impressive way in its revelation of their effect upon the character of the worthy and noble heroes which it presents. Their visions and ideals were one and in- separable. The ideal of Abraham was a country where Jehovah The Power of a Great Ideal 229 the creator and disposer of all things should be worshipped as the living and true God by a nation of devoted and faithful peo- ple, his own posterity. Joseph's ideal of power was first a dream, and then, when his character had been fully formed, a reality. The ideal of Moses was the deliverance of his own race from bondage and the organization of that people into a strong, vigorous and religious church and nation. The ideal of Samuel, the priestly prophet, was the religious unity and development of the chosen people under the influence of the schools of the prophets, which he established, into a people loyal and faith- ful to their God. The ideal of David, the great King, was a mighty and prosperous people who were loyal and devoted to the worship of Jehovah, the God of Israel. The ideal of the prophets was a righteous people devoted and faithful to their God, a prosperous and mighty city and nation through obedience to the will of their God. The ideal of Jesus and his apostles is that of a glorious and universal church made up of those, who, out of every nation under heaven, shall live the life of faith, en- deavor earnestly to keep his commandments, love one another, and their enemies as well, and are daily " perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord." The Bible is truly a book of great and noble ideals. Men's ideals are to be enlarged and improved. This is possible in the case of all such as fall below those which are presented and supported by the teaching of the Scriptures, or are in any way defective according to the revelation there given. It is the purpose of all religious education in the home, church, everywhere, to nuture, enlarge, and perfect right ideals. It is a work requiring mental discipline and moral determina- tion. To think the best things is not unfrcquently as hard as to do the best things. No one is ever likely to happen upon a great ideal and a great career. The very idea of advance- ment demands as its prerequisite a clearly defined purpose. Too 230 Impelling Forces often what is supposed to be a definite conception of purpose is only a vague dream, which must be brought into a definite shape, before it can ever become a great power in the life. It must be brought into close relation to one's daily opportunities and work. A true ideal must include the most exalted visions, and the simplest duties. Such an ideal is an incomprehensible power in the life of any man. It will give him gratitude and strength in the doing of his work, and will lift the daily round of duty and of toil into the realm of pleasure and of peace. The Rev. Samuel Zane Batten ("The New Citizenship"), has said: " Let no Christian disciple be afraid to dream and cherish his ideals. ' Where there is no vision the people perish.' The ideals of a nation are more important than its laws and legislatures. Youth especially is the time of aspiration and idealism. But the prophet Joel foresaw a day when young men shall see visions and old men shall dream dreams. Let every one then, of whatever age, who would advance, who would be that great and wonderful thing God meant him to be, not fear to cherish his finest and highest ideals. These ideal visions are the breath of eternity blowing across the stagnant marshes of this world to cleanse and purify them. Let a man give his ideals a chance to develop all their glory and luxuriance. It will be time enough to hesitate and trim and creep when life is half over. Never mind if men do call him a dreamer of dreams. Once upon a time ten men mocked a younger brother because he dreamed great dreams. They envied him at first and then went on to hate him. But the dreamer dreamed on, and the time came when they were willing to bow at his feet and ac- knowledge him as a brother." The church is the conservatory of high and true ideals. It was established for this very purpose. Its work is to nurture, and stimulate, and strengthen, and enlarge, and extend, and exalt in the minds of men the ideals of its Founder. Its mission The Power of a Great Ideal 231 as the pillar and ground of the truth is to help men to see visions and dream dreams that are possible to be realized in their own experience and in the work of the church. The Bible has been given it as a revelation of ideals that are worthy and true and its work is largely that of holding up these ideals. They relate to individual character, to the relations of the home, to business principles and practice, to social relations and responsibilities, to civil and political affairs, and to religious ! worship and service. The Bible has ideals for men in all their relations to God and man. These ideals prescribe the virtues to be nurtured and the vices to be shunned. It contains ideals in regard to the true conservation of life, the right use of talents, and the best employment of time. It furnishes ideals in regard to the use of money, the relief of the poor, the care of the sick, and the support of the needy. It has ideals of fra- ternity and brotherhood among its members; ideals in regard to their unity and cooperation in worship and work. The ideal of Jesus in regard to unity among his followers was taught by the Apostles and practiced by the early church. But the vision of the church in the early days of its existence began to disappear and in the course of a few centuries was almost gone. For many centuries this ideal has been very much obscured. The virtues which bind men together have not been very conspicuous, but the sins which separate have been too prominent. But during these later years the vision seems to be returning. Many are now seeing with much clearness the ideal of Jesus and his apostles, and the number seems to be growing rapidly. In discussing the present outlook, after mentioning some obstacles in the way, the growth of this ideal among Christians is thus described by the Rev. Daniel W. Fisher, D.D., LL.D. (" The Unification of the Churches"): " Notwithstanding these obstacles, and many others besides, an advance has been made that is immensely encouraging; and progress tends each year to become more rapid and hopeful. 232 Impelling Forces In estimating this, perhaps the chief place ought to be given to the fact that the unification of the Churches is now command- ing such large and thoughtful attention. It unquestionably has the ear of the Christian public as at no previous time in the modem history of Protestantism. Great ecclesiastical as- semblies, denominational and also undenominational, consider and take action concerning it. Plans of immense scope are laid by which it is hoped to forward the movement. Big contri- butions of money are volunteered to meet expected expenses. In the public press the subject is discussed frequently, and often with fullness and ability. On many sides it is recognized as a living, burning, imperative question of tremendous impor- tance. A hearing of this sort is just what the cause has hitherto lacked and has most needed." The Men and Religion Congress in New York, April, 1912, was not specially regarded as a movement toward union, and yet it had a strong effect in that direction. Its Commission on Unity presented a copious and strong report from which we take the following (" Men and Religion Messages," Vol. IV): " A vast change has come over the mind and heart of Christendom in reference to this question. It is a change of the deepest significance. It has in it the augury of an ec- clesiastical revolution more beneficial than any the Christian Church has ever known. Our best and broadest men no longer hold the language of these beloved and trusted leaders of thirty-five years ago. These divisions in the hosts of the army of Christ are no longer glorified; they are deeply deplored. Our men of light and leading are giving utterance to opinions which directly traverse those which we have just quoted. This is the tenor of the language they hold : ' We can never be con- tent with the existence of these rival denominations.' So far from tolerating these divisions they affirm them to be intoler- The Power of a Great Ideal 233 able to the Christian instinct of the Church; so far from holding them to be evidences of a healthy and vigorous Christian life, they deplore them as a fungus growth ; so far from re- garding them as essential to progress, they see in them one of the greatest barriers to the progress of Christianity and the conversion of the world ; so far from looking with complacency upon these denominational divisions, they feel that Christianity should be ashamed of them before the face of her Founder who prayed that his disciples might be one." The Rev. Peter Ainslie, D.D., who is active in promoting the cause of organic unity and writes frequently for the re- ligious press on this subject in both America and Europe says (Editorial, The Christian Work): " There are more people than one would ordinarily think who are tired of these divisions and who long for the time when there shall be one flock as there is one Shepherd. Do you ask, Is it possible? My answer is that it is impossible to be otherwise. The possibility of a united Christianity is a biological necessity. It is the law of life. Parts of the Church may drop into decay, but that living element, irrespective of name or creed, that is in vital communion with Christ, is grow- ing together as it grows upward toward God. The possibility of a united Christianity is becoming the common sense concep- tion of all men, whether you find them in the factory or the university. It is the one conviction with the multitudes that our differences are not of sufficient consequence to perpetuate our hurtful and costly divisions. The possibility of a united Christianity is the purpose of God, for the union of believers is as much a part of the divine program as the death of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. " We are coming to the time when we must change the basis of our operation and seek for conformity to heavenly ideals rather than loyalty to sectarian orthodoxy. After the 234 Impelling Forces battle of Fredericksburg two chaplains were busy on the field until dark. One was a Protestant — Dr. Twitchell, of Hart- ford — and the other, a Roman Catholic priest. After hours' working with the wounded and the dead they prepared for their night's rest, wrapping their blankets around them and lying down for the night's slumber. One called to the other to inquire if he was comfortable. ' No,' he said, ' I am very cold.' ' Suppose we put our blankets together,* said the other. It was done. Lying beside the Protestant chaplain the Roman Catholic priest began to shake. 'What is the matter?' in- quired Dr. Twitchell. The Roman Catholic priest said, ' I was just thinking and could not help laughing — you are a Puritan parson and I am a Jesuit priest and here we are sleeping under the same blanket.' Then he became serious, and looking up into the face of the starry sky he said, ' But I think the angels are pleased to see it.' " Some years ago the writer was interested in the building of a house of worship. The architect had prescribed a certain plan of concave floor for the auditorium which the workmen did not understand. In the earlier stages of the work these workmen were indifferent, lifeless, hesitating, and doubtful, and had to be told where and how to place every stick of timber, having no idea what to do or how to do it. When the work was more than half done, one and then another of these workmen began to get a vision of the architect's plan and to take hold of the work with new vigor and effectiveness. This is a parable of what has been transpiring in the work of the church. The leaders and the workers have been proceeding in an ineffective and experimental way, because they have not had a clear concep- tion of the plan of the Great Architect for his church. As the work goes on one and then another is getting a vision of this plan and this is giving a new life and a new energy to his work. His vision of the Divine Architect's plan is the ideal that is im- The Power of a Great Ideal 235 pelling him to pray and work for a perfected unity in the organized church. The astounding results coming from the power of great and comprehensive ideals in the modem business world, which have given it its great growth and prosperity, have been a stimulant to this ideal, and made it more impelling. The Bishop of Michigan says (Lecture, Mount Morris Baptist Church, N. Y.) : " We are getting a wider vision of the meaning and real pur- pose of religion than we ever had before. We are interpreting it in the larger terms of social justice, social righteousness and social service, instead of the narrower terms of the salvation of the individual soul for another world. In spiritual fervor this movement amounts to a great religious revival. In reach and influence, in transforming power, it will be seen, when we get its true perspective, to be as epoch-making as the age of the Renaissance or the Reformation." When Cecil Rhodes said that to think in continents must be pleasing to the Deity he was stressing the value and impor- tance of great ideas and ideals, and modern progress and de- velopment has helped many to grasp and appreciate such ample and spacious ideas. To think in continents is to have large mental apprehensions and to form ideals that are great and comprehensive. To think in continents is to see great pos- sibilities in the development of a continent's resources and to form conceptions of the ways and means by which this de- velopment can be secured. It is much greater than to think in districts, provinces, or states, much greater than to think in groups of a few thousands or even a few millions of people. To-day many are thinking in world ideas and ideals. They have transcended thinking in continents and are encompassing the whole earth in their conception of enterprises to be under- taken and accomplished. World ideals are very much in evi- dence in the literature and oratory of the present day. Much 236 Impelling Forces is being said and written about a League of Nations to prevent war and insure the peace of all the earth. To think in con- tinents is great thinking, but to think in comprehension of the whole world is still much greater and no doubt God is pleased with such thinking when it relates to the interests of His church and Kingdom. The idea of a universal church including every race, tribe, and tongue, is very old, and yet it has never been very fully apprehended by the masses of God's people in any dispensation. The prophets and apostles were possessed of this idea, rather imperfectly no doubt in some cases, but apparently more fully than the body of their successors in the ministry of more modern times. These later centuries the conception of the church has been exceedingly provincial. Interest in its progress and suc- cess has been confined very closely to ecclesiastical boundaries. But a wider interest is being developed in the minds of many, and a world-wide vision of its possibilities and power for good to all mankind has been gaining a strong hold upon their thoughts and their alTections. The ideal conception of the church as inclusive of all hu- manity is truly a great ideal. It has been claimed for it that it is the greatest of all ideals of which the human mind is capable. However that may be, it is certainly one of the great- est. It is great in its comprehensiveness. It includes a mul- titude of peoples, races, nations and tribes who diflFer greatly from each other in appearance, modes of thought, habits, and customs in daily living. To discover the points of unity and community among all these is thinking that is really worth w'hile. To recognize the common and greatest good of all hu- manity and to plan and work that all might realize this good is to employ mind and heart in exercises of the noblest kind. The ideal of a universal church cannot but stress the unity of the human race and recognize the brotherhood of man. It The Power of a Great Ideal 237 not only proceeds from, but strengthens, the assurance that " God hath made of one blood all nations to dwell on all the face of the earth " (Acts 17: 26). This ideal does not permit any discrimination between the races of men, but includes them all within the range of its benefits and blessings. It is not a white man's institution any more than it is a black man's, or a yellow man's, or a red man's, or a brown man's. It is for all who love the Lord, whatever may be their physical dis- tinctions, or their racial and political differences. It is an ideal the center of whose influence and power is Jesus Christ, the church's Head and King. A world ideal for the church is honoring to Christ. It hon- ors Him as the Savior of all men rather than as the Savior of some provincial tribe or country. It helps Christian men and women in America to realize that our God is a great deal greater than an American God, or the god of any particular group of nations with which our country may have friendly relations. It glorifies His name as Lord of all. Such an ideal has much impelling power along the line of Christian unity. THE SIGH OF THE CITY S the center of life and activity the moral and spiritual ^-character of the city is important to its own welfare and to the welfare of the state and the nation. If Christian mor- ality is the controlling power in all its affairs it is the city of the Lord, but if vice is the master of the day it is the city of destruction. The cities of the world have been growing very rapidly within the last fifty years, and the rapidity of their growth has been greatly increasing with every passing decade. In the last ten years the city of New York has grown twice as fast in its population, it is claimed, as it did in the two preceding decades. What is true of New York is true of many cities, both larger and smaller, not only in the United States, but throughout the civilized world. At the beginning of the last century there were only six cities of more than eight thousand inhabitants in the United States, while at the beginning of the present century there were five hundred forty-five of them, and they include some of the great cities of the earth. At the beginning of the last centurj' the population of our cities was less than four per cent of the population of the whole country, while at the beginning of the present century the population of our cities had grown to thirty three per cent of our entire population, and at the present time it is rapidly approaching the fifty per cent mark. It will be only a few years at the farthest until more than one half of our entire population will be in cities and towns with more than 2500 inhabitants. The special cause of this growth has been the discovery and the extensive and varied applications of steam, electricity and 238 The Sigh of the City 239 gasoline as power in the use of machinery. It is scarcely fifty years since steam began to be used extensively as a power; it is only about thirty years since electricity began to be so used; and it is only a few years since gasoline began to have exten- sive use. The use of these agencies as power has resulted in a great variety of inventions, in the multiplication of many factories requiring laborers, and in numerous trades and in- dustries employing multitudes of people. The application of machinery to agriculture has greatly reduced the number of laborers necessary to provide food for the people, as one man can do as much now with modern machinery as three or four could do in former times. This fact has sent many a laborer from the country to the city to find employment. Another cause for this growth of the cities is the centralization of transporting agencies. Cities are very generally located so as to afford opportunities and facilities for transportation by water. The railroads and trolley lines make it a central point to which they can readily gather the people who desire its opportunities and advantages and bring the supplies of food and other provisions necessary for their existence and their comfort. In addition, the social cravings of human nature is a cause of the growth of our cities. Many people enjoy being in a crowd, and cities have always been as large as they could well be. Modern agencies and inventions have made it possible and advantageous to build large cities. Social opportunities and privileges of a great variety of kind are afforded by the city and people are sure to congregate where these can be obtained. This rapid and stupendous growth of cities has developed some very serious and important problems. The city is an aRKrcgation of many kinds of people, a mixture of many aims and purposes, a rendezvous of all classes and conditions of mankind. There are the rich and the poor, the learned and 240 Impelling Forces the unlearned, the energetic and the slothful, the virtuous and the vicious, the good and the bad, all in the same bundle of life. Such a conglomeration cannot fail to produce many dif- ficult problems. These problems demand the right solution, but the right solution can be gotten only through the help of Divine revelation. The word of God has been given to help men solve their problems and the church has been appointed to be the promoter of its means and methods of solution. The city needs the right solution of its problems, it needs the moral teaching and motive found in the Scriptures, it needs the church to hold up within it and before it the ideals of righteousness presented in the word of God. In its divided state the church has seriously failed in helping the modern city find the right and the best solution of its problems. The church has seri- ously failed to cope successfully with the organized forces of evil in the city. Because of this the average city has become the center and hotbed of every kind of wickedness, and some part of it the open cesspool of indescribable moral filth. It was Shelley who said that " hell was very much like London." It could more appropriately be said of some American cities. The municipal government of our cities is proverbially bad. The city is sick and needs to be healed : it is immoral, it needs to be regenerated ; it is formed, it needs to be reformed : it is leprous, it needs its blood to be purified ; it is ugly, it needs to be beautified : it is " the city of Destruction," it ought to be made " the City of God." The Bible prescribes the plans for the building of the city of God, but these plans have never yet been very closely followed. The divided condition of the church hinders the working of His plans. The church has not only been divided, but it has failed to keep pace with the growth of the city. There are fewer churches to-day in proportion to the population of many large cities than there were a half a century ago, as shown by the The Sigh of the City 241 late Dr. Josiah Strong (the Challenge of the City) who thus presents the facts: " The city is from one half to one quarter as well supplied with churches as the whole country; and, moreover, the church, like the home, grows relatively weaker as the city grows larger. In 1840 there was in Boston one Protestant church to every 1,228 souls; in 1890, one to every 2,135; 1900, one to every 2,234. I" New York in 1840, there was one Protestant church to every 1,992 souls; in 1890, one to every 4,361 ; and in 1900 (in Manhattan and the Bronx) one to every 4,736. Investigations show that our larger cities, generally, in 1890 had only half as many Protestant churches to the population as they had fifty years before." The imperative need of the city was recognized by the Congress of the Men and Religion Movement, through the report of its Commission on Missions when it speaks thus of this need (Men and Religion Messages, Vol. IV, 129) : " Almost one-half the population of the United States live in cities. The percentage increases year by year. In lesser measure the same thing is true in Canada. The rapid growth of cities, and the continual changes in the elements of which they are con- stituted, make the problem of extending the church perplexing in the extreme. Within the last three decades conditions have so changed as to demand a revolution in our whole con- ception of the obligations and methods of the city church. Nothing but strong leadership, backed with resources far be- yond the traditional standard of home mission investment, can by any possibility enable the church to meet and master the swift, potent, and complex development of human society going on in the cities of America.'' The need of the city is for a broader and more varied service than the church has been giving it in the past. The pressure of this need is becoming greater and more intense every year. 242 Impelling Forces It is increased by the changing conditions of modern life brought about by the general and rapid diiiFusion of knowledge and the great multitude of inventions which science has pro- duced. This revolution of men's habits of living and thinking has filled the minds of some with doubts in regard to the value, importance, and perpetuity of the church, and has given to oth- ers a new vision of its mission. This new vision is the social vision which fills the minds of those who write on " Social Service," and those who through some kind of organization are trying to render such service to the needy of the city. This new vision is filling the minds of many in our day who are devoting themselves to social work with great energy and earnestness. The social question is at the bottom a moral question, and social service is an appropriate outlet for the moral and religious life. And there are many in these days who are finding the outlet of their lives through this channel. Never has there been a time when men have tried to do so much for their fellow-men in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ. Never has there been a time when they recog- nized so clearly and fully that there was so much to be done. Their splendid activities have been manifest sometimes in organizations within the church and sometimes in organiza- tions without the church. The spirit of these social workers is the spirit of the Master, who while he was teaching also did much to help the needy. " He went about doing good." Social workers have seen and appreciated the law of service which he laid down for his followers. They recognize the announcement of this law in His declaration, " Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant," and the confirmation of it in the added declaration that he had come, " Not to be ministered unto, but to minister " (Matt. 20: 27, 28). They feel that this serv- ice was imposed upon His followers when He said, " The servant The Sigh of the City 243 is not greater than his Lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him" (John 13:16). They believe that this law of service was intended for all his followers until the end of time. In close connection with this law of service they recognize another, which is the law of sacrifice. This law was an- nounced in the words, " If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me " (Matt. 16:24). Social workers believe that this law of sacrifice, even unto death, is laid upon all who would follow Christ. With these two laws they see another which is the motive for the two already mentioned. It is the law of love. This law was emphasized by him as most essential and important. Love is the fulfilling of the law, and is the in- ward cause which leads to service and to sacrifice. Obedience to these laws makes earnest and efficient workers. Dr. Henry Van Dyke has thus pointed out the source of their activities (The Gospel for an Age of Doubt) : " Now this renewal, this splendid expansion of Christian ac- tivities, evident by many signs to all thoughtful observers, de- pends for its power and permanence upon the setting forth of Christ, vividly, personally, practically, as the pattern of all virtue and the Prince of Peace among men. The sense of ab- solute confidence in Him as the perfect example of goodness, and of thorough loyalty to Him as the Master of noble life, is the hidden reservoir of moral force. The organized charities of Christendom are the distributing system. Not more instant and more complete would be the water-famine on Manhattan Island if the great dam among the Croton hills were broken and all the lakes and streams dried up, than the drought that would fall upon the beneficence of the world if there were a sudden break in the reservoir of love and loyalty in Christian hearts to their moral Master, or a stoppage of the myriad and 244 Impelling Forces multiform feeders which keep it full by preaching Christ." A number of organizations outside the church have been doing excellent work along the line of social service and there are those who think that the church is too antiquated and formal ever to accomplish much along this line, and that they must seek opportunity for Christian service through outside channels. They are willing to pay their respects to the church as a time-honored institution by membership and at- tendance but devote their energy in Christ's work through these other agencies. This vision of social service was the source of the insti- tutional church, the socialized church, which in many cities has made an effort to meet in some measure the cit>''s need. This kind of church provides such varied lines of social service as are uplifting and transforming to the community in which it is located. It is no longer an experiment. Its methods of service have been clearly demonstrated to be effective. It actually accomplishes what it undertakes to accomplish. It reaches the masses and exerts over them a great influence for good. Its methods have now been on trial long enough to fully prove their value. For years these methods have suc- cessfully applied the gospel under the most difficult conditions and with transforming power. What is needed in the city is such an adoption and use of these methods as will reach every block and building of the city in the most helpful and uplifting way. The institutional or socialized church and the religious social settlement have shown the methods of Christian service by which the city can be regenerated and redeemed. But how can these methods be fully and effectively applied? On this point the Rt. Rev. C. P. Anderson, the Bishop of Chicago says (Pamphlet, The Manifestation of Unity) : " Visible unity is a necessity from the viewpoint of social efficiency. A sectarian Christianity cannot mould the social The Sigh of the City 245 conscience. It is incapable of a catholic cosmopolitanism. It cannot act continentally. After all, sectarianism is only one remove from individualism, and individualism is incompatible with organized Christianity. If there can be five churches, there can be five hundred or five thousand, or as many churches as there are individuals. Hence the premise which admits of many churches carries one on logically to no church. Now this is not Christianity. Christianity is not only a religion for individuals, it is for society. It is a social religion. It is a kingdom, a body, an organism. The world is the subject of redemption. Society itself is to be regenerated. The nations are to bow before Christ. " It is commonly supposed that the function of the church is to convert individual men to Christ. Yes, it is that, but it is more than that. It is commonly supposed that the function of the church is to be the good Samaritan to those that are fallen by the wayside. Of course it is all that, but it is more than that. Its function is to clear the highways — the indus- trial, the social, the political highways — of thieves and robbers, and not simply to be the good Samaritan to those that have been knocked down and robbed. Its function is to bring about the new earth in which dwelleth righteousness, to be the executive agency of God's kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy. Men sometimes say that if the church converts individuals, society will take care of itself. The individual must of course be converted, but that is not enough. Every stone in the build- ing may be perfect, and yet if they had not been put together properly, they might have fallen down over men's heads. Indi- viduals may be good, and yet society may be badly constructed. Society is something more than the aggregate of its individuals. The church is infinitely more than the aggregate of its churches or of its individuals. Life is an organism. The church is an organism. Therefore individualism is not the gospel for this 246 Impelling Forces world. The world is organized. Money is organized. La- bor is organized. Society is organized. Politics are organized. Even the nations of the world are beginning to organize inter- nationalism. Everything is organized except the Christian re- ligion, and Christ prayed that that would be organized. As things stand now, it is an unequal fight between an organized world and a disorganized church. A disunited, disjointed, in- dividualistic Christianity, where every church and every man is an independent unit, cannot stand up against the highly organized conditions of to-day. " These words are strong and true and show forcibly that the great need of the whole country, but especially of the city because of its concentrated life, is a united church. Many who are most loyal to the church and are anxious that it should most perfectly glorify the name of its Head and Founder are seeing this and are praying and working for its coming. Has not the time arrived for the inauguration of an aggressive campaign on a plan sufficiently comprehensive to meet the highest need of the city? the nation? the world? All our modem cities, larger and smaller, are very much in need of the concentrated energy and effort of a united church. As it now is some parts of the city are likely to be quite well supplied with churches, Christian workers, and equipments, while other parts are sadly wanting in such moral agencies. The better residence portions have large and commodious houses of worship and congregations well organized and equipped, while other parts have few workers and unat- tractive meeting houses poorly equipped. The distribution of workers and of buildings and equipments for Christian work is often very defective, because each denomi- nation seeks the most favorable location for its im- mediate growth and prosperity, and makes the welfare of the city and the salvation of its poorer and submerged classes a The Sigh of the City 247 secondary consideration. The business district and the down- town district generally are very much wanting in workers and in the means and agencies necessary to carry on the most effective and successful Christian work. The best distribution of working forces and of the means at their disposal is not possible in the present divided condition of the church. It is possible only where unity of aim, purpose, plan, and effort in- cludes the whole body of workers and all the resources at their command. A divided church, in its attention to the par- ticular parts of which it is composed, destroys the sense of re- sponsibility for the moral and religious training of the city as a whole. A united church would more readily and certainly recognize and realize this responsibility and make appropriate provision to meet its demands. A united church would have stimulus and incentive to study the need of the city and master its difficult problems, which a divided church is not likely to have. It could not shift responsibility, nor share it, but must assume its whole burden. Such a sense of respon- sibility would in itself be a great blessing to the church and would quicken and expand its efforts in the accomplishment of its mission. To make the city a safe place for the young men and women going into it from the rural districts the greatest pos- sible concentration of religious energy and effort is needed. These young people need protection from the snares, pitfalls, and mantraps, which the evil forces of the city are ever ready to employ for their ruin and destruction. They need the coun- sel, guidance, and help of Christian people in safeguarding their character, conduct, and life. The wide open city is full of danger to the unsophisticated and the unwary, and many boys and girls become entangled in the meshes of evil and arc ruined every year in such a city. The influence and power of a united church to put " a tight lid " on the city are a con- 248 Impelling Forces stant necessity to make it a place of safety to its own young people as well as to those coming from elsewhere. As en- vironment has much to do in the formation of habits of thought and conduct, the church has a great responsibilitj' in providing such environment for its youth as will be most constructive in the development of moral character. This work is so great that it can be properly accomplished only by the concentration, the united aim and efforts, of all the moral and religious power there is in all the churches. This unity of energy, strength, and effort is needed to purge and purify the city's politics. While good men are fre- quently found in office in the city, it is too often the case that those most active in its politics are the saloon keepers, the prize-fighters, the gamblers, thugs, and thieves. When such as these are the dominating influence in the civil affairs of the city it becomes dangerous to moral character and insecure in respect to life and property. To prevent this and to give to it good rulers, who are men of strong moral character, re- quires the strength and power of a united church in the develop- ment and preservation of that degree of civic morality which is commensurate with the city's highest welfare. The civic and social conscience needs to be well developed. The enor- mous powers of corrupt organizations and centralized wealth often combine to corrupt the city's government and weaken the consciences of its citizens. Predatory and vicious wealth often seeks channels and opportunities for self-gratification through the loose administration of the city's management. The larger the city the greater becomes its need of the church's moral influence in securing and supporting officials whose moral char- acter is absolutely incorruptible, and who accept office for the public good and not for private gain. The past failure of the church to cope with the evil influences of the city in its control is surely very suggestive of the need of a more perfect unity in The Sigh of the City 249 the church's organization and effort toward the creation of municipal morality and the purification of the city's politics. Much greater influence and power is needed from the church in the prevention and suppression of crime. The modern American city is the center to which resort criminals of every kind. It often becomes a veritable hotbed of lawlessness and immorality. All kinds of crime flourish much more abundantly in the city than in the country. Murder, suicide, highway rob- bery, and theft are very common crimes. Licentiousness is very openly scandalous and flagrant. Lawlessness of every kind is very prevalent and vicious. It has been estimated that there is from eight to nine times as much crime in the average city as in the open country. What a challenge this is to the church as the teacher and promoter of good morals! How much it needs the fullness of its power in meeting and over- coming the forces of evil! Yes, the city surely needs the greatest possible influence and power of the church in the pre- vention and suppression of its crime. It needs that unity of organization, aim, and effort in the church which is surest of success in the creation of a good citizenship and in the removal of the causes of crime, and as a consequence, the commission of crime. The city needs the best power of the church in the removal of its slums. These morally and malignantly ulcerated and vice-festering parts of the city are very dangerous to the city's life and welfare, and to the morality and welfare of all the rural districts surrounding it. The slum ought to be re- moved as a cancerous affection from the city's body. The in- strument for its removal is in the message committed to the church's care and use. The church's responsibility for the wielding of this instrument is very great, and requires the most perfect unity of aim, purpose and effort on the part of all the church's agents in the handling of this instrument. The mes- 250 Impelling Forces sage in possession of the church is sufficient for the removal of this great evil, but so far the church has largely failed in securing its removal. In this important work the church needs all the wisdom, skill, and power within its reach cen- tered in a single directing power. Strong influences, both so- cial and economic, are ever ready to defend the existence of the slum. But there is no adequate justification for its existence, and the church ought to attack it and cause the city to see that it is an unnecessary evil, and that its removal is a necessity for the city's welfare. The church acting as a unit could do more vigorous and effective work in the removal of the social and economic causes which produce the slum than it has been doing, and at the same time do more intense and energetic work toward the salvation of those now composing its popula- tion. The city needs the help and guidance of the church in its educational work. Its children and youth have special need of the moral teaching, the sanctions of good conduct, which the church is specially organized and commissioned to teach. These children and youth need the standards of morality which are presented in the Scriptures. The separation of church and state in America, having been used to exclude the Bible from the public schools and state universities, lays great responsibility upon the church in regard to moral and religious teaching. The failure of mere secular education to produce high stand- ards of morality among men is much in evidence to-day. The German people are a highly educated people, but their culture has not saved them from the lowest depths of cruelty, vicious- ness, and moral depravity, in their conduct in the present war. Education without religion has been clearly demonstrated to be an utter failure in the development of true and noble manhood. The training of the city's schools needs the stimulation and supplementary efforts which must come from The Sigh of the City 251 the church if the work of education is to be effective in the making of good citizens, and this work of the church demands the most perfect unity and cooperation of the whole body of Christian men and women for its effective and successful ac- complishment. The city needs the help and influence of the united church in the assimilation of its alien populations. This work of as- similation, being a very delicate and difficult one, on account of national and race prejudices and varieties of social customs and habits, calls for the united strength of the whole body of Chris- tian people in the city. The cementing of many nationalities and races into one body of good citizens is a very great work and requires the aggregate wisdom and combined strength of all the moral and religious forces that are available. What- ever other agencies may be useful in this work of assimilation, the message of the gospel is the greatest of all producers of har- mony and peace among humanity's discordant elements. The city's need of help and stimulation from the church is thus seen to be very great. The apprehension of this need is filling the minds and hearts of many Christian people of to-day with a vision of the church's opportunity and possibilities for greater usefulness by the happy combination of all its forces in one intrepid force for the overthrow of all forms of evil and to make the city the city of the Lord, instead of the city of destruction. Such a vision has much impelling power in stimu- lating the idea of greater unity and in the promotion of efforts for its advancement. The great sigh which they hear prompts to united action. THE CALL OF THE COUNTRY HEN more than six hundred delegates from thirty one ▼ ▼ states came together at Columbus, Ohio, in December, 191 5, in a Country Church Conference, and President Wilson thought it worth while to go to Columbus to address that conference, it proved that the interests of the country church is a living issue of recognized importance. That conference was the result of the general discussion which had been going on for several years in regard to the need of rural communities, and of some efforts that had been in progress with the view of bet- tering the condition of these communities. Previous to this time it had been noticed that there were hundreds of vacant churches in certain sections of the country, and county and town- ship surveys had been made in a few localities under the direc- tion of some of the churches. In December, 1914, a state survey of Ohio had been begun by the Rev. Charles O. Gill under the direction of the Commission on Church and Country Life of the Federal Council. This survey has since been completed and of the 1350 townships in Ohio 1200 are classed as rural. The great majority of rural congregations are without resident ministers and in more than one-fourth of these townships no church has a resident pastor. In the rural districts of Ohio there is one church to every 286 persons. There is an average of five churches in each township and an average population of 1470 persons. Mr. Gill avers that these churches compete rather than cooperate, and this conviction has become wide- spread. Also the Ohio Rural Life Association, whose President is Dr. W. O. Thompson of the Ohio State University, has been 252 The Call of the Country 253 giving much attention to the needs of the country church. In- stitutes have been held for country ministers and the State Sunday School Association has been giving efTective help. The problems of the country church have frequently been intro- duced into the programs of farmers' institutes. Likewise the International Committee of the Young Men's Christian Association, the National Assemblies of the American and the Southern Sociological Congresses, and the National Conference of Charities and Correction have taken up the consideration of the rural church in such a way as to make it clear that the interest of the country church is beginning to re- ceive that degree of attention of which it is deserving. The surveys that have been made show very clearly that there has been a great decline in the membership, attendance and support of the country church in many sections of the country, and that for this reason many churches have been closed. The cause of this decline is largely the result of changed conditions in country life. In most rural communities there are not nearly so many inhabitants as there were a generation or two ago, and the same is true of the hamlet and village. The average family is much smaller than it was at that time. The small artizan has disappeared because his work is now wrought in the large city factory whose products have supplanted the products of his skill. The introduction and use of machinery has greatly les- sened the necessary number of farm hands. One man can now do as much with modern machinery as required at least three men in former times, and more scientific farming gets greater results from the same soil. Hence it takes fewer men corre- spondingly to produce the same quantity, or even a much greater quantity, of agricultural supplies. These changed conditions have wrought a great decline in the population of many a rural community, and the consequent decline of many a rural church. Moreover, not a few of the Christian people who formerly sup- 254 Impelling Forces ported the church have sold their farms, or rented them, and gone to the towns and cities to live, while their successors on the farm are not interested in religious things. In former times nearly everybody in the villages and open country were regular attendants and supporters of the church, but in these later years there are many people living in the country as well as in the city who neither go to church nor give it their support. Such facts as these make the problem of the country church a living and a vital problem. It is in need. What is its greatest need? From the nature of its mission for what is it calling most loudly? The surveys that have been made seem to be suggestive along this line. It has been found that as a rule all the larger con- gregations of the smaller towns, villages and open country, are growing, or at least are holding their own, while the smaller congregations have been declining, and that the decline has been most rapid in the smallest. This is a very instructive fact and demonstrates that the larger the congregation the more effective is its work in proportion to its membership, and that the doub- ling of a church's membership more than doubles its power for good and its assurance of success. This fact is another con- firmation of the old proverb which teaches that where one can chase a thousand two can put ten thousand to flight. It indi- cates very strongly that one need of the rural communities in many places is larger congregations and not so many of them. Many of our leading statesmen have recognized the signif- icance of this problem of the country church. President Wil- son, in his address before the Country Church Conference at Columbus showed his realization of its importance. Along with other fitting things he said: " Christianity is not important to us because it is a valid body of conceptions regarding man and God, but it is a vital The Call of the Country 255 body of conceptions which can be translated into life for us — life in this world and a life still greater in the next. And except as Christianity changes and inspires life, it has failed of its mission. That is what Christ came into the world for, to save our spirits, and you cannot have your spirit altered without having your life altered. " When I think of the rural church, therefore, I wonder how far the rural church is vitalizing the lives of the communities in which it exists. We had a great deal to say recently, and it has been very profitably said, about the school as a social center, by which is meant the schoolhouse as a social center; about mak- ing the house which in the daytime is used for the children a place which their parents may use in the evenings and the other disengaged times for the meetings of the community, where they are privileged to come together and talk about anything that is of community interest and talk about it with the utmost freedom. Some people have been opposed to it because there are some things they do not want talked about. Some boards of educa- tion have been opposed to it because they realized that it might not be well for the board of education to be talked about. Talk is a very dangerous thing, to the men who are doing the wrong thing; but I for my part believe in making the school the social center, the place that the community can use for any kind of co- ordinating that it wants to do in its life. " But I believe that where the schoolhouse is inadequate, and even where it is adequate, that the most vital social center should be the Church itself; and that, not by way of organizing the Church for social service — that is not my topic to-night; that is another topic — but of making the community realize that that congregation and particularly that pastor, is interested in every- thing that is important for that community, and that the mem- bers of that church arc ready to cooperate, and the pastor ready 256 Impelling Forces to lend his time and energy to the kind of organization which is necessary, outside the church as well as in, for the benefit of the community. " It seems to me that the country pastor has an unparalleled opportunity to be a country leader ; to make everybody feel that he, as the representative of Christ, believes himself related to everything human, to everything human that has as its object the uplift and instruction and inspiration of the community or the betterment of any of its conditions, and that, if any pastor will make it felt throughout the community that that is his spirit, and that his interest, and that he is ready to draw his elders or his deacons, or his vestrymen with him as active agents in the betterment of the community, the Church will begin to have a dominating influence in the community such as it has lost for the time being, and we must find it means to regain." The late Dr. Henry Wallace, founder and many years editor of The Wallace Farmer, of Des Moines, Iowa, and a member of the Country Life Commission appointed by President Roose- velt in presenting the report of the Rural Life Commission to the Men and Religion Congress in 19 12, among other things, had this to say: " The great superabundance of denominations, and in some sections of the churches, renders the problem vastly more com- plicated and difficult. Matters which neither Jesus nor His disciples thought worthy of sufficient importance to warrant ex- plicit teaching — as for example, forms of church government — divide the churches in the country and little towa, until of those who sincerely desire to serve the Lord, there are barely enough to keep the church alive, to run the machinery, but not enough of either financial or spiritual power to make any impression on the unchurched, numbering from thirty to seventy per cent of the total population. The support of the church under these conditions involves often great sacrifices, so that the real object The Call of the Country 257 of preaching the gospel is often overlooked, namely, to make Christians, not Presbyterians, or Methodists, or Congregation- alists, or Baptists. The foreign missionary must perforce drop these impediments and devote himself to saving souls, and he succeeds. The country and the village pastor, largely because he insists in lugging them along with him, often fails in com- parison with his brother in the foreign field. (" Men and Re- ligion Messages," Vol. VI, 126.) The Department of Agriculture at Washington and also those in the various states have seen the importance of this prob- lem and are deeply interested in the progress of its solution. Bulletin 278 (January, 1917) issued by the Agricultural Exper- iment Station of the University of Wisconsin, contains an article on " The Farmer's Church an Economic and Social Force," and also a digest of this article. The digest includes the fol- lowing terse statements: " The farmer's church strengthens the habits of family life upon which successful farming depends. The pastor, or priest, is an advisor upon social and economic matters of importance. " Agriculture is a party to the rural church problems for the reason that in the national struggle to unite farmers into suc- cessful producing and business groups the rural parish is a force whose pull is felt by local agriculture. " A system of strong rural churches having capable pastors living in the parish will unify farmers and farming. " A joint commission from the national religious bodies could formulate the principles upon which to reparish the rural dis- tricts so as to give every farm family a chance to belong to a strong church. " Training schools for country pastors, situated at the State Colleges of Agriculture, would give pastors enthusiasm for country life and a knowledge of rural problems both social and economic. 258 Impelling Forces " Some examples of farmers' churches in Wisconsin show how churches and their religious leaders are cooperating with a progressive agriculture in rural social development." The Bishop of Michigan has the oversight of many rural Episcopalian churches and has been a student of the problem elsewhere. In regard to the solution of this problem he has expressed himself as follows: " There is the problem of the rural districts and small towns. Thousands of rural churches are closed, abandoned throughout the land. Whole regions are practically pagan. I know of them in my diocese. I don't know, but I am inclined to think that the percentage of attendance in the rural districts and small towns is smaller than in our cities, and that is small enough. And the reason is not hard to find. It strikes me in the face as I go about my diocese. Here, for example, is one small town I have in mind. It has about one thousand inhabitants, I think. One good, big, strong church would meet all the needs at least of the Protestant population. There are six churches there; six jangling bells break the peace of Sabbath morning with their discordant notes; six pulpits pour out their messages, often be- laboring one another with criticisms and sometimes with vituper- ation ; six parsons strive along on meager salaries, irregularly paid, eked out by subsidies from diocesan conference, or district boards, together with the proceeds of oyster suppers given by the good sisters ; six handfuls of faithful — I might call them faith- ful and inveterate — saints gathering in their respective houses of worship, and the mass of the population takes to the fields and the woods and the waters, if not the saloon. The church has no attractiveness for them. How can we expect the church to grow and thrive under such conditions! That she survives at all is proof of her divine origin and the special providence of God Almighty over her." President Faunce, of Brown University, has been much im- The Call of the Country 259 pressed with the ruinous effects of the division of the church in smaller towns and has given expression to his convictions in these words: " There is throughout Christendom a constant duplication of effort and a steady waste of power through ruinous competition. At the first meeting of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ held in Philadelphia one bishop reported a town of less than a thousand people with thirteen churches and a strong desire for another church. A village of five hundred persons, supporting five or six churches is no uncommon situation in this country. Under such conditions ministers are starved, and the spiritual life of the community is starved as well. In the Western States hundreds of churches have been planted which have no valid reason for their existence. They are planted by denominational pride, and their chief result was to swell the statistics of a missionary report. They have introduced divisive questions, destroyed neighborhood feeling, broken up homes and caricatured New Testament Christianity. In the name of Christian faith we must protest against such churches." Not only have such statesmen in governmental, church, and educational affairs, as have been quoted, recognized the nature, scope, and seriousness of the rural church problem, but for years there have been country and village pastors who have been making special and earnest efforts at its solution. Those who have made these efforts have had clear visions and strong convic- tions in regard to the right method of solution. One who gained a good degree of success in his efforts along this line, the Rev. Harlow S. Mills, tells in his book, " The Making of a Country Parish," of the vision and conviction that came to him after he had entered upon the work of the field in Michigan to which he had been called. The thought that his church must be a community church and make an effort to serve all the people of its vicinity in all their real interests became deeply 26o Impelling Forces impressed upon his mind. After several years of effort, ex- perience, and success, along with some other conclusions he presents the following: " When all the religious forces in any community combine and work together, all the work that needs to be done in the community can be done, and there will be no lack of resources to carry it on with vigor and success. In almost every com- munity there are Christians enough for the work, if only they can be assembled and utilized. But when they are scattered about, lying around loose and uncombined, or when they are or- ganized in competing camps, they are useless for any purpose of aggressive and effective work. It isn't the poverty of the people that stands in the way, or the small number of professing Chris- tians. It is the lack of team work, the lack of cooperation, that constitutes the weakness of the cause. No work can be done in the country that is at all effective without this cooperation and combination. With it, all the work that needs to be done, can be done." Not a few ministers and consecrated laymen with a deep religious motive and a strong desire to be helpful to their fellow- men have been studying in different sections of the country the condition and need of the rural community and the rural church and have gained a similar vision and conviction. Full per- suasion has come to them that social service is one of the great needs of the country districts, as well as of the city, and that it appropriately belongs to the work of the church to provide and guide such service. They have become thoroughly con- vinced tliat the mission of the church is to serve the real in- terests of the community, rather than to serve the special in- terests of some particular denomination. The impression has grown deep on their minds that the church's right to existence in any community and to its support is its ability and disposition to serve the community in an effective way. They are fully The Call of the Country 261 persuaded that the welfare of the community is paramount to that of any particular church, and that the church which can best serve its community is the one that deserves the support of the community which it serves. Their ears have been opened to hear the call of the country for the church that can supply most perfectly its need, a single church in which all the moral and spiritual forces and resources of the community are collected and combined. They have seen not only the waste of spiritual power and material resources in the petty rivalries and compe- titions of small congregations, but also the failure of these churches to give moral strength and power to their communities, and their hearts are longing for that unity which will make the church most effective in the fulfillment of its mission in the rural districts. THE APPEAL OF MISSIONS THE movement toward Christian union receives no small encouragement and impetus from mission fields. There is a tendency and disposition among missionaries to get together in their work, whatever their denominational affiliations may be. They are drawn toward each other by a spiritual power which makes them ready to cooperate with each other and to combine their work. They have a common feeling of sympathy and comradeship toward each other which makes them friendly and fraternal in all their relations with each other as Christian workers. They frequently come together in conferences to dis- cuss in the most amicable manner the serious and delicate prob- lems which arise in their common work. At such times they frequently consider the desirability and practicability of union between the different denominations represented within some given territory. A number of the unions of churches that have been formed in recent years have been affected in mission fields. One reason for all this lies in the unity of their faith in regard to their special work. They believe more strongly in the unity of the human race and in the power of the gospel to save all men than the average Christian believes. They are all fully persuaded that the religion of Jesus Christ is a universal religion destined to encompass the whole earth and adapted to the need of men everywhere. They all insistently teach that the inhabit- ants of the world are one family, that all men are brethren, and that all mankind are children of the same Father. They are all deeply impressed with the conviction that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, whatever his nationality, or race. They all believe in the religious unity of the world and are seeking to establish it. 263 The Appeal of Missions 263 Another reason for the spirit of unity in mission fields is the unity of their aim and effort. All missionaries of every name and denomination are impelled to leave home and friends and country by the same motive. Their aim and effort is to bring men to God. They are deeply impressed with humanity's need of salvation and become deeply anxious to be the means of bringing the message of salvation to some non-Christian part of a lost w^orld. Moreover, missionaries are deeply impressed with the magnitude of the work in which they are engaged and are drawn together by the uniting power of a great task. They realize that they are dealing with the raw material which is to be shaped and moulded into Christian manhood and woman- hood. Finding the inhabitants of all lands to be essentially the same in their nature and needs, these missionaries are all moved by the same great motives, in the work in which they are en- gaged, and which weighs down so heavily upon their minds and hearts. Another reason for this tendency toward union in mission fields is the spirit of sacrificial service which pervades the entire work. Missionaries are a highly devoted class of Christian workers. They are people who have surrendered opportunity and privilege in their home lands that they might serve the peoples and tribes which are in greatest need. They have sur- rendered their lives in the interest of a sacrificial service and have gone forth to their work urged by an impelling sense of duty and by a love exceedingly unselfish. The spirit of their work is one of good-will, neighborliness, and friendship. Like the work of Jesus their work is a vicarious one. This is its special char- acteristic and pervades the whole missionary enterprise. Mis- sions are the fullest and most perfect manifestation of the true spirit of Christianity, the spirit of love and self-sacrifice. The simple existence of the missionary spirit is evidence of a vital unity among those who are animated by it. They may be travel- 264 Impelling Forces ling somewhat different roads, but their spirit is the same and has a common source. As love becomes deeper and zeal more ardent men are drawn more closelj' to each other and the spirit of brotherhood is sure to become more fully manifested. Another reason for this tendency toward union in mission fields is the unity of their teaching. All missionaries are accus- tomed to present and urge only the plainest and the simplest truths of the gospel. They see the necessity of using only " the sincere milk of the word." They realize that the essential truths of the gospel for the salvation of men are those on which there is a general agreement among all earnest and devoted Christians. They clearly see the necessity of teaching and stress- ing only those broad and fundamental truths which are most fully and clearly taught in the Scriptures and most readily un- derstood and appreciated by the masses of men. There is al- most a universal and total abandonment in mission lands of the teaching of distinctive principles, and even the retaining of dis- tinctive names. Missionaries have learned that all such teach- ing is liable to become injurious rather than helpful to their work, that it is much more difficult to explain the dividing theories which separate Christians into different churches than to make clear the essential truths of the gospel. The people whom they serve are unable to comprehend such subtile dis- tinctions. They become puzzled and perplexed over them, and find no meaning in them. They cannot see any important and vital distinction between the Thirty-nine Articles, the Augsburg Confession, and the Westminster Confession. They can see no basis for separation between those having these respective creeds. To them these dif?erences are nothing more than theo- logical squabbles which engender doubts in their minds as to the real value of any of Christianity's claims. This fact is sug- gestively illustrated by the attempt to translate some denomi- national names into the Chinese language. In this translation The Appeal of Missions 265 the Baptist church becomes "The Big Wash Church"; the Presbyterian church becomes the " Church with the Ruling Old Men"; while the Protestant Episcopal Church becomes "The Church of the Kicking Overseers." It is no wonder that mis- sionaries see the necessity of abandoning their sectarian names, and seek to be known as the Catholic, or Universal Church of Jesus Christ. Another cause of this disposition toward union is the custom of holding frequent conferences in regard to their work. These conferences bring together the representatives of the different denominations at work within some given territory, and some- times a very large territory. In these conferences they are brought very near to each other and come to realize the oneness of their work, and of their spirit. They are drawn toward each other very strongly by their common faith, purpose and task. Where complete union has not yet transpired they are uniting in very important parts and features of their common work. There is union in tract work, in translating the Scrip- tures, in the use of Christian songs, the lessons of the Bible school, and in the publication of religious papers. There are also union schools of various kinds, boys' schools and girls' schools, normal schools, colleges, and even theological sem- inaries. These conferences among the active mission workers of the world, of which the great World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh in 1910 has been by far the greatest, have had an effective reflex influence upon the churches and their agencies in the home lands. Foreign Mission Boards have been holding for several years an annual conference to which is gathered the leading and active directors and supporters of the present mis- sionary enterprise in foreign fields. These conferences may be fitly described as " unity at work." They are dominated by the spirit of unity which is always very much in evidence though 266 Impelling Forces not fully and perfectly manifested. This cannot be done until complete organic union between the churches has come to pass. But these conferences are greatly enlarging the sphere in which unity is being manifested, and are helpful toward the coming of that day in which unity shall be complete and perfect. The results and influence of modern missionary enterprise are well suited to give a world-wide vision of the Kingdom of Christ and of the church as His chosen and appointed agent for the outward manifestation of that Kingdom. Men who have large and comprehensive views soon lose sight of the small and insignificant things within their range of vision, and become restless and annoyed with anything that may interfere with their larger and more stimulating vision. The effect of this world-wide vision is forcibly presented by one who has had large experience in missionary matters and is a well-known writer on missionary topics, the Rev. Arthur Judson Brown, D.D., who says (Unity and Missions): "Once a Christian gets that broad and far sight, the only things in the religion of Jesus which still look big and consequential are the elements of it comprehensive enough to include those millions. Any little wavering segment line can cut one group or another off from the rest; but it takes a circumference like the orbit of a star to sweep the whole host into one. And the eye that has traced that mighty circumference has trouble afterwards in seeing the diminutive dividing lines. That arch of the sky, under which big facts so naturally take command over little ones, men never appreciate till they look aloft. Isaiah in his visions was granted sight of God spanning the sky with his hand, comprehending the dust of the earth in a measure and weighing the mountains in scales. Then the prophet understood that ' the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are accounted as the small dust of the balance.' Even so, if we Christians can have but a little sight of the greatness of God, our theologies, our politics, our distinc- The Appeal of Alissions 267 tions of name and custom would be with us also ' accounted as the small dust of the balance.' " Dr. Robert E. Speer whose large experience in missionary matters has especially fitted him to speak and write along mis- sionary lines has given lucid expression to the same thought. He says {The Constructive Quarterly, September, 1913) : " And foreign missions provide the larger stage, the ampler air in which we can pass out from the proximity of what has hampered us, and scale our estimates and measurements to the true standard of the full life of humanity. We come to a place of vaster hopes, of richer flexibilities, of expanded life. We do not stay there on the level of our history, of our past disagree- ments, and seek by our modification, by surrender, or supple- ment to fit them together. We simply rise to a higher level, into a unity which comprehends in its completeness our half-lights and fragments. Our theologies are to be reconciled at last, not by a restatement which will balance them afresh and establish a universal compromise and equipoise. They are to be recon- ciled in God. The living God, conceived and experienced as the God of all men, will unify them and supplant them. And so with all our disagreements as Christians. We shall not need to compose them. As we move onward into our true air and outward into our whole life each man will be the most eager of all to lay aside his error, and in the world knowledge and world love we shall find our lost unity in our freshly discovered God. It is no enmity to our past to believe that it did not exhaust God. There is no disloyalty to the past in believing that God means the future to be better than it. Unless the past has made ready for a better future, the past was a bad past. Only those things are good that make ready for better things to come after them, and those men are disloyal to the past, who believe that all the great things are in a golden age gone by. Very great and glorious the past has been, but the 268 Impelling Forces past will have failed to teach its lesson to us, the past will have failed to fulfill its mission in the will of God, if it binds men forever in the chains of its sectional apprehensions or institu- tional forms, if it has not made them ready for larger and completer things and led them on to such a unity as Christ himself, we must believe, longed for while he was here, and waits for now where he is gone." The significance of that appeal which the world of missions is making to the churches of Christendom to become united is presented by Dr. Frederick Lynch of the Christian Work and Evangelist in the following manner: " We have recently seen this same truth that only a united church can successfully cope with great entrenched evils, and that this united action in social service creates a more united church, convincingly illustrated by three great recent movements. The Layman's Missionary Movement, the World Conference on Missions at Edinburgh, and the Men and Religion Forward Movement. These three movements grew out of great crises confronting a Christianity which had come to see that the task of the church was not only to rescue what souls it could out of the evil of the world, but was also to banish the evil itself from the world. Knowing this was the task, men had come to see that no one denomination and that not all the denominations moving separately could make any impression on the sin and ig- norance of the great non-Christian world, that each denomina- tion was but a little candle in the darkness of the great East. It is this that brought the denominations together in these great united missionary movements. At the same time these mission- ary conferences have been a powerful force in uniting the churches." The report of the Commission on Foreign Missions at the quadrennial meeting of the Federal Council in 1916 presents The Appeal of Missions 269 some phases of the relation which missions bear to the cause of unity in these words : " The events of the last two years have made humanity deeply conscious of its unity. Nations have been forced to give up the idea that they could live isolated from the rest of man- kind, or with their national interests detached from the broad movements of humanity. To the utmost comer of the world the influence of the European war is extended. Mankind recognizes that it is one body in which each member must suffer or profit with every other member. The common experiences of all men have been so deep and piercing as to eclipse their isolated and partizan experiences. The unity of human history and of human life has asserted itself against all that separates it. These unifying forces have collided with the prejudiced tend- encies of division. They have collided with the enterprise of foreign missions. It has always been a movement of cooperation and unitj'. It has preached the doctrine of the one God and Father and the one Redeemer and Lord of men, and the one body and brotherhood of mankind. It has proclaimed the duty of international sympathy and good will. Even in the midst of the divisions and misunderstandings of war it has preserved the Catholic mind and the Christian spirit, and has held up before the schisms the loyalty of its unity. In China, where the Continental Missions suffered great distress because of the cut- ting off of their supplies, the missionary agencies of other lands took up the burden. In India the American Lutherans came to the aid of German missions, while the entire mission body of India assessed itself for funds for the relief of German mis- sionaries who might be in need. To relieve the strain of mis- understanding between Japan and the United States, and to maintain the traditional relationship of common understanding and friendship, a substantial contribution was made in response 270 Impelling Forces to the call of missionaries by the sending of Dr. Matthews, the President of the Federal Council, and Dr. Gulick, as a com- mission of good will from the churches of America. The Chris- tian churches working together in the missionary enterprise con- front to-day both the privilege and the duty of unique service to humanity which needs above all else that principle of service and of unity and of love, of which the enterprise of foreign mis- sions is the purest expression." Very strong indeed is the appeal of missions for greater, more complete and more perfect unity in the organization, administra- tion and effort of the church to save a lost world. The power of this appeal to those who have apprehended to any considerable degree its meaning and significance becomes impelling. It has a vision that awakens strong desire and induces effort toward its fulfillment. THE CAUSE OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION THAT modern education has some very serious defects will not be doubted. Too much has been spoken and written in regard to them to permit any one of ordinary inteUigencc to think its work is one of complete and thorough satisfaction. The feeling that it has failed to produce that moral equipment of character which is necessary' for good citizenship is strong and wide-spread. Many have become thoroughly convinced that Sir Robert Pell was right when he said that " Secular education is only half an education, with the most important half left out," and are anxious to remedy the defect. This defect is found both in our public schools and in our colleges. The moral break-down of multitudes of young men and women who have enjoyed the opportunities afforded them in public school, high school, and college, and the want of manly, virile moral vigor in many others, have called attention to the weakness of the work that is being done along ethical lines. The dissatisfaction that exists in regard to present conditions has been forcibly expressed in many ways and on many different occasions. Mr. Bird S. Coler says: " Nothing but positive religious instruction can protect the country ; schools are being conducted on a basis fundamentally wrong, and they are re- sponsible for the spread of Socialism." Dr. Hall in his book on Adolescence says: " Although pedagogues make vast claims for the moralizing effects of schooling, I cannot find a single crim- inologist who is satisfied with the modern school." Mr. Eugene J. E. Schreck takes the position that religious education is in- adequate, that the religious interests of civilization are entitled to a portion of the time and energy now devoted by children to education. A prominent religious journal says ( The Homiletic 271 272 Impelling Forces RevieWj Jan. 1913) : "The present condition of religious education, with its absurdly limited time and facilities, cannot continue much longer. The same is true respecting the present condition of public-school education, incomplete as it is in its religious and moral outlook upon life, and yet demanding the major part of the time and energy of children available for educational purposes. Both conditions are artificial and anom- alous. The only rational remedy is for the representatives of the public, in educational circles, and in religious circles, to get together, and devise a plan whereby what is called secular education and what is called religious education, may be so brought together in the child's experience as to give them the relation demanded by the laws of the human mind, which recog- nize no such artificial division of the educational process as we are ignorantly trying to maintain." Bishop Lawrence says: " If this country is to remain Christian, the people of the country must be shown how they can support our great and noble school system, and at the same time bring up their chil- dren in the principles of Christian faith and character." The present condition of irreligion in our public school system is the result of a wrong interpretation and application of the principle of complete separation between church and state as provided for by our national constitution. This principle is one on which the American people are fully united, and it is a right principle, but one which has been wrongly interpreted and applied in relation to our public schools and state universities. This provision which has been construed to exclude religion from all institutions supported by the state was not so intended by the fathers who framed and adopted the constitution. Rather their aim was to exclude sectarianism, and to protect the people against the pernicious effects of sectarian teaching. Chief Justice Story who discusses its letter and spirit in his commen- taries on the constitution, and who fully understood the spirit of The Cause of Religious Education 273 Its framers, says: "The attempt to level all religions, and make it a matter of state policy to hold all in utter indifference, would have created universal disapprobation, if not universal indignation." Daniel Webster, who was familiar with the sentiments that prevailed in the early days of our country's history, has said: "Our ancestors founded their government on morality and religious sentiment. They were brought hither by their high veneration for the Christian religion. They jour- neyed by its light, and labored in its hope. They sought to in- corporate it with the elements of their society, and to diffuse its influences through all their institutions, civil, political, social, and educational." The immortal George Washington, who presided over the convention that drafted our national constitu- tion, and was the first to apply its provisions to the government of our country, in his Farewell Address presents the impor- tance of religion in national life and education in these words: " Of all dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain woul3 that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked : Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obli- gation deserts the oaths which are the instruments of invcstiga- I tion in the courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined educa- tion on the minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in the exclusion of religious principle." The necessity for religious training was taught by the 274 Impelling Forces ancients. Plutarch declared: "There never was a state of atheists. You may travel over the world, and you may find cities without walls, without king, without mint, without theater or gymnasium ; but you will find nowhere a city without a God, without prayer, without oracle, without sacrifice. Sooner may a city stand without foundation than a state without belief in the gods. This is the bond of all society, and the pillar of all legislation." And this necessity persists. Humboldt said: "What we want in the nation we must put in the school." The French philosopher, Victor Cousin, was speaking of the teaching of religion in German schools when he said : " Every wise man will rejoice in this: for, with three-fourths of the population, morality can be instilled only through the medium of religion." Mr. Harold Johnson, Secretary of the Moral Education League, of London, England, says: "In countries where a more or less secular solution has been reached — the United States of America, a number of British colonies, France, Japan — it is becoming more and more evident that this solution is really no solution at all, and presents, at best, only a stage preparatory to a solution." Professor Coe says: " So far as religion has a proper place m human culture, organized religion must voluntarily, at its own expense, provide an adequate system of religious education for the children of the entire country. The problem is not simply how to bring a child here and there to religious maturity. It is not merely how to maintain a given religious society or even a whole denomination in health. The problem is how to produce a religious civilization." The same dissatisfaction is found with our colleges. The editor of one of our most popular magazines, Mr. Edward Bok {The Ladies' Home Journal) has received hundreds of letters from college students, and was completely overcome with the slip-shod English, the mediocrity, and the lack of The Cause of Religious Education 275 originality shown by these letters. A college professor writes an article for a magazine (Professor Henry Seidel Canby, Harper s, July, 191 5) in which he contends that American liter- ature is very ordinary, and that the best literature wants ap- preciation and is not taught effectively. A young man, who has spent four years in one of our best colleges, writes " The Confessions of An Undergraduate: Is College a Failure," in which he arraigns our colleges for their failure to secure faithful and thorough work from their students and to inspire them with lofty and worthy standards of thought and action. There is no doubt that there is some justification for such criti- cisms. There is no doubt that many colleges fail to impress the importance of ethical motives upon the minds and hearts of their students. There is no doubt that religion has too small a place in the curriculum and life of many colleges and univer- sities. Dr. W. O. Thompson, President of Ohio State Univer- sity, has said : " The atmosphere in which one is educated counts for much. I am in no way untrue to state institutions when I say that in our day a boy might become a bachelor or a master in almost any one of the best of them and be as ignorant of the Bible, the moral and the spiritual truth which it repre- sents, and the fundamental principles of religion, their nature and value to society, as if he had been educated in a non- Christian country." Dr. W. A. Harper, the president of one of our colleges, in discussing the " Permanent Elements of Education," says: "And yet there are institutions in this Christian land, in this land where the sentiments just expressed represent the mature judgment of ninety per cent and more of our people, in this Christian land of whose Christian ideals bodying themselves forth in most humanitarian methods and institutions we arc pardonably proud, in this delightful Chris- tian land ' Where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great,' there arc educational institutions from which young 276 Impelling Forces men and women, the flower of our country, each year emerge after four years of study and research with no more conception of the true God and of their relationship to Him or of His rela- tionship to society than if they had been educated in the jungles of Africa. But the day of redemption is at hand. We have scented the enemy and he is ours. We will never give up the battle, but will fight it out along this line if it takes us our life time. And when we pass off the arena, we will transmit the feud to our children and they to theirs, till the virus of this deadly heresy has been absolutely eliminated from the veins of our national life. We value education, but we value Christian character even more, and the beauty of it is that we can have both if we will, and we will." In an issue of The Christian Work some time ago the editor- in-chief. Dr. Frederick Lynch, had this to say in regard to our educational condition : " Once more we cannot help reverting to our old theme that the colleges are not doing enough for the religious life of the students and do not direct their attention sufficiently to the creating of Christian Character. There are exceptions, and, of course, under our present foolish laws our State Universities cannot refer to the two most fundamental departments of life — religion and politics. But on the other hand, in many of our colleges, founded explicitly to teach the Christian religion, the only reference ever made to Christianity by the college itself is in a perfunctory chapel service. In sev- eral colleges there is a considerable religious activity carried on by the students, which is good. But in some colleges the faculty seem afraid of anything directly relating to Christianity, and the Bible holds no such conspicuous place as the Greek or Latin literatures. To revert to our own experience, during our four years in a great college no single member of the faculty ever mentioned religion to us; all of the 3000 men might have finished their course without ever having opened the covers of The Cause of Religious Education 277 the Bible so far as the college was concerned. . . . Now, why should not our colleges put the Christian life first? Why do they neglect the one fundamental thing of life? Do they scorn the church that nothing is ever said of it? What would happen if one of our colleges should suddenly put the Bible as the chief text-book and should put in courses for all the students in the things Christianity had accomplished through the ages and what it was now doing in the world? Would our students desert that college, their parents taboo it? " These writers show very clearly that the great defect in modern education has been moral and religious teaching and training and indicate the urgency of securing a larger place for religion in the education of our children and youth. It is the function of the church to find the way by which this can be done. As the conservator of the Scriptures, the pillar and ground of the truth, the promoter of all true and right ideals, it has a great duty to perform in regard to education. It has al- ways been the friend of education and the great inspirer of its work, and it must continue to be. A great work is now needed to be wrought in the behalf of a better system of education and the church is called upon to do that work. It must create and establish higher and better ideals than have existed in the past. It must find a large place for religion in the public school and college. It must cause men to see the need and importance of the religious element in education and fill them with convictions in regard to its necessity and with desire for its presence and its power. One great hindrance to the cause of the higher Christian education has been acute denominationalism. Each denomi- nation must have its own colleges and many of them are very poorly supported. They are built and managed with reference to denominational interests regardless too often of their need in the great cause of education. In some sections there are too 278 Impelling Forces many colleges for the immediate country to support and their denominations have too many others to give them much help. In its divided condition it is very difficult for the church to have a comprehensive program on education. Some success has been attained through interdenominational efforts, but they are not sufficient for the great work now before the church. It will take a united church to accomplish the task now resting on it. Bishop C. P. Anderson says (The Manifestation of Unity) : " Take the matter of Christian edxication. Surely this is fundamental, if anything is. Our divisions have made it im- practicable. They have separated into two the things that are one, viz., religion and education. Education has been as com- pletely secularized as if man had no soul, and the world had no God. Religion has been as completely isolated as if character had no place in a child's education. Our education is losing its religious values. Our religion is losing its educational values. Christian ideals and principles cannot be woven into the warp and woof of the lives of our children as a part of their schooling simply because of the divisions in the church. To my mind there are three great problems to be worked out among Christian people in the interest of a permanent Christianity. They are Christian education. Christian social righteousness and Christian unity. I believe the first two await the third." THE DEMANDS OF ECONOMY ECONOMY is the proper management of all available resources. It is frugality in distributions and prudence in expenditures. It is carefulness in outlay and freedom from extravagance and waste. It is the best use of means to reach a given end. John Ruskin says: "Economy no more means the saving of money than it means spending money. It means the administration of a house ; its stewardship ; spending or saving, that is, whether money or time, or anything else, to the best possible advantage." Economy is a basal need in the home, in the church and in the state. The neglect of economy is sure to bring disaster and ruin. It is one of the fundamental laws of God which cannot be ignored without defeat and destruction. Failure to practice economy has been the cause of defeat to many a man in his busi- ness ventures. Want of economy has been the ruin of many a social institution and many a public undertaking. The want of prudence in expenditures has soon wasted many a fortune. The want of proper management has been the defeat of many a public project as well as of many a private enterprise. Care- lessness and indifference in the use of opportunities and re- sources has often brought weakness and finally defeat. The laws of economy are insistent everywhere and must be heeded, or want of vigor, want of efficiency, and want of power are sure to follow. The practice of economy is the duty of the church. It is under the same law as the individual, the family, the state, and every other organization and institution. It is affected in the same way in regard to economic causes and effects. It cannot ignore these laws of God without suffering the penalty of weak- 279 28o Impelling Forces ness, inefficiency, and defeat. It must husband its resources and wisely use its agencies for work to be really effective and successful in its great mission. It is the special duty of the church to practice this law of God, because it is clearly His law and its special office is to glorify Him as the great Author and Supporter of all such laws, and because this law was always obeyed and specially taught by the church's great Founder. He was never guilty of extravagance or waste. He was always careful in His use of time and strength and means and oppor- tunities. He taught His disciples to be careful and thoughtful. When He fed a multitude He required them to gather up the fragments, that nothing might be lost after the people were supplied. This economic deed was done at a time of organized work under His own special direction and had special signif- icance in regard to the work of His disciples in their establish- ment of His church in subsequent years. It was a lesson on economy for the guidance of His people in their capacity as an organized church through all succeeding time, and is a lesson of great significance for the church of to-day. The demands of economy upon the church are two-fold. They are those which relate to its own practice and example, and those which relate to its influence and power in establishing a better economic order of society than now exists. First, the law of Economy demands that the church shall not be guilty of carelessness, improvidence, or wastefulness in the distribution of its forces, the employment of its agencies, and the application of its resources. The law of ecunomy requires that men, equipment and money shall be so distributed and applied as to secure the best results in the work for which the church was specially established and in which it is engaged. It must be confessed that the work of the church in its divided state is far from being economic. It is not economy to have a half dozen men, more or less, duplicating each other's work almost entirely The Demands of Economy 281 in one small community. If they are all needed in the com- munity, as they may be, it would be economic to divide the work on special lines as is done in education and to a considerable degree in law and medicine. It is not economy to establish and maintain a half dozen, more or less poorly equipped places of worship and centers of Christian work, when one would be sufficient, and could be fittingly equipped for the most efiective service. It is not economy to divide Christian workers, into several groups duplicating in many ways each other's work, when a division of their work on more ef¥ective lines and accord- ing to better standards of work is possible. Efficiency experts have shown that in physical labor all unnecessary movements hinder the gaining of results. The most effective and successful workers are those who have dispensed with all these unnecessary motions. And this is true of groups as well as individuals. There is great economic advantage and power in the proper combination of men and agencies, as has been fully demonstrated by efficiency experts in the sphere of manual labor. All this ap- plies to church affairs as well as to manual labor and the success of financial corporations. It is not hard to see that there are entirely too many unnecessary and exhausting movements in the church for it to be most effective and successful in its work. There are too many unnecessary duplications of work, too many cross purposes, too many conflicting aims, for the church to gain the best results from its efforts. The significance of economy in the rural districts can be seen from the picture of a section in which are located three villages five or six miles apart with their adjacent communities. Each village has three churches and the churches in the three villages take the full time of three ministers. One village has two resident pastors, another one, the third none. Each minister delivers his message three times, once in each village, to small audiences. He spends much time in a year travelling between 282 Impelling Forces the villages to fill his appointments. Three church buildings in each village are necessary to accommodate the church in its divided state. The church w^orkers in the three towns are divided into three groups whose efforts are greatly weakened by their separation. This is a picture of what practically existj in a great host of villages in every section of our country. How much more economic it would be to have one large and self- supporting congregation in each village with one commodious, well arranged and well equipped house of worship rather than three small congregations with poorly arranged and poorly equipped buildings! How much better economy of ministerial power to have a resident minister in each village whose one de- livery of his message to a large and stimulating audience would greatly add to its value and save his strength for other service! How much of his time and strength lost in travelling from village to village would be economized for better uses! How much better economy in the use of all the available force of church workers in one body of well organized helpers than in three independent bodies poorly organized! The grading of the Bible school and kindred lines of efficiency could be em- ployed more thoroughly and effectively in one school than in three. Impressiveness and power would be greatly added to the song service by the combination of all the musical talent of the village and its community. The social prestige and power of the one church would be much better and more effective for good than it can ever be when the church is divided. Waste in all these lines is the necessary and evil result of the present divided state of the church. In a town large enough to support two or three ministers the demands of economy require but one congregation and one well arranged and well equipped building for all phases of religious activity in which all the ministers are co-pastors and all the workers are co-laborers in the one institution. In such a case The Demands of Economy 283 it is as practical and economic to have managers of different de- partments of the work which has been more fully organized as it is in a business corporation to have managers of different de- partments, and skilled workers in each department. Many a minister would do much better work and be much more suc- cessful as the leader in some special department of church work than as the general manager of one or more congrega- tions. The duties of a single-handed minister, as preacher, pastor, superintendent of religious education, business manager, social expert, etc., etc., are so broad, varied, and exacting as to transcend the ability of the average man, and can better be done by a number of men working in harmony and co-operation with each other. The same economic principles apply to larger towns and cities. The economic significance of the corporate unity of the church has been impressed by the success of modern corporate business. The union of many people in one great combination of capital enables them to gain results which could not otherwise be gained. Their products are more abundant, better and cheaper. The waste of competition and the evils of over-production are greatly reduced. Waste products are turned into by-products of great value. A larger use is given to every good invention. Production can be specialized according to advantages of loca- tion. A larger and more stable form of credit is secured. Foreign commerce is greatly strengthened and enlarged. The advantages of a large combination of men and capital in any given enterprise are now so evident that such combinations arc sure to remain. The union of all the churches would secure such economic advantages as are now incomprehensible. It would dispense with much of the sinful waste now going on. It would gain more abundant and perfect results than are possible now. It would gain in the production of by-products of great value. 284 Impelling Forces Work could be specialized according to the need and advan- tage of location. A wider use could be given to every helpful means and agency in work. Greater varieties of talent could be developed and employed. It would greatly extend and strengthen the credit of the church in the world, and it would have more power and means to open up channels of intercourse and service with the peoples and nations that know not God. Second, the demands of economy upon the church relate to a new and better social order than now exists. It is the task of religion to produce and provide the motives which ought to rule men, and which are to rule men in the more perfect social order yet to come. Economy is a moral and spiritual affair because of its relation to human desires. It is the mis- sion of the church to arouse, stimulate, and enlarge such desires in the minds and hearts of men as are compatible with all God's laws, whether they be regarded as economic or spiritual. Social and economic conditions are determined by the moral character of men's desires and the efforts which these desires awaken and produce. The struggles between capital and labor, the rich and the poor, the free and the enslaved, is the result of conflicting desires whose moral quality is a matter of vital importance. It is the mission of the church to hold up the truth in regard to this moral quality and to emphasize its importance among men. It is assuredly the duty of the church to insist upon the necessity of unselfish desires in supplying every need and in securing a just share of the common welfare to every member of the community. This is the crux of the social problem, and as a moral problem a great responsibility rests upon the church in reference to its solution. The fol- lowing statements from the report on social service to the Men and Religion Congress are here pertinent (" Men and Religion Messages," Vol. II, p. 19) : The Demands of Economy 285 " In order to preserve the Christian civilization which our fathers built by their sacrifices and in order to carry it forward to fuller perfection, we must work out an order of industrj' and commerce which shall be at least an approximate expres- sion of the fact that all men are a great family with one Father, and which shall embody Christ's law of love and service in the institutions of society. The great awakening of the social conscience warns us that men are coming under a sense of sin as to our social order and are feeling the craving for something juster and nobler. As Americans we are humbled and shamed when we find poverty and degradation establishing themselves, in permanent form on American soil. As Christians we have a call which brooks no refusal. The mind and the heart of the Christian Church must from now on address itself to the great constructive task of creating a Christian economic order. If the Church lacks boldness or vision for this task, it will find itself outstripped and outbid by socialism." The work of bringing in and establishing a new economic order of society " wherein dwelleth righteousness " and " broth- erly kindness," will be no brief and easy task. It will require a sustained and persevering effort, possibly it may pass on un- finished from one generation to another, but all the time it will be drawing nearer to that Christian ideal of a righteous nation which seers have seen and have foretold. This work is one which will require the united wisdom and strength of all Christian people. It is a work whose vision is impelling many to pray and work for a united Christendom. Three years ago the management of a great railroad com- pany appealed to all its employees to practice economy in their special lines of work and claimed that by so doing the com- pany could save $7,000,000 per annum. If the church would 286 Impelling Forces practice a true economy in every community how many millions could be saved per annum that could be devoted to more effective w^ork? Why should it not be done? An appeal for economy in every possible way has lately been repeatedly made to us by our government to help in the winning of the war. It has been emphasized to us in many ways that success in this great struggle depends in no small measure upon the practice of rigid economy upon the part of all the people. It is earnestly and rightly urged upon us as a patriotic duty. The necessity of avoiding all waste for the sake of international justice has been made clear. The importance not only of pro- viding for our own soldiers, but also for the pressing needs of our allies, has been emphasized in our country's appeal for faithfulness. This demand is urged upon us for sake of righteousness, liberty and democracy. The demands of economy upon our government and upon all the people are surely very great. But these demands upon the church are just as great. Its enemy is very great and powerful. No doubt the waste of its resources has very much affected the success of its struggle with the forces of its arch enemy. No doubt obedience to economic laws would be most helpful in its war with the Evil One. The sin of wastefulness in the support of divided and competing efforts is surely very great. THE DEMANDS OF DEMOCRACY CHRISTIANITY and democracy are very close of kin. In the idealism of the hour some have claimed that they are identical. Without doubt they are mutually dependent and attractive. They are at least complements to each other in securing the highest perfection of man's social life and welfare. They are both concerned about the same things and relate to the promotion of these things. Together they seek the highest good of both the individual and society. Together they cher- ish and support the inalienable right of every man to life, lib- erty and the pursuit of happiness. They both are seeking to supply the best conditions in which men live and move and have their being. Christianity may be defined as a spiritual democracy. It certainly has a democratic spirit which is to be applied in the realm of spiritual affairs. Because of this it has a close rela- tion to political democracy. It is the source of safety to po- litical democracy and the hope of its abiding prosperity and power. The best definition of democracy is found in the words of our immortal Lincoln when he speaks of it as " government of the people, for the people, by the people." Lowell, also, gave a good definition of its nature as a political institution when he said : " Democracy is that form of society, no matter what its political classification, in which every man had a chance and knew he had it." It is that form of government in which the will of the people as an organized body is sought, gained, and recognized. It is a form of government that secures to all the people — the common people as well as those more highly fa- 387 288 Impelling Forces vored — the right to a voice on all public questions and af- fairs. Its special doctrines are popular sovereignty and the equality of men. The greatest movement of modern times is the growth of democracy. Its spirit has become a mighty force in every land, even where autocracy and aristocracy are yet the ruling power. In all other lands its progress has been very rapid. Within a generation it has made great forward strides in America as well as in other democratic countries. The people have more voice to-day on public questions and affairs than they had a gen- eration ago. The founders of our country had their fears in regard to democrac}\ They doubted the wisdom of trusting it too far. The electoral college, now a useless piece of machin- ery in the election of our President, yet remains as an evidence of their fear. Our Senators at Washington are now elected by the direct vote of the people of their states, which w^as not the case in our earlier history. Now by the initiative and refer- endum many laws are practically made by the voice of the people. Similar changes have taken place in forms of government and public policy elsewhere. Dynasties have yielded to the increasing demands of the democratic spirit, as in China and Russia. Great revolutions have been brought about by its stimulating power. It is the harbinger of freedom to the common people everywhere. It is the dominating influence in the great world revolution and struggle going on to-day. Our President has frequently declared in regard to our aims in entering this mighty struggle that we are fighting for de- mocracy. This onward movement of democracy will continue to ad- vance and grow. No power on earth can check its general progress. Though enemies may mass themselves against it, though for a time they may seem to inflict injury upon it and The Demands of Democracy 289 to hinder its advancement, nothing that they can devise or do can destroy it or prevent its final triumph. Lecky recognized the power of this movement when he wrote his comprehensive work on Democracy and Liberty almost a quarter of a century ago. He says: " I do not think that any one who seriously considers the force and universality of the movement of our generation in the direction of democracy can doubt that this conception of government will necessarily, at least for a con- siderable time, dominate in all civilized countries, and the real question for politicians is the form it is likely to take, and the means by which its characteristic evils can be best mitigated." The cause of democracy has gained some very significant triumphs in the field of industry. The business and commercial interests of the world have taken on some very important and new features within the life of the present generation. The time has gone when any man can run a large business just to suit himself. Not only the people in his employ, but all the people of the community in which his business is located, are coming more and more to be recognized as having special in- terests and rights in his undertaking. What is true of larger enterprises as regards the rights of all the people is seen also to be necessarily true of all smaller undertakings. Government has always claimed a prior right in every man's possessions as well as in his life. Since democracy places sovereignty in the hands of the people, the people have a prior right in every man's possession and to his vital power. Democracy claims this right in the name, for the sake, and by the authority of all the people. Besides this, modern social science has been teaching that there are three interested parties in ever}' business under- taking, the general public, the employer, and the employee. This seems like righteous teaching. Surely the public has to suffer in the sharp contests between the employer and the em- ployee, and ought to have a voice in the issue. Further progress Impelling Forces in the democracy of industry will no doubt more fully recognize and provide for the interests and rights of the general public in all business undertakings. This is a great and growing field in which the prevalence of true democratic theories and principles are sure to be greatly needed. The cause of democracy has also grown greatly in the church. The people have been asking for what they are persuaded are their rights. They have insisted more and more that they shall have a fuller voice in the administration of the church's affairs. They feel an innate right to help in the deciding of its doctrines, its policies, its enterprises, and its methods of work. They are insisting with increasing determination that its important questions and aims shall be submitted to a plebi- scite in which the whole body of the church's members shall have an opportunity to express their will. They think that the general principle of democracy in regard to equal rights should have its sway within the church. And they are right. That great friend of political democracy, Abraham Lincoln, saw plainly its relation to the church. In talking about re- ligion he once said : " I have no sympathy with the kind of doctrine that puts tests in such a way that the ordinary man cannot hope to attain them." On another occasion he said; " In this matter of religion the opportunity must be for all, or for none." As a great apostle of the general principles of modern democracy he thus gave expression to a profound truth of the Christian religion. The opportunity must be alike for every one. The relation of the church to democracy is readily seen when it is recognized that the sources of democracy are spiritual, and at the same time it is remembered that it is the special work of the church to create and promote spiritual ideals. De- mocracy begins with an ideal in regard to innate rights which may be civil, political, social, or religious. This ideal is very The Demands of Democracy 291 sure to arise in human minds and especially where men have any great degree of freedom to choose and act for themselves and for each other. It has been so through all the ages. Lord Morley has said that the origin of democracy is " in the nature of things." That means that it belongs to the fundamental characteristics of human nature, and has its roots in the souls of men. To destroy this ideal you must destroy the nature of the human spirit. Therefore, the foundations of democracy are deeply laid in the nature of man. They are four-square with the ground-plan of the universe and men may as well think of changing the nature of sunlight as to think of changing those qualities in the nature of man upon which the ideals of democracy rest and from which they proceed. Since the source of the democratic spirit is innate in the hu- man soul, a revelation from God, who created the soul and is seeking its salvation in time and eternity, should be ex- pected to recognize this element in human nature. And this the Scriptures do. Their appeal is to all peoples, kindreds, nations, and tongues. The chosen people were started as a democratic nation. The laws of Moses were for a democratic people. The day of jubilee was in the interests of democracy. Its message was: "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof" (Lev. 25: 10), and antedated the inscription of these words upon our Liberty Bell 3,500 years. The right of choice by the people was often appealed to in the days when Old Testament history was in making. The psalm- ist's ideal of a religious assembly was where the extremes of wealth and poverty have fellowship in worship. The prophets in their day were the great defenders of the common people against the tyranny of unjust privilege and power. Thus in many ways democratic ideals were recognized and promoted in Old Testament times. But this spirit was more fully recognized and manifested 292 Impelling Forces in the life and work of Jesus Christ than it had ever been before His time. His life was the impersonation of democratic principles, tastes, and activities. He fully identified Himself with the masses of the people. He was the ideal man in the broadness, fulness, and completeness of His humanity. His lowly birth, His laborious youth and early manhood. His whole hearted and fer\'ent devotion to a ministry that knew no distinctions of pride or caste, His complete and perfect identification of Himself with our common life, have power- fully impressed the imagination and the judgment of the race. Lowell says that Jesus was the first true gentleman that ever breathed. " This is the gospel of labor — ring it ye bells of the kirk. The Lord of love came down from above to live with the men who work." Not only by His life, but also in His teaching Jesus gave full recognition to the democratic element in human nature. In His gospel the appeal to this element is clear and forceful. He ever recognizes the right of choice upon the most sacred and important questions, and His teaching was specially suited to all classes. His invitation to come into the Kingdom of God was to every one. He taught all men to call on God as their common Father. He gave the same laws and rules of living to all classes and conditions of mankind. His tests of Christian character have universal application. With Him all souls are immortal and as a consequence are of infinite value, and because their value is infinite their worth is equal. They may differ in capacity, as it is evident they do, but not in their everlasting worth. In the mind of Jesus cooperation, and not competition, is a fundamental law of human life. Greater capacity at any time or point means greater respon- sibility for service so long as this capacity exists, but not of The Demands of Democracy 293 greater worth where infinite values are involved. In God's Kingdom the principle of mutual service rules, not that of service to the stronger by the weaker. Capacity is the measure of obligation in service, and not of worth in character. The recognition of the spirit of democracy is clearly seen in The Acts and The Epistles. Every picture of the early church given in The Acts shov/s its life glowing with the spirit of equality and brotherhood. Gibbon accepted the fra- ternal life of the church in its early centuries as the reason for the rapid growth of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. While aristocracy, autocracy and authority gained much ground in the church in the succession of the centuries, there still remained in the heart of the church at all times the spirit of democracy. Its worship knew no distinction between the noble and the peasant who knelt together at the same altar. Its forms of worship were the common property of all. Its officers and teachers came from all grades and ranks of social and economic standing. The path from the lowliest hut to the highest position of influence and power was free. The missionary enterprises of the medieval church were helpful to democracy. By these a broad and solid foundation for the general welfare of society in many lands was laid. Its monasteries, whatever their defects, were the centers in which democratic theories were cherished and from which they radiated. St. Francis was a noted example and advocate of the democratic spirit. His followers showed how democratic a revived Christianity becomes, how it lifts up the common people, how it enliglitcns the dark places of human life. The spiritual ideals nurtured, supported and carried forward by the church through many centuries were the seeds of civil and re- ligious liberty in more modern times. The Reformation broke many of the bonds which autocracy had fastened on church and state. The people then made rapid 294 Impelling Forces gain in the fuller acquisition of their right to a voice in both political and religious affairs. The open Bible became the text- book of democracy and the people learned that the divine right of Kings is only a fiction of human pride and selfishness. The authority of conscience as the sole arbiter of right and wrong was seen to be the spiritual birthright of every man and woman, and for this the reformers earnestly contended. Wicliflfe, Huss, Luther, Calvin, and John Knox aroused democratic ideas which have gone on evolving and becoming stronger and broader with the passing years. Their work lies back of all the pro- gressive forces of the modern world. The recognition of democratic ideas and principles has been manifest in the great movements of the church in still more modem times. The freedom of America is the specific result of the great awakening under Jonathan Edwards and his fol- lowers. It was the finding of the common man, the awakening of the better elements of his moral nature through religion, the stimulation of his moral capacity to feel and dare and sac- rifice, that asserted and won the independence of the American colonies. The Wesleyan revival did a similar work for Eng- land. The class meetings of Wesley's followers, in their social influence and discipline, were a most excellent training school for the political as well as the religious life of the people who work, and have given special power to the English labor move- ment, and done much to forward the general movement of de- mocracy to a higher degree of influence and power in both church and state. Modern missions are a manifestation of the democratic impulse of Christianity. The gospel is carried to all classes, ranks and conditions of mankind and urged upon them as universal in its range of application and power of sal- vation. It is not claimed that the church is the only agency which has produced the present growth of democratic spirit and ideals. The Demands of Democracy 295 Science has done much for this cause. Its spirit of free and fearless inquiry, its great devotion to the truth wherever found, and its readiness and purpose to follow wherever truth may lead, are ver}' closely allied with democratic ideals. But this faith in the truth, and this faith in the power of the human mind to find the truth, is a special product of Christianity. It is Christianity more than science therefore that has given to popular movements their best ideals, made them reverent to- ward things that are sacred, and kept the people from a de- mocracy that has no soul and the church from a deadness and cxclusiveness that has no hope. In view of all this, democracy has its demands upon the church. It calls upon the church to manifest and illustrate in its own life the democratic ideals which it nurtures and pro- motes. Its appeal is for a single church in each community in which the will of all the Christian people in it can be fittingly expressed. It is only in a single church that any full and clear expression of the will of the whole body of Christian people in the community can be obtained. Their right to such an expression is the great principle for which democracy stands. This fact makes it evident that the divisions of the church are undemocratic. Each one of them can give an expression of the will of only a part of the community. They may be democratic in their respective groups, but are undemocratic in relation to the larger group of the whole body of Christians at hand. Besides, these divisions partake of the nature of class distinctions and are liable to be the promoters of the spirit of caste. It is often a weakness of human nature to think that our peculiarities are a mark of our superiority. The members of one church are tempted to think that they are a little better than the people of other churches, and sometimes yield to this temptation. This kind of conceit is often shown by boastings and self-laudations. The church is wont to condemn caste 296 Impelling Forces among the heathen, and at the same time maintains a condition within itself which is promotive of this spirit. But the spirit of caste, wherever and however it exists, is both undemocratic and unchristian. Moreover, the existence of these divisions is an open contradiction to the church's claim to be a democratic institution. They are a standing sign that democracy within the church has very serious limitations. They are a hindrance to the fullest and the best democratic spirit and ideals. Another demand of democracy upon the church is that the church shall provide for it the means of safety. The genus democracy has many species, and the species have radical dif- ferences. The world has seen these various kinds and had its doubts because its eyes were on the kind that is not good. Democracy that is not filled with Christian ideals, and es- pecially those of mutual service and cooperation, is bound to be a failure. Lecky has clearly and forcibly shown that democ- racy in itself is neither a preventative nor a cure for the spirit of oppression, violence, and fraud, and that it has no tendency in itself to secure good order and greater liberty. He says: " A despotism resting on a plebiscite is quite as natural a form of democracy as a republic, and some of the strongest democratic tendencies are distinctly adverse to liberty." The reactions of democracy, when the species was not good, have often been very antagonistic to the general welfare of society. Popular movements have sometimes been as cruel and de- structive to individual rights and welfare a"? imperialism and autocracy could possibly be. The madness of the mob is often more vicious than the autocrat's severest measures. One danger is that democratic forms may be employed by schemers for the mercenary and selfish ends of some crafty individual, or some particular group of individuals. In his discussion of democracy Lord Morley asks: " Do you mean a doctrine or a force, a constitutional parchment or a glorious The Demands of Democracy 297 evangel ; perfected machinery for the wirepuller, the party tac- tician, the spoilsman, and the boss, or the stern and high ideals of a Mazzini or a Tolstoy? " The exploitation of democratic forms for selfish ends is an ever present danger, and an evil that has manifested itself again and again in the growth of democracy. It has been seen in the spoils system. It has been a stigma upon many a large city, and even upon our congress when large interests were seeking special grants of privilege, or the pork barrel was up for distribution. The result of democracy is harmful to the general welfare whenever its ideals are defective and incomplete. The French Revolution established the democratic principle of equality, but failed to establish the equally important principles of mutual service and co-operation. It overlooked the fact that to every right there is attached a special duty. In stopping with equality it left an open field for the strong man, and presently the strong man was in the saddle in the person of Napoleon, and the episode was harmful though not fatal to the cause of democ- racy. To guard against such episodes a Christian morale is needed, and the church is the proper agent to furnish this morale. This constant menace comes from the duality of human na- ture. All men are democrats and want equality of rights when their personal interests are involved, but are often ready to become imperialists and autocrats when special privilege and advantage are seen and may be realized. There is a two-fold strain in every human being, the social and the selfish. De- mocracy is the product of the social strain. Imperialism, au- tocracy, aristocracy and jingoism come from the selfish strain. The most important battleground for true democracy is in the hearts of men. After the visible enemies of democracy have been defeated on land and sea, it will have to go on fighting for its life in the hearts of men for many a long day. 298 Impelling Forces This struggle is sure to continue till the day when by God's grace the Christian's mastery of the cruel and vicious propen- sities of human nature shall have been gained. Democracy has special need that the church should recognize this battleground and array its forces for the struggle. Men need instruction in regard to the opposing forces in their own hearts, and the moral victory that must be gained to make men truly demo- cratic. The church must solve the problem of making the world safe for democracy by making it safe in the heart of every Christian man. The political triumph of democracy can be made permanently secure only by pressing on to the goal of its moral victory in human hearts. Democracy entreats the church to do its proper work, and to do it well in the promotion and propagation of those moral and spiritual ideals by which its safety is secured. But if democracy is to become strong in its morals it needs to be spiritualized. One great enemy of democracy is material- ism. The tendency of material prosperity and power is to make men undemocratic. It fosters a spirit that is antagonistic to the general welfare. It causes some to usurp rights which they are unwilling to concede to others. It has a tendency to selfishness and to lead men to ignore the natural rights of their fellow citizens and to despoil them of these rights for personal gain, and then to pose as the benefactors of those whom they have despoiled. Democracy can be safe only where spiritual values, rather than material, are recognized and reign. Men need to know God as a God of justice and to believe that man was made in the image of God. The special need of democracy is for that spiritual insight and discernment which will enable it to know what Jesus meant when He said: " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these, ye have done it unto me." Democracy will be truly safe when it The Demands of Democracy 299 has become fully permeated and vitalized by the spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Another demand of democracy upon the church is that the government of the church shall be truly democratic. This means that its officers shall be subject to election by the people, and that its doctrines and methods of administration shall be acceptable to the whole body of believers. If episcopacy is to be the form of government of the future church it must needs be modified to meet this demand. This demand would natu- rally require that bishops, archbishops, grand patriarchs, car- dinals, and popes, should be the free choice of all the Christian people. It would seem possible to organize a form of church government much similar to that of the government of the United States of America in which the valid claims of episco- pacy would be maintained. The form of the church's gov- ernment seems to have been a matter of small significance to Christ and His apostles, if the want of copious treatment and clear instruction is any index. The fact and spirit of govern- ment are fully recognized and taught, but not its form. Why should it be difficult to find a form to meet democracy's de- mand ? The claims of democracy upon the church are surely very great and its demands very insistent. These claims cannot be fully met by a divided church. Its example, because of its divisions, is more detrimental to the efficient fulfillment of its task than many are willing to believe. Its power to inculcate moral and spiritual instruction in those ideals that are necessary to the welfare of the whole body of the people as an organized community is seriously weakened by its state of division. The high interests of democracy demand that this movement toward greater unity shall go forward until its beautiful ideal of a thoroughly united church shall have been realized. THE SPUR OF A GREAT TASK GREAT tasks are wrought by many hands. In union there is strength. To realize that a work is great, and that it must be done, is a strong incentive to the uniting of the men and women necessary to its accomplishment. As they come to see the greatness of the enterprise that needs the help which they can give they become ready to do their part to help it forward to success. Much of the world's work is done in this way, because men and women see its necessity and relation to their welfare. The realization of their common need is quite sure to bring people together and unite them in their ef- forts. This vision of their united need and possibilities of at- tainment is fundamental to their united work. Most people love to have a share in great undertakings and accomplishments. They glory in the mighty deeds which their hands have helped to do, the gigantic task in which their strength has wrought its bit, and in their hearts they realize that no man liveth to himself. Great tasks may be defensive. Some great danger is im- pending. Some great peril is imminent. Some great disaster is threatening. Some great good is about to be lost. Some great want is not to be supplied. The cause may be famine, fire, flood, pestilence, war. Where men and women realize their danger and their need of united effort in the defense of them- selves and others against such perils, they readily join hands with all others who are striving for the common good against the common enemy, whatever it may be, and are seeking to overcome it. In Revolutionary days the American colonics were brought together by a common danger. They realized 300 The Spur of a Great Task 301 that their rights had been invaded and could not be main- tained without the union of all their wisdom and their strength. These things spurred them to make a mutual pledge to one another of their fortunes, lives and sacred honor. The danger of a divided country was the spur that strongly bound and held together our Northern States in 1861 and the years that fol- lowed. The task of saving the union was the impelling thought that filled the minds of the North and cemented them together in one body. The task of resisting and overcoming Germany's frightful and ferocious aggressions against other nations was the spur that brought the allied powers together in the struggle now waging. Though the greatness of this task was not fully realized at first, nor for some years, it was yet seen to be momentous and secured considerable unity of aim and action. As its greatness came to be more fully realized their unity of aim and effort became more perfect and effective. Great tasks may be constructive. Some great work is needed to be accomplished for the benefit of all. A railroad is needed for the work of commerce and to open up new parts of the country. A canal would bring great and good results in the exchange of commerce. The task of universal education is a momentous one and as the people realize their need of it be- cause of its constructive power they readily unite in its ad- vancement and support. This constructive task may be the feeding, clothing and warming of a nation, or several nations. It may be the moral building of a nation, of a world. The spur that makes men willing to undertake and continue in any task is the realization of its value and importance. The great task before the church is both defensive and con- structive. The church has great dangers to encounter and great enemies to overcome. Its task is " against the princi- palities, against the powers, against tTie world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heav- 302 Impelling Forces enly places." The church has many enemies who are seeking its destruction. Many are wanting it supplanted by some ir- religious organization, and there are agnostic, atheistic and infidel organizations and agencies vigorously at work against the church's influence and pow^er. The church has a great work of defense against its enemies, who are also the enemies of its Head and King. But its constructive work would seem to be by far its greater task, in the doing of which its defensive work will be greatly lessened. This task is that of giving men and nations everj'where their true ideals and to teach them how to harness these ideals to the world's work. This is its pre- eminent task in the present day. These ideals are not simply fine dreams to vanish with the morning light, but they are the visions of that truth of things by which men are to live. The work of the church is to help men to realize these ideals as they relate to itself and as they relate to all the other relations and actual affairs of living men. This task is surely a momentous one and ought to be a very ef¥ective spur to bring the churches most closely together for its accomplishment. The task of realizing these ideals in regard to the welfare of the rural community is an important one. Their nature and importance is being widely seen and realized. Along this line The Rev. W. L. Anderson, D.D., has said (Article the Homi- letic Review) : " The rural community is charged with heavy responsibilities for the national welfare. Great as is the economic service of the country, its political and moral and personal contribution is not less momentous. Hence the alarm when recent decades strained rural life, as if the sources of national strength were imperiled. The ' country-life movement * is the response to that deep concern. It gathers into some degree of unity a vast multitude of influences, and there begin to appear indications that the dreaded crisis may be safely passed. The rural com- The Spur of a Great Task 303 munity is called to an immeasurable task, and it must be re- vitalized at whatever cost. Service for the country may be less strategic than service for the city, but is fundamental and essential." The task of realizing our high and true ideals for the church in America is truly a gigantic one. To overcome the forces of evil in our country and to make it a Republic of God is an un- dertaking which demands strong faith, courage and united effort. It will require the union of all the Christian forces within our borders. Great evils are crouching at our doors like beasts of prey, and are creeping stealthily into home and church and school. The power of evil is organized, its hosts are mar- shalled, its phalanxes move in harmony. It is a united foe — whether it be intemperance, greed, graft, oppression, or sensu- alit>' — and will not be conquered by a scattered army. Dr. VV. H. P. Faunce, the energetic president of Brown University, says : " But the chief agency through which God is calling his scattered people together is through the vision of a gigantic task here in America. The task of Christianizing America, its men and women and children, its laws and institutions, its schools and colleges, its commerce and industry and trans- portation, its ideals and aspirations, is so huge and so over- whelming that we instinctively draw together as we face it. The magnificent opportunities in this land of freedom, the world-wn'de disaster that would follow any failure of Chris- tianity in America, the certainty that any isolated church must fall — these things drive us together, as the wireless signal of distress at sea bring many vessels from many ports and many lives to the spot where one ship is foundering in Mid- Atlantic. When recently (191 3) the Volturno with over 500 souls aboard was burning in mid-ocean, at least ten ships responded to the mysterious call for aid sent through the invisible paths of the 304 Impelling Forces air. Four British ships, two German ships came, and one each from the United States, Belgium, France and Russia. Many were the languages they spoke, many were the lands from which they came, and for seven or eight difFerent ports those ships were bound. Yet they stood together in a circle round the hopeless blazing vessel, rendering all possible aid through the darkness of the night and the gloom of the morn- ing, united by the awful danger they confronted and their common love for human kind. " These things are a parable. If racial distinctions can vanish in the presence of great duty, cannot sectarian barriers vanish also? The great dividing lines of modern Christianity are not denominational. They are the lines between men of the open mind and men of the closed mind, men of the generous spirit and men of the craven spirit, men of moral audacity and men of timid hesitation in all denominations and all regions of the country. Every one of us is far nearer to some men in other folds than he is to some men in his own fold. All the Christian world stands in concentric circles about our Lord Jesus Christ. It makes no dif?erence whether we stand north or south or east or west — the only difference is between near and far. All who are near to him are near to one another." Looking at this task from the standpoint of a united Protes- tantism, after discussing at length The Common Aim — the Kingdom of God in Righteousness on Earth: Dr. Thomas Cuming Hall concludes: "Therefore Protestantism has a large task: to take the type of the religious life as we have seen it in Jesus and bring that down to the concrete circumstances of every-day life. That is a big task. . . . The whole history of the race has been one long demonstration of the fact that the only dynamic that is strong enough, constant enough, full enough, powerful enough, eternal enough, is the power of religion to hold men to their The Spur of a Great Task 305 tasks and give them jo}' and confidence as they face the cross that stands between us and the realization of the Kingdom, to face the great task to which you and I have given our lives, if we are true Protestants and true Christians, the great task of making this God's beautiful earth, so reflect the garments of His holiness that when little children are bom into this earth out of His kingdom they will not be weeping strangers in the home of their God, but will wake, as they come to years of maturity, to a world in which love reigns and brotherhood rules, and righteousness has been realized, and God's grace has been so poured out that as our little ones come it will not be into the darkness of the dirty, noisy, crowded manger ; but when the little ones come they will come as the children of God to the family of God to be received already into his joy and know at last that the world is a world of righteousness, and that the glory of God is the light of it. On that basis, and that basis only, may we link our strength to strength and so overcome our weakness and turn aside from theological dis- putations and denominational strife to the one great task God has given us; to make this world reflect the type of His right- eousness as we have seen it in Christ Jesus our Lord." In the task of Christianizing America that of Christianizing all its cities will be a very strenuous part. There the forces of evil are centralized and have their greatest sway and power. To transform these cities into any approximate likeness to the New Jerusalem which the Apostle John saw coming down from God out of heaven will require many great hearts and ready haqds. To change them from what they now are into cities of God will demand the united wisdom and strength of all within them who love God and pray and work for the coming of His kingdom. It is a herculean task. But it is worth trying. They will become cities which God has made when His ideals have been realized in them and His power 3o6 Impelling Forces manifested through the loyal and faithful service of His chil- dren. When there is added to the task of Christianizing America that of Christianizing all the non-Christian nations of the world the task of the church becomes truly titanic. It is not much to be wondered at that missionaries who have a clearer vision of the world-wide mission of the church than most of us are readily disposed to come together in one body. As we think of the great forces of entrenched evils in Christian lands and the hold they have upon the masses of the people and then of the misery and degradation of the non-Christian nations, we are made to realize that a united Christendom is needed for the stupendous work to be done. This task is a momentous one in any part of it. It is momentous in the field of moral and religious education. It is so in the field of missionary enterprise and effort. It is so in the purification of political and social life. This is often realized when a temperance campaign is being waged, or when a special effort is to be made along the line of evangelism. But if it is good to be united in some special effort, in the accomplish- ment of some special phase of the one momentous task, it is good to be permanently united and in regard to every phase of the task. A vision of the momentous nature of the task before the church is a powerful spur to Christian men and women to come together in that perfect and complete unity which is ac- cording to the ideal of the Scriptures. This task is nothing more or less than the establishment of the kingdom of Christ on the earth. Nineteen hundred years ago Jesus came to the earth to teach men the nature of this Kingdom, enjoined His disciples to pray for it as a thing of first importance, and organized His church for its establishment. He taught His disciples the wonderful comprehensiveness of His mission when He said to them " I am come in order that The Spur of a Great Task 307 ye might have life and that ye might have it more abundantly." He proclaimed the nature and purport of His mission in His first sermon in the town of Nazareth where He had been brought up. His text was from Isaiah: " The spirit of Jehovah is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach good tid- ings to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord " (61 : i, 2). According to His own concep- tion of His mission the Savior of men was divinely ordained to solve the problems of earth's poverty and misery and crime and disease, as well as to usher in the year of Go3's favor. The fundamental task of the church is the same as Christ's. This is plainly indicated in His intercessory prayer in the words: " As thou didst send me into the world, even so sent I them into the world." The essential work of the church is to con- tinue the work begun by Him toward the establishment of His Kingdom on the earth. His sermon on the Mount lays down the basic principles, or fundamental laws, of this kingdom. This sermon makes righteousness, love, sacrifice and service to be obligatory upon all citizens of His kingdom. These are the constitutional requirements imposed upon all who would be true citizens of that kingdom. The late Professor Walter Rauschenbusch has thus defined the Kingdom of God : " The Kingdom of God is the ideal of human society to be established. Instead of a society resting on coercion, exploitation and inequality, Jesus desired to found a society resting on love, service and equality. The Kingdom of God is a true human society; the ethics of Jesus taught the true social conduct which would create the true society." The establishment of the Kingdom of God, either in the hu- man heart or in human society demands the right adjustment of human relationship; the production of a state of harmony. In I 3o8 Impelling Forces the individual human heart the work of Christ brings purity of character, righteousness in conduct and holiness in life. As a re- sult the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the individual heart assures peace to that heart — peace with God and peace with his fellovvmen. He really is the true Christian who has such peace. But the establishment of the Kingdom of God relates to men in the mass as well as to individuals. This kingdom is more social than individualistic. It concerns men in their relations to each other; their intercourse, their fellowship, their duties and responsibilities toward one another. It cannot be estab- lished on earth until the laws of the Kingdom of God become operative in human society as well as in individual life. The establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth will result in the reign of peace among men, for it is a kingdom of peace and its king is " The Prince of Peace." To recognize the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth to be the fundamental task of the church is to recognize its supreme mission to be the bringing down of peace upon this earth — peace in the human heart and peace in every phase of human society. And what a mighty task this is. It means a new philosophy of life to vast multitudes of men as individuals and as members of human society. It means a new philosophy of national life and of international relations, very different from that of the past. The condition of human society in any particular era in a nation is the result of its dominant thought in the era just pre- ceding. Radical changes in the conduct of nations as well as individuals is sure to follow radical changes in philosophic thought. Revolutionary epochs are the result of new ideas which have gained ascendency in the public mind. The phi- losophy of life which prevails to-day becomes the source of action on to-morrow. New epochs in the life of nations are The Spur of a Great Task 309 the result of some renaissance of philosophic thought. The dis- covery of the book of the law and devotion to its teaching in King Josiah's day wrought a great revolution in ancient Israel. The philosophies of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle so stimulated the thought power of ancient Greece that it became one of the great nations of the earth. The philosophies of Zeno and Epicurus were the source of its decline and ruin. Compte, Rousseau, and Voltaire gave to France the philosophy that brought on the French Revolution. Wicliffe, Melancthon and Luther promulgated the philosophic and Christian ideas which brought about the Protestant Reformation. Mill and Malthus laid the philosophic groundwork upon which England's political economists developed the commercial power of Great Britain. The philosophy of Nietzsche, accepted and promulgated by Treitzsche and Bernhardi, is the source of Germany's inhuman cruelty and ferocious conduct in this most frightful of all wars. His philosophy of the superman assumes that there is a necessary and constant struggle between the races of men for existence. This philosophy has dominated the thought of the German people for some years and has prepared their minds and hearts for the terrible conflict now waging. It was this cruel and heartless philosophy rather than any concrete act that was the real cause of the world's greatest war. According to this, phi- losophy the German people are a race of supermen and are to be supreme and to survive in the struggle at the expense of weaker nations and weaker peoples. The thought that rules America and the rest of the allies in this struggle is a much better philosophy than Germany's. The brotherhood of man is recognized. The right of every man and nation to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is a part of their creed. The thought of international righteousness and justice is dominant and pervasive. Theirs is a philosophy that teaches men to give and to suffer and to sacrifice for the wel- 310 Impelling Forces fare of the weak and prostrate. It is a much better philosophy than that which leads men to become the destroyers of the weak and to act upon the theory that might makes right. It has many parts in common with the philosophy of the gospel upon which it ultimately rests and from which all its moral aims had their beginning. The gospel, committed to the church's care, and for its propagation, contains the best possible philosophy of life for individual men and for nations. The task of giving this phi- losophy to the world and of so impressing the world with its truthfulness and value that it will produce a new world epoch of righteousness, brotherly love, sacrifice, and service assuredly is a mighty task. Is not this the task which both the Spirit and providence of God have laid upon the church of to-day? Will the church rise to the realization of the opportunity, respon- sibility, and possibility that lies before it in regard to the es- tablishment of Christ's Kingdom on the earth? Will its di- visions so unite as to be most effective in the accomplishment of this great task ? DUTIES CONFESSION OF SIN IF schism is a sin, its confession as such is certainly in order. As soon as sin of any kind has been committed it ought to be confessed. This is a first requirement in obtaining deliv- erance from its power and penalty. One of the great truths of the Scriptures is the necessity of such confession. Its im- portance was taught very clearly in the sacrificial system of the Old Testament dispensation. In these sacrifices the worshipper was required to confess his sins upon the head of his victim before he offered it as his substitute in meeting the penalty of these sins. This acknowledgment that he was a sinner, in- herently and actually, and that as such he was worthy of sin's penalty', was a vital and prime part of his worship. The old proverb which says: " He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy," shows that the significance of confession was clearly understood by the ancients. David, the greatest of Israel's Kings, was made to realize its place and importance before he penned the Thirty-second Psalm in which he portrayed his own experiences, that he might teach others what to do, and in- spire them to do it. Before confession his heart was full of misery and woe, but as soon as confession was made he was filled with inward peace and joy. Nothing is more conspicu- ous in the messages of the prophets than their oft-repeated ap- peal to the rulers and the people to confess their sins and turn unto God. One of them could say to those whom he was urg- ing to make confession and who were insincerely inquiring how to do it: " He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? " When John 313 314 Duties the Baptist began his work as the forerunner of Christ his message was a call to repentance and confession of sin. When Jesus began his public ministry his message likewise was a call to repentance and confession. He taught that it is a par- ticular work of the Holy Spirit to convict men of sin. The Christian church came into being amid the confessions of those who on the day of Pentecost under the power of the Spirit ac- knowledged their guilt and accepted Jesus as their Savior. In truth the great purport of the Scriptures is an appeal to men to make confession of their sins unto God and to obtain forgiveness through His Son as their Savior and in obedience to His will. But very many Christian people are not conscious of any sin in schism. They do not think it is a sin ; or they think that, if it is, it is a very trifling one. In general their thought and feeling is: "We did not make these divisions of the church and do not see that we have any responsibility for their ex- istence." They forget that it is possible to become used to very great evils, and to grow up in the midst of them and be un- conscious of their harm, and to believe that things are just about as they ought to be when they are actually very wrong. They are oblivious of the lines of Pope which say: " Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As, to be hated, needs but to be seen ; Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace." When some new schism takes place, its nature as a sin will be recognized and lamented possibly for a time, and then people will become used to it, and still later to think that it is just what ought to be. Just such a state of mind is sure to prevail under the dominance of a conservative disposition. By many in these later times schism is embraced as a good and necessary thing, a special phase and index of progress and de- Confession of Sin 315 velopment. They regard and herald it as a mark of advance- ment, an evidence of growth toward a higher state of perfection in the church's life. Nevertheless, schism is a sin. The Scriptures teach it to be so, and the past weakness and partial failure of the church are evidence along this line. Near the beginning of the Old Tes- tament church schism made its appearance in the rebellion of Korah and his company, but was soon suppressed and punished by the direction and intervention of Jehovah. The schism started by Aaron and Miriam was speedily rebuked and pun- ished in the leprosy of Miriam. The schism of Absolom sup- ported and sustained by Ahithophel's counsel and advice soon met with severe judgment at the hands of an overruling Provi- dence. The schism wrought by Jereboam, the son of Nebat, was very injurious to the welfare of the Old Testament church and marked him as the man " Who taught Israel to sin." This oft-repeated epithet describing him as the author and agent of a schism, shows what the sacred writers of the olden dispen- sation thought upon this subject. The teaching of Christ with which the New Testament dispensation began is directly opposed to anything like schism. He laid great stress upon the importance and necessity of loving one another. He made this love to be the bond of union among His followers. His strong desire was that by this bond through all succeeding generations they should be bound and held together in one body. He prayed that they might not be guilty of the sin of schism when He prayed as Intercessor that they might be perfected into one. The apostles recognized it as a heinous evil. One whole book in the New Testament, First Corinthians, is a special argu- ment and appeal for unity among brethren and a protest against the sin of schism. The apostle's great love for the church at Corinth, and his earnest desire for its escape from this sin are clearly shown. He approaches the subject in these 3i6 Duties kind and tender words: " Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfected together in the same mind." ( i Cor. i:io.) As he proceeds he insists that their divisions were evidence that they were carnal, and points out that diversities of spiritual gifts were perfectly compatible with unity. In a beautiful panegyric he presents Christian love as the great anti- dote of schism, and urges that love, kindness and gentleness shall control and guide them in all their intercourse. The Apostle John insists most strongly upon our possession and practice of that love which is the antidote of schism. The sin of schism is very widespread. It exists wherever the church is divided. Each denomination or sect is a part " cut off " from the rest of the church. It is a severed portion of the body of Christ. It is a mere fragment of that organization which was chosen and ordained by Him to represent and bring in His Kingdom. It is but a small fraction of the great multi- tude whom He is willing to recognize as brethren. It is a diminutive segment cut ofF from the great circle of the re- deemed through the perversity of somebody's will within itself, or in some other part. It is a little section separated from the whole church on account of its own, or somebody else's selfish- ness and sin. The sin of schism affects the whole body of Christian believers; every denomination, every congregation, every individual member of the church. It is so pervasive and Christian men and women are so bound up in the bundle of life with each other that no one can escape the pollution and guilt of this sin without confession and prayer for its removal. It so permeates our religious thinking, feelings, and aims, that our spiritual life is much affected by it. It is so common and so wrought into our religious habits that we fail to recognize its presence and guilt, or we attempt to justify ourselves in its Confession of Sin 317 indulgence. It is a malaria which poisons the whole atmosphere of church life. It is a deleterious earthly element that has found its way into all our sectarian wells of salvation and has con- taminated for us the very water of life. It finds its way into the supply of mental and spiritual food by which we are nour- ished and taints this supply with a subtile and injurious poison. It touches us in so many ways that escape from its inoculation is impossible. Schism is a flagrant sin. It is one of which the church is guilty in the face of the ideal of its founder and the perfection of the bond of union which He established to hold its members together in one body. It flourishes in opposition to His most earnest desire for the church's unity as shown by His New Commandment and His Intercessory Prayer. It prevails in opposition to all the exhortations and appeals of the apostles in respect to the cherishing of those graces and virtues which make for unity among brethren, and in spite of their warnings and counsel against those characteristics which produce discord among brethren. It continues and abounds notwithstanding the many evils which follow in its train. It is the promoter of unseemly rivalry and strife. It is the cause of moral, spiritual, and economic waste. It makes men opinionated and selfish. It restricts and restrains the thoughtful inquirer after truth. It discourages openmindedness. It is the instigator of wrong passions and purposes. It separates friends. It limits the en- terprise and accomplishments of the church. It interferes gravely with the successes and triumphs of the church in representing and bringing in the Kingdom of God. Schism is to be recognized as a hereditary infection which binds us to the past. These divisions to most of us are primarily inherited conditions. They were created by our forbears in some past generation more or less remote. But they have become ours by acceptance and continuance, and we arc now in 3i8 Duties the same category with those by whom they were brought into existence. It is scriptural to acknowledge that our fathers have sinned. Only a false pride of ancestry could persuade us that they could do no wrong in making a schism. With the Psalmist we may well admit our guilt by saying: "We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly." (Ps. io6:6.) With Jeremiah we may fit- tingly exclaim : " We lie down in our shame, and our con- fusion covereth us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God." ( Jer. 3 : 25.) With Daniel we may well cry: "O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee." (Dan. 9:8.) Doubtless our fathers and mothers were very excellent people, but yet they were not perfect Christians, and their sins as well as their virtues have been handed down to their posterity. This is also in harmony with the laws of heredity as taught by modern science as well as by the Scriptures. It is no excuse for sinful conditions to say that they have been inherited. These condi- tions are to be gotten rid of the same as though begun by our- selves. Sin is harmful and ruinous however and wherever it began. It ought to be confessed and forsaken. In his address before the Men and Religion Congress in 1912 on " A Plea for Church Unity," Dr. Ira Landrith, points out the evil results of schisms in the following impressive manner: " Finally, growing out of our experience we find, first of all, that competition in God's work is a crime, even if there be excuse for competition elsewhere. We have no time for friction in the business of world-saving or world-winning. Here is an unpardonable sin, if there be one. And even though one of our little systems were to fail, or one of our little organizations were to suffer, the whole cause would be blessed by closer union." Confession of Sin 319 Confession is God's way by which ablution from personal guilt in this matter can be obtained. As with every other sin His appointed way of pardon lies by the altar of confession. For our encouragement to walk in this way we have the assur- ing promise that " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all un- righteousness." (i Jno. 1:9.) This duty of confession has been fully recognized and fervently urged by eminent church leaders. The Right Rev. C. P. Anderson, D.D., in his pub- lished address on The Manifestation of Unity presses home this duty with these cogent words: 1. "Let us confess the sin of schism — the sin I say: not simply its economic disadvantage, its shortsighted policy, its unstatesman-like method, its unstrategic warfare with the world, but its sin. 2. " Let us confess our part in the sin. It is easy to confess sin in the abstract. What is needed is an honest though humiliating acknowledgement of our part in the making and in the perpetuating of schism. We have much to confess — haughtiness, aloofness, self-satisfaction, false witness against our neighbors. 3. " Let us cease confessing other people's sins. We Anglicans have confessed the sins of the Roman Catholics and the Protestants with great ardor and with unstinted fullness. Let them confess their own. It will keep them busy. We are not authorized to do it for them. We are forbidden to judge others and commanded to judge ourselves. Rome's contribu- tion to the sin of schism may have been incalculably great. Protestant contributions may have been incalculably many. But our own skirts are not clear by any means. Please God they and we may see the sinfulness of our sins some day and humbly confess it. Thankful may that church be, to which God gives the grace to be the first to cry, Peccavi. Until the churches are 320 Duties convicted of sin, as our Methodist brethren would say, there will be little progress toward the manifestation of unity." In an address upon " Unity — the Need of the Hour," the Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Michigan emphasizes the fact that conviction of the sin of schism is necessary before the cause of unity can make progress. He presents the need of such con- viction w'ith such urgent words as these: " The conviction of sin, the plain old-fashioned, and in some quarters unmentionable, sin of schism — and mind you I am not speaking here as an Episcopalian ; I recognize and shoulder our full share of that sin ; I am not charging it upon others, perhaps we may have more of it than some of you have — but at least the recognition of that sin of schism is being forced upon our consciences by the exigencies of our common task, particularly in the mission field, and especially by the sense of our common perils, and even worse, our common failures. The Christian church has had many hard bumps in recent years. Perhaps she has got to fall yet lower and strike rock bottom before she fully awakes to the situation. I confess I have little patience and less sympathy with those who proclaim and even boast of the benefits of the divided denominationalism, who claim that it is only in rivalry and competition, and often the jealousy between denominations, that we can fire the motive for zeal and secure the purity of our various communions. As I view the situation, I must say frankly that these alleged advantages are infinitesimal and negligible when compared with the enormous economic waste of our divided energies and policies, the utter loss of dignity and discipline in the Christian church, the diminution of power and efficiency, the divided front in face of common and terrible moral and social evils, and above all the unchristian bitterness, jealousy, and strife that result inevitably from our lack of unity and even comity." Whatever were the causes in the past that brought about the Confession of Sin 321 present divided state of the church outward and external con- ditions have greatly changed, and the new conditions that have arisen are bringing to light the evil that is inherent in this state of division. In view of this the sin of schism becomes more heinous with the passing of the years. It is a sin against the greater light. It is a sin in the face of increasing evidences of its evil nature. It is a sin whose bundle of pernicious fruits are making it more manifest from year to year that the principle of division is specially pernicious in its application to the organ- ization and administration of the church. It is therefore a sin which the present generation ought to be the more ready to confess. In the light of the events of these later years it is specially fitting to confess that many of our thoughts, feelings, and aims on church matters have not been in full harmony with the spirit and genius of the gospel. Many of us may well acknowledge that our attitude toward this sin of schism has either been one of great indifference, or one of apology and the defense of its existence. If we have magnified in our thinking and in our Christian work the differences between other Christian workers and ourselves, we should be ready to con- fess our sin. Ruskin saj's: "Whenever . . . we allow our minds to dwell upon the points in which we differ from other people we are wrong and in the devil's power." If we have been saying to ourselves: " Lord, I thank thee that I am not as other men are in other churches " we have great reason to become penitent and make confession of our sin. If we have been saying and doing things which nurture and promote in the minds and hearts of others this sin of schism are we not guilty, and ought we not to make confession of our sin? If we are so strongly opinionated in regard to some particular and peculiar view of the Scriptures, or of religious duty, and are unwilling to concede that others with differing views may possibly be right, we have much reason to make confession in 322 Duties regard to one of the special causes of division in .ne church. If the dominant spirit, aim, and purpose in our Christian work is selfish and sectarian w e ought to be repentant and make con- fession. If we have any feelings of envy, jealousy, ilhvill, hate and other kindred emotions, we ought certainly to be sorry for the sinful propensities still lurking within us, confess our sin and seek forgiveness. The spirit and the vision of the follow- ing lines are fitting for us all: " Forgive, O Lord, our severing ways, The separate altars that we raise, The varying tongues that speak thy praise! " Suffice it now. In time to be Shall one great temple rise to thee, Thy church our broad humanity. " White flowers of love its walls shall climb, Sweet bells of peace shall ring its chime. Its days shall all be holy time. " The hymn long sought shall then be heard, The music of the world's accord. Confessing Christ, the inward word ! " That song shall swell from shore to shore, One faith, one love, one hope restore The seamless garb that Jesus wore ! " PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION HEN Jesus taught us to pray " Thy Kingdom Come " ▼ T He gave this petition a place of prominence among the petitions of His model prayer. Our desires concerning His Kingdom are to be among the first to fill our hearts and actuate our lives. Elsewhere He teaches us that we are to seek first the Kingdom of God. But praying for the coming of His Kingdom involves praying for the church as the agency or instrument by which the Kingdom of God is to be brought down from heaven and established on the earth. We cannot ofTer this petition for the coming of Christ's Kingdom with much comprehension of its meaning and range of vision without thinking of the church as its representative and agent. Nor can we oflFer this petition with any full apprehension of its purport without realizing that the coming of the Kingdom depends in no small measure upon the character and condition of the church. His Kingdom cannot fully come until the church has been made perfect in its unity. To pray truly and sincerely for the coming of His Kingdom involves and requires our praying for the unity of the church as an essential condition to the securing of the end for which we long. To pray for unity is to recognize and specify the place of unity in the purposes of God for the coming of His Kingdom on the earth. Now the Scriptures teach very plainly the place and impor- tance of prayer in connection with any great movement. Such movements are born and shaped and developed in the atmos- phere of prayer. A glance at the history of the great move- ments relating to the establishment of God's Kingdom on the earth readily reveals the place and power of prayer. The men chosen of God to be the leaders of such movements in all times 323 324 Duties were men of prayer. For instance Abraham who was chosen to be the father of the chosen people and the founder of a great race was a man of such close communion and fellowship with the Divine Being that he was called " The Friend of God." Again and again he had intercourse with God about the promised land and the posterity by which this land should be occupied. Moses, who was raised up to lead the chosen people out of bondage and to organize them into a strong and vigorous church and a great and powerful nation and was authorized to give them permanent forms of worship and religious institutions was a man of prayer. He lived in constant fellowship with God. Forty days and nights on his face before God marked the beginning of a system of law and of religious rites and ceremonies relating to the Kingdom of God which has greatly affected its development and progress in the world through many centuries. David, who was chosen to organize and de- velop the Kingdom of Israel as a kingdom in which the sov- ereignty of Jehovah was recognized, acknowledged and pro- claimed, was a man of prayer. In his organization of the priesthood into courses and his preparations for the praise element in worship he showed his loyalty to Jehovah with whom during much of his life he was in close communion. His Psalms are full of prayers. These show how deeply the spirit of prayer pervaded all his activities on behalf of the Kingdom of God, whose praises he delights to sing. The Prophet Elijah who was called to begin a great work of reformation among the tribes of Israel was a man who was mighty in prayer. He could speak of God as the One " before whom I stand." Once when he became discouraged and disheartened the Lord showed him that the work for which he had so earnestly prayed was going on quietly and that others would take it up. New Testament biography and history illustrate the same Prayer and Supplication 325 truth. Jesus, the Founder of the Christian church, lived in constant and close communion with His Father. Yet when any new movement of importance in his ministry was under- taken He spent some time in special prayer. Such was the case just before His choice of the Twelve and His inaugural address on the Kingdom of God in His sermon on the Mount. Such was the case before He surrendered to His enemies that He might accomplish the great work of making atonement for the sins of men. The apostles spent much time in prayer before the baptism of the Church with the Holy Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost, and they continued much in praj'er as the work of establishing the church went for\vard. The vision of the new movement which included the Gentiles within the church was given to Peter in the act of prayer. The Apostle Paul became the great apostle of the Gentiles in answer to prayer, and the great work of bringing them into the church was begun in the midst of earnest prayer. So it has been in more modern times. Luther was a man of prayer. In his busiest times he would spend hours at a time in his devotions. John Knox, the great Scottish reformer was a man whose prayers Queen Mary feared more than all the armies of England, and whose cry to God was " Give me Scotland or I die." The Pilgrim fathers who undertook the work of founding a new church upon the newly discovered Western Continent were men of earnest prayer and supplica- tion. They fell upon their knees in gratitude for a safe voyage and in earnest supplication for guidance in the great work for whose sake they had braved the perils of the deep and faced the hardships of first settlers in a new world. Our revolutionary fathers were men of prayer. They made the Declaration of Independence " with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence." Our immortal Washington leaned on the divine arm for wisdom and strength. When our beloved Lincoln 326 Duties knew that the battle of Gettysburg was begun he spent the whole night in prayer in conformity with his habit of prayer for the success of a cause that involved the interests of Christ's Kingdom among men. Yes, every great movement in the history of the church, and helpful to its onward progress, has been born, nurtured, and accomplished through the agency of prayer. This great movement toward the unification of the churches can prosper and succeed only as a child of prayer, the object of constant and earnest pleading before the throne of grace. Now praying for the unity of the churches has not been very prevalent among Christian people. Ministers too seldom make it a matter of earnest supplication. It is not a thing that can be specially noted in the prayers of any assembly of worshippers. While it is worthy, in imitation of our Lord's example, of our most serious thought and earnest entreaty, it fails to find a place in our desires and to be expressed as a special longing of our hearts. Ministers, laymen, the whole body of Christian people, are very generally at fault in reference to this matter. But there are some who have realized the place and importance of such prayer and have been calling upon ministers and people to pray for this cause. Dr. Frederick Courtney pleads in the following manner for such prayer: " Now will you let me ask you to do one thing? Pray the Lord Jesus Christ's prayer. Say it every day of your life from this time on. ' O God grant that they all may be one ' — only don't say they. Say tve — ' Grant that we all may be one as thou Father art in Christ and Christ in thee, that we may be one in Him, that the world may believe that Thou didst send Him.' Will you pray that prayer every day of j'our life from this time on and look out for the answer? And if you do that you will see the beginning of the answer all over the world. And try and find out what is being done by all these different portions of the church of Christ, representatives of which you Prayer and Supplication 327 are to hear from in the next six Sunday evenings. Put the whole thing together and think about it. Do you remember that little poem in the ' Changed Cross ' and ' Other Poems ' called ' Watching ' which describes the Christian from whom Christ goes away, and the angel comes to her in the house and says, ' The work and the watching will be verj' sweet, even in an earthly home, and in an hour that ye think not He will come ' ? The work and the watching of the church of Christ will be very sweet . . . and in an hour that je think not it will come." (Address Mount Morris Baptist Church, New York City.) The Rev. Professor G. A. Johnston Ross has seen the signifi- cance of such praying and offers the following suggestions: " In public prayer ought there not to be more frequent and, if I may so say, better regulated prayer for denominations other than one's own ? In England I have heard Anglicans express again and again their amazement that I prayed in my church for the ancient church of England. Surely it should not be a matter of surprise that the ministers of one denomination should pray for the work of other denominations. And doubt- less this is at present frequently done. But my suggestion is that from authorities of the various churches should issue of- ficial recommendations upon this point, and, if possible, accom- panied by permissive forms of prayer, in order that as far as is consistent with the traditions and usages of non-liturgical churches there should be uniformity of content of these prayers." In the appeal for prayer which Tennyson presents in his Idyls of the King it is no vain imagination, but one that is full of encouragement and inspiration, to suppose that it is the voice of unity that speaks and says: " More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice 328 Duties Rise like a fountain for me night and day. For what are men better than sheep or goats, That nourish a blind life within the brain If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer, Both for themselves and those who call them friend? For so the whole round earth is every way Bound by gold chains about the feet of God." As helpful to the right spirit of prayer for the cause of unity Coleridge (The Ancient Mariner) has some lines full of sug- gestion : " He prayeth best who loveth best All things both great and small: For the dear Lord who loveth us He made and loveth all." These other lines of Coleridge are fitting to be used in special application to the cause of unity, when he says: " Be not afraid to pray — to pray is right, Pray if thou canst with hope ; but ever pray, Though hope be weak or sick with long delay: Pray in the darkness, if there be no light. Pray to be perfect, though material leaven Forbid the spirit so on earth to be; But if for any wish thou darest not pray, Then pray to God to cast that wish away." The example of Jesus in praying for the unity of His church ought to be inspiring to all His followers. If He is to be re- garded as our great Exemplar in all things it must include such prayer. Obedience to His example has kindred importance with obedience to His commands, and if we love Him we will both keep His commandments and follow His example. He was exceedingly much interested in the question of unity as is evident from His prayer on its behalf. As His true followers it is most fitting that we should be deeply interested in this movement Prayer and Supplication 329 and pray for its success. Few of His prayers have been pre- served, but this one has been kept on record for our guidance and inspiration along this line. If we were anything like as anxious for unity as He was, and is, it would have a more prominent place in our thoughts, feelings, and petitions. If we are following Him at all along this line, we are following " afar off." Why do we fail in giving it due prominence in our prayers? Is it not because the spirit of unity and the spirit of Christ is defective and wanting in our hearts? Shall we not henceforth in obedience to the example of our Lord Jesus Christ give this cause a higher place in our desires and our petitions? His example surely makes it a worthy object of our strongest desires and of our most earnest supplications. God's ancient people were taught by the Psalmist in the I22d psalm to pray for unity when he gave them such words as these to sing: " How beautiful doth Zion stand, A city built compact and fair; The people of the Lord unite With joy and praise to worship there. They come to learn the will of God, To pay their vows, His grace to own, For there is judgment's royal seat, Messiah's sure and lasting throne. For Zion's peace let prayer be made; May all that love thee prosper well; W^ithin thy walls let peace abide. And gladness with thy children dwell." Through all the centuries since it was penned, as this song has been used by the people of God, its appeal and inspiration to pray for the unity and peace of the church has sounded forth, and doubtless it has often been recognized as a call to prayer by those who have used it as a song of praise. Many of the psalms exalt the Kingdom of God as a universal Kingdom in 330 Duties which all the nations shall come together in one body, and the teaching of Jesus and the apostles supports this ideal. Prayer for unity is specially in order because of the greatness of this movement. While every good cause, whether small or great, is worthy of our earnest prayers, great causes are espe- cially so. This movement toward greater unity is surely a great movement. It is great in its ideals. It is great in its aims and motives, in its plans and purposes, and in its hopes and aspira- tions. It is great in the vast multitudes of people it is intended to embrace. It is great in the number and strength of the de- nominations it will include. It is great in the number and influence of the educational and eleemosynary institutions which will be more closely united in their respective fields of activity. It is great in the changes of administration which it will bring about. It is great in the modification of forms of worship, of rites and ceremonies which are sure to follow. It will affect the whole body of Christian people everywhere. It contem- plates the binding together in one brotherhood the whole human race. It is indeed so great a movement in its ideals and ultimate aims that some cannot believe it ever possible. Prayer helps men to realize that what is impossible with men is yet possible with God. Prayer is the fitting expression of the sense of need of that guidance and help which God alone is able to bestow. We have lately been praying very earnestly for our country and our allies in their great movement on behalf of justice, liberty, and the rights and welfare of the common people. At the request of Congress our President appointed a day for the united prayer of the whole body of our people for the success of the great movement upon which we have entered, and we are expected to continue our supplications for this end until victory is gained. It certainly is right that we should do so with all our hearts. But here is another great movement — even greater than the cause of the allies. It is a movement also in the cause Prayer and Supplication 331 of justice, righteousness, liberty, and the rights and welfare of the masses of mankind. It is a movement directly pertaining to the coming of Christ's kingdom on the earth. It is a movement whose possibilities for good to all humanity are incompre- hensibly great. Prayer for this movement is important be- cause of the relation of the movement to the coming of God's kingdom, for which Christ taught us to pray. The perfected unity of His followers was designated by Him as the evidence by which the world shall be persuaded that He has a right to the government and control of that kingdom. Our love for Him as our Lord and Master and our desires that He receive all due honor as the Head of the church and as the Supreme Ruler of God's kingdom on the earth ought to be strong enough to constrain us to pray earnestly and importunately for the growth and more perfect manifestation of this unity. Knowing that perfection of unity is a necessary condition for the full appear- ance of Christ's kingdom among men we surely ought to make the cause of unity one of the special objects for which we pray. From this time forth shall we not do so? Let us put it on our prayer lists as a subject of daily prayer. PERFECTING OF LOVE 'HE commandment of Jesus to " be perfect " has special reference to Christian love. This was the particular sub- ject under consideration when He first announced our obliga- tion in this matter. Just a little before, He had laid down the law of love to enemies and had gone on to show that the Father observes this law in the treatment of His enemies, and that His disciples should be more perfect in love than publicans or gentiles. Following His announcement of this law of love to enemies and His arguments to impress its importnace. He says " Ye therefore shall be perfect as your Heavenly Father is per- " God is love." This is the greatest and most important of all His attributes, and to be perfect in love is to be like God. To be His children is to possess His image and His spirit, and therefore to have our hearts permeated with love. Our per- fection as His children depends upon the fullness and the rich- ness of the love that dwells within us. It is worthy of our particular notice that our perfection as Christians does not de- pend so much upon our knowledge, or our faith, or our good works, as it does upon the kind of love that dwells in our hearts. This is certainly suggested by the fact that our Savior's requirement of us to be perfect after the example of our Heavenly Father is thus coupled with His law of love for our obedience. That our possession of love is more important than these other things, however useful and necessary they may be, is also forcibly shown by the Apostle Paul when he de- clares: "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all feet." (Matt. 5:48.) 33a Perfecting of Love 333 mysteries and all knowledge: and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing." ( i Cor. 13: 1-3.) It is worthy of note that this statement concerning the essential importance of love is presented by the apostle in his argument and appeal to the Corinthian church against the divisions which had arisen in it, and is given as a panacea for such divisions. The more perfect Christians are in love the more desirous they become that the divisions of the church should be healed. The disposition to promote or perpetuate these divisions, is proof that love is yet far from being perfect. It is the special duty of Christians to cherish and perfect that love which heals divisions and removes their cause. A high sense of its importance will help them so to do. The objects to be loved are very frequently present in our lives and the more we love them the more we are capable of loving them. This is a case where spending makes one rich. From infancy to old age this life is full of opportunities and occasions to practice love, and a valuable school for its devel- opment. We do not need great occasions to practice it. There are many opportunities to exercise it in the walks of daily life, demands upon it which come in a thousand different forms. There are very frequent experiences which severely test its character in us, revealing its weaknesses, while tending to culti- vate it and train it toward perfection. To become perfect in love it is necessary to be humble. Love and pride are not compatible with each other. This was re- alized by Dr. Norman McLeod (Love the Fulfilling of the Law), when he wrote " I cry to God daily for humility to love all, and to feel that I am saved as a sinner, who, as such, must have disgusted the angels. Our pride is devilish, and when I know how much better many of those who repel me arc than I 334 Duties am, or ever have been, I am ashamed of my pride, and that I can- not clasp them to my heart. . . . We must truly love our brother. This cannot be done by any rules. We must live more truly, more earnestly tovi^ard the Lord Jesus Christ; for just as we love Him we shall love our brother and such love will become a holy intuition that will ever prompt us to feel and act aright." Perfection of love toward God and man is perfection of char- acter and life for the individual and for the church. It is the life which God lives. It is the life of the holy angels and of all the perfected children of God. It is the means of bringing heaven down to earth. It is the seed plot of all the Christian virtues. It is the tree which stands by the River of Life, bears twelve manner of fruit, and whose leaves are for the healing of churches. It is a beam of light from the Sun of Righteous- ness whose analysis is given and described by the Apostle Paul in First Corinthians, the thirteenth. This analysis of love is thus discussed by Henry Drummond (The Greatest Thing in the World) : " Love is a compound thing Paul tells us. It is like light. As you have seen a man of science take a beam of light and pass it through a crystal prism, as you have seen it come out on the other side of the prism broken up into its component colors — red, and blue, and yellow, and violet, and orange and all the colors of the rainbow — so Paul passes this thing, love, through the magnificent prism of his inspired in- tellect, and it comes out on the other side broken up into its elements. And in these few words we have what one might call the spectrum of love, the analysis of love. Will you ob- serve what its elements are? Will you notice that they have common names; that they are virtues which we hear about every day; that they are things which can be practiced by every man in every place in life; and how by a multitude of Perfecting of Love 335 small things and ordinary virtues, the supreme thing, the summum bonum, is made up? " Above all things should Christians strive for an increase of their love, the sovereign element in their religious character. It strengthens faith, enlarges hope and gives strength and vitality to every other Christian grace, and great power and possibility to life. Rev. E. S. Atwood in realization of its im- portance has said (Sermons by The Monday Club, 1879): " The man of the world calls love a mere sentiment, the ques- tionable virtue of weak souls. But Christian love is flower, flame, force, life, all in one. Unobtrusive itself, it pushes into strength and beauty all the great excellences of character. In the conservatory, they show you a plain, unadorned plant, that makes no claim for admiration in form or color; but when its term of ripeness has come, in the shadows of the night, it clothes itself with the royal apparelling of blossom, and breathes out an aflluence of fragrance that puts the rose and the lily to shame. So Christian love, making no boast, nor thrusting itself upon notice, feeds in secret and in silence every great and good at- tainment of the soul, and at last opens the splendid blossoms that shine, white and star-like, in the darkness that enwraps all the other accomplishments of men. It is the one thing worth the striving for and the getting. Whatever else we miss, let us make ourselves masters of this love, for love is of God, and God and love inhabit the eternities." Rev. Principal Alexander White, D.D., while striving to promote the cause of union in Scotland, has pointed out the relation of love to the securing and establishing of complete unity among Christian brethren in the following manner (Ser- mon on Church Union) : " Now out of all sight, the principal truth of all ages of the church, and never more so than in our own age, is brotherly love, and close communion between belicv 336 Duties ing brethren. And thus everything that makes for brotherly love and for close communion between believing brethren should surely take the foremost place among our immediate duties and endeavors. And, again, everything that in any way endangers, or hinders such brotherly love and such close communion is surely to be avoided and escaped at, I will say, almost any cost. . . . Now, so far as I can see, in those present temptations the door of escape is the door of union between believing brethren. For, when once we enter that door, we shall no more think evil of one another, as we have so often been tempted to do, nor rejoice in the ills that befall one another, nor grudge at the good of one another as we have not always escaped the temptation to do. And if our best charity will sometimes fail in our intercourse with one another even after the union, at any rate that greatest of all the graces will then have a far better soil in which to stand, and a far better sunshine in which to bear its fruits, than it has had for many a day in Scotland.^ Charles Gray Shaw has expressed our duty in the perfecting of this love in such words as these: (Address, Mt. Morris Baptist Church, N. Y.) : "To effect that unity which seems all but lost to us in the complexity of modern life we can do no better than insist upon the perennial principle of love, however trite such a suggestion may seem. But does the common-place insistence upon human charity have the effect of sounding the depths where this supreme sentiment lies buried? There is a kind of human love which soon exhausts itself in helpful service, but such a practical sentiment does not convey us onward and upward to the latitudes of the midnight sun. Our usual conception of love is often confused with a Jewish love of neighbor, a British altruism, an American helpfulness, peculiar to the West. But there is another kind of love, known as it was to Gautama Buddha, when he found the unity of spiritual contemplation and human compassion. This extra Perfecting of Love 337 love appears again and more clearly in St. John who assures us that only as we love man can we know God. We see it again in Dostoevsky when in ' Crime and Punishment,' the wretched hero says to the suffering heroine, ' I bow down, not before you, but before suffering humanity exemplified in your person.' Upon the basis of Buddhistic, Christian, Russian compassion, provoked as this was by the perception that our human plight is a profound one, it may be possible, should be possible, to establish the unity of faith. In such compassionism the key to the full mvstery of life seems to be found ; for in the act of loving man, the soul gains insight into the nature of God : like Parsival, the soul is ' by pity enlightened.' To affect perfect unity the individual must cr>', 'More light! More light!' To have more light he must have more love." The perfecting of our love is wrought in a special way by broadening and extending it. Its great fault very often is the narrowness of its limitations. We find it difficult to love as broadly and extensively as we ought. Our great temptation is to love ourselves too much and to love others only in their bene- ficial relationship to ourselves. We naturally love ourselves first and most. But we learn to love others who are near to us in the intercourse, associations and fellowship of daily life, and this love is strengthened as we come to recognize our mutual tastes, aims, and aspiration, with them in life's activities. Our love given at first to individuals becomes broadened and ex- tended as we come to recognize the group formations and ideals to which these individuals belong. We learn to love the group through our affection for some of the individuals of which it is composed. This group becomes to us an ideal group in dis- tinction from the actual membership of which it is composed. Tht love of home is the love of certain persons; but, it is more than that : it is love of an ideal institution composed of these persons, or a similar group of persons anywhere. Our love for 338 Duties the community in which we live is distinct from the affection which we may have toward any of our neighbors, and has rela- tion to the character and welfare of the whole group of which it is composed. Our love of country is our affection for a larger group than our community, county, or state, and to this larger group belong all our national ideals and aspirations. Patri- otism binds us soul and body to this larger group and makes us ready for sacrifice on its behalf. Love for the church is a specific kind of group affection. It began with some small group in a class of the Bible school, or in some special club or society of the church, and afterward became ex- tended to the whole congregation as a distinct body of Christian people, and then to other congregations and churches which we have come to know and appreciate. Thus our love has been broadened and extended from group to group until the circum- ference of its range has been greatly widened. These broader affections constitute a greater and more perfect love than belongs to our narrower emotions. It is a much greater and better development of our emotional nature to love one's country than to love one's town, county, or state. It is not only more comprehensive, but also more ideal and more rational. Our government is placing emphasis these days upon the superior nature and claims of this broader love. It is mak- ing very explicit the fact that our country's claim on our af- fections is greater than that of any lesser group. It visits with severe penalties those who resist its authority and ignore its claims upon their affections and their loyalty to its service. Our government has the right to impose such pen- alties on the ground that love of country is better, more perfect, and more important than many other kinds of love. This love and loyalty are also urged on the ground of our national ideals in relation to the present war, which include the higher interests and welfare of the whole human race. Perfecting of Love 339 Thus there comes to us through our national ideals, and there is urged upon us by their demands, the conception and inspira- tion of a love as broad as humanity. We honor those as worthy and possessed of noble character whose love of country and its ideals for all mankind are such as to make manifest their loyalty and willingness to make the greatest sacrifices for their coun- try's cause and the good of every people. Their love is a broadened, extended and great affection, a noble and superior emotion. Love for the church in its broader aspects is close akin to love of country and its ideals. As love of country indicates a greater and more perfect affection than mere love of town, county, or state, so does the love of the entire body of Christian believers indicate a greater and more perfect affection than the mere love for one's own congregation or denomination, or even family of denominations. It is not only more comprehensive but more ideal and more rational. It is a love that sees more clearly the good qualities that all Christian people have in common. It sees more clearly the possibilities of growth and high excellence in all. It brings into use the noblest and highest power of the faculty of reason, and leads to comparisons of greatest worth rather than of infirmities. It causes the mind to think most charitably of all. It impels the will to choose the greatest good of all. This broadened and extended love is preeminently Christian because it is an emotion toward those who have accepted Christ as their Savior, and is Christlikc in its nature. He loved the church and gave Himself for it. He established His church as a most important channel through which this broadened love of His and theirs might flow. The church's greatest need to-day is the perfecting of our love so as to embrace the whole family of God. The reasonableness of this great love is indicated by the very word of Scripture by which it is expressed. Of the two words 340 Duties in Greek expressing love the one expressing rational love is the one used to indicate our duty. The very word chosen shows that every faculty of soul which we possess must be in full exercise when this love is going forth. Our intelligence is needed to discover and judge rightly the worth and excellence of the object to be loved. Our wills are necessary to make effective the affection of which these objects are worthy. This kind of love is better than a love that is merely emotional, impulsive, spasmodic. It is more enduring because it has vision and purpose as well as feeling. It is more perfect because its proper and full exercise depend upon the best exercise of every mental and moral facult}^ which we possess. It is the kind of love most like the love of God our Father, and of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. This is the kind of love in which we, the people of the church, have been ver>' defective. Our affections have gone out with much vigor to the narrower groups, but with very limited strength toward the larger group, the whole body of Christ's people. We have been very devoted to the supposed interests of our congregations and denominations and taken comparatively little interest in the work of all the other churches. Our religious emotions have been sadly limited by the narrowness of our spiritual vision and ecclesiastical ideals, and our vision has in turn been narrow and our ideals hampered because our hearts are narrow and self-centered. For our individual growth in grace and our personal development in Christian character we need specially a greater distribution and coordination of our religious emotions in relation to that group of Christians which embraces the whole body of believers. The perfecting of love includes also the strengthening of its intensity. Our Christian love should be more vigorous than it generally is as well as broader. Emotions like muscles need frequent and vigorous exercise to make them strong. Our real Perfecting of Love 341 religious affections are generally weak from want of exercise. We do not feel as strongly along really religious lines as we do along some others. Our affections for the church are easily and readily disturbed. Many of us do not love the church and religion religiously as we love the world worldly, and are tempted to love even the church more worldly than religiously. Here is a group of affections that need especially to be strength- ened and developed to insure the full development of our Christian character. The proper development of these broad affections toward the church in its largest and widest aspect is especially necessary for the more complete rounding out of our spiritual manhood and womanhood. We can do nothing better for our spiritual progress and enlargement than to let our love flow out with all its force, and express itself with holiest long- ings and tenderest sympathies, toward the whole body of Chris- tian believers as the living body of the living Christ. But this cannot be done without aim and effort. The intellect and will have much to do with the development of right afYections. Mind, heart, and will, act and react upon each other, and in relation to each other, in every phase of spiritual progress. The attainment of more perfect love is possible when clear and earnest thought is given to the ideal of a united Christian church, and a purpose is formed and fixed to cherish that ideal. The place of the will in the culture of the intellect has long been recognized, but scarcely thought of in regard to the emotions. However, its relation to mind and heart are essentially the same. As the mind is developed by the power of will so is the heart. The way one makes up his mind to love a certain object has very much to do with the kind and degree of affection it shall receive. Let us then make up our minds to love the church — the whole church — after the manner of Christ's love for it. Let us seek to perfect our love by giving it a wider range and greater intensity. Our 342 Duties visioning in the broad field of a united church will insure our personal growth in grace and our influence and help in promoting the unification of the churches. STRESSING COMMUNITY WELFARE HE duty of every Christian citizen to his community X arises, in the first place, from its relation to his own wel- fare. He is so bound up with it in the bundle of life that he will both affect its character and be affected by it. A good com- munity will help him live a righteous life and grow in Christian manhood ; an evil community will hinder his aims and efforts at doing right and put forth a strong influence against his best moral and spiritual development. His personal well-being de- pends in no small degree upon his immediate surroundings in Again, his duty to his community arises from its relation to his family's welfare. Every man's responsibility to his own family is very great. He is under special obligation to seek its highest good in every possible way. He needs the influence and help of every good agency within his reach. His family will be much affected by the social contact of its surroundings. He may try to escape, or overcome the evil effects of such contact in a bad community but can never fully succeed. The harmful influence of evil associations outside the home has often wrought its ruin. The welfare of every home depends in no small degree upon the moral character of the community by which it is surrounded. If it be a community where high ideals of Christian living hold sway, it will give strength to his own character and help him in the development of his home life. It is very evident that the character of the community in which a man lives and keeps his family is an exceedingly important matter to every man who is anxious about the character of his home and the highest welfare of its inmates. In view of the necessarily intimate and reciprocal relation life. 343 344 Duties between his home and its community he has grave responsibil- ities in regard to the welfare of that community. That com- munity is composed of all the people who live in the same localit}', are subject to the same laws and civil authority, and have kindred and interdependent business interests and social relations. The community has come to be recognized in social science as the social unit with which is measured all social in- terests and affairs among men. This unit enters into and constitutes an essential element in all calculations in regard to social questions and social activities. Frequent reference to the community by a great host of writers and public speakers shows their acceptance of the community as the recognized unit of social life in all its varied conditions and activities. Ever)' movement affecting the welfare of the masses is always measured by its relation to the community and is sought to be promoted as a community affair. Since the nature of the community as the social unit is so fully recognized in the promotion of all other social agencies, it ought to be recognized by ever}- member of the church as a fundamental thing to which the church is vitally related. The church is pre-eminently a social institution. It is for men with social natures and ca- pacities, and unites them in social worship, fellowship, and work. The recognition of the communitj' as the proper unit in which its purest and best kind of social fellowship and activity is to be found, has deep significance to the church and marks the measure of its worth and power. With this unit in mind it is easy to see that the value of a church to any community' de- pends very much upon its attitude toward the whole community in which it is located, and upon its strength of efFort to mould, build up, strengthen and develop the morals of that community. The duty of ever}- Christian to stress the welfare of his community is readily seen in its relation to the law of returns. This law was clearly stated in the Scripture which says: Stressing Community W el j are 345 " Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." What a man gives to his community will be returned by it in kind and degree. The moral and spiritual ideals and inspiration be- stowed by him on it will be returned in the moral and spiritual benefit he shall receive. A good community insures the very best success in every legitimate and beneficial line of human enterprise. Its demands are for the things of greatest benefit and worth. It endeavors to satisfy the higher and better wants of men. It creates conditions favorable to the truest and best success in worldly avocations. It provides the best conditions for success in every moral and spiritual undertaking. It re- wards men for all that they have done for it in its help to them in building up good, substantial, prosperous and happy homes. A strong moral and religious community provides the best kind of place in which to live, do business, have good social amenities, and experience the richest blessings in the life of the home. The duty of every Christian to stress the welfare of his own community is seen in his responsibilfty as a neighbor. His community is composed of his neighbors all of whom he is to love as himself. In exercising love toward them he will naturally be interested in the welfare of the community in which these neighbors live. His obedience to the second great com- mandment will begin with the neighbor who is near, and then extend to the next beyond, and so on and on until the farthest is included. In the light of this great commandment and the fact that the community is the recognized unit of social organ- ization and effort, it is seen to be the special duty of every member of the church to do his best to help in the building up of his own community into a strong, helpful, moral, and religious life as a most effective means of doing good to all who dwell within its bounds. This duty is also certainly imposed by the requirements of the Golden Rule, and is surely implied in the story of the Good Samaritan. 346 Duties The example of the early Christians also imposes this duty. The records show (Acts 2:41-47) the full devotion of the first converts to the spirit of helpfulness toward one another. The spirit of their conduct is significant in showing the initial attitude of the church in its readiness to help the group of people with which it was bound up in the bundle of life, and to share responsibility with one another in seeking the general good. Paul pointed out the duty of Christians to their communities when he wrote " Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatso- ever ye do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor. 10:31.) This same principle of giving help to one's community is also contained in his exhortation " Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Gal. 6:2.) In the re- building of the walls of Jerusalem under the leadership of Nehemiah this principle was recognized. It was made the duty of every man to build that portion of the wall nearest his own home in joint cooperation with his neighbor who built next to him. In this way it became the duty of each citizen to join in the great communal effort of that day. Assuredly Christianity is much more than a personal affair. It involves the greater interests of mankind in all its various groups — the family, the community, the county, the state, the nation, the world. It has a very definite and important work in relation to all social conditions and forces which cannot be overlooked nor ignored without great injury to the welfare of each of these groups. Its relation to the welfare of the fam- ily and the state have had considerable emphasis in times past while its relation to the community is just beginning to receive due consideration. Many Christian men and women have be- gun to realize that their Christianity must have a special appli- cation to the welfare of the communities in which their lot is cast. There has come to them a sense of responsibility for the Stressing Community Welfare 347 right use of all the powers which they possess in the doing of this work. In the doing of this work means and agencies will be em- ployed. These means and agencies will be the same as those employed in building up the home since the community is composed of the same persons as constitute the homes within its bounds. Education, literature, music, art, and social amenities and intercourse are fittingly employed in building up and perfecting both the community and the home. But of all agencies for this end the church is the most important, the most vital. It was created for this particular purpose. Its message is for the guidance and salvation of men, not merely as individuals, but also as groups, — the family, the community, the whole human race. Its mission is to help and bless men in all their aims and eflForts to build up a Christian family, com- munity, state, nation, and to make the world Christian. The task of building up a good community' of high moral excellence is so enormous as to require the energy and power of such an institution as the church. It was not only created for this particular purpose, in part at least, but is well suited to this end. It brings to men in every group the highest ideals and the truest and the best incentives to action. It provides a fitting channel through which all noble-minded, generous-hearted and patriotic citizens can work for the general good of all about them. It is an agency by which Christian men and women are united in their desires and efforts not merely to get a blessing for themselves, but also to be a blessing to the special group with which they are immediately surrounded as well as to the larger groups in which they are included. The church which is not a special and distinct bless- ing to the community with which it is surrounded has no valid reason for its existence, and if any other organization can 348 Duties do its work as well it ought soon to cease its efforts to exist and be an unprofitable burden on its community. In using the church as a special agency for community wel- fare the Christian patriot is moved by the persuasion that this welfare is vastly more important than the success of any par- ticular church within the bounds of his community. He sees the need of the most perfect and complete cooperation in this work of all the Christian people at hand. He believes that the church was established by its Founder as the means for gaining certain ends and that one of these ends is the welfare of the community. He sees that the end is greater than the means, the result than the agency by which it is secured, and that the church was created to be a means rather than an end in itself. He realizes that the thing of chief importance is the gaining of the greatest possible good for all the people and that the most perfect instrument will be helpful in the gaining of this end. The most perfect instrument must ever be the harmoniously united body of all the Christian people in the community. What better instrument could there be than a thoroughly united church with its high and broad ideals for men in all their social relations and interests. The gospel com- mitted to its care for propagation is specially suited to this work. The great bulk of its teaching is applicable to social relations and activities. The duties which this gospel enjoins are very largely social duties. Doubtless the gospel was given to the church's care because of its mission to various natural groups in which men are bound together and its adaptation to this mission. The church was made for man as a social being, who is also a religious being. Christian patriots who have this vision of the church believe in the church as the channel of material blessings as well as spiritual. They find that among the blessings promised in the Scriptures such blessings are included. The work of Jesus Stressing Community Welfare 349 brought such blessings. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, and caused the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, and the blind to see. He rebuked fraud and injustice and removed the causes of much physical pain and misery. Christian patriots and philanthropists are seeing in His gospel those great principles of truth which ought to control the activities of men in all their social interests and relations. They believe that the church has a special message and mission in regard to every question and undertaking that affects the happiness and welfare of the people both singly and collectively. For instance, the question of good housing in most places is an important one in relation to the general welfare. The message and mission of the church are often greatly needed in the promotion of this cause. Mr. Albion Fellows Bacon, in describing what bad housing means to the community, writes thus: " The effect of the slum is apparent in its own neighborhood. Slums being often scattered the poison is scattered in so many districts. We may find a row of the worst kind of houses at the rear of a fine residence block, or a single wretched tenement set among neat and well-built houses. In the factory districts the better class of workmen's cottages have squalid shacks or tenements interspersed among them, so that they are beset on all sides with the annoying sights and sounds and the un- wholesome conditions of filth, with the disease spreading swarms of flies which the thrifty workingman's wife would banish from her own neat premises. The cesspools and decaying garbage of one neglected house are enough to . . . spread contagion to a whole neighborhood. In the same way may moral con- tagion be spread from one center of vice." In discussing the mission and responsibility of the church in its relation to the industrial welfare and peace of the com- munity Mr. Henry A. Atkinson writes as follows: " We need some definite way to deal with the situation, and 350 Duties this way must be on a large scale and systematically instead of trusting to haphazard methods. Our churches need to know the facts. Each of our States should have a board of conciliation and arbitration. Most of all what we need is the recognition of the fact that there are three parties in every industrial struggle; the employer, the employee, and the general public. The interests of the general public are larger than either of the other two partners. The church does not stand for any one of the partners, but for the whole of the community life which embraces the interests of all three; and the interests of all, both employer, employee and general public, demand that there shall be righteousness established as the fundamental req- uisite for a lasting peace and as the foundation of a better so- cial order." The relation of the church to social conditions and oppor- tunities in the rural community is discussed by the Rev. Otis H. Moore in the following manner: " The best sort of social affairs in the country are com- munity social affairs, affairs in which old and young of both sexes and all religions and no religion join. If held under church auspices, planned by a committee who have not failed to look to God in all their planning for intimate guidance, such community gatherings cannot help but be fruitful in bringing the unchurched into closer touch with the church ; and in the long run bringing about a feeling of Christian brotherhood and community solidarity. Perhaps in the big city churches, as it seems to some of us, people have been ' running into the ground * the matter of segregation of people into age-groups and sex- divisions, thereby losing much of the old community feel- ing. . . . The people of the community may be of many races and many creeds, and, of course, of many ages and two sexes, but once get everybody in a country community to feel that big family feeling and you have made a start Stressing Community W elf are 351 toward making your community a part of the Kingdom of Heaven." Since the church is to be recognized as a means to an end, and that end the good of man in all his group relations and activities, it becomes evident that the Christian's duty to his community is greater than to some sectarian church which may be in that community. His duty is to use the church for the community which can serve hfs community the best. One live church in a community will be able to exert a better moral influence upon it than any greater number can possibly do. It will be able to combine the moral forces of the community so as to make its social, educational and religious mfluences more elTective for good than could be done by several churches. It can economize all the available resources of the community so as to get greater and better results than could possibly be done by dividing these resources to any number of churches. It will escape the sinister rivalries and antagonisms which com- peting institutions are so liable to awaken, and avoid that idea of the church which regards it as one of several rivals or com- petitors. The advantage of a single church in community build- ing readily gains recognition and appreciation with those who love mankind in larger groups as well as smaller ones. The superior claims of the community to that of any par- ticular denomination have been clearly recognized by earnest and devoted students of the problem of the rural church. The Rev. James C. Rawlings, formerly the pastor of an institutional church in St. Louis, while recuperating at his native village in Kentucky, has reached the following convictions: " Let the rural folk learn how to get together, and make a strong steady pull, not for faction or clan, but for the uplift the greatest number. They should protest with ecclesiastical leaders against the useless waste, the folly, and often petty sin of trying to maintain three or four struggling organizations 352 Duties in a community where one well-equipped church with capable pastor comfortably situated and adequately paid, could serve the community. We should quit wasting money in lofty towers, cupolas, alcoves, and useless fixtures, and build our country churches so that some social and literary advantages may be secured and wholesome recreation afforded, both in winter and in summer, thus transforming these buildings from lonely damp structures, opened occasionally, to active and con- stant forces. Why should not these features which are suc- cessfully supplementing preaching and worship in the city church be used with equally good results in helping to promote an interest and procure development for the sparsely settled places? Every agency producing a spirit of cooperation and deepening personal responsibility is a prime element in this undertaking." The Rev. Warren H. Wilson, D.D., who has known the rural church from childhood and was pastor for several years in a rural community, in his book, " The Church of the Open Country," has this to say upon devotion to community service: " Therefore the sum of the whole matter is this. The Christian man or woman in America, especially in the open country, must learn to devote himself to the community and to this end must magnify the church as the community center. A new formula will control his life. He shall say, ' Religion consists, for me, of God in the community, and in the world.' This cannot be done without magnifying the Church, but at- tention must not be first of all upon the church. A selfish church that seeks the obedience of men and demands their craven submission cannot do this work, but the church which preaches the gospel of common service in a common local task, and offers its own house and its own walls and its own min- ister for this use will build itself and will be enlarged in the process of serving the community." Stressing Community W elf are 353 In his presentation of what is being done for the country church by the Federal Council, Dr. Charles S. Macfarland, General Secretary, in his late book, the " Progress of Federa- tion," closes his statement of things accomplished with these words : " That the decline of rural churches, leading to the decline of rural religion and rural morality and life, where it has taken place, has been due in large measure to the want of religious statesmanship, hardly needs argument and conversely, that it calls for a method which has an eye single to the life of the com- munity rather than to the persistence of religious divisions, is equally obvious." Community welfare in both city and country is a central idea of the Federal Council. It has a special Commission on Inter-Church Federations whose special aim and work is the nurture and development of a community interest and spirit among the churches. In the call of this Commission for the congress held in Pittsburg, Pa., October, 191 7, on the purpose and methods of inter-church federations, it gave as its first reason for issuing the call: " The growing conception of the Kingdom of God as related to the entire community. The clearest visioned leaders of re- ligious work have come to understand that the problem of the Church and all its varied organizations is to Christianize the entire community rather than alone to build up individual churches and societies. The realization of this ideal is pos- sible only by the united effort of all the Christian forces." That congress brought together from all parts of the country almost two hundred secretaries and other officers of state and city federations and the dominant note of the congress was the welfare of the community and how the churches can be gotten to cooperate most effectively in securing that welfare. When the church comes rightly to be recognized by Christian 354 Duties men and women everywhere to be God's agency for helping the community through the men and women in it who have heard His voice and are obedient to His will, they will see that united work is according to His plan and gives the best assurance of success. To place the welfare of the community above the success of any particular church may be oflFensive to the rigid sectarian but it is in harmony with the ideals of the Scriptures and the emotion of true patriotism. If the church is to help the community it must be able to assemble and reach all the people of the community in such a way as will make its help effective in the uplift of the whole body of the people. In its divided state the church has been regarded as an end in itself rather than as an agency to gain a higher end in the life of the community. The growth of this latter idea is sure to bring the churches nearer to each other, and may yet prove the most effective of all means in bringing about the rapid growth of that greater unity for which we are pleading. At any rate it is a very reasonable way in which to promote the cause of unity. It is a worthy kind of patriotism that is specially concerned about the moral character and progress of one's own community. It is a good kind of Christianity that is concerned about the same thing. In some few places in different parts of the country this idea of community welfare has so prevailed as to bring the churches of the community to- gether in federation or union, in some cases with greater and in other cases with less success. The degree of success in all such movements must ever depend upon the freedom of the movement from sectarian desire and purpose and the breadth of Christian love reigning in the minds and hearts of all. A small obstructionary minority can injure or destroy the success of such a movement. It must be general and hearty to be most successful. But the possibilities of good along this line are very great. Many a rural community and many a city com- Stress in ff Community Welfare 355 munity would be greatly helped and blessed by the prevalence of this idea accompanied by a broad charity and cooperative spirit toward all in the community. The making of com- munity welfare to be the thing of first importance to be ac- complished by the church is well worth stressing. It is pa- triotic in a true and noble way, and it is Christian in a broad and helpful way. THE LARGER LOYALTY THE duty of loyalty to the church is evident to all. Faith- ful allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ is due to Him as its King and Head. Faithfulness to Him necessitates loyalty to the highest interests of His Kingdom, the highest interests of all the citizens of that Kingdom, as well as the highest in- terests of one's own self. Loyalty is a noble virtue. It binds men to those who have rightful authority over them, and to the institutions and causes which insure their welfare. It ought to be nurtured, stimulated, strengthened, and developed with conscientious care and persistence. The duty of loyalty to our government is being deeply im- pressed upon our minds during these days of strenuous and terrific warfare, and this fact is well suited to impress our minds as deeply in regard to loyalty to the Lord Jesus and His church. Most of us reahze as never before the importance of loyalty to our President as the Chief Magistrate of our country and as the Commander-in-Chief of our Army and Navy. The great catastrophe of a world war now upon us has caused us to see in a very impressive way what we owe to him of firm allegiance because of what he is in relation to our government and to our national life and welfare. It has been made clear to us that loyalty to him is loyalty to democratic institutions and to our great national ideals. We have become specially conscious of the fact that the basis and security of any govern- ment must ever be the loyalty and devotion of its citizens, and that without such allegiance it will soon become weak and inefficient. We have now become thoroughly convinced that faithfulness to our national government is due to it for what it has done for us in the protection of our lives, persons, and 356 The Larger Loyalty 357 possessions, and in securing for us many advantages and op- portunities in this land of civil and religious liberty. The frightfulness of this war has shown us that unless we are loyal we may lose these blessings and have neither government nor countrjs but on the other hand become the vassals and slaves of our heartless and cruel enemies. The present crisis helps us recognize with vivid clearness our government's right not only to appeal to us but to demand that we be loyal. Our conviction of its right to claim our obedience and loyal service is very deep and strong. Such a conviction is one of the profound and primary emotions of the human soul. It belongs to our innate consciousness of group relations and de- pendencies. It gives us the feeling that we belong to the community and that what means most to us in life is bound up with this group or community or countr}' to which we be- long. True loyalty lifts men above self-interests and self-seek- ing and binds them body and soul to their fellows. It so iden- tifies a man's life and activities with the interests of the group to which he belongs that he is willing to sacrifice all personal advantages and benefits for the welfare of the whole body of people with which he is identified. It is the giving of himself for the good of his group, — his government, his church. Genuine loyalty to the best interests of one's country is ever a mark of true greatness of soul. The same is even more true in regard to one's relation to the church. Such allegiance is a special feature of that noblemindedness which has ever been characteristic of the really great men of the earth in all ages. The heroes of all lands have ever been the men who subordinated all personal gain and advantage to the general good of all those with whom they were bound up in a bundle of life, whether that bundle was political or religious. The love and honor given such heroes has ever been due to the devotion of all their talents and power to the good of their 358 Duties fellowmen in a wide and comprehensive way. It was their willingness and power to identify themselves most perfectly with the special interests of their country, and ours, in times of great crises that proved that Washington and Lincoln were great men and true patriots. The heroes of the church have ever been those who sank all personal interests and gains in their devotion to its great cause. The value and nobility of loyalty as a political and religious virtue is affected in no small degree by the range and com- pass of its application. It must be clear to every one that a loyalty which extends only to a small group of people has less value and nobility than a loyalty that pertains to a much larger group. Patriotism becomes broader and better as it expands from town to county, from county to state, and from state to nation. Just as the higher interests of the individual are to be found within the general interests of the group to which he belongs, so the higher interests of the smaller groups are to be found within the range of interests belonging to the largest group to which they belong, and the best interests of both individuals and smaller groups are bound up in the in- terests of the largest group. Thi's is why national loyalty is so much more vital and important than loyalty to one's own city or state, unless its aims and ideals are in harmony with and subordinate to national aims and ideals. Loyalty to a town, city, or state, out of harmony with national aims and ideals has in it the essence of rebellion and is both evil and ignoble unless the national cause is unrighteous. In like manner loyalty to the church becomes broader, better, and nobler as it expands from congregation to conference or presbytery, from this to one's denomination, and from this to the whole body of Christian believers. In this expansion it becomes more rational and more perfect. That loyalty which is given to the church through love of Christ, its King and The Larger Loyalty 359 Head, and because it is an institution appointed by Him to represent and make manifest His Kingdom on the earth, and to be the h"ving body in which His Spirit dwells, is a much better and nobler loyalty than one that confines itself largely to the interests of a single congregation or denomination. It is to be feared that much of what passes for church loyalty is of the narrower and less noble species. Under the stress of the appeal now being urged upon us to recognize, accept, and cul- tivate a patriotism that seeks not merely nor chiefly the ad- vancement of our own national interests but also seeks the wel- fare of the world's entire community of nations and the good of all humanity, it is most fitting that we also recognize that superiority of loyalty to the church which specially recognizes the universality of Christ's Kingdom and the relation of the church to the good of all men everywhere. The highest and best loyalty to church and state is that which recognizes and places emphasis upon the universal need of men and their right to the things for which the church and the state respectively stand and seek to promote. Men every- where need moral and religious truth, worship, and God, along with life, liberty, and justice. In the early ages loyalty con- sisted largely of the passion to destroy a rival. Ancient Rome was under the dominion of this species of loyalty during the many years in which its slogan was " Carthage must be de- stroyed." The old idea was " If we are to live and flourish, they must die." This was the kind of loyalty that stirred the heart of the prophet, Jonah, when he wanted Ninevah to be destroyed and was so dejected at its repentance that he wanted to die. This was the only kind of loyalty he knew until Jehovah taught him. This ancient type of loyalty has not vanished from the earth. There are still those who in zeal for their own country or church think and feel that rivals are to be destroyed. It has prevailed in Germany where the dominant 36o Duties feeling has been that the naval and commercial supremacy of England must be destroyed and that French ambition toward increasing power and supremacy must be curtailed. And it is the dominant kind in the allied nations wherever the cry is " Germany must be destroyed." It is a little higher form of loyalty which seeks the highest power, honor, and glory of one's own without the ruin and destruction of others, unless it be necessary. In this proviso there is some recognition of the rights of others to life, lib- erty, and the pursuit of happiness. But this recognition is en- tirely too scant. This revised idea of loyaltj' fails at the es- sential point of high motive. It exalts selfishness and pride to be the ruling factors in determining its course of action. This revised motive is really just about as injurious to nations, to the churches, and to individual men as was the ancient theorj^ that rivals must be destroyed. No man can devote his energy to seeking his own glory and live a useful life. He shall thereby destroy his manhood and make his life not worth the living. The church and the nation also are subject to the sanction of the same stern law. These exist for the same reason that a man exists. A man does not exist for his own sake, but for the sake of his race, for the sake of lending a hand to help the race upward and onward. For the same reason pre- cisely does a nation exist. It exists to do its part in lifting civilization to a higher plane; in contributing permanent values to the life of the civilized world : in performing its own mission as the emancipator of the race of mankind, and as the guardian of the sacred rights of humanity. For the same reason exactly does the church exist. It exists to do its part in lifting mankind everywhere to a higher level of moral and religious belief and conduct: in imparting to all men the most useful and helpful kinds of knowledge and motives to action : in inspiring men everywhere to do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with The Larger Loyalty 361 God: in promoting love and obedience toward the laws of Christ's Kingdom in respect to every relation and aspect of human life. But a new and much superior idea of loyalty has lately been advanced and has gained much acceptance in the minds of Christian people. It is a loyalty that seeks to use the power, honor, and glory of one's national or ecclesiastical group in se- curing the rights and welfare of others and in thus serving the interests of the whole human race. This is the kind of loyalty for which President Wilson continues to make his appeal. He wants to be loyal to the higher interests of all other coun- tries — including those of our enemies — as well as to our own. He has repeatedly declared that our aims are not re- prisals nor territory, nor selfish gain of any kind. " The United States desires only to do disinterested service. Some day the world will see that we do not want anything out of this war — that we would not accept anything out of it: it is absolutely a case of disinterested service" (Address to Mexican Editors). He has shown again and again that our aims are moral — such as the establishment of international justice, a joint guarantee among the nations on behalf of permanent peace, and the safety of democracy. The loyalty for which he asks is therefore Christian in its nature and essence, and it is truly " an unprec- edented thing " that a great nation should be dominated by such great aims in entering war with other nations. True loyalty to the church must ever be of this kind. The right and proper aims of the church have universal application. It seeks the good of all men everywhere as the creatures of God, made in His own image, endowed with an immortal nature, and possesssed of wondrous capacities for growth and develop- ment. All its great aims relate to the welfare of every race, nation, kindred, people, tongue. It was established to be a universal institution for all classes and conditions of mankind. 362 Duties It has but one supreme Head and one system of laws for its general government. True loyalty to it can only be that of allegiance to the highest and the best ideals. Jesus is worthy of the greatest loyalty. What He has done for us has infinite value. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor the mind of man conceived the good things secured through Him. His Kingdom is most beneficent and will endure for- ever. Our happiness in time and in eternity depend upon His grace. Loyalty to Him ought to be recognized as a primary principle and duty of our lives. The appeals that are coming to us day by day to be loyal to our President In the midst of the great world struggle now going on ought to impress our minds deeply as Christians in regard to the importance of loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ in the great world struggle going on between the Kingdom of Christ and the Kingdom of Satan. Loyalty to Him is surely as important as that to any earthly ruler, however good and great such a ruler may be. Loyalty to Jesus means, as already noted, loyalty to His church as His own institution commissioned to represent His Kingdom and to promote the interests and glory of that King- dom. There is no institution on the earth more worthy of our loyalty than His church, and such loyalty, in its broadest ideals and efforts, is surely a good sign of the sincerity of our Chris- tianity, and a special token of our noble-mindedness and large- ness of heart. It recognizes the value of Christ's work on behalf of all mankind, and has a high appreciation of the Church's work in bringing to men the message of salvation and in building up His Kingdom in the world. It perceives the importance of the things for which the church stands, the great things which it seeks to accomplish. Loyalty sees the responsibility that is due to the church for what it is, has done, and can do for the children of men. But the loyalty to the church that is true and noble is also The Larger Loyalty 363 one that is reasonable as well as zealous. It is one that rests upon comprehensive views of the church's mission and broad ideals of its work. In the present divided condition of the church it must be recognized that all claims of loyalty are not equally valid. There is more of truth and justice in some one of the claims than in any of the others. Among the diverse and divergent pretensions to superior knowledge, obedience, and virtue, some one has more of reason and right than the others. It is evident that the one most reasonable and right is the one that ought to prevail. The grounds on which loyalty is generally based may be in part true and in part false. The part that is most certain to be true is that which appeals to universal reason and is most readily acceptable to the great mass of Christian people. The part less likely to be true is that which relates to some par- ticular view of a limited number of church people. The best part of any one's loyalty to the church is that which rests upon the universal truths and principles received and taught in all the churches. This gives to it a broad foundation, a compre- hensive basis, on which the most devoted allegiance to the church can stand securely and be most effective in its influence for good. Loyalty to the church as Christ's own institution appointed by Him to be a soul saving agency through its procla- mation of the great truths of the gospel and though the oppor- tunities it affords in Christian service is a most worthy and noble kind of faithfulness to Him. However, loyalty in most of us is rather a complex af?air. It has some elements that are worthy and some that are un- worthy. We are in part actuated by the broader and better ideals of the church's mission, in which all the denominations are harmoniously agreed, and in part actuated by our devotion to the special interests of the particular group, or denomination, to which we belong. Wc arc liable to conceive that the in- 364 Duties terests of our denomination are somewhat diverse from and superior to those of every other church. We use much devotion and consume much energy in the support of views and beliefs that are not essential to the accomplishment of the church's great mission. We cultivate and manifest a spirit of loyalty which appears very zealous, but is really very narrow and selfish. It is a loyalty that is more concerned about some special form of dogma or practice, than the great facts and truths of the gospel in regard to which there is general agree- ment among all churches. This loyalty to form rather than to fact, to method rather than accomplishment, to means rather than to ends, is a spurious loyalty and injurious and harmful to one that is true and real. Our loyalty is much improved when this fictitious element has been properly sup- pressed and we have learned to be faithful to the broader ideals which are universally accepted. This does not necessarily mean that we wholly surrender our personal and denominational views, but that we are to subordinate them to the general and higher interests of His whole church in the fulfillment of its great task, and in the accomplishment of its great mission. It means that we are to hold our particular opinions in such a way as not to destroy the unity of the church, nor in the least imperil the work of the whole body of Christian believers. The right to hold and propagate particular views is limited by the right of the entire church to concord and cooperation in all its parts. Denominational loyalty is the truest and the best when it harmonizes most perfectly with the loyalty that properly be- longs to the aims and efforts of the church at large. It is like the loyalty of the city, county, and state when their aims and ideals harmonize with those of the general government, and are obedient to its requests and requirements. While the tendency of denominationalism is toward a loyalty that is fic- The Larger Loyalty 365 titious and spurious, it is yet possible to be most loyal to one's denomination and at the same time loyal to the greater interests and welfare of the whole church of Christ. There is a pos- sible adjustment of loyalties to the earnest Christian who loves his own church and at the same time loves as truly the whole body of Christian believers. When denominational loyalty leads men to seek their own regardless of another church's welfare, it has become factious and unreal. This is not the kind that Jesus seeks and into which the Holy Spirit leads. It is a kind that ought to be rejected and suppressed. When a denomination is dominated by it, the spirit of strife and contention grows strong, and loyalty to the larger and better ideals of the church's office and effort are hindered and opposed. The work of removing this spurious species of loyalty and of producing in its place a real, true, and worthy loyalty to one's own church and in harmony with that greater and more perfect loyalty which is due to the church as the body of Christ, is a great work and well worthy of the noblest Christian aim and effort. The most loyal thing that any follower of Christ can do is to use his talents and in- fluence to bring his own church into harmony with the ideals of Jesus in regard to unity as in regard to other characteristics. This is what the truly patriotic citizen does when the loyalty of his town, city, or state, are out of harmony with the ideals and requirements of his general government. He tries to bring his local government into harmony with the interest of the larger group of citizens. So the loyal churchman in the larger and better sense tries to bring his own smaller group into harmonious and cooperative relation to the ideals and efforts of the largest group of churchmen, the one including all who love the Lord Jesus Christ. The question of loyalty is surely one of great importance. It is easy to claim loyalty, but not so easy to be loyal at all times 366 Duties and under all conditions to Christ the Head of the church. It is possible to claim loyalty to Him, when interest in His Kingdom is very limited and trivial. Conflicting claims to loyalty are sure to arise as they have often done. It will be difficult sometimes to tell where the most of righteousness is found, and hard to know just what ought to be done. But loyalty to Christ as the great Head of the church will open up the way. The prayer of faith will surely gain the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Encouragement and help must surely come to those who realize that the pathway toward the unity of all the followers of Christ is the pathway of loyalty to Christ and to His church in the broadest, truest, and best sense. PATIENCE **X^E have need of patience, that, having done the will of i God, ye may receive the promise " (Heb. lo: 36). The author of the Hebrevi's thus calls attention to the importance of the grace of patience in the development of Christian character, and in the obtaining of its rewards. He was not rebuking the Hebrew Christians for their want of this grace, nor chiding them for its weakness, but was pointing out to them the imperative necessity of possessing it in order to attain the true ends of Christian living. He was trying to impress upon their minds the fact that without patience it was impossible to realize the fulfillment of God's promises. He wanted them to know that the rewards of Christian living and effort depend upon the presence of this grace in the heart and upon the sta- bility which it secures. He knew that these Hebrew Christians would have their faith tried, and their steadfastness as the followers of Christ put to the test, and he was anxious for them to inherit the promises. They had many false hopes and desires concerning Him as a temporal ruler and benefactor, which never could be realized, and disappointment and dis- couragement were sure to come. Persecution had already fallen to their lot and still greater persecution was yet to come. They would be branded as traitors to their country and the faith of their fathers in their attempt to do the will of God during the great Roman siege of their capitol city, the center of their civic and religious life. The most trying experiences would come upon them. Their cup would be full of pain, misery, and anguish of heart, and they had need of patience as a sup- porting and sustaining grace. Indeed this grace of patience is the special need of all God's 367 368 Duties people. All of us have beliefs, hopes and desires, on religious matters, as well as on other things, that are not well founded and are sure to bring us disappointments and discouragements. Difficulties and hardships which we had not anticipated, and oppositions and interferences which we had not counted upon, are sure to arise. Enemies will spring up and persecutions will overtake us. The work to which we have devoted our earnest efforts will lag and our labors will seem to be of no avail. Great revolutions will arise in which all the foundations of so- ciety will seem to be shaken, and all the institutions with which we are familiar seem to be tottering. Such times will bring a special strain upon our faith and hope, and we shall have special need of patience. But sufficiency for such an hour is sure only to those who exercise this grace from day to day. The time of preparation for any crisis in life is before the crisis comes. The ability to endure in the times of great trial is developed amid the hindrances, disappointments, and discour- agements of ordinary life. We grow strong in bearing burdens and in enduring hardships by the preservation of a patient spirit under every trial of our faith and every interference with our duty. Without this grace our work will become weari- some, our difficulties insurmountable, and our burdens unbear- able. It is necessary to keep us from becoming discouraged and dissatisfied with the ways of Providence as well as with the ways of Christian men whose views do not fully harmonize with ours. This grace is exceedingly essential to the continuance and completion of our Christian work and the enjoyment of its rewards. And yet this grace is one that is too frequently underesti- mated, and sometimes despised. Its worth as a possession of the Christian life very often is not very fully appreciated and its value in rounding out a well-developed Christian character very lightly esteemed. Even Christian men will sometimes Patience 369 glory in their want of it. Nevertheless it is an essential Christian virtue and it never ceases to be a virtue. Other virtues may be wanting, or it may perchance be unduly bal- anced with other virtues, but that does not destroy its im- portance as an essential attitude of mind and heart. It stands very closely related to faith, hope, and love, which are often referred to and known as " the three graces." It includes and combines these three graces in a very significant and ef- fective way. These graces attain their best development in that life and character in which patience has " her perfect work." It is the virtue that makes them constant and abiding. With- out it faith and hope and love must weaken and die. Jesus proclaimed the importance of this grace when He said " In your patience ye shall win your souls." In this declara- tion He teaches that the final and complete salvation of the soul is an acquisition to be gained through the benign influence of patient waiting. In this expression He indicates that the ultimate security of the soul depends upon the presence and continuous effect of this grace upon the life. With these words He points out that the winning of the soul is not complete until the grace of patience has wrought her full effect. Patient wait- ing for the fulfillment of His promises is an essential attitude in the effort to do God's will. This attitude ought to permeate and influence all that we think and do in relation to His King- dom. The winning of the soul goes on and approaches its com- pletion as this virtue of patience becomes more and more per- fectly developed, and without it the winning makes no progress. Jesus was speaking of the trials of faith through which His followers must pass when He spake these words. He realized the ever-present need of patience, as well as the special need of it in times of great trial, and that its daily cultivation is necessary to make it sufficient in the times of greatest stress and strain. And so His words are to be regarded as an admonition 370 Duties to give special attention to the constant cultivation of this power of the soul. The apostles recognized the importance of this grace by fre- quent commendation and reference to it in their writings. Paul realized our need of its presence and power in our lives when he wrote " And let us not be weary in well doing : for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not" (Gal. 6:9). He also pointed out that eternal life is the reward of those who by patient continuance in welldoing seek for glory and honor and incorruption (Rom. 2:7). James had a full apprehension of its value when he wrote " But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing " ( Jas. 1-4). Peter showed his appreciation of its importance when he named it as one of the things to be diligently added in the de- velopment of the Christian life (2 Pet. 1:5 8). John showed his recognition of its greatness when in the record of his vision of the severe trials through which the church would pass, and the salvation of those whose names were written in the book of life of the Lamb he exclaims " Here is the patience and the faith of the saints" (Rev. 13: 10). The Old Testament exalts this grace as one of great impor- tance in the character of those who were the acceptable serv- ants of Jehovah. The patience of Job, one of the most ancient of the patriarchs, has been exalted from the early days of reve- lation as preeminently exemplary and worthy of imitation. It can scarcely be doubted that the book of Job was made a part of revelation to teach the value of this virtue. The failure of Moses, the man of God, to exercise this virtue on a particular occasion, and the penalty visited upon him for his impatience at that time, is recorded (Num. 20: 10-13) doubtless to teach the leaders of men through all succeeding ages the super- lative importance of its possession and constant use. Moses Patience 371 had been patient on many occasions and in many ways but his failure on that one occasion prevented him from entering the promised land. King Solomon in his wisdom taught that " The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit," and exhorted " be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger rest- eth in the bosom of fools " (Eccl. 7: 8, 9). In the midst of the most trying times the prophet Jeremiah wrote: " It is good that a man " (or nation) "should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord " (Lam. 3: 26). The Christian Fathers recognized the importance of this grace. Saint Cyprian in discussing " The Benefit of Patience " thus speaks: " Nor do I find, dearest brethren, among the other paths of heavenly discipline in which the school of our hope and faith is guided to the attainment of divine rewards, any- thing more excellent, either for the aid of good living or for the increase of glor>', than that we who have attached ourselves to the precepts of the Lord, in the obedience of fear and devotion, should specially, in all carefulness, watch unto pa- tience. . . . Let us, as servants and worshippers of God, show that patience in spiritual submission which we learn by heavenly instructions." Indeed patience is a virtue in every field of human effort and activity, an essential element to the successful accomplishment of every undertaking. Without it men fail to realize the ful- fillment of their visions and give out in the attainment of their purposes. It is the assurer of success in business enterprise. Every line of business has its difficulties, hardships, disappoint- ments and discouragements, and these are liable to become great and depressing, when men are tempted to give up or trj* some other line. Patience is necessary to help a man hold on till victory is won. The men who gain the best success in every kind of enterprise are the men who have the patience 372 Duties to keep right on after others have given up and failed. The men who have pertinacity to hold on become the winners of the prize. This is also a prime virtue in the student. In the pursuit of knowledge it is the patient plodder that wins the best results. He overcomes the obstacles and hindrances that lie in the pathway of his progress. He burns the midnight oil. While others sleep and gratify their sloth and self-indulgence, he keeps patiently at work and makes large additions to his stock of useful information. " He may be said to possess genius — for genius has been declared by a great authority to be patience: and patience in this sense, means unflinching, un- daunted perseverance" (Darwin). He seeks no royal road to learning but takes the path where battles must be fought and victories are won. To him is fulfilled the promise, made to those who patiently search for knowledge as for hidden treas- ures. " Then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment, And equit>', yea, every good path. For wisdom shall enter into thine heart. And knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul ; Discretion shall watch over thee. Understanding shall keep thee" (Prov. 2:9-11). Patience is a virtue of which the scientist has special need. It is necessary to keep him from becoming weary in his tedious work of quizzing nature and in his efforts to obey her sug- gestions. It will enable him perseveringly to follow up the laws and principles which nature reveals to him until they are fully apprehended and their certainty established. It holds him fast to some particular line of research and discovery. By their possession of this virtue Lelande and Madam Hortense Le- pante could steadily continue for six months, hardly taking time to eat and sleep, to make the proper calculations when Haley's Patience 373 comet after one of its appearances should again return. They were persuaded that its progress would be affected by the in- fluence of other worlds and its movement retarded. Their calculations were correct and their patience was rewarded. Under the influence of this virtue a Haeckel can spend five years and make long journeys to investigate and study thor- oughly the nature, habits, and products of such insignificant animals as the calcareous sponges. By reason of his patience a Langley can keep close watch throughout a long and weary day upon the surface of the sun, whose atmospheric changes are almost incessant and a positive hindrance to any vision of that surface, to secure if possible five minutes of actual and instruc- tive observation. To the patient workers belong the honors for the triumphs won by modern science. Its achievements are the promised reward which comes to those who have the power of continuous perseverance in its toils. Their persistent tenacity of purpose lies at the bottom of all modern progress. Reason enables men to understand that their success depends upon their possession and employment of this virtue. God requires this virtue in every human field of activity be- cause it is one of His own special attributes and man was made in His image. The Scriptures call Him " the God of patience." It is an inherent perfection of His nature. He practiced it from the beginning of creation, and continually applied it in the production of all His wonderful works. Geolog>', biolog>', his- tory, ethnology, and whatever tells us of the progress of His work, and especially of the development of man, make manifest His infinite patience. The Scriptures reveal it in a great mul- titude of ways. He always has been ver>' patient with the human race. However much it has rejected and resisted His authority and spurned His love. He has been infinitely long- suffering and forbearing in His attitude toward it, which has ever been one of kindness and goodwill. While men have gone 374 Duties on erecting altars and building temples to false gods, and kept profaning His name by sacrilegious rites and offerings, He con- tinued to make the sun to arise on the evil and the good and to send rain upon the just and the unjust. While men have been most unthankful for manifold blessings from His hand, He has continued to bestow abundant harvests of grain and fruits and vegetables, and thus to provide for the w^ants and vi^elfare of those who have disregarded and despised His goodness. While men have been stout and persistent in their rebellion against His righteous government. He has ever been wont to postpone and delay the day of vengeance to the very latest moment in con- sistence with the requirements of perfect justice, that they might have further opportunity to repent and turn from their wickedness. The patience of God was shown of old in the development of His plan of salvation through Jesus Christ and in His generous treatment of those who persecuted and slew His prophets and His Messiah. It has been abundantly re- vealed in modern times by His longsuffering forbearance with the children of men in their great guilt from every form of wickedness and sin. His patience is ever extended to the ut- most limit consistent with His attribute of righteousness, and so modifies it as to make it more evident that that righteousness is perfect and complete. Neither did Jesus Christ, the Son of God, teach us this virtue only in words, but also by His life. All His actions were pervaded and made perfect by the presence and power of this grace. He was patient with His earthly parents when they failed to understand His tarrying in the temple. He made no haste to leave His home and begin His public work. He met the tempter with a persistent and victorious sense of duty. He endured the infirmities, faults, and stupidities of His disciples with persistent kindness and forbearance. He treated them continually as brethren rather than as servants, Patience 375 and when they were slow to learn illustrated His teaching by some act, as when He washed their feet. His treatment of Judas, whom He knew to be a traitor and ready to betray Him, was full of kindness and forbearance. His disposition toward His enemies, though He rebuked them for their sins, was full of the most enduring patience. When they nailed Him to the cross He prayed " Father, forgive them; they know not what they do." Though the stars are confounded at the scene upon the cross, the elements disturbed, the earth quakes and darkness hides the sun, He never murmurs, complains, or finds fault. All this makes manifest the value of this virtue as an at- tribute of God and as related to His universal kingdom. In view of all this, how could it be otherwise than a virtue of special significance in relation to that kingdom which Christ came to earth to establish? It is clear that both Scripture and , reason proclaim its value and importance. The author of the Hebrews is writing in harmony with the nature of God and His universal kingdom as well as in harmony with the kingdom of Jesus Christ and the welfare of the church which represents this kingdom, when he pens for Christians in all succeeding ages the words: "Ye have need of patience, that, having done the will of God ye may receive the promise." These words present two duties for all Christians. These duties are the doing of God's will and the waiting on His promise. These duties are closely related to each other as per- taining to the same promise, and are to be contemporaneously performed. Our doing the will of God is to proceed while wc are waiting for the fulfillment of His promise, and our waiting is to be a conscious attitude of mind while at the same time wc are endeavoring to do His will. The time for the fulfillment of His promise has not been revealed. It may be near at hand, it may be far in the future; but it is sure to come, and it is 376 Duties ours to work and wait for it as though near at hand. This is the attitude so often urged by Christ and the apostles. A special promise for which we work and wait is the com- pleted unification of the churches. The promise of Christ that " there shall be one flock " as well as one shepherd is yet to be fulfilled. The most reasonable interpretation of this promise relates it to the condition of His church in this world and surely implies a visible unity. The same promise is implied in His in- tercessory prayer for the unity of those who were to organize His church and all who would believe on Him through them. The apostles were guided and sustained by this promise in their work and sought to keep the promise true by their teaching and example. This promise is also implied in the mission of the church as the chosen representative of God's kingdom, and as the visible body of the living Christ, This promise is also given in the vision which the Holy Spirit gives to-day to Christian men and women in regard to the ideal church. Such a vision in the minds of Christian men is not a mere vagary. It is a widely apprehended sign of what is pos- sible, and a promise of a thing that is to be. The Holy Spirit does not create and nurture such a vision to deceive and mis- lead the followers of Christ. Such a vision is the apprehension of the laws and purposes of God, and a sure promise of the thing that is to be when God's time has come. The astronomer has a vision of the laws of God along his special line of study and this vision is to him a promise for whose fulfillment he works and waits. He traces the courses of the stars until the promise of his vision has been realized in some new discovery or the con- firmation of facts already known. As unity is one of God's great laws, and as there has been given us a vision of the relation of this law to the character and welfare of the church, shall we not regard this vision as God's promise to us concerning His church? Why is not this promise as true and real as that of Patience 377 the astronomer's vision? Christian men who have seen the vision of Christ for His church and believe in the purposes, wis- dom and power of God will not doubt that the time is coming when the church will be one in its outward organization as well as in its inward spirit. Until that time it is our duty to work and wait for the fulfillment of the promise. Since it is the will of Christ that His people shall be one, the doing of God's will must be to work for Christian unity. This was what Christ Himself did. He taught the principle of unity and prayed for it, and those who work and pray for it are following in His steps. To talk unity, to pray for unity, and to emphasize and cultivate those Christian virtues which make unity possible and practical, is to do the will of God, if anything is such. It is a matter that is as worthy of a special propaganda as are missions or temperance. In our endeavor to do the will of God in the promotion of this cause and in waiting for the promise of its coming we have need of patience. The movement may not move onward as we think it ought. It may even seem to go backward. Multitudes will be indifferent. There will be strong opposition from many quarters. Ultra-conservatism will continue to hold firmly to the existing order and to defend it with great vigor. Selfishness is sure to manifest its presence and its power. Misunderstand- ings are sure to arise. Misinterpretations and misrepresenta- tions are likely to appear. Disappointments and discourage- ments are sure to come. The barriers that lie in the pathway of this movement are not easy to overcome. There is danger of becoming weary with the ways of God concerning it as well as with the opposition and indifference of Christian people. We now need and shall continue to need patience. Let those opposed to unity be the impatient ones. One of them has lately said: " I have no patience with the proposition and I get weary with the clamant iteration of such shibboleths as the one I have 378 Duties sought to expose w^hose whole purpose is to deceive and mislead our people. They are puerile, but the sentiment-swept condition of the public mind which makes it possible for such sophistry to gain vogue is a serious matter. We are not at the end of it." It may be fitting that impatience should mark the attitude and spirit of those opposed to the movement toward greater unity, but it can never be the spirit of those who are working for this cause. Its progress depends upon their patient and persevering faith in the purposes and promises of God in regard to the nature, mission and triumphs of His church. The fulfillment of the promise, which a fair interpretation of the Scriptures and a heavenly bestowed vision of the ideal church has given them, is to be realized as the reward of their patient efforts in doing the will of God. It is His will that the principles and virtues which make for unity among brethren should be stimulated, strengthened and made perfect in His church. In the patience of Christ's followers while doing this work is the soul of the church to be won. / Date Due