St. Paul daily globe., 1886-06-20
WHO is THE INFIDELa
The Duty of the Church to Il
WOrkingnen

The Duty of the Church to the
Workingmen.
To the Editor Of the Globe:
People of every creed-or no creed-agree
that the teachings of Christ are founded on
justice and right, and are worthy of imita-
ton. If we weigh ourselves, then, by the
standard Christ has set US, perhaps we may
be able to speak with some confidence about
infdels, and be able to pick them out whether
they are layman or priest. We would recon-
mend every person to read and study the
sermon on the mount, the fifth, sixth and
seventh chapters of Matthew, and would have
the church notice in particular verse As, fifth
chapter: ''Give to him that asketh thee, and
from him that would borrow turn not away
We fancy that the avarice Of the church at
that time could not have been much differ
ent from the church as we see it now.
Matthew vi. chapter, 19: Lay not up for
yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
and rust do corrupt, and where thieves break
through and steal" Brothers. is not the nan
that passes this passage an infidel, and if he
is a professor of religion is he not q hypocrite?
Surely, the ''high priests of error" as the
holy brother called them, are not the only
ones that pass those passages slightingly and
treat the teaching OF Christ with an indfer-
ence bordering on contempt.
Again; For where your treasure is, there
will thy heart be also" ssNo man can
serve two masters" Which, then, dear
brother, will you give up, God or mammon?
s"Therefore, say unto you, take no thought
of your life, what ye shall eat, or what We
shall drink: nor yet for your body what ye
shall put on. Is not the life more than meat
and the body than raiment?" If this passage
came from Christ, how will it be with
the preacher and church members that
are in q continual ferment about clothes,
food and make the laying up of treasure the
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blame us, the poor laboring class, if we turn
from the church where the nose is turned up
in contempt at poverty and where the sole
aim Of life seems to be to get as much labor as
possible out of their fellow men and give
them as little as possible in return. Can you
blame u.s. dear brothers, if we are tempted to
think you are the infidel when your actions
do not square with the commands of that
Christ you hypocritically pretend to follow.
We might follow through the entire teachings
of Christ and find but one commandment,
that we love one another If you, the church,
did not pretend to read the scripture, there
would be some use to call attention to the
teachings of Christ, but to preach to hypo-
critical infidel in the church there is small
hope; "by their fruits ye shall know Them"
and when we see church members laying up
millions of dollars and beating a poor man or
woman that has no capital but his or her
labor TO sum for their daily earnings, so
small that they have to herd from two to
twenty families in the same house, we cannot
help thinking there is as much error in the
church as there is in socialism. We will call
your attention but to two more passages con-
cerning the practices of the early Christian
church. Acts H., verse A: ''And all that be-
ieved were together, and had all things COM
mon;" 45: "And sold their possessions and
goods, and parted them to ali men as every
man had need Acts iv., So and 81 verses,
'And Joses, who by the apostle was sur
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the son of consolation), a Levite and of the
country of Cyprus, having land, sold it and
brought the money and laid 1t at the apostles
feet" Then follows the well-known story of
Ananias and Sapphira, his wife. Now, rev.
erened gentlemen, you pretend to call
socialism and communism errors, and
that they make the cities their hiding and
abiding places. Do you in your superior
college education dare to condemn the poor
fishermen and St. Paul, who were quickened
by the Holy Ghost in the day of Penuecost?
Has it never penetrated the brain of the pro-
found college-bred preacher that socialism
was the test Of early Christianity; that Christ
always made it a test of sincerity; that the rich
man should sell his possessions and give to
the poor? Do you ever remember that Christ
said to the apostles, open your mouths and
will fill them? Did he mean anything when he
said: Garry neither purse. nor scrip, nor
shoes, and salute no man by the way Surely
man must be an inf1del, even if he has a
college education, that thinks of his own in
dividual ease and comfort and the size of his
salary and whether he shall be subordinate to
an editor, as one of the right reverend minis
tiers that was here at the convention did few
days ago, The poor, laboring classes do not
remember Of single move by the brethren
unless it pointed more to their own advantage
than it did to the upbuilding of Zion. That
was always a secondary consideration; so, dear
church, excuse us if we think the greatest
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church. When you follow the Bible more
than your individual interest, we will be
found seated in free seat in church, because
it is the house of God and free to all, rich or
poor, black or white, and without any fear of
being insulted by the so-called rich.
THOMAS II. LUCAS.
Minneapolis, June IL.