Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-24
TWO SIDES OF MEN.
One Is His Conduct Toward Society,
the Other Toward Himself.
A SERMON UPON THE LATTER SIDE.
Realization Of the Creator, Hatred Of Sin
and Love Of tho Savior, =
APpEAR IN CHRISTIAN CHARACTER
WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPATcH.l
Sermon No. /.

may be considered either in himself or in
society. If we desire, however, to see peo-
pie as they really are, we must look at them
out Of both eyes 1t is not for nothing that
God has given US two eyes 1t means that
the right way to look at the world is from
two points of view. And we ought to have
two eyes in our minds We ought to study
truth from more than one side. If we wish
to understand people we must look at them
from at least two points of view. We must
consider them not only individually, in
themselves, but in their relations with other
people in society.
Ever since that great social and religious
crisis which we call the Reformation, great
emphasis has been laid on individualism.
Before that, the individual was but little
accounted Of In the pages even of the
New Testament, we read that not only
might man be sold into slavery for debt,
but that his wife and his children might be
sold with him. The mans family was
thought of simply as q part of the man. Be-
fore the Reformation, the individual was
subordinate in politics to the State, and in
religion to the Church. Every man, with
the fewest possible exceptions, had a mas
ter The supreme human duty was obed-
ience. The people had princes over them
to tell them what to do, and priests to tell
them what to think.
Two'sides to Every Man.
But about the time when Columbus dis
covered that there are two sides to the At
lantic Ocean, there was made still more
important discovery-that there are two
sides to the nature of every man. 1t was
asserted that every human being stands not
only in a social relation to the State and
the Church, but that he stands also in an
individual relation to the Most High God.
It was declared that the meanest human
being that breathes possesses an immortal
soul, and that for the well-being of his soul
he is directly and personally responsible to
God. The laws Of God must be obeyed,
and then the laws of man. afterward. And
every man must test mans laws by Gods
laws No dogma nor decree, no act of Par
lament nor Article of Faith, no word of
prince or priest, is to be accepted save so
far as it commends itself to the instructed
conscience.
The effect of this new emphasis was won-
derful. Old things began to pass away, all
things began to become new. The Reforma-
tion was the dawn of liberty, equality and
fraternity. It meant free speech and free
thought. 1t meant political liberty and
private Judgment 1t meant the spiritual
izing of religion.
The Pilgrims Progress Idea.
But these were not its only consequences.
The new emphasis had the defects of its
qualities. In general. men began to think
more about the rights of men than about the
duties of man. In the religious world, one
result was the division Of Christendom into
sects and parties. Every man insisted upon
doing his own thinking; scant reverence was
paid to precedent, or position, or authority.
Another result was the turning Of the at-
tention, of the religious teachers in, rather
than out. Supreme emphasis was set upon
the indi gidual SOUL To get that saved was
the pre-eminent purpose of human life.
The Church was regarded, as some one says,
as great spiritual colonization society,
meant to muster emigrants who should
abandon earth and turn their faces toward
heaven. The hero of Pilgrims Progress is
q good idea of the Reformation ideal of
Christian. He finds himself in the City of
Destruction, and he never thinks of staying
there and trying his best to make City of
God out of it. He runs away. His whole
endeavor is to save his soul
Thus a separation was set in mans mind
between the sacred and the secular. The
PRAYER that the will of God might be done
on earth as it is in heaven was prayed with
unheeding hearts. Religion was parted
from politics, from business, from society.
The great doctrine of Christianity was
taken to be the doctrine of the atonement,
that Christ died for our sins The other
great doctrine, of the incarnation, that
Christ lived to sanctify all our common life
and show US how to live it, was neglected
The Religion of To-Day.
Now, to-day, there is again turn in the
tide. More and more emphasis is laid on
the relations of men and women to the
world we live in. 1t is being taught, as
Ruskin said, that if religion is good for
it is good for everything. Chris
tianity is being brought into new contact
with all the institutions of our modern life
The ministers to-day are shutting up the
old theologies and opening the new sociol-
ogies. Religion is taken to mean the saving
of men, soul and body, Shoulder to shoul-
der with the modern Church stands the
parish house, the center of all manner of
uplifting influences. The prophets who to-
day are dreaming dreams and seeing visions
Of the coming century predict reign not of
but of universal socialism.
Nevertheless, it is true, as said at the
that the only right way to look
dC people Is ouG vi TWO Wluc-opeu eyes.
Not much, after all, is gained when one
who has been looking only out of the left
eye, shuts that and looks only out of the
right The way to understand men and
women is to think of them both individually
and socially We must look at them out of
both eyes, if we wish to see them as they
are. Accordingly, I began this series of
studies, which will be concerned for the
most part with the Christian in his relations
to others, with consideration Of the
Christian in himself
What do mean by the Christian in him
self? I mean the Christian spirit, the
Christian disposition.
Jesus laid more emphasis on disposition
than he did on conduct. He was more de-
sirous to get people to feel in a certain way
than to act in certain way.
Principles in Place or Rules.
1t is evident in the records OF His life, by
instance after instance, how He absolutely
ciples in place of them. That is, He would
not say, thus and thus must you behave,
but thus and thus must you feel in your
heart Take fer example, that time when |
Peter asked Him for a rule about forgive
ness. "How oft shall my brother sin
against me and forgive him?'' Jesus, in |
answer, gave parable, the point of which |
is that the essential thing is the spirit of |
love.
Take again that case of the two brothers |
who were dlsputing over the division of an
They desired Jesus to act as
arbitrator. They wanted Him to look into
the will and ld % s deed and the , s and % the
But He refused. He laid down great |
eternal principle which, if they followed,
would enable them to decide their own dis |
cussion. He knew we'll that without the |
recognition and the acceptance of that prin- |
ciple, no decision could really decide be- |
tween them. Take heed" He said, land |