Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-03-15

beautiful precepts which they patron
lzeIngly commend every Sunday? II 10
ms Wild IA dream to expect such self
sacrifice from protesting Christians as
to expect such n change OF the unfe-
generate AS Mr. Bellamy has pictured,
but a hard working pastor may be cS-
cused n he shuts his eyes for u while
TO the possibilities and INDUCES In n
dream OF a change OF heart which
would make the pastors duties almost
"A sinecure.
The line OF thought worked out IN
suggested by the subtitle. What
Would Jesus DO" In the course OF a
revival Mt Raymond. a flourishlng
wchtcrn city. n number of influential
members OF the First church take a
vow to do for a whole year precisely
what Christ would do under the cir
cumstnnces. There are two weak
points in the thesis. first, the lmpossl
billy of saying what Christ would
have done. and second the arbtrari-
ness OF saying that every one else
should do Just the same thing. For
example. we know what Christ ms n
matter Of fact did do. He left his work
bench and lived wandering mendi-
cant life. preaching and ministering to
his people wherever he found them.
But that is not an ideal fitted for gem
ernl Imitation. There is inspiration In
tho life Of every great man, but there
IL no man. not even Christ, whose life
furnishes an exemplar for all times. for
all circumstances, and all tempera-
ments. The attempt to narrow the
vast circuit Of human interests. de-
sires and activities 10 1T the precepts
and practice of any one individual or
the race. even II such "A thing were
conceivable. would lead to the narrow
Ing Gripping and impoverlshing OF
life Moreover. the very effort to carry
II out even in fiction shows how easily
such imitation runs into a narrow fan
atheism like that Of Tolstoi.
Let us note some of the changes that
tnke place under this new regime. The
editor Of the leading Raymond paper
begins by cutting out the report OF Il
prize fight, which In not n bad thing,
though there Is room for two opinions
as TO the deslrablllty OF classifying con-
temporary history. Then he stops the
Sunday edition, which he finds on re-
Election to be dcmoralizing mass OF
gossip. sensational miscellany and
sporting and theatrical news. 1t might
have been saner and quite as conscien-
tlous for him to try and improve the
quality of the paper. Then he or
dcrs out all the advertisements Of deal
ers In whisky and tobacco. Whether
he also rules out tea and coffee Is not
stated II Is not rather arbitrary to
draw a line of religious dehiarcation
between the tea dealer and the tobacco
mist? The leading soprano of the city
refuses fine concert engagement In
order to sing Nearer. My God. to
Thee" to the slums. Here Is case
OF the waste of good material which
comes when we square anything by
one narrow measure. An inferior singer
might have answered for Nearer, My
God, to Thee" and the art-loving pub
lie would not have been deprived OF
great pleasure. a Scotch gardener was
once found chopplng wood with
spade. 1t was a good tool and he did
not see why 1t should not answer for
all purposes. There is Just as much
diversity In men AS in tools. and any
ideal which keeps them from any use
full career for which they are best fit-
ted Is a false and dangerous ideal. It
Is of course an equally lamentahle
waste when man who might have
made n strong religious worker gives
himself up to a career Of art for which
he Is not fitted. or engages in business
to join the sad ranks of the 80 per cent
OF those who go into insolvency.
The proposition set forth in the novel
would have been n little less preposter-
Gus II II had been What Jesus would
sanction in Others" but even then 1t
would be too narrow. to say nothing n
the imposslbility of deciding what the
opinion of even an ordinary man would
be under any given circumstances. Far
wiser is II to keep only the fundamental
principles of the teaching of Jesus, the
principles that are applicable to all
conditions of men, the principles of al
;ruism, of charity. OF Judgment, OF well
doing to all men. But when 1t comes to
applying these principles to practical
problems. we cannot be too careful In
readlng our personal convictions into
the Christian doctrine. Yet II the fun
damental spirit of Christ could be
caught. as in this pretty fable. there
would be no need of worrying over
these details. They would take care of
themselves.