The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-04-16

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Peace WiII TclIoW War.
EaStertide at the End of the Century.
BY REV DR. ROBERT STUART MACARTHUR
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Eastertide at the End of the Century.

died; if he died he must have lived; if
ne hVed ne must have been born. Thus
the empty tomb proves the occupied
cradle; thus the resurrection implies
the incarnation.
1t would be difficult to name any
IactS Of history more easy of certifca-
Ilon than the birth, life, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ His resur-
might a man deny the birth, life and
9eatn or Julius Caesar or Napoleon
bonaparte as deny the birth. life and
resurrection of Jesus Christ His resur-
rectlon has changed the art, the music,
Gne poetry and the religion of the civil
iized world; IL has changed all our
thoughts alike of time and eternity.
His Present Easter.
Many of the lessons of Easter belong
to all countries and centuries; but each
era and year may learn lessons peculiar
10 itself. Nothing is more certain than
tnat we are entering upon one of the
greatest eras in human history. Prob
lens OF the profoundest meaning are
waiting for their true solution; ques-
cions OF widest reach are demanding
immediate answers. Was the recent
peace conference at The Hague entirely
IN vain? The two great branches of
IN deadly warfare. Is the time when
all international difficulties are to be
settled by international arbitration in
definitely postponed? Does this Easter
IND the Prince of Peace less glorieusly
dominant in that character among the
nations than he was decade, or mil
lenlum ago? Let us not be too haSty
TO answer these questions with an af-
flrmative. Gods time is often long
- .c6 icxs
years, and they sometimes are as a
day. There are no clocks in eternity.
Hourglasses do not stand on the throne
OF God. We are haSty, impatient, i'm
petuouS and sometimes petulant. God
moves in majestic circles; he takes a
step and centuries pass; he speaks and
empires rise and fall, and nations wax
strong and then grow weak. God is
king. The pierced hand of the risen
and on1nific Christ is on the helm of
the universe.
The time IS coming when nations will
not think Of settling their disputes by
war any more than educated men
would now think of settling personal
difficulties by personal encounters. The
trend of the best thought of the hour
IS in this direction. The spirit of altru-
ism is in the air. This term was first
employed by the Positivists or follow
ers of the French philosopher Comte.
1t is a good word. 1t signifies devotion
to others and thus stands sharply op-
posed TO selfishness. 1t is, if one may
so say. "otherism." We are following
apostolic teaching and example and so
are learning not 20 look simply on our
own things, but also on the things of
others. This is a difficult accomplish
ment; it is an attainment involving
many Of the nOblest elements of char
acter. To many persons their Gown
things" are virtually the whole world
Of things.
When our Lord said, "He that find
eth his life shall lose it; and he that
loseth his life for my sake shall find
it, he formulated one of the greatest
laws ever promulgated among men.
| This statement is not true simply be
cause Christ uttered it; but he uttered
it because it is eternally true. 1t is a
law universal as gravitation; 1t is a
law eternal as God. All noble lives
find their true inspiration in their
obedience to this law. The law of self
sacrifice dominates all worthy life.
Our Lords words here strike at all
forms of selfshness. The man who
loses his outward, secular, selfish life
finds the inward, spiritual, eternal life.
Selfishness is death; self abnegation is
life and peace. Jesus Christ is now the
worlds prophet, priest and king be-
cause once he died as the worlds sacri-
fee. Here is the divine altruism.
This thought is found in many of the
great fraternal organizations of the
hour. Even though outside of the
church many Of these bodies of work
ingnen are illustrating some Of the
noblest principles of true religion.
What is true religion? It is the life of
God in the soul of man. How was that
life most fully illustrated? In the life,
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
All these great truths Easter beauti-
fully represents.
Humanism.
Closely allied to altruism is human
ism. Once humanism meant simply
| polite learning; and a humanist was
man versed in the humanities, in clas-
steal learning and polite literature gen
orally. We have now broadened our
definition; humanist now is a man
versed in the study of human nature,
a man possessing disposition belong
ing to man as such, a man who labors
to humanize and to divinize his fellow
men. The changed meanings of words
of this class indicate the progress Of
the race toward a nobler manhood.
/ For all this progress Easter today
!
| Terrence, Il am a man, and l deem
nothing common to man foreign to
me-" were spoken in a Roman theater,
they evoked thunders Of applause
They evoke heartier enthusiasm today
! Easter has given them a deeper mean
/ ing. All men are now our brothers
/ We touch not only elbows but hearts
around the globe. Railways. ships,
! telegraphs and telephones have made
/ the world a whispering gallery, and we
are filing it with noble thought, and
! diviner inspiration than ever before.
If there be too much evil still remain
| ing TO allow us to indulge in unlimited
optimism, there is at the same time too
much of good to permit US to sigh in
! hopeless pessimism. We can at least
cherish a cheerful meliorism, believing
( in the constant betterment of the
world in all that relates to the best
! interests of the human race. The dia-
pason, that is the pervasive dominant,
unitive, concordant note, today in the
oratorio of humanity is brotherhood
This is the peculiar thought of the
hour. Sometimes it breaks out in I'M
restrained forms of socialistic theories
but the thought is present, the thought
which challenges the attention and re-
! joiceS the heart Of all lovers of their
race. These great lessons Easter
! teaches. ennobles and glorihes. Thus
! Easter teaches that intolerance, Hitter
acy, bigOtry and tyranny must be de-
stroyed; and that altruism, liberty and
humanity must triumph.
Today America stands, in some
measure. for these great principles
( Today no throne OF car, kaiser or
queen is higher than the presidential
chair in Washington. Today no voice
issuing from any palace in Europe or
Asia is more potent in the councils of