The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1902-08-01
WAS 0UTSPOkEN
Rev. H. D. Williams Attacks
Alleged Abuses.
Says Official Disregard for Law in
Mankato is Amazing-Paints
a Dark Picture.

Rev. 81. D. Williams, pastor of the
Christian church, preached forceful
sermon Sunday evening at the union
services at Lincoln park. He took for
his text Roman 1871. He said, among
other things:
The expression, "the powers that
be" means the existing government.
The language is not, however, as
some think, justification of any
government, be it ever so evil. 1t is
rather declaration of the fact that
God in constituting human society,
provided work for civil government
in the development of that society,
and that, therefore, civil government
has the divine sanction-is a divine
institution, as divine as the family,
as divine as the church. A little
farther on in the same connection
Paul declares that ruler is intended
to be terror to evil works, and that
as such he Is minister of God. What
we need today is the universal concep-
tion of this Christian ideal of civil
government as divine institution
committed to sacred work.
The idea of civil government as
sacred institution was persistently
taught by the early church and &C
cepted by the governments of Europe.
But it was held along with the idea
Of monarchy, and monarchy taught
that the king was the whole govern
ment and the people were nothing.
Thus the doctrine of the divine sane
ton of government was distorted into
the doctrine of the divine right of
kings and became the defense of des-
potism and tyranny. In the reaction
against depotism and the evolution of
Democracy, the people of this country
have rejected the doctrine of the di
vine right of kings, and in doing so
nave gone to the other extreme and
robbed themselves of the doctrine of
The divine sanction of government.
We declare that all authority is from
The people and do not ask whence the
people get their authority. Paul says,
There is no authority but of God. "
The entire country was astonished
asst fall when Judge Jerome of New
York declared that if elected he would
9ndeavor to find ont the will of God
and do it; that he believed Gods will
20 be above the will of the people in
his republic; and that he would hold
himself amenable to the right and
not to the popular. We need to learn
5he lesson that right which is Gods
aw is the highest law at all times,
and that civil government is a sacred
hing.
A residium of pagan asceticism re-
mains even with this Protestant
nation. A part of the old ascetic idea
s the still popular notion that life is
divided into the secular and the re-
igious; that the secular is the low and
selfish, while the religious is the high
and noble; that the secular includes
he sentiments that look towards an
other world while the religious in
,ludes the practical affairs that per-
;ain to this present world that God
Jules over the religious while the
levil dominates the secular; and that
politics and all the affairs of govern
nent belong to the secular.
The other world side of Christianity |
has been 30 emphasized that the pres
ant world side of it has been almost
forgotten. Christian people have been
more concerned in getting away from
earth to an ideal society than in fit |
ling this world up as an ideal pla,
John Bunyan painted his ideal
Christian as one who tore away from
ais city and left it to it's sin and de- |
'truction that he might find place
If safety for himself. Such was the
common ideal of the day. But we
are revising the ideal and making it
more Christ-like. Christ came from
IN ideal society and sacrificed his life
% save a sinful world. The good
Christian today is one who surrenders
interest for the public good, |
md filings himself into the world to do
good to others. All of life is to him
religious, and affairs Of government |
ire among his most sacred duties. |
In this country the people are the rul-
BIS. and Paul says the good ruler is a |
of God.
Under this head the speaker made
he following four points, dwelling at
'ome length on each, especially the |
asst:
1. No Christian man has right to
i