The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1903-04-10
PARABLE OF The
GOOD SAMARITAN.
The Need of II In Our Modern Sc
Geological Conditions VvidIY
Brought Out by Rev. Herbert
5. BIgeIOw.

C1ncl nnatl, April .. we neeu
modern version of the parable of the
good Samaritan. This was the con-
tention of Herbert S. Bigelow, pastor
of the Vine Street Congregational
Church, of Cincinnati, in preaching on
the subject of "A Living Wage. ]"
Continuing, the pastor said;
1--WE do not mean that the parable
of the Good Samaritan can be i'm
proved upon. 1t Is priceless
treasure, just as it stands. Who
would wish to add or substract word !?
But we need to interpret this para
BILE in the light of the changed condi-
tions of modern life.
1.-THE teaching of the parable is
that no religion is genuine which
does not move men to compassion for
the sufferings of humanity.
Look at the priest and the Levite.
What counterfeits they were In
simple words that will never die we
have the hardness of these cIerics con-
trasted with the warm hearted Samar-
itan. What sharpens the contrast is
the fact that the Samaritan was a
hereto He was not of the Orthodox
faith. His name was a reproach.
So m UGH the worse for these teachers
In Israel that they should have been
put to shame by the humane acts OF
such man.
1.-the moral is apparent. 1t matters
not what religious label a man may
wear. Does his religion touch his
heart? Does 1t manifest itself in acts
Of Justice and love? That is the final
test.
Now apply the test to modern con-
ditions. We would all be quite willing
to go to the rescue OF man who had
fallen among thieves. But we never
have a chance. That kino of suffering
does not exist To-Day. Most OF us never
had and never will have such an ex-
perience As befell the Samaritan on
the Jerlco road.
"Men seldom fall victim to thieves
today. But they suffer in other ways
II we do not seek to relieve such suffer
ings as we find among US, we bear
witness that our religion is rs heart
less as that OF the priest and the
Levite
doubtless it was common thing
in that country for men to suffer
violence at the hands of lawless bands.
This would be good reason for using
that particular illustration.
But If Jesus were to repeat that
parable today, it Is inconceivable that
he would use the same illustration.
He would select some common kind OF
suffering among US and he would de-
clare that it our religion did not
prompt us to go to the relief of that
suffering it would be worse than no
religion.
%bn
thieves was the victim of lawless
act In our country the laws are fairly
we'll enforced so that the victims Of
lawless acts are very few. But those
among us who fall victim to the
cruel operation OF unjust laws and are
thus despoiled by lawful acts, their
name is legion. To make the appli-
cation of this para BILE to our modern
life perfectly apparent we must substl-
tute, for the victim, man who Is
robbed by due process of law.
"Cnquestiona bly, there are multi
tudes. who. although not robbed
outright, by due process of law are
deprived even of living wage, so
that they suffer continually. The
government under which they live is
such that they are virtually doomed to
a life of hard labor, for which they do
not receive enough to permit them to
1--we in bodily comfort or moral
health.
what claims ur sympathy today
is not an occasional victim of outlaws.
But there are millions of men and
omen whose wages are so small ana
whose work is so hard that their
bodies are broken, their minds dark
ened and their spirlts crushed. what
about these victims OF social wrongf
Are YOU indifferent to this, or does
YOUR heart ache for chance that
will bring more abundant life to
these toiling milllonsP l take 1t
that this is the supreme test OF the
renuineness of religion in our day.
'.But this is the condition of those
who labor SO hard after all2 Have we
not exaggerated the matters Let us see.
The Treasury Department of the
Federal Government recently made
an investigation into the wages
received by the factory workers OF this
country. The investigation included
400. 900 factories with an aggregate OF
between five and six million employees.
1.-The average wage was $43S year.
That ia Less than $37 a month, or about
nine dollars a week. So much for
factory workers. Since wages. like
water. tend to seek level, we should
expect this average to be maintained
in other occupations.
"Tnat expectation Is realized IN the
case of the miners.
Every many miners receive less than
40 a week. In his argument oeIore
the Coal Strike Commissioners, Mr.
Clarence barrow showed that only one
third of Mr.. Bars employees receive
over 1913 a month. He showed ina,
while 8 per cent received $500 ana
over, per year, yet there We're 40 .. per
cent who received less than ySoo
These two hundred dollar men did NOT
have steadv work. .oL
"Mr. barrow in his estimates TOOK
no account of the irregular employees
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