The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1904-07-28
4 SERMON FOR SUNDAY
A.! ELOQUENT DISCOURSE sY TIE
REV. A. e. KiNSClV;NG.

God''-Wc Mus; NoS Permit the
"Husc Mundane !Iachinc'' to Eun
Over Our Souls.
SOUTHAMPTON. J.. I.-Dr. A. e. kinsol'
wing, rector of Christ Church, Clinton
street, Brooklyn, preached mere Sunday
morning in st. Andrews Dame Church.
His subject was Our Debt to Caesar and
Our Debt to God" His text was chosen
from St. Matthew xXii:2l: 'Render there
fore untos Caesar the things which are
Caesars: and unto God the things which
are Gods" DR.. Kinsolving said:
Were ever words more paipabiy just and
fair? Could any statement be more ca;m'y
self-evidencing? Coa:d any diseutaagle-
ment of the provinces OF God and Caesar
be more distinct, or any declaration OF our
respective duty Be more lucid? Men have
always been confusing these two things
their debt to Caesar and their debt to Goo
mixing up in some clumsy fashion the one
with the other, fancying that when they
have discharged one they have done the
other also, finding the one to conflict with
the other through some misunderstanding
Of the dignity aad weight OF the respective
obligations.
And not only in private life. but in the
sion, what laundering has there been:
through years to crush out the lite OF the
Christian martyrs for simply doing their
duty to God, and then in turn, when the
empire had been conquered by the church
and the papacy was seated upon its throne
and had erected its palatial Vatican amid
the ruins of the old order, see how the
hanghty earthly embodiment of the heav-
enly autocracy sought. to bring low and
make subservient the things Of Caesar!
You are familiar, doubtless, with the way
the saying was brought about. A party OF
" retired in confusion-had joined with
some Herodians or Jewish national;sts 20
put to Jesus a catch question to ensnare
Him. 'Master,' said they with feigned
earnestness, eve know that Thou art true,
and teachest the way of God in truth,
neither carest Thou for any man, for Thou
regardest not the person of men. Tell US,
therefore: What thinkest Thou? Is it
lawful to pa pay this distasteful Roman Poll
Ii He had answered eyes" He would
have been at once discred!ted as the Mes,
siah-King of Israel. Ii no it would
have been treason and rebellion against
Rome. So instead of falling into the, trap
grasp of the whole situation, He declares a
principle which is the key to this wnoie
compiexity in life wherever it may possibly
occur. why tempst Me, ye hypocrites?
Show Me the tribute money. Whose image
is this stamped on your current coin
Caesars. Very well. Then what is Cae-
sar's give back to Caesar, and what is
Gods to Cod
The impression it produced at the mo-
ment was profound. when they had
G,eard these words they marveied and left
}loir - q had lifted
the whole controversy out Of the imme-
diate and passing circumstances into the
region of largest and widest craftsmanship.
and all the centuries Of human history that
have rolled by since have not exhausted its
wisdom. .....-
|Render therefore unto Caesar the things
that are Caesars" Not great deal OF
time, I take it, needs to be spent in en-
forcing this tehsst. It marks the sanity.
the wfoiesomeWess of Christ's religion. 1t
is no star-gazing cult: The charge against
st of iuveterate other woridliness is libel.
Christianity has always taught man to Go
nob.y, patiently, heroically his full duty to
the State. to rulers. to society. We are part
OF a social system which has already taken
shape We are in debt 20 it in many ways.
Eve pass it's coins freely; We enjoy its en-
dowments'' It's image and superscciptioa
are on US: We belong OF right to olsr age;
our era OF civilization. our nation, State.
city, community. All that is around US is
but the providental setting and environ
ment OF our lives. It is never perfect.
There is, and for great while to come is
likely to be a vast deal that is faulty about
st. But We have no charter from Christ to
be hopelessly sour in our attributes toward
it. We are to trust, YOU and l, the upward
growth, the SOW and painful evolution OF
human civilization: We are to believe that
at the heart of the movement there are
deep-hidden. interior principles which. in
cooperation with those special and power
ful incentives which God brings 70 bear
from above, are steadily bringing the king
dom Of Caesar to some better fuihllment
of itself So then, even When we see
things in the nation, the municipality, the
neighborhood, GO wrong; even when we
see tyranny and corruption and abuses, we
are not permitted to turn away IN despair
and disgust. We have no right to stand
aioof as if our hands would be contamin-
ated by any contact with it. Our duty is
to go brave;y in and try to discharge our
duty to the civil and secular powers, re-
specting the moral worth of the things OF
Caesar, and confidently trusting truth and
God and humanity for the dawning OF the
brighter day. We are set as Chris; ianS
not to build a dazzling visible church, OF
God upon the ruins OF the ;ynastles "a
governments of earth, as was dreamed by
the medieval popes and doctors. No, but
rather is our book to infuse into organized
human society the healthful spirit OF the
kingdom of Jesus Christ, and meanwhile,
as Christ's words here clearly teach US, to
keep the two spheres distinct.
And on the same principle precisely l
think our Lord would have us dea! with
entire honesty with the facts of science.
10 presume to use religious authority to
deny the ascertained and verified corclu-
sions of genuine science-as was done,
for instance, in the case of Calico. and has
often been urged since, is to break Christ $
command. Natural science must proceed
along its own distinct and separate lines.
1t cannot 60 out of its sphere to teach the
world religion. Its function is to search
out and interpret material facts. But in
ats own proper sphere We must respect it.
We owe it the tribute of our sincerity.
We must render to Caesar the things that
are Caesars. and there will be no sort Of
peril to Us ii we are at pains at the same
time to render to God the things that are
Gods
But is it in the POINT that I have been
urging that most men fail nowadays? Is
= here that we need to throw our en-, pha-
sis on this ''Rende" to Caesar?" Are there
not certain forces in the realm of Caesar