Omaha daily bee., 1905-11-13
ETHICALLOST IN ESTHETICAL
Rev Dr. Herring Sees Danger in Undue
Influence Of Mere Act.
SOCIETY BUTTERFLIES CHRlsTs ENEMIES
Pastor HummOn of KountEe Memorial
church ExtoIs the Great work
none for ChrIsts Kingdom by
Martin Luther.

arbv sons o Zion, against thy sons.
c,rooco o., zacbariah ix13. was the text from
which Rev Hubert c. Herring preached at
the First Congregational church Sunday
morning The sermon was at once a CON
t,.ast az the esthetical and the ethical facul-
ties I'm man and a plea for the dominance
Of the ethical over the cstheticaL TO the
furthcring Of the kingdom of Christ.
..The contrast OF the two nations, salo
mr. ttcrrtng shows us the dominance In
Greece OF the sense OF beauty and the
dominance in Zion OF the sense OF ophga-
cation. The two things in hand are en-
tirelv of alien blood, the one to the other.
Tho only way they can get into the same
family Is by marriage. by a union OF puf-
pose The can then be OF mutual service
TO each other and can produce marVelols
results. Christianity has unquestonaoly
laid it's potent spell upon the soul OF great
artists and has thus Influenced art by its
shirt Christianity must also own It's DEBT
to art. Working together they have oehe-
hted and beautifed the world.
Greece fell into ruin through the undue
developmont Of the purely ethical side Of its
life" Modern italy, Russia and Spain were
alluded TO as examples Of this subordination
~ the true shirt Of religion to the artistic
sense In our day,
"Tbe tbcater. where art and beauty are
cnthroned, is at It's present low level be
cause It has not identified itself with the
morals of Jesus Christ. Until it does 1t
must always remain what 1t so largely IS
vaudeville and continuous performance.
The elevation Of the esthetical sense an"
the ignoring of the ethical leads surely TO
destruction The great peril to Christianity
and the moral life of man is in the artistic
- vfos1N roo a
Art becomes evil II given the power that
does not belong to It"
After speaking Of numerous celebrities OF
this and other ages who have been con
sumniatc in their respective arts, but bank
rupt. or partly so, i'm character" DIR. Her
ring turned to society.
"The world of fashion. what we call So
ciety." he said, "by reason of Its wealth
can revel in all forms of beauty, can have
rsisic, drcss. flowers. paintings, rich fur
nishings. can travel and can enjoy all Of
the most refining influences created by the
artistic sense. Yet, with rare exceptions
of noble men and women who are In so
ciety we find not there the spirit of nobless'
oblige. no sensitiveness to the high demands
of character. | need only appeal to com
mon knowledge for the proof of this state
ment. without in any way passing con
demnation on the individuals composing so
ciety We do not look for any great move
ment for human welfare to originate there
or for the inception OF any Of the loft
impulses that move man toward God. Their
all too often we find seIfshness and tn
narrow view; the pagan life and example
men and women mad for pleasure, allure
into that rest OF conscience that is tn
forerunner of moral destruction. Societ
in the mass stands indicted as being In tn
way of the progress of Gods kingdom. Al
and the esthetical has supplanted IN
ethical; knowledge OF the altar of service
of God and His teaching is lost"