The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-04-01
SMALLER MATHEWS
CONCLUDES COURSE
Lecture Theme Yesterday Was
Social Regeneration
THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS
DR.. Matthews Delivered One of His
Most interesting Discoursss Yes
terday Mornins--He Left
Last Night for Chicago.

At the First BAPTIST church yesterday
morning Dr. Shaler Mathews lectured on
the teaching of Jesus as regards social
regeneration.
There is, said Dr. Mathews, nothing
static in this world. Even the stones
change and the human mind and in
stitutions grow We hope tomorrow to
be better than today. Is this true of So
ciety?
See he said. what society was In the
days of Jesus not as satrized in Juvenal
or idealized in Seneca, but as its normal
ly and really was and you will see how
inferior it was as compared to what it is
today. 1t is being regenerated and main
~ by the Christian religion.
There were and are other influences such
as the German democracy and the cru
sades; but these were largely Christian
lied. The leaven of Christ is in all social
forces.
Reforms and Reformers.
Has Jesus anything to say about this?
Reforms maintained the speaker do not
go beyond reformers very far Jesus calls
Himself son of man in the sense that
term was used in Daniel 1-2-the human
who in Himself embodies the coming
kingdom of human perfection-a type of
what man should be. There are some peo-
pie we do not like to be compelled to
company" with. If every man were like
Socrates who would run you down like
rat until you say you do not know and
then tell you to go and know yourself,
you would much prefer to live with
Xantpe. Yet men like Jesus, the people
would like to associate with, and find
such genial companions to their humani-
ty. Children liked Him, pharisees and
publicans found Him a splendid compan-
ion.
In Moral Struggle.
Jesus also represents life IN moral strug-
gle. He was tempted with real tempta-
lions. The issues of His life were moral
issues. In the struggle He was always
morally successful. This makes us love
Him. How splenddly He did the Faith
er's will, said Dr. Mathews, in a complete
surrender to God as God of love Any
advance of the social situation as repre-
scented by Jesus must be through moral
struggle
Society grows from barbarism to civil
izaton by generating an Ethos or custom
through moral struggle. 1t is not by seek
ing to be physically more comfortable
as some socologists teach. Political and
social life hinges on moral issues. So
clalists are wrong in ayering that social
49, 49, ~, ought about by a
proper distribution of wealth or reorgani-
cation of society. Christianity says the
making of life subject to love and moral
decision is necessary to social progress.
Regarding Politicians.
We must have honest politicians be-
fore they die as well as after they are
dead. We cannot vote in a Utopia before
we have Utopians. Before we can get
a kingdom of God we must get subjects
of God the King. We must first get
hold of the individual has always been
the policy of the church. We cannot
create Utopians by calling Them such.
Jesus took hold of individual men and
sifted the multltudes. He was not in
terested in crowds as crowds. He chose
not the twelve but twelve men. How easy
for him to have said, I'VE had two thou
sand converts, like a modern preacher;
he did not work that way. The Kingdom
was like a little leaven in three measures
of meal where the leaven was more inn
portant than the meal. The leaven was
little compared with the meal but it was
working leaven. There must be the vicar
ious tenth in society. The nine-tenths
pre but parasites carried by the other
tenth.
We could get every one to work in
society IL we could find work that all
liked to do. But Jesus never overlooked
the fact that one-tenth of the people do
the worlds work and so picked out men
who could do things.
He gave Peter the power of the keys,
which was in rabbinical speech equal
to having authority to teach. 1t was as
we would say diploma, a graduation to
leadership.
tenth. The rest was meal. This one-tenth
consisted of the great because they loved
to serve the rest.
The Moral Leader.
The moral leader must be moral man
and the man who saves others must him
self be saved. BY preparing people who
should be worthy of the kingdom of God.
Jesus multiplies himself This is no short
cut way to social regeneration but a long
process. There is no other way TO do II
but by multiplying the vicarious one
tenth in a process He describes as first
| the blade, then the ear, then the full
corn In the ear.
| The idea of hustle is not that OF the
social process but annually laying new
! growth of life until IL grows into the like
ness of Jesus.
But Jesus recognizes that nan Is bigger