Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-20
DECLARES LABOR
IS EMANCIPATEO
MINISTER SAYS WEALTH IS
WIDELY DIFFUSED
Rev. Or. wilkins Tells Hearers There
Are Charities Everywhere-De-
scrlbes the HelpfuInes
Of christianity

"The Secret of Christianity" was the
topic of the sermon yesterday morning
delivered by DIR. j. j. wilkins, dean
and rector of st. Pauls pro-cathe edral.
DR.. wilkins traced the Jewish belief
in religion and compared the beliefs OF
the different nations. He said In part:
I'm the first century rule was py
absolute despotism. But gradually gov
ernment has been transformed, ana
now there is no government in Europe
west of Russia that does not at least
recognize that government Is not for
the government but for the governed.
All industry was servile Half the lto-
man population were slaves and the
other half were on the edge of famine
and only kept alive by the largess OF
others. Wherever Christianity has gone
the chains have dropped from the slave
and labor has been emancipated. There
were no schools in Rome and none
among the Jews except those connected
with the synagogue. But wherever
Christianity has gone 1t has estab-
lished schools and wealth has been diff
fused among the people.
THAT this is denied l well know.
This is called the age of concentrated
wealth and we hear much of the evils
of it. But that is not true. There
never was an age, and this Is especial
ly true of America, when wealth was
more widely diffused than now. There
are charities everywhere. The condi-
tions of living for all sorts and condi-
tions of men have been vastly i'm
proved. The mechanic of today lives
in the midst of, greater abundance,
comfort and even luxury than lived
Mary Queen of Scots in her castle at
Holyrood.
1.-The church has changed the con-
ception of punishment so that pun
ishment now has for its end and aim
the reformation of character. The OBJ
ject of old pagan religion was not to
help man; it was to appease the wrath
of God or to purchase the favor of a
corruptible God. Christianity has al
tered all that and generally, with a
high degree of success.
Tells of HelpfuIness
christianity has done just what
Jesus Christ did during the few short
years of his earthly ministry. 1t has
helped the helpless. fed the hungry
taught the young, given courage to the
despairing and brought glad tidings to
the poor. The secret of Christianity,
then, is helpfulness. This is it's SUI
preme distinguishing characteristic.
"A man falls into pit and cannot
get out A Confucian comes along and
says. WY uedT lelOW, am you
have fallen down there. If only you
could get out Confucius would show
you how to walk so that you would
keep out Then iBrahmin sees him
and says: Il am sorry but there Is
no help for you; you can never get out.
The only chance for you Is to fall into
an eternal sleep and forget your
misery Next comes Mohamm6dan
who says: L am so sorry to see you
down there. but Allah is lust, and you
deserve it. He is not merciful. and
you will never get out Last comes a
Christian. and he says: I myself have
been down there. tumbled down there
once upon time and l know just how
down a rope and pulls the man out of
the pit and puts his feet upon rock.
That is the difference between the
Christian and Pagan religions. The
christian religion Is the only religion
in the world that offers to help men
out Of the burden of their sins and
consequences of their misery. But, oh,
the pity of it, Men don't want 1t;
men won't have it.
"Helpfulness is the secret of Chris
tian theology; helpfulness is the secret
of Christian ritual and is the heart of
all Christian worship. Why do we
come to church? Is it because we are
driven by fear or compelled by GUS
tom, coerced by conviction? To- be en-
tertained by an amusing lecture? No!
1t is because there is at heart OF It all
some sense of the truth of that mes
sage that God is love. and that, some
how or other, we are dependent on his
love and have something from his
love, and we want to give him some
thing in return"