The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-07-14
A SUNDAY TALK.


For l am PERSUADED tha, neither death, nor .fe,
nor angels. nor principalies, nor powers nor things
present. nor things 20 cone
Nor height nor depth nor any other creature
shall b. able to separate from the love Of God.
which is in Jesus Christ our Lord.-Romans. viii;
Ssa.
What St Paul said in the text quoted
above has proven true through the ages.
Within the past century there has been
an astonishing growth Of materialism,
and away from belief in revelation as
such; science has, largely In vain, been
dragged in to the aid Of miracle, and eff
forts. many OF them grotesque, to square
human action as we know il with the
Scriptural accounts Of what happened
nineteen hundred years ago. have been
conspicuous for their lack Of success.
But one thing remains unchanged and
unchallenged. and that is the deep, abid-
ing love OF God inherent in every heart
and without which life must seem. even
20 the direst skeptic. meaningless and
unsatisfactory. One result of modern
thought On the subject has been. almost
insenslbly. perhaps, the creation of a dis
tlnctiOn in the mind between Jesus Christ
the founder of Christianity. and the idea
Of Cod which is the fundamental basis OF
all religion
Modern thought recognizes that the man
Jesus Christ pictured in the Scriptures
whence the world gets all It's knowledge
Of Him, is not the ideal leader for the
progress Of mankind. The life He lived is
not possible as an example for men to-
day; Il Ignores too many of what we have
c0me to recognize as duties and responsi-
bilities Much has been made-too much
perhaps-of the fact that the boy Jesus
worked in the carpenter shop of his
father. Joseph. Afterward. as a man he
did not work; that is. unless we consider
preaching work. He performed no toll
earned neither his own living nor that Of
others. He recognized marriage as a duty
in other men. but sedulously avoided its
practice. He was the father Of no emil
dren: he kept himself from the affairs Of
the world Had mankind since followed
that example there would be no progress
TO record
Tie system of religion 10 which Jesus
Christ gave His name was not. as is too
often accepted for want Of thought, His
system. It was in existence long before
lie came. As the Rev Charles F. Dole
says: THE great stream of religion
flowed before Jesus was A long line Of
noble psalmists and lovers of righteous
ness fed the springs of His life. a noble
group of men near Him added their lives
10 the new flow Of the current At this
point the stream took Jesus official
name, as the Continent Of America took
the name OF Yespuccl. or might better
have taken the name Of Columbus. with
out disparagement Of other great voy-
ayers who, under a common inspiration.
sailed the seas.
L may hurt sentiment to come 20 re
gard Jesus simply IS the prophet Of the
new religion; the man. the martyrewill-
ing. as so many men have been before
and since, 10 die for their belief But the
great thing we have come to recognize
is not 20 die, but 70 live for our beliefs.
But beyond our beliefs our lives. our
sacrifices. is the living spirit of which
the human heart cannot help 10 take ac-
count II is tEe sririt Of God which helps
rs realize that we are all His children:
that this is His world and that we are
here. not 90 die untimely. not alone TO
preach new doctrines. but 10 do the work
OF the world that shall push II on to its
ultimate and unthinkable goal.