The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-03-30
The Relation of the World and
the Individual to Christ

man can not be derived from reason
for reason asserts the survival of tht
fttest. The idea of the rights of MAI
sprang from the teaching of Christ a:
. to the essential brotherhood of man
This Lecky asserts was at the basis OF
the Esprit of tolerance for weakness
and inequality, and the devotion t.
corporate welfare which led gradual
~ to the disappearance of slavery and
other barriers which prevented man
from enjoying his rights as a man, and
as a child of God
If the slaves had no rights, neither
had the child. Infanticide was prac-
ticed as commonly in cultured Greece
and Rome as in Hawaii before the Cos
pei was preached. 1t is estimated that
one-third of the children born in Rome
were 'exposed,o that is, abandoned to
the scavenger dogs. In no country
where Christ has not gone has the child
any recognized rights.
Or take the position of woman. A
worldwide traveller once said in my
hearing that one thing alone was
enough to lead him to be intolerant
with any comparison of religions in the
sense the words are used today. "That
thing he said, twas the estimate of
woman in every land where Christ s
influence was unfelt.'
''In antiquity, if married, woman
was the property of her husband IF
unmarried the plaything or slave of
man, never his equal so writes the
learned Geike. 1t has been a slow adj
vance, the overcoming of selfshness and
sensuality, of might and custom, but it
all dates to the time when the Bless
ed Virgin became the ideal of woman
hood instead of Venus.
I grant that there is much immoral
ity now, but that is not the question.
The question is: what are the ideals?
What are the standards?'
No one who reads but who is at
times amazed at the advance made.
Take the tales of Boccaecio told, so
it is represented, to a number of Ia
dies and gentlemen gathered in a house
to escape the plague. The stories.
would now not be tolerated in any
decent company of men alone.
Many of Chaueer's tales are no bet
ter. 1t is a great advance to Smollett
and Fielding, but some of their novels
if written now would be shut out from
the mails as indecent matter. All this
means that morals as whole have
How is it in lands where Christ is
not accepted now7 I once heard Mr..
Robert Speer tell of an occasion on
which he addressed the students of a
university in India. He spoke of
purity for man and woman He asked
them if that was not the ideal life.
The students shouted: No. and hiss
ed him from the stage. A physician,
who had lived in India for % years,
told me that the government offered
prizes for literary compositions and
students from all over India competed.
When the papers were read it was
found that not one could be published
because of the gross sensuality de-
picted.
Take even the condition of woman
among those ardent THESIS, the Mo
hammedans. Sir William Muir, former
ly governor of Norwest India, writes:
That which has more facilitating
effect than anything else is that woman
is totally withdrawn from her proper
place in the social circles. -
The Bishop then spoke of the prin-
ciple of moral responsibility which
comes from the life and teaching of
Jesus. Sometimes, in pointing out
certain virtues in heather people, never
forget that in heather communities are
absent the essential principles of our
civilization. We forget that laws re-
lating to the care of the poor, and
private benevolence for the same pur-
pose, are the product of Christian prin-
ciples. Orphanages, hospitals, etc., |
sprang up wherever the church was
planted No one of the rich men in !
Rome ever thought of founding an in
stitution of this kind. The spirit be-
hind all Christian sympathy and help |
fulness is this: He that does it unto
the least of these my brethren does it
unto me- God is your Father, man
is your brother
But all the progress made does not
come from the teaching of Jesus. |
Other great teachers have arisen who
have made helpfulness to others a |
duty. But maxims and beautiful
phrases have little lasting weight ex-
cept with a few intellectual persons.
That which is behind all the advance
of which we have spoken is not the |
teaching of Jesus, but Jesus Himself. |
If you go to the records of the Church |
at the very first you will find that
they said very little about what Jesus
taught; they preached Jesus the per-
son.
Systems of ethics set forth by great |
teachers soon fall into deafness. They |
have no power to revive. It is not so
with the religion of Jesus Christ. It
has the power of resurrection. Again
and against Churches in various lands
have become dead things. There has |
come a ST. Francis, or the Wesleys, |
or a Keeble and his associates. and |
the Church has revived by the preach |
ing of Christ.
We may as we look at the world !
today see only its sins and failings. Or
we may see the good, the immense |
amount of private benevolence, the |
charity and helpfulness which have |
their signs on every hand. They all !
bear the hall mark of Christian eff
fort, are all traceable to Christian |
spirit.
1t is a remarkable fact that anti |
Christian cults have at times in the |
United States claimed a large number
Of followers. The SpirituaEsts forty I
years ago claimed a million people; |
Ingersollism several millions. But not
one of them so far as I know has left |
as the mark of its passing one insti-