Los Angeles herald., 1909-01-17

shall in no case enter into the kingdom Of
heaven" Matt. $500
If Jesus were living in the world to-
oay ne would not be crucifed, hung,
nor burned for heresy, for we no longer
Durn or hang or otherwise destroy the
man who disagrees with us, or who
sets forth view Of the truth which
does not harmonic with our own. hut
any one who has studied the times in
which he lived, and noted the manner
IN Whlcn ne treated some Of the cher
lshed traditional conceptions Of his
age, can have little doubt that he
} would be counted as great a hereto
now as he was then.
Jesus found the Jewish race en-
shaved In every possible way, enslaved
pontlcally to the Romans, enslaved to
thelr own traditions, enslaved to their
own st1lted meaningless and life-san-
ping forms, which contributed not an
lota to the great life of national
righteousness which had been so ear
nestly 1nculcated by their own
prophets. When he came he was
looked upon for time as a possible
political deliverer; when he ignored the
political bondage, trampled upon their
traditions and discarded their stflted
| ~~AAOAAAOO
heresy.
Were he in the world today he wouId
meet with much the same fate in the
terms which are employed today, with
winch to destroy those who 'occupy an
unIrlendIy relation to the established
customs and pet institutions of the
nour. He would probably not be
burned. He would be treated with no
violence, but he would have to feel in
hn
be certain to arouse.
He would denounce the Pharisees of
today just as unsparingly as he did
tnoSe OF his own time He would nroh
aoly oe as much out Of harmony with
d great deal which is looked upon with
coHplalsance or even affection by
many Of the most religious and re-
spectacle people of the time, as he was
with the things which heir the most
honorable place then in the estimation
OF some of the most dignified Of the
I people.
According to one Of the most trusted
OF modern writers, the Pharisees were
IN some respects the best people of
thelr time. There were many noble
ana no doubt many unselfsh and truly
earnest people among them. Accord
ing TO this authors view Jesus was
himself Pharisee; he belonged to the
orthodox religion of the day. But that
| which had started out with such HIGH
aims and such scrupulous regard for
the truth had wandered SO very far
from the original, had deveIoped in
uneS so much at variance with Gods
thought for the world that there was
NIUE Iert that was longer of any SER
vice to mankind
These men were correct in +bni.
creeds, but exceedingly incorrect in
the fundamental aims and purposes Of
Ihelr lives. They were selfish
opunonated and vain. They strenu
ously sought to perpetuate a system of
teaching long after it had ceased To
De Of any vital value to humanity
ahey were proud of their position be-
tore COO. They looked down upon all
the rest Of the world who cid not fol-
low after their traditions. They were
perfectly certain that they were right
and everybody else was wrong Thav
We're painfully, stiltedly, unprogress
!Ve!y' unth1nkingly and uncompromis-
lngIy orthodox. And their orthodoxy
was dead, and should have been buried.
like some other orthodoxies.
Pretty nearly all they did and stood
Tor Jesus unsparingly condemned. He
proclaimed the utter worthIessness IF
much that they believed in, denounced
the1r narrowness, trampIed rpon their
traditions, unsparingly arraigned their
hypocrisy and selfishness. and pub-
l1cly announced that the despised tax
gatherers, the ostracized Samaritan
and the outcast harlot had a better
cnance OF getting into the kingdom Of
heaven than they
If we could imagine Christ as hav-
ing gone away from tbs world for
nearly 1000 years and coming back to
1t again, If we could think of hin, q
gong up and down the earth in order
10 IND out what has been done during
MS absence we can readily believe
that two things would fill his soul with
surprise. He would be amazed a+ a
great many things which are thought
among so-called Christian people TODAY
as things in his name, he would be
overwhelmed to find out how lightly
some Of the things which he consid
cred so vital and taught with so much
| 1mpress1VeneSs were adhered to. and he
would on the other hand be delighted
to see how much there is in the world
really actuated and inspired by his
spirit Of love and truth which has
no name upon 1T, not even his name.
! 1 do not believe that any one who
has read human history in an unpreiu-
| diced manner can fail to admit that
the church Of Christ has performed a
| great service to the world. and r. fine
| cause of humanity. | do not believe
| To-Day there is any mechanism through
which human being who has the
| spirit of Christ can so we'll manifest
| and express that spirit as through the
| church. But we have arrived at that
place where he who stays in the church
and manifests the spirit of Christ and
insists that his truth and his teachings
shall be supreme will have to face the
same kind Of opposition that Christ
had to face when he here upon the
earth, denounced Phariseeism.
| The man who adheres to the tradi-
| lions of past generations, who repeats
| its stilted and many times senseless
conceptions Of the truth and Of Gods
| government in the world, who adheres
with slavish reverence to its forms.
who denounces the Gentle, the sinner.
the Samaritan and the heather on the
outside, who is dead sure that his par
t1cular set constitute at least the cream
of Gods elect, and that the particular
formula which has for a long time
been accounted the one and only way
Of entrance into heaven, the man who
adheres to these things holds them up
and teaches them, will certainly never
have any trouble with the established
order Of things, while he who holds
toward them the attitude which Christ
maintained before similar things will
be in danger Of the same kind Of treat
ment which was accorded the great
Master.
But the Phariseeism of the twentieth
century is Of no more value in the
great movement which is bringing in
the kingdom Of God than was the
Phariseeism Of the first. The life OF