Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1910-06-02

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.xsNh cesoriaa Tie vorid about us a
"a . s5.ng ci.aTGW. this Garth as al
ode o. p&iE 70 lie escaped as 500
~ .,e.-ei9!a, life 5 be- /. ni1!ii dream
TON which e. III VII 3e a sla,
NM. ~. NJ, h zen is cur home, an:
Jesus as the S. q, d who will gnid,
ils salely fioE our w&ndesing.
Through tGe desert laad to the 4elv
cnIy fc1l aboye-we have c21. t.
read, ] say, this still widely preva
= 4ert ny mnolCgy to understand what *
Tleant by thc 'other-world' interpre-
tetlon OF ~rdfgi01. This Being tbt
! autitlde of INC church toward this
! praCnt life, it Is easy to understaE'
49, 1t hos NO. great = concerned IL
J 3s.iI WITH t4.G- regeneration OF cAis
T.. g soeiaty. indeed, WAY should :.
50 waste itS ;:n6 an1 sgu&nder il
5.ergit's% t, r15s.ion Of the ehCrts
vas Let to s2ve rhe world but. +,
saw uvE cut of ii; not TO 1edeesl.
h3itions h~Ie bn! ~ redeem NE:
o.sl there! ina What wonders il,
! the face OF such conception, that
,ae lust ana gree i, nc injustice an
cruelty OF the pl escnt world haN
been left by the church to flourish
undisturbed? What wonder, that
men in their social relations have
| been abandoned to their Mammon-
worship; their selfshness, their Cain
| and-Abel struggle for existence?
! What wonder that Christianity, as
an influence for social regeneration,
has been an almost negligible factor
i'll the development of civilization,
and that society has moved onward
and upward in spite of, rather than
because Of, the church's leadership?
! What wonder that the evils of an
cient days, political corruption, in
dustrial piracy, international war
fare, wealth and poverty, still sur
yiye; and the church stands indif-
ferent at the hideous spectacle of
wrong? But whatever else may be
thought of this Interpretation of re-
ligion, one thing is at least clear
that this. is not the religion of Jesus
We are only just beginning to real
lZe that Jesus came that men might
have life here and now upon the
earth and have it abundantly; that
the business of Christianity is not to
concern itself with the conditions of
life which may exist beyond the
grave, but rather with the conditions
OF life which most surely exist on
this side Of the grave; that, as DR..
Campbell of the City Temple, Lon
don, has expressed it, it is the -pur-
pose of the church mot to get men
into heaven but heaven into men"
And yet the world of Christendom is
still engaged in gazing at what lies
dimly at a distance" and is not yet |
doing what lies clearly at hand" |
Alas, that it has not sooner recog- |
nized that its work is here, being
none other than to provide that
Gods Kingdom may come and his
villa be done on earth!
(d) And lastly, there, is that most |
peculiar, astonishing and inexcusa-
BILE idea. which has persuaded the
church in all ages to assert that re
ligion has properly nothing to do
with political, industrial OF social |.
questions OF any kind. There is that
fallacious distinction which has al I
ways been made between sacred and |
secular, and which has assigned to |
the care of the church the one and |
frankly removed from its control or
even interest the other The church,
it is argued, has to do with spiritual
not worldly matters; with worship
and prayer and praise, with rituals
and liturgies and saerameQts, with
temples and 9cathedrals and syna-
gogues. 1t has it's sacred book-all
others are profane; it has its one
holy day-all others are common; it
has its one specific field of sacred
Work-all others are secular. AS a
result Of this convenient distinction,
what spectacle of Indifference to all
the sins and sufterings of the world
at large does the. church present!
Assidious in preserving the Sabbath
from PROCLAMATION by innocent amuse-
ments, musical concerts or even open |
and libraries, it is ut
other days of the week by dishonest
stock transactions, criminal political
bargains or scandalous business
deals. TiTeless in lifting up it's
voice in denunciatioR of agnosticism,
OF failure to attend divine service, or
of indifference to the creeds and sac
raments, it is silent about the work
Ing OF children to death in factories
and mines; silent about hiring sales
women for four or five or six dollars
a week and expecting them to remain
"unspotted from the. world; )" silent +
about the monopolizing Of the neces-
sites of life and then holding up
the public at the point of pistol;
silent about the private ownership
Of public resources and utilities and
the resulting exploitation of the
many by. the few. silent on all ques=
lions which concern the life of soci-
ETY. at large.Jf Satisfied to erect
beautiful church building, to cele-
brate the sacraments, to preach
spiritual sermons, 1t is content to
trial or social reform to practical
men of affairs. What. wonder, in the
face of such situation as this, that
the churches today are empty and !.
men who seek the redemption of So
ciety are turning elsewhere? What :
wonder that only inferior men are