Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1912-04-06

God through the begetting Of the Holy
splnt-only these, Israelites indeed,
are properly reckoned as members Of
spiritual Israel, Of whom st. Peter tells
us, "Ye are a Royal Priesthood, a holy
nation, peculiar people" Conse-
quently all others than Jews and Spir.
itual israelites are heathens, wheth-
er they live In the Orient or the occi-
dent.
Two Civilizations contrastSd.
Our second question was, On the
whole, to what extent is our Western
civilization, which is often called
Christian civilization, superior to that
Of the East7
Considerable could be said In favor
OF each. We who have been accus-
toned from childhood to Western
methods, customs, dress, ETC., prefer
our own, but the Eastern peoples evil
IDENTIFY prefer their own, and are 10th
to change to ours. They are, however,
now passIvely admitting the superior
lty Of ours In that they are gradually
adopting our schooling system, mill
tary system, naval system and voting
system.
But in our contrasting the two civili-
cations, are we not apt to forget that
the very features Of our civilization,
which are now being accepted as Bu-
perlor in the East, are comparatively
new to ourselves? Where were our
public schools and compulsory educa.
tion a century ago1 It is only twenty
years ago that Great Britain adopted
the present method Where were our
railroads, which they are now adopt
lng2 Let us remember that there was
not q rail in the world, nor a locomo-
tive, nor a car, a hundred years ago
The East Is rapidly introducing te-
legraphy, the telephone, the wireless
system. the electric railways; but how
long have we had these in the Westl
Less than a century-some Of them
for only ten years. Viewing the mat
ter from this standpoint should help
to keep Us Of the West quite humble
when we think Of and speak Of the
awakening in the East-in China, ia
pan, etc.
To What Extent Has "chrlstian civill-
Eation" Blessed the Werld7
That Chrsts teachings have brought
great blessings wherever they have
been received is, we hold, beyond dis
pute. individuals have been blessed
by the precious truth Of Christianity
rich and poor, Of every nation, kindred
and tongue. To these the Gospel Mes.
sage has brought peace with God
through faith In the Lord Jesus Christ
and the salvation provided through
Him. TO these the instruction Of the
Bible and the guidance Of the Holy
Spirit have brought the frultage Of the
Spirit TO these It has brought "the
pence OF God which passeth all under
ruling In their hearts at all
times, and under all condltlons-wheth-
er "in sickness or health, in poverty's
vale, or Astounding in wealth"
But our question does not relate to
these sanity followers Of the teachings
Of Jesus, who walk In His footsteps
Our question Is In respect to the ciylli
zatlon which Identifies itself with
Christianity without accepting the
terms OF dlsclpeshlp. Has this civlllza
ton brought to the masses Of Europe
and America great blessing and, If It
be extended to the far East, will It
prove blessing to the hundreds Of
there2
II larger houses, better streets and
sewers, better water supplies, better
better schools, etc, are bring
ing to the people OF Europe and Amer.
lea more JOY, more peace, more happi.
ness, more contentment more kind
ness, more usefulness in the present
Ilfe and more preparation for the life
10 come, then our Western civilization
IL blessing to MS, and would doubt.
loss prove q blessing to the far East.
But has II brought these blesslngs9
Alas, mol AS far as our observations
In China and Japan go, we are led to
believe that their peoples are far hap.
pier, far more contented, than the peo
pies of Europe aud America We are
not blaming this upon Christianity,
mark you've have not yet said why II
b so. We IRE merely noting facts
which must be manifest to everyone
who has seen tho two In contact
A Reason For This.
Our fourth question was, Why Is II
lo1 What pccullarltles are connected |
with Christian civilization or the
Christian teachings which produce
luch diverse results bringing one
lass, the salntly followers Of Jesus,
nto tho utmost peace aud Joy and |
others, tho massea who are |
merely nominal Christians, into this
most unsatisfactory and unhappy con.
lltlon Of any people IN the world, even
when they are enjoying greater bless.
ngs aud luxurles than the majority3
There Is but one answer TO this Quos,
ION II Is because the teachings Of
christ carry with them a broadening
4 mind, an emancipation from super.
tltlon, spirit OF liberty, True, there
we're Dark Ages, during which many
ocalled Christian superstitions pms. J
erred, Hut such superstItlons were
lot the teachings OF Jesus and His
APOSTLES, but the Misrepresentation
I their teachings, Those superstitlous
I'd indeed FOR q time make the peo.
lo OF Europe drowsy, aud It was the
ustom Of such religious teachers to