The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-06-22
i9The Woman who Was a Sinn,

1.-The Woman Who Was a Sinner
In a lavishness of love and passion
of p~enitence, a woman of the city ha(
sought out Jesus. The social customs
of the time gave the public admittanc
to social functions such as this feast
So she. in an excess of gratitude
anointed the Guest sitting at mea
from an alabaster cruise of. ointment
and, standing behind him, weeping
she wet his feet with her tears anC
wiped them with the hair of her head
raining devotion's kisses upon hi
feet and amounting them with sucI
ointment as his host should have pour
ed in honor upon His head. 1t was 70.
mantle and overwhelming, revealing
the woman'S depth of desire for a new
life.
Simon looked on with contempt
Doubtless having this incident in mind
Miss adams remarks. May we not
say that the supreme religious test OF
our social order is the hideous com.
merce of prostitution, and that the
sorry results of that test are registered
in the hypocrisy and hardness of heart
of the average good citizen toward the
socalled fallen woman?" She fur
Their points out the significance of this
irreligious attitude that develops
apace the two Sins-contempt for a
human creature, n self righteous
ness-concerning which Jesus was
most severe"
This attitude on the part of the
Christian is h more difficult to ex-
plain because Jesus Himself was most
explicit in the declaration of His own
position in regard to the fallen wo-
man. He did not for a moment imply
that h could not be drawn into the
radius of h w%ondrous affection He
promulgated the love of all mankind
so new in the history of the world;
nor that the new solvent could not
melt down-if I may use the phrase
that obstinate mass of wretched-
ness"
1.-THE Supreme Test of Religion"
Miss Adams calls the social evil
supreme test of religion. A
pastor of a great city church.
whose ministry un1ockS to him many
tragic human stories. said to me the
other day, Il wonder how I would act
ii n of my daughters should go
aStray? [ question whether L should
display the same patience, tenderness
and forgiveness that 1 find with so
many fathers and mothers who have
in their trial learned the very mind
of Christ" The doctrine of forgive
ness mas often been pointed out as
the unique distinction of Christianity
In the same address, which
has already been quoted, Miss Ad-
dams makes this general observation.
All over the world are traces of
a changed attitude toward the social
evil. Not only are American cities
L 80 ACS
looking toward final abolition. but
cities such as Vienna r
doubling the value of their long es-
regulations, and are there
logically facing the same conclu-
sion. The medical profession is aban-
its century old position of Sc
and c-onnivance. Leading edu-
are at last urging adequate
for all youth. Shall not
church accept the challenge and
haor a valiant mart in this rondnr
The call has come not from
a holy hermit who had conquered
through withdrawal from
world into a solitary place, but
from a multitude of warm-hearted
youth who from our streets, 'paven
with peril, teeming with mischance,'
still eagerly clamor for a world made
fit and fair for their budding life!'
A glory of present-day religion is
such ONE as Miss Adams herself,
Or Miss Smith, friend of the f~allen,'
who ministers all night in the police
court of New York; or the in
the Crittenden Homes, the Chicago
Midnight Mission, Philadelphia Res
Band, and those other disciples
Of Christ who have gone forth to bear
truth of His owe for the reclama-
ion of the erring. Remedial meas
Tres. which are having so much atten-
ion today, are but temporary stages
n a program which looks to such an
Sl0NdllOn OIL SOC16Iy liId AOSIAI0tAOh
shall disappear.
The Fina Solution.
In the face of a depressing spirit of
sophisticatfon ard of an ap-
lack of chivalry on the part of
of the young men of today, and
n the face of the growth OF the or
industry which traffics in hu-
nan frailty, it is yet clear that Chris
ian society, as never before, is adj
PRESSING itself in the spirit of Jesus to
he task of eradicating this ancient
will A new light of publicity has been
lot only a powerful prophylactic, but
Llso a far reaching preventive. The
question of chastity is being taken out
# the dark corners of human minds
md human thinking; fearless proph-
is, banishing all prudiShneSS, are in
listing that there never was a fallen
woman Without a fallen man, ana
hat there are more fallen men IMAM
women, and that the Ubiquitous in
quality of the common view of the
Iuestion must cease: that the man
of the world today must measure
to this test if it would wear the
badge of the c~onquering
,hrist. The hideous world spirit is
'eing met with the victorious
f the Saviour.
The last word of it all is in the Les
on: society is welded into oneness;
n it's weakness and in its strength, by
he truth that all OF must
lake it's approach to God as sinners
ependent upon His mercy. If saved
t all. We must be saved by his grace.
his is the truth that makes us tender. !
and forgiving. Because of the
ove with which Christ loves US and
II men. we, in turn, must love His
Their children too much to hurt or
'ermit the hurt of even the least of
lis little ones.
--- |
The Worlds Reading.
'erse Comments for June %, Read
ing That Is Worth While.'II Tim.
:7-16.
(BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.)
A small boy brought home a five
ent detective story of the faShy, I'M