The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-06-25
THRfI MONTHS IN \ GRi VI
SCHOOL.
The Iu~ternationa! Sunday SCilooi It.
-on for june 80 l. a Quarterly IKE
Nit,A
50 iiOOI.


ilpN NJ II.I-i.A.h l.. l~l-A-A'''
The value Of a political campaign
is that ii educates the people TO
knowledge upon The great concerns
Of Ii quickens interest
in national life and challenges all
the old and taken-for-granted views.
II We look upon the preaching u
Jesus as His campaign, and His Ser
mon on the Mount as the platform
OF the party he was forming. We find
that. for three months past the sun
uav schools Of the world have been
discussing the issues which he put
forward. In this presentation OF the
platform He laid down the laws that
should govern His kingdom, that
kingdom which is now c~onquerlnS
the earth. and which should be the
supreme concern Of the human MIND.
Every thoughtful person IS called
upon to face the u~tterances of this
greatest Of teachers and leaders. Not
to know the Sermon on the Mount
is more discreditable than not to
know the Magma Charta, the writings
of Shakespeare, or the latest DIT OF
popular literature.
The Newness of an Old Issue.
Everything tends to petrify. The
most sacred institutions and usageS
are in constant danger Of deterlora-
ton from their original significance;
the great phrases become cant; a man
calls his wife dear meaning no
more thereby than if he called her
Molly" though when first he breath
ed that word it was fraught with the
tendereSt significance. most fully real
lied. A conspicuous instance of the
o~sSiticatiOn of institutions is the Sab
bath Day. Jesus was brought lace
to face with this, and He found Him
self in the guise of a condemned Sab
bath reaker.
The trouble arose from the sub
stitution of regulations for spirit.
The beneficent rest day, which Je-
hovah had designed for mans high
est welfare, had become hedged
about by ecclesiastical legislation,
until most Of its original purpose had
been lost; it was a mere thing OF
rules to be feared and obeyed. Al
though the day was made for man,
Jesus found that He was called a
violator of the Sabbath when he
sought to help the suffering or to
feed the hungry. Therefore,, with
His characteristic courage, He chal-
lenged the old, OutWorn, traditiOna
views Ind proclaimed the mercifu1
mission Of this day which God had
set apart for highest uses.
The question Of the Sabbath is a
vital one in our time and c~iviliza-
ton. Some Of the same sort of &c
clesiaStical rigidity menaceS the day
Even more is it threatened by q
needless. materialistic, short-slghted
selfish individualism, which would
make the Lords Day like unto Other
days-or at least only a holiday. In
stead Of a holy day. The spirit ant
teaching of Jesus on this moot poin
should be the study Of good citizens
as we'll as Of religious leaders.
Multiplying the Master.
Most Of the vital personalities o
the world have their followers ant
imitators. Great painters establish
schools: great scholars reproduce
themselves in pupils. Jesus was tru'
to the tradition of all history whel
He undertook to multiply His per
Sonality by a group Of disciples. Hi
message to mankind must be carrie,
by more lips han His own. 1t wa
not enough hat He should mingl
with the crowd hat thronged Hin
and diffuse His ideas: He must hav
in training a school Of apostles.
Thus the twelve were chosen a com
panv of common men with Opportun
ity to reveal the uncommon posi-
olllllS~ VI luc ordinary man. Divers
types of character were represente
in those who went forth two by tw
upon the highest mission ever vouch
safed to mortal. The significance G
the appointment of the twelve
many sided, but first and foremost
carries the teachino that even tn
divine Son of God is dependent upo
human agency for the extension
HIS kingdom in the world.
The New Teaching.
A current phrase in Japan is "da1
gerOuS doctrine This euphemiSl
covers all the radical views, fro
simple democracy ~ ~out-and-out 4,
archy, which are invading the o
order. They are thought to be dal
geTOus because they nave power
upset existing conceptions and inst
tutionS. Ideas are more pOWerf
than dynamite. When Jesus call
His friends to be the salt of Il
earth and the light of the world
"a Il, q fHA,, fth COL -