Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1913-11-22
MISTAKES ABOUT
MOSES AND JESUS
Rev. Halls Reply to DIR. Carr
Challenged as Untenable.
CHRIST'S MESSAGE PRACTICAL.
Attempts To Explain Away The Vital
Meaning Of Jesus Words Cause
Growing UDbelief-PevpIe Need
Present Good News" Not
Mere Poetry.
(Communicated.) }

Mere Poetry.
Communicated
To the Editor The faith OF many
| in the church and even in Christ re-
ceives a harmful shock when a minis
| ter declares that such a prominent
and vital proclamation of Jesus as
"Seek We first the kingdom" (reign)
"of God, and His righteousness" Gus
tice) "and all these things" flood,
clothes and freedom from worry
"shall be added unto you, is a
highly poetic statement of divine
truth" which cannot be reduced to
prose without doing violence to the
spirit of the teacher" for if the
teachings of Jesus can not be reduced
to plain prose and common practice
without doing violence" to them,
then they are mockery to the masses
of me and women, and no profession
of reverence can make them seem
true.
The attempt by ministers to ex-
plain away the vital, practical mean
ing OF Christ's words, together with
the refusal of those who profess to be-
Ii sve in Him to reduce His teachings
both to individual and social practice,
is filing the world with unbt levers
and sadly hindering the progress OF
true religion and freedom, and the
exploiters of the poor are always
glad to have Christ's "gocd news"
interpreted in the poetic" unreal
manner Illustrated by Rev. Halls
"reply," but the "poor" find no
practical "good news" in such in
terpretations. They have no time
to rest and prepare themselves for
the artistic enjoyment of mere
poetry. They need food, clothing,
shelter and chance to live a hu-
man life. Poetry, however spiritual,
cannot satisfy them. 1t can never
truthfully be said of Jesus that
when the people asked bread, II e
gave them poem.
The passage referred to is a part
OF the significant section beginning
clay not up for yourselves treasures
upon earth, I" Matt. 6, 49, 1t con-
tiuues by declaring "Ye cannot serve
God and Mammon" (gain.) 1t urges
the adoption OF mode CT life that
will Danish worry concerning food
and clothes, and, finally, in the teAt
| quoted above, it distinctly promises
| that if they will seek first the rule of
| God on earth and His justice Csc that
Gods will may "be done on earth
| as it is in heaven" as Jesus prayed)
| they would all have plenty with free
II l. fa1
justice and nothing else.
Contrary to Rev. Halls view, men
and women who seek Gods kingdom
| irst with ali their hearts, do not al
| ways find plenty and safety. They
| find betrayal, persecution, want, pris-
/ on and death-as Jesus said they
| would. Every observing man knows
that the most godly people frequently
| suffer want. Every one of the hun
dreds OF thousands of children whose
lives are being ground up in cotton
mills, mines aud factories ('of such
is the kingdom of heaven" said
Jesus), every sweatshop woman
whose hopeless labor for her hungry
children is mingled with piteous
prayer, is proof that the innocent
and holy do suffer cruel want-not
because Of the crimes of their ex-
ploiters.
Che great, soul-stirring, heart-melt-
ing cry of Jesus, "come unto Ne, all
We that labor and are heavy laden,
and / will give yJu rest; take My
yoke upon you and learn of me-and
We shall find rest for your sodls'
| (lives), does mean nothing else thaa
that if the downtrodden workers
would adopt his brotherly social plan
"ihe kingdom of Cod" in place Of
brutal competition, they would have
rest for their bodies, rest for their
lives, safety aud plenty and freedom
from worry.
Christ's personal yoke was not
easy, His individual burden was not
light. He was a tireless worker,
often weary. He was "a man Of
sorrow and acquainted with grief, >
as His bravest and truest followers
have also had to be; but the Christ
plan of sc cial corporation, the broth
erhood yoke by which men could pull
together and not against each other,
would give freedom, plenty and rest
for ALL
This is the GOOD News to the
Poor" that Jesus preached. This is
what the poor primarily need But the
Interpretation often put upon these
texts plesses the rich exploiters, be.
cause il tends to deceive the exploited
poor and keep them quiet under op.
preston. And any Interpretation thai
tends to perpetuate slavery on the ont
hand and expioitati IN on the other il
false Gods truth stirs up divine
discomfort and rebellion against op
preston.
The three greatest sociological
events recorded in the Bible are IA,
Mosaic Exodus, the proclamation ot
the Sermon on the Mount. and th.
establishment of Apostolic Com
munism. These were the mighty epi
sodes upon which founded nv sd
dress of Wednesday afternoon. an,