The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-08-30
.CHR|ST'S SOCIAL ORDER
TRUE FORM OF SOCIETY
Jesus More Interested In Life Than
In Theological Belief Whether
Formulated or Not.
LOVE AND PHILANTHROPY
Church Is an Organization to Recon-
struct the World, Says Rev. DIR.
Cooper at Union Services Last
Night.

AftuANAt IS HI tu IkCNOn-
struct the World, Says Rev. DIR.
Cooper at Union Services Last
Night.
Last night in Hanover-Avenue
Christian Church Rev. w. A. Cooper,
pastor of Central Methodist Church,
preached to a large congregation on
| the subject. Our Task, the Recon-
struction of Human Society,"" and
| took for his text the words of John
the Baptist. Repent ye, for the king
dom of heaven is at hand In part.
| he said:
/ The text is a call of God for the
noblest task that ever inspired a
| human soul. II echoed and re-echoed
over the hills OF Judea and Gallilee
and aroused the people to religious
| fervor as the message of Paul Revere
! aroused the men of Lexington and
Concord and every Middlesex village
and farm" TO patriotic fervor.
The multitudes flocked TO the lower
fords of the Jordan by the thousands
and those who believed that the law
and prophets, that is, the national
ideals were about to be fulfilled were
baptized.
The call of John was heard by a
young .Gallileean carpenter away up
, among the hills OF Nazareth, who
closed his shop forever and made
his way to the Jordan, and was bap-
tized of John.
Then began the greatest ministry
that ever blessed the world. He as
sumed the title of Messiah" and took
upon himself the task of creating
kingdom of God on earth, or of
reconstructing the world in Justice
and In Righteousness. To this end
he consecrated all the divine powers
of his being. Every thought, desire.
word and act, both private and public,
he gave to create new social order
in the world. Nothing diverted him,
neither the apprehension of his
friends nor the malignant attacks OF
his enemies. To the redemption of
the world, he gave his life upon the
cross.
The Eternal Task.
This is the eternal task. II chal-
lenges the resources of God and men.
It was the end of the law and the
inspiration Of the prophets. To es-
tabiish the reign of God. Jesus called
and inspired his apostles and to this
same thing he calls and inspires his
real disciples today.
Because we lack the vision of a re-
construed world. a happy and pros
porous and peaceful society, we be-
come reactionaries. Our task is to
create those heavenly conditions on
earth for all men. rather than save a
few men to live in heavenly condi-
lions In another world. We must
make God supreme in all things here.
We must look for God in al things
now. He is not back yonder in
the good old days" nor forward
yonder in a golden age" but he is
here now.
THE kingdom of God is at hand"
Lok up. Q mortals and the portent
heed
In every deed, washed with new fire
to their irradiant birth.
Refrigerated are the heavens and the
earth.
From sky TO sod, the worlds unfolded
bosom swelis of God"
Mr.. Cooper then declared that this
kingdom hope. which animated Christ
and inspired the apostles. had been
perverted by later teachers. The
phrase kingdom of heaven or OF God
had been made to mean many things.
1t was very early confiicted with the
church, and Augustine fixed this con-
flict in his great work. THE City of
God"
that outside the church there Is no
salvation She demanded uniform
ity of worship and of belief. She
formulated creeds and confessions OF
faith. dictated dogmas. made deliver
ances on nature and philosophy ana
science, and demanded their accept
ance.
than in theological beliefs. whether
formulated or not
His invitation was follow me-
accept me. my ideals and purposes.
and stand and struggle and sacrifice
for these The church hurled her
anathemas against unbelievers, Jesus
against hypocrites. The church was
interested in orthodoxy and uniform
ity, hence she hung and buried
heretics; Jesus was interested in kind
ness and love and philanthropy. The
church consigned souls to hell who
would not come in nor remain within
her, Jesus consigned those to hell
who did not minister to the sick. the
hungry, the stranger and the prisoner
But the church Is not the kingdom.
1t is a social organization, ordained
Of God to reconstruct the world and
thus create the new social order. the
kingdom.
The Ideal and Reality.
Another provision is that the king
dom is a purely subjective state--a
personal religious experience. This
il the conflict between the ideal and
the reality. and is the result of our
narrow individuaiistic thinking. II
was this narrow spirit that translated
the Scripture "the kingdom of God Is
within YOU" rather than the better
translation, 1.-THE kingdom of God Is
in the midst of you or among you.
a religious experience Is not the
kingdom. but true religious expert
ence will cause a man to consecratel
his life to the establishment of the
kingdom or the new social order.
I'VE must be born again, else We can
not ented into the kingdom of God"
is Christ's law of human progress
Another perversion Is the Mile
MUM" This perversion grows out
OF the fact that smen have lost the
Kingdom hope for this age. Hence
they put their hope In q cataclysmic
a retuvenaticn Of the
world by fire and a return OF the
bodily Christ to the earth. But JESUS
teaches that not by such revolution
is the kingdom to come but by evolu
ton. II Is to be as heaven" ast
seed" as corn" growing.
/ believe, declared Mr.. Cooper that
this world has been revolving around
its sun for millions Of years. and I
believe it will continue millions
more. further believe that nothing
=. : Aa.<rov humanity hut ain We \