The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1915-01-29
KINGDOM IS REAL
Jesus Words Had Reference Not
Only to a Condition OF
the Spirit.

No change in religious thought Is
more remarkable than that which has
taken place in our Interpretation OF
Jesus oft repeated phrase, the liking
dom Of God" That the whole gospel
OF the Nazarene is contained in his
idea Of the Kingdom" and the whole
purpose Of his life summed up In his
prayer. THY Kingdom come" has
long been understood, but not until
our own day have we come to see just
what was meant by this idea and this
purpose.
In the past men have assumed that
the Kingdom Of God referred to a
certain inward attitude OF mind or
condition Of spirit. The word King
DOM" 1t has been agreed, was used
by the master in igurative sense and
was intended to apply to the inner and
not the outer world, to things spirit
ual and not material The establish
ment Of the Kingdom meant the estab-
lishment of Gods purpose in the
hearts Of men, and the coming Of the
Kingdom the Transformation Of the hui
man soul from state OF depravity to
one. Of grace THE Kingdom of God
is within you" This has been ac-
cepted'in all ages as the final and per
feet definition of the teaching.
Scope of the Kingdom.
Very recently, however. have men
come to feel that, while Jesus undoubt-
eddy meant this, he. also meant much
more than this For what evidence
Is there, in our records of the Nazar-
ene's career, that he meant to limit
his idea Of the Kingdom to the inward
realm Of the splrit2 On the contrary,
IL there not abundant evidence, in
what he said and did, that he meant
very particularly that the Kingdom
should cover the outward as we'll as
the inward world, and work revolu-
ton In society as well as in the soul?
In Jesus conception" says Prof Ru-
dof Eucken, the most eminent living
exponent of spiritual idealism, the
Kingdom of God is BY no means mere
ly an inner transformation, affecting
only the heart and mind, and leaving
the outer world in the same condition.
Rather historical research puts it be-
yond question that the new Kingdom
means visible order as well-that It
aims at complete change In the state
OF things. Never In history
has mankind been summoned to a
greater revolution than here, where
not this and that among the conditions
but the totality Of human existence 10
to be regenerated." Not "the King
dom Of God Is within you," is the cor
rect translation, but the Kingdom OF
God IL among you'll"
Its Source In the Heart.
Here, in this extension of our under
standing ofthe gospel OF the Kingdom,
is the greatest religious discovery OF
our age. The Kingdom OF God is in
deed within us. but 1t must not stay
there. On the contrary, 1t must go
out among" our fellow men, and there
transform the social order into realm
Of perfect righteousness and peace.
The Kingdom must have its source In
the heart, which, to quote the great
phrase Of St. Augustine, rests not
until II rests in God;" but, like q river
and not a stagnant pool, 1t must then
flow out, to clothe with beauty the
waste places Of the earth. The King
dom means the win Of God done on
EARTH" which In turn means the estab-
lishment of justice among men. The
betterment Of living conditions, the es-
Establishment OF Just relations between
employers and employees, the reduc-
ton Of infant mortality, the protec-
tion Of helpless old age, the alleyia-
ton OF poverty. the conquest Of dis
ease, the furthering Of knowledge, the
war against war''-all these things
are the works Of the Kingdom, and the
men and women everywhere who are
achieving these things are the SER
wants Of the Kingdom.
For the first time since the earliest
days Of Christianity the masters pray
er, "Thy Kingdom come" is being lit
tie by little answered. And this for
the reason that we understand that the
Kingdom means, to quote Eucken once
more, "a new order OF the world and
Of lifel"