Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-07-14

the wholesomsness of the Middle
Ages, when the best buildings, the fin
est books and the lovelieSt paintings
were devoted to religion.
That is Pauls idea. He assumed
that Christianity was able to hold its
own with. the greatest phisolophers
OF the most philosophical age OF the
worlds history. (By the way, the
preachers who are troubled by the
prevalence of new" cults would do
Well to look them up in the old books,
Tor they are but curious revampings
of outworn Grecian and oriental phi,
losophers.)
This man Paul, himself a scholar
of the first class, dared carry the
Gospel OF the Crucifed to the proud
est centers of the arrogant world of
his day. He challenged all the reli-
Slous conceptions and convictions Of
Rome and Greece under the shadow
of the Acropolis of Athens, which to
this. day is one of the worlds fairest
sights. He stood up in the Aeropagus
and eXpounded his message as the
fulfllment of all that philosophy had
brought to Greece. Nobody can find
any warrant for a merely defensive
and apologetic Christianity in this
valiant old soldier-scholar, Paul OF
Tarsus. He stands the embodiment
OF concrete scholarship, an inspira-
| tion to the best-trained minds OIL the
world.
Winning a Crowd.
A brilliant example of good sales
manship was given by Paul on Mars
HILL He found, first of ALL congenial
points of contact and established a
friendly working basis of conference.
His compliment "Ye men of Athens,
l perceive that in all things ye are
very religious" would shock some
straight-laced church folk to-day. We
wonder why he did not tell them
they were nothing but wicked heath
ems and doomed to condemnation. The
man who so criticises Paul knows
nothing about the methods of mod
ern missions. Pauls way is the way
of all good missionaries. First they
ind common ground with those
whom they seek to convert, and then
proceed, step by step, to the desired
conclusion.
1t is strange how the great old
tasks persist as the greatest new
tasks. Religion has no more serious
problem to-day than that of inscrib-
ing the name of the one true God on
the nameless altars of the world. She
must take the worlds thinking upon
all social and philosophical subjects
and read into it new and Christian
content. We talk about inter
nationalism" with only the vaguest
understanding of its meaning; but
here we have it stated fundamentally
by this ancient Christian philosopher
The basis of it all is that God has
made of one" the nations of the
earth. Here is the lesson that ties
to-days Sunday school class closest tc
to-day's paper. Everybody who thinks
is in pursuit of the goal of better re.
lations among the nations of earth
The path to it is clearly marked out
by Paul in the present lesson.
The New InteTnationalism.
Are we big and brave enough tc
hear this Christian cosmopolite
through to his conclusion, and face
the truth that we must create a new
world over for human life? Presi.
dent Thwing said the other day thai
the greatest failure of our civilization
is the present lack of internationa.
brotherhood. A reconstruction peri.
cd is coming to the world. Only
; the ideals of Christianity can make
it adequate. The thinking of the
world must be lifted up to the leve
of Mars hill. Except there be a new
sense of Christian obligation tc
brother every other man, we shall
not escape from our present slough OF
misery and hatred.
; AS yet the churches have no clear
program or leadership on this
point. The pulpit is silent. Great
ecclesiastical gatherings seem to have
been blind to 1t, engrossing them.
selves wholly with minor administra.
tive matters. Still the truth grows
more apparent every day, that the
Church fronts her supreme task; thai
of creating a new world order thai
shall be war-proof and Waterproof
She must put into humanity 1.-THE
mind that was in Christ Jesus" I'm.
less she can make men realize thai
"All ye are brethren" there is no hope
in sight for our civilization. The goal
which five years ago seemed to be the
province of missions, has to-day be-
come the most acute problem o1