The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-05-14
endence, district visiting and organi1a.

case his more cultivated par.shioncrs dis.
like him. and say that he ought In have
joined the Methodist. Or he may b. an
artist expressing religious emotion with
out Intellectual definition by means 81
poetry. music. vestments and architecture,
also producing religious ecstasy by physi-
cal expedier;s. such as fasts and vigils.
In which Gaze he 10 denounced as q Ritual
t't. Or II" may be either u unitarian
doist Ike Noltaire or Tom Paine. or he
more modern sort OF Anglican theo ophist
to whom the Holy Ghost is the clan vital
of Bergson and the Father and Son arc
an expression OF the fact that our func-
tons and aspects are manifold, and tina;
VIC are all IONS ard all either potential
or actual parents, in which case he is
strongly suspected by the s,rai,e" saliva
tionists Of being little better than an
atheist.
What. then. Is the play Of "Androclcs
and the Lion" all about? a young
naval officer who recently saw the play
on the stage confessed that his amusc-
ment and enjoyment were hopclcsslv
spoiled by the fact that he knew II
meant something and yet he did rot
quite know what it meant 1t is Il
rerilous undertaking TO explain Shaw.
even with the introduction and the
aftcrword to guide one. First place.
he means So much: hr is in sucl, dead
ly. didactic earnest. and what lc means
IS usually unprecedented. The fresh
eye. the untrammeiled mind arc 80
startling thlt one begins ny being
morally sure that ones explanation IS
somehow wrong.
The author tells us. to begin with.
.l.,, ,,t.-r a.. .1.-. ..-. - 49,.
lin the Crown Prince rose and left the
theatre. being unable to endure the
clear and fair exposition OF autocratlc
imperialism given by the Roman cap
tain to his Christian prisoners. no
English im%perialist.' adds Mr.. Shaw
with regret. was intelligent and
earnes enough to do the same in Lon
don" Perhaps the r reason is that.
owing To the tremendous. the almost
irsupcrable difficulties OF training tho
human mind to clear and logical think
! ing. the English have muddled their
brains and fallen into imperialism,
without really intending IT. and cer-
tainly without accepting all its I'M
plications. Nv which case one is quite
sure that Mr.. Shaw would rel,ea, his
iiNFhE 'Aht F'hiA''Ns b. -
dangerous as wilful had'c-s. The fact
IL he points out in his characters that
, modern Omissions accept various por-
tons Of the Gospels and call them
, selves Christians while they are s.ill
like Lnrinin. fearless free thinkers. ~
ike AndroC'cs. humanitarian natural
/ lists. or like FrrrorinS. conscience I'd
den Pauline t~heo.ogians.
IN this pay" he says, 81 have rcp-
resented one OF the Roman perscci-
tons OF the early Christians. NOT as
the conflict az a false theo.JgN WITH a
| true but as what ali such pers cut.ous
essentially are. an attempt to suppress
a propaganda that seemed 10 threaten
the interests involved in the cstah-
| lished law and order. organized and
maintained in the name of religion and
Justice by politicians who are pure op-
~pprturist Havc-and-H Holders"
To turn then 10 Shaw's eNcgesis he
manages with no little ability to sX-
tract the essence of Chr,st's teachings
from the Sermon on the Mount and
other direct ~utterances and by is rlat-
ing them from the accrctionS Of thco-
logical dogma so Closely bound ahou,
them 10 show that tho religion uf lesu.
j. anti-miiitarist.c. Ht..i-rle.ic9!, art!-
imp realistic. His piea then for ~.
healing of civilization is print.v,
Christianity rs he extracts II frrr'
tho Gospels. such purely Theological
questions as the Lclst!cal mature "i
Chris aad the miraculous element N
the Gospels he disooscG nf swiftly. II.
points out that Christ himself iaid NJ
tie stress upon His miraculous power
usually enjoiu.ng its witnesses to say
nothing Of II and refusing to show His
powers as a mere sign. T say" Shn"
po.ntedly remarks, love your enemies
and to convince You that you should
will now cure this gentleman of cata'
ract," would have been to .Iesus's in
telligence id.otic. So very largely
would II appear to the best thinkers
of the present day. \ m!raCl" does no
prove the truth NJ a rule Of conduct
\. rule OF conduct is proved by its re
suits when tried, However, in :hu'
rlthlossly denying tia Christ a.
poin: to His supcrhu;non powers y'
the sign OF His mission and His an
thori,y Mr.. Shaw ovcrlookS that II.
was dealing with simpie. ignorant folk
likely to be impressed 10y the unusual
AS a matter of fact, IN Matthew ~,
-. when John tho baptist sends {
ask oC III. Christ If He j. r"i'." th'
Messiah, or whether another is a.
+" he awaited. VI. rep,i2': "Gu am
show John again those things NDtci
We do near and see: the blind reco,y.
their sigh; and tt" lame walk, IN
.epcrs are cleansad aud the deaf hear
the dead are raised NJ and tho poo
have the Gospel preached 10 them
Here, then, is "A direct reference Il
miraculous powers as proof Of n divin
mission. But this Mr.. Shaw's fres'
eye overlooked. To him Jesus wa
a communist, an artist, realizing tina
men could only he taught by parable
and stories. He regarded much o
what we should call law and order a
machinery for robbing the poor undo
legal forms; He thought domestic tie
a snare for the soul: He agreed wit
the proverb, THE nearer the Churc
the farther from God: and He plainl
saw that the masters of the Communit
should be its scrvitors and not It's ~,
pressors and parasites, He told us :
love our enemies and added that thos
who drew the sword should perish j.
It.. He showed a great power Of sec
J ing through vulgar illusions and a "a
pacity for a higher morality than an
= civilization has thus far reached.