Arizona republican., 1916-05-29
The Divine Mission of War
 Sermon G@ Civil War Veterans

divine principles which purify the heart, transform society and cleanse human government. But-and here is the principle that l insist upon-when these silent and admittedly beneficent forces have proven inefficient, because on the selfishness and blindness of men. God has used sterner measures with which to punish his enemies, dis cipiine his friends, and work out his ideal
 Viewed thus. we may speak of The Divine Mission of War" without re- flectins on the justice or love or wis dom of God. any more than we reflect mon his character when we speak or the divine mission of the mlShty sup- terranean forces that have shaped the facn Q; the globe. Viewed in thls llsht' if ;s as legitimate for God to use war as an agency for the accomplishment of his plans, as it is for a lather to defend his a,-1ily or punish hls chlid, or for a nation i, guard it's life ana rights or lnflict punlshmeI.- v. fo, zens, We do right to oppose Wa. | it is an unspeakable evil; but we should oppose it chiefly by assailing the prin- ciples and passions that give 1t birth, and by eXalting the moral sentiment of mankind until there shall be no occa- l sion for war. rather than by condemn | Ing 1t as unnecessary and ut1christian under all circumstances. If humanity l had responded to Gods milder meas ures, war would have been unneces- l sary in every case: but when men
 have refused to listen to the gentle voice of God speaking through their enlightened intellects. their quickened
 conscienees. their nobler impulses, they
 have been compelled to obey his voice speaking in the thunder tones of war. 1 Do not misunderstood fle. 1 ain not iustifyins all war. or saying that God has been pleased with any war or is
 responsible for any war. l am simply saying that when the stubbOrnness or sinfulness of man or nation has pre- | cipitated war, or mace war inevitable
 or necessary, God has used War to
 work out his purposes. Through War
 have come to this nation, for example the blessings of liberty and union. as
 every schoolboy knows; but these
 blessings are simply means to an end.
 Gods ultimate object is manhood the
 moulding of mankind into the likeness
 of Jesus Christ, the perfect man, and finally the establishment of His king
 dom on the earth, when we shall have
 a type of manhood in which each indi-
 vidual shall do unto others as he would
 be done by, and shall do Gods will even
 as it is done in heaven. My c0nten=
 tion is that God hates to force mankind
 along the highway that leads to this
 ultimate goal. Our feet ought to have
 walked therein gladly, but when they
 have halted and refused to go on God
 has quickened our pace by the roar of
 cannon and the clash of steel Man
 kind, not God, has consciously or un-
 consciously made the whr certain, but
 God has often used it, hellish as the
 thing itself may have been. to force
 mankind along the upward climb to-
 ward humanity's ultimate goal.
 Go back with me a moment and see
 if I am not right
 In Greece and Rome political phil
 osophy conceived of the individual as
 living for the state, rather than fol
 HAflStAl HE SAdAc was everything, Iff
 individual nothing. except as he con.
 tributed to the advancement Of tht state. To the Hebrew race was giver to feel the fatherhoOd of God, in the : very heart of which truth rests tn. } brotherhood of Man. All men wer. 7 equal. But their government, whicl on the manward side was a libera : democracy, the Hebrews soon change, 5 into a monarchy, and this speedily be came a spiritual despotism. in whicl l the Brotherhood of Man was ignored and the leaders claimed the right 0 : thinking for the people
 9 Then came the Man of Galilee. a. r James Russell Lowell says, "the frs
 true democrat that ever breathed," de : claring with clearness and firrnnes 5 never heard before, the equality of mar ! The individual was worth more tha, s all the world besides He had a righ r to think and act for himself. and Wa { responsible to a Power higher tha ;. church or state. The nation of polit 2 ical imperialism and the nation of spir Il itual absolutism united in hanging tn l, Son of Man on the cross; but in thej d blindness and rage they knew not tha 2 they were agencies of the Almight, t who, through this deed of violenc, Q was giving his sword a charge to striI,