The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1916-09-22


sisted that the race of mankind is now
in the apostasy referred to in Paul's
second letter to the TheSsalonians in
the use Of the term "a time Of fall
ing away" With very many observ-
ers this falling away has been along
the line of impurity in religious teach
ing. Time was, and not very long
ago either, when in practically all evan
gelical 'pulpits there was never any
question as to the deity Of Jesus
Christ, the inspiration and supreme
authority of the Holy Scriptures, etc..
but such Is not the case now.
But it is not to any such apostasy
that we now wish to refer, and we ask
very earnestly, Is there present apos-
tasy in morals? We are not going to
dogmatize and insist that there is, but
we wish to think Of few things with
reference to the present state of NOR
ais. These thoughts are suggested by
the remarks made by very prominent
Christian leader Of America few days
ago who used this expression: II be-
the words were the expression of "a
heart bowed down with weight of
conviction.
How can we check up on morals?
Christians might start with the law
Of the Christian life-the law of grace
which in itself is the law that pro-
duces the best results; or the Sermon
on the Mount might be in view, which
is below that of the Christian law, anc
above that of the decalogue. The mo-
ment we begin to estimate man from
the Sermon on the Mount we are over
whelmed, for obedience to that law
has very scanty illustration with the
race of mankind as whole, and all
are guilty with respect to the supreme
love to God demanded. But we de-
scend at once to the ten command
ments which are not abrOgated as far
as a general standard Of morals is
concerned.
& The first two commandments deal
with the worship of God. Are not the
words of the text true that men do not
like to "retain God In their knOwl-
edge2" Do they not worship practi-
cally everything else but God? The
third commandment deals with profan-
ity, and while we cannot check up
comparatively, we know that today
the name Of God is most profanely
used by men, and quite sad to say
by large numbers Of women. The idea
of day set apart for the worship Of
the holy God, and separation from the
world, Is now rtdiculed. and such a
day Is practically gone.
Coming to the sixth commandment,
which says "Thou shalt not KILL" let
us pause. Popularity speaking muir
der is put at the head Of the list Of
human crimes, and that Is usually de-
scribed as the taking of the life Of
another unlawfully. Three years ago
it was a common saying that the
brotherhood of man was so far adj
vanced, that the federation Of the
world was so nearly realized, that any
thing like bodies Of men making war
on each other was utterly unthinkable
What is the situation today? A dozen
nations are in the most bloody grip
Of war that the race has ever known {;
the soil of Europe, Asia and Africa
is stained with the blood Of thousands
and tens Of thousands of men, and
while some of the forms Of barbarism
which characterized ancient times are
absent, other things have taken their
places, their object being to destroy
foes by death or MAIN for life.
1t was with reference to the breach
Of the seventh commandment that the
expression of "the reign Of lust" was
made. Evidences of low morals as
to this commandment are somewhat
difficult to obtain with accuracy, but
the annals of the divorce courts; the
large portions of various cities set
apart for the satisfaction of lust; the
steady demand Of the habitues of the
theaters for plays that accentuate
marital infidelity and the exposure of
the persons of women; the advertise
ments of theaters; and other adver-
tisements in many popular pictorial
publications, furnish some evidence
and, probably at the present time as
never before. the style of dress OF a
very large number of women concern
ing which delicacy forbids further re-
mark, reaches climax.
If the breach of the eighth, ninth
and tenth commandments are not COM
paratively as conspicuous as those OF
the sixth and seventh, yet dishonesty,
living and covetousness still carry
down their victims and no man es-
cApes their touch.
Refor,uatory movements of various
kinds; good laws on morals well en-
forced; the rise of public sentiment
against impurity and murderous cru
city of the day, will do much to re-
lieve the situation, but the only ade-
auate and lasting method of public
reform is the power of God given in
the new birth.