Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-12-15

is an epilept1C whose fatner was killed
in war six months before the child was
born. His mother prayed that war
might end, and prayed continually
until the boy came. As he grew to
manhood she came to regard him as
a sort of Messiah, and the youth
himself attempted to live the life of
Christ until he came TO believe that
he had possession Of the truth which
would change the evil in the world
into good. He is made TO have n re.
markable influence over a large group
of persons not only through his own
life. but through a great religious
play"
THAT sort of writing always seems
to me nitile," said Doctor McFabre.
"And to me also, under ordinary cir.
cumstances," | admitted; "but in the
present state of the world it deserves
attention because Mr.. Snaith makes
one of his characters, man who had
been crippled at Gallpoli, say that
civilization must not destroy Germany,
but that it owes it to itself to help
Germany. The man had reached this
tolerant view through the influence of
the hero. This Is the spirit of the
book. There is no hope for the world
until the coming again OF the spirit
of Christ. AS q novel it does not
amount to very much, but as a study
in Christian ethics as applied to the
conduct Of affairs it is worth while"
Mr.. Britling' did not amount to
much as a novel. either" said The
Lady.
"That is true said l. THE other
two books l have been reading are not
novels. one is, DO We Need n New
Idea of God?' by a Unitarian clergy
man of Trenton, and the other is THE
Genius of Christ by a Baptist clergy
man who is the professor of English
literature and dean of Colgate Uni
versity."
"Humph." This from Doctor Nc
Fabre. 1.-THE extremes of breadth and
narrowness."
IL do not know about the BREADTH"
said !, "but l disagree with you on the
matter Of narrowness. 1t took a secu-
lar newspaper, the New York Sun, in
the days of Charles a. Dana, to dis.
abuse the minds of it's readers in re-
gard to the question Of Baptist mar
| rowness. That newspaper disputed
| the assertion OF q correspondent that
/ nf hn CT
Church was the Importance Of form
| OF baptism and asserted that that
church rested on the fundamental right
of individual judgment in religious
matters and consequently had no writ
ten creed and no hierarchy of priests
oi bishops to decide for any man what
| he should or should not believe. I am
personally acquainted with a Baptist
clergyman, pastor Of one church for
twenty-five years, who was theolog-
and fine religious spirit and no one
made any trouble for him, either in
his own church or in the association
of churches to which he belonged"
II am glad to hear that" said Doctor
McFabre, but he did not seem to have
much confidence in what said.
The book by the UIitarian--he is
the Rev. Edmund II. Keenan," I went
on. has little or nothing to say of
Christ. save to indicate that other re-
ligions profess to have had their divine
man. Mr.. Keenan, is a deist and he
thinks that the orthodox idea of God
is all wrong. His own thought is that
there is no God who can control war.
that God is the life force of the uni
verse. a sort of an impersonal power
that finds expression in man as the
highest product of natural forces. II
God could have stopped or prevented
the present war he would have done
SO, says Mr.. Keenan,. | confess that /
have profound admiration for the in
tellectual conceit Of man who can
make such an assertion. There is in
volved in it the assumption of the
finite mind to comprehend the pur-
poses of the Infinite. OF course, Mr..
Reeman may agree with Mr.. Wells
that God is not infinite. and If so there
may be some excuse for him. But
otherwise my remark about conceit
must stand. His book will not appeal
to orthodox Christians such as you,
Doctor"
IF you describe 1t correctly it Ger.
tainly will not" said he.
J But there are many persons not
connected with the churches and out
of sympathy with them who could
read 1t with great benefit" / went on.
There is a religious spirit in 1t and a
feeling after the truth which in spite
Of its defects makes it inspiring and
helpful. Even the orthodox might
read it with profit. for it will help
them to understand that there are
earnest and sincere souls in the world
who refuse to be fenced in by any set
formulas and have the audacity tc
doubt even the authority of Christ
Himself as a religious teacher"
II should not recommend it to any
Of my church people" said Doctor Nc
Fabre.
you would recommend The Genius
of Christ to your people, or you ought
to-" said I. "Its author, Doctor Craw.