Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-08-16

Already the war has changed the
! Church. 1t has taught her how &c
create new machinery for dealins
with the needs of the armies, and II
has quickened in her afresh the
| Christ-spirit of solicitude for man
kind. Consider what 1t means thai
there is not single unit or the
armies of Britain and America, larg-
er than a company, that is not at this
! moment receiving the helpful and di-
rect attention OF the agents or the
| Church. We sometimes overlook the
magnitude of the war work done by
I Christianity. Every regiment has Its
| chaplains. These men are doing an
| important part of the army,s WORK,
| under the recognition and direction
! of the government. I have talked
with chaplains in France, and L can
! testify to their tireless activity, TO
| their broad-minded efficiency, and to
their shepherdly devotion and catho-
! lie spiritual solicitude.
All the world knows what the Y
J NJ. z. \. is doing in France, ana IN
the training camps. This is done IN
the spirit of the Church, and as her
| representatives. 1t is an innovation,
/ and on a colossal scale. which is
bound to make all Christian hence
forth think in larger terms OF reli-
.
II has revealed the possibilities or
practical ministry TO men in the
name and mind of Jesus. Soldiers &C
cept this beautiful service OF the I.
NJ. c. 4. as being the work or the
Church. They understand the rellg-
lou spirit back of it all. Its toler-
ance, comprehensiveness freedom
from consciousness and practcal
character. appeal to them as oeing
true to the genius OF Christianity.
Anybody who says that tie Church
is out of date and ineffective mas
only to look upon what she Is dolnS
in France to-day, in order 10 nave
his notions revised.
That service flags fly from pracu-
cally every Church in the land, ana
that the pulpits are putting heart
and conviction and patience into our
patriotism. and that helpful war
work of many kinds is done in and
from the Church, are clear proofs OIL
the vital quality of the Church in
our land and time.
4 Look in the Large
AS a background to our thinking.
let us take a long, large look. we
are most of US accustomed 10 think
ing only in terms OF our village or
neighborhood churches, and of our
how old and widespread is the Chris
tian Church. II is not even confined
to the Protestant and Roman Cathol-
ic bodies. I have personal acQuaint-
ance with the Greek Church, which
includes the Russian and kindred
groups; with the Gregorian, or
Armenian. Church; with the Nestor-
ian Church and its off-shoots: and
with the Coptic Church Of Egypt. All
of these bodies date back TO within
three centuries of the Apostolic age.
Even the person who knows
only the surface of history under
stands how the Christian Church has
been the conserver of civilization, in
the dark days of human history. The
Roman Church saved civilization in
the West, fro mthe Goths and the
Vandals: and the Greek Church
saved il in the East, from the Tar
tars and MoslemS. At the present
hour. when craft, materialiSn, self
interest and military power, ffoulnS
the spirit of Christianity, are seek
ms TO dominate all humanity, it is
the Christian Church which has held
steadily TO the fore the ideal OF
righteousness and brotherhood. to be
maintained even at the cost OF
/ blood.
Age is not the only claim of the
Church in reverence. Her far-flung
magnitude has no rival or peer. How
small and local seem even the great
est of the fraternal organizations
when contrasted with the band OF
brothers founded by Jesus. There is
not a single nation on earth, with
the possible exception of interior
Thibet and Afghanistan, and some
of the tribes in middle Arabia, where
nf
may not be found. At times and in
places the Church has been pervert-
ed and palsied, but withal she is the
most beneficent, as well as the most
widespread institution on earth.
About one-third Of all the people liv-
ing to-day are nominally Christian.
No nation is either so large or so old
as the Christian Church - for the
continuity of China and Japan is
racial, rather than governmental, the
national forms having changed.
"Oh where are kings and empires
now,
OF old that went and came?
But, Lord, Thy Church is praying
A thousand years the same.
For not like kingdoms of the world
Thy holy Church, o God;
Though earthquake shocks are
threatening her,
And tempests are abroad.
"Unshaken as eternal hills,
Immovable she stands,
4 mountain that shall fill the earth,
A house not made by hands"
Tile New Good Society
Now that all thinking persons are
looking forward to a reconstruction
of the social order, we are bound to
contemplate the place of the Church
in the new scheme of things. All
our problems are problems of human
relationship. The question is one of
men and women getting along to-
gether in kindlier, pleasanter, more
brotherly fashion. Wise men tack
bfz rap,es On ~ what we want. but