The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1919-06-26
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
Especially Prepared For Readers Of
The Republican.

L Will praise IHeSy " LOTu my GOU,
with my whole heart. Psalm 86:12.
U. S. WRIGHT.
CIVILIZATION BUILDERS.
The lesson has presented blue
print of worthy civilization. They
have largely concerned themselves
with the foundation upon which the
structure must rest while other de-
tails of the building are reserved for
the lessons that follow. The first
great buttress is a personal God act
uated by the spirit of sacrifcial good
will. Four weeks were occupied in
making that winsome picture COM
plete in which whatever the man.
Hesitation always all of God was pre-
sent. There is no absentee Deity
whether the Name be Father, Son
or Spirit. The Moslem civilization
rests upon a personal God but devoid
of justice or goodwill so that sac
rifce is impossible. The Hmdoo con-
ception makes our Moral characters
superior to the moral character of
the Hindoo Gods" Buddhism pre-
sents existence as an evil that must
be lost before man reaches his high
est so that God becomes a spiritual
quagmire. Confucianism lives in the
realm of legal relations but has no
personal Maker of them. With good
in every faith there is yet no real good
in any faith that does not inhere in
Christianity. The second buttress is
man as free person worthy to be-
come the partner of God in the carry
ing on the moral order No civiliza-
ton can live that does not respect the
individual regardless of age or sex.
The moral passion of the world
famed against a Prussianism that
makes manhood cannon-fodder and
a Bolshevism that degrades woman
hood into the tool of man. Exploited
childhood, degraded womanhood.
caste or class prominence based
upon birth or the economic condition
becomes mere rotten rock that crum-
bles under the building so that its
fall is certain as the sun. The third
recognized the price of personal free
dom and plans for its payment. God
took a tremendous risk when He left
man free, but without that possibility
he never could have risen. But hav-
ing so made him God could not leave
him without a chance for restoration
and remain a moral God. Grace
opens door of return for repentant
sons. Civilization that does not make
any such provision is doomed in its
beginning. What would have been
the outcome of the present war if
after the detection of the Confed-
eracy no provisions had been worked
out for it's restorationas an honored
part of our national life? To
deny Germany the possibility
of restorationto the family
of nations would be a glazing denial
of the plan of God. God made sin
possible but He over balanced it with
the glory of victorious manhood and
this must be inwrought in any plan
of personal, national or international
life. The last buttress that the les
sons have given is the spirit of per-
sonal relationships existing between
man and man or man and God.
Faith is fundamental in any social
world. Obedience to rightful laws.
communication with the supreme
moral authority which we call Father
and an attitude of love toward every
other person must be included in the
program of any world that expects
to live. Thus thru the quarter we
have been learning civilization build
ing in the study of the ideas which
must be included in any lasting order.
Doctrines are not then a creation of
meaningless formulas to be swollow
ed by credulous followers but are the
laws of the social or spiritual world
as gravitation is one of the laws of
the physical world.
PRIMARY TOPIC: SELECTED
STORIES RETOLD. Memory VS..
John 14:15.
A variety of stories have been told
many of them differing from the text
for older pupils. Perry or Wilde offer
pictures that for few pennies will
give the pupils something to see and
may become rewards for the work
done The picture roll will aid if it is
used. The lessons relate themselves
to the religious nature of the child
and they should retell some of the
favorites learned during the Sundays.
Keep within the reach of the child's
knowledge of home and prayer, kind
ness and obedience, presenting good
ness as the most attractive thing in
the world.
JUNIOR TOPIC: SOME THINGS
WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT GOD.
Mpn1nrIy We Tobv