The Washington herald., 1922-04-29
BRYAN DESCRIBES
HOW PEACE IS TO
COME TO WORLD
Love Will Lead to Rival.
ries in Helpful Serv-
ice, He Says.
By WILLIAM ]. BRYAN.

Would you know how world love
and Justice Is to come?
Then turn to Isaiah. He was
pre-eminently the prophet Of
peace. and in the two extracts
from his great book which we
shall consider today he brings his
wonderful gift of imagery to bear
upon this subject OF supreme i'm
portance to the world.
These extracts are from the
second and eleventh chapters. I
shall take the liberty of transpos-
ing the quotation and refer to the
second quotation first.
Isaiah speaks of the coming of
the Messiah; He Is to be of the
seed of Abraham and a descendant
Of Jesse and David. "And the
spirit Of the Lord shall rest upon
him, the spirit Of wisdom and un-
Outstanding. the spirit OF counsel
and might. the spirit Of knowl-
edge and of the fear Of the Lord"
The word spirit" is here used
four times and to this spirit Is
We often hear the critics of the
Bible finding fault with the word
fear" We are told that 1t is a
narrow religion that teaches fear:
that love should be a sufficient
inducement to Righteousness.
Strange that the worshippers of
nature should overlook the fact
that fear Is written upon every
page of natures book.
The Beginning Of Wisdom"
Fire is essential to human life,
and yet we fear fire. We are
afraid to thrust a hand into the
fire or to allow fire to escape
from mans control.
The air is necessary TO life, and
yet we fear the air when the wind
rises to a certain velocity. The
air in the form of a cyclone or
hurricane is as destructive as fire
unconfined.
And so with water. 1t is the
daily need Of every living thing.
and yet 1t may take our lives
when II comes in the form Of a
food or we go into 1t beyond our
depth.
Why not bring an indictment
against nature for exciting fear?
Why should the very things that
sustain life and give us the
physical pleasures that we know
become so deadly when their wrath
Is aroused?
~ Little Child Shall Lead Them"
The coming Messiah was not to
be dependent upon the avenues OF
Information upon which ordinary
mortals have to rely. A human
judge learns by sight and by ear,
but the Messiah could not be de-
pendent upon seeming things. He
shall not Judge after the sight of
His eyes, neither reprove. after the
hearing of his ears" He would
have an insight into the truth. even
the spirit of wisdom, and OF under
standing and of knowledge. He
would judge the poor with right
eousness and "reprove with equity
for the meek OF the earth"
Throughout history the. righteous
judge has been described as the
one who does justice to the poor.
II was one of the proofs that
Christ gave of His Messiahship-
"the poor have the gospel preached
to them"
The Blessings Of Peace.
Isaiah puts the Messiah upon a
world throne. He shall judge
among the nations. and shall re-
buke many people Then follows
the oft quoted picture Of peace uni
versal and perpetual:
And they shall beat their
swords into plowshares. and their
spears into pruning-hooks: nations
shall not lift up sword against ma
ton. neither shall they learn war
any more"
DR.. Jowett calls attention to the
fact that reform does not cause a
diminution OF energy, but rather a
diversion of energy from destruc-
ton to construction. The metal in
the swords is valuable; it is not to
be consigned to the waste pile. but
to be employed for the benefit of
mankind. The plowsharc is the
symbol of the labor of the agri-
culturist just as the pruning hook
represents the tools of the or
chard. There will be more food
when there is less war-thc bless
ings of peace will be more satisfy
ing than the triumphs OF the bat
tleheld.
We are often asked what substi-
tute will be found for war; what
Will stir men to heroic deeds. There
are some who go so far as to ar
que that man is so slothful and in
dolent that nothing less than fear
OF immediate death will bring forth
maximum effort. as IL man would
degenerate without an occasional
opportunity to shed his brothers
blood!
Rivalries In Helpful Service.
No warrant for such a base phi
losophy can be found in history,
sacred or profane. II killing were
necessary for mans highest devel-
opment governments would make
provisions for it. We would have
commissions empowered to examine
men and permit a return to saw
agery whenever IL was necessary to
insure civilization. But instead of
that we have a law against MUIR
der among all people and under all
governments.
When the hatred that leads to
war is banished, love will lead to
rivalries in helpful service to man.
kind.
While the government is, each
day. in control of the people Their
living. Is is, in a much larger sense
composed of generations rather
than of individuals. Its life Is con-
tinuous; as one generation passes
of the stage another comes on. As
there is no break in the chain OF
generations there is no necessary
reason why a future government
should be weaker or worse than the
present, unless there is some neces-
sary rason why future generations