Evening star., 1928-10-10
PreIate's Former Business
Career Gives Him Broad
Outlook.
LONG A NOTED FIGURE
Devotes Energy to Admins
tration and Building
Cathedral.

victories; the roses of our coming Joy;
the lilies of our approaching peace"
The Bishop of Washington is funda-
mentally an optimist. He does not un-
derstand how true Christian with a
real understanding of the peaching of
Christ can be otherwise for any long
period. There may be interludes of pes
simiSrn, but they cannot exist long in
the light of the great hope and the
great promise.
The Christian world, Bishop Free
man points out, Is just now emerging
from one of these interludes of pes
simism which follow inevitably upon
war He was born in the midst of such
an interlude after the Civil war. Some
thing similar came after the Spanish
War There is abundant evidence of
some such feeling which came after
the Revolution. War breaks down
moral standards and seems to laugh in
the face of Hope. Churches fall upon
evil days. Yet there always is a re-
action when people return once more
to optimism and to God At the pres
ent convention there will be struck
keynote of evangelism which is expect
ed to have a far-reaching effect in the
present reaction.
Speaks as Christian.
Bishop Freeman speaks not as a
member OF a sect, but as Christian.
Sectarian lines mean little to this high
official of one of the oldest of the Chris
tian churches. He numbers among his
friends leaders of all the churches.
But, the bishop was asked, just what
advantage lies in Christianity? We
know that a philosophy of negation,
even absolute atheism, has resulted in
noble and beautiful lives. Take some
of the Greek philosopherS-Mar
Aurelius and Epictetus. What advan-
tage is it for one to be a follower of
Christ rather than follower of one
of these men-so far as moral stand
ards are concerned?
The ethics of Jesus, Bishop Freeman
answered, owe their strength and appeal
not only to their reasonableneSs and
power, but to the living presence of the
man. Christianity is not cold, intel
lectual system of ethics, but dominant,
guiding, eternal personality-the per-
sonality that provides a finer conception
of God than anything else that can en-
ter the mind of man. 1t Is, in sense,
anthropomorphiSm- 1t is probably
necessary to the human race. Man may
admire an abstraction and assent to 1t.
But he needs something more tangible
to love and revere.
We have a constant picture of Christ
in our minds, the bishop pointed out,
but we have no such picture of Marcus
Aurelius, or EpictetuS or Buddha or
Confucius They and their PHILOSOPHERS
are distractions Christ is helper and
friend. His gospel is one that does not
become out of date.
1.-THE gospel as given to men by
IHrie
signed for the present world needs. He
dealt with the intimate problems Of our
common life. He enunciated principles
that touch the very footing stones OF
our economic, industrial and social life.
The comprehensiveneSS Of His teaching
embraces all conditions and eXigencieS
of our complex life. The salvation He
offered to men touches the vital things
of their common world experience. We
have not begun to appreciate in our
most advanced preaching and thinking
the breadth of His vision or the COM
prehensiveness of His ideal for world
betterment."
His Problem Is Practical.
In his own application of Christs gos-
pei in his preaching and pastoral work
Bishop Freeman docs not dwell greatly
OH the hereafter. There is an immediate
and more practical problem-to bring
about a closer approach to heaven here
on earth.
Many OF the early Christians were
| unconcerned with conditions on earth.
They were convinced that worldly
things were of no consequence because
of the imminent setting-up OF Christs
Kingdom where the first should be last
and the last first. The world, at the
best, was an evil place. Why try to
salvage it from inevitable damnation?
If they were spitefully used and per-
secuted it was only for a little while.
This attitude persisted in many quar-
ters when Bishop Freeman entered the
ministry. There was still martyr
complex in humanity. Good Christians
saw no need of improving social condl-
tions. They felt much as the small
boy about taking bath-"What's the
use, when I'll just get dirty again"
The preachers devoted themselves to
the beauty and happiness of the life
hereafter and concerned themselves
little with the misery and squalidnesS
of the life around them. There were
notable exceptions, of course, but this
was a very general attitude. When
fond parents taught little boy to
pray that God would take his soul If
he should die in the night they were
doing their duty. The thing that really
mattered was that the little boy should
60 to Heaven-not the Nightmares
caused by the fixation of the thought of
death in the impressionable mind.
But today. Bishop Freeman feels,
people will not countenance a neglect
of the affairs of this world. They de-
mand that the Christian minister de-
vote good deal of his attention to i'm
proving conditions here and now, in
accord with the spirit of Christ's gospel.
They demand the clearing away of the
slunns. the soothing of pain, the feeding
Of the hungry as well as prayers for
the dying and the dead Thus great
deal of the Bishop of Washingtons
attention has been devoted to the i'm
provement of existing conditions He