Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-05

During the coming quarter our
series of lessons will be topical in char
acter They have been carefully chosen
and have been assigned their logical
! order in their relation to the great
Christian teachings" They have been
selected for the purpose of giving us
a better understanding and apprecia-
ton of the essential teachings of the
Christian faith They commence with
| the Fatherhood of God. which is con-
sidered to be the fundamental basis
of the Lords revelation, and continue
until they eliminate in lesson upon
| the great hope that Christian pos
seSses concerning the future life.
Jesus in his studies of nature found
spiritual message in the material
| universe. that illustrated His vital
teachings. Although last week prom
| inent student and teacher of historical
sociology took a position that has
brought upon him the condemnation
of leaders in the scientific and re-
| ligious world. 1t makes the study of
today quite timely. There is no con-
f1ict between science and religion.
Scientists and theologians may differ
and have differed in their view and
theories. Christianity has always foS-
tered science and much of the ad-
vancement in the realms Of science mas
been due to the work of men who
have had deep religious experiences
Whenever worker i'll the field OF
science has demonstrated as fact
any theory that appears to be an
tagonistic to religion. it usually turns
out to be antagonistic to some views
men have held about religion and not
NrI nyfr
Master has given us body of teaching
that has promoted scientific investi-
CATION and welcomed every discovery
made by science through research, be-
cause their findings have illustrated The
truths of religion and the messages
of the Lord Jesus, They have cor
rected false teachings of men. con-
firmed the Bible and testified to the
truths of the Master.
One of Americas greatest teachers
of theology met the problems present.
ed by the advancement made in Scien-
tific research by answering in the af-
firmative in his book the question Can
believe in God the Father?" A more
recent writer has met the problems OF
the modern mind with his interpreta-
ton of the Divine Fatherhood under
the title 1.-THE Humanity of God" Jesus
found in the human relationship in
the home His greatest revelation OF
God, whom He taught was Our Heav-
enly Father" The kingdom that Jesus
taught was the rule of a Heavenly
Father rather than that of a King.
He met the lodgings of the human soul
to know God by bringing to men a
revelation that He was known best as
Father.
The Fatherhood of God.
Prophets had spoken of Jehovah as
the Father of Israel, but Jesus reveal
ed Him as the Father of the individual
soul. He claimed to be the exclusive
revealer of God to men. mo man
knoweth the Father save the Son. and
he to whomsoever the Son willeth to
reveal him" In making this revelation
of Jehovah to men, our Lord did not
contradict any conception that men
had or could obtain of God from
nature. philosophy, history or prophecy.
They are only partial, but in the family
circle Jesus found the best possible
revelation of the personality of God.
It helped men to grasp the depths Of
His love and understand His service
for them when Jesus tried to impress
upon them the relationship that ex-
listed between all believers and God. as
Father.
The fact that Jesus frequently
spoke of God as my Father" and
"your Father" and often spoke Of
Jehovah as "the Father" has been the
foundation for the theory that He
taught that God is the Father OF all
mankind. This is an error, for when
some of His hearers insisted that ne
cause they were descendants of Abra-
ham they were Gods children, the
Master emphatically denied their claim
and told them very plainly that they
were the children of Satan and not OF
God. No one has the right to claim
the fellowship with God unless he has
in his heart love for Him as Father,
recognizes Jehovah as his Heavenly
Father and tries to live life of
obedience to His word in his daily life
and labor Not until men commence to
take the teachings of Jesus about the
Fatherhood of God more seriously will
they come to enjoy their privileges as
His children.
God is not the Father of those who
refuse to recognize His authority and
rule. by declining to do His will and
work in the world. In this winsome
parable of 1.-THE Prodigal Son. our
Lord taught us the love of the Father
/ for the hayward and wandering. IF
they are disobedient and misuSed His
| gift of freedom to practice moral eVn,
which He hates, still He unchangeably
holds toward them the attitude of a
| true Father. He will not let
| them go into sin unwarned or unpun-
| iShed. And He expresses 1t further by
seeking, at the most of immeasurable
Self-sacrifice, to bring back those VINO
| have gone astray from Him. Both the
sternness and compassion OF God are
patcrnal."
Faith in the FatherhoOd.
ITO as many as receive Him, to
| them Christ gave the right to become
| the son of God" He spoke of the
privileges of being sons of the Father
and concerning the Fatherhoods love,
protection, and partnership with us in
the affairs of this world to encourage
us to prove our faith by living as
children of the Heavenly Father. He
spoke so that believers could have the
peace of God within them and the
power of the Holy Spirit to do Gods
| will Six times in the few verses select
| ed from our Lords maSterful sermon
on the mount. He urged His disciples
not to be anxious.
He had presented to them their re-
lation to others, just preceding His
| injunctions to them concerning prop
erty Men allow their desire for prop
erty to precede their wishes for per-
sonality like that of Christ. Jesus
sought to impress upon His followers