Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-12
DISCUSSED BY

what if the apostles were mistaken on
this point?
A. Truths have relative importance
To place all parts of the literature
called the Bible on an equal level, thus
making Chronicles as necessary as the
words of our Lord, is an unreasonable
process long since discarded by intelli-
gent students of Holy Writ st. Paul
used the Genesis document for purposes
of illustration, but he never intended
that his great fifteenth chaper of l Co
rinthians should depend for its validity
on Genesis.
The first part of that early document
was written by Hebrew poet to de-
scribe creation and the mysterious ORR
gin of sin in the world, but whatever
its origin was sin Is a tremendous fac
tor, and how to get rid of it is the bur-
den of the apostles argument. This
proceeds on foundation of strong his
toric gertrude and has the sanction of
our actual experience. Countless mil
lions have conquered sin in the life
giving strength OF Jesus the Christ. His
resurrection is spiritually repeated in
all believers who are crucified with
Christ to sin and live with Him to
righteousness.
How else can We account for the per-
petual miracle of His consciously felt
presence in human souls, for the rise of
the Christian church. for the writing of
the New Testament and for the growth
OF a civilization in which Christ is rec
ognized as the mightieSt among the
holy and the hottest among the mighty?
urge you TO apply sound sense, the
historic spirit and the witness of your
own heart to your interpretations of the
sacred writings.
@. Is Socialism a religion?
A. In the StricteSt sense Socialism Is
not a religion. In fact, it teaches that
religion is personal matter. A man
may be an atheist, a Buddhist, a Mo-
mammalian, TheoSophiSt or a Chris
tan, and still be a Socialist. Or he may
all other forms of faith and still be a
Socialist.
Some advocates of this economic
creed arrive at it by one route; some
by another. Not a few declare they
found in Christ's Christianity the in
splratlon which first drew them to the
Socialistic movement. 1t is significant
that those leaders who associate it with
spiritual and religious ideals have usual
ly followed this course. Among these
are Ramsay Macdonald, Phillip Snow
oon and Arthur Henderson, all of
whom began their public careers as
pronounced Christians.
should you ask, however, if there is a
reAglon OF Socialism, the answer is that
many or Its adherents conceive it in
exalted terms constituting it their work.
ing faith Yet brief reflection should
convince you that Judaism and Chris
tlanlty are infinitely bigger than Social
Ism, Liberalism, Conservatism, Democ-
racy, Republicanism or any other polit-
lcal and economic party or theory. Man
must nave his political allegiances, but
ne cannot live by them alone. His soul
demands bread which earth does not
produce The lasting solution of the
problems confronting society is hopeless
apart from the spiritual freedom of a
great religious dynamic.
Mr.: H. M. Hyndman, the eminent
io socialist, confessed just before
ne oled that his old notion of Social
ISM as an ethical faith for collective
humanity was utterly inadequate, IT
| USED TO think" he said, that social
democracy would take the place of re-
Eglon, but now see that human beings
want something more"