Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-18

OPPOSITION unified the early church.
Difficulties drove them to prayer. Inc
multitude of them that believed" under
the leadership of the Holy Spirit real
lied their oneness. They were q united,
compact, and consecrated Independent
body, free from the direction OF the
great council, with lone heart and soul.
The opposition failed to disturb the
strong sense of brotherhood that leveleo
all inequalities of wealth, for the mem
bers pooled their resources, so that they
had all things common.
Flint has pointed out that this COM
munity Of goods was the seed Of social
ism. The ethics of most forms Of mod
ern socialism differ from that OF the
early Christians. because they lack the
spiritual tie which characterized the
Apostolic Church. In practtcing this
community Of goods they were follow
ing the example Of the Essences. the one
religious sect Of Jews with whom Jesus
never clashed I'm Egypt there was a
Jewish sect called the Therapeutic
whose members disposed Of all their
possessions before they united with the
sect. Evidently the expenses Of the
Apostolic College and their gifts to the
poor were disposed by Judas, who
served them as treasurer.
ligion Of Jesus has been the principal
factor in the development Of civiliza-
ton Back Of the charitable program
of every modern city or community one
can trace the influence Of the practice
of the early church In their care for
the widows and orphans. Aristides re-
ported to the Emperor Hadrian the
Christians benevolence OF that period.
They rescue the orphan from him
who does him violence, and he who has
gives to him who has not, without
grudging. And if there is man among
them who Is poor or needy and they
have not the abundance of necessarie5,
they fast two or three days that they
may supply the needy with their neces-
sary food" Probably the punishment
cfA Ananias and Sapphire. who tried to
secure the favor of the church by pre-
tending that they were giving their all,
when they had kept back part of the
proceeds from the sale Of their property,
taught the members OF the church that
God proposed to keep His church clean.
The gifts to the church were all volun-
tary, not compulsory. This beautiful
feature Of the life OF the Jerusalem
church was not continued in other
churches. 1t had been a source OF cor
ruption and division.
Sharing Responsibilities.
Among the thousands who had united
with the mother church in Jerusalem
at Pentecost and afterward were many
Jews of the dispersion. Then, as now,
the Hebrews were the most exclusive
and the most widely dispersed people
among the nations They were the
representatives of the true God among
the pagan races Of that day. Although
there existed seine antagonism between
ones, yet the latter were generous
been not only to their own but to all
faiths, especially to the temple. Some
of the prejudice of the home Jews
against the Hellenists was found in the
early church. Their experience and
education gave them a position OF in
'fluence among the members of the first
Christian body of believers. which per-
haps caused the Apostles to pay notice
to the "nurmurings" that threatened
to divide the membership, because the
Hellenists complained about the ne
elect of the Hellenistic widows in the
distribution of the relief funds. The
Apostles proposed to the church that
they select seven deacons, who would
take over the care of the poor, so that
the IL could devote their whole at
tention to preaching the Gospel
The election resulted in the choice
of Hellonists to take charge OF the
administra ton Of the relief work OF
the church. They were marked men
fitted for the task as servants OF the
living Christ for they were "of honest