Article January 3, 1920 Issue

Signs of the Times

with contributions from David H. Fouse, Karl P. Harrington

[David H. Fouse in Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colo.]

Some trust in strikes, some in state troops, some in Federal battalions. No one nor all together will avail in settling present troubles. We are in the midst of a spiritual revolution and no physical force can determine its outcome. Such forces may help or retard; but the powers that determine such issues are subtle and invisible. For these the church stands. If any institution ought to speak in clear and certain tones it is this vicegerent of the divine. It is evident that she has become vitally interested in human affairs. She can no longer be charged with other-worldliness. A score of her divisions have recently spoken in favor of unionism, collective bargaining, and other forms of human rights. Her humanitarian elements would prompt such action. There is a deeper need that she must supply. It is an interpretation of the Christ that will appeal to the men of November, 1919. He needs to be revealed as a very real help in these times of trouble.

The times call for the voice of God speaking to distraught men. The times cry for some power that is superior to all the devices that the warring factions know. Christ is the term of such power, a power so unlike those that men are accustomed to use that they are contemptuous of its efficiency and they rail at its methods. Above the jeers, above the jangles of angry men, the voice of the church should be heard, calm and distinct. In the welter and sweat she should carry the demonstration of a power that is superior to all physical forces that labor and capital can muster, and with which both will triumph gloriously. The church ought to be the spiritual expert in the world and the spiritual is the center and heart of all else.

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