[From the Church of Scotland Magazine, Edinburgh, Scotland]

If the world to-day is, as some believe, poor in spiritual gifts, if the spiritual revival which earnest men have been looking, praying, and laboring for does not come, still it might be well to remember that the Spirit of God is always at work in the world and in the hearts of men. Despite all the indifference that is rampant towards spiritual things, it might be well to remember that the world was never so rich as it is to-day in the practice of distinctively Christian virtues. The world is less cruel, less harsh, less hard than it once was. It is more kindly, more helpful, more sympathetic. Benevolence, charity, pity, and mercy were never so conspicuous, never so active, as they are now. People, even very ordinary people, are not so ready to fall into cruelty and unkindness in speech and in action as they once were. And if they do lapse into such, they are visited often with a sense of shame, even of self-contempt, which was not experienced by people in past days.

Again, there is a very marked and powerful aversion to measuring out to the lawbreaker punishment only: men are straining to find out a more excellent way. To reclaim, to restore the fallen, is a purpose that has taken up a permanent abode in the hearts and horizons of men. This was not by any means always so. The spirit of mercy, and not that of vindictive justice, increasingly reigns. The spirit of Christ and the teaching of Christ are gradually possessing and leavening the lives of men. And if this be so, as it is, then the age in which we live cannot be called a Christless age. ... Mercy and love, patience and faith, are the forces which are effective in the restoration of a human soul. And one of the evidences of the life and power of the religion of Jesus in the world is that these forces are more and more gaining control over the minds and hearts of men. In other words, notwithstanding many signs to the contrary, the world is becoming more Christian.

[From an article by Clarence True Wilson, in the Forum, New York, New York]

How is morality to prevail ... unless it is promoted widely and effectively? The church of Jesus Christ has always been a teacher and inspirer of morality. Religion and morality are closely akin. ... They are not antagonistic, they are not even separate. ... There has never been a nation that had a moral code that could stand up without a religious basis. If there is no fatherhood of God, there can be no brotherhood of man. Men can spin theories of ethics, but they have never made an ethical code that will get itself adopted, or even stand on its own feet, except where they have founded their ethics on the thought of religion. If the church does not promote morality, who will? ... To imagine that Christianity can fulfill its functions and the church carry on its work without ever touching things of a civic nature is to dream of unrealities. It is not evil in the abstract that the church is dealing with, but evils in the concrete. It does not usurp the methods of the state in dealing with them, but by applying Christian teaching and moral power to the problems, it unites its efforts with the state's to get sin out of people's hearts and homes, out of our institutions, and off our streets. One who studies the messages of John the Baptist or the teachings of Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount, or any of his sermons, will be surprised to find how many of the problems that he had to take up were matters of concern to the state as well. This does not mean that we are to do our work by law or by courts or by jails. That is the method of the state. The church is to accomplish the same results by its spiritual teachings, its moral pressure, and its direct prophetic appeals to the intellect, to the sympathies, and to the will. It is not possible that the church and state could be working at the same thing in the same place and not come into relations. The relations should be friendly and helpful. Church and state should cooperate from first to last, and any problem with which we have to do is almost a perfect illustration. ...

What is the mission of the church? It is to make this a better world here and now. It is to do it by preaching the highest possible moral and spiritual ideals. It is to do it by living this life before all the world and amid every opposing tendency. ... It is to do it by massing its moral forces for the betterment of men, for the higher ideals, and by forcing the issues for righteousness whenever the crisis is on; for the church can never stand by in the presence of what it regards as evil and not lend a hand to the struggle of the moral forces to achieve righteousness in the land. It is not only its right and privilege, but a bounden duty to organize for the betterment of the nation.

[From an article by the Ven. Frederick W. Neve, in the Living Church, Milwaukee, Wisconsin]

It may be said that there is a great deal of work being done by scholars in the field of historical and literary criticism, and that many books dealing with these subjects are constantly appearing; but it may also be added that the most important work needed at the present time, and at all times, has to do with the spiritual side of religion, and that no true progress can be made until our scholars give to the spiritual factors of the religious problem a more important place than the intellectual. To say that modern scholarship has come to a certain conclusion, and that therefore that settles the question, is beside the mark; because if the most important factors in the problem are left out of account or given a negligible place, the conclusions arrived at are necessarily defective. Scholars say that we must seek the truth first and foremost, no matter where it may lead us; but if the spiritual factors are not given their proper place and value, the solution arrived at is not wholly true but only partially so. For instance, the Gospels were never intended to afford an opportunity for the display of intellectual gymnastics, but for a purely spiritual purpose; and this purpose should never be lost sight of in the work of investigation. ... Christianity can regain the leadership of mankind; but this can only be brought to pass by the recognition of the fact that spiritual power must be the most important factor in the future progress of mankind, and that while the intellect may serve as a useful handmaid of the spirit it cannot be its master, and that the substitution of intellectual for spiritual power will only lead to disaster, or at any rate delay the coming of the kingdom. Scholarship is well enough in its place, and the church greatly honors those who are seekers after truth, but the need of the hour is the recovery, not of lost manuscripts, giving variant texts of the New Testament, such as would delight the mind and heart of the scholar, but a new birth of the faith which once counted all things as possible and became the influence which regenerated a lost world.

[From the Boston Evening Transcript, Massachusetts]

"Truth as a Practical Issue" was the topic of a sermon delivered in King's Chapel by the Rev. Tertius Van Dyke of Washington, Connecticut. He began by saying that there are many fine signs of the times recognizable to those who regard people and events with an unprejudiced eye. Not least among these is an eager concern for the truth.

"The younger generation, that much maligned group of people, is especially keen on the subject," he said. "A few of them talk as if they were the first to be gripped by the love of reality; but although this does not perhaps represent an adequate historical knowledge, yet it may well be overlooked as we all unite in an insistent demand for truth at any cost. We may even with profit return to a neglected phrase of the Apostle Paul, 'speaking the truth in love,' or, as it appears in the margin, 'delaying truly.' The word which Paul uses should really be translated—if there were such an English word—truthing it—maintaining the truth in the whole of a man's life. Most obviously that means speaking the truth. Superficially it looks simple; actually it is a most difficult art. There is the temptation to conceal the truth for fear of being misunderstood, or to obscure the truth for partisan purposes, or to use involved language to deceive the unskilled, or to treat words as unchangeable counters in the interests of some cherished theory. To speak the truth we must become expert in using words as living symbols of spiritual realities. We must lay aside the arts of demagogue, propagandist, and diplomatist, and speak the truth as clearly as we can understand it. Again, we must cease acting a part, and do the truth. Posing as something else than what we are must stop. Our deeds must witness to truth quite as much as our words. Truth must be incarnated in our lives, and in terms of daily living wield her greatest influence among men.

"But behind words and actions lies another realm which truth must conquer. 'Thou desirest truth in the inward parts,' wrote the Psalmist. Self-deception is the worst of all falsehoods. To cherish delusions, to think or to feel dishonestly, debars truth from word and deed. Above all things we must cherish truth in the secret realm of thought and feeling. To 'truth it'—to speak and do, to think and feel truly—is the basis of happy and serviceable life, but we must truth it 'in love,' for truth apart from love is always an unknowable abstraction."

[From Great Thoughts, London, England]

Better spend your time in doing the little kindnesses within your reach than in dreaming of the great benefactions that are beyond your power. David dreamed of a beautiful temple, but when he could not build it he did not neglect the lowlier task of gathering the material for another to use in building.

[From the Labor News, Long Beach, California]

How we love to criticize! In all walks of life ... we love to criticize. Or a better name is finding fault with others. Criticism has been defined by some authorities as the science of correct judgment. Criticism, when expressing correct judgment, is essential and worth while. Criticism which tears down, destroys,—in other words, just plain fault-finding,—does no one any good, least of all, perhaps, the one who criticizes. It is a trait of human nature to criticize others. However, we should always bear in mind that we are harming ourselves and damaging others, maybe irreparably, by offering criticism on matters upon which we are not qualified to express an opinion and give correct judgment. ... If we always keep in mind that the interests of others are our interests, and that there are several viewpoints and a good many ways of looking at a matter, and if we make an honest attempt to understand the other fellow and study his problem as we should, we shall then be competent to render an opinion that will be constructive and will be a benefit to the one to whom it is offered, and the one giving it.