p. 515 | Morality by S. S. Times

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Aug 26, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 33.

Morality.

By S. S. Times

How prone even Christians are to separate morality from religion, in their ordinary speech concerning the character and conduct of their fellows. To say that a man is of good moral character, is commonly understood as meaning that he has never been in jail, and that the grand jury would have no ground for a bill of indictment against him. It is not supposed to include any reference to his recognition, or his performance, of his duty to God, but only to cover his relations to his fellows. Yet it is common, on the other hand, to speak of the ten commandments as “the moral law,” although the first four of these commandments look Godward, rather than manward. When our Lord was asked, Which is the great commandment in the law?—in the moral law—he answered unhesitatingly, that man’s duty to love God supremely was “the first and great commandment.” How, then, can a man be called a truly moral man while he makes no pretense of obeying the first and the greatest requirement of the moral law? It certainly is to a man’s credit that he is not a liar, a thief, or a murderer; but that, in itself, does not make him a truly moral man—S. S. Times.