HE HAS NOT COMMISSIONED US.
By Editor
No true Christian reform is accomplished by violence or war. Wherever the bloody hand has thrust itself into the struggle as an auxiliary to righteousness, the cause of Christianity has suffered. One great object-lesson stands out upon the pages of the history of the Reformation,—Zwingle's recourse to the sword in the emancipation of Switzerland. Had he stood free from that as did Luther, we believe he would have wrought a mightier work. And there are many other lessons besides the direct instruction of the Word. Yet notwithstanding this our National Reform friends tell us that the message of blood is the message of reform, and that Christ is in this work. For instance, an article in the Christian Cynosure of October last, by J. M. Foster, a minister of the Gospel, a National Reform lecturer, has this to say:— "The cancer of the secret empire is now threatening our nation's existence. It is ripe for removal. The anarchistic orders are one deep root. Jesuitry is another root, Masonry is another. All the roots must be torn out. It will be a painful and bloody operation. But it must be done. The nation's life is at stake. The race-war in the south is another cancer. It must be taken out. Men say it can never be removed. But the King of kings is already here, and His two-edged sword is already drawn, and He is ready for the bloody work. It must be taken out in the shedding of blood. He shall give them blood to drink, for they are worthy. The King of kings must be honored." (Italics ours.) We have no defense to make for secret orders. Jesus Christ said, "I spake openly to the world, and in secret have I said nothing." But the Christian religion is antagonistic to secret organizations, it places in the hands of its children no carnal weapons with which to destroy them. For Jesus also said, "My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight; . . . but now is My kingdom not from hence." Let the church reveal the true social side of her divine humanity, benevolence, and helpfulness, and she would at least keep all these things out of the church, and present to the world a truer life than any of the secret societies could. War and strife will come. Oppression and wickedness will reap their reward. The great battle of Armageddon will redden the earth with myriads slain, but true Christianity will have no part in that war. Jesus Christ will not lead forth these armies. And when the just wage of wickedness is paid, it will not be by saints wading through blood. That is not our commission to this world.