Is the World Getting Better?
ON a recent Sunday, Rev. D. S. Phelan, LL.D., the editor of the "Western Watchman," the leading Catholic paper of the Middle West, gave a discourse on the subject, "Is the World Getting Better?" At the outset of his talk he said: "People claim that the world to-day is not as good as it was; that men are getting worse and worse all the time. Well, I don't think we are getting any worse, but certainly we are not getting better very fast. What is the reason? This is the question of questions: What is the reason that men do not become better, when all men approve the best?" Mr. Phelan begins his answer to these queries by saying: "Well, we are dealing with two beings when we treat with man. Man is part god, and he is part brute. And when you link them together, when you put them under the same yoke, it is idle to ask why the divine in man does not go ahead; rather should we ask why the brute in him holds back. He can not go ahead unless both yoke-fellows go together. That is the secret. Man does approve what is right; man does love the truth; but he has a yoke-fellow, a brute, that does not love what is good, and actually hates what is true. And he can not go ahead unless he can drag this brute companion of his along with him. But he can drag that brute. He is the master. True, he has two natures: but one is higher than the other; and man can command the brute; man can chastize the brute; he can spur the brute on; he can compel the brute. And when you would answer the question, why men are not more religious, you have simply to inquire why they do not bring that brute to do their bidding." It is a very easy matter from the foregoing paragraph to get an idea that is wholly out of harmony with Scripture. To say that "man is part god," and spell god with a small "g" as Mr. Phelan does, is quite indefinite. But in his next sentence he speaks of "the divine in man," which would indicate that he thinks that man in his natural state is part God. Such utterances are quite out of harmony with these words of the apostle Paul: "For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not." Rom. 7:18. Mankind, apart from the real conversion that comes thru Christ, has ever been prone to believe that he had some good thing in him, no matter how depraved he might be. But the foregoing text plainly says that in mankind "dwelleth no good thing." That is God's presentation of the matter, and God is always right. The impulses that sinful man has to do right; the voice within him that always approves of things that are excellent; his "lofty ambitions" and things of a like nature, are not evidences that man is part "god" (or that he is part God, either), or that there is something divine in his sinful being; all these inner promptings to goodness are the evidences that God Himself is at work by His Spirit on each heart, striving to get man to surrender the wrong, sinful self, and turn to the Lord for the power of cleansing from all this evil, and also for the divine power to do the right. The man who will yield to this voice from the Lord will find that it is not necessary for him to continually trail the "brute" nature after him all thru his life. The "brute" may be completely destroyed thru the almighty power of the Christ of God. It is not necessary to continually torture one's self and to inflict ceaseless rounds of penances in order to "chastize," harass, subject, and weary the "brute." The thing to be done is to surrender unconditionally to Christ, and in the mighty power of His righteousness the "brute" is put to death; and by the exercise of faith and prayer and a constant study of the divine word of God the "brute" may be ever held in the chains of death, so that the Christian may constantly enjoy the strong and pure life of right-doing. But all this glorious work is accomplished by the power of God, and not by man exercising what he mistakes for a divine principle within himself. In another part of his discourse Mr. Phelan said: "Now I love a fighter. I love war. I believe in war, because I believe in manhood. And as long as men will believe that there is for them something more precious than life, so long will there be war in this world. You ask how long war will continue? I answer, as long as there will be true men in the world; men who regard truth as more precious than property; who will regard purity as more precious than gold; who will regard honor as more precious than life. And as long as you have men in this world who will respect truth and honor and purity more than life, so long will you have war." From the standpoint of a man of this world who looks to this world as the great center of his ambitions, the foregoing quotation is sound. But where does the teaching or practice of Christ authorize any such utterances in His name? Certainly the foregoing utterance from the doctor is not in harmony with the text which says: "Then they came and laid hands on Jesus, and took Him. And behold, one of them that were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and smote the servant of the high priest, and struck off his ear. Then saith Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into its place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." Matt. 26: 50-52. Or how can his utterances concerning war be made to harmonize with the following statements of the Master in His great inaugural address, His sermon on the mount? "Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." "Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy: but I say unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. For if ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the Gentiles the same?" Matt. 5:38-47. There is higher ground for the Christian to stand upon than the ground of the soldier whose sole object is to kill and to destroy. There are more powerful weapons than the sword and spear of the arm of flesh. The Christian soldier is ever and always to say: "For tho we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds); casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience shall be made full." 2 Cor. 10:3-6. Fighting for Moral Victories.
These Bible statements all show that the work of the Christian is to get moral victories; his work is to develop character that is in harmony with the life and example of the Lord Jesus. The life of the Christian is to be built upon the solid foundation of righteousness, and not carved out with the sword. "The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh," but they are nevertheless "mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds." The weapons of the Christian's warfare do not carry him onto the bloody field of carnage, but they draw him instead into that place where mind and heart are yielded to the power of God, and to the peaceful, the mighty, influences of His Spirit. Is Universal Peace Possible?
Many people have been teaching in these times that we are coming to a time in this world when men will no longer go to war to kill each other with the rifle and the sword. But with the teaching of strong men in the Catholic Church to the contrary, the work of securing such a peace in this world is not very promising. The whole history of the Catholic Church is closely linked with the intrigues and maneuvers of politicians. She has always worked to get hold of the civil power to subordinate it to the uses of her church. Her strongest men are, and ever have been, most masterful politicians. She is, and ever has been, on the alert to use every bit of her influence to help her to dominate in the politics of the nations of earth. And since this is her history and character it is perfectly natural that she should pay her tributes of homage to the forces of war. We say these things in the terms of highest respect to the individuals who compose the Catholic body. The most of the members of that church were born and reared under the influences of her teachings. But it is due to even the Catholics themselves that they should closely compare the teachings of the men in her church with the teachings of Jesus Christ. For it is by the words of the Bible that men will be judged, and not by what any church teaches. T.