Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 9, 1894
Pennsylvania Sunday Observance Laws
By Editor
THE Warren County (Pa.) Sunday Observance Convention, composed of D.D.'s, honorables and reverends, declare in the third plank in their platform "that the laws in the State of Pennsylvania are ample to cover all requirements concerning the sacredness of the Sabbath day, and we earnestly require the enforcement of these laws in all the boroughs within the county." The Lord demands, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." Its sacredness is met only in observing this command. He who does not keep the Sabbath holy does not observe it at all in the sense of the commandment. But the Pennsylvania laws are "ample to cover" that "requirement," we are told. God has commanded it and men do not obey; now Pennsylvania takes God's place, with laws "ample to cover" all needs, and these men require the enforcement of these laws. What presumption! Is it ignorance or madness?
Christianity Not Based on Feeling but Faith.
There are many who believe, or at least this is indicated by many expressions, that Christianity is largely a religion of feeling, emotion, or sentiment; that its chief evidence to its devotees is the feelings which it gives.
It is freely granted that this misconception of Christianity exists among many professed Christians. They are only Christians when they are wrought into an ecstasy of feeling at revivals, under powerful exhortations, or at some warm social meeting. Unless such excitement, incitement, or association continues, the religion wanes. Such religion must necessarily be ephemeral and shallow.
Christianity is based on faith, and faith on God's eternal, omnipotent word. Genuine, lasting faith is absolute submission to God, persistently maintained. The individual yields himself up wholly to God, not only with respect to those things which seem evil in his eyes, but in respect to everything, whether it seem good or whether it seem evil. Christ purchased all, the entire being,—physical powers, mental faculties, the soul's aspirations, the heart's affections,—all, therefore, belong to him. Faith acknowledges God's ownership, and yields all to him.
All the power to accomplish what is required or promised is in that word of God which requires or promises. Does God command to us seeming impossibilities?—There is power in the word to do the command if faith will but submit to do. Does God promise to us a seeming impossibility in the washing away of sin, the creation of a new heart, the infusion of a new life?—There is in the promise the power to do all this, if the sinner will only submit to have it done. "No word from God shall be void of power." Luke 1:37 (R. V.). Faith simply lays hold of the power which is in the word by submitting to the word. The electric car stands on the track dead. The powerful electric current flows along the wire overhead. The order is for the car to move. The motorman makes connection with the current by the trolley, and the car becomes animated with new life, and moves forward. Faith to the Christian is just what the trolley is to the electric car; it connects him with the life of God, the source of power.
The Christian's confidence, it will be seen from the foregoing considerations, is not based on feeling, but on God's word. And that word does not change. Feeling may be absent, emotion may die away, but God's word abides. We are sinners; but Christ purchased us as sinners; and we, therefore, confess our sins and yield all to him. He forgives the sins, for so has he promised. It matters not whether we feel like it or not, the sin is forgiven, because we have submitted to the conditions, we have made connection with the Power which takes the sin away. In that promise we may rejoice. Satan may recall those sins by taunting us with them; we may be grieved by seeing their results before us; dark clouds may at times shut out the light of heaven; but God's word changes not, and our faith rests on the word. The sins are forgiven, for God has spoken.
This faith will be more manifest in the time of trial. The worldling and sinner may walk together in sunlight and prosperity with little to distinguish between them; but let sorrow come, business reverses take place, friends forsake us, our good name be reviled, death remove loved ones from our presence, then it is that faith is tested. He whose hope is based on the seeming, the feeling, the immediate surroundings, will fail, while he whose hope is in the sure promises of God, will stand secure in Christ Jesus. His house cannot fall; it is founded on the Rock. This is genuine Christianity and its basis. Would there were more of it.
THE SECULARIZATION OF THE CHURCH.
By Editor
THE New York Observer of the 7th ultimo has a thoughtful though tardy article on the "Secularization of the Pulpit." Referring to a sermon on that subject, it says:—
No diligent student of contemporary sermons can question the timeliness of such a message. One of the most serious sources of danger to the efficiency and usefulness of the pulpit of our day is, beyond any doubt, the tendency to secularize it by giving undue prominence to the discussion of social problems. . . . The pulpit which talks of theories when it should talk of the facts of revelation is to that extent weakened in its influence, as well as secularized by so dwelling upon remedies which, after all, are of this world, as to shut out of thought and vision the remedy offered from the world above. The panaceas of social reform aim so vigorously at external amelioration as often to lose sight altogether of the great truth that "the improvement of the soul is the soul of all improvement." Changing a man's environment and bringing about altered conditions of life do not by any means involve the changing of the man. The ills of this world cannot be banished by material devices. The spiritual panaceas of the gospel goes deeper and deals more thoroughly. Christianity seeks to destroy the roots of the evils which afflict humanity. Social reform only attempts to cut the branches and wither the leaves. Who can question which is the better way?
But the secularization of the pulpit means the secularization of the church. Such truths as the above ought to have been uttered, nay, thundered, twoscore of years ago by the watchmen in Israel. The matter has gone too far now for the church to recover. She is already committed to social and political theories which are sapping her very life. "Christian Socialism" and "pure politics" are good things, but they are the legitimate fruits of a vitalized Christianity, and not the object sought. They are resultant, not objective. The church as a church, or the pulpit as the messenger of Christ, is not to seek to guide, to mould, or to shape the social reform or politics of the State. She has ever meddled with it to the loss of purity and power on her part, and the loss of respect for religion on the part of the world.
As an illustration of the church in politics—in social reform—take her position for the few years past on the Sunday-law question. She has, through her various representatives, petitioned, argued, cajoled, flattered, lobbied,546threatened, and sold herself to fraud and falsehood to obtain secular power to do what she ought absolutely and solely to have depended upon the power of Christ and the preaching of his gospel to do. What has it accomplished? How many sinners or Sunday “desecrators” have been converted? How many are keeping Sunday better? True, there are a few more Sunday laws. Legislators—politicians—are frequently more or less amenable and susceptible to superstition and “influence” from whatever source. And the “influence” of the church has been felt in the politics of our nation; but, oh, to what cost to both the Church and the State! Had the pulpit pursued its legitimate calling this would not have been. The Observer well says:—
The one solution of all problems, social and spiritual, the one secret of the regeneration and readjustment of society, is to be found in the cross of Jesus Christ. Preachers of the gospel impoverish their teaching and minimize their power to help when they dwell on the glittering generalities of a philanthropy shining with the afterglow of Christianity, instead of pointing to the cross as the one lever by which individuals can be raised to a holier and therefore a happier life, and the one force which can wipe out of existence the sins which cripple and fetter the progress of the human race towards the goal of redemption.
And we may add that they utterly lose their power when they turn from the supernatural all-power of the gospel of Christ, and confess it insufficient, by accepting of the secular power of civil law. Let the true minister of the gospel lift up Christ as the Saviour of the world, who saves us and washes us from our sins in his own blood.
UNCERTAIN SOUNDS.
By Editor
THE Advance of June 21 opens an editorial on “Prominence of Clergymen in Public Affairs,” in these words:—
It is a remarkable fact that in these days clergymen take a more active part in public affairs than any other class of men. We do not mean, of course, that they are specially prominent in politics, or that national policies are determined by them more than others, but we do mean that no other class of men take a livelier interest in whatever is going on, have more to say about it, or, on the whole, have more to do in shaping public opinion regarding it.
The article goes on to speak of their study of public and vital questions, their expression of opinion concerning them, their connection with various organizations, and declares that “we look in vain for such general prominence among lawyers or physicians or business men.” The Advance further says:—
There is unquestionably great advantage in this clerical prominence in public affairs. Leaders of thought are always needed, and the world is fortunate when those who shape its convictions are to so large a degree men trained in the word of God and influenced by the principles of Christ. . . . The Protestant clergy as a rule are men of broad outlook and unselfish lives, men who grasp the great problems of life with clear thinking and who inspire confidence by their practical wisdom. As a consequence, they have in these days great influence in public affairs; they are listened to with respect; their opinions have weight in shaping the life of the nation.
And, so far as prominence and influence are concerned, this is all true. But what is the influence? What is its effect on the vital religion of the day? Granted that the clergy are learned, able, influential, but how many are loyal to God’s word, to his law, to the gospel of Christ, which they are commissioned to preach? How many of the very ones who are so zealously demanding social reform and political reform are loyal to the principles of Christ,—to the simple principles so clearly expressed in the word of God?
It is through the influence of the clergy that our government is committed to the religious education of the Indian through the churches, largely through the Roman Catholic Church. It is indirectly, no doubt, through the influence of clergymen in public and political life that the Supreme Court, by a decision handed down February 29, 1892, to the extent of that decision rolled the progress of this government backward four centuries. It was through the influence of Protestant clergymen that in that same year this government was committed to the evils of religious legislation. And this is but the beginning.
This influence, the influence seemingly most sought now by many clergymen, is a curse to the church and the republic. The Sunday-sabbath question is a good illustration of this. Concerning this important question God’s word is plain; the example of Christ and holy men of old is prominently clear; the watermark of the apostasy may be seen all through the history of the Sunday movement, from its origin to the present time; reliable Protestant authorities place the responsibility of the “change” of the Sabbath upon the Church of Rome, or the apostasy, and that church takes the credit of the matter to herself. All these evidences are but the confirmation of the living prophecies of God’s word. Is it loyalty to Christ to trample underfoot the command which he gave, the institution he made and observed, and to persecute them who faithfully observe that institution? “If they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” Would to God that Protestant ministers would all turn to the gospel of Christ, and let God influence the people through his words uttered by them. See 1 Thess. 2: 13.
And what is the character of all these messages? There are thousands of voices and hundreds of antagonistic messages. Originality is the ambition of the age; and in the great “reform” conventions “everyone” “hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation.” The trumpets blown give no certain sound. Babel reigns among these great social reformers from the pulpit. The soap-bubble theories are pretty; the enchanting songs of the modern sirens are enticing; the atmosphere is soporific and soothing; but each day brings its added reality of dreaded and deadly ills, which belie all the false visions of the latter-day prophets of peace.
In the above from the Advance we have the very evil which the New York Observer (see elsewhere) and Dr. Barrett, chairman of the Congregational Union of England and Wales, are deprecating and denouncing as a source of danger to the church. But the church has already passed the danger line. She has already swung around the outer circles of the great maelstrom, which is sure to engulf her. The warning voices within and without are lost in the political and social babel which prevails. The word of God, the professed standard of creed and morals, is interpreted by “science falsely so called,” by political ambition, by the exigencies of the times, by the hoary traditions of an apostate church; and yet, out of all these, those who are longing for something better are blindly hoping that good will come. Millions are in the attitude expressed by the following doggerel:—
"When the bimeby time once gets in view,
When the bimeby time gets roun',
We'll hev free trade and tariff, too;
Hard times won't trouble me or you,
An' Sunday'll last the hull week through,
When the bimeby time comes roun'."
"When the bimeby time comes roun',
Oh, I long to hear the soun'!
So I'm sittin' an' a-mopin',
An' a-gropin' an' a-hopin',
Till the bimeby time comes roun'."
And millions will be disappointed. “God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” “If the blind lead the blind, shall they not both fall into the ditch?” More than “sincerity,” so termed, is needed; the times demand, the soon-coming judgment of God demands, the eternal verities of his word. If the appointed watchmen will not give God’s message, let the people turn from them and their theories, and search for themselves. The foolishness of God is “wiser than men.” “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” His word is a light and a lamp to the feet of the humble. The “more sure word of prophecy” is now shining “as a light in a dark place,” and men will do well if they take heed thereto. 2 Peter 1: 19, 20. If the clergy will not preach this word as it is in Jesus, let the people read it. Christ is talking to the people through it to-day. Who will follow his voice rather than the voices of political, traditional, or expediental theorizers. Christ crucified, Christ risen,—Christ’s love, Christ’s power,—is the message. Will you receive it? Will you give it?
Saturday and the Preparation for Sabbath
By Editor
ONE of our religious exchanges quotes a missionary as saying, in speaking of the customs of converted natives in the New Hebrides, "Saturday had come to be called, as in Scripture, 'the preparation for the Sabbath,' and on that day all cooking is done." It would be interesting to know where Saturday is called in the Scripture "the preparation for the Sabbath." The sixth day was the day of preparation, but the seventh day is on an average one-fourth gone when Saturday begins. When reading such statements as are made in the quotation above, we often wonder how men can deliberately pervert the express statements of Scripture. Or do they know no better? "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." That is Scripture. Sunday is the first day.
Sunday-Law Exchange
A SUNDAY-LAW exchange says, "Sunday belongs to everyone." This is true, and everyone has the right to use it just as he has a mind to, just the same as he has Monday or Tuesday. Every law to the contrary assumes class ownership of Sunday.
FAILURE OF THE RICH IN BEARING THE TEST.
By Mrs. E. G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
JESUS has said, "He that gathereth not with me, scattereth." Who is with Christ in the manner in which they treat the poor and suffering? Jesus has said again, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." "So shall ye be my disciples." In what contrast to the manner of Christ in his humiliation is the manner of those who exalt themselves, and have no care for the needy around them! The rich people of the world are called the great ones, but what does the Creator call them? Thousands and even millions of dollars have been expended in extravagant display, by those who do not know what to do with their abundant means, while at the same time thousands are starving for bread, thousands living in comfortless homes, who are naked and destitute. The souls of the poor are just as valuable in the sight of God as the souls of the rich. The riches of the world belong to God, and he does not estimate men by the amount of money they possess. God intrusts money to men in order that he may see what use they will make of it.
Those who expend their money for self-gratification are only living on husks. What comfort can they take in looking upon their decorated persons, when the poor are all about them, suffering for the necessities of life? How can they desire to load themselves down with treasures, which are necessary neither for comfort, health, or happiness, when, if they distributed their treasures in a wise way, they might make many comfortable who cry in want and suffering, who are dying for the want of proper food and shelter? The cry of the destitute enters into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. He will call for an account from everyone who has shut up the bowels of mercy and compassion.
The Lord has imparted his goods in abundance, and if men and women possessed the attributes of Christ's character, they would not heap up for themselves treasures, and fail to provide homes for the orphans, schooling for the poor, and food and clothing for the needy. What will rich men do in the judgment when they have failed to be good stewards of the grace of God? "Then shall he also say unto them on his left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me."
"God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Life and immortality are brought to light through the gospel. He that is the way, the truth, and the life, has illuminated the track that leads heavenward. He came to our world to identify his interest with that of suffering humanity, to demonstrate before the world the goodness, mercy, and love of God to fallen man. In him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. The requirement of God concerning those that shall enter the pearly gates, is that they be like Jesus, that they bear his image, and have his mind. They are to imitate his example, and live his life.
Being and doing good is essential to Christian character. No man liveth unto himself. All who win the precious boon of eternal life, will exemplify in life the life of Jesus Christ. They will follow in his steps who went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed of the devil, who cheerfully gave his life a ransom for a lost world.
Conformity to the world and worldly attachments are forbidden by the word of God. Paul says: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." The Holy Spirit with the cleaver of truth has separated men from the world, that they may go forth as missionaries for God into all the highways and byways of life. They are not only to seek and to save those that are lost, but they are also to minister to the wants of suffering humanity. Jesus says to them: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." This is the reason that they that will be rich, lay up their treasures on earth. They love the world, and the love of the Father is not in them. They decide to risk the consequences of disobeying Christ's words and fully resolve to lay up treasure upon earth. "They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil; which while some have coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." "The wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth."
To lay plans for the gaining of worldly treasure simply that you may be rich and heap up treasure upon earth, is not laying plans in harmony with God's will. Selfishness and sin are at the bottom of all such gain. Such men do not love God with all the heart and their neighbors as themselves. Many of the human family are perishing about them, and, though it is in their power to confer blessing upon them, they withhold the good they could do to them, and fail to supply the necessities of those who want. But the cries of orphans and widows come up before God. Their tears are all registered in the books of heaven; and those who have had the opportunity to help, and yet refused the aid they might have given, are charged in the ledger of heaven with robbery toward God, and are sentenced as those who have oppressed and defrauded the poor.
How many have failed when they have been tested with wealth! Many have professed the name of Christ, and have apparently lived as Christians, until their circumstances have changed and they have come into the possession of property. Under the test and proving of God, they have failed to bear the additional responsibility as God would have them, and have not acted as wise stewards. Many who have previously been earnest Christians, have begun to backslide from the time they have received a legacy, or have been successful in some business enterprise that has brought them into possession of greater influence and wealth. Their selfishness has been exhibited in a failure to pay their tithes. When in poorer circumstances they have paid to God his own, but when the tithe amounted to a large sum, when they had a greater talent whereby they might trade for the Master, they began to rob God of his own, and place the tithes of the Lord to their own account. They have been foolish enough to think that by this manner of dealing with God they were enriching themselves. Some have felt greatly troubled over their sin, and have confessed their misdoing, and resolved to pay to the Lord his own. But when they have reckoned up the amount they owed him, Satan suggested that it was too large a sum to be put into the treasury of the Lord, and again they have yielded to his suggestions. They have deceived themselves with the thought that they would by investing it have a larger sum at last to place to the Lord's account. The only safe way is to deal with the Lord as he has directed in his word. "Blessed are they that do his command548ments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."
"TO KNOW HIM."
By B. McCall Barbour
How CAN I know the great Almighty God,
Enthroned in majesty beyond my ken;
So great, so wondrous grand, so glorious,
Center of strength, of power, of law, of all?
I know he is. By him all things do move—
This world with all its myriad mysteries
Is but the edge of mystery more profound,
Hid in his presence unapproachable.
I know him. He is God, who rules the world,
Bestowing bliss on such as keep his laws,
But in his justice breaking forth in wrath
On such as heedless or unmindful are.
I know he rules in earth, and sky, and sea,
And sends alike the sunshine and the storm;
I know he giveth and sustaineth life;
And man in all his moods must bow to him.
Reason cries out, I know that he is God;
But yet my soul deplores, I know him not.
For fear of wrath the burden of my sin
Quite weighs me down, and keeps me back from him.
Oh, it is agony to bear this load of guilt,
To live in terror of the pangs of law!
How shall I know thee, God, that thought of thee
May give me peace and take away all fear?
O happy day, when Jesus did reveal
Unto my longing soul the love of God
By sweet compassion and forgiving grace,
And taught me how to love, and thus to know!
I know him now in resurrection power,
In his almightiness from sin to save,
His strength to keep life steadfast and secure,
His love unchanging in the midst of change.
Yes, now I know, Christ's life hath brought me near
To God, in him my Father I behold,
Robbed of the awful terror of the law,
Robed in the beauty of his boundless love.
What reason failed to grasp because of fear
I know, for faith and love have made it clear.
—B. McCall Barbour.
CHURCH AND STATE IN THE LIGHT OF THE GOLDEN RULE.
By W. N. Glenn
“ALL things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”
This expression of the Lord Jesus Christ, in his great sermon on the mount, is popularly called the “Golden Rule.” While but few practically apply this rule to their dealings with their fellow-men, all classes of men admit the correctness of the principle. Those who are the farthest from the practice of this righteous doctrine are often the loudest in proclaiming their belief in it. Even men who openly declare infidelity to the Christian religion will hold up the Golden Rule as their theoretical motto. And professing Christians who hold that the moral law was abrogated by Christ, stultify their argument by claiming the Golden Rule as the standard of practical Christianity. This point is sustained by the declaration of Christ, when he had uttered the words above quoted, that “this is the law and the prophets.” And the sentiment of this blessed principle is again expressed in the language of Christ, in his well-known epitome of the law, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Then to consider any subject or any movement in the light of the Golden Rule is to view it in the light of the law of God. And this is the test to which every work, good or evil, will finally be brought.
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Eccl. 12: 13, 14.
Viewing the principle of Church-and-State government in the light of the Golden Rule, or law of God, we have only to revert to the history of such governments—merely to glance at them—to be convinced of their utter failure to come up to the mark. Nor need we search long to find specimens of such government for consideration, for the history of the world gives us but one that was not reared upon that principle. The only example we have—republican or monarchical—of a government whose fundamental ordinance is founded upon absolute separation of the Church from the State, is that of the United States. So, for the purpose of contrasting the principles of Church-and-State government with those of the Golden Rule, we have abundant material at hand. Aside from our own government we cannot go amiss, and if we come down to the practical workings of this one within the past few years, or to the State governments nominally subject to the national Constitution, we need not go away from home for illustration of the innate intolerance that naturally arises from the commingling of the interests of the Church and of the State.
Whether the State control the Church, or the Church dominate the State, the inevitable result is intolerance of religious as well as political opposition. History furnishes us with examples of both these conditions. In fact, the Roman Empire itself gives us both these examples. Under the pagan régime the State controlled the religion of the State.
The State was the supreme object of adoration, and all the gods were inferior to it. It was unlawful to establish any religion or to worship any deity not sanctioned by the State. The early Christians were continually subject to legal prosecution, because their God and their religion did not acknowledge the State as supreme in all things. The thousands of martyrs demonstrate the logical results of that system of government and its extreme variance with the Golden Rule.
The other feature of the Church-and-State principle of government in this great empire was exemplified under papal rule, when the Church dominated the State. The millions of martyrs who suffered death because they claimed the privilege of the Golden Rule, stand as undeniable evidence that it could find no place in such a government. But if this be not enough, we have only to turn to the Reformation for evidence of the vindictiveness begotten of the Church-and-State principle, even where it was powerless to enforce its decrees.
But, lest Rome be deemed an extreme case, and refuge be taken in the boast of advanced civilization, let us come to more modern times. When Protestantism became dominant in Great Britain, the Covenanter Government was no more tolerant of other religions than Catholicism had been. In all the vicissitudes of Church-and-State France, under whatever sway, we see but little, if any, traces of the Golden Rule. In all the so-called Christian governments of the world, to say nothing of those which do not so profess, where is the State Church that is willing to share with other religionists the privileges accorded to it? Is it not clear that the very ambition to be a State Church, the very act of accepting such a position, shows a desire to acquire temporal advantages and, political privileges which will be denied to others? No church ever became a State Church but through political intrigue, through barter and sale of Christian principle for political influence; and the impelling motive ever has been, and ever must be, to secure the power of the government against other and opposing systems of religion.
The object of acquiring governmental power as an auxiliary of the church is of course for the purpose of using it. One purpose is to secure its financial support, and this means the support of the whole people, whether believers in the doctrines of the church or not. In such a scheme there is a flagrant violation of the Golden Rule. If the State Church be persistently aggressive, it will be prolific of measures requiring the aid of various functions of the government. Experience proves that such a church is a continual beggar, and one gratification merely whets the appetite for more. The union of Church and State is contrary to the word of the Lord as expressed in the text, “Render unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s;” and also in his declaration to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Therefore, the dependence of the Church upon the State being contrary to the Master’s will, it will consequently be led to ask laws contrary to his law; and those who conscientiously adhere to the law of God will necessarily come in collision with the State law. If such laws are enforced against the conscience of any citizen, what becomes of the Golden Rule?
That the Church-and-State principle in government is a product of worldly ambition and indifference to the rights of all who are not directly favorable to the desired object, is manifest even in our own country, where the fundamental law is expressly against such a union. For thirty years a so-called National Reform movement has been steadily growing in the United States. Its “avowed object” is to secure such an amendment to the Constitution of the United States as will declare the nation’s allegiance to Jesus Christ, and its acceptance of the moral laws of the Christian religion, and so indicate that this is a Christian nation, and place all the Christian laws, institutions, and usages of our government on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land.
That the advocates of this measure have no idea of applying the Golden Rule to their ideal Church-and-State government, a few utterances of their representative advocates will show. One of them, a Mr. Coleman, said:—
To be perfectly plain, I believe that the existence of a Christian Constitution would disfranchise every logically consistent infidel.
The Christian Statesman, organ of the National Reform Association, speaking of certain congressmen who traveled on Sunday, said:—
Not one of those men who thus violated the sabbath is fit to hold official position in a Christian nation.
The Christian Nation, another advocate of National Reform, utters this sentiment:—
Let those who will, remember the sabbath to keep it holy from motives of love and obedience; the remnant must be made to do so through fear of the law.
Another characteristic utterance, from Dr. McAllister, a leading spirit in the National Reform movement, is as follows:—
Those who oppose this movement now will discover, when the religious amendment is made to the Constitution, that, if they do not see fit to fall in with the majority, they must abide the consequences, or seek some more congenial clime.
Much more of the same character could be produced, but space forbids. But even that feature of the Church-and-State principle which has surreptitiously gained footing in this government—Sunday legislation—has developed a spirit of intolerance entirely at variance with the Golden Rule. The enforcement of the State Sunday laws has invariably been the outgrowth of flagrant bigotry and bitter hatred and jealousy on the part of those professed Christian people who are always the complainants in such prosecutions; and in nearly every instance they have manifested a disposition to go to greater lengths than even the law would warrant. And in the matter of the failure to carry out the unconstitutional law of Congress providing for the closing of the World’s Fair on Sunday, the spirit of vengeance openly encouraged by ministers and prominent laymen of many of the Christian denominations, boded no regard for the rights of other men. They invoked the lightning, the cholera, the army, and the boycott, thus showing what they would aim to do with dissenters if they had control of the government.
The religion of Jesus Christ, pure and simple, with no auxiliary union whatever with any of the governments or institutions of the secular world, is the only element in which we may reasonably expect to find the principles of the Golden Rule.
Man’s Work and Duty
By Carlyle
MAN is born to expend every particle of strength which God Almighty has given him in doing the work he finds he is fit for, to stand up to it to the last breath of life, and do his best.—Carlyle.