Now it is upon Christianity as approving all this that the Moabites and
Ammonites of our day are falling. They are frankly worshippers of
Chemosh and Milcom, not of Jehovah; they believe in wealth, their all
is staked on the earthly prosperity and enjoyment for which they strive.
It is too bad, they feel, to have their sphere and hopes curtailed by
men who profess no respect for the world, no desire for its glory but a
constant preference for things unseen; they writhe when they consider
the triumphs wrested from them by rivals who count success an answer to
prayer and believe themselves favourites of God. Or the frank heathen
finds that in business a man professing Christianity in the customary
way is as little cumbered as himself by any disdain of tarnished profits
and "smart" devices. What else can be expected but that, driven back and
back by the energy of Christians so called, the others shall begin to
think Christianity itself largely a pretence? Do we wonder to see the
revolution in France hurling its forces not only against wealth and
rank, but also against the religion identified with wealth and rank? Do
we wonder to see in our day socialism, which girds at great fortunes as
an insult to humanity, joining hands with agnosticism and secularism to
make assault on the church? It is precisely what might be looked for;
nay, more, the opposition will go on till Christian profession is purged
of hypocrisy and Christian practice is harmonized with the law of
Christ. Not the push, not the equivocal success of one person here and
there is it that creates doubt of Christianity and provokes antagonism,
but the whole systems of society and business in so-called Christian
lands, and even the conduct of affairs within the church, the strain of
feeling there. For in the church as without it wealth and rank are
important in themselves, and make some important who have little or no
other claim to respect. In the church as without it methods are adopted
that involve large outlay and a constant need for the support of the
wealthy; in the church as without it life depends too much on the
abundance of the things that are possessed. And, in the not unfair
judgment of those who stand outside, all this proceeds from a secret
doubt of Christ's law and authority, which more than excuses their own
denial. The strifes of the day, even those that turn on the Godhead of
Christ and the inspiration of the Bible, as well as on the divine claim
of the church, are not due solely to hatred of truth and the depravity
of the human heart. They have more reason than the church has yet
confessed. Christianity in its practical and speculative aspects is one;
it cannot be a creed unless it is a life. It is essentially a life not
conformed to this world, but transformed, redeemed. Our faith will stand
secure from all attacks, vindicated as a supernatural revelation and
inspiration, when the whole of church life and Christian endeavour shall
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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