Functions.--The Christian state is continually widening its sphere of
care and action over and for the individual. It not only assumes the
protection of life and property, but provides schools, from the
primary grade to great universities; it cares for the sick and
mentally deficient; it provides food, clothing and shelter for the
destitute poor, it supervises the morals of the people, and enforces
sanitary regulations. The more thoroughly Christian the state the more
it seeks the betterment of the individual. The less Christian the
state the less it cares for the good of the individual and the more it
seeks to oppress and to use him as its slave.
Purpose--This is the realization of the kingdom of God on earth. The
Christian is working for a state, where the principles of justice and
brotherly love shall prevail.