(b) Avoidance of Idleness in the Church._The Literature and History of New Testament Times

however, the apostolic Church did not encourage begging or

pauperism. What the special reason was for the poverty of the

Jerusalem church we do not know. Perhaps many of the Jerusalem

Christians had been obliged to leave their homes in Galilee and in

the Dispersion. At any rate, we may assume that the poverty of the

church was not due to idleness. In the Thessalonian epistles Paul

takes occasion to warn his converts against an idle life; they are

to do their own business and work with their hands; "if any will

not work, neither let him eat." I Thess. 4:10-12; II Thess. 3:6-15.

Certainly Paul was the best example of such diligence; despite his

wonderful gifts and lofty duties he had made himself independent by

manual labor. In the First Epistle to Timothy, moreover, particular

precautions are taken against allowing the bounty of the Church to

be abused. I Tim. 5:3-16. The treatment of the poor in the apostolic

Church exhibits everywhere an admirable combination of common sense

with lofty idealism.

the gifts of the apostolic Church were devoted chiefly to Christian

brethren rather than to outsiders, that is no justification for such

limitation to-day. In the apostolic age there were special reasons

why the Church could not often deal extensively with the material

needs of the world at large. The Church was exceedingly poor; many

of the converts probably suffered serious losses by the very fact

of their being Christians; under such conditions the first duty

was obviously at home. Conditions to-day are widely different.

The Church has become wealthy; she is well able to extend her

ministrations far and wide. Only by unlimited breadth of service

will she really be true to the example of Jesus and of his first

disciples; only by universal helpfulness will she be true to her

great commission.

* * * * *

IN THE LIBRARY.--Uhlhorn, "Christian Charity in the Ancient Church."

Brace, "Gesta Christi," pp. 93-105. Charteris, "The Church of

Christ," pp. 91-129.

LESSON XLVI

ORGANIZING FOR SERVICE

Whatever the organization of a body of Christians may be, the body

itself is a true branch of the Church if it consists of those who

believe in Christ. Nevertheless, if the Church is to be more than an

aggregation of individuals, if it is not only to be something, but

also to do something, it requires some sort of organization. This

fundamental need was clearly recognized in the apostolic age; and

it was met by certain provisions which we believe ought still to be

followed. These provisions, however, do not amount to anything like

an elaborate constitution; they do not hinder adaptation to changing

conditions.

1. ELDERS ACCORDING TO THE PASTORAL EPISTLES

In the Pastoral Epistles, which afford more detailed information

about organization than is to be found anywhere else in the New

Testament, the government of the local church is seen to be

intrusted to a body of "elders," with whom "deacons" are associated.

No one of the elders, so far as can be detected, possessed authority

at all different in kind from the authority of the others; all had

the function of ruling; all were "overseers" or "bishops" of the

church.

The functions of the elders are not described in detail; but

evidently they had a general oversight over the affairs of the

congregation. That is the meaning of the word "bishop" as it is

applied to them. Some of them at least also labored "in the word and

in teaching," but all seem to have been alike in their function of

bearing rule.

2. ELDERS ACCORDING TO THE PRESBYTERIAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT

The similarity of such an arrangement to our own Presbyterian

form of government is plain. Our churches also are governed not

by an individual, but by a body of "elders" who are equal to

one another in authority. Changing conditions have of course

introduced elaboration of the simple apostolic model. Thus the

teaching function, for example, which in apostolic times was perhaps

exercised more or less informally by those of the elders who

possessed the gifts for it, is now naturally assigned for the most

part to men who have received a special training. These "teaching

elders" in our church are the ministers. Conditions have become so

complex that men of special training, who devote their whole time

to the work of the Church, are imperatively required. The pastors

and teachers, Eph. 4:11, even in the apostolic Church, seem to have

formed a fairly definite group. This class of gifts is exercised

to-day especially by the ministers, though similar functions should

also be exercised by other members of the Church.

3. HOW WERE ELDERS TO BE CHOSEN?

With regard to the government of the apostolic Church a number of

interesting questions can never be definitely answered. For example,

how were the elders to be chosen?

=(1) Sometimes Appointed by the Apostles.=--Such passages as Acts

14:23; Titus 1:5, do not settle the question. According to the

former passage, elders were appointed in the churches of southern

Galatia by Paul and Barnabas. But it must be remembered that the

authority of the apostles was peculiar and temporary. Because the

apostles had power to appoint elders it does not follow that any

individuals at a later time would possess a similar power. The

situation, at the time of the first Christian mission, was peculiar;

small bodies of Christians had just been rescued from heathenism;

at first they would need a kind of guidance which could afterwards

safely be withdrawn. According to Titus 1:5, Titus was to appoint

elders in the churches of Crete. But clearly Titus, like Timothy,

was merely a special and temporary representative of the apostle

Paul; for Titus to appoint elders, under the definite direction of

Paul, was no more significant than for Paul to appoint them himself.

=(2) The Right of Congregational Election.=--On the whole, it may

be confidently maintained that the Presbyterian method of choosing

elders--namely the method of election by the whole congregation--is

more in accordance with the spirit of apostolic precedent than

any other method that has been proposed. Throughout the apostolic

Church, the congregation was evidently given a very large place in

all departments of the Christian life. The Jerusalem congregation,

for example, had a decisive voice in choosing the very first

Church officers who are known to have been added to the apostles.

Acts 6:2-6. In Thessalonica and in Corinth the whole congregation

was active in the matter of church discipline. II Thess. 3:14,15;

I Cor. 5:3-5; II Cor. 2:6. The whole congregation was also invited

to choose delegates for carrying the gifts of the Corinthian church

to Jerusalem. I Cor. 16:3. These are merely examples. It must be

remembered, moreover, that the authority of the congregation in the

apostolic age was limited by the authority of the apostles, which

was special and temporary; when the apostles should be removed, the

congregational functions would be increased. Yet even the apostles

were exceedingly careful not to destroy the liberties of the rank

and file. Nowhere in the apostolic Church were the ordinary church

members treated as though they were without rights and without

responsibilities. Indeed, even when the apostles appointed elders,

they may have previously ascertained the preferences of the people.

4. THE APOSTOLIC PRECEDENT AND DEPARTURES FROM IT

The presbyterial form of church government--that is, government

by a body of elders--which is found in the apostolic age, differs

strikingly from certain later developments. In several particulars,

at least, principles have become prevalent which are at variance

with the apostolic model.

=(1) The Monarchical Episcopate.=--The first particular concerns the

relation of the church officers to one another. In the apostolic

Church, as we have observed, there was a parity among the elders;

the local congregation was governed, not by an individual, but by a

body. As early, however, as the first part of the second century,

a change had taken place, at least in many of the churches. The

supreme authority had come to be held by an individual, called

"bishop"; all other officers were clearly subordinate to him; the

government of the local congregation was no longer presbyterial, but

monarchical; the so-called "monarchical episcopate" had been formed.

This state of affairs appears clearly in the epistles of Ignatius,

which were written a short time before A. D. 117. But all attempts

to find traces of the monarchical episcopate in the apostolic age

have resulted in failure. The Greek word _episcopos_, which is

translated in the English Bible--rather misleadingly, perhaps--by

"bishop," is applied, not to a special officer standing above the

elders, but simply to the elders themselves. "Elder" designates

the office; _episcopos_ designates one function of the office. The

latter word could hardly have been used in this general way if it

had already acquired its technical significance.

The efforts which have been made to discover references to the

office of bishop in the apostolic age are unconvincing. It is

exceedingly doubtful whether the "angels" of the seven churches

to which messages are sent in the Apocalypse are to be regarded

as church officers; and even if they were church officers it is

by no means clear that they exercised the functions of bishops.

Undoubtedly Timothy and Titus appear in the Pastoral Epistles with

functions similar in many respects to those of bishops, but it is

also clear that they exercised those functions, not as officers

of the Church who might have successors, but merely as temporary

representatives of the apostle Paul.

=(2) The Priesthood of the Clergy.=--An even more important

divergence from apostolic conditions concerns the functions of the

church officers. According to a theory which has become widely

prevalent, certain officers of the Church are to be regarded

as "priests"--that is, they are mediators between God and man.

Curiously enough the English word "priest," is nothing but another

form of the word "presbyter," which means "elder"; "presbyter" is

only "priest" "writ large." In actual usage, however, "priest" means

vastly more than "presbyter"; it designates a man who represents

men to God and mediates God's actions to men. So understood, the

term is never applied in the New Testament to church officers as

such. According to the New Testament, the only priest (in the

strict sense) under the new dispensation is Christ; Christ is the

only mediator between God and man, I Tim. 2:5; the high-priesthood

of Christ is elaborated in the Epistle to the Hebrews. In another

sense, indeed, all believers are priests, I Peter 2:5,9; Rev. 1:6;

5:10; 20:6; all have the right of direct access to God; all are

devoted to a holy service. The idea of a special priesthood in

the Christian Church is strikingly at variance with the apostolic

teaching.

=(3) Apostolic Succession.=--Another point of variance concerns the

manner in which the officers of the Church should receive their

authority. By a theory prevalent in the Church of England and in

the Protestant Episcopal Church in America as well as in the Greek

and Roman Catholic Churches, the authority of the clergy has been

received through an unbroken line of transmission from the apostles;

the immediate successors of the apostles received the right of

handing down the commission to others, and so on through the

centuries; without an ordination derived in this way no one can be a

ruler in the true Church; and without submission to such regularly

ordained rulers no body of persons can constitute a branch of the

true Church. This theory places a tremendous power in the hands of

a definite body of persons whose moral qualifications for wielding

that power are often more than doubtful. Surely so stupendous

a claim can be made good only by the clear pronouncement of a

recognized authority.

Such a pronouncement is not to be found in the New Testament. There

is not the slightest evidence to show that the apostles provided for

a transmission of their authority through a succession of persons.

On the contrary, their authority seems to have been special and

temporary, like the miraculous powers with which they were endowed.

The regular church officers who were appointed in the apostolic age

evidently possessed no apostolic authority; however chosen, they

were essentially representatives of the congregation. A true branch

of the Church could exist, at least in theory, without any officers

at all, wherever true believers were together; the Church did not

depend upon the officers, but the officers upon the Church.

5. RELATIONS OF THE CONGREGATIONS TO ONE ANOTHER

So far, the organization of the apostolic Church has been considered

only in so far as it concerned the individual congregation; a word

must now be said about the relation of the congregations to one

another.

That relation, in the apostolic age, was undoubtedly very close.

The Pauline Epistles, in particular, give an impression of active

intercourse among the churches. The Thessalonian Christians "became

an ensample to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia"; the

story of their conversion became known "in every place." I Thess.

1:7-10. In the matter of the collection, Macedonia stirred up

Achaia, and Achaia Macedonia. II Cor. 8:1-6; 9:1-4. The faith of

the Roman Christians was "proclaimed throughout the whole world."

Rom. 1:8. Judea heard of the missionary labors of Paul, Gal.

1:21-24; fellowship between Jews and Gentiles was maintained by the

collection for the Jerusalem saints. Evidently the apostolic Church

was animated by a strong sense of unity.

This feeling of unity was maintained especially by the

instrumentality of the apostles, who, with their helpers, traveled

from one congregation to another, and exerted a unifying authority

over all. Certainly there was nothing like a universal Church

council; Christian fellowship was maintained in a thoroughly

informal way. In order that such fellowship should be permanent,

however, there would obviously be an increasing need for some

sort of official union among the congregations. When the apostles

passed away, their place would have to be taken by representative

assemblies; increasing complexity of life brought increasing

need of organization. The representative assemblies of our own

Church, therefore, meet an obvious need; and both in their free,

representative character and in their unifying purpose it may fairly

be claimed that they are true to the spirit of the apostolic age.

6. PRINCIPLES

The apostolic precedent with regard to organization should always be

followed in spirit as well as in form. Three principles, especially,

are to be observed in the Church organization of the apostolic age.

In the first place, there was considerable freedom in details. No

Christian who had gifts of any kind was ordinarily prevented from

exercising them. In the second place, there was respect for the

constituted authority, whatever it might be. Such respect, moreover,

was not blind devotion to a ruling class, but the respect which

is ennobled by love. Finally, in Church organization, as in all

the affairs of life, what was regarded as really essential was the

presence of the Holy Spirit. When Timothy laid his hands upon a new

elder, the act signified the bestowal of, or the prayer for, divine

favor. This last lesson, especially, needs to be learned to-day.

Without the grace of God, the best of Church organizations is mere

machinery without power.

* * * * *

IN THE LIBRARY.--Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": articles on

"Elder," "Deacon," "Deaconess," "Laying on of Hands." Hastings,

"Dictionary of the Bible": Gayford, article on "Church"; Gwatkin,

article on "Church Government in the Apostolic Age." Lightfoot,

"The Christian Ministry," in "Saint Paul's Epistle to the

Philippians," pp. 181-269, and in "Dissertations on the Apostolic

Age," pp. 135-238. Charteris, "The Church of Christ," pp. 1-43,

130-170, 205-239. Falconer, "From Apostle to Priest." MacPherson,

"Presbyterianism" (in "Handbooks for Bible Classes").

LESSON XLVII

A MISSION FOR THE WORLD

1. JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY

In teaching the lesson in class, it might be well simply to review

the principal steps in the geographical extension of the apostolic

Church. This geographical advance, however, was made possible only

by an advance in principles which should not be ignored. The really

great step in the early Christian mission was not the progress from

Jerusalem to Antioch, or from Antioch to Asia Minor and to Greece,

but the progress from a national to a universal religion. Judaism,

despite its missionary activity, always identified the Church more

or less closely with the nation; it was a distinctly national

religion. Full union with it meant the abandonment of one's own

racial and national relationships.

=(1) Limitations of Judaism.=--The national character of Judaism

was an insurmountable hindrance to the Jewish mission. Despite the

hindrance, it is true, Judaism achieved important conquests; it won

many adherents throughout the Greco-Roman world. These missionary

achievements undoubtedly form an eloquent testimony to the power of

Israel's faith; despite those features of Jewish custom which were

repulsive to the Gentile mind, the belief in the one true God and

the lofty ethical ideal of the Old Testament Scriptures possessed

an irresistible attraction for many earnest souls. Nevertheless, so

long as Jewish monotheism and Jewish ethics were centered altogether

in the life of a very peculiar people, they could never really

succeed in winning the nations of the world.

=(2) Apparent Identity of Judaism and Christianity.=--At first it

looked as though Christianity were to share in the limitation; it

looked as though the disciples of Jesus formed merely a Jewish sect.

Undoubtedly they would bring the Jewish people to a loftier faith

and to a purer life; they would themselves become better and nobler

Jews; but Jews they would apparently always remain.

=(3) The Great Transition.=--Before many years had passed, however,

the limitation was gloriously transcended. Christianity was no

longer bound to Judaism. It became a religion for the world, within

whose capacious borders there was room for every nation and every

race. How was the transition accomplished?

It was not accomplished by any contemptuous repudiation of the

age-long exclusiveness of Israel. Such repudiation would have

involved the discrediting of the Old Testament, and to the Old

Testament the Church was intensely loyal. Jewish particularism had

been ordered of God; the Scriptures were full of warnings against

any mingling of the chosen people with its neighbors. Jehovah had

made of Israel a people alone; he had planted it in an inaccessible

hill country, remote from the great currents of the world's thought

and life; he had preserved its separateness even amid the changing

fortunes of captivity and war. Salvation was to be found only in

Israel; Israel was the chosen people.

The Church never abandoned this view of Israelitish history. Yet

for herself she transcended the particularism that it involved. She

did so in a very simple way--merely by recognizing that a new era

had begun. In the old era, particularism had a rightful place; it

was no mere prejudice, but a divine ordinance. But now, in the age

of the Messiah, particularism had given place to universalism; the

religion of Israel had become a religion of the world. What had

formerly been right had now become wrong; God himself had ushered in

a new and more glorious dispensation. Particularism, in the divine

economy, had served a temporary, though beneficent, purpose; God had

separated Israel from the world in order that the precious deposit

of Israel's faith, pure of all heathen alloy, might finally be given

freely to all.

The recognition of this wonderful new dispensation of God was

accomplished in two ways.

2. THE DIVINE GUIDANCE

In the first place, it was accomplished by the direct command of

the Holy Spirit. The first preaching to Gentiles was undertaken

not because the missionaries understood why it should be done, but

simply because God commanded.

=(1) Philip.=--For example, when Philip preached to the

Ethiopian--who was not in the strictest sense a member of the

Jewish people--he was acting not in accordance with any reflection

of his own--a desert road was a very unlikely place for missionary

service--but under the plain and palpable guidance of the Spirit.

What is emphasized in the whole narrative is the strange,

unaccountable character of Philip's movements; evidently his actions

at such a time were not open to criticism; what Philip did God did;

if Philip preached to an outsider, such preaching was God's will.

Acts 8:26-40.

=(2) Cornelius.=--In the case of the conversion of Cornelius and

his friends, Acts 10:1 to 11:18, the divine warrant was just as

plain. Both Cornelius and Peter acted altogether in accordance with

God's guidance. On the housetop, Peter's scruples were unmistakably

overcome. "What God hath cleansed," he was told, "make not thou

common." Peter did not fully comprehend the strange command that he

should eat what the law forbade, and it was not explained to him;

but at least the command was a command of God, and must certainly

be obeyed. The meaning of the vision became clear when Cornelius'

house was entered; a Gentile had evidently been granted the offer

of the gospel. God was no respecter of persons. Finally the Holy

Spirit fell on all the Gentiles who heard the message; they spake

with tongues as the disciples had done at the first. That was the

crowning manifestation of God's will. There was no reason to wait

for circumcision or union with the people of Israel. "Can any man

forbid the water," said Peter, "that these should not be baptized,

who have received the Holy Spirit as well as we?" Acts 10:47. All

opposition was broken down; only one conclusion was possible; the

Jerusalem Christians "glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles

also hath God granted repentance unto life." Acts 11:18.

=(3) The Grace of God in the Gentile Mission.=--Scarcely less

palpable was the divine guidance in the subsequent developments of

the Gentile mission. After the momentous step of certain unnamed

Jews of Cyprus and Cyrene, who founded the church at Antioch,

Barnabas had no difficulty in recognizing the grace of God. Acts

11:23. Not suspicion, but only gladness, was in place. When Paul and

Barnabas returned from the first Gentile mission, they could report

to the Antioch church that God had plainly "opened a door of faith

unto the Gentiles." Ch. 14:27. If God had opened, who could close?

At the apostolic council, in the very face of bitter opposition, the

same great argument was used. The missionaries simply "rehearsed

all things that God had done with them," ch. 15:4, especially "what

signs and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles through them."

V. 12. There was only one thing to be done; the Gentile mission

must be accepted with gladness as a gift of God; he that wrought

for Peter unto the apostleship of the circumcision wrought for Paul

also unto the Gentiles, Gal. 2:8; James and Peter and John could

recognize, both in the Gentile mission and in the inner life of the

chief missionary, the plainest possible manifestation of the grace

of God. V. 9.

3. REASONS FOR GENTILE FREEDOM

The Church transcended the bounds of Judaism, then, primarily

because of a direct command of God. Such commands must be obeyed

whether they are understood or not. As a matter of fact, however,

God did not leave the matter in such an unsatisfactory state; he

revealed not only his will, but also the reason for it; he showed

not only that the Gentiles must be received into the Church, but

also why they must be received. The essence of the gospel had

demanded Gentile freedom from the beginning; the justification of

that freedom at the bar of reason, therefore, brought a clearer

understanding of the gospel itself.

Two contrasts, at least, enabled the Church to explain the reason

why the Gentiles could be saved without becoming Jews. The first was

the contrast between faith and works, between grace and the law; the

second was the contrast between the type and the thing typified. The

former was revealed especially to Paul; the latter to the author of

Hebrews.

=(1) The Law and Grace.=--Salvation through Christ, according to

Paul, is an absolutely free gift. It cannot be earned; it must

simply be received. In other words, it comes not by works, but by

faith. The law of God, on the other hand, of which the Mosaic law

was the clearest embodiment, offers a different means of obtaining

God's favor. It simply presents a series of commandments, and

offers salvation on condition that they be obeyed. But the trouble

is, the commandments, since the fall, cannot be obeyed; everyone

has incurred deadly guilt through his disobedience; the power of

the flesh is too strong. At that point, however, God intervened.

He offered Christ as a sacrifice for sin that all believers might

have a fresh start; and he bestowed the Spirit of the living Christ

that all might have strength to lead a new life. But Christ will do

everything or nothing. A man must take his choice. There are only

two ways of obtaining salvation--the perfect keeping of the law, or

the simple, unconditional acceptance of what Christ has done. The

first is excluded because of sin; the second has become a glorious

reality in the Church.

If, however, salvation is through the free gift of Christ, then the

law religion has been superseded. All those features of the law

which were intended to make the law palpable, as a set of external

rules, are abrogated. The Christian, indeed, performs the will of

God--in the deepest sense Christianity only confirms the law--but

he performs it, not by slavish obedience to a complex of external

commandments, but by willing submission to the Spirit of God.

Of course, the religion of the Old Testament was not, according

to Paul, purely a law religion; on the contrary Paul quotes the

Old Testament in support of faith. But there was a law element in

the Old Testament; and the law served merely a temporary, though

beneficent, purpose. It was intended to deepen the sense of sin and

hopelessness, in order that finally salvation might be sought not in

man's way but in God's. The new order at length has come; in Christ

we are free men, and should never return to the former bondage.

The middle wall of partition has been done away; the ordinances of

the law no longer separate Jew and Gentile; all alike have access

through one Saviour unto God, all alike receive power through the

Holy Spirit to live a life of holiness and love.

=(2) The Type and the Fulfillment.=--The contrast which was worked

out in the Epistle to the Hebrews was especially a contrast between

the sign and the thing signified. The ceremonial law, which had

separated Jew from Gentile, was intended to point forward to Christ;

and now that the fulfillment has come, what further need is there of

the old types and symbols? Christ is the great High Priest; by him

all alike can enter into the holy place.

=(3) The Meaning of the Gospel.=--The transition from Jewish

Christianity, with all the difficulties of that transition, led

finally to a deeper understanding of the gospel. It showed once for

all that the salvation of the Christians is a free gift. "Just as

I am, without one plea but that thy blood was shed for me"--these

words are a good summary of the result of the Judaistic controversy.

The transition showed, furthermore, what had really been felt from

the beginning, that Christ was the one and all-sufficient Lord.

When he was present, no other priest, and no other sacrifice was

required. That is the truly missionary gospel--the gospel that will

finally conquer the world.

* * * * *

IN THE LIBRARY.--Orr, "Neglected Factors in the Study of the Early

Progress of Christianity" and "The Early Church." George Smith,

"Short History of Christian Missions" (in "Handbooks for Bible

Classes").

LESSON XLVIII

THE CHRISTIAN IDEAL OF PERSONAL MORALITY

In treating the lesson for to-day, the teacher will be embarrassed

by the wealth of his material. It is important, therefore, that

the chief purpose of the lesson should not be lost amid a mass of

details. That chief purpose is the presentation of Christianity as

something that has a very definite and immediate bearing upon daily

life. Christianity is first of all a piece of good news, a record

of something that has happened; but the effect of it, if it be

sincerely received, is always manifest in holy living.

1. THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS

In the Student's Text Book, little attempt was made at detailed

analysis of the apostolic ideal. The defect should be supplied by

careful attention to the "Topics for Study," and also, if possible,

by the treatment of the lesson in class. First of all, however,

it should be observed how naturally the apostolic presentation of

the ideal grows out of the teaching of Jesus. The advance which

revelation made after the close of Jesus' earthly ministry concerned

the fuller explanation of the means by which the moral ideal is to

be attained rather than additional exposition of the ideal itself.

That does not mean that the apostles did no more, in the field of

ethics, than quote the words of Jesus; indeed there seem to be

surprisingly few direct quotations of the words of Jesus in the

apostolic writings; the ethical teaching of the apostolic Church was

no mere mechanical repetition of words, but a profound application

of principles. Nevertheless the teaching of Jesus was absolutely

fundamental; without an examination of it, the moral life of the

apostolic Church cannot be fully understood.

=(1) The Inexorableness of the Law.=--Jesus had insisted, for

example, upon the inexorableness of the law of God. To the keeping

of God's commandments everything else must be sacrificed. "If thy

right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from

thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should

perish, and not thy whole body be cast into hell." Matt. 5:29. In

this respect the apostles were true disciples of their Master. The

Christian, they insisted, must be absolutely ruthless; he must be

willing to sacrifice everything he has for moral purity.

This ruthlessness, however, this thoroughgoing devotion to moral

purity, did not mean in the teaching of Jesus, any more than in

that of the apostles, that under ordinary conditions the Christian

ought to withdraw from the simple pleasures that the world offers.

Jesus himself took his place freely at feasts; so far was he from

leading a stern, ascetic life that his enemies could even accuse

him of being a winebibber and a friend of publicans and sinners.

The fidelity with which the apostles followed this part of their

Master's example has been pointed out in the Student's Text Book.

The enjoyable things of the earth are not evil in themselves; they

are to be received with thanksgiving as gifts of the heavenly

Father, and then dedicated to his service.

=(2) The Morality of the Heart.=--Furthermore, Jesus, as well as his

apostles, emphasized the inwardness of the moral law. Here again the

apostolic Church was faithful to Jesus' teaching. The seat of sin

was placed by the apostles in the very center of a man's life; the

flesh and the Spirit wage their warfare in the battle field of the

heart. See, for example, Gal. 5:16-24.

2. CONTRASTS

The sharp difference between the Christian life and the life of the

world was set forth in the apostolic teaching by means of various

contrasts.

=(1) Death and Life.=--In the first place, there was the contrast

between death and life. The man of the world, according to the

apostles, is not merely ill; he is morally and spiritually dead.

Col. 2:13; Eph. 2:1,5. There is no hope for him in his old

existence; that existence is merely a death in life. But God is One

who can raise the dead; and as he raised Jesus from the tomb on the

third day, so he raises those who belong to Jesus from the deadness

of their sins; he implants in them a new life in which they can

bring forth fruits unto God. A moral miracle, according to the New

Testament, stands at the beginning of Christian experience. That

miracle was called by Jesus himself, as well as by the apostles,

a new birth or "regeneration." It is no work of man; only God can

raise the dead. See John 1:13; 3:1-21; I John 2:29; I Peter 1:3,23.

=(2) Darkness and Light.=--The contrast between darkness and light,

also, was common to the teaching of Jesus and that of his apostles.

It appears particularly in the Gospel of John, but there are also

clear traces of it in the Synoptists, Matt. 5:14-16; the righteous

are "the sons of the light." Luke 16:8. In the writings of the

apostles the contrast appears in many forms. "Ye are all sons of

light," said Paul, "and sons of the day: we are not of the night,

nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let

us watch and be sober." I Thess. 5:5,6. "Ye were once darkness, but

are now light in the Lord: walk as children of light." Eph. 5:8. God

has called us "out of darkness into his marvellous light." I Peter

2:9. The contrast serves admirably to represent the honesty and

openness and cleanness of the true Christian life.

=(3) Flesh and Spirit.=--An even more important contrast is the

contrast of flesh and Spirit, which is expounded especially by Paul.

"Flesh" in this connection means something more than the bodily

side of human nature; it means human nature as a whole, so far as

it is not subjected to God. "Spirit" also means something more than

might be supposed on a superficial examination. It does not mean the

spiritual, as distinguished from the material, side of human nature;

but the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. The warfare, therefore,

between the flesh and the Spirit, which is mentioned so often in the

Pauline Epistles, is a warfare between sin and God.

The flesh, according to Paul, is a mighty power, which is too strong

for the human will. It is impossible for the natural man to keep

the law of God. "I know," says Paul, "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.... I find then the law, that, to

me who would do good, evil is present. For I delight in the law of

God after the inward man: but I see a different law in my members,

warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity

under the law of sin which is in my members." Rom. 7:18,21-23. In

this recognition of the power of sin in human life, Paul has laid

his finger upon one of the deepest facts in human experience.

The way of escape, however, has been provided; sin has been

conquered in two aspects.

It has been conquered, in the first place, in its guilt. Without

that conquest, everything else would be useless. The dreadful

subjection to the power of sin, which becomes so abundantly plain in

evil habit, was itself a punishment for sin; before the effect can

be destroyed, the guilt which caused it must be removed. It has been

removed by the sacrifice of Christ. Christ has died for us, the

Just for the unjust; through his death we have a fresh start, in the

favor of God, with the guilty past wiped out.

Sin has been conquered, in the second place, in its power. Together

with the very implanting of faith in our hearts, the Holy Spirit has

given us a new life, a new power, by which we can perform the works

of God. A mighty warfare, indeed, is yet before us; but it is fought

with the Spirit's help, and by the Spirit it will finally be won.

=(4) The Old Man and the New.=--As the contrast between the flesh

and the Spirit was concerned with the causes of the Christian's

escape from sin, so the contrast now to be considered is concerned

with the effects of that escape. The Christian, according to Paul,

has become a new man in Christ; the old man has been destroyed.

The Gentiles, he says, are darkened in their understanding, and

alienated from God. Eph. 4:17-19. "But ye did not so learn Christ;

if so be that ye heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth

is in Jesus: that ye put away, as concerning your former manner of

life, the old man, that waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit;

and that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the

new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and

holiness of truth." Vs. 20-24. Compare Col. 3:5-11. This putting

on of the new man is included in what Paul elsewhere calls putting

on Christ. Gal. 3:27; Rom. 13:14. The true Christian has clothed

himself with Christ; the lineaments of the old sinful nature have

been transformed into the blessed features of the Master; look upon

the Christian, and what you see is Christ! This change has been

wrought by Christ himself; "it is no longer I that live," says Paul,

"but Christ liveth in me"; Christ finds expression in the life of

the Christian. It is noteworthy, however, that the "putting on" of

Christ, which in Gal. 3:27 is represented as an accomplished fact,

is in Rom. 13:14 inculcated as a duty. It has been accomplished

already in principle--in his sacrificial death, Christ has already

taken our place in the sight of God--but the practical realization

of it in conduct is the lifelong task which every earnest disciple,

aided by the Holy Spirit, must prosecute with might and main.

3. THE NEW MAN

Details in the character of the "new man," as they are revealed in

the apostolic writings, can here be treated only very briefly.

=(1) Honesty.=--Certainly the Christian, according to the apostles,

must be honest. Honesty is the foundation of the virtues; without

it everything else is based upon the sand. Nothing could exceed

the fine scorn which the New Testament heaps upon anything like

hypocrisy or deceit. The Epistle of James, in particular, is a plea

for profound reality in all departments of life. Away with all

deceit! The Christian life is to be lived in the full blaze of God's

sunlight.

Many hours could be occupied in the class with the applications

of honesty under modern conditions. Student life, for example, is

full of temptations to dishonesty. To say nothing of out-and-out

cheating, there are a hundred ways in which the fine edge of honor

can be blunted. In business life, also, temptations are many; and

indeed no one can really escape the test. The apostolic example

deserves to be borne in mind; Christian honesty ought to be more

than the honesty of the world.

=(2) Purity.=--In the second place, the apostolic Church presents

an ideal of purity, purity in thought as well as in word and deed.

The ideal must have seemed strange to the degraded populations of

Corinth and Ephesus; but it is also sadly needed to-day. Let us not

deceive ourselves. He who would hold fellowship with Christ must put

away impurity; Christ is the holy One. Purity, however, is to be

attained not by unaided human effort, but by the help of the Spirit

of God. The Holy Spirit, if he be admitted to the heart, will purge

it of unclean thoughts.

=(3) Patience and Bravery.=--In the third place, patience and

humility are prominent in the Christian ideal. These virtues are

coupled, however, with the most vigorous bravery. There is nothing

weak or sickly or sentimental about the Christian character. "Watch

ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." I Cor.

16:13.

=(4) Love.=--The summation of the Christian ideal is love. Love,

however, is more than a benevolent desire. It includes purity and

heroism as well as helpfulness. In order to love in the Christian

sense, one must attain "unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of

the stature of the fulness of Christ." Eph. 4:13.

* * * * *

IN THE LIBRARY.--Hastings, "Dictionary of the Bible": Strong,

article on "Ethics" (II). Kilpatrick, "Christian Character." Bruce,

"The Formation of Christian Character." Luthardt, "Apologetic

Lectures on the Moral Truths of Christianity."

LESSON XLIX

CHRISTIANITY AND HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS

1. THE PROBLEM

Two apparently contradictory features appear in the life of

the apostolic Church. In the first place, there was an intense

other-worldliness; the Christians were regarded as citizens of a

heavenly kingdom. In the second place, there was careful attention

to the various relationships of the present life; no man was excused

from homely duty. The two sides of the picture appear in the

sharpest colors in the life of the apostle Paul. No one emphasized

more strongly than he the independence of the Christian life with

reference to the world; all Christians, whether their worldly

station be high or low, are alike in the sight of God; the Church

operates with entirely new standards of value. Yet on the other

hand, in his actual dealing with the affairs of this world Paul

observed the most delicate tact; and in all history it is difficult

to find a man with profounder natural affections. Where is there,

for example, a more passionate expression of patriotic feeling

than that which is to be found in Rom. 9:3? "I could wish that I

myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren's sake, my kinsmen

according to the flesh."

On the one hand, then, the apostolic Church regarded all earthly

distinctions as temporary and secondary, and yet on the other hand

those same distinctions were very carefully observed. The apparent

contradiction brings before us the great question of the attitude

of Christianity toward human relationships. This question may be

answered in one of three ways.

2. THE WORLDLY SOLUTION

In the first place, there is the worldly answer. The Christian finds

himself in a world where his time and his thoughts seem to be fully

occupied by what lies near at hand. The existence of God may not be

denied, but practically, in the stress of more obvious duties, God

is left out of account.

=(1) "Practical Christianity."=--In its crude form, of course,

where it involves mere engrossment in selfish pleasure, this answer

to our question hardly needs refutation. Obviously the Christian

cannot devote himself to worldly enjoyment; a cardinal virtue of

the Christian is self-denial. Worldliness in the Church, however,

may be taken in a wider sense; it has often assumed very alluring

forms. At the present day, for example, it often represents itself

as the only true, the only "practical" kind of Christianity. It is

often said that true religion is identical with social service,

that the service of one's fellow men is always worship of God. This

assertion involves a depreciation of "dogma" in the interests of

"practical" Christianity; it makes no difference, it is said, what a

man believes, provided only he engages in the improvement of living

conditions and the promotion of fairer laws.

=(2) This World Is Not All.=--This tendency in the Church really

makes religion a thing of this world only. Undoubtedly, much good

is being accomplished by social workers who have given up belief

in historic Christianity; but it is good that does not go to the

root of the matter. Suppose we have improved conditions on this

earth, suppose more men have healthy employment and an abundance of

worldly goods. Even so the thought of death cannot be banished. Is

the totality of man's happiness limited to a brief span of life; are

we after all but creatures of a day? Or is there an eternal life

beyond the grave, with infinite possibilities of good or evil? Jesus

and his apostles and the whole of the apostolic Church adopted the

latter alternative.

=(3) The Secularization of Religion.=--We lay our finger here upon

one of the points where the modern Church is in danger of departing

most fundamentally from the apostolic model. Religion is in serious

danger of being secularized; that is, of being regarded as concerned

merely with this life. The only corrective is the recovery of the

old conception of God. God is not merely another name for the

highest aspirations of men, he is not merely the summation of

the social forces which are working for human betterment. On the

contrary, he is a living Person, working in the world, but also

eternally independent of it. You can work for the worldly benefit

of your fellow men without coming into any saving contact with God;

it does make a vast difference what you believe; it makes all the

difference between death and life.

=(4) The Teaching of Jesus and of the Apostles.=--Only one-sided

reading of the New Testament can find support for the opposite view.

Jesus said, "Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren,

even these least, ye did it unto me," Matt. 25:40; but the same

Jesus also said, "If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his

own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and

sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."

Luke 14:26. The giving of a cup of cold water, which receives the

blessing of Jesus, is done for "one of these little ones ... in the

name of a disciple." Matt. 10:42. Evidently the good works of the

Christian are not independent of the attitude of the doer toward

Jesus and toward God; Jesus regards the personal relation between

himself and his disciples as one which takes precedence of even

the holiest of earthly ties. Far more convincing, however, than

any citation of definite passages is the whole spirit of the New

Testament teaching; evidently both Jesus and his early disciples had

their lives determined by the thought of the living, personal God,

holy and mysterious and independent of the world. Social service

exists for the sake of God, not God for the sake of social service.

The reversal of this relationship is one of the most distressing

tendencies of the present day; a study of the apostolic Church may

bring a return to sanity and humility.

3. THE ASCETIC SOLUTION

The second answer to our question is the answer of ascetics of many

different kinds. According to this answer, the relationship of the

Christian to God on the one hand, and his relationship to his fellow

men on the other, are in competition. Consequently, in order to

strengthen the former, the latter must be broken off. In its extreme

form, this way of thinking leads to the hermit ideal, to the belief

that the less a man has to do with his fellow men the more he has to

do with God. Such conceptions are not always so uninfluential as we

are inclined to think, even in our Protestant churches. Monasticism

is not indeed consistently carried out, but it is often present in

spirit and in principle. Some excellent Christians seem to feel that

whole-hearted, natural interest in earthly friends is disloyalty to

Christ, that all men must be treated alike, that admission of one

man into the depths of the heart more fully than another is contrary

to the universality of the gospel. By such men, individuals are

not treated as persons, with a value of their own, but merely as

opportunities for Christian service.

=(1) This Solution Defeats Its Own End.=--It is evident, in the

first place, that such an attitude defeats its own aim. Evidently

the power of a Christian worker depends partly at least upon his

interest in individuals. It will not do, for example, for the

teachers in this course to let their students say, "The teacher

loves Christ supremely, but he has no interest in me." Evidently

the power of influencing our fellow men is largely increased by

an intimate personal relationship; if we are to serve Christ by

bringing men to his feet, then we ought not to dissolve but rather

to strengthen the bonds of simple affection which unite us to our

human friends.

=(2) This Solution Is Opposed to Apostolic Example.=--The example of

the apostolic Church points in the same direction; we have already

noticed the intensity of natural affection which was displayed even

by a man so thoroughly and heroically devoted to Christian service

as was the apostle Paul. This example might well be supplemented,

and supplemented most emphatically of all by the example which lies

at the basis of all of the apostolic Church--the example of Jesus

himself. If any man might have been aloof from his fellow men, it

was Jesus, yet as a matter of fact, he plainly had his earthly

friends.

4. THE TRUE SOLUTION

The true solution of the problem is found in consecration. Human

relationships are not to be made the sole aim of life; neither

are they to be destroyed; but they are to be consecrated to the

service of God. Love for God under normal conditions comes into no

competition with love for man, because God takes a place in the life

which can never be filled by any human friend; by lopping off human

friendships we are not devoting ourselves more fully to God, but

merely becoming less efficient servants of him.

5. CHRISTIANITY AND SOCIAL SERVICE

Consecration of human relationships to God does not involve any

depreciation of what is known to-day as "social service." On the

contrary it gives to social service its necessary basis and motive

power. Only when God is remembered is there an eternal outlook in

the betterment of human lives; the improvement of social conditions,

which gives the souls of men a fair chance instead of keeping them

stunted and balked by poverty and disease, is seen by him who

believes in a future life and a final judgment and heaven and hell

to have value not only for time, but also for eternity, not only for

man, but also for the infinite God.

=(1) Society or the Individual?=--It is sometimes regarded as a

reproach that old-fashioned, evangelical Christianity makes its

first appeal to the individual. The success of certain evangelists

has occasioned considerable surprise in some quarters. Everyone

knows, it is said, that the "social gospel" is the really effective

modern agency; yet some evangelists with only the very crudest

possible social program are accomplishing important and beneficent

results! The lesson may well be learned, and it should never be

forgotten. Despite the importance of social reforms, the first

purpose of true Christian evangelism is to bring the individual man

clearly and consciously into the presence of his God. Without that,

all else is of but temporary value; the human race is composed of

individual souls; the best of social edifices will crumble if all

the materials are faulty.

=(2) Every Man Should First Correct His Own Faults.=--The true

attitude of the Christian toward social institutions can be learned

clearly from the example of the apostolic Church. The first lesson

that the early Christians learned when they faced the ordinary

duties of life was to make the best of the institutions that were

already existing. There was nothing directly revolutionary about

the apostolic teaching. Sharp rebuke, indeed, was directed against

the covetousness of the rich. But the significant fact is that such

denunciations of wealthy men were addressed to the wealthy men

themselves and not to the poor. In the apostolic Church, every man

was made to know his own faults, not the faults of other people.

The rich were rebuked for their covetousness and selfishness; but

the poor were commanded, with just as much vehemence, to labor for

their own support. "If any will not work," said Paul, "neither let

him eat." II Thess. 3:10. In short, apostolic Christianity sought

to remove the evils of an unequal distribution of wealth, not by a

violent uprising of the poor against the rich, but by changing the

hearts of the rich men themselves. Modern reform movements are often

very different; but it cannot be said that the apostolic method is

altogether antiquated.

=(3) The Ennobling of Existing Institutions.=--Certainly the

apostolic method has been extraordinarily successful; it has

accomplished far more than could have been accomplished by a violent

reform movement. A good example is afforded by the institution of

slavery. Here, if anywhere, we might seem to have an institution

which was contrary to the gospel. Yet Paul sent back a runaway

slave to his master, and evidently without the slightest hesitation

or compunction. That action was a consistent carrying out of the

principle that a Christian man, instead of seeking an immediate

change in his social position, was first of all to learn to make

the best of whatever position was his already. "Let each man abide

in that calling wherein he was called. Wast thou called being

a bondservant? care not for it: nay, even if thou canst become

free, use it rather. For he that was called in the Lord being a

bondservant, is the Lord's freedman: likewise he that was called

being free, is Christ's bondservant. Ye were bought with a price;

become not bondservants of men. Brethren, let each man, wherein he

was called, therein abide with God." I Cor. 7:20-24. The freedom of

the Christian, in other words, is entirely independent of freedom

in this world; a slave can be just as free in the higher, spiritual

sense as his earthly master. In this way the position of the slave

was ennobled; evidently the relation of Onesimus to Philemon was

expected to afford both slave and master genuine opportunity for

the development of Christian character and for the performance of

Christian service.

=(4) The Substitution of Good Institutions for Bad.=--In the long

run, however, such conceptions were bound to exert a pervasive

influence even upon earthly institutions. If Philemon really adopted

the Christian attitude toward one who was now "more than a servant,

a brother beloved" in Christ, then in the course of time he would

naturally desire to make even the outward relationship conform more

perfectly to the inward spiritual fact. The final result would

naturally be emancipation; and such was the actual process in the

history of the Church. Slavery, moreover, is only an example; a host

of other imperfect social institutions have similarly been modified

or removed. What a world of progress, for example, is contained in

Gal. 3:28: "There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither

bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye are all one

man in Christ Jesus." Not battles and revolutions, the taking of

cities and the pulling down of empires, are the really great events

of history, but rather the enunciation of great principles such as

this. "Ye are all one man in Christ Jesus"--these words with others

like them have moved armies like puppets, and will finally transform

the face of the world.

* * * * *

IN THE LIBRARY.--R. E. Thompson, "De Civitate Dei. The Divine Order

of Human Society." Clow, "Christ in the Social Order." Cunningham,

"Christianity and Social Questions." Schmidt, "The Social Results of

Early Christianity."

LESSON L

THE CHRISTIAN USE OF THE INTELLECT

1. THE PROBLEM OF CHRISTIANITY AND CULTURE

The last two lessons have emphasized the duty of consecration. The

enjoyment of simple, physical blessings, the opportunities afforded

by earthly relationships, are all to be devoted to the service of

God. Exactly the same principle must be applied in the lesson for

to-day. If physical health and strength and the companionship of

human friends may be made useful in the Christian life, surely

the same thing is true of intellectual gifts. The most powerful

thing that a man possesses is the power of his mind. Brute force

is comparatively useless; the really great achievements of modern

times have been accomplished by the intellect. If the principle of

consecration is true at all--if it be true that God desires, not the

destruction of human powers, but the proper use of them--then surely

the principle must be applied in the intellectual sphere.

The field should not be limited too narrowly; with the purely

logical and acquisitive faculties of the mind should be included the

imagination and the sense of beauty. In a word, we have to do to-day

with the relation between "culture" and Christianity. For the modern

Church there is no greater problem. A mighty civilization has been

built up in recent years, which to a considerable extent is out of

relation to the gospel. Great intellectual forces which are rampant

in the world are grievously perplexing the Church. The situation

calls for earnest intellectual effort on the part of Christians.

Modern culture must either be refuted as evil, or else be made

helpful to the gospel. So great a power cannot safely be ignored.

=(1) The Obscurantist Solution.=--Some men in the Church are

inclined to choose a simple way out of the difficulty; they are

inclined to reject the whole of modern culture as either evil

or worthless; this wisdom of the world, they maintain, must be

deserted for the divine "foolishness" of the gospel. Undoubtedly

such a view contains an element of truth, but in its entirety it is

impracticable. The achievements of modern culture are being made

useful for the spread of the gospel by the very advocates of the

view now in question; these achievements, therefore, cannot be

altogether the work of Satan. It is inconsistent to use the printing

press, the railroad, the telegraph in the propagation of our gospel

and at the same time denounce as evil those activities of the human

mind by which these inventions were produced. Indeed, much of modern

culture, far from being hostile to Christianity, has really been

produced by Christianity. Such Christian elements should not be

destroyed; the wheat should not be rooted up with the tares.

=(2) The Worldly Solution.=--If, however, the Christian man is in

danger of adopting a negative attitude toward modern culture, of

withdrawing from the world into a sort of unhealthy, modernized,

intellectual monastery, the opposite danger is even more serious.

The most serious danger is the danger of being so much engrossed

in the wonderful achievements of modern science that the gospel is

altogether forgotten.

=(3) The True Solution.=--The true solution is consecration. Modern

culture is a stumblingblock when it is regarded as an end in itself,

but when it is used as a means to the service of God it becomes a

blessing. Undoubtedly much of modern thinking is hostile to the

gospel. Such hostile elements should be refuted and destroyed; the

rest should be made subservient; but nothing should be neglected.

Modern culture is a mighty force; it is either helpful to the gospel

or else it is a deadly enemy of the gospel. For making it helpful

neither wholesale denunciation nor wholesale acceptance is in

place; careful discrimination is required, and such discrimination

requires intellectual effort. There lies a supreme duty of the

modern Church. Patient study should not be abandoned to the men of

the world; men who have really received the blessed experience of

the love of God in Christ must seek to bring that experience to

bear upon the culture of the modern world, in order that Christ

may rule, not only in all nations, but also in every department of

human life. The Church must seek to conquer not only every man, but

also the whole of man. Such intellectual effort is really necessary

even to the external advancement of the kingdom. Men cannot be

convinced of the truth of Christianity so long as the whole of their

thinking is dominated by ideas which make acceptance of the gospel

logically impossible; false ideas are the greatest obstacles to the

reception of the gospel. And false ideas cannot be destroyed without

intellectual effort.

Such effort is indeed of itself insufficient. No man was ever argued

into Christianity; the renewing of the Holy Spirit is the really

decisive thing. But the Spirit works when and how he will, and he

chooses to employ the intellectual activities of Christian people in

order to prepare for his gracious coming.

2. THE APOSTOLIC EXAMPLE

Abundant support for what has just been said may be discovered in

the history of the apostolic Church. Paul's speech at Athens, for

example, shows how the Christian preacher exhibited the connection

between the gospel and the religious aspirations of the time. This

line of thought, it is true, was merely preliminary; the main thing

with which the apostles were concerned was the presentation and

explanation of the gospel itself. Such presentation and explanation,

however, certainly required intellectual effort; and the effort was

not avoided. The epistles of Paul are full of profound thinking;

only superficiality can ignore the apostolic use of the intellect.

=(1) Christianity Based Upon Facts.=--The fundamental reason why

this intellectual activity was so prominent in the apostolic age

is that the apostles thought of Christianity as based upon facts.

Modern Christians sometimes cherish a different notion. A false

antithesis is now sometimes set up between belief and practice;

Christianity, it is said, is not a doctrine, but a life. In reality,

Christianity is not only a doctrine, but neither is it only a life;

it is both. It is, as has been well said, a life because it is a

doctrine. What is characteristic of Christianity is not so much that

it holds up a lofty ethical ideal as that it provides the power by

which the ideal is to be realized. That power proceeds from the

great facts upon which Christian belief is founded, especially the

blessed facts of Christ's atoning death and triumphant resurrection.

Where belief in these facts has been lost, the Christian life may

seem to proceed for a time as before, but it proceeds only as a

locomotive runs after the steam has been shut off; the momentum

is soon lost. If, however, Christianity is based upon facts, it

cannot do without the use of the mind; whatever may be said of

mere emotions, facts cannot be received without employment of

the reason. Christian faith is indeed more than intellectual; it

involves rejoicing in the heart and acceptance by the will, but the

intellectual element in it can never be removed. We cannot trust

in Christ, in the Christian sense, unless we are convinced that he

lived a holy life when he was on earth, that he claimed justly to be

divine, that he died on the cross, and that he rose again from the

dead.

=(2) Christianity Involves Theology.=--Furthermore, Christian faith

involves not only a bare acceptance of these facts, it involves also

some explanation of them. That explanation can never be complete;

the gospel contains mysteries in the presence of which only

wondering reverence is in place; but some explanation there must be.

It is quite useless, for example, to know merely that a holy man,

Jesus, died on the cross; it is even useless to know that the Son

of God came to earth and died in that way. The death of Christ has

meaning for us only because it was a death for our sins; the story

of the cross becomes a gospel only when the blessed meaning of it

is explained. The explanation of that meaning forms the subject of

a large part of the New Testament. The apostolic Church had none of

our modern aversion to theology.

It is time for us to return to the apostolic example. Mere bustling

philanthropy will never conquer the world. The real springs of

the Church's power lie in an inward, spiritual realm; they can be

reached only by genuine meditation. The eighth chapter of Romans

has been neglected long enough; neglect of it is bringing deadly

weakness. Instead of adapting her message to the changing fashions

of the time, the Church should seek to understand the message

itself. The effort will not be easy; in a "practical" age, honest

thinking is hard. But the results will be plain. Power lies in the

deep things of God.

=(3) The Duty of Every Man.=--The great intellectual duty of the

modern Church is not confined to a few men of scholarly tastes. On

the contrary, the simplest Christian may have his part; what is

needed first of all is common sense. By an unhealthy sentimentalism,

old-fashioned study has been discredited. If God is speaking in the

Bible, surely the logical thing for us to do is to hear. Yet modern

Christians are strangely neglectful of this simple duty. Bible study

is regarded as of less importance than social service; improvement

of earthly conditions is preferred to acquaintance with God's Word.

The evil may easily be corrected, and it may be corrected first

of all by the old-fashioned reading of the Bible. That requires

intellectual effort--there is no use in turning the pages if the

mind is elsewhere--but the effort can be made by the plain man as

well as by the scholar. Simple acquaintance with the Bible facts by

the rank and file of the Church will accomplish as much as anything

else toward meeting the arguments of opponents. By learning what

Christianity is, we shall be able, almost unconsciously, to refute

what can be said against it.

3. THE PRACTICE OF THE TRUTH

This intellectual effort, however, should never be separated from

practice. The best way to fix truth in the mind is to practice it

in life. If our study teaches us that God is holy, let us hate sin

as God hates it. If we learn that God is loving, let us love our

fellow men as God loves them. If the Bible tells us of the salvation

offered by Christ, let us accept it with a holy joy, and live in the

power of it day by day. That is the true "practical Christianity", a

Christianity that is based solidly upon facts. Conduct goes hand in

hand with doctrine; love is the sister of truth.

4. GOD THE SOURCE OF TRUTH

The ultimate Source of all truth, as of all love, is God. The

knowledge for which we are pleading can never result in pride,

for it is a knowledge that God gives, and a knowledge consecrated

at every point to God's service. Presumptuous reliance upon human

wisdom comes from knowledge that ignores part of the facts; true

science leads to humility. If we accept all other facts, but ignore

the supreme fact of God's love in Jesus Christ, then of course our

knowledge will be one-sided. It may succeed in producing creature

comforts; it may improve the external conditions of life upon this

earth; it may afford purely intellectual pleasure; but it will never

reveal the really important things. This one-sided knowledge is what

Paul was speaking of in I Cor. 1:21 when he said that "the world

through its wisdom knew not God." The true wisdom takes account of

the "foolishness" of God's message, and finds that that foolishness

is wiser than men. The true wisdom of the gospel is revealed only

through the Holy Spirit; only the Spirit of God can reveal the

things of God. Without the Spirit, the human mind becomes hopeless

in dismal error; it is the Spirit of truth who sheds the true light

over our path.

"O grant us light, that we may know

The wisdom Thou alone canst give;

That truth may guide where'er we go,

And virtue bless where'er we live."

* * * * *

IN THE LIBRARY.--Patton, "A Summary of Christian Doctrine." Greene,

"Christian Doctrine." A. A. Hodge, "Outlines of Theology" and

"Popular Lectures on Theological Themes."

LESSON LI

THE CHRISTIAN HOPE AND THE PRESENT POSSESSION

A type of religious effort has become prevalent to-day which is

directed chiefly to the present life; the improvement of worldly

conditions is often regarded as the chief end of man. All such

tendencies are strikingly at variance with apostolic Christianity.

The apostolic Church was intensely other-worldly. The chief gift

that the apostles offered was not a better and more comfortable life

in this world, but an entrance into heaven.

1. THE END OF THE WORLD

Only the great outlines of the events connected with the end

of the world are revealed in the New Testament. Minute details

cannot be discovered except by an excessively literal method of

interpretation, which is not really in accord with the meaning of

the apostolic writers. Some have supposed, for example, that there

are to be two resurrections, first a resurrection of the Christian

dead and long afterwards a resurrection of other men; expectation

of a thousand-year reign of Christ upon earth has been widely

prevalent. Such beliefs are not to be lightly rejected, since they

are based upon an interpretation of certain New Testament passages

which is not altogether devoid of plausibility; but on the whole

they are at least doubtful in view of other passages, and especially

in view of the true nature of prophecy. God has revealed, not

details to satisfy our curiosity, but certain basal facts which

should determine our lives.

Those basal facts, connected with the end of the world, are a second

coming of Christ, a resurrection of the dead, a final judgment, an

eternity of punishment for the wicked and of blessing for those who

have trusted in Christ. It is not maintained that these facts stand

absolutely alone; certainly they are fully explained, at least in

their spiritual significance; but the devout Bible-reader should be

cautious about his interpretation of details.

2. FEAR AND JOY

The practical effect of the apostolic teaching about the end of

the world should be a combination of earnestness with joy. A man

who lives under the expectation of meeting Christ as Judge will

desert the worldly standard of values for a higher standard. He

will rate happiness and worldly splendor lower, in order to place

the supreme emphasis upon goodness. The difference between evil and

good, between sin and holiness, is not a trifle, not a thing of

merely relative importance, as many men regard it; it enters deep

into the constitution of the universe, it is the question of really

eternal moment. Again and again, in the New Testament, the thought

of Christ's coming and of the judgment which he will hold is made

the supreme motive to a pure and holy life. The apostolic example

may well be borne in mind. When we are tempted to commit a mean or

dishonest or unclean act, when unholy thoughts crowd in upon us like

a noisome flood, we cannot do better than think of the day when we

shall stand in the presence of the pure and holy Judge.

On the other hand, the thought of Christ's coming is to the believer

the source of inexpressible joy. Christ has saved us from a terrible

abyss. Our joy in salvation is in proportion to our dread of the

destruction from which we have been saved. To the truly penitent

man, the thought of the righteous God is full of terror. God

is holy; we would sometimes endeavor vainly to shrink from his

presence. Yet such a God has stretched out his hand to save--there

is the wonder of the gospel--and if we trust in the Saviour the last

great day need cause no fear. We are lost in sin, but God looks

not upon us but upon him who died to save us. "Salvation" to the

apostolic Church meant "rescue," rescue from the just and awful

judgment of God.

3. THE INTERMEDIATE STATE

The time of that judgment has not been revealed, but so far as any

offer of repentance is concerned the time comes to every man at

death. One question of detail cannot altogether be ignored. What did

the apostles teach about the condition of the believer between death

and the final resurrection? Upon this subject, the New Testament

says very little, but it becomes clear at least that the believer,

even when absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord,

II Cor. 5:8, and that to die is to be with Christ. Phil. 1:23. On

the whole, no better statement of the apostolic teaching about the

"intermediate state" can be formulated than that which is contained

in the Shorter Catechism: "The souls of believers are at their death

made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and

their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves,

till the resurrection." The hope of an immediate entrance into bliss

at the time of death should not be allowed, however, to obscure the

importance of the resurrection. The resurrection of the body will be

necessary to "the full enjoying of God to all eternity."

4. THE FINAL BLESSEDNESS

That enjoying of God is no mere selfish pleasure; it means first

of all a triumph of holiness. Every last vestige of evil will

be removed. No taint of sin will separate the redeemed creature

from his God. Service will be free and joyous. The consummation,

moreover, will concern not merely individuals, but the race; no mere

expectation of the personal immortality of individuals begins to do

justice to the apostolic teaching. The ultimate end, indeed, is not

our own enjoyment, but the glory of God. Some carnal, materialistic

conceptions of the future age would really remove God from his own

heaven, but such is not the teaching of the New Testament. God will

be all and in all; only in his glory is to be found the true glory

of a redeemed race. The power of loving God is the highest joy that

heaven contains.

5. THE DISPENSATION OF THE SPIRIT

The present age, according to the New Testament, is a time of

waiting and striving; it is related to the future glory as a

battle is related to the subsequent victory. Satisfaction with the

present life, even as it is led by the best of Christians, would

to the apostles have been abhorrent; the Christian is still far

from perfect. A prime condition of progress is a divine discontent.

Jesus pronounced a blessing upon them that "hunger and thirst

after righteousness." Eternal things to us are unseen; they can be

discovered only by the eye of faith; we long for a time when hope

will be supplanted by sight. Nevertheless, there is no room for

despondency; the blessed time is surely coming.

Its coming is rendered certain by the presence, here and now, of the

Holy Spirit. The Spirit may be relied upon to prepare us, both in

soul and in body, for the glory of heaven.

=(1) The Spirit in the Old Testament and in the Life of Jesus.=--The

Spirit of God was mentioned even in the Old Testament. At the

beginning he "moved upon the face of the waters," Gen. 1:2; he

was the source of the mighty deeds of heroes and of the prophets'

inspired words. In the life and teaching of Jesus, however, the

Spirit was far more fully revealed than he had ever been revealed

before. He was the source of Jesus' human nature, Matt. 1:18, 20;

Luke 1:35; he descended upon the newly proclaimed Messiah, Matt.

3:16, and was operative in all the earthly ministry of the Lord.

=(2) The Spirit in the Church.=--For the disciples, however, the

full glory of the Spirit's presence was manifested only after

Jesus himself had been taken up into heaven; the present age,

from Pentecost to the second coming of the Lord, is peculiarly

the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. Discontent with the Church's

imperfections and dismay at her many adversaries should never cause

us to lose confidence in the work that is being done by the Spirit

of God. It was expedient that Jesus should go away; through the

other "Comforter" whom he has sent, he manifests himself even more

gloriously than he did to the disciples in Galilee.

=(3) The Nature of the Spirit.=--The apostles never discuss the

nature of the Holy Spirit in any thoroughly systematic way. But two

great facts are really presupposed in the whole New Testament. In

the first place, the Holy Spirit is God, and in the second place he

is a person distinct from the Father and from the Son. The divinity

of the Spirit appears, for example, in I Cor. 2:11. The point of

that verse is that the Spirit is as closely related to God as the

human spirit is to a man. "For who among men knoweth the things of

a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the

things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God." The distinct

personality of the Spirit appears with special clearness in Rom.

8:26, 27. There the Spirit is represented as making intercession

with him "that searcheth the hearts"; the one who intercedes is

personally distinct from him before whom he makes intercession.

Even more convincing, perhaps, is the great promise of Christ in

John 14:16, 17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-15, where the other "Comforter" is

spoken of in clearly personal terms and is distinguished both from

the Father and from the Son. Personal distinctness, however, is

not inconsistent with a perfect unity of nature. What the Spirit

does the Son and the Father do; when the other Comforter comes to

the Church, Christ himself comes. The doctrine of the "Trinity" is

a profound mystery, but its mysteriousness is no obstacle to the

acceptance of its truth. Mystery in the depths of God's nature is

surely to be expected. This mystery, taught by the pen of inspired

writers, has brought salvation and peace into the lives of men.

Distinctly Trinitarian passages, such as Matt. 28:19; II Cor. 13:14,

are merely the summation of the New Testament teaching about God,

and that teaching has worked itself out in unspeakable blessing in

the life of the Church.

=(4) The Work of the Spirit.=--A complete summary of the belief of

the apostolic Church about the work of the Holy Spirit would be

impossible in one brief lesson. The Christian life is begun by the

Spirit, and continued by his beneficent power. Conversion, according

to Jesus and his apostles, is only the manward aspect of a profound

change in the depths of the soul. That change is "regeneration," a

new birth. Christian experience is no mere improvement of existing

conditions, but the entrance of something entirely new. Man is not

merely sick in trespasses and sins, but "dead"; only a new birth

will bring life. That new birth is a mysterious, creative act of the

Spirit of God. John 3:3-8.

But the Spirit does not leave those whom he has regenerated to

walk alone; he dwells in them and enables them to overcome sin.

The motive of his work is love. He is no blind force, but a loving

Person; the Christian can enjoy a real communion with him as with

the Father and the Son. In the presence of the Spirit we have

communion with God; the Persons of the Godhead are united in a

manner far beyond all human analogies. There is no imperfect medium

separating us from the divine presence; by the gracious work of the

Holy Spirit we come into vital contact with the living God.

The Spirit is the ground and cause of Christian freedom. "Where the

Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." II Cor. 3:17. "For as

many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For ye

received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received

the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." Rom. 8:14,

15. This liberty that the Spirit brings is, however, not a liberty

to sin; it is liberation from sin. The body of the Christian is a

temple of the Holy Spirit; in that temple only purity is in place.

The inward power of the Holy Spirit in the heart is more powerful

than the law; if a man yields to that power he will overcome the

flesh; the law of God is fulfilled by those "who walk not after the

flesh, but after the Spirit."

* * * * *

IN THE LIBRARY.--Vos, "The Teaching of Jesus Concerning the Kingdom

of God and the Church." Crane, "The Teaching of Jesus Concerning the

Holy Spirit." Swete, "The Holy Spirit in the New Testament." Thomas,

"The Holy Spirit of God."

LESSON LII

RETROSPECT: THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CENTURY

The apostolic example can be applied intelligently to the problems

of our time only if there be some understanding of the intervening

centuries. We are connected with the apostolic Church by an unbroken

succession. A study of Church history would help us to apply the New

Testament teaching to our own age.

The Christian writings which have been preserved from the early

part of the second century show a marked decline from the spiritual

level of the apostles. Evidently the special inspiration which had

made the New Testament a guide for all ages had been withdrawn. Yet

the Spirit of God continued to lead the Church. Even in the darkest

periods of Church history God did not forget his people.

Only scanty Christian writings have been preserved from the first

three-quarters of the second century; the extant works of the

so-called "Apostolic Fathers" and of the "Apologists" are of limited

extent. About the close of the century, however, the record becomes

more complete. Clement of Alexandria, Irenæus of Asia Minor and

Gaul, and Tertullian of North Africa, give a varied picture of

the Christian life of the time. The Church had gained rapidly in

influence since the conclusion of the apostolic age; persecutions

had not succeeded in checking her advance. Finally, under

Constantine, in the first part of the fourth century, Christianity

became the favored religion of the Roman Empire.

About the same time, in A.D. 325, the first ecumenical council, at

Nicæa, undertook the work of formulating the belief of the Church.

The creeds which were adopted at the great ancient councils are

accepted to-day in all parts of Christendom. During the same general

period, the power of the bishop of Rome was gradually increased

until it culminated in the papacy.

After the conquest of the western part of the Roman Empire in

the fifth century, Christianity was accepted by the barbarian

conquerors, and during the dark ages that followed the Church

preserved the light of learning and piety until a better day should

dawn. During the middle ages, though there was for the most part

little originality in Christian thinking, great scholars and

theologians formed striking exceptions to the general condition.

The political power of the papacy became enormous, but was hindered

by the personal weakness and immorality of many of the popes.

The degraded moral and spiritual condition of the Church was

counteracted here and there by the establishment of monastic orders,

whose purpose at the beginning was good, by the writings of certain

mystics, and by the work of the three "pre-reformers," Wyclif in

England, Huss in Bohemia and Savonarola in Italy.

A genuine advance, however, did not come until the Reformation

of the fifteenth century, when Luther in Germany and Zwingli in

Switzerland, almost at the same time and at first independently,

became the leaders in a mighty protest. A little later Calvin

carried out the principles of the Reformation in a comprehensive

theological system, and by the power of his intellect and the

fervency of his piety exerted an enormous influence throughout the

world. The Reformation was distinctly a religious movement, though

it had been prepared for by that revival of learning which is called

the Renaissance. The work of Luther was a rediscovery of Paul. Not

the performance of a set of external acts prescribed by the Church,

but, as Paul taught, the grace of God received by faith alone, is,

according to Luther, the means of salvation.

The Reformation brought about a counter-reformation in the Roman

Catholic Church, and the western European world was finally divided

between the two great branches of Christendom. After a period of

controversy and wars between Protestants and Catholics, the Church

was called upon to fight a great battle against unbelief. That

battle, begun in its modern form about the middle of the eighteenth

century, continues unabated until the present day. We are living in

a time of intellectual changes. To maintain the truth of the gospel

at such a time and to present it faithfully and intelligently to

the modern world is the supreme task of the Church. The task to

some extent has been accomplished; and the missionary movement of

the nineteenth and twentieth centuries attests the vitality of the

ancient faith. God has not deserted his Church. There are enemies

without and within, compromise will surely bring disaster; but the

gospel of Christ has not lost its power. This is not the first time

of discouragement in the history of the Church. The darkest hour has

always been followed by the dawn. Who can tell what God has now in

store?

* * * * * *

Transcriber's note:

Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.

Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained

as printed.

(b) Avoidance of Idleness in the Church.--On the other hand,