Part 6 (1/2)

Exactly what is God's ultimate purpose for the human race, I think no one knows And I aranted alk by faith But even if the ultimate end is not clearly portrayed, even if we are kept in the dark as to the great outcome, we do know pretty well His method of procedure A careful study of the past and a critical analysis of the data now at hand looking to the future enable us to grasp with soeneration to generation, froe, as ti onward and upward, a steady i ofinto syradual develop control of the forces of nature In spite of the fact that this progress has been, at ti the last century it hasspeed until to-day the huhest point ever reached I have absolutely no sy about ”the good old times” All in all, there never was a time in the history of the world when man knew so much as to-day; there never was a time when his life was so ministered to by the forces of nature; never a time when his heart was so tender, when it responded so quickly to hu, never a time when all forood was being done The long prograeneration to hand on to its successors the legacy received, but increased and strengthened and bettered How er this upward movement is to continue, how much more the race is to know and do, how much better it is to be, no one knows God's ultireat object in viee rasp, but certainly it is not difficult for us to note the general direction of the movement It is upward

In all this, wherein does the home come, and what is its function? Is it not, has it not been froreat work? Was not the home instituted, endoith the divine power of love, and consecrated for the perpetuation of the race?

”Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth” True, as les, our earnings and our productions, incidentally give us pleasure and satisfaction and power, but yet even these are but a et, rear, and educate their children in such a way that they can carry the banner of civilization a little higher--lift society to a higher level and draw mankind nearer to God

So it is that the center and circumference of the ho, its excuse, and its justification

It exists, then, that the child reat work in the world Whatever else it reat problem The child! The child! The best crop the farmer raises, the best article the manufacturer puts on the market, the best ware the merchant handles, the best case the lawyer pleads, the best serivesto all of these--the child! ”The fruit of all the past and the seed of all the future” God bless the hoe--the child!

THE CHURCH

Thus the horeat work of developing the human race Its as accepted and for a time all ell Such preparation, mostly physical, as the child needed for its future work the hoave without difficulty But this simple life could not continue indefinitely One of the funda still The laws of growth and development pushed him on Whether he would or not, he was co the law of its being, changes its form, its size, and adds to its co these inexorable laws, began to develop His radually assumed new forms--new needs and desires were born More and more his vision became expanded until he could see into and mesurably appreciate the forces of nature His life was becoreater complexity of life, in addition to its own co the child for playing its part in this great onward movement

Such preparation as was needed by the child of the pri its part as an adult would no longer suffice The ho more than satisfy the needs of the body--provide food, clothing, and shelter, and incidentally give opportunity to learn, eneration of children The spiritual life needed attention and, as well, the intellectual Co keen, and each felt the need of a better equiper life that was surely before hi by what it was feeding upon and s

But the hos that it had to do, had no tiain, the most of the homes, even if time had been abundant, did not kno to do the neork So it set about finding a solution to its problem This was found in the principle of the division of labor It was seen that time would be saved and resultsto persons definitely prepared and set aside for that purpose certain phases of this work So the church was instituted and, a little later, the school To the church was delegated, speaking broadly, the religious and moral development of the child and to the school, the intellectual development

It was exactly the sa of cloth and theof shoes and other industrial pursuits

With this added complexity of life, the homes could not profitably carry on all these varied activities--be, in addition to a home, also a tailor shop and a shoe factory, a church and a school And so the ho one man particularly adapted to that work to make all the shoes for the community, another the cloth, etc And, in like manner, earlier in history, one was set aside to minister to the spiritual life, and one to teach the children Both were offshoots of the hoated by the home to do a certain very definite portion of its work Each took directions from the collective home and looked to it as the source of its authority And such it was The point is this: the hoinal educational institution and, as well, the original religious institution At first it alone performed the work of all three: it was our home, our church, and school all in one It finally established the others and encies, so, at any time, it may withdraw that work from them It is master of the situation This withdrawal may be done either by the collective home or by any individual ho, for any reason whatever, wishes to resuious development of the children, no one can say it nay And it is the saard to the school If any parent here wishes to withdraw his children from the school and himself, either directly or indirectly, provide for their intellectual developht to do so Our compulsory attendance laws are satisfied when evidence is furnished of the child's advancement Of course the church and the school, in this pri to the crude notions of religious and intellectual developreat part as now in the drama of life I suppose it is true that these differentiations were at first only semi-conscious, but nevertheless they were real differentiations and had large influence upon the development of man

To trace the developes is not necessary for the purpose of this address, so I pass at once to the establishment of the Christian church which is in reality our representative of the same fundamental institution Like the hoan in a very huress of the centuries passed thru es Let es, or periods, of the history of the Christian church: first, the pri its birth when, in the h But, tho it was founded to provide the ious development of the child and the race thru the perpetuation and extension of the teachings of Christ, and tho it was launched forth into its great career in the spirit of love and meekness and fellowshi+p that characterized His life, it was not long, as history counts tiht of, that spirit wholly cast aside, and the new institution entered upon its second period, becoard of rights and justice, in the shrewdness and daring of its schemes, and in the blackness of its methods, almost surpassed even our own dom is not of this world,” Christ had said, and yet the church, founded upon His teachings and led byto be His true representatives, had becodom of this world The possession and use of worldly power by the church had so blunted its moral sense that Dante, in the early part of the fourteenth century, felt forced to exclaim, and exclaiovern, fall'n into the mire, And there herself and burden much defiled”

But Dante's criticis leaders to soht effort toward the performance of duty, tho neither conception nor performance took them back to their pristine e, the third, and one whose doht and purpose prevails even up to modern times Indeed, so recently has it passed that its dark outlines are even yet discoverable as we glance backward In this new conception of the church and its e find the function of the institution to be not religious development of the individual and of the race, as it had been at first, but merely technical salvation And the institution reat lifeboat thrust out into the storm to save from destruction those who can be draithin--_while all others perish_

You reround, how the emphasis was thrown upon the world to come! This world was not man's home He was a sojourner here, a wanderer His citizenshi+p was in Heaven He was a pilgrie and weary land, and the only purpose of the pilgrie was a preparation for the life to come

The nature of man himself was corrupt The world around him was evil

Alone and unaided he was powerless He was lost both for this world and the next The storulf him But the church, as a lifeboat, was thrust out into the breakers, and upon certain stipulated conditions was ready to take hi received direct from the hands of God ”the keys of heaven and hell,” and as being able to open the gates of a better world to all true believers But true believers, you knoere no longer the pure followers of the crucified Christ, simas of the church No matter how full of error the church was, no matter how corrupt her leaders, there could be no safety outside of her fold Accept the dogious developht

The character of the life, previous or prospective,departed Oh! so far froiven existence by the hoht had her grip becorown her rown the home, and it repudiated her control Indeed, she held the keys--she was the ark of safety

I have dwelt upon this because, with varying degrees of emphasis, that has been the conception of the church from medieval times almost to our own day Indeed, I am not sure that it has entirely passed even at the present tiard the church, and there is more than one branch of the institution whose definitely formulated statements of belief can be interpreted in no other way however much, as a practical fact, the members have departed from them

There are some branches of the church that still teach that the child, newly born into the world, fresh from the hand of God, is already corrupt, prone to evil, of its own volition choosing evil in preference to good And, believing that, they require the parents when presenting the babe at the altar for holy baptism, to affirm that that pure and innocent babe has inherited an evil and corrupt nature, and that it was conceived and born in sin Anot only every parental instinct, but as well all the principles of psychology and ethics Yea, verily, the Dark Ages are not yet wholly past! Yes, there are doubtless some who still look upon the church as a lifeboat, and who think that that lifeboat should offer safety and protection to those alone who already have on the life preserver In other words, there are still soranted only to those whose character and belief already assure thedom and who, therefore, do not really need churchconception, we have discarded the lifeboat idea and are now regarding the church rather as a great school, so to speak, in which all the children of radually develop the Christian character and eventually coarded asto the few, but as a great social beneficent institution shedding abroad upon all people its life-giving light and lifting all s to those who come closest and partake most fully of her nature, but yet like the sun which shi+nes upon all and both by direct and indirect rays warhtens all Between the two viehat a contrast! And that change can not be better seen than by a contrast of the methods of work--the methods used to replenish the ranks, to offer the boon of membershi+p to those deemed worthy or to those whoelis, in which skilful word painting presented the two extremes, heaven and hell And when the eht up to the desired pitch and fear to the right degree, a choice was deelism--Christian nurture in the hoencies of the church--is not as spectacular as the old It doesn't make as much noise nor draw to itself so much attention

Nor do results so readily lend the about certain tie accessions arerather that a continuous streanizes the fact that human nature is not necessarily depraved, that, on the other hand, the Christian life is the natural life and that the child under the sweet influences of the hoe to another often not knohen the transitions take place

Christian nurture--_a continuous process_--in which development is the key-note, not conversion, a sudden transfor, is the church's present one--here and there we occasionally see evidences of its presence Professional evangelism we call it to-day I ran across it in a recent trip East A big, barnlike structure had been erected which was called ”the tabernacle” Its floor was of sawdust sprinkled on the ground Here for about a ued the curious crowds in ie Wit and sarcas and emotion had been freely used in his efforts to make sinners ”hit the sawdust trail,” to use his own spectacular language, as well as to extort money from the pockets of the attendants He left the town 5,000 richer than when he entered and also carried with hi list of so-called converts A travesty on the sacred work of the church! But such methods are to-day the exception and not the rule, and the exceptions merely prove the rule

And to-day church raciously held out to all who need help in the work of perfecting character--to all who need assistance in leading the Christian life, as well as to those whose battles have already been fought and won The question asked is no longer, ”Have you attained?” but rather, ”Do you wish to attain?” When an individual, child or adult, seeks entrance at the doors of an educational institution, the only condition imposed is assurance of his desire to be a learner The doors swing open And thank God the church is at last co to the same position And so we see her to-day well started upon the fourth stage of her developiven her at birth so long ago--the religious development of the child and the race

THE SCHOOL

The American school is a wonderful institution In its absolute universality and impartiality, in its fine spirit of de like it elsewhere in the world It is a product of the genius of our people Product? Yes, but, also, successively, the enius of our people

Froree, we have been a people knowing no social classes or distinctions The caste idea, so prevalent in European countries, has ever been repugnant to us And our schools, e from such a people, have had a powerful reflex influence in shaping the people and keeping those fine ideals ever before us But let us go back and see whence it cahly influential institution of to-day and the simple offshoot of the home of primitive times Just when it was first instituted, nobody knows; but in essential features it is very ancient