BRITISH CITIZENS AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO GOD * * * W CUNNINGHAM D.D. F.B.A BRITISH CITIZENS AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO GOD SIX SERMONS, IN PREPARATION FOR THE NATIONAL MISSION, 1916, PREACHED IN GREAT ST. MARY'S, CAMBRIDGE BY W. CUNNINGHAM, D.D., F.B.A. FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE AND ARCHDEACON OF ELY SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE LONDON : 68 HAYMARKET, S.\V. I916 PREFACE THE National Mission is the call of the Church to the Nation to lay hold on the great truth that all national power and influence are a trust given us by God, and that we are, individually and collectively, responsible to Him for the use we make of them. There has been much complaint against rulers in the past that they have thought too much of their personal interests, and too little of their duty in exercising their privileges. In a subtler form Democracies are exposed to the same temptation. The masses may be in danger of preferring the present interest of their own class to the welfare of the community in the long run. The first essential of good government, under any constitution, is a sense of duty ; and the greatest incentive to the doing of political duty is a consciousne>s of responsibility to God for promoting His glory and the good of mankind, by the use we make of national power and in- fluence. In my "Christianity and Politics" I have dealt historically and generally with the iv Preface part Christianity has played in attempts to bring religion to bear on political life : in these sermons I have endeavoured to give the matter a more personal application, and to point out where we have all been apt to fail in doing our duties as citizens. Trinity College, Cambridge June 10, 1916 CONTENTS PAGE I. The Dignity of the Christian Citizen ... 7 II. Christ's Aim in Ills Human Activities ... 14 III. Deliverance from the sordid Elements in Politics ... ... ... ... ... 20 IV. False Prophets ... ... ... ... 27 V. Humanitarianism ... ... ... ... 34 I VI. Intellectual Conceit ... ... .., 40 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/britishcitizenstOOcunn BRITISH CITIZENS AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO GOD THE DIGNITY OF THE CHRISTIAN " And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Tather." — Revelation i. 6. E have for two years past been living in * » a time of great anxiety, of hope deferred that makes the heart sick, of mourning over horrible suffering and lives lost. This has been no passing feeling, for the accumulated burden has often given rise to physical depression. Yet through it all there are many of us who have held to the conviction that the right must prevail and that it will. Our hopes are not based on any con- fidence in ourselves ; we were utterly unprepared for the struggle at first, and we have only gradu- ally awakened to the need of taking it seriously and of bringing all our energies into operation. We are opposed to a nation that is showing itself our superior in many ways, not only in its scientific equipment and power of organisation, but in the CITIZEN 8 British Citizens and their readiness with which all respond to the demand that they should come forward and sacrifice themselves for their country. It is the virtues of Germany and the best of Germany against which we have to struggle. Yet behind all that is thus seen, we hold to our faith that there is a God who governs the world ; we believe that the cause we have made our own is one that He approves. We do not think that He will allow one great temporal monarchy to be supreme, and to stamp out the self-government of the other peoples of the world. We do not believe that it is His will that the despotism of personal rulers should be riveted on the people in Germany, Austria, and Turkey, or should bt extended through the Balkan lands and the near East. We should feel that it was mysterious if evil were permitted to triumph — the reckless breaking of plighted troth, the organised cruelty which seeks to frighten the weak into compliance, the deliberate stirring up of strife in one region after another. It would indeed be terrible if we were, as a nation, forced to realise that God had found us unworthy to be His instruments in mould- ing mankind, and while we pray that we may be more worthy of this vocation, our confidence in final victory has lain in God Himself. We believe that He rules the world, and that He will not give the victory to those who do not acknowledge their responsibility to Him. Responsibility to God ( J This confidence towards God that has been the ground of our hopes of victory, has also been the inspiration of much of the courage of the men at the front — and of the extraordinary patience and cheerfulness of the wounded and prisoners. So many of them have found in the war a vocation — a call to come forward and do their best on the Lord's side. Manly bravery and self-forgetful- ness have been re-enforced and strengthened by the religious conviction of those who feel that they are instruments in God's hands for giving effect to God's Will for the nations of the world. It is sad that many of us can only rise to this conception of human vocation in the excitement of war ; and are so apt to forget that the same faith may be with us to brace us to do our best in overcoming the evils which beset human society in times of peace, as well as of conflict. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Our faith in God, as the supreme ruler of mankind, and of the destinies of the nation, will help not only to give us the victory, but to use the victory aright. In a democratic country each citizen has a voice in the government ; he has a voice in determining with whom the admin- istration shall lie, and what minister shall carry- out the popular decision. He has a voice in de- termining what the broad outline of the national policy shall be, what we shall aim at. how we shall 10 British Citizens and their make use of national power and influence, whether we shall exploit other peoples for our own ad- vantage, whether we shall allow the strong to oppress the weak, or whether we shall seek to do what is right in the world at large, and good for the realm as a whole. And many of us feel, as private citizens, that it is too difficult and problematical for us to know ourselves what is wisest and best — there are so many diverse opinions and conflicting duties ; but it is possible to remember that, after all, God is supreme, that He overrules all rulers, that He has the destiny of nations in His hands, and that we may each one of us as kings unto God set ourselves to give effect to His Will for our country, and through our country for the world. It is only in these last days — in the progress of civilisation, in the spread of democracy, that we can realise the full meaning of this Christian faith, and the privileges it offers. The New Testament insists on the duties of Christian subjects, but has little to say about Christian rulers, if indeed there were any such in a heathen empire. When we turn to still older times, however, we read of a king like David, who felt that God had entrusted him with the awful responsibility of ruling his people, that he was the instrument in God's hands for giving effect to God's Will among the people committed to him. One after another of the deeply religious men who have been called Responsibility to God 11 to reign in England from Alfred the Great to Charles I., have been deeply conscious of their privilege as called to give effect to God's Will, and of their responsibility to God for the manner in which they have used their power. Monarchy seemed to have Divine sanction under the old covenant ; and, as an institution on earth, to reflect the Divine government of the world. Per- sonal Christian monarchy roused the enthusiasm of the heroic Marquess of Montrose : but in this century we can aspire to a national Christian life which is fuller and more fruitful. Each of those among whom the ruling of the community is diffused in a democracy is called on to exercise his powers with the sense of kingly responsibility, and with the consciousness of Divine vocation which was confined to the very few in ancient and mediaeval times. Supreme political power rests with God, but it is through political parties and ballot boxes — no less than through armies and navies — that effect is given to His Will ; and the Christian citizen may be conscious that he is trying to be the instrument of giving effect to God's Will in the way he exercises his political privileges. We are made Kings unto God ; just as it resulted from the Reformation that many Christians came to realise more fully their personal relation, as members of Christ, to their Heavenly Father, so it is well that we should each try to realise his part as a member of Christ in the 12 British Citizens and their government of the world, by consciously endea- vouring to give effect to God's Will in all our political actions. This religious spirit may dominate us in the whole field of political action, whether in the direction of influence abroad or in conflicts at home, it is the only thing that can raise discussion to the highest plane : it affects all sides of political life, international relations and internal politics, the decision of the voter as to his use of the franchise, or of the official in his administrative duties. Just because it is a spiritual influence it is universal and not a mere maxim which lays down rules in regard to some one department of conduct. Because it is a spiritual influence too. it does not work authorita- tively from without, by means of sanctions which enforce it, but from within outwards : it is com- patible with the perfect freedom of the individual to make up his mind as to the aim which it is right to set before the nation and the means of attain- ing it. " Particular political action is a matter for Christian citizens, but not directly for the Church as such." Christianity is a spiritual power, and it affects political life by inspiring men to look at their political duties religiously ; there is no way in which it can permeate the nation but by making the citizens more religious personally. The more they feel that political power is a trust given by God, that the private citizen is called to co-operate Responsibility to God 13 with God in the government of the world, the more may eacli realise the dignity of his own kingship, and seek to use his powers so as to be worthy of his calling. Time after time we pray, Thy kingdom come upon earth ; and it will have come if each of those who share in the responsi- bilities of political power is consciously striving to be one of His instruments in the government of the world. CHRIST'S AIM IN HIS HUMAN ACTIVITIES " Leaving us an example that ye should follow His steps. 1 ' — 1 Peter ii. 21. AT first sight it appears that there are many points at which the example of Christ fails us. His circumstances were in many respects dif- ferent from ours : His personality stands out pre- eminently in such virtues as devotion to God and constancy in the service of man ; but the institu- tions of the society in which He lived were so different from ours that there is difficulty in using His conduct as an example in public affairs. The organised Judaism in which He had His place consisted of religious institutions, and His atti- tude towards the commands of the Old Law is difficult to interpret. The political power which he was called on to obey was alien and hostile ; the patriotism which He felt might have tempted Him to be a reluctant subject, but could never inspire Him to be an example of a good citizen, as we understand the phrase. There is much excuse for those who hold that in modelling '4 Citize?is' Responsibility to God 15 ourselves on His example we must keep ourselves free from all earthly entanglements— like the friars with their vow of poverty ; or at least keep our- selves free from public employments — like the Quakers. He had not the earthly ties of a parent, He had not the responsibilities of the owner of property or man of affairs. If we do not interpret the call to follow Him as a call to quit all these things— and it does not seem that we should arbitrarily deprive ourselves of the opportunity of serving God by the use we make of secular things — we cannot take His habits of life in His circumstances as the type on which our lives shall be consciously modelled. To feel the full force and range of Christ's example we must not content ourselves with noting the external conditions of His life, but must look somewhat deeper. He took our nature upon Him as on Christmas Day ; He submitted to human institutions and ordinances as on the Circumcision. He was made man, and knew the temptations which are inherent in natural powers and desires, and are occasioned by cir- cumstances. But he so used this human nature and circumstances that His Divinity shines forth through it. He showed forth the Divine Glory, because every word and act of His human nature was the means of manifesting the Divine Will among men. Human powers of every kind may be so used, or they may be misused ; they may 16 British Citizens and their be employed by human beings to exhibit the Divine Will, or they may be employed in self- pleasing, and used in forgetfulness of God. In all that He did He consciously made it His Father's business, and we follow His example, not by trying to reproduce the circumstances of His life and lit ourselves into them, but by so using the activities and powers that lie to our hands that God's Will shall be accomplished by them and through them. To none of us can the conflicting duties of social and political life ever present such problems as He had to face. His patriotism— all His enthu- siasm for the city in which the reverence for a pure and holy God had been maintained, all the inspiration He drew from it— had to be reconciled with respect for a magistracy, which set His most cherished convictions at nought, which was undermining and about to destroy the earthly centre of all His highest hopes. In His attach- ment to the sen-ice of a living God, from day to day, and hour to hour, He was brought into opposition with those who professed to maintain God's ordinances and to speak in His Name. And yet, as we look back on His life, in all its relations, we see that He passed through it without sin, that He was successful in making even- word and deed a revelation of God's Will, never falling short of it, never going beyond' it. in giving rein to human aims or ambitions or activities Responsibility to God 17 or desires. And we who have different tempera- ments, different circumstances, different re- lationships, may make His life an example for our own, by trying to use the powers and privileges at our command, for the same high aim, with the same self-discipline as is seen in His life. Man at his creation with all his powers was pronounced very good ; and Christ by taking our nature upon Him showed how that nature might be Christianised. He brought His own person into perfect harmony with the will of God ; and the Church by perpetuating His living power in the world gives us each the opportunities of continually rendering ourselves personally more conformable to God. The course of progress and civilisation gives us new powers, which may be misused indeed, but which we may bring into harmony with God's Will by using them con- sciously for Him. The machinery of democratic government has been toilfully elaborated through many generations ; it embodies centuries of struggle and achievements. The interests which are concerned in building up the resources of a nation need not be the instruments of greed or tyranny, because they may be controlled by a Christian spirit and used in directions which are favourable to the progress of Christ's Kingdom. The exercise of human activities in this spirit will react upon the mind and character. To B 18 British Citizens and their look forward to undertaking the duties of a father and to training children for the service of God is the strongest motive for avoiding all irregularities of life, and resisting temptations to self-indul- gence. To be conscious of the part which a Government may play in making possible a more wholesome life for posterity, or in diffusing peace and good order and laying the foundations of good government throughout the world, is the best corrective against any temptation to exploit political power in a personal interest, and thereby to degrade the national life. It is the work of the Church to make more religious and better men ; in so far as they fulfil their secular duties in the community with a sense of responsibility towards God, the religious aspect ceases to be a mere sentiment, and becomes a personal habit. And it is in this way that Christian influence ceases to be spasmodic and becomes most effective as a power in the world. An external example, set deliberately, has little convincing force ; but action that is felt to be the natural expression of a genuine conviction is something of an in- spiration ; it appeals directly to the best in others and is a means of leading them to aim high and to persevere in spite of failure. It is the most powerful instrument for good in the world because it appeals directly to the springs of action them- selves. We should remember, too, that it was on this power of personality and its attractive Responsibility to God 19 force that Christ Himself relied — "I, if I be lifted up will draw all men unto Me." This same attractive power of personality has worked through all the history of the Church, and has been the means by which the Church has made whatever progress has been made in Christianising human institutions. It is thus that the effort to realise our kingship may have a wonderful effect on the world : in the first place as inspiring the individual personally to be worthy of his calling to co-operate with God in the government of the world ; thus the Kingdom of God grows within him, while he endeavours to make God's Will effective in all the relations of life, and thus helps others to glorify the Father that is in heaven. And in the midst of all the unrest and disappointment he may enjoy a perfect peace — the peace of those who have yielded their lives to God Himself, and are confident that He will realise His purpose in the world. DELIVERANCE FROM THE SORDID ELEMENTS IN POLITICS I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter that He may abide with yuu for ever : even the Spirit of truth." — St. John xiv. 10. |T is by following the steps of Christ's most x holy life that we may have the most vivid hope of having His Kingdom more firmly planted in our own heart, and of doing our best to diffuse it ; but God promises other help in pur- suing our course. He will give us a right judgment in all things. Surely as we look around in the present day there is nothing more perplexing than the variety of opinions that are put forward— the different aims that men advocate, the various means by which they hope to attain them. There is nothing we would desire more eagerly than that these conflicting opinions and jangling arguments should be swept aside, and that we should have instead an infallible decision on which we might take our stand. This is not exactly what is offered us however ; not a right judgment taken once for 20 Citizens' Responsibility to Clod 2] all and imposed upon us, but a power of judging aright, a prophylactic against common errors. There were days gone by when men looked to God Himself for instruction and direction in military tactics ; when the strategy of Barak was dictated by a prophetess as a Divine message or a prophet served as the intelligence depart- ment of a king of Israel in his conflict with Syria. But many of us would feel that God's help and guidance is spiritual, and that He does not reveal a knowledge of military science. In the same way we do not expect supernatural guidance as to what is eternally right in secular policy, but we feel it a duty to use the powers God has given us for the study of economic and other phenomena. The building up of the wealth and power of a community is a matter of expediency : it differs at different times ; it depends on circumstances ; it cannot be an eternal truth which is the same for all places and all generations, and which it is a duty to put into effect at all hazards. Maxims of good government must necessarily vary from time to time according to the development of a people and according to their environment. These maxims are necessarily matters of opinion, for they are forecasts as to the effects of certain changes in the habits of the people ; and the expectations we form must differ according to temperament. Some will lay stress on immediate benefit, some on distant results ; some will insist 22 British Citizens and their on the advantage of giving opportunities, some on the formation of character ; and any dozen men, who have the welfare of the community at heart, may have the most diverse opinions as to the steps which are most urgent in order to secure it. We need not hope that we shall have cut and dried opinions given us, but we are promised Divine help to escape from certain causes of error, and to form an honest opinion for ourselves. As we look back on some of the political con- troversies of the past, we may feel that though the programme of each party was limited and defective, and none could free themselves from the circumstances of their time, each of the con- tending parties had a hold on some aspect of truth, and made their contribution towards the solution which was at length obtained. At present in each of the proposals for social reform there is an element of truth ; some are thinking chiefly of the welfare of the community, some of the welfare of individuals, some of opportunity, and some of character. The danger of error arises in thinking of any of these things exclusively, or in an exaggerated fashion, as if we were possessed of a nostrum for the diseases of society which it is criminal to distrust. The bitterness of feeling among people, who are alike concerned for national welfare, arises from this exaggera- tion, or from disparagement of the suggestions Responsibility to God 23 of others. Common work for the common good would become far more possible if there were such a change in habit of mind that we could look not only on our own things, but on the things of others. And it is this change in our habit of mind that is offered us through the gift of God's Spirit — not the cut and dried decisions, but help to shake ourselves free from that which distracts our judgment. If the Spirit of God shall rule our hearts and minds in doing our political duties then we shall do them better in many ways, and chiefly because at all events we shall be less tempted to neglect them. The good government of the realm is a matter of supreme importance ; it is entrusted to all citizens who enjoy the franchise ; and a very large number, like the man in the parable, lind excuses for neglecting it. A single vote is so little : to the man who has only one talent it does not seem to matter. Besides, he may be afraid of offending some one if he votes on the opposite side ; and he is not sure that the ballot is really secret. There is no class who is more inclined to neglect to exercise their political privileges than the clergy, from fear of giving offence to some of their parishioners. They are in constant danger of setting a bad example by their neglect in fulfilling the duties of citizenship, as a usual thing. They may sometimes set a still worse example, by making an exception 24 British Citizens and their when some clerical interest is attacked, and they are eager to use all the influence that can be summoned in defence of their class. It is easy to excuse oneself from taking a part in politics, on the ground that it is a struggle of outs and ins, and that there is so little real interest in the welfare of the country ; but this complaint comes badly from those who do not take pains to show their own personal anxiety for the common weal by doing their best habitually. It is well to re- member that our Lord has revealed to us the severity of the judgment which He will pass on neglected duties at the last day ; there are many Christian men whose consciences never take them to task for their neglect of the duties of citizen- ship, who yet are none the less greatly to blame in this respect. A right spirit will also be a corrective against self-seeking ; private interests are inseparably connected with public affairs ; there is no new step which the Government can take, from the remit- ting or imposing a tax to the insistence on an eight hours' day, which does not affect private interests beneficially or the reverse ; none is in the public good. It is possible to think habitually of private interests and to consider simply what can be got out of the Government, or how it can be forced to connive at any advantage, and this is what all citizens are tempted to do — to use their political power as a means of securing their Responsibility to God 25 personal advantage at the expense of other people. However plausible this may be, however important the interests affected may be, there is a misuse of power in giving in to the temptation. He is a bad citizen who never thinks of the way in which he can benefit the community by his service, and who only considers what he himself can get out of the State. There is evil of other kinds which enters into our political life, and which is the result of a distorted judgment. There is the spirit of partisanship, which stands in international affairs for " my country right or wrong," and has no recognition of a Supreme Ruler over all nations. In internal affairs we may easily forget that a political party is only associated for bringing certain principles to bear on the Government of the realm and to treat it as something to be maintained for its own sake and by any means. Especially are those who yield to this temptation likely to give way to carping and evil speaking, in making the worst of political opponents ; and, not content with arguing against their opinions, to attribute to them the meanest motives. All these are unchristian habits of mind which distort the judgment, and the more they can be exercised the more may we hope to have the power of coming to a right judgment. Differences of opinion are always likely to continue, and therefore differences of party 26 Citizens' Responsibility to God programme will always exist ; it is difficult to see how political groupings can be dispensed with in a democracy ; but it is possible that they, like all other earthly things, may be Christianised, by the cultivation of habits of mind which discard the evil that is often associated with them. It is the part of the Church to bring what is Christian to bear on all the citizens, to make them feel the dignity of their citizenship, to teach them to follow the example of Christ in consciously dedicating their activities to God, and to seek the help of God's Spirit in laying aside all the narrowness and selfishness that hinders them from making the best of those with whom they differ. But the Church has no mission to direct the judgment as to what is expedient in secular affairs, and errs if she falls back on methods of compulsion and force in seeking to promote the Kingdom of Christ. FALSE PROPHETS " Beware of false prophets." — St. Matthew vii. 15. IT is indeed a high privilege which Christian citizens enjoy as kings with God, and God gives His aid to those who rely on Him so that they may accomplish any task which He assigns thein. God the Father has called us toco-operate as His instruments ill the government of the world ; God the Son has set us an example in His life, that we may follow his steps in all the relations of our lives whatever they may be ; God the Spirit will check the selfishness that distorts our vision ; and thinking of all this we may have the greater confidence in going forward. He has deigned to associate us, as His instruments, with Himself ; let us seek to be at His disposal with all our powers, such as they are, and despite our failures and faults. But instead of trying to conform our whole being to Him, we are apt to crave for special direction on particular points, and to continue to place our trust in false prophets. We have each need, as kings with God, to follow the example of the child Solomon and pray : 28 British Citizens and their " Thy servant is iu the midst of Thy people which Thou hast chosen, a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude, give therefore Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people that I may discern between good and bad." Christian parents may often feel their need of praying for wisdom iu the problems of training their children in God's fear and love, but surely there are countless Christian citizens who never think of praying for guidance for themselves in their discharge of public duties. We have not only neglected the help God offers each one of us personally, but we have followed false prophets who professed to tell us authorita- tively what we ought to do ; God has not given us definite maxims for earthly government in all times and places. The bishop who, because of their obligation to canonical obedience, desires his clergy to take their political opinions from him strains his authority ; and the clergy who lay down a Christian programme for the country at any moment are going beyond their commission ; they are sure to give needless offence. It is right to urge that men ought to do political like all other duties religiously ; this is to point out the manner iu which they should be done ; but it is quite a different thing to profess to lay down authorita- tively in God's name what any Christian citizen ought to think and to do. As Robertson, of Responsibility to God 29 Brighton, said "Christianity is the Eternal Religion which can never become obsolete. If it set itself to determine the temporary and the local, the justice of this tax and the exact wrongs of that conventional maxim, it would soon become obsolete ; it would be the religion of one country, and not of all." The false prophets of old often gave what seemed excellent advice, but they were false, just because they gave this excellent advice as if it came with Divine authority, when it was only an opinion of their own — a good opinion, perhaps, but only an opinion. Careful thought and good advice is very well in its way ; but we ought not to let it obscure the guidance and help which we may each get from the living God if we are trying to yield ourselves from day to day and hour to hour as instruments to Him. The most specious of modern false prophets are those who have come forward as conscientious objectors at local tribunals ; the}- look not for Divine guidance now in the great struggle in which our nation is engaged, but at the recorded Divine commands in days gone by, and insist that the Divine word, given once for all, is binding on us for all time. Our Lord quoted the Mosaic com- mand, " Thou shalt not kill," and pacifists allege that, in so doing, He re-enunciated the Mosaic code, forgetting the fact that He Himself stated it with a difference. He did not say one word of His own about killing, but He did speak of 30 British Citizens and their the wickedness of hating. The Christian soldier may be thoroughly chivalrous, and may in the course of his duty kill many men whom he does not hate ; while there is often much international hatred and spite and jealousy among those who are rivals in trade, and never take up arms at all. It is the spirit of hatred that Christ would have us exorcise ; while the false prophet endeavours to make a Christian code out of the Sermon on the Mount, and to throw us back on compliance with external ordinances to which the Jews attached supreme importance. It had degenerated with many of them into mere formalism in the time of our Lord ; but St. Paul found in our Lord's revelation a spiritual principle that was fruitful, and opened up infinite possibilities of progress which were closed to those who sought to con- tinue to rule their lives by an external code. Under the Christian Dispensation there is no need for any to play the part of prophets, as it was conceived long ago. The people of Israel looked back on a time when they were directly ruled by prophets and judges who spoke the will of God, who were as we should say executive officers— civil and military, like Moses and Joshua. In the time of Samuel the need of a regular secular administration was recognised, and a king was appointed, and through the history of the kingdoms the prophets came forward occa- sionally to declare the Divine Will to the king. Responsibility to God 31 But in the Christian dispensation the words of Joel are fulfilled, God has poured His Spirit upon His people. He gives His Holy Spirit to them that ask Him, and none may dare to come forward with an alleged message and attempt to over- ride the individual's belief regarding his duty or demand active compliance with a new reading of the Will of God. Christian teachers of all kinds have need to be on their guard against the pre- tension to pronounce in God's name on any of the disputed questions of our own day. There was Divine sanction for the advance of secularism in Samuel's time ; and, however much we may- deplore advancing secularism in regard to official recognition of religion, or in regard to education, none of us has a definite commission to treat this advancing secularism as necessarily godless, or to denounce those who lend themselves to it as necessarily the enemies of good. Still less are we justified in framing a positive programme and urging in regard to the government of the com- munity that it is one which all Christian men ought to support. Every political programme involves probabilities and uncertainties as to what can be accomplished by the measures proposed ; they all depend on consideration of time and circumstances ; none can claim absolute authority, and therefore to put forward any programme absolutely as a plan which all Chris- tians must support is to claim Divine authority 32 British Citizens and their for what is merely a human opinion. The re- ligious man may have a strong conviction that some course is the wiser to pursue, perhaps the lesser of two evils ; he can, in order to push that measure, associate with others who agree with him on this point and work with them for secular benefits, without supposing himself or leading others to suppose that there is any Divine warrant for the scheme which he advocates. But for Christians to take corporate political action and to put forward an avowedly Christian programme as something to which men must endeavour to give effect, is to enter the political arena, where everything is decided by the conflict of parties. The Christian politician may profess that the programme is above party altogether ; but it cannot be kept aloof from party strife. The Christian politician may associate his programme with one party or another, and thus try to win support from one or other in turn, or the Christian politician may try to hold aloof from party, to be merely opportunist, and to rely for success on skill in the tactics of playing off one party against another. The effort to agitate in favour of a Christian programme may easily become merged in the sordid struggle of tastes and interests. We have all need to repent that we have not sought to live our lives as citizens enough in the presence of God Himself and the consciousness Responsibility to God 33 of our responsibility to Him, but have been too content to listen to those who claimed pre- sumptuously to be His spokesmen. The Old Testament is full of the contrast between the Holy Men of old who sought to live close to God them- selves and the false prophets who quoted His words, and could tell about His deeds in the past, but had no real insight as to His Will in their own day. In each of the sacred writers we can find an inspiration and example ; the more we know of their precise circumstances and the troubles of their time the better shall we be able to enter into their joy in awakening to the reality of their mission— that they were called to be God's instruments and to be fellow workers with him in all they did for their country. C HUMANITARIAN1SM "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and^all these tilings shall be added unto you."— St. Matthew I3ESIDES readiness to listen to false prophets, - LJ our neglect of and indifference to the Spiritual has taken another form ; we have been too much inclined to be content with unspiritual aims and methods. It seems so practical to take a step in what we feel is the right direction, and not to aim too high : all religious men would acknow- ledge that the improvement of externals— better housing, better education, material comfort, increased opportunities— are not the only things to be aimed at ; but they are good so far as they go; external conditions which are favourable to the elevation of the masses and the improve- ment of the tone of society. And indeed they are things which we do well to work for, as long as we recognise that they are earthly, material things, and that they are not spiritual. We have been too much tempted to say, "Seek ye earthly welfare and material comfort first, and that which is spiritual will be added unto you." But that 34 Citizens' Responsibility to God 35 which is spiritual does not come of itself ; it is a plant which the Heavenly Father plants ; and material comfort does not always make for quickened sympathy and greater generosity. " How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of heaven.'' Christ, in His earthly sojourn, was never guilty of confusion on this point : He never forgot that the supreme aim was to teach men to realise that they had a Heavenly Father, who cared for them, as He also did for the sparrows and the flowers. When His mighty works awakened no insight and elicited no response, they did not seem to Him to be worth while ; they merely healed human suffering, they only improved external conditions : and again and again He could do no mighty work because of their unbelief. Through all His sympathy with the suffering, and with the mourners and poor, He kept this purpose in view— that the external benefit He conferred might be the means of bringing them into closer relationship with God. He never left the spiritual aim out of account. There is a danger lest we should forget that the material benefits which Jesus Christ conferred on mankind— the relief from pain and sickness- were incidental ; His mission was to save from sin. And it is the mission of the Church to save from sin ; to rest satisfied with philanthropy is to show thatwe are not really following our Master. 36 British Citizens and their There have been times when this truth was so over-accentuated that men allowed themselves to speak as if human welfare here upon earth — because it was not the most important thing — were of no account at all ; and disparaged earthly welfare and earthly goodness as if they might be neglected altogether because they are merely earthly, and natural not spiritual. But God pronounced the natural as very good, at first : the natural and the phenomenal are vehicles which can be used to make the spiritual known, and to be the means of making it grow. Physical evil is a real evil : ill-health and degradation are the causes as well as the consequences of moral evil. There is need for activity in humanitarian effort : there should be no opposition between efforts to promote earthly welfare, and the attempt to foster the spiritual life and to aim at super- natural and eternal life. They are not opposed, but they should not be confused ; Christianity is more than a religion of Humanity ; the Eternal and Spiritual is of transcendant and supreme importance, but things of earth have their place too in the divine order. Natural benevolence, care for humanity are in a way the common possession of Jews and Mahommedans, Heathen and Infidels as well as of professing Christians ; but as the Christian has the highest conception of the dignity of man, he is helped, by his re- ligion, to be eager in the service of men. In the Responsibility to God 37 democratic State the Christian citizen will find himself working to improve public health and to put down public abuses along with men of every religion and race ; and it is his bounden duty to engage in such work heartily as unto the Lord, and to use his powers and privileges as a citizen to improve external conditions. But this is not in itself distinctly spiritual work ; and we have sinned if we have allowed ourselves to identify it with Christianity, or to think that activity in secular affairs is a good way to advertise Chris- tianity and commend what is spiritual to the world. The distinction may be most easily seen when we note the difference between the methods which Humanitarianism pursues, and the method which Christ practised, and directed His Church to pursue. Humanitarianism, as it was awakened in England in the eighteenth century and has flourished since, appeals to men's interests as they feel and understand them to promote good : but men are apt to be so short-sighted that this is not a very powerful appeal ; far more has been accomplished for human welfare by putting down evils that affect numbers of people, in this place or that trade. The State has had great success by means of Factory Acts and Mines Acts in putting down evils and benefiting masses of men : but it begins with masses : unless an evil affects many people, present or to come, there is not 38 British Citizens and their much prospect of getting up an agitation against it, and the compulsion which is brought to bear must be enacted in general terms and conceived on broad lines ; the forcible effort to put down evil is likely to be fraught with hardship or injustice to individuals and to have evil effects that may be trivial, but are nevertheless real, even though the general result is good. But Christ's method is utterly different : He set Himself to touch individual hearts ; to awaken in them the sense of individual sin, to make them feel the personal love of the Heavenly Father, that they might be attracted by it, and seek above all else to do His Will. It is through this awakened sense of personal duty that Christianity hopes to work ; whereas the Humani- tarian State depends on compulsion, Christianity is attractive ; whereas the State begins with rectifying external abuses, Christianity begins with the evil and self-seeking in the individual heart. Both are good, both methods are needed, but we ought to recognise that they are different , and many of us may feel that we have sinned in throwing ourselves into humanitarian aims and compulsory measures, as if these would suffice, and the work of Christ in redeeming the man personally and making him a new creature might be neglected or only treated as an afterthought : if the Church neglects this work there is no other agency that can take her place. Responsibility to God 39 The method of compulsion, and the aims of humauitarianism are inadequate : just because compulsion is involved, there are incidental evils in its operation ; and it is uninspiring. There is a danger that men will be satisfied with what they are compelled to do for the good of others, and not form the habit of doing the best they can, under all circumstances. The State may bring up the worst cases of disregard of social duty to a low level, but cannot initiate progress. But the method of Christ is inspiring since it teaches us to aim high ; and in so far as it is brought into effect, there is pure gain. Humanitarian appeals to interests are restricted by lack of intelligence and imagination ; it may be true that the interests of each nation is identical with that of the world as a whole, but nations are not conscious that this is so, and do not see their interests in this light : nor are capital and labour conscious that their interests from day to day are identical, even though they may admit that each is necessary to the other and that in the long run they are at one. We cannot dispense with a sense of duty, which takes a man along a path of well-doing, even where the consciousness of personal interest fails ; and the sense of duty implies the recognition of a Power greater than our own that makes for righteousness. INTELLECTUAL CONCEIT " I knew that thou art a hard man." — St. Mntthew xxv. 24. □"EW things are more terrible in this world 1 than to notice the results which may follow from mere error of judgment, when we can hardly say that there was any guilt — scarcely perhaps anything we can blame — and yet irreparable damage and loss followed. The most obvious case is where the captain of a ship has made an error of judgment — miscalculated some current and a total loss of the ship and the lives of those who travelled in it may follow. But there has never been such a terrible illustration of the mis- chief which accrues from error of judgment as is given by the present war. A large number of persons in this country had formed the opinion that war was an anachronism which might be safely left out of account ; they had proved to their own satisfaction that it could never be the interest of any nation to go to war ; they had formulated their doctrine of the best way to use and develop national resources on the assumption that the danger of attack might be discounted. Citizens' Responsibility to God 41 This opinion was very plausible, and seemed to have much to be said in its support ; but it had mischievous consequences. Part of its conse- quence was that the nation was unprepared for war, either as regards men or munitions and that the country has at enormous cost been forced to make up in a hurry for the neglects of decades. But the diffusion of this mistaken opinion had still more serious effects on German policy. The Kaiser's advisers were led to believe that England was so averse to war that she might be counted upon to remain a neutral ; had it been clear that the pacifists did not really represent the mind of the English people, the Germans would scarcely have undertaken the serious task they have had in righting the Allies. However noble the motive of the pacifists may have been, the outbreak of this terrible war, with all the misery it has involved for millions of people has been largely due to their error of judgment, in regarding war as a thing of the past, and denouncing those who were anxious that we should take national security into account as mere scaremongers. We are inclined to plead in regard to our own errors of judgment that we did our best, that there was no carelessness, or moral blame involved ; and this plea, which we put forward in regard to ourselves, we readily allow in the case of others. We may recognise of the captain of the ship- wrecked vessel that he was doing his best, that 42 British Citizens and their the circumstances were exceptional, and be most reluctant to condemn, most lenient in our judg- ment, however serious the consequences may be. It is human to err, we have none of us the right to condemn the man who has done his best, even if he has made a mistake. But when we place ourselves in the presence of God and confess our failure to realise His purpose in the world must we not look at the matter differently ? An error of judgment, and its consequences are matters which we must acknowledge before Him, feeling the contrast between our blindness and folly in leading others astray, and His omniscience. It is a terrible thing if any who has made a blunder and wrought thereby irreparable mischief should continue to be as reliant on his own judgment, as ready to give his opinion as before, and should fail to recognise that since he has been mistaken once, he may be mistaken again. And have not some of us been ready to trust implicitly to such guidance ? We have been content to rely on human knowledge and human judgment, as if they had an immunity from error. During the last century there has been an extra- ordinary increase in human knowledge of nature and power over nature ; and just because the scientific advance has been so real there is a danger of exaggerating its possible achievements. There is a temptation to model our study of the complex phenomena of society on our study of Responsibility to God 43 one department or another of physical nature, and to formulate universal laws, forgetting that the progress of society as we know it is inconsistent with the uniformity which we assume in the study of the outside world. There is need of accurate habits of thinking and classifying in order that we may state aright the problems which present themselves ; but the mechanism of society is not a mere mechanism, and the methods of study we lay down for ourselves are not laws which neces- sarily hold good of all social phenomena. The limitations of economic science are admirably expounded in the last chapter of Professor Nichol- son's " Principles of Political Economy," the most complete treatise which has been published in Great Britain in recent years. The Manchester School has fallen into contempt because they thought they could lay down principles that were universally true in fact ; their fault was a venial one, for they knew a great deal, but they did not know as much as they thought ; they suffered from self-conceit, and their error of judgment did something to increase the sufferings of the working classes at the industrial revolution. But not all modern economists have profited by the warning ; they, too, have over-valued the knowledge they had acquired and have allowed themselves to state laws for which they had no sufficient scientific data, and to argue as if these laws held good for 44 British Citizens and their all places and times and all stages of economic development. The laws of free exchange seem to assume that the weak are to be left at the mercy of the strong. This intellectual habit of hasty generalisation has unfortunate results, for it induces a fatalistic habit of thought which dwells on the impersonal action of great economic forces till it discourages all effort at bettering social conditions, and leads to pessimism or anarchism by representing the world as not susceptible of improvement. The habit of over-valuing the knowledge we have attained is also inimical to the progress of knowledge, for those who are confident that they can predict the course of affairs feel no need of mere thorough study, and are disinclined to examine carefully whether there are new conditions to be taken into account, while they are in danger of confusing what is involved in their own conceptions, and is logically necessary, with what is physically necessary in the world of fact. This view of human life as the plaything of impersonal forces may help us to analyse the course of affairs in the past, but it can give no initiative or inspiration for future progress. That has been the work of individuals ; the force which brings it about is personal— all that we mean by the force of character. It is, as Mr. Roosevelt insists, character that matters, and intellectual attainments can do little to influence Responsibility to God 45 it directly. It is the character of a nation that gives it power and influence in the world, it is the character of the individual that fits him to lead a strenuous life ; it is on the development of these personal elements that the future of the world depends. However our knowledge of the mechanism of society may be increased, it can never give us a substitute for the development of personality. Religion is the greatest force in moulding men personally, whilst Christianity is the religion which cherishes the highest belief in the dignity of man, and the power of mastering the impersonal forces so that they shall tend to the welfare of all creation. The Church has a definite mission to render men more conscious of the vocation to which God has called them, and the help on which they may rely in trying to co-operate with Him ; it is by being true to this mission that she can best co-operate with the State in rendering society more really Christian. The more the character of the Christian citizen is deepened the better will he discharge his responsibilities in the govern- ment of the community. There are not a few among us whose sense of the world to come is fitful and occasional, since they do not habitually think of their lives here in their relation to the Eternal, who is not far from every one of us, since in Him we live and move and have our being. To them religion makes 46 Citizens' Responsibility to God little appeal, since it seems to be mainly concerned with things that are very far off, in the past or in the future. But godliness has a promise for the life that now is, as well as for that which is to come ; a promise not of larger possessions, but of nobler character. Christ has a unique power of rendering us more worthy of the privileges of citizenship in a great self-governing Empire, and of thus taking the largest and most far-reaching share we can in the service of man. PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BBCCLES. By the same A uthor. Christianity and Politics : LOWELL LECTURES Delivered in Boston in 1914, with an Appendix on Christianity and the War. Crown Svo, pp. xii. 271. 6s. net. London: JOHN MURRAY.