e 
 
 6 
 
 e 
 
 ft 
 
 e 
 
 £> 
 
 & 
 
 & 
 
 & 
 
 & 
 
 ft 
 
 ft 
 
 © 
 
 ft 
 
 e 
 
 €> 
 
 & 
 
 & 
 
 & 
 
 ft 
 
 ft 
 
 <& 
 
 e 
 
 ft 
 
 f> 
 
 & 
 
 Is the Church 
 Opposed to m) 
 Workingmen i 
 
 By 
 
 CHARLES STELZLE 
 
 Department of Church and Labor, 
 the Board of Home Missions of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. 
 153 La Salle Street :: :: Chicago 
 
 
Is the Church Opposed 
 to Workingmen ? 
 
 i ( HE Church has always been 
 
 I against the workingman,” 
 JL so some labor leaders are 
 _ wont to say. 
 
 But, in the first place, its founder, 
 Jesus Christ, was not against working¬ 
 men. Never were more sympathetic 
 words spoken to the “common people” 
 ■than were uttered by Jesus Christ. We 
 are told that “the common people heard 
 him gladly.” He himself was a carpen¬ 
 ter and he must necessarily have had a 
 workingman’s sympathies. He constant¬ 
 ly rebuked the oppressors of the poor. 
 The men whom he selected as his dis¬ 
 ciples and who were the first promoters 
 •of the Church were workingmen. Dur¬ 
 ing the first centuries of its history, 
 the Church received its strongest sup¬ 
 port from the great labor guilds of that 
 period—the labor unions, we would now 
 call them—and it is not impossible that 
 Jesus himself was a member of the Car¬ 
 penters’ Guild in Nazareth. 
 
 The prophets of the Church were not 
 •opposed to workingmen. The strongest 
 indictments of the labor agitator against 
 
society today are chosen from the say¬ 
 ings of the prophets as they are recorded 
 in the Scriptures. These quotations are 
 given to us by labor leaders, some of 
 whom, at least, are not themselves pro¬ 
 fessing Christians, and it is a testimony 
 to the fact just stated. 
 
 The Text-book of the Church is not 
 opposed to workingmen. The principles 
 laid down by its writers would solve 
 the social question if faithfully lived out 
 by both the capitalist and the laborer. 
 Hardly a book treating on political 
 economy which was used in any univer¬ 
 sity ten years ago but is out of date to¬ 
 day. The Bible is the only book always 
 up-to-date. 
 
 up-to-date. It comes from God, and it 
 is the only text-book which the Church 
 officially recognizes. 
 
 The leaders in the great religious 
 movements in history were not opposed 
 to workingmen. Indeed, most of them 
 were workingmen themselves. The 
 great religious movements had their 
 origin among the common people. They 
 were fought for by workingmen, of 
 whom thousands upon thousands shed 
 their blood because they believed in the 
 great principles involved. 
 
 The preachers of to-day are not op¬ 
 posed to workingmen. Many of them 
 could be named who fearlessly denounce 
 the sins of the rich as well as the sins 
 of the poor. 
 
The ministers’ associations are not op¬ 
 posed to workingmen. I have addressed 
 many of them in this country and have 
 never yet found an organization but has 
 been systematic towards workingmen. 
 Furthermore, that the Presbyterian 
 Church has established in the interest 
 of workingmen a special department 
 having for one of its objects the careful 
 investigation of social questions as they 
 have to do with the Church, indicates 
 that this Church is not opposed to work¬ 
 ingmen. What better evidence can be 
 desired that the cause of the working¬ 
 men is dear to the heart of the Church? 
 
 Leaflets by Charles Stelzle. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church and Working¬ 
 men. 
 
 Class Spirit in America. 
 
 Is the Church Opposed to Workingmen? 
 
 Jesus Christ and Rich Men. 
 
 Has the Minister a “Closed Shop” ? 
 
 Labor Leaders in the Church. 
 
 One Pastor, One Church, One Year and 
 One Hundred Dollars. 
 
 (An Experience in Institutional Church Work.) 
 
 The Organization of an Anti-Poverty 
 Society. 
 
 The Relation of the Church to the Labor 
 Movement. 
 
 A Letter to Ministerial Fraternal Dele¬ 
 gates. 
 
 Not Missions hut Churches for Working¬ 
 men. 
 
 Sent Free on Application. 
 
 No. 208. B. 123d Thousand, 8, ’05 
 
 «T»»0£sl*-^ Tc : 0 .r,C L- 134