Christianity and Ethics | Page 4

continued in Tennyson and Browning. It is the inner life of man as
depicted to us by these master singers, the story of the soul, even more
than the delineation of nature which appeals to man's deepest
experience and evokes his finest response. We see it in the art of our
times, which, not content to be a mere expression of sensuous beauty or
lifeless nature, seeks to be instinct with human sympathy and to
become the vehicle of the ideas and aims of man. We see it in modern
fiction, which is no longer the narration of a simple tale, but the subtle
analysis of character, and the intricate study of the passions and
ambitions of common life. History to-day is not concerned so much
with recording the intrigues of kings and the movements of armies as
with scrutinising the motives and estimating the personal forces which
have shaped the ages. Even in the domain of theology itself this
tendency is visible. Our theologians are not content with discussing
abstract doctrines or recounting the decisions of church councils, but
are turning to the gospels and seeking to depict the life of Jesus--to
probe the secret of His divine humanity and to interpret the meaning for
the world of His unique personality.
Nor is this tendency confined to professional thinkers and theologians,
it is affecting the common mind of the laity. 'Never was there a time,'
says a modern writer, 'when plain people were less concerned with the
metaphysics or the ecclesiasticism of Christianity. The construction of
systems and the contention of creeds which once appeared the central
themes of human interest are now {4} regarded by millions of busy
men and women as mere echoes of ancient controversies, if not mere
mockeries of the problems of the present day.' The Church under the
inspiration of this new feeling for humanity is turning with fresh
interest to the contemplation of the character of Jesus Christ, and is
rising to a more lofty idea of its responsibilities towards the world.

More than ever in the past, it is now felt that Christianity must
vindicate itself as a practical religion; and that in view of the great
problems--scientific, social and industrial, which the new conditions of
an advancing civilisation have created, the Church, if it is to fulfil its
function as the interpreter and guide of thought, must come down from
its heights of calm seclusion and grapple with the actual difficulties of
men, not indeed by assuming a political rôle or acting as a divider and
judge amid conflicting secular aims, but by revealing the mind of
Christ and bringing the principles of the gospel to bear upon the
complex life of society.
No one who reflects upon the spirit of the times will doubt that there
are reasons of urgent importance why this aspect of Christian life and
duty, which we have been considering, should be specially insisted
upon to-day. Of these the first and foremost is the prevalence of a
materialistic philosophy. Taking its rise in the evolutionary theories of
last century, this view is now being applied with relentless logic as an
interpretation of the problems of society by a school of socialistic
writers. Man, it is said, is the creature of heredity and environment
alone. Condition creates character, and relief from the woes of
humanity is to be sought, not in the transformation of the individual but
in the revolutionising of the circumstances of life. As a consequence of
this philosophy of externalism there is a filtering down of these
materialistic views to the multitude, who care, indeed, little for theories,
but are quick to be affected by a prevailing tone. Underlying the feeling
of unrest and dissatisfaction, so marked a feature of our present day life,
there is distinctly discernible among the masses a loosening of religious
faith and a slackening {5} of moral obligation. The idea of personality
and the sense of duty are not so vivid and strong as they used to be. A
vague sentimentalising about sin has taken the place of the more robust
view of earlier times, and evil is traced to untoward environment rather
than to feebleness of individual will. And finally, to name no other
cause, there is a tendency in our day among all classes to divorce
religion from life--to separate the sacred from the secular, and to regard
worship and work as belonging to two entirely distinct realms of
existence.

For these reasons, among others, there is a special need, as it seems to
us, for a systematic study of Christian Ethics on the part of those who
are to be the leaders of thought and the teachers of the people. The
materialistic view of life must be met by a more adequate Christian
philosophy. The unfaith and pessimism