The Reconciliation of Races and Religions | Page 4

moment. We should have it
clearly before our minds from the beginning that we are not going into
it in order to crush and humiliate any nation. The conduct of
negotiations has taught us the necessity of prompt action in
international affairs. Should the opportunity offer, we, in this nation,
should be ready to act with promptitude in demanding that the terms
suggested are of a kind which it will be possible for all parties to accept,

and that the negotiations be entered upon in the right spirit.
6. We believe in God. Human free will gives us power to hinder the
fulfilment of His loving purposes. It also means that we may actively
co-operate with Him. If it is given to us to see something of a glorious
possible future, after all the desolation and sorrow that lie before us, let
us be sure that sight has been given us by Him. No day should close
without our putting up our prayer to Him that He will lead His family
into a new and better day. At a time when so severe a blow is being
struck at the great causes of moral, social, and religious reform for
which so many have struggled, we need to look with expectation and
confidence to Him, whose cause they are, and find a fresh inspiration in
the certainty of His victory.
_August 7, 1914._
'In time of war let all men of good-will prepare for peace.' German,
French, and English scholars and investigators have done much to
show that the search for truth is one of the most powerful links between
the different races and nations. It is absurd to speak--as many Germans
do habitually speak--of 'deutsche Wissenschaft,' as if the glorious tree
of scientific and historical knowledge were a purely German production.
Many wars like that which closed at Sedan and that which is still, most
unhappily, in progress will soon drive lovers of science and culture to
the peaceful regions of North America!
The active pursuit of truth is, therefore, one of those things which make
for peace. But can we say this of moral and religious truth? In this
domain are we not compelled to be partisans and particularists? And
has not liberal criticism shown that the religious traditions of all races
and nations are to be relegated to the least cultured classes? That is the
question to the treatment of which I (as a Christian student) offer some
contributions in the present volume. But I would first of all express my
hearty sympathy with the friends of God in the noble Russian Church,
which has appointed the following prayer among others for use at the
present crisis: [Footnote: Church Times, Sept. 4, 1914.]
'Deacon. Stretch forth Thine hand, O Lord, from on high, and touch the
hearts of our enemies, that they may turn unto Thee, the God of peace
Who lovest Thy creatures: and for Thy Name's sake strengthen us who
put our trust in Thee by Thy might, we beseech Thee. Hear us and have
mercy.'

Certainly it is hardness of heart which strikes us most painfully in our
(we hope) temporary enemies. The only excuse is that in the Book
which Christian nations agree to consider as in some sense and degree
religiously authoritative, the establishment of the rule of the Most High
is represented as coincident with extreme severities, or--as we might
well say--cruelties. I do not, however, think that the excuse, if offered,
would be valid. The Gospels must overbear any inconsistent statement
of the Old Testament.
But the greatest utterances of human morality are to be found in the
Buddhist Scriptures, and it is a shame to the European peoples that the
Buddhist Indian king Asoka should be more Christian than the leaders
of 'German culture.' I for my part love the old Germany far better than
the new, and its high ideals would I hand on, filling up its omissions
and correcting its errors. 'O house of Israel, come ye, let us walk in the
light of the Lord.' Thou art 'the God of peace Who lovest Thy
creatures.'

PART I
THE JEWELS OF THE FAITHS
A STUDY OF THE CHIEF RELIGIONS ON THEIR BEST SIDE
WITH A VIEW TO THEIR EXPANSION AND ENRICHMENT AND
TO AN ULTIMATE SYNTHESIS AND TO THE FINAL UNION OF
RACES AND NATIONS ON A SPIRITUAL BASIS
The crisis in the Christian Church is now so acute that we may well
seek for some mode of escape from its pressure. The Old Broad Church
position is no longer adequate to English circumstances, and there is
not yet in existence a thoroughly satisfactory new and original position
for a Broad Church student to occupy. Shall we, then, desert the old
historic Church in which we were christened and