The American Sentinel 11
April 9, 1896
“‘Christian Citizenship’” American Sentinel 11, 15, pp. 115, 116.
“A PRACTICAL and adequate organization,” says the Christian Citizen, 1 “has recently been called into existence in Chicago, called the ‘National Christian Citizenship League,’ which has already abundantly vindicated its reason for being. Its avowed three-hold object is:— AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.1
“1. To reveal Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the nation as well as of the individual. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.2
“2. To make Christian principles operative in public affairs. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.3
“3. To unite the followers of Christ in consistent, harmonious and aggressive action, not as church members, but as Christian citizens, for the following purposes, viz.: AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.4
“1. To prevent, by personal effort, the nomination and election of corrupt candidates and the enactment of corrupt laws in the city, State, and nation. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.5
“2. To secure fidelity on the part of officers instructed with the execution of the laws. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.6
“3. To exterminate the saloon as the greatest enemy of Christ and humanity. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.7
“4. To preserve the Sabbath. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.8
“5. To purify and elevate the elective franchise. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.9
“6. To promote the study of social wrongs, and the application of effective remedies. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.10
“7. In general, to seek the reign of whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report.” AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.11
The Christian Citizen further says:— AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.12
“We do not wish for a union of Church and State. Nor do we seek to govern the State through the Church. But we do propose to identify Christian citizens with public affairs, and thus infuse into industries, policies and administrations, the Spirit of Jesus Christ. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.13
“To this necessary and sacred work we summon all, of whatever creed, party, nationality, or sex, who acknowledge God as supreme over all.” AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.14
Christ the Saviour of the Individual.
The reader familiar with the principles which should govern the relations of Church and State, need not be told that this so-called “Christian Citizenship” movement is the rankest kind of National Reform. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.15
It seem strange that men do not see the absurdity of such leagues. Of course, if Jesus Christ is ever to be revealed “as the Saviour of the nation,” it must be by some human power, as God has never revealed him in any such way. The Scriptures set Christ forth as the Saviour of the individual, and of the individual only. “Whosoever believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” 2 AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.16
It is true that “the kingdoms of this world” are finally to “become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ;” 3 but it will not be by political action, nor will it be in the world that now is. That kingdom, as the Apostle Peter plainly tells us, is to be in the “new earth,” which is to come forth from the ashes of the present world which is reserved unto destruction against the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men, and in it is to dwell only righteousness. 4 Moreover the inhabitant of that kingdom “shall not say, I am sick,” 5 “for they which shall be all counted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; neither can they die any more; for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.” 6 AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.17
Nor is this kingdom to be given to Christ by political action. He receives the kingdom from his Father, who says: “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron: thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 7 AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.18
Christian Principles in Public Affairs.
There is one sense, and one sense only, in which Christian principles can properly be applied in public affairs. The Christian must be honest in all the walks of life; whether in private or public he must and will discharge faithfully every duty devolving upon him. He cannot be an embezzler nor an extortioner. He must deal justly with his fellowmen, and discharge conscientiously every trust committed to him. The individual and the individual only can “make Christian principles operative in public affairs,” for only the individual can possess Christian principles. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.19
But Christianity is not the only system of ethics which enjoins honesty, and it is a sad fact that professed Christians are not as a rule more trustworthy than many who make no profession. A very large number of our unfaithful public servants, political tricksters, corrupt politicians, are men who make a profession of religion, as are likewise a great many embezzlers and defaulting bank officers. The public would gain nothing by making a profession of Christianity a stepping-stone to public office. Indeed to do so would only be to place a premium upon hypocrisy; and this the National Reformers of the various schools have already done. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.20
In the early days of the National Reform movement it was predicted by one of the leaders that when the movement was seen to be a success, the politicians would hasten to secure front seats. As recently as 1892, during the agitation for the Sunday-closing of the World’s Fair, a direct premium was put upon political dishonesty by the threatened political boycott, which was likewise an implied promise that those who yielded to the demands of the advocates of Sunday-closing should receive their support at the polls. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.21
Religious Combinations Dangerous.
It was declared by a committee of United States Congress more than sixty years ago that “religious combinations to effect political objects are dangerous.” It is equally true to-day, and this effort to unite the “followers of Christ” for “consistent, harmonious, and aggressive [political] action” is a menace to our free institutions. Such combinations never have and never can confine themselves to proper political objects. They always have and always will endeavor to use civil power for the furtherance of religion; and the danger is no less, because instead of being united in one denomination, they act simply as “Christian citizens.” AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.22
The Papacy was the outgrowth of just such a combination. It was not as Roman Catholics, but as “Christians” that the churches of that day brought their influence to bear upon the civil power. Not Roman Catholicism but “Christianity” was made the religion of the Roman Empire; what followed was only the logical, and, under the prevailing conditions, the inevitable result. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.23
“To prevent by personal effort the nomination and election of corrupt candidates” through this gigantic religious combination means simply to prevent the election of anybody who will not be subservient to the dictates of these “Christian citizens.” And “to secure fidelity on the part of officers entrusted with the execution of the laws,” simply means, in this connection, to secure prompt attention to the demands of the church people for the enforcement of such civil laws as they may deem of advantage to them. It means especially the rigid enforcement of Sunday laws, and the closing of saloons—on SUNDAY. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.24
It has been plainly shown by these so-called Reformers that they do not desire so much the “extermination of the saloon” as they do the exaltation of Sunday. “To preserve the ‘sabbath’” is the great object in view, and everything else must be made to bend to that. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.25
The explanation: “We do not wish for a union of Church and State” would never be made was there not a consciousness even on the part of these so-called Reformers that their movement must inevitably lead to such a result. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.26
The Very Essence of Church and State.
The very essence of Church and State is the use of civil power to enforce religious dogma, or to advance the interests of the Church. It matters not whether that dogma be peculiar to one sect or many. All the evils of union of Church and State would be just as great and would develop just as speedily with a multitude of sects established by law as with a single sect. In fact they would be greater because a single sect established by law would necessarily be held in check to a great extent by other sects; but let all the sects, or at least the more powerful sects, be clothed with civil power to enforce the dogmas held by them in common, and the small minority left to protest, have practically no redress. This has been repeatedly demonstrated in the case of Sabbatarians who, it is urged, constitute only seven-tenths of one percent. of the population, and are therefore not to be considered as having any rights which the majority is bound to respect. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.27
The “pious” invitation: “To this necessary and sacred work we summon all, of whatever creed, party, nationality, or sex, who acknowledge God as supreme over all,” deserves passing notice. There are very many who acknowledge God as supreme over all, but who deny the right of any number of men, or of any number of churches to dictate to them an interpretation of God’s will. And that is just what it means, for “‘God’ to be supreme over all.” If God were indeed supreme no one would have ought to fear; but those having control of legislation and not God would be supreme, ruling professedly in the name of God, but in reality administering not the law of God, but their own interpretation of that law. Thus, like the Papacy, they would sit in the temple of God, showing or professing themselves to be God. It would be nothing less than an image of the Papacy. AMS April 9, 1896, page 115.28
“Christianity and Communism” American Sentinel 11, 15, p. 116.
THE world to-day is full of theories. Never was human thought more productive of speculation and alleged discoveries relative to panaceas for social and political, as well as physical ills. The human mind is prone to inventions. “God hath made man upright,” writes Solomon, “but he has sought out many inventions.” He has been continually trying, ever since the fall, to invent some means of becoming his own saviour. But his efforts in this line are, of course, as useless as those made to discover the long-sought “perpetual motion.” AMS April 9, 1896, page 116.1
The trouble with these “inventions” and theories is, they are human. Man has turned away from a field of knowledge opened before him by the wisdom of God, to wander in the mazes of his own wisdom and speculation. Man cannot be his own saviour. He cannot uplift himself from the plane of his fallen human nature by the force of his own laws and resolutions. But there is one adequate Saviour—Jesus Christ—and one adequate uplifting power for every fallen condition—the power of the gospel of Christ. There is one sure way of attaining happiness here and hereafter, and that is the way of God’s word. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105. There is one way of securing uninterrupted prosperity, of having all things works together for our good; and that is stated in the inspired utterance, “All things work together for good to them that love God.” Romans 8:28. AMS April 9, 1896, page 116.2
Men, however, are not willing to let happiness and prosperity be assured to them in this way. They have more confidence in the methods dictated by their own wisdom, than in those set forth in the God-ordained scheme of redemption, which their finite wisdom cannot grasp. They have more faith in a tower of babel as a means of attaining heaven than in the ladder of Jacob’s dream. Though it is recorded that the ancient builders “left off to build” the structure begun in the plains of Shinar (Genesis 11:1-10), their descendants have been busy rearing similar towers in the field of ethics, from that time down to the present. AMS April 9, 1896, page 116.3
The foundation stone of all these structures is salvation by works. Upon this we see being reared to-day the babel tower of governmental religion. The power of national law is to be made the means of regenerating and saving the nation. By the works of that law is the nation to be made Christian. The Christianity of the nation is to be the Christianity of the people; and when the Church, directing human legislation, shall fulfill(?) the prophecy, “Out of Zion shall go forth the law,” the cap-stone of the mighty structure will have been laid. But the work will end in confusion, as it ever has in the past. AMS April 9, 1896, page 116.4
Another monument of the modern Babylon may be seen in “Christian” communism. Communism is asserted by its advocates to be identical with Christianity. In this guise it is proclaimed from the pulpit, and in one Western college it is even made the basis of a professorship, under the name of “Applied Christianity.” But the very name “communism” indicates that the doctrine is one which deals with masses rather than individuals. Applied Christianity is the life of Christ in the heart of the individual. Christianity deals with individuals only, since it operates only through faith, which is something each person must possess for himself. Christianity operates through faith in Christ; communism operaters [sic.] through “faith” in a theory. The one seeks to give, the other seeks to receive. The one means self-denial, the other is self-assertion. Any doctrine which seeks to apply Christianity to the State, or the people en masse, or to make it operative through the theories and conceptions, or laws and resolutions, of men, is not Christianity, but a base counterfeit. It is the doctrine of self-salvation. AMS April 9, 1896, page 116.5
Communism in the pulpit proclaims that the “revelation of Jesus was a social idea,” and that “the career of Jesus was as truly political as was that of Mazzini or Sumner.” It asserts “that Jesus was crucified for disturbing the social order of things;” and that “Jesus went at Jerusalem more truly than Parkhurst at New York, and far more wisely.” 1 But Jesus himself said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” He would not allow his servants to use the sword in his behalf. He refused to let the multitude make him a king. 2 He refused to be made a judge. 3 Neither military force nor political office pertain to the kingdom of Christ. AMS April 9, 1896, page 116.6
The world does not need more theories and more isms; it has too many of these already. It is not in need of new discoveries in ethics or sociology. It needs more of that which has been known and preached since the world began,—the “faith which worketh by love.” More love of humanity by humanity is the world’s great need, which no human inventions or theories can supply. More love of humanity means more of God in the heart, for “God is love.” And this means more faith in the Word of God, for there is enough of the Spirit of God if only the heart is open to receive him. Thus we come back again to the great truth which men have so persistently slighted, that to the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is “the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth,” and to that alone, must we look for peace, happiness, satisfaction and true success amidst the vicissitudes and troubles of this life. AMS April 9, 1896, page 116.7
“The Fountain of Law” American Sentinel 11, 15, pp. 116, 117.
“THERE is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy.” 1 That which is in the truest sense entitled to be termed law, can from its very nature have but one Author. AMS April 9, 1896, page 116.1
The idea that law, as a rule of just conduct for individuals, can be manufactured by legislatures, is altogether erroneous. Neither law nor rights can be manufactured by any human power. The Declaration of Independence asserts that it is a self-evident truth that all men “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” This being true, as it certainly is, it follows that the law of those rights must lie equally without the sphere of human enactments. The law must be co-existent with the rights. The author of the one must of necessity have been the author of the other. AMS April 9, 1896, page 116.2
But, as the immortal Declaration asserts, governments are instituted among men to preserve these rights. They are instituted to see that the law of these rights is enforced, or is observed by individuals. That is the civil law,—the law of civility, or respect for human rights. Of course, it must devolve upon sovereign power in a community or State to define the law for the common guidance of all; but obviously, this is not creating law. It is but discovering that which was already in existence. AMS April 9, 1896, page 116.3
“Our human laws,” says Froude, 2 “are but the copies, more or less imperfect, of the eternal laws so far as we can read them; and either succeed and promote our welfare, or fail and bring confusion and disaster, according as the legislator’s insight has detected the true principles, or has been distorted by ignorance or selfishness.” AMS April 9, 1896, page 116.4
Law is a science; and of the principles of science man is the discoverer, not the maker. The laws of logic, or of mathematics, are discovered and laid down in text-books for our guidance; but no man manufactured them. And so with respect to civil law. AMS April 9, 1896, page 116.5
An unjust “law” is therefore no more binding upon any person than is an incorrect “rule” of logic. No person can be rightfully bound by injustice; nor can any person under any circumstances throw off the claims of justice. This is not saying that private opinion is superior to legislative enactments, and that an individual may disregard such enactments on no higher authority than his own. The standard of justice is set up among men by the Author of human rights, and to that standard, more or less clearly visible to every mind, he may appeal. It has to this natural sense of justice implanted in man by the Creator, that our forefathers appealed when they sent forth to the world the Declaration of Independence. It was to this standard that Abraham Lincoln and his co-workers appealed when they publicly dissented from the Dred Scott decision of the Supreme Cout. AMS April 9, 1896, page 117.1
But in the case of Sunday “laws,” we may appeal not only to the natural sense of justice which men possess, but to the most explicit declaration of God’s word. That word commands us to sanctify—set apart—the seventh day. We cannot make the seventh day distinct from other days, and at the same time make the first day also distinct in the same way; the one distinction breaks down the other. We are bound by the law of God, and there can be no real law, civil or otherwise, which conflicts with that. The sphere of the law of natural rights—the civil law—is altogether separate from the sphere of our obligations to God, and from the law by which those obligations are defined. AMS April 9, 1896, page 117.2
“Back Page” American Sentinel 11, 15, p. 120.
THE statement that politics and religion should be kept separate does not mean that in the field of political action a man is free from moral obligation; but it does mean that every man should be left perfectly free from all human restraint in matters of religion. It does mean that religious faith and practice are not proper subjects of political action; that such questions are not cognizable by political bodies, but are beyond the sphere of human authority. AMS April 9, 1896, page 120.1
This however does not destroy moral obligation in any degree. AMS April 9, 1896, page 120.2
The Christian must be such in all the walks of life. It is as wicked to cheat, or to lie or to steal for political purposes as for anything else. The Christian can do none of these things and excuse himself on the ground that he did it as a politician. Neither can he use political power to thrust his religion down the throats of his fellowmen. To do so would be to violate both the Golden Rule of the Scriptures and the law of justice written by the Creator in the great book of nature. AMS April 9, 1896, page 120.3