With an Open Mind
[EGW
editors preface: I found this article in the
book Christian Pulpit by John H. Horst and others, published
sometime during the late 1800s to early 1900s. Before
finding this article, my only real familiarity with William Jennings
Bryan was that he appeared for the prosecution in the 1925 Scopes
trial in which a teacher was tried for teaching evolution in
the classroom. Researching Bryan in the encyclopedia
I learned that he lived from 1860 to 1925 and was active in national
politics as U.S. congressman, as a presidential candidate, and
later as U.S. secretary of state under Woodrow Wilson. He
was also described as a staunch advocate of the religious Fundamentalism
movement resisting popular liberal theology which tried to redefine
Christian teachings in light of the scientific and historic thought
of the time. This advocacy helped explain to me his
participation in the Scopes trial. (Since including
this article in 2003, I've learned that Bryan died only a few
days after this infamous trial and also that he was raised a
Baptist, but became a Presbyterian at age 14.).
If you have not yet read the editors note
defining and caveating the purpose of the With an Open
Mind column, please do so at this time before continuing
with the article.]
The Prince
of Peace
by William
Jennings Bryan
Man
is a religious being; the heart instinctively seeks for a god. Whether
he worships on the banks of the Ganges, prays with his face upturned
to the sun, kneels toward the Mecca, or, regarding all space
as a temple, communes with the Heavenly Father according to the
Christian creed, man is essentially devout.
There are honest doubters whose
sincerity we recognize and respect, but occasionally I find young
men who think it smart to be skeptical; they talk as if it were
an evidence of larger intelligence to scoff at creeds and refuse
to connect themselves with Churches. They call themselves
liberal, as if a Christian were narrow-minded. To
these young men I desire to address myself.
Even some older people profess
to regard religion as a superstition, pardonable in the ignorant,
but unworthy of the educated a mental state which one
can and should outgrow. Those who hold this view look
down with mild contempt upon such as give to religion a definite
place in their thoughts and lives. They assume an
intellectual superiority and often take little pains to conceal
the assumption. Tolstoi administers to the cultured
crowd (the words quoted are his) a severe rebuke when he
declares that the religious sentiment rests not upon a superstitious
fear of the invisible forces of nature, but upon mans consciousness
of his finiteness amid an infinite universe and of his sinfulness;
and this consciousness, the great philosopher adds, man can never
outgrow. Tolstoi is right; man recognizes how limited
are his own powers and how vast is the universe, and he leans
upon the arm that is stronger than his. Man feels
the weight of his sins and looks for One who is sinless.
Religion has been defined as the
relation which man fixes between himself and his God, and morality
as the outward manifestation of this relation. Every
one, by the time he reaches maturity, has fixed some relation
between himself and God, and no material change in this relation
can take place without a revolution in the man, for this relation
is the most potent influence that acts upon a human life.
Religion is the basis of morality
in the individual and in the group of individuals. Materialists
have attempted to build up a system of morality upon the basis
of enlightened self-interest. They would have man
figure out by mathematics that it pays him to abstain from wrong
doing; they would even inject an element of selfishness into
altruism, but the moral system elaborated by the materialists
has several defects. First, its virtues are borrowed from
moral systems based upon religion; second, as it rests upon argument
rather than upon authority, it does not appeal to the young,
and by the time the young are able to follow their reason they
have already become set in their ways. Our laws do not
permit a young man to dispose of real estate until he is twenty-one
Why this restraint? Because his reason is not mature;
and yet a mans life is largely molded by the environment
of his youth. Third, one never knows just how much of his
decision is due to reason and how much is due to passion or to
selfish interest. We recognize the bias of self-interest
when we exclude from the jury every man, no matter how reasonable
or upright he may be, who has a pecuniary interest in the result
of the trial. And, fourth one whose morality is based upon
a nice calculation of benefits to be secured spends time figuring
that he should spend in action. Those who keep a book account
of their good deeds seldom do enough good to justify keeping
books.
Morality is the power of endurance
in man; and a religion which teaches personal responsibility
to God gives strength to morality. There is a powerful
restraining influence in the belief that an all-seeing eye scrutinizes
every thought and word and act of the individual.
There is a wide difference between
the man who is trying to conform to a standard of morality around
him and the man who is endeavoring to make his life approximate
to a divine standard. The former attempt to live up to
the standard if it is above him, and down to it if it is below
him and if he doing right only when others are looking
he is sure to find a time when he thinks he is unobserved, and
then he takes a vacation and falls. One needs the inner
strength which comes with the conscious presence of a personal
God. If those who are thus fortified sometimes yield to
temptation, how helpless and hopeless must those be who rely
upon their own strength alone!
There are difficulties to be encountered
in religion, but there are difficulties to be encountered everywhere.
If I were going to present an argument in favor of the
divinity of Christ, I would not begin with miracles or mystery
or theory of atonement. I would begin as Carnegie Simpson
begins in his book entitled The Fact of Christ. Commencing
with the fact that Christ lived, he points out that one can not
contemplate this undisputed fact without feeling that in some
way this fact is related to those now living. He says that
one can read of Alexander, of Caesar, or of Napoleon, and not
feel that it is a matter of personal concern; but that when one
reads that Christ lived and how He lived and how He died he feels
that somehow there is a chord that stretches from that life to
his. As he studies the character of Christ he becomes conscious
of certain virtues which stand out in bold relief purity,
humility, a forgiving spirit, and an unfathomable love. The
author is correct. Christ presents an example of purity
in thought and life; and man, conscious of his own imperfections
and grieved over his shortcomings, finds inspiration in One who
was tempted in all points like as we are, and yet without sin.
I am not sure but that we can find just here a way of determining
whether one possesses the true spirit of a Christian. If
he finds in the sinlessness of Christ an inspiration and a stimulus
to greater effort and higher living, he is indeed a follower;
if, on the other hand, he resents the reproof which the purity
of Christ offers he is likely to question the divinity of Christ
in order to excuse himself for not being a follower.
Humility is a rare virtue. If
one is rich he is apt to be proud of his riches; if he has distinguished
ancestry he is apt to be proud of his lineage; if he is well
educated he is apt to be proud of his learning. Some one
has suggested that if one becomes humble he soon becomes proud
of his humility. Christ, however, possessed all power,
was the very personification of humility.
The most difficult of all the virtues
to cultivate is the forgiving spirit. Revenge seems to
be natural to the human heart; to want to get even with an enemy
is a common sin. It has even been popular to boast of vindictiveness;
it was once inscribed on a monument to a hero that he had repaid
both friends and enemies more than he had received. This
was not the spirit of Christ. He taught forgiveness, and
in that incomparable prayer which He left as a model for our
petitions He made our willingness to forgive the measure by which
we may claim forgiveness. He not only taught forgiveness,
but He exemplified His teachings in His life. When those
who persecuted Him brought Him to the most disgraceful of all
deaths, His spirit of forgiveness rose above His sufferings and
He prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what
they do!
But love is the foundation of Christs
creed. The world had known love before; parents had loved
children, and children, parents; husband had loved wife, and
wife, husband; and friend had loved friend; but Jesus gave a
new definition of love. His love was as boundless as the
sea; its limits were so far-flung that even an enemy could not
travel beyond it. Other teachers sought to regulate the
lives of their followers by rule and formula, but Christs
plan was first to purify the heart, and then to leave love to
direct the footsteps.
What conclusion is to be drawn
from the life, the teachings, and the death of this historic
figure? Reared in a carpenter shop, with no knowledge of
literature save Bible literature, with no acquaintance with philosophers
living or with the writings of sages dead, this young Man gathered
disciples about Him, promulgated a higher code of morals than
the world had even known before, and proclaimed Himself the Messiah.
He taught and performed miracles for a few brief months
and then was crucified; His disciples were scattered and many
of them put to death; His claims were disputed, His resurrection
denied, and His followers persecuted, and yet from this beginning
His religion has spread until millions take His name with reverence
upon their lips and thousands have been willing to die rather
than surrender the faith which He put into their hearts. How
shall we account for Him? What think ye of Christ?
It is easier to believe Him divine than to explain in any
other way what He said and did and was. And I have greater
faith even than before since I have visited the Orient and witnessed
the successful contest which Christianity is waging against the
religions and philosophies of the East.
I was thinking a few years ago
of the Christmas which was then approaching and of Him in whose
honor the day is celebrated. I recalled the message, Peace
on the earth, good-will to men, and then my thoughts ran
back to the prophecy uttered centuries before His birth, in which
He was described as the Prince of Peace. To reinforce my
memory I re-read the prophecy and found immediately following
a verse which I had forgotten a verse which declares that
of the increase of His peace and government there shall be no
end, for, adds Isaiah, He shall judge His people with justice
and with judgment.
Thinking of the prophecy I have selected this theme that
I may present some of the reasons which lead to believe that
Christ has fully earned the title of Prince of Peace, and that
in the years to come it will be more and more applied to Him.
Faith in Him brings peace to the heart, and His teachings,
when applied, will bring peace between man and man. And
if He can bring peace to each heart, and if His creed will bring
peace throughout the earth, who will deny His right to be called
The Prince of Peace?
All the world is in search of peace;
every heart that ever beat has sought for peace, and many have
been the methods employed to secure it. Some have thought
to purchase it with riches, and they have labored to secure wealth,
hoping to find peace when they were able to go where they pleased
and buy what they liked. Of those who have endeavored to
purchase peace with money, the large majority have failed to
secure the money. But what has been the experience of those
who have been successful in accumulating money? They all
tell the same story, viz: that they spent the first half of their
lives trying to get money from others, and the last half trying
to keep others from getting their money, and that they found
peace in neither half. Some have even reached the point
where they had difficulty in getting people to accept their money;
and know of no better indication of the ethical awakening in
this country than the increasing tendency to scrutinize the methods
of money-making. A long step in advance will have been
taken when religious, educational, and charitable institutions
refuse to condone immoral methods in business and leave the possessor
of ill-gotten gains to learn the loneliness of life when one
prefers money to morals.
Some have sought peace in social
distinction, but whether they have been within the charmed circle
and fearful lest they might fall out, or outside and hopeful
they might get in, they have not found peace.
Some have thought vain thought!
to find peace in political prominence; but whether office
comes by birth, as in monarchies, or by election, as in republics,
it does not bring peace. An office is conspicuous only
when few can occupy it. Only when few in a generation can
hope to enjoy an honor do we call it a great honor. I am
glad that our Heavenly Father did not make the peace of the human
heart depend upon the accumulation of wealth or upon the securing
of social or political distinction, for in either case but few
could have enjoyed it; but when He made peace the reward of a
conscience void of offense toward God and man, He put it within
the reach of all. The poor can secure it as easily as the
rich, the social outcast as freely as the leader of society,and
humblest citizen equally with those who wield political power.
To those who have grown gray in
the faith I need not speak of the peace to be found in the belief
of an overruling Providence. Christ taught that our lives
are precious in the sight of God, and poets have taken up the
theme and woven it into immortal verse. No uninspired writer
has expressed the idea more beautifully than William Cullen Bryant
in the Ode to a Waterfowl. After following
the wanderings of the bird of passage as it seeks first its northern
and then its southern home, he concludes:
Thou
art gone; the abyss of heaven
Hath
swallowed up thy form, but on my heart
Deeply
hath suck the lesson thou hast given,
And
shall not soon depart.
He
who, from zone to zone,
Guides
through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In
the long way that I must tread alone,
Will
lead my steps aright.
Christ promoted peace by giving
us assurance that a line of communication can be established
between the Father above and the child below. And who will
measure the consolation that has been brought to troubled hearts
by the hour of prayer?
And immortality! Who will
estimate the peace which a belief in a future life has brought
to the sorrowing? You may talk to the young about death
ending all, for life is full and hope is strong; but preach not
this doctrine to the mother who stands by the deathbed of her
babe, or to one who is within the shadow of a great affliction.
When I was a young man I wrote to Colonel Ingersoll and
asked him for his views on God and immortality. His secretary
answered that the great infidel was not at home, but inclosed
a copy of a speech which covered my question. I scanned
it with eagerness and found that he had expressed himself about
as follows: I do not say that there is no God, I simply
say I do not know. I do not say there is no life beyond
the grave, I simply say I do not know. And from that
day to this I have not been able to understand how any one could
find pleasure in taking from any human heart a living faith and
substituting therefor the cold and cheerless doctrine, I
do not know.
Christ gave us proof of immortality,
and yet it would hardly seem necessary that one should rise from
the dead to convince us that the grave is not the end. To
every created thing God has given a tongue that proclaims a resurrection.
If the Father deigns to touch with
divine power the cold and pulseless heart of the buried acorn
and to make it burst forth from its prison walls, will He leave
neglected in the earth the soul of man made in the image of his
Creator? If He stoops to give to the rosebush, whose withered
blossoms float upon the autumn breeze, the sweet assurance of
another springtime, will He refuse the words of hope to the sons
of men when the frosts of winter come? If matter, mute
and inanimate, though changed by the forces of nature into a
multitude of forms, can never die, will the spirit of man suffer
annihilation when it has paid a brief visit like a royal guest
to this tenement of clay? No, I am as sure that there is
another life as I am that I live today!
In Cairo I secured a few grains
of wheat that had slumbered for more than three thousand years
in an Egyptian tomb. As I looked at them this thought came
into my mind: If one of those grains had been planted on the
banks of the Nile the year after it grew, and all its lineal
descendants planted and replanted from that time until now, its
progeny would today be sufficiently numerous to feed the teeming
millions of the world. There is in the grain of wheat an
invisible something which has power to discard the body that
we see, and from earth and air fashion a new body so much like
the old one that we can not tell the one from the other. If
this invisible germ of life in the grain of wheat can thus pass
unimpaired through three thousand resurrections, I shall not
doubt that my soul has power to clothe itself with a body suited
to its new existence when this earthly frame has crumbled into
dust.
A belief in immortality not only
consoles the individual, but it exerts a powerful influence in
bringing peace between individuals. If one really thinks that
man dies as the brute dies, he may yield to the temptation to
do injustice to his neighbor when the circumstances are such
as to promise security from detection. But if one really expects
to meet again, and live eternally with, those whom he knows today,
he is restrained from evil deeds by the fear of endless remorse.
We do not know what rewards are in store for us or what punishments
may be reserved, but if there were no other punishment it would
be enough for one who deliberately and consciously wrongs another
to have to live forever in the company of the person wronged
and have his littleness and selfishness laid bare. I repeat,
a belief in immortality must exert a powerful influence in establishing
justice between men and thus laying the foundation for peace.
Again, Christ deserves to be called
the Prince of Peace because He has given us a measure of greatness
which promotes peace. When His disciples disputed among
themselves as to which should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven,
He rebuked them and said, Let him who would be chiefest among you
be the servant of all.
Service is the measure of greatness; it always has been
true; it is true today, and it always will be true, that he is
greatest who does the most good. And yet, what a revelation
it will work in this old world when this standard becomes the
standard of life! Nearly all of our controversies and combats
arise from the fact that we are trying to get something from
each other there will be peace when our aim is to do something
for each other. Our enmities and animosities arise from
our efforts to get as much as possible out of the world
there will be peace when our endeavor is to put as much as possible
into the world. Society will take an immeasurable step
toward peace when it estimates a citizen by his output rather
than by his income and gives the crown of its approval to the
one who makes the largest contribution to the welfare of all.
It is the glory of the Christian ideal that, while it is
within sight of the weakest and the lowliest, it is yet so high
that the best and noblest are kept with their faces turned ever
upward.
Christ has also led the way to
peace by giving us a formula for the propagation of good. Not
all of those who have really desired to do good have employed
the Christian methods not all Christians even. In
all the history of the human race but two methods have been employed.
The first is the forcible method. A man has an idea which
he thinks is good; he tells his neighbors about it, and they
do not like it. This makes him angry, and , seizing a club,
he attempts to make them like it. One trouble about this
rule is that it works both ways; when a man starts out to compel
his neighbors to think as he does he generally finds them willing
to accept the challenge, and they spend so much time in trying
to coerce each other that they have no time left to be of service
to each other.
The other is the Bible plan: Be
not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. And
there is no other way of overcoming evil. I am not much
of a farmer I get more credit for my farming than I deserve,
and my little farm receives more advertising than it is entitled
to. But I am farmer enough to know that if I cut down weeds
they will spring up again, and I know that if I plant something
there which has more vitality that the weeds I shall not only
get rid of the constant cutting, but have the benefit of the
crop besides.
In order that there might be no
mistake about His plan of propagating good, Christ went into
detail and laid emphasis upon the value of example, So live that others,
seeing your good works, may be constrained to glorify your Father
which is in heaven.
There is no human influence so potent for good as that
which goes out from an upright life. A sermon may be answered,
the arguments presented in a speech may be disputed; but no one
can answer a Christian life it is the unanswerable argument
in favor of our religion.
It may be a slow process,
this conversion of the world by the silent information of a noble
example, but it is the only sure one, and the doctrine applies
to nations as well as to individuals. The gospel of the Prince
of Peace gives us the only hope that the world has and
it is an increasing hope of the substitution of reason
for the arbitrament of force in the settlement of international
disputes.
But Christ has given us a
platform more fundamental than any political party has ever written.
We are interested in platforms; we attend conventions,
sometimes traveling long distances; we have wordy wars over the
phraseology of various planks, and then we wage earnest campaigns
to secure the indorsement of these platforms at the polls. But
the platform given to the world by the Nazarene is more far-reaching
and more comprehensive than any platform ever written by the
convention of any party in any country. When He condensed
into one commandment those of the then which relate of mans
duty toward his fellows, and enjoined upon us the rule, Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself, He
presented a plan for the solution of all the problems that now
vex society or may hereafter arise. Other remedies may
palliate or postpone the day of settlement, but this is all-sufficient,
and the reconciliation which it effects is a permanent one.
If I were to attempt to apply this
thought to various questions which are at issue I might be accused
of entering the domain of partisan politics, but I may safely
apply it to two great problems. First, let us consider
the question of capital and labor. This is not a transient
issue or a local one. It engages the attention of the people
of all countries and has appeared in every age. The immediate
need in this country is arbitration, for neither side to the
controversy can be trusted to deal with absolute justice if allowed
undisputed control; but arbitration, like a court, is a last
resort. It would be better if the relations between employer
and employee were such at to make arbitration unnecessary. Just
in proportion as men recognize their kinship to each other and
deal with each other in the spirit of brotherhood will friendship
and harmony be secured. Both employer and employee need
to cultivate the spirit which follows from obedience to the great
commandment.
The second problem to which I would
apply this platform of peace is that which relates to the accumulation
of wealth. We can not much longer delay consideration of
the ethics of money-making. That many of the enormous fortunes
which have been accumulated in the last quarter of a century
are now held by men who have given to society no adequate service
in return for the money secured is now generally recognized.
While legislation can and should protect the public from
predatory wealth, a more effective remedy will be found in the
cultivation of a public opinion which will substitute a higher
ideal than the one which tolerates the enjoyment of unearned
gains. No man who really knows what brotherly love is will
desire to take advantage of his neighbor, and the conscience,
when not seared, will admonish against injustice. My faith
in the future rests upon the belief that Christs teachings
are being more studied today than ever before, and that with
this larger study will come an application of those teachings
to the everyday life of the world. In former times men
read that Christ came to bring life and immortality to light
and placed the emphasis upon immortality; now they are studying
Christs relation to human life. In former years many
thought to prepare themselves for future bliss by a life of seclusion
here; now they are learning that they can not follow in the footsteps
of the Master, unless they go about doing good. Christ
declared that He came that we might have life, and have it more
abundantly. The world is learning that Christ came not
to narrow life, but to enlarge it to fill it with purpose,
earnestness, and happiness.
But this Prince of Peace promises
not only peace, but strength. Some have thought His teachings
fit only for the weak and the timid, and unsuited to men of vigor,
energy, and ambition. Nothing could be farther from the
truth. Only the man of faith can be courageous. Confident
that he fights on the side of Jehovah, he doubts not the success
of his cause. What matters it whether he shares in the shouts
of triumph? If every word spoken in behalf of truth has
its influence, and every deed done for the right weighs in the
final account, it is immaterial to the Christian whether his
eyes behold victory or whether he dies in the midst of the conflict.
Yea,
though thou lie upon the dust
When
they who helped thee flee in fear,
Die
full of hope and manly trust,
Like
those who fell in battle here.
Another
hand thy sword shall wield,
Another
hand the standard wave,
Till
from the trumpets mouth is pealed
The
blast of triumph oer thy grave.
Only those who believe attempt
the seemingly impossible, and by attempting prove that one with
God can chase a thousand, and two can put ten thousand to flight.
I can imagine that the early Christians who were carried
into the arena to make a spectacle for those more savage than
the beasts, were entreated by their doubting companions not to
endanger their lives; but, kneeling in the center of the arena,
they prayed and sang until they were devoured. How helpless
they seemed, and, measured by every human rule, how hopeless
their cause! And yet within a few decades the power which
they invoked proved mightier that the legions of the emperor,
and the faith in which they died was triumphant oer all
that land. It is said that those who went to mock at their
sufferings returned asking themselves, What is it that
can enter the heart of man and make him die as these die?
They were greater conquerors in their death than they could
have been had they purchased life by a surrender of their faith.
What would have been the fate of
the Church if the early Christians had had as little faith as
many of our Christians now have? And, on the other hand,
if the Christians of today had the faith of the martyrs, how
long would it be before the fulfillment of the prophecy that
every knee shall bow and every tongue confess? Our faith
should be even stronger than the faith of those who lived two
thousand years ago, for we see our religion spreading and supplanting
the philosophies and creeds of the Orient.
As the Christian grows older he
appreciates more and more the completeness with which Christ
fills the requirements of the heart, and, grateful for the peace
which he enjoys and for the strength which he has received, he
repeats the words of the great scholar, Sir William Jones:
Before
thy mystic altar, heavenly truth,
I
kneel in manhood, as I knelt in youth;
Thus
let me kneel till this dull form decay
And
lifes last shade be brightened by thy ray. |