illustrate and enforce the thought of this week: Genesis Chapter 1, 9:15; 12:1-3; 28:13; 14. 8. What is the relation between seeking first the Kingdom of God and attaining a consciousness of the larger self? 9. What for you is the geographical content of the word "Christendom"? 10. To what extent may you judge the degree to which you have attained the larger self by an observation of your range of prayer? II. What was the justification for the phrase, "foreign missions"? Is it justifiable now? 12. Just what do you mean by the statement, "God is the Father of all men"? Apply this to legislation with reference to Oriental immigration. Illustrate it by other modern legislation. 13. How would you show that national and racial individuality are consistent with the highest Christian interpretation of the truth that all are of one blood? CHAPTER II Respect for the Capacity of The progressive enlargement of the self of which we were thinking last week brings us into direct relationship with other races and other peoples. What shall be our dominant attitude toward them? Of one thing we may be sure; we can never serve a people effectually until we respect them. And on the other hand they can develop only a little unless they respect themselves. One of the most important marks, therefore, of the world Christian will be a fundamental respect for the capacities and attainments of other peoples. This will be the first step in stimulating that faith and courage which these peoples must have if they are to come into their own highest possibilities. One of the saddest of experiences is to dwell amongst a people who passively accept the judgment of inferiority from their overlords. And one of the most glorious privileges granted man is to help build up in such a people the spirit of a God-based hope and boundless confidence that they have a work to do and a contribution to make that is unique and without which the world would be the poorer. Let us see what the Bible contributes to this element of the Christian consciousness. DAILY READINGS Second Week, First Day: The Divine Light Which Lighteth Every Man In the beginning was the Word. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not. :.. There was the true light, even the light which lighteth every man, coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world knew him not.-John 1:1, 4, 5, 9, 10. The writer of these verses was mainly interested in proving that the divine spirit or reason was incarnate in Christ. But there was another problem also. Thinkers of the early Church were faced with a difficulty which has increasingly confronted our generation, namely, how to account for elements of truth and beauty in non-Christian systems. The early fathers did not have to account for the strong points of Buddhism and Confucianism and Hinduism; but they could not ignore the attainments of their own philosophers. Some of the earliest fathers frankly recognized Plato as another of the Minor Prophets. But the solution most accepted as they pondered over the evidence of truth outside Christianity was that the light that shines clearly in Christ sends gleams into every part of the world. The principle they wrought out in seeking to account for an Amos or a Plato, can be applied by us to a Zoroaster, a Mencius, or a Ramanuja. This principle was that the Word is eternally active and leaves no human being outside his light. In these days when serious study of the non-Christian religions is revealing innumerable fragments of truth scattered up and down amongst them, attention is being redirected to this conception of a divine manifestation of God which is eternally forth-streaming. How else can we account for the long continued wrestling of the non-Christian mind with problems of the spirit; how else can we explain the reality and rich variety of the experience of their religious leaders; how better can we understand elements of power and value in their literature and practice? The great ecumenical missionary conference, that met at Edinburgh in 1910, reflected in a remarkable way the position of today's reading. One of its great Commissions says: "The religion of Christ, interpreted in the light of the Incarnation, finds everywhere traces of that Light which lighteth every man, that seminal Word giving fragments of truth even to those not privileged to know God in Christ. The missionary, so instructed, asks of any nation, What is the truth in it by which it has lived through these many centuries?" Is our little response to a big light really so much more thy than a great response to a little light? Am I, in reality, only a nominal Christian? Or am I rejoicing in and am I illuminated by the light that lighteth every man? Second Week, Second Day: Recognizing the Function of Non-Christian Peoples And the land of Judah shall become a terror unto Egypt; every one to whom mention is made thereof shall be afraid, because of the purpose of Jehovah of hosts, which he purposeth against it. In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Jehovah of hosts; one shall be called The city of destruction. In that day shall there be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to Jehovah. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto Jehovah of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry unto Jehovah because of oppressors, and he will send them a saviour, and a defender, and he will deliver them. And Jehovah_shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Jehovah in that day; yea, they shall worship with sacrifice and oblation, and shall vow a vow unto Jehovah, and shall perform it. And Jehovah will smite Egypt, smiting and healing; and they shall return unto Jehovah, and he will be entreated of them, and will heal them. In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians shall worship with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth; for that Jehovah of hosts hath blessed them, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.-Isa. 19: 17-25. The remarkable thing in these verses is the way in which Egypt and Assyria are given an honored place along with Israel. The prophet is leading in a tremendous change of attitude to other lands. For the people of Israel had been used to think of themselves as God's unique possession from among all peoples, as a kingdom of priests, a holy nation unto Jehovah. They had heard God's voice saying: "I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing: and I will bless them lighteth every man, coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world knew him not.-John 1: 1, 4, 5, 9, 10. The writer of these verses was mainly interested in proving that the divine spirit or reason was incarnate in Christ. But there was another problem also. Thinkers of the early Church were faced with a difficulty which has increasingly confronted our generation, namely, how to account for elements of truth and beauty in non-Christian systems. The early fathers did not have to account for the strong points of Buddhism and Confucianism and Hinduism; but they could not ignore the attainments of their own philosophers. Some of the earliest fathers frankly recognized Plato as another of the Minor Prophets. But the solution most accepted as they pondered over the evidence of truth outside Christianity was that the light that shines clearly in Christ sends gleams into every part of the world. The principle they wrought out in seeking to account for an Amos or a Plato, can be applied by us to a Zoroaster, a Mencius, or a Ramanuja. This principle was that the Word is eternally active and leaves no human being outside his light. In these days when serious study of the non-Christian religions is revealing innumerable fragments of truth scattered up and down amongst them, attention is being redirected to this conception of a divine manifestation of God which is eternally forth-streaming. How else can we account for the long continued wrestling of the non-Christian mind with problems of the spirit; how else can we explain the reality and rich variety of the experience of their religious leaders; how better can we understand elements of power and value in their literature and practice? The great ecumenical missionary conference, that met at Edinburgh in 1910, reflected in a remarkable way the position of today's reading. One of its great Commissions says: "The religion of Christ, interpreted in the light of the Incarnation, finds everywhere traces of that Light which lighteth every man, that seminal Word giving fragments of truth even to those not privileged to know God in Christ. The missionary, so instructed, asks of any nation, What is the truth in it by which it has lived through these many centuries?" Is our little response to a big light really so much more worthy than a great response to a little light? Am I, in |