Welsh Journals

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salvation as being necessarily expressed in terms of pure character and right action. Doing is not a deadly thing, nay, rather, it is an essential expression of that life which is life indeed, if only the doing be of the right kind, inspired by worthy motive. Salvation is through service, for in the Kingdom, the greatest is he who, at the prompting of love, forgets himself in an absolute devotion to the widest service. Now this links very closely with what has been said above as to the recognition of the primacy of the ethical, as compared with the dogmatic and the ritual ex- pressions of religion, and also with the modern emphasis of social service as a prime need of our time, and a first function of a genuine Christianity. The social problem is uppermost to-day in the minds of all serious and thoughtful people, and organized religion can only commend itself to them by helping effectively towards a solution. Practical and social issues have come to take the place of the old theological speculations. What must we do to be saved is a question still on men's lips, but salvation is con- ceived of socially and collectively. Real salvation must be achieved by the estab- lishment of a social order which shall embody the greatest possible spiritual good in the widest and fullest distribution. Religion must be shewn to be relevant, really relevant, to the actual needs of our contemporary life in all its forms. That is why it must face, and must lead in solving, the social problem, the widely prevalent disorders of our common life. Religious people must have faith enough to believe that Christ can redeem the whole social order in which we are inextricably involved. But social enthusiasm must be no mere pandering response on the part of the Church to a widespread vogue in the world social service must not be grafted as an alien shoot into the tree of the Christian religion. It must be an inevit- able expression of its very life and essence. Evangelization abroad and Christianiza- tion at home must be seen to spring from the very nature of our religion, as its essential functions, otherwise they will be regarded as the special fads of certain peculiarly constituted individuals or groups. From the same bountiful source must spring the fullest joy and perfection of the individual, and the amplest welfare of human society, even unto the ends of the earth. This is the only kind of reli- gion that is adequate to meet the universal and urgent need for social service in our contemporary life. To-day we realize the growing complexity of our life we behold the growth of democratic power with but little corresponding growth of character and of capacity to use this power and we see an enormous development of administrative machinery, and are dis- tressed to observe but little improvement in the quality of citizenship, without which the machinery is a serious menace to us, instead of being the channel of blessing and power that it was meant to be. Only our Christian religion can supply the motive that shall nerve us to action on this scale and on this level no other power can touch the moral and spiritual springs of all evil, both personal and social. Social reformers and philanthropists realize the poverty of their results, and the need of a far mightier motive to prevent future failure. Like the man from Mace- donia they cry to the Christian Church to-day Come over and help us. From God only can Salvation come, and His mightiest instrument on earth is that Church, that seeks to be, and is indeed, the Body of Christ, the fulness of Him that is fulfilling all in all.