Jesus Christ And The Social Question - An Examination Of The Teaching Of Jesus In Its Relation To Some Of The Problems Of Modern Social Life (Hardcover)

JESUS CHRIST AND THE SOCIAL QUESTION AN EXAMINATION OF THE TEACHING OF JESUS IN ITS RELATION TO SOME OF THE PROBLEMS OF MODERN SOCIAL LIFE FRANCIS GREENWOOD PEABODY PLUMMER PROFESSOR OF CHRISTIAN MORALS IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY NEW YORK GROSSET DUNLAP PUBLISHERS COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotyped November, 1900. Reprinted March, I 9 I April, 1901 August, October, 1901 August, 1902 February, 1903 March, 1904 June, 1905 February, April, August, 1906. NorfawoB ftwBB J. Gushing ft Co. - Berwick ft 8 Norwood Man. U. S. A. THROUGH SUNNY DAYS AND ON THROUGH STORMY WEATHER, YET EVER HAND IN HAND, BELOVED WIFE, WE TWO HAVE WALKED OUR QUIET WAY TOGETHER ALONG THE DUSTY ROAD OF COMMON LIFE. BRIGHT WERE THE VISTAS ON OUR JOURNEY SEEN, AND DARK THE VALLEYS OF THE SHADOW LAY, BUT YOUR DEAR LOVE, LIKE ISRAELS GOD, HAS BEEN MY LIGHT IN DARKNESS AND MY SHADE BY DAY. I CANNOT GIVE YOU WHAT A SCHOLAR OUGHT, LEARNING OR WIT OR INSIGHT FOR THE TRUE I BUT TRANSCRIBE WHAT YOU HAVE DAILY TAUGHT, THE SPIRIT OF THE MASTER SEEN IN YOU. CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE COMPREHENSIVENESS OF THE TEACHING OF JESUS . i CHAPTER II THE SOCIAL PRINCIPLES OF THE TEACHING OF JESUS . 76 CHAPTER III THE TEACHING OF JESUS CONCERNING THE FAMILY . .129 CHAPTER IV THE TEACHING OF JESUS CONCERNING THE RICH . .183 CHAPTER V THE TEACHING OF JESUS CONCERNING THE CARE or THI POOR 226 CHAFFER VI THE TEACHING OF JESUS CONCERNING TH INDUSTRIAL ORDER 267 CHAPTER VII THE CORRELATION OF THE SOCIAL QUESTIONS, . . 327 vii JESUS CHRIST AND THE SOCIAL QUESTION CHAPTER I THE COMPREHENSIVENESS OF THE TEACHING OF JESUS 5 e life fcras tfje ligfjt of men. THERE are many periods in history which, as one looks back on them, seemmarked by distinct and central problems or achievements, as if to each such time there had been committed a special work to do. Their characteristics stand out clearly against the past, as a distant range of mountains stands out against an evening sky. We speak with confidence of the mission of Greece to civilization, of the place of Rome in history, of the vocation of the Hebrews, of the period of the Reformation, of the epoch of Napoleon. By one lesson at a time, through types of beauty or strength or righteousness, through instructions in intellectual liberty, or warnings of the lust for power, the Master of to have directed the education of the human race Sometimes this mission of an age or race is recognized by those who arc 2 JESUS CHRIST AND THE SOCIAL QUESTION fulfilling it sometimes it is discerned when one stands at a distance, where the crowded details of life melt into a general view. The Hebrews, on the one hand, were sustained throughout their history by the conviction of their sacred and special calling, and that conviction gave to their career its sombre, strenuous, self-examin ing character in Greek life, on the other hand, it was the very unconsciousness of a didactic mission which made possible the prevailing serenity and charm. If Greek art had stood consciously before the glass of the future, it might have been the teacher, but could not have been the joy, of the world. The present age belongs, without question, to the former class. There is not only given to it a mission, but there is added a distinct conscious ness of that mission. We do not have to wait for the philosophical historian of some remote future to discern the characteristic problem of the presenttime. Behind all the extraordinary achievements of modern civilization, its transfor mations of business methods, its miracles of scien tific discovery, its mighty combinations of political forces, there lies at the heart of the present time a burdening sense of social mal-adjustment which creates what we call the social ques tion...