FVOLUTION OF CHRISTIANITY. 221 CHAPTER XII. GENERAL INFLUENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. We now wish to notice the effects of the influences of Christianity on the general state of society. The religion of the Bible makes itself felt everywhere; for it changes the disposition of the hearts of all true believers into a state of moral purity, and it also exerts a powerful elevating influence upon all who come in contact with it. "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people." Prov. 14:34. Christ expressed the highest form of human duty in the words, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God . . . and thy neighbor." Luke 10:27. In this divine command we have, clearly stated, the fact of man's twofold relationship—the duty that he owes to his God, and his obligations to mankind. In preceding chapters we have enlarged on the thought of our relationship with the Almighty and the means by which the soul is brought into that blessed state of sweet communion with its Maker; in this chapter we wish to show that Christianity in its practical working extends beyond the sphere of individual experience and comes into direct contact with the world at large, producing beneficial results. The Abrahamic covenant was that in Christ all the families of the earth should be blessed. Now, while mankind, generally speaking, are not enjoying the salvation of Jesus Christ, still the whole world is being "blessed" in an important sense, as we shall show, by the institutions of society that owe their origin to the religion of the Bible. This examination of the general influences of Christianity revives the debated subject as to whether the world is getting better or worse. The Scriptural text relied on by those who take the pessimistic view is 2 Tim. 3:13: "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." There is room for considerable misunderstanding in either view, but I wish to state that part of the discussion on this scripture relative to the subject is usually based on a wrong premise, by reading into the text something that the apostle did not state. He did not say that the whole world was getting worse, for that would include all classes of people. And while he describes the future history of that particular class of men, he places in contrast and parallel with them the description of a worthier class; and therefore our conclusions can not be logical and true without taking both divisions into considera |