July 1926 swift decline of another, within the same generation. Taking history as a whole it is a hopeless enigma apart from the golden key which Prophetic Truth affords. It is clear in the light of prophecy that God has been sending the race to school. The failures and apostasies of the centuries constitute a grave indict ment of humanity because of its pride, arrogance, and self-sufficiency; hence the verdict of Romans 1:20, "they are without excuse.” In the light of hu man failure and man’s demonstrated incapacity to administer and govern, the need of a competent Sovereign becomes more and more imperative. When will the eyes of men open to the truth which God has written in letters of blood across the historic page— there can be no enduring peace until we hear the footfall of the returning PRINCE OP PEACE! S. It solves the enigma o f present world conditions. It Is nearly nineteen hundred y e a r 8 since our Lord ascended from O l i v e t . It is four hun dred years since the Protestant Refor mation. It is one hundred and thirty- two years since Carey went forth to India, ushering in the era of modern missions. But the world has by no means been won to Christ. There is not a nation upon earth, nor a state or city, perhaps not even a hamlet, which is entirely Christian. The religious world map after these centuries of Christian effort presents an appalling picture. China, with its four hundred million, India’s three hundred million, Africa’s one hundred and fifty million—more than one-half of the world’s population— still steeped in heathen superstition. Add to these the one hundred and eighty million of Russia who know little or nothing of a pure Christian faith, the millions of Turkey and other Moslem lands, of South America, of Japan, the South Sea Islands, etc. The portion of the inhabited globe which has been evan gelized, or enlightened in any true sense by Christian conceptions and ideals, is after all very small indeed. Is Christianity then a failure? Has the Church utterly failed in her mis sion? True, if we are looking for the conversion of the world through Chris tian enterprise we may well despair. Missionary effort with all its glorious results fails to show a numerical growth which even approximates the increasing population of heathendom. But, if the Gospel is a “ witness” to all nations; if God is in this age "gather-
H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S and achievement which was producing daily miracles and literally making the world anew. Confessing my inability to share her enthusiasm completely, I inquired what branch of achievement she had particularly in mind? I was assured t h a t supremacy was evident in every branch. I then asked if she thought this was true of architecture, since practically all of our modern buildings were mere adaptations of ancieût forms with an almost invari able loss in beauty and symmetry? There was a rather hesitating admis sion that probably architecture be longs in a distinct category and has not witnessed the same progress as other lines. I then advanced the case of sculp tural and decorative art and inquired if she knew any modern examples equal to the well-known works of the Old Masters? A brief debate on the point resulted in a candid admission by my much-traveled friend that the greatest achievements in art were also to be attributed to the earlier cen turies. I then broached the subject of phil osophy, and it was only necessary to call attention to the scope and power of the Classics to secure assent both to the proposition that the ancients were more profound and versatile than the moderns, and that the ground had been bo fully covered that nothing substantially had been added in later times. A discussion of literature and..ethics led to the same result, leaving to the present generation the sole distinction of a great utilitarian advance which admittedly belongs on a lower plane than the great cultural achievements of men of ancient times. The outstanding fact which im presses Itself upon the intelligent reader of history is that progress in one century is usually offset by reac tion in the next, while the advance of one people is counterbalanced by the
394 ___________________________ ___ residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, ■who doeth all these things.” James had found the key to the inner cham ber of the counsels of God. Christian history has had new meaning from that day. Si. It is the true Interpreter of his tory. In seeking to appraise the value of any teaching or system, there is no more authoritative body of evidence to which we may appeal, than the facts of history. And yfet, what strangely diverse conclusions our philosophers have reached, from the same historical material. To cite but two modern examples; one may be plunged into the depths of depression by accepting the extremely pessimistic view of Max Nordau, while optimism will soar to the heights if, without qualification, we accept the generalizations of H. G. Wells. Mr. Nordau sees no progress in. the past fifteen hundred years and finds our standards so materialized and de based that the future is without hope. Mr. Wells, with a wealth of artistic and literary illustration, traces the -course of human development from the earliest cell, through untold ages •of evolutionary development, to the lofty summit of man’s present attain ments in which he finds the prophecy -of a golden age of ripe maturity to come. All of this through purely resident forces and without any recog nition of supernatural agency or power. Of course, two views which so hope lessly conflict cannot both be true, and yet does not our common thinking for the greater part veer toward one or the other of these extremes? A little careful thought must convince us that it is an absurd deduction from history to say that the forces of evil have .always triumphed, and equally foolish to contend that the history of mankind has been marked by constant progress upward. The fact is, history has taken ¡an undulating course, rising and fall ing like the tide, according to the forces and' influences which have moved upon the hearts of men in each ;age. While in England during the past summer I was asked by a most cul tured lady if I did not believe the men •of the present day to be far in advance -of those of any other age, both in in tellect and accomplishment. . Noting my reluctance to give assent, she ex pressed astonishment that I could fail ito recognize the unparalleled genius
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