CHRISTIAN THEORY OF WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2345, 30 December 1914, Page 7

CHRISTIAN THEORY OF WAR

Mr. A. C. Benson, the president of Magdalene College, Cambridge, gave a lecture on "The Christian I'neory of War" in the Derby Chapel of the Manchester Cathedral recently. Mr: Benson announced his purpose to be to indicate not only on what grounds a Christian nation aoul(l resist aggression but why it was jusfcified_ in prosecuting a relentless campaign against the forces which lay behind this appalling onslaught of humanity which Germany was making. "\Vhen German philosophy extolled the vitlue of war it was really, lie said, extolling the value of oonquest; it did not teach the moral value of defeat. The whole doctrine was the old lust of conquest and'spoil in disg'uise. Its real meaning was that Germany should make herself so strong as to be able to conquer other nations and then give them a draught of German culture. The theory was that if a .nation was independent enough to prefer another sort of ideal to tlie German it must be exterminated. It could, only be saved by accepting the German ideal. The reason why Germany had not succeeded in any of her colonies was because when she was supreme ahe was also tyrannical. She believed that o men could be converted by'the sword. The task which now lay before Europe was to see that this ruthless and tyrannical theory was once and for ever exploded. Wo were fighting in the cause of liberty against a nation which had developed a selfish delusion—a frenzied worship of its own typical qualities. This passionate self-righteousness and self-worship had no ultimate chance of victory because it bad no desire to convert but only to terrorise. If, then, we felt that an attempt was being made to force the world to accept ail ideal utterly opposed to the Christian ideal, we must unite to suppress a danger which menaced the hopes_ of humanity, ' believing it to he a time "when he that hath no 6Word may sell his garment and buy one."