GOD AND THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2917, 1 November 1916, Page 8

GOD AND THE WAR

' 6 . V- lho - lisl)fc , of the mi still believe m a God of love?" on » Jeot °{ au address S iven on bunday afternoon by the Eev. W S Own" 88 v £ W'l Ba P tist "Men's rLiv nn i C\ Mather occupied the in I ', tllore was a good attendance, lw I) } was * ot "^paralleled P Rasters °f like magnitude in regard to the number of victims was. tlio speaker said, proved by history, e.g. in oi' Jerusalem over 'one million Jews lost their lives in the city alone, aud the number of victims in most or the earlier wars wna never tabulated m casualty lists as at the present time, when human Jife is regarded as tar more sacred. Tlio terrible Rightfulness and horrors which aro shocking tht) world to-day were, in th© .earlier wars considered as'part of the usages of warfare, but now the conscience of buman- ■ ity was more sensitive, and nineteen contunes of Christianity liad given it a higher cpnception of God and the worth of man that made man recoil from tho horrors of war.

Tlio present war was not chargeable to God, who exercised no Divino coorciou, top man would not be man unless 'he had freedom of will, and the'great European struggle now in progress ■ was, no doubt, an indictment on an age that had been trying to do without' God, and was but a dramatic symptom of the continual light that was going on in the world against evil. But tho gate of history swung on the lunges of justice, making good to como out of evil. Tho evils of the war would pass away with it, but tho gooil would survive while the spirit of sacrifice formed a majestic offering ori the altar of the country's service. There was no loss of faith in God on the part of the men who had gone forth to fight for freedom and country, nor would It be lacking anywhero if all served their conntrv in the same spirit. As tlio Crimean War had discovered a Florenco Nightingale,. and led to the formation of the lied Cross Society, the operations of which on the battlefield reduced the fatalities by one-third, so would great good follow this war. Even the dreams of Utopian reformers bade fair to bo realisedi Medical science would advance. Tho production of the world's labour would be organised and multiplied. Aerial and submarine navigation would be established, and tho old conditions of precarious employment would pass away. This war may illumine the main avenue of human history by sacrificial and redemptive servico instead of its pathway being darkened as in tho past by-a selfish and suicidal policy. Tho world would bo brought nearer t'lio golden age, and led to seek its destiny through tho cross of Christ. An open discussion followed tho address, and a meeting followed at which it was decided to form a Brooklyn Brotherhood to arrange for future meetings and speakers.