Christianity and Politics: V.

The Modern Church and Politics

Author(s): Thomas C. Hall
Source: The Biblical World , May, 1913, Vol. 41, No. 5 (May, 1913), pp. 298-303
Published by: The University of Chicago Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3142610

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 298 THE BIBLICAL WORLD

It is an audacious proposal
sensitiveness which
as to the rights the
of others,
until
gospel thus makes. The instinctively
lion they
ofno longertribe
the look
upon
of justice-seekers their own things
becomes thebut upon
lambthe of
the God of Love. But as we recall the
things of others. And if such Christlike
spirit shall lead them to some Calvary
years which have passed since Jesus first
taught and embodied this messageofof economic renunciation or Christlike
sharing of their goods with the multi-
Love which, in its impulse to realize itself
in service, stops at no sacrifice, wetudes,
are the gospel will be only fulfilling its
filled with self-condemning optimism. divine mission. For the gospel stakes
The blood of the martyrs has beenitself the upon the supremacy of love. The
church will fulfil its mission as it trains
seed of the church, and the church which
has so imperfectly, but steadily, em-
the regenerate life of its members to see
the social implication of that regenerate
bodied the principles of Jesus has in turn
life which is begotten of a Heavenly
taught men how to apply those principles
with ever-increasing extension to Father.
the And as it grasps this supreme
social difficulties of the day. In this
mission it will increasingly exhibit the
sufficiency of the gospel for social
spirit it must continue to live. The
certainty that it will thus live is salvation,
the not by metaphysical creeds
fruit of our spiritual loyalty to Jesus. but by the test of the apostle himself:
It is no spectacular service which Men
it will be known to love God whom
thus is called to render to the changing they have not seen as they love their
order. It is the service of love that has brothers whom they have seen. And
hatred and opposition only for thatthe power of social regeneration will be
which is not born of love. It must known to be something more than eco-
carry to the world the ever-deepening nomic efficiency or mere humanitarian-
conviction that love is the will of ism. For it will be seen to be the
God,
no matter what its embodiment must superhuman might of God who is
cost, and it must educate men intobringing
a in his Kingdom.

CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS

V
THE MODERN CHURCH AND POLITICS

THOMAS C. HALL, D.D.

Professor of Christian Ethics in Union Theological Seminary

It is not quite just to the historical

Religion and even ecclesiasticism were
situation to call the Thirty Years' War
only elements in an exceedingly complex
and the wars that followed the Refor- situation. The struggle was with feu-
mation movement "religious wars." dalism, and as the Roman Catholic

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 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS 299

church was the most powerful

lastic Protestant church felt and
she was
being devoured
picturesque incarnation by her own children.
of feudalism,
all the forces working It must be confessed that theor
consciously stand-
ard histories
only instinctively against treat this period
feudalism were far too
exclusively
arrayed against her. And as a clash
she inofher
opposing
theories. It was a clash
turn was only the banner-bearer of theof opposing
feudal forces. The struggle material interestsgave
as well, the
and these
Roman church new were no more conscious
energy. She of their full
took
up the work of internal reform
significance than were begun
the religious and
by the Council of Constance intellectual elements.
(1414) The rise
and of a
interrupted by the Reformation commercial class;schism,
the gradual develop-
and reorganized her mentlife with
of a town mostthe gradual
proletariat;
astonishing efficiency. Theofso-called
transference power from a land-
Counter-Reformation rallied all the owning to a capital-owning class; the
shifting of political powers from the
forces of feudal reaction, unified them,
and made them distinctly consciousfew of to the many were all factors in a
the issues at stake. Over against thiscomplex situation still further confused
movement the new modern spirit was by the tangled thread of colonial
but feebly expressed. Protestantism
development.
on its theological side had taken refuge Power over persons is based finally
in a new and singularly inconsequent upon monopoly of what others must
scholasticism. Its social activities were have. When, therefore, the free land
even less thoughtfully organized, and America and later Australia was
of
its political life was torn asunder by opened up to immigration, to that
the internal conflicts between quiteextent the landed monopoly was broken
opposing interests and theories. and the power of the landowning class
was to that extent undermined. Now,
The Reformation Not a Mere however, the state churches of Europe,
Class Movement
whether calling themselves Roman
To call the Reformation movement
Catholica or Protestant, were still linked
"capitalist" movement, or ain"middle
their fundamental interest with
the of
class" uprising as is the habit landowning
so- class. The Lutheran
cialist criticism, and even of many churches
whoof the various German states,
are not socialists, is too schematic. the established church of England, the
The political weakness of the Reforma-state churches of the smaller European
tion was that it was a revolt of the northern powers, Norway, Sweden,
modern spirit as yet but dimly con- Denmark, etc., all instinctively identified
scious of its real meaning. themselves with the landowning and
When, then, Bacon, Rousseau, land-using classes. The rise of democ-
racy could not but be distasteful to
Hobbes, Voltaire, Locke, Milton, Hume,
and Kant began to voice the several such established churches. In France,
Protestantism had been well-nigh over-
interests implicit in the Reformation
come, and here the rise of democracy
as an intellectual movement, the scho-

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 300 THE BIBLICAL WORLD

became almost equivalent to the de-

freedom and constitutional govern
cline of the church, that and
tore thethe life final
of Germany blow fro
in the separation to of 1870 the church
church and played
statean ig
was the logical consequence of the and almost contemptible part. A
triumph of Republicanism. In Spain, a radical socialism rose as the pa
Austria, and Italy the Roman Catholicdiscontent and democracy, the c
church was regarded by the power- awoke to find herself complete
possessing class as one of the most tranged from the new democrat
useful barriers against revolutionary in art, in thought, and in political
radicalism, and as such she retained purpose. The art of Germany, whether
her power over many who had lost allthat of Schiller, Heine, Goethe, Wagner,
intellectual interest in her theology, or or Nietzsche, is pagan through and
religious feeling for her consolations. through. The intellectual life of the
It was in England where the use ofuniversity has become utterly estranged
coal and the invention of machinery,from the organized religious life of the
together with the fact of her insularchurch, and the greatest single political
position, saved her from the exhaustionsparty in the Empire returns the ex-
of invasion, that the modern movement clusion of its members from the church
produced soonest its logical outcome. by almost as sharply excluding members
In the Evangelical revival the con- of the church from its numbers.
sciousness of interests opposed to the The woeful fact that in all ages
semi-feudalism of the Established church religion is identified with its temporary
resulted in the great strengthening of organized form has left the Christian
nonconformity, and the rise of a religious religion of the continent of Europe in
radicalism. In Germany, however, an a wild confusion. To be "religious"
intellectual Protestantism was shaking means to the average modern mind
itself loose from feudal tradition and that one is caught in the political or
ecclesiastical domination. Kant formu- intellectual reactionarism of Vatican
obscurantism or the scholasticism of a
lated the new spirit of Protestantism,
lukewarm Lutheranism.
with its main emphasis upon the higher
ethical values, and its searching criti-
cism of the foundations upon which New Democratic Forces Now
at Work
authoritarian theology and ecclesiastical
scholasticism rested, and thus preparedHappily a thousand new influences
the way for a radical attack upon the are at work, and the individual religious
political life and purpose of established
life has never been really identifie
Protestant churches. with the formal organized church. Th
religious life of Germany has found
The Struggle of Protestantism with refuge in the home, and its center is
Political Situations
there rather than in the church But
Unfortunately these churches
the effectwere
of this divorce upon the radi-
bound hand and foot to the existing
cal and democratic policies of the state
political situation. In the has
struggle for
been in the last degree unfortunate.

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 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS 301

In France the same Thething hasorhap-

Kultur-Kampf, struggle for state
control
pened, with, however, the of Roman
all education,church
cost Rome
being in the place some
of of her most
the loyal followers in
Lutheran.
There, also, democracy has
Germany, and swept away
the short-sighted policy
from all ecclesiastical influence. The of the Jesuit organization has produced
a series
"church" is either actively hated, or of laws in the South Ameri-
contemptuously ignored by the radical can republics, where no Protestantism
and democratic forces. Nor is the practically exists, more oppressive for
situation very different in Spain or
the hierarchy than in any Protestant
Italy, save only that radicalism and country.
democracy are in those countries less Protestantism is in less danger than
well organized and self-conscious than Rome of complete identification of her
in France or in Germany. The demand life with the fortunes of the stage of
for temporal sovereignty on the part of culture which gave her birth. This is
the Vatican is really only a part of her in part true because Protestantism has
Middle Age claim to real responsibility touched all classes. The great divisions
for all government as God's representa- that exist have saved her from confin-
tive on earth. And the existence of a
ing herself to any one group. At the
Roman Catholic "Centrum" party in same time a dangerous division is a con-
Germany is one of the most unfortu- stant menace to her highest usefulness.
nate political incidents in the history
The industrial class, whose labor power
of the imperial parliament. It has is all it has to sell, may easily grow up
sharpened the existing antagonism be-increasing estrangement from the
in
expensively organized and prosperous
tween democracy and established reli-
Protestant churches.
gion, and greatly lowered the parliamen-
tary efficiency of the legislative body.In England the Evangelical revival
saved the situation, and in the United
The natural sympathies of such a party
States the Methodist and Baptist
are of necessity with feudalism and
churches have rendered services of
aristocratic tradition, but in its struggle
for power it is in constant dangeruntold
of value. Yet it must be frankly
ignoble intrigue and utterly unworthyrecognized that there has never been a
political bargaining with its consequent
clear and self-consistent theory worked
out by Protestantism of her relations
demoralization and prostitution of prin-
ciple. to the political organization of the state.
The loss of temporal power on the On the one hand, the churches have been
part of Rome goes on, however, steadily. inclined to treat salvation as an indi-
The unification of Italy placed Rome in vidual matter, unconnected with the
the unfortunate attitude of opposition political and communal life, or on the
to all the best national aspirations, and other to adopt the meddling and irritat-
in the same way France was estranged, ing attitude of the Roman communion
and lost to her through the separation in dictating to the political state courses
of church and state now made more of conduct deemed favorable to the
final than even in the United States. church life.

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302 THE BIBLICAL WORLD

The Pressing Political Problems of

to accomplish that mission it must
the Church
work with men of good will of many
A thoroughly self-conscious different
Protes- political opinions. Anarchists,
Socialists,
tantism will have to realize clearly that Progressive Republicans,
political government is as divinely Democrats, Free-Traders, Prohibition-
expedient as an ecclesiastical govern- ists, Single-Taxers, Syndicatists, Stand-
ment. And that so far as lines can be pat Republicans, Populists, etc., are in
drawn at all they must be drawn in the Protestantism, and the only legitimate
interests of the whole community.demand We upon them is that they are in
must realize that organizations for these parties sincerely believing that
promoting this or that type of religious they promote ends that make for the
life may demand protection of the kingdom of God, and that they are in
community and no more. Whatever them unselfishly to promote righteous-
else is given is of grace and not of right. ness. Nor must Protestantism permit
If the community cares to subsidize an itself to be prostituted to any lesser
art gallery or an orchestra or a religious political ends no matter how legitimate
denomination, it does so at the risk of they may seem. We must forever turn
some injustice to individuals; but it may our backs upon the political compromises
choose to take that risk for the greater by which so often the church has been
good. It is a matter of communal ex- tempted to gain the whole world, only
pediency pure and simple and only his- to lose its own soul.
tory and experience can give us a final Communal righteousness is the goal
answer as to the wisdom of such help. of the religious organization, but the
The difficulty at present is that all economic and political means by which
too easily a powerful class in the com- it is to be established must be left to
munity may tax the less powerful and individual and party decision beyond
less well-organized elements in the in- the control of the religious organization.
terests of their view of life. A really The inspirations to self-sacrificing po-
sturdy Protestantism, conscious of its litical and economic activity, the main-
real mission, will not want the support of taining of organization for the promotion
any class, no matter how powerful, if of this activity, service in every field in
that support is obtained by cutting it which no man is busy; these things the
off from the weaker classes. past shows the church most highly use-
Nor again will a sturdy and self- ful in promoting. There is no service
conscious Protestantism desire to ma- she may not render until another
nipulate political parties for its own organization better equipped takes her
ends. It will recognize the fact that place; but just as soon as another
political parties follow, and should organization can do anything better
follow, lesser and more immediate endsbecause of higher specialization then
than any religious organization should the sooner a religious organization
have in view. No religious organiza- abandons the field the better. Thus
tion is worth the name that does not the schools and colleges are passing to
the state, and much humanitarian en-
realize its world-wide mission, and that

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 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS 305
terprise will in the same waythe bechurch
taken is only human life organized
over by the community. for the incarnation of God's holy will
Robust Protestantism knows no line in all society.
between the sacred and the secular. It Roman Catholicism identified herself
believes with Paul that all things are not only with the intellectual forms in
ours, and that all things are sacred. which she took over her gospel from
Its goal is not the capture of any politi-the Hellenistic world, but with its
cal party but the spiritualizing of politics and culture. The fact now is
all. And by spiritualization it does not that Protestantism is both too intelligent
understand that the field of its interest and politically too active to be content
is a future unseen world, but the presentwith any existing intellectual world,
unseen higher values; the fruit of theor any present political form. Roman
spirit, love, joy, peace, long suffering,Catholicism looks to the past; in-
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meek- creasingly Protestantism is consciously
ness, and self-control: these things itbreaking with her historic past and
seeks and promotes. recognizing the fact that she is the
The difficulty with the Roman child of hope and a Far Future. Thus
Catholic position in politics is its she may become one of the great
claim to infallible authority, and its creative factors in the new world dawn-
consequent lordship over the minds of ing upon men's vision, and in her creative
men. Any self-conscious Protestantism activity awake to the fulness of her
makes no such claim. It has discovered potential strength. She will claim again
that it only knows in part and sees in aall life not as her dominion, but as her
bronze mirror very dimly. Its unityopportunity
is for again rendering spiritual
service, and organizing life for worship
not of formulated truth but of purpose
and spirit. It realizes that the social
and fellowship in love and righteousness.
changes that have taken place are veryShe will have done for all time with
great, and what may be in the future compromises for the sake of power, and
it cannot tell. Happily Protestantism more particularly with all political
is not committed to any political form,compromises, and will become the un-
nor does it wisely commit itself to anyselfish and unchallenged inspiration to
type of culture. For such Protestantismall good works.

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