"After this manner" . uckrake of late has revealed to ussome of the products of Christian peopleseasy tolerance of wrong-doing. The cor-ruption of legislatures and congresses, thefattening of corporations by injustice andgreed, the blighting of lives and the blast-ing of homes by vicious institutions,—thesethings and more of the same kind havehappened while Christians have been sit-ting at ease, their rapt gaze fixed upon thecross of him who died to save the of evil is connivance with forgiveness of the evil-doer is reallypossible only when the evil is known andhated.
"After this manner" . uckrake of late has revealed to ussome of the products of Christian peopleseasy tolerance of wrong-doing. The cor-ruption of legislatures and congresses, thefattening of corporations by injustice andgreed, the blighting of lives and the blast-ing of homes by vicious institutions,—thesethings and more of the same kind havehappened while Christians have been sit-ting at ease, their rapt gaze fixed upon thecross of him who died to save the of evil is connivance with forgiveness of the evil-doer is reallypossible only when the evil is known andhated. The wound must be probed beforeit can be healed. As we cannot think of Gods forgivenessas the product of a good-natured indiffer-ence to sin, but must always think of himas hating the sin and being hurt by it, so wemust demand of forgiving men a conscious-ness of the enormity of evil and a veryGodlike hatred of that evil. Forgivenesslessens neither the heinousness of sin northe hurt of sin. It saves the sinner. [21]. FOKGIVE The real forgiving spirit is already some-what abroad in our land. With the revela-tions of evil furnished by the muckrakethere are countless revelations of the workof saving love. The many institutions forthe reclamation of the sinner are showingus that men are trying to forgive as Godforgives. They hate the sin. That is whythey are so anxious to save the sinner. Ifthe sin seemed less terrible, the work of sal-vation would be less energetic. This, then, is the place of the forgivingspirit in the social ideal. Forgiveness isthe healing salve which must be appliedto the probed wound. The forgiving spiritmust be the companion of the awakenedconscience. The objects sought by both arethe same, to destroy the hateful sin and tosave the loved sinner. But this petition, too, like all the peti-tions of the Lords Prayer, has a personalsignificance. The reclamation of sinnerscannot be accomplished by social institu-tions alone. Behind the institution theremust alwa
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, booksubjectchristianlif, booksubjectlordsprayer
