Reviews : King, Henry C. The Moral and Religious Challenge of Our Times. Pp. xviii, 393. Price, $1.50. New York: Macmillan Company, 1911
| Author | Francis D. Tyson |
| Date | 01 September 1912 |
| Published date | 01 September 1912 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271621204300125 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
341
conservative,
they
are
highly
recommended
for
the
persuasion
of
prospective
converts
to
socialized
religion.
University
of
Pennsylvania.
THOMAS
D.
ELIOT.
King,
Henry
C.
The Moral
and
Religious
Challenge
of
Our
Times.
Pp.
xviii,
393.
Price,
$1.50.
New
York:
Macmillan
Company,
1911.
A
significant
factor
in
the
spread
of
the
new
philosophy
of
social
endeavor
is
the
increasing
number
of
books
written
from
that
viewpoint
by
leaders
of
thought
in
the
Protestant
Church.
The
latest
work
of
President
King,
of
Oberlin,
reviews
in
a
comprehensive
way,
at
once
intensely
religious
and
searchingly
pragmatic,
the
possibilities
of
realizing
Christian
democracy
in
the
modern
world.
An
irrepressible
idealist,
Dr.
King’s
guiding
principle
is
&dquo;reverence
for
personality.&dquo;
The
&dquo;Challenge
of
Our
New
External
Conditions&dquo;
is
first
taken
up.
Our
stupen-
dous
economic
development
and
the
consequent
trends
toward
co-operation
and
democracy,
are
briefly
discussed.
All
indicate
&dquo;a
growing
sense
that the
old
opposition
between
an
atomic,
nihilistic
individualism
and
a
swamping
socialism
is
out
of
date
and
should
be
transcended.&dquo;
These
changes
bring
greater
leisure
and
the
possibility
of
achievement;
dangers
are
involved
in
the
conflicting
conditions
and
ideals,
and
the
need
is
for
a
&dquo;social
conscience
to
grapple
with
large
problems.&dquo;
The
second
large
division
is
&dquo;The
Challenge
of
the
New
Inner
World
of
Thought.&dquo;
Natural
science
has
shown
&dquo;the
need
of
knowing
the
will
of
God
and
doing
it&dquo;
and
has
brought
&dquo;a
new
sense
of
reality
and
hope
into
the
ideal
realm.&dquo;
The
historical
spirit
&dquo;requires
the
ability
to
enter
sympathetically
and
understandingly
into
the
life-thought
of
other
peoples
and
periods.&dquo;
The
new
psychology emphasizes
&dquo;the
unity
of
man,&dquo;
&dquo;the
central
importance
of
will
and
action,&dquo;
and
&dquo;the
primacy
of
the
personal.&dquo;
Sociology
would
discern
&dquo;the
laws
of
the
permanent
progress
of
the
race;&dquo;
it
&dquo;builds
directly
upon
the
social
consciousness,
and
seeks
to
make
that
consciousness
prevail.&dquo;
Comparative
religion
reveals
the
value
of
the
&dquo;entire
religious
con-
sciousness
of
the
race.&dquo;
The
new
theology
aims
to
realize
Christ’s
ideal
of
social
fellowship
and
individual
independence.
Among
the
dangers
here
are
&dquo;false
materialism&dquo;
and
the
&dquo;prejudiced
conservatism&dquo;
that
denies
truth.
The
need
is
for
&dquo;clearer
insight,&dquo;
&dquo;breadth
of
view,&dquo;
and
&dquo;concrete
expression
of
spiritual
life
in
deed.&dquo;
&dquo;
&dquo;The
Lessons
of
the
Historical
Trend
of
Western
Civilization&dquo;
are
next
taken
up.
The
ancient
exclusive
state
and
Christianity’s
reverence
for
personal-
ity,
as
supplemental
to
brotherhood,
are
treated.
The
perversion
of
the
latter
ideal
is
shown
in
asceticism
and
the
philosophy
of
a
&dquo;dominant
church.&dquo;
Its
realization
is
presaged
by
the
new
tolerance
and
fuller
equality
of
men.
A
fourth
division
of
the
book
is
entitled &dquo;The
Meaning
of
the
Challenge
to
Our
National
Life.&dquo;
The
New
Puritanism
adds
to
the
&dquo;conviction
of
Divine
Commission,&dquo;
and
&dquo;the
feeling
of
responsibility
and
accountability,&dquo;
two
of
the
&dquo;Great
Positives of
the
Puritan
Spirit,&dquo;
the
&dquo;Great
Pnsitives
of
the
Modern
Spirit&dquo;-a
&dquo;genuine
love
for
men,&dquo;
and
a
&dquo;perception
of
the
breadth
of
life.&dquo;
In
the
light
of
the
guiding
principle,
Race
Antagonisms
are
then
discussed.
The
cultivation,
by
the
negro
race,
of
self-respect
and
pride
in
its
unique
endow-
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