There is a. tendency to regard this purity of heart as concerned only with the negation of one class of fleshly appetites. Our Lord did indeed apply the princ?iple most impressively with that
reference (Alt
principle "
essence of all goodn
all the
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lie which the philosophei Kant stated in the terms: 'Notliin;; din possibly he conceived in the world, or even out of it, which i ;i[i !..■ .ailed nn<„} without qualification, except a Good Will.' li i- l\\v <l.»liiTH- which modern Ethics expresses when it dccl;ii. ■; Ih.ii ItiL unudness or badness of conduct depends upon lli'' uHiiiM. In ilu- List resort, the ' single eye ' and the 'luirr luait' ;uf tin' same. They hotll express the inward determination to do tlie good just because it is the good, and for no other reason. The former regards this moral attitude from the point of view of the end which is aimed at, the second contemplates the disposition of the heart, the moral condition of soul, out of which the good inevitably springs.
3. The Infinite Value of the human Soul.— This
idea is very frequent in the teaching of our Lord. Explicitly or implicitly, it occurs everywhere. See Mt 6-«<f- 10=3«'"»''-^= 12"- 1= 16-" 18''«-, Mk 8^-^ 9"-« Lk 9-^-^ 10-"- 12™-^- 28 14'' is^ff- sf- "«■• ig'", Jn S'" 47fr. iQiiff-. All passages which tell of the love of God for the individual soul or of the sacrifice by which the salvation of the soul was effected, are witnesses to the same truth. Every person, no matter how poor, wretched, sinful or degraded, is of infinite value when compared with any mere thing. The gospel was preaclied to the poor. The Christ received the publicans and sinners who came to Him. None were too miserable or too lowly for His compassion. The Great Father in heaven is ever watching over His human children. The very hairs of their heads are all numbered. Better to die a miserable death than be the cause of injury to one of His little ones. God so cares for even the most sinful among His children, that He is comiiared to the shepherd seeking the lost sheep, to the woman searching for her lost piece of money. There is joy in heaven over one sinner that re- penteth. God is like a loving father who rejoices over the returning prodigal. As we have it m St. John, ' God so loved the world, that he gave his onl.y-l"'-otlrii Son'iS'S).
Apait Inmi I li.' rehgious value of these teachings, their rilii. ;il iiiipurtance is incalculable. They con- veyeil to luaiikiud one of the greatest gifts which even Christianity had to bestow : the belief that each human soiil is of absolute value, above all price or estimation. It is the doctrine which philo- sophical Ethics expresses, when it declares that every person is to be regarded as an end in himself, never as a means only. This is the doctrine which imderlies the mission of the Church to go and make disciples of all the nations (Mt 28'''). It is the l)rineiplo which has overthrown tyrannies, abolished slax cry, ,ind justified all our modern enthusiasms for lili'erty and for the welfare of humanity.
This doctrine, combined with that of the Fatherhood of God, affords the true proof of individual immortality. Our Lord's teaching is quite clear on this subject. There must be a future life for men because God calls Himself their God. ' He is not the God of the dead, but of the hving' (Mt 223in', Mk 12=7, Lk 2037ir.). That is, God cares for men, they are precious in His sight, therefore He cannot permit them to perish. The great Father will never forsake His children.
i. The Law of LoYe. — Christianity teaches us to think of love as the nature of God and as the highest law of human life. We owe this noble teaching to our Lord Himself. By precept and example He taught His followers to think of the
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IDEAS (LEADING)
IDEAS (LEADING)
Almighty as their Father in heaven. While never ignorins the justice, the righteousness of God, He made His hearers realize the supremacy of the Divine Love. Out of this great love of God should flow a human love of the same nature, a beneficent love (Mt 5^-^, Lk 6='"*'), a love which embraces even those who are bitterly hostile. Not only so, but our Lord teaches that the Law of Love is the supreme law of conduct. It includes all the com- mandments (Mt 22»'-39, Mk 12™<f- ). In strict accord- ance with this teaching is the Law of Service. He is greatest who serves best (Mt 20=5t-, Mk 10*"^-, Lk 22^--', Jn 13=-"). Loving service is the true test of the life (Mt253=T-).
This teaching shows clearly that our Lord designed to give to men a blessing which should be, not merely an illumination for the soul of the individual, but a social bond. He set free a principle which would bless all in the blessing of each. That principle may be described as the family principle exalted to heaven for the good of all the earth- If God is ' Our Father,' then all we 'are brethren' (lit 238). Tlie kingdom of God is thus the kingdom of Love in which each is blessed in the blessing of all. And this is the true Sttmmum Bunuin, the ideal end, which finds its partial realization in e\ery instance of genuine goodness in the individual life as well as in the life of the community, and which is the highest principle of all moral and social progress. Its perfect realization is the great hope of the future, the coming of the Kingdom in glory.