Excerpt from Luxury and Sacrifice
Out of the noisy disputes and sectarian wranglings of many centuries, certain great and simple principles shine forth with growing distinctness. They are peculiarly associated with the name of Christianity, and with the remarkable personality of its founder. Jesus stood for the "Real Presence" of God in this world, as the source of its life; he demonstrated that men might live in union or harmony, not only with one another, but with God; he taught that the life of love, or good-will, is the realization and perfection of manhood; he threw a new meaning into the Golden Rule, and made it the standard and the bond of human society; by his own life and death he established the marvellous doctrine that the good man, being the child of God, may transform all evil into good, and, having borne toil, suffering, and pain, may develop stronger faith, warmer love, more ardent hope, and abounding life.
These principles have never as yet been broadly applied, or reduced to common practice. They have never been even understood by any considerable number of so-called Christians. A conventional or ceremonial religion, consisting of certain external acts, or involved in various rather metaphysical dogmas, has in various forms largely taken the place of the beautiful ethical and spiritual religion that inspired Jesus, lifted his humble followers to a new level of courage and serene happiness, and glowed in the earnest devotion and eloquence of Paul.
Luxury and Sacrifice
