Above all patriotism, above all immediate
anxiety, above all argumentation about responsibility, this grim fact
stands out and reproaches them: after fifteen hundred years of Christian
preaching Europe is locked in the bloodiest struggle of all time.
During the last fifty or hundred years the clergy have developed some
expertness in making apologies. They have lived in a world of anxious
questions and heated charges, and a special department called
Apologetics has been added to theology. They are, it is true, sorely
perplexed, divided in counsel, uneasy as to their procedure. Some would
ignore the pertinacious outsider and persuade their followers that he is
negligible; others would sustain an energetic campaign against him. Some
would openly and candidly meet the questions of their followers; others
would prefer not to unsettle the large number who never ask questions.
At the present juncture it is impossible to be wholly silent. Some of
the clergy, it seems--I learn this from the recorded words of eminent
preachers--wish to ignore the war and go on with their business as
usual. But the majority feel that such a procedure is dangerous. This
violent breach of Christian principles by Christian nations requires
some explanation.
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