of Independence proclaimed that every citizen had the
right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," which means
the opportunity to achieve the greatest self-development and
self-realization. The theory is that each citizen shall find his place,
according to his gifts and abilities, and be satisfied therewith. We may
discover that this is precisely what social science, in an industrial
age, and by spiritualizing human effort, aims to achieve. We may find
that the appearance of such a program as that of the British Labour
Party, supported as it is by an imposing proportion of the population
of the United Kingdom, marks a further step, not only in the advance of
social science and democracy, but also of Christianity.

I mention Christianity, not for controversial or apologetic reasons, but
because it has been the leaven of our western civilization ever since
the fall of the Roman Empire. Its constant influence has been to soften
and spiritualize individual and national relationships. The bitter
controversies, wars, and persecutions which have raged in its name are
utterly alien to its being. And that the present war is now being fought
by the Allies in the hope of putting an end to war, and is thus in the
true spirit of Christianity, marks an incomparable advance.

Almost up to the present day, both in our conception and practice of
Christianity, we have largely neglected its most important elements.
Christian orthodoxy, as Auguste Sabatier points out, is largely derived
from the older supernatural religions. The preservative shell of dogma
and superstition has been cracking, and is now ready to burst, and the
social teaching of Jesus would seem to be the kernel from which has
sprung modern democracy, modern science, and modern religion--a trinity
and unity.

For nearly two thousand years orthodoxy has insisted that the social
principles of Christianity are impractical. And indeed, until the
present day, they have been so. Physical science, by enormously
accelerating the means of transportation and communication, has so
contracted the world as to bring into communion peoples and races
hitherto far apart; has made possible an intelligent organization of
industry which, for the first time in history, can create a surplus
ample to maintain in comfort the world's population. But this demands
the will to co-operation, which is a Christian principle--a recognition
of the brotherhood of man. Furthermore, physical scie