andards of conduct? Who is my neighbor, and who is not?
IV. _For Special Discussion_
1. A new intellectual age has opened with the rise of modern science; what
new moral standards should be the result of our new knowledge?
2. A new economic age opened with the invention of power machinery and the
social organization of labor; what new moral standards should have been
the result of the new wealth of civilization?
3. A new political era opened with the rise of democracy; what new moral
standards should be achieved in the life of States and cities?
4. A new era began in world-wide relations with the beginning of
steam-carried commerce; what new standards are needed for international
and inter-racial relations?
PART III. THE RECALCITRANT SOCIAL FORCES
Chapter VII. Leadership For Service
_Ambition Must Get Its Satisfaction by Serving Humanity_
The Kingdom of God was an ideal. If it was to be turned into concrete
realities, it would encounter the recalcitrant and stubborn instincts of
human nature and the conservative forces of society. Where did Jesus
locate the obstacles? At what points was he aware of resistance? Did he
realize the force of ambition and the love of power? Did he gauge the pull
of the property instinct? Did he feel religion as a help or a hindrance in
realizing the Kingdom of God? These questions we shall follow up in three
lessons.
DAILY READINGS
First Day: The Trustee
And Peter said, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even
unto all? And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and wise
steward, whom his lord shall set over his household, to give them
their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom
his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto
you, that he will set him over all that he hath. But if that
servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and
shall begin to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to
eat and drink, and to be drunken; the lord of that servant shall
come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he
knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion
with the unfaithful. And that servant, who knew his lord's will,
and made not ready, nor did according to his will, shall be beaten
with many stripes; but he that knew not, and did things worthy of
stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.
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