ay for them that
persecute you; that ye may be sons of your Father who is in
heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good,
and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.--Matt. 5:44, 45.

Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable
in the sight of all men. But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if
he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap
coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome
evil with good.--Rom. 12:17, 20, 21.

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom
were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should
not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from
hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus
answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end have I been
born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear
witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my
voice.--John 18:36, 37.

When we call out the militant spirit in religion, we summon a dangerous
power. It has bred grimness and cruelty. Crusaders and inquisitors did
their work in the name of Jesus, but not in his spirit. We must saturate
ourselves with the spirit of our Master if our fighting is to further his
Kingdom. Hate breeds hate; force challenges force. Only love disarms; only
forgiveness kills an enemy and leaves a friend. Jesus blended gentleness
and virility, forgiving love and uncompromising boldness. He offered it as
a mark of his Kingdom that his followers used no force to defend him.
Wherever they have done so, the Kingdom of heaven has dropped to the level
of the brutal empires. His attack is by the truth; whoever is won by that,
is conquered for good. Force merely changes the form of evil. When we
"overcome evil with good," we eliminate it.

What did Paul mean by saying that acts of kindness to an enemy heap coals
of fire on his head?

How about moral crusades that aim to put joint-keepers and pimps in
prison?

Study for the Week

All great religious teachers have had a deep sense of the power of evil in
human life. Jesus apparently was not interested in the philosophical
question of the origin of evil, but accepted the fact of evil in a
pragmatic way, and saw his own life as a conflict with sin and wrong.

Some facts, as we have seen, were clearly written in his consciousness:
the fra