he poor."

For the ancients the good man was the noble, the rich, the brave.
Since the time of Christ the word has changed its sense: the good man
is he who loves others. Doing good is loving others and seeking to be
of service to them. Charity (the Latin name of love) from that time
has been the cardinal virtue. Charitable becomes synonymous with
beneficent. To the old doctrine of vengeance the Christ formally
opposes his doctrine of charity. "Ye have heard that it was said, An
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; but I say unto you ...
whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other
also.... Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy
neighbor and hate thine enemy; but I say unto you love your enemies,
do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that persecute you,
... that ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who
maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on
the just and the unjust." He himself on the cross prayed for his
executioners, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

=Equality.=--The Christ loved all men; he died not for one people
only, but for all humanity. He never made a difference between men;
all are equal before God. The ancient religions, even the Jewish, were
religions of peoples who kept them with jealous care, as a treasure,
without wishing to communicate them to other peoples. Christ said to
his disciples, "Go, and teach all nations." And the apostle Paul thus
formulated the doctrine of Christian equality: "There is neither Greek
nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, bond nor free."
Two centuries later Tertullian, a Christian writer, said, "The world
is a republic, the common land of the human race."

=Poverty and Humility.=--The ancients thought that riches ennobled a
man and they regarded pride as a worthy sentiment. "Blessed are the
poor," said Christ, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." He that
would not renounce all that he had could not be his disciple. He
himself went from city to city, possessing nothing, and when his
disciples were preoccupied with the future, he said, "Be not anxious
for what ye shall eat, nor for what ye shall put on. Behold the birds
of the heaven, they sow not neither do they reap, yet your heavenly
Father feedeth them."

The Christian was to disdain riches, and more yet, worldly honors. One
day when his disciples were disputing who should have t