ow Christ, war, as an unbelievably
brutal and barbarous anachronism, like its former savage contemporaries
of slavery, the burning of witches, and the torture of the Inquisition,
would be forever done away. The message with which our Lord challenges
the whole Church today is that with which He began His ministry when He
faced His apostate nation, "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand."

[1] The songs of the men which are most popular in war time bear evidence
of this unconscious virtue. They fall into three classes. There are the
songs of cheer so popular in the camps today: "Pack Up Your Troubles in
Your Own Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile," "Are We Down-hearted, No,"
"Though Your Heart May Ache Awhile Never Mind," etc. Then there are the
songs of home: "Keep the Home Fires Burning," "Tipperary," "Take Me Back
to Dear Old Blighty," "Put Me on the Train to London Town," "Back Home in
Tennessee," "In My Old Kentucky Home," "There's a Long, Long Trail
Awinding," "Give Me Your Smile," "If You Were the Only Girl in The
World," "Mother McCrae," etc. Then there are the songs of nationality;
The "Marseillaise," "John Brown's Body," "When Irish Eyes are Smiling,"
"Come Back to Erin," "Annie Laurie," etc.

[2] See Appendix III for a typical expression of a soldier's new
experience of religion at the front.

[3] Quoted in "Hurrah and Hallelujah," pp. 116-119.

[4] It is interesting to note in this connection some words of Immanuel
Kant. See Appendix I.

[5] _London Times_, June 22, 1917.

[6] "The Challenge of the Present Crisis," Association Press.

CHAPTER VIII

THE WORLD AT WAR

Let us try to grasp the colossal facts of the present war. Since the
beginning of the conflict there has been a daily attrition of more than
25,000 in killed, wounded, or prisoners every twenty-four hours. At
the opening of the fourth year of the war the number killed was over
5,000,000. This does not include those who have perished in the
devastated nations. Not less than 6,000,000 men are now in the
military prisons of Europe, some of whom have undergone great
suffering, both physical and mental. More than 6,000,000 lie wounded
today in the military hospitals, not to speak of several times that
number who have been patched up and sent back into the line to face
death again, or have been rejected as unfit for further service, often
left crippled or maimed, blinded, or deformed for life.

Mere numbers or statistics c