ther. They were content to renounce possessions and ready
to forfeit joyously life itself. They lived together in such love and
fellowship that even Galen, the famous Greek philosopher who was not a
Christian, in his work entitled "The Progress of the Nations" said that
religious beliefs are greatly conducive to the foundation of real
civilization. As a proof thereof he said, "A certain number of people
contemporaneous with us are known as Christians. These enjoy the
superlative degree of moral civilization. Each one of them is as a great
philosopher because they live together in the utmost love and good
fellowship. They sacrifice life for each other. They offer worldly
possessions for each other. You can say of the Christian people that they
are as one person. There is a bond amongst them that is indissoluble in
character."

It is evident, therefore, that the foundation of real brotherhood, the
cause of loving cooperation and reciprocity and the source of real
kindness and unselfish devotion is none other than the breaths of the Holy
Spirit. Without this influence and animus it is impossible. We may be able
to realize some degrees of fraternity through other motives, but these are
limited associations and subject to change. When human brotherhood is
founded upon the Holy Spirit, it is eternal, changeless, unlimited.

In various parts of the Orient there was a time when brotherhood,
loving-kindness and all the praiseworthy qualities of mankind seemed to
have disappeared. There was no evidence of patriotic, religious or racial
fraternity; but conditions of bigotry, hatred and prejudice prevailed
instead. The adherents of each religion were violent enemies of the
others, filled with the spirit of hostility and eager for shedding of
blood. The present war in the Balkans furnishes a parallel of these
conditions. Consider the bloodshed, ferocity and oppression manifested
there even in this enlightened century--all of it based fundamentally upon
religious prejudice and disagreement. For the nations involved belong to
the same races and native lands; nevertheless, they are savage and
merciless toward each other. Similar deplorable conditions prevailed in
Persia in the nineteenth century. Darkness and ignorant fanaticism were
widespread; no trace of fellowship or brotherhood existed amongst the
races. On the contrary, human hearts were filled with rage and hatred;
darkness and gloom were manifest in human lives and conditions e