Religious teachings, concepts and inculcations as accepted by what we nominally know as Christians, irrespective of the denomination, whether of Catholic or Protestant persuasion, are, supposedly, based on the teachings of the Nazarene. But is this True? Are these teachings based on His Doctrines?

The several basic or most fundamental of His instructions were:

(1) "Faith without works [faith, if not followed by effort in accordance with the spirit of such faith] is dead." __James 2:20.
(2) "Whatsoever a man soweth [whatever you do], that shall he also reap [so will be your returns]." __Gal.6:7.
(3) "Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole [having received the light ,i.e., understanding, be no longer guilty of wrong doing]." __Luke 17:19.

There are other vital sayings, but these are fundamental.

Relative to the first, one might take Mohammed as an example. Mohammed was not a Christian. In populr opinion, he was a pagan or heathen, but Mohammed had one thing which few who believe themselves Christians, do have. He had reason and some good common sense. Mohammed had faith. He wanted the mountain to be near him: or, he wanted to be near the mountain. He commanded the mountain to come to him, but the mountain refused to move. Did Mohammed bewail himself and condemn God for not granting his request? Not at all. He made the effort, harmonizing with his faith. He went to the mountain and his objective was attained.

The faithist will meet this interpretation with one of the Nazarene's most frequently quoted statements:

"If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye will be able to move mountains." __St. Matt. 17:20.

Why was it necessary for Mohammed to go to the mountain? His faith should nave been sufficient to bring the mountain to him. This is faith without sense or reason. It is, in truth, ‘Faith without works."

If one has faith and the ability to accomplish a certain objective, then that faith must be the incentive for him to apply his ability and bring about the desired result. This is faith based on common sense and reason. It is faith with work.

"God helps them that help themselves." __Benjamin Franklin in Poor Richard's Almanac, 1757.

The atheist, and all those who are engaged in efforts to destroy religion and faith in God, fully conscious of the inertia of the vast millions who confess themselves as Christians, are also keenly aware of their lack of accomplishments, despite their profession of faith. They take advantage of this fact and demand an answer to a sensible question:

"What has God done for you?'

The question is sane and sensible, but it is misleading. It should be what have you done for yourself? Have you made every possible effort? All that you have the ability to do?

God did immensely much for man, every man. He gave man reason, imagination, the ability to plan and to execute; possibilities and potentialities to a degree permitting him to become, if he will, nd has the desire to work to the degree of faith which he professes, a god, a coworker with God, a Son of god.

What has man done with these Divine inheritances? Instead of making every effort to develop his God-given talents and bring them into manifestation, he has permitted himself to become negative, indolent, inert. Relying on God instead of on himself; he demands that God do for him the many things he can fo for himself. He forgets that God will help man only after man can no linger help himself, and when God does not comply - become a servile man-servant - man complains: "There is no God; I prayed but received no answer."

All this is the introduction to an understanding of a false faith that is without reason, common-sense and willingness to work according to an ideal - an ideal that is an incentive to effort; and effort that will be followed by accomplishment. Such faith without works, is not only general, it is well-nigh universal.

Wise men have told us: "From the experiences of others gain wisdom." They might also have said: "From the ignorance of others gain knowledge."

Before us as we write, is a letter from one above the average in education and intelligence. From this letter we will quote statements as examples to show haw lacking is the general understanding of faith as well as of the Nazarene's inculcations:

"Speaking of faith - I would like you to explain this to me if you please. I was thinking of that saying of Jesus" ‘If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye will be able to remove mountains.' What kind of a faith does that mean?"

The answer is not difficult and we can reasonably cite the example of Mohammed whose faith led him to act, and the saying of the Nazarene:

"Faith without works is dead." __James 2:20.

In other words, faith alone is a wish which is not strong enough to induce effort. If a mountain is to be moved, and one has faith that it can be moved, the reasonable, logical thing to do, is to set that faith into action and use the knowledge, common sense and know-how that we find in our God-given reason, and proceed with the moving of the mountain. That is the kind of faith meant. It is the faith that is alive; the faith that proves itself by effort, physical and otherwise.

"For instance, our boys in Korea who have been on that small beachhead - should this faith, if possible, be great enough to throw away their arms and ammunition, and Know God would care for them?"

This is as reasonable a thought as when a man is attacked by another and has the means of protecting himself; but, instead of doing so, throws aside his means of protection and prays to God, expecting Him to do for him what he can do, but refuses to do, for himself. The answer to this question is very clearly stated by Benjamin Franklin:

"God helps those who help themselves."

Faith is the incentive to action; action brings accomplishment. Faith is based on the knowledge that there is an operating Law which governs all things, but if that faith is to be active, we must work in harmony with the law and not expect the law to save us from ourselves, or despite ourselves.

"Am I right in feeling that we are at the turning point of a deeper spiritual awakening in this country? Will it spread to Communistic countries if we are awake to the New Dispensation?"

Once more quoting the Nazarene, when he answered the question propounded by Peter:

"What is that to thee? Follow thou me." __St. John 21:22.

This is to say, if you will obey the Law then all will be well with you, irrespective of what anyone else may do. Your first concern is to obey the Law, and by example and manifestation of the results of such obedience, lead others into the Way, the Truth and the Life. Concern yourself first with yourself. Remove the beam from thine own eye, and having done so, you will be ready and able, as a result of your own experience, to see clearly and help others. This is faith followed by works or effort.

The New Dispensation is upon us, and no man can escape the operation of the Law. Spiritual awakening begins with the individual and gradually embraces others. We have entered this New Dispensation and are under the Laws which govern. This does not imply or indicate that the evils from which mankind suffers will just fade away, as do the mists with the rising of the sun. It is not God who will remove these many evils. It is mankind, as God's co-workers, who must do so by righteous, concerted action. St John points this out most clearly in Revelation.

Man, individually and collectively, must learn that sins, which bring misery, sorrow and misfortune upon mankind generally, are of two kinds. One is the sin of Omission; the other of Commission. One is as great and potent for evil as the other. It may be said, however, that the sins of Commission are far more frequent than those of Omission.

Truth, as well as the Divine Law and its action, may be best taught by example and it may be done impersonally. There are thousands of examples of gross evils which could readily be cited and of daily occurrence, a few of those with which almost everyone is familiar, will serve our purpose:

Humanitarianism is a spiritual quality and to offer relief to the truly needy is Godliness. It is serving one's brother in need; but relief has become a common, aye, a criminal racket of the lowest type. As an instance, Philadelphia reports cite:

"There are instances of woman having one illegitimate child after another while on relief; of sons and daughters who refuse to take care of their aged parents, who are forced on relief; of reliefers with automobiles, television sets and membership in golf clubs.

"There are families tapping the State till for $300.00 a month, thus having no inducement to go out and make a living for themselves. There are getting to be second and third generations of families on relief.

"Laws provide for the employment of physically able relief recipients by local communities on such jobs as cleaning and maintaining parks, recreation centers and public building, working off their weekly assistance grants by means of useful works.

"But only 448 of 16,000 employable reliefers in the State are thus employed at present, and not a single one of the 6,291 physically able persons in Philadelphia has been placed on work relief. The result has been that idleness is encouraged. Putting the reliefers to work will not only get useful jobs performed, but will help shake out the malingers." __Philadelphia Inquirer.

Under the Divine Law, are these "chiselers" alone guilty? Not at all. They are guilty of the sins of commission. The Officers whose duty it is to see that the Law is enforced are equally guilty. Greatest of all sinners are those guilty of omission, and that includes every citizen in every state who, being aware of this infamous betrayal of justice, does not actively, consistently and continually protest until the Law is enforced and the evil wiped out.

Those elected or appointed as law enforcers are guilty of the sin of omission, and theirs is the greater sin because it is by their permission that the larger numbers continue in their evil ways.

This being true, and it is uncontradictable, every citizen is guilty of this existing evil..The Divine Law is defied, and they are, to the degree of their sins, the "Chaff" which shall, according to Revelation, be burned up during the present Dispensation.

This is not all. Because of the lack of action on the part of those who do not receive relief on one kind or another, the thrifty and hard-working individuals are forced to pay for this dishonesty, out of their honestly earned money.

This is just another example of the gross evils of our times. It is one of the reasons why men have lost faith in God and their religion; lost faith in their fellowmen and their Government. This loss of faith is due to their own inertia and neglect to uphold justice among men.

There should be an universal demand that those appointed or voted into office; work for the best interest of the greatest number, instead of for powerful and often vicious minorities.

For another example of gross evil, we quote from a UP dispatch and published in newspapers throughout the country March 10, 1951.

"Presque Isle, Me. - The federal government has ordered the dumping of about 15,000,000 bushels of potatoes in Maine, the retiring executive secretary of the Maine Potato Industry Council said today.
"Herbert W. Moore charged that ‘there is no reason for dumping' the potatoes, valued at about $9,000,000.
"Moore said the 15,000,000 bushels of potatoes, which farmers will plow under in their fields, could make about 9,000,000 gallons of commercial alcohol, needed in the defense effort."

To destroy anything, irrespective of what it may be, if needed by the people, or might be needed, is, according to the Divine Law, a sin, hence a crime. It is a Divine Command that Ministers - Servants of God - condemn such evils and be outspoken so that all the people become informed of the evils imposed upon them. There is no politics, no sectarianism, in this. The men guilty belong to all parties and all denominations.

Who pays for these, and many other millions of bushels of potatoes that are deliberately destroyed? You and I and all of the people. How? By taxation which is already demanding much of our hard-earned income. What is the result of such destruction? By such destruction shortages are developed and prices are greatly increased. This is the second way in which all but the few are made to pay. Under these conditions producers, who no longer are willing to depend upon the wages (returns) - "the laborer (who) is worthy of his hire" - are paid subsidies - that is - subsidized. By these subsidies they are enslaved and are no longer free. Even under such conditions, after the producer has been paid, these potatoes should be released so that the millions of poor people could buy good quality potatoes at a very reasonable price. This would at least in part make up for the taxes imposed upon the public to permit paying various subsidies. As it is, millions of poor people who, for instance, buy potato chips for the family, pay 35 cents per half pound, which actually should cost only a fraction of this amount.

If it is not practical to sell such potatoes cheaply to the people who have already paid for them by direct, or indirect taxation, they can be turned into commercial alcohol; the use of which will reduce the cost of other forms of fuel and be of help in reducing costs to the poor who can least afford high prices.

These are only a few of the evils now rampant; many more could be enumerated. Who is to blame? The government? The men selected or elected to office? Only partly so. You and I, we who place men into position of trust to look after our interests, are chiefly guilty. Why so?

When men are placed in office, irrespective of the means, they have certain ideas of what should be done for the best interest of the people - those who placed them into office. They act, in most instances, as the result of honest motives. If these men enact certain laws, or issue certain edicts which are detrimental to the people as a whole, and the people do not protest constantly and consistently, they cannot but believe that what they do has the approval of the people, their constituents. Naturally, under such circumstances, they will not change laws, edicts or their actions. Why should they? The silence of the people gives approval.

But if the people, their constituents en masse, will protest against any act, whatever it may be, and do so vigorously enough, they will quickly recognize that what they are doing is losing the respect and confidence of the people at large and they will not long hesitate to mend their ways.

Who then, before God and the Law, is most guilty if these and other evils no so numerous - spiritual, economical and moral?

The answer comes to us in thundering tones!

We, the people, you and I, because we lack in action.

And because we are guilty of the sins of omission in this respect, hence permit these and other great evils to continue daily, we must answer to God before the Judgment Throne, and if we continue in our inertia and negligence, then we become the "chaff," which, according to Revelation, will be "burned up," i.e., be among those of whom it is said: "The Soul that sinneth," whether by omission or commission, shall be destroyed; i.e., "it shall die." Ezek. 18:4, 20.
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