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to over-interpret is very strong. Jesus was not an economist, and had little interest in abstract questions. His position at bottom was practical. The search for wealth is a moral mat- ter. Its use is also a moral matter. If one cannot be faithful in the unrighteous mammon, he is unfit to be entrusted with the true riches. Wealth is a public trust. The application of this principle to the various problems of any age must be left to the age itself. As in the teaching of Jesus in regard to the state, the first point to be settled is as to whether an existing economic institution or custom or effort tends to the establishment of frater- nity. If it does not, the face of Christ is against it, and the only escape from his woe is to abolish whatever keeps its possessor from using it or producing it to the advantage of society. For such minds as would regard this as an ethical platitude, Jesus fur- nishes abundant stimulus in the sayings of the Sermon on the Mount. For those who itch less for sensational novelties, this teaching of Jesus will furnish the point of departure for any economic philosophy that cares to use his name. But let us have an end of the indiscriminate use of Jesus' words for every cause that is good in its projector's eyes.
Jesus was neither a sycophant nor a demagogue. He neither forbids trusts nor advises them ; he is neither a champion nor an opponent of laissez faire ; he neither forbids trades unions, strikes and lock-outs, nor advises them ; he was neither socialist nor individualist. Jesus was a friend neither of the working man nor the rich man as such. He calls the poor man to sacrifice as well as the rich man. He was the Son of Man, not the son of a class of men. But his denunciation is unsparing of those men who make wealth at the expense of souls ; who find in capital no incentive to further fraternity ; who endeavor so to use wealth as to make themselves independent of social obligations and to grow fat with that which should be shared with society ; — for those men who are gaining the world but are letting their neighbor fall among thieves and Lazarus rot among their dogs. Shailer Mathews.
The University of Chicago
