The children
of Israel called Him the God of battle, the God of hosts, that is, the
one who would give victory to them in their battles, and who would prove
the leader of their hosts. But Christ came to the world in God's name to
universalize this narrow tribal idea of God, proclaiming peace on earth
and good will to men. It was the dawn of a new era, the Christian era.
That light which shone upon the old world is darkened by the cloud
hanging low over Europe at the present time. We cannot think, however,
that it is permanently extinguished. To that light the nations of the
earth must again return.
The Area of Moral Obligation.
Third--Christ gave to the world of His day an enlarged idea of the area
of moral obligation. He insisted most stoutly upon the expansion of the
scope of individual responsibility. This freeing of the idea of duty
from the limitations of race prejudice is a natural corollary to the
idea of the universality of God's relation to the world. Corresponding
to the tribal view of God there is always an accompanying idea of the
restricted obligation of the individual. To care for one's own family or
one's own clan or tribe and present a hostile front to the rest of
mankind has always been the characteristic feature of primitive
morality.
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