for clearer evidence of its power to lead the world into ways of righteousness and paths of peace. There is a wistful yearning on the part of some, an impatient scorn on the part of others, as to the real character of its results in the history of the world after all these centuries. Nothing, then, could be more pertinent than an inquiry as to the outcome of Christian missions in the natural, and as yet untouched, environments of heathen society. What is its record in the world's open, away from the vantage-ground of Christendom, and separated from the éclat of its social prestige? The question might be interposed just here whether we have not taken too much for granted in the preceding statements. Are we justified in thus associating Christian missions and ciology any common ground? sociology? If we should approach the subject from Have missions and sothe standpoint of sociology as a science, would we find that this association is sanctioned by the scientific spirit or justified by historic facts? Has sociology anything in common with Christian missions? This is a fair question, and deserves a candid and careful answer. We feel bound to advance the claim that Christian missions have already produced social results which are manifest, and that society in the non-Christian world at the present time is conscious of a new and powerful factor which is working positive and revolutionary changes in the direction of a higher civilization.1 for Christian effort in the present day, on this side that Christianity finds itself in touch with some of the most characteristic movements of the time. The ideals of the day are preeminently social; the key-word of positivism is 'altruism'—the organization of humanity for social efforts; the call is to a ' service of humanity'; the air is full of ideas, schemes, Utopias, theories of social reform; and we, who believe that Christianity is the motive power which alone can effectually attain what these systems of men are striving after, are surely bound to put our faith to the proof, and show to men that in deed and in truth, and not in word only, the king. dom of God has come nigh to them. We know something of what Christianity did in the Roman Empire as a power of social purification and reform; of what it did in the middle ages in the Christianizing and disciplining of barbarous nations; of the power it has been in modern times as the inspiration of the great moral and philanthropic movements of the century; and this power of Christianity is likely to be yet greater in the future than in the past. There is yet vast work to be accomplished ere the kingdom of God is fully come."—Ibid., p. 378. 1 "In the history of this country there is nothing more clearly seen than the distributive force of Christian missions in their uplifting and sanctifying power. The Gospel found the people enslaved. Like the proverbial stone which, when thrown into the water, makes concentric circles on the surface, so the Gospel has created and developed everything that is healthy and hopeful in the life of the people. Slavery has disappeared before the teaching of Gospel truth, but no small disturbance was made before the victory was won. In a small country we can more easily estimate While this may be conceded, it may yet be asked whether this fact comes within the scope of sociology as a science, since it clearly predicates a moral and religious agency which approaches non-Christian society from without, and works by means of spiritual forces with a predominantly religious aim. of sociology. Sociology is still searching for its final definitions, and feeling after its own distinctive province and scope; but enough has been settled in regard to its place in the classification of modern The true scope and aim learning to indicate that it is, in a broad sense, the science of human society. Perhaps a more adequate designation would be the science of the origin, growth, and welfare of the collective life of mankind. It proposes a scientific search for the genesis of associate life; it seeks to elaborate the laws and processes of its growth; it aims at a classification of its elementary constituents and its active forces; it would know the secrets of the normal development of society, and the remedies for its abnormal phases. Its great and ultimate aim is the scientific development and conservation of human society, and the successful ministry to its defects and miseries. In this sense, it is not simply descriptive, resulting in a mere historic chart of social development, or in simply "an interpretation of human society in terms of natural causation," as Herbert Spencer would teach us; it is dynamic as well, taking cognizance of the psychological forces which, in connection especially with the voluntary endowment of man, have entered so vigorously into the evolutionary progress of human society. Its function, viewed in this the results of social movements, and trace them to their source; and with regard to this island I have no hesitation in declaring that the influences which nourish society come from church and school, and they are slowly, silently, and irresistibly at work."- Rev. George McNeill (U. P. C. S.), Mount Olivet, Jamaica. "It is in a measure difficult to trace every advance in civilization to its real cause, and likewise to trace every advance in moral enlightenment to what we believe to be its true origin. So in Japan it is almost impossible to show that every step upward is directly the outcome of mission work, although in some form or other mission work, operating either through the agencies of missionaries upon the field, or through the agencies of Christian literature, or a literature imbued with Christian teaching which has found its way to Japan, has, I believe, been the real medium through which the wonderful force has acted which has upturned the deep-rooted customs of ages, and worked over the soil until it has become capable of producing the marvelous growth of the last thirty or thirty-five years."-W. N. Whitney, M.D., United States Legation, Japan. "I believe in the Gospel, heart and soul, as the only remedy for the ills of humanity. Nothing else gets to the root of things. All that differentiates the Madagascar of the present day from that of half a century ago—I might say from the native aspect of it, may be designated as the practical building up of society, not simply its rescue from its calamities and miseries, although this is an important department. It proposes a scientific study of the normal, wholesome activities of society in all their manifold forms and tendencies, with a view to discovering the dominating forces which control the collective life of man, and the laws of its progress and healthful development.1 As there is a large part of social experience which is, unhappily, of an abnormal character, revealing itself in the dependent, defective, and delinquent classes, sociology must include these phases of society, and, under the familiar formula of "Charities and Correction," elaborate remedial measures to meet their requirements.2 As man has not merely a physical or animal, but also a psychic endowment peculiar to himself, as he is gifted with moral faculties and spiritual life capable of responding to religious mo of the religious environment. tives, we must include religious forces among the The sociological power working factors of sociology. In fact, the spiritual or religious environment of man is perhaps as aggressive and controlling in its power, where it has any vital connection with the character, as any other influence which moves his inner life. Mr. Benjamin Kidd is correct in his contention that the religious forces of history, emphasizing as he does those distinctively Christian, are necessary factors in a full and rounded social evolution.3 Neither cosmic forces nor psychological activities can show results which, in their vigor and effectiveness, can be compared with those produced by the influence of religion in shaping the higher life of society. By society we mean a mass of individuals standing in certain complex relations to one another, and moving on towards a more developed organization in domestic, civil, economic, and ethical aspects. Its practical outcome is the coöperative or associate life of man, inspired by a spirit. of mutual consideration and helpfulness-this social instinct being constitutional in man, the result of natural tendency rather than the mandate of necessity or the product of environment. Society cannot be called an organism in the biological or physiological sense of the word, but only in the larger spiritual suggestiveness of the term, implying indwelling to the queen's palace-is, either directly or indirectly, mostly directly, due to the work of Christian missionaries and Christian missionary artisans.". Rev. R. Baron (L. M. S.), Antananarivo, Madagascar. 1 Rev. C. D. Hartranft, D.D., President of Hartford School of Sociology. 2 Henderson, "An Introduction to the Study of the Dependent, Defective, and Delinquent Classes" (see preface). Cf. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, September, 1894, p. 120. 3" Social Evolution," pp. 123-126. terdependence and interaction, based, not upon physical structure, but upon higher relationships of a psychic or volitional character. Christianity the true social touchstone. These religious forces have affected society in all lands and in all ages of the world, not always to the advantage of humanity, but in some cases to its decided injury and retrogression; but nevertheless they have worked almost universally and incessantly. The saving feature in this aspect of social development is that there has always been a divinely given religious cult in the world which has possessed the unmistakable credentials of God, and has represented His wisdom and His will among men. The Christian system we believe to be the outcome of the progressive revelation of divine teaching and guidance. This is the religion in which Christendom confides, and to which it owes its moral character and its social advancement, and this is also the religion which Christian missions are carrying to the ends of the earth, and seeking to introduce into the personal and social life of all humanity. To be sure, Christianity makes problems which have never before emerged in non-Christian society. It unmasks social evils, challenges many accepted customs, brands habitual wrongs, and calls to the bar traditional abuses, all of which have dominated society for ages. It is not sociology, which is practically unknown in mission lands, but Christianity which indicates these defects and questions their right to be. But problems must exist before there can be any serious attempt at their solution, and Christianity at the same time that it indicates them points to that solution. It is the delineator and guide of true progress. It is the index-finger which in all human history has pointed the way towards a happier and more perfect social order. It teaches with emphasis and moral power that fundamental condition of all social welfare, the voluntary subordination of the interests of the individual to the good of the whole. It is just this that makes religion a vital element in sociology, and a true and rounded sociology an important aspect of religion. It may perhaps be objected that strict science cannot include this religious and altruistic scope of sociology, since science draws the line at positive and knowable data. It has to do with. Sociology not merely facts and phenomena which can be discovered and observed. Sociology has therefore in this delimitation of its scope been lifted out of the realm of exact science and expanded into an ideal of practical achievement. It has become an art, and has therefore lost its proper scientific status. an academic dis cipline. 1 Bascom, "Social Theory," pp. 505-526. |