Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 4.djvu/634

 6l4 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

good-natured deity, that gives it much of its efficiency. Now, with economic programs of all sorts a church as an organiza- tion, if it be wise, will have nothing to do; but with socialism's demand for economic justice ; with its unquenchable determina- tion to secure for all, however humble, ithe rights and enjoyments of common humanity; with its insistence upon fraternity, a church is profoundly concerned. For — it may well be repeated — the spirit that lies back of this better ambition of socialism is the child of the Christian church — a prodigal, perhaps, strayed far from home and into strange companionship, but none the less a child. But the Christian church has a doctrine of the individual that no hard and fast system of socialism', however noble and ethical, can duplicate, if, indeed, as a matter of self-preserva- tion, accept. The final test of a system's worth lies not so much in what it proposes as in what it presupposes. Socialism and Christianity are alike in that they are both laboring for a new and higher social order, in which all — men, women, and children— shall live better and happier lives ; but they are unlike in the position each takes as to the relation of these individuals to society. Although there is untruth in any antithesis, the difference can be roughly stated as this : socialism expects society to make good individuals ; Jesus expects good individ- uals to make a good society. The untruth in such an antithesis lies in its disregard of the fact that socialism does not ignore the need of an ethical basis of social life, and of the other fact that Christianity is oblivious neither of the influence of environment nor of the need of law. But after this common element has been eliminated, the differences in the presuppositions may still be stated in terms of the individual : socialism assuming that the individual must be raised through his connection with a better social order, Christianity assuming that it is impossible to have a good social order composed of bad men. Thus the point of attack, so to speak, is, in the case of socialism, environment, and in the case of Christianity, the individual.

Now, at this point one is likely to be prejudiced, if, like the writer, he is not a socialist. There are, of course. Christians who are socialists, and — what is quite another matter — socialists