In dealing with the subject of war we cannot ignore another great foundation principle of Christianity, namely, forgiveness.  The war through which the world has recently passed is not only without a parallel in the blood and treasure it has cost, but it was a typical war in that nearly every important war-producing cause contributed to the fierceness of the conflict.  Personal ambition, trade rivalries, the greed of munition-makers, race hatreds and revenge—­all played a part in the awful tragedy.  Thirty millions of human lives were sacrificed; three hundred billion dollars’ worth of property was destroyed; more than two hundred billion dollars of indebtedness was added to the burden that the world was already carrying.  The paper currency of the nations was swollen from seven billions to fifty-six and the gold reserve dwindled from seventy per cent. to twelve.

And, oh, the pity! nearly every great nation engaged in the war was a Christian nation and every important branch of the Church was involved!  And this occurred nineteen hundred years after the birth of the Saviour, at whose coming the angels sang, “on earth, peace, good-will to men.”

The world is weary of war.  If blood is necessary for the remission of sins, enough has been spilled to atone for the wrong done by all who live upon the earth; if sorrow is necessary to repentance and reform, enough tears have been shed to wash away all the crimes of the past.  This last plague would seem to have been sufficient to release the world from bondage to force—­if so, mankind is ready to turn over a new leaf and set about the task of finding a way to prevent war.

As Christ can remove the pecuniary cause of war by purging the heart of that love of money which leads men into evil doings, the class-conflict cause by stimulating brotherly love, and the ambition cause, by setting up a new measure of greatness; so He can subdue hatred and silence the cry for revenge.

“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord,” should be a restraint, but Christ goes farther and commands us to love our enemies.  That was the complete cure for which the world was not ready when God made Moses His spokesman.  “Thou shalt not,” came first; “Thou shalt,” came later.  Christ’s creed compels positive helpfulness and love is the basis of that creed.

Love makes money-grabbing seem contemptible; love makes class prejudice impossible; love makes selfish ambition a thing to be despised; love converts enemies into friends.

It may encourage us to expect Christ’s teachings to bring world peace if we consider for a moment what has already been accomplished in the establishing of peace between individuals.  Take, for instance, the doctrine of forgiveness as applied to indebtedness.  In Christ’s time debtors were not only imprisoned but members of the family could be sold into bondage to satisfy a pecuniary obligation.  In Matthew (chap. 18) we have a picture of the cruelty which the creditor was permitted to practice: