The Ten Commandments : with a Christian application to present conditions

Author:Henry Sloane Coffin

Summary:"The outbreak of the Great War in the summer of 1914 seemed to many to set us abruptly in the midst of another age. We had come to think of ourselves as living in an earth which, with all its selfishness, was slowly but surely responding to the touch of the Spirit of Christ. Americans looked upon the huge armaments of Europe as absurd anachronisms; the growth of intelligence and the spread of Christian ideals had made a conflict between the great powers unthinkable. We were startled and appalled to find ourselves suddenly thrust back into a day of pagan horrors. The folly of the strife bewildered us: whither had wisdom flown? Its iniquity filled us with loathing: had righteousness been overthrown? We were driven to ask ourselves afresh what was wisdom and what was righteousness. The moral bases of life were re-examined; the primary ethical ideals of Christianity were scanned with a new interest. We were ready to sit at Christ’s feet and learn of Him, and to go with Him to the wisdom He commended in “them of old time.” A restatement of the Ten Commandments seemed timely; their application an urgent necessity. The following sermons were preached in the autumn and winter of 1914-1915. They were printed in pamphlet form at the request of those who heard them, and found a rapid distribution; they are now given to a wider public in the hope that they may lead to a more eager and resolute search after the Kingdom of God and His righteousness." -- Preface