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Critics often complain that if the world is in its present shape after nineteen centuries of Christianity, than it cannot be a very good religion. They make two ridiculous mistakes. In the first place Christianity--the real thing--has never been accepted on a large scale and has therefore never been in a position to control “the state of the world,” though its influence has been far from negligible. And in the second place they misunderstand the nature of Christianity.
It is not to be judged by its success or failure to reform the world which rejects it. If it failed where it is accepted there might be grounds for complaint, but it does not so fail. It is a revelation of the true way of living, the way to know God, the way to live a life of eternal quality, and it is not to be regarded as a handy instrument for reducing juvenile delinquincy or the divorce rate. Any “religion,” provided it is accepted by the majority of people, can exert that sort of restrictive pressure.
The religion of Jesus changes people (if they are willing to pay the price for being changed) so thay they quite naturally and narmally live as “sons and daughters of God,” and of course they exert an excellent influence on the community. But if real Christianity fails, it fails for the same reasons that Christ failed--and any condemnation rightly falls on the world which rejects both him and it.
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