Robert William Dale
19th Century, United Kingdom, England
Century and Location
Western Christian, Protestant, Congregational, Reformed, Evangelical
Christian Tradition
Clergy, Priest, Preacher
Noted Characteristics
All works by this author
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 18. An Ethical Revival
In Civic Gospel, Evangelism, Faith, Incarnation, Jesus Christ, Morality, Revival, Virtue, Vocation, Work
If Christian men are not actually controlled in their common life by all that they profess to believe; if their worship has no effect upon their common work, they are contributing more powerfully to the temporary triumph of scepticism than the writers who are most hostile to religious truth. The wonderful story of the Incarnation, — it is we who are making it incredible if we are not manifestly trying to live a nobler life than those who deny it.
14 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 17. On Obeying Christ
In Civic Gospel, Faith, Family, Jesus Christ, Obedience, Sovereignty of God, Virtue, Vocation, Wisdom
Christ does not come to us asking only for our confidence, as one who has a larger knowledge of moral duty than we have; He comes asserting authority and insisting on obedience. I do not know how to put it except by saying that He speaks to us as an objective conscience — a conscience outside of us — with an authority to which we are bound to submit.
14 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 16. The Universal Sovereignty of Christ
In Art, Book of Revelations, Civic Gospel, Corn Laws, Egypt, Industry, Kingdom of God, Lawmaking, Politics, Public Works, Slavery, Sovereignty of God, Vocation, Work
He is King — not merely the Example of holiness, the Helper of infirmity, the Sacrifice for sins, our Prophet, our Brother, our Friend — He is King. To the spirit of man He speaks with authority; He claims its homage, He demands its obedience. He requires the tribute of its choicest and noblest treasure. All forms of earthly service and reverence are but imperfect symbols of the service and reverence which He claims from the soul of man. The awe and devout fear with which we bow down before God are His; for He is God manifest in the flesh. The reverence of the conscience for the eternal law of righteousness is His; for in Him that law has a personal life, and by Him its authority is sustained. The homage which the heart should render to supreme spiritual glory is His; for His own life is the Divine ideal of human perfection and He is the eternal fountain of all that is morally beautiful and noble on earth and in heaven.
17 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 15. Sowing and Reaping
In Civic Gospel, Courage, Despair, Faith, Love, Politics, Public Works, Suffering, Uncertainty
However bitter may be our disappointments, we are in the presence of a Divine sorrow which silences our complaints. He who laid aside His eternal glory and died on the cross at the impulse of His love for mankind and His love of righteousness, has not forsaken the world which He died to save. Our work is His rather than ours; our successes are His, and His are our defeats. “He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man,” and if no harvest comes, or seems to come, we should think of His grief rather than of our own.
14 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 14. Christian Worldliness
In Civic Gospel, Faith, Forgiveness, Joy, Paganism, Prayer, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Society, Virtue, Vocation
To the Christian man this life is not an outlying waste, forsaken of God and unblessed; it is one of the provinces of the Divine kingdom; the most trivial of our occupations, the most transient of our joys and sorrows ought to find their place in the Divine order. It must be possible for us, with a clear vision of eternity and of the great glory of God, to stand in friendly and kindly relations to this present world. This is what I mean by ” Christian Worldliness.”
20 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 13. The Moral Precepts of Christ Generally
In Civic Gospel, Society, Virtue
Where there is a real faith in Christ, there will be faith in His commandments as well as in His promises; in what He has said about human morality, as well as in what He has said about Divine grace. A man may believe in the Nicene Creed and in the creed attributed to Athanasius, or in the Confession of Augsburg, or the Confession of the Westminster divines; but if he does not believe in the Sermon on the Mount — believe in it seriously as containing the laws which must govern his own life — he has denied the faith, and is in revolt against Christ.
11 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 12. Political and Municipal Duty
In Civic Gospel, Incarnation, Politics, Service, Society, Tax, Vocation
As there is no conflict between the Divine Kingdom and the Family, neither is there any conflict between the Divine Kingdom and the State. Christ does not suppress the Family, but purifies and ennobles it. Christ does not suppress the State, but inspires political life with a more generous temper, and directs it to higher ends; He makes loyalty the religious duty of subjects, and under penalty of the Divine displeasure requires rulers to be just.
16 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 11. Family Life
In Children, Civic Gospel, Family, Fatherhood, John Keble, Marriage, Mother of God, Motherhood, Virgin Mary, Vocation
Let us look back again at the home into which Christ was born. Joseph and Mary had charge of the infancy and childhood of Him who was to be the Saviour of the world. The sublimity of the trust fills us with awe. But those of us who have children to care for have also received a trust which should sometimes make us tremble. Their future character, their spirit, their faith, their aims in life, the laws which they will regard as highest and most august, depend largely upon us. With us they begin that history which, if they are true to the Divine idea of life, will be consummated in the power and blessedness of immortality. It depends largely upon us whether they will be true to it or not. The home, for most men, is more than the school and the university. Our vices will poison the air which the young child has to breathe; our virtues will make it wholesome and sweet. It is by what we are — not by what we try to appear to be — that the destiny of our children will be determined.
12 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 10. Anxiety About the Future
In Anxiety, Civic Gospel, God the Father, Incarnation, Jesus Christ, Stoicism, Sympathy, The Future, Virtue
Wherever God is present to rule He is also present to help. If we never speak to God about our business, our business will soon cease to be a Divine vocation and a Divine service. Whatever lies beyond the reach of prayer, lies beyond the boundaries of religious duty. We have to make our choice between these’ conflicting tendencies. To give religious faith its true place in common life, we must accept all Christ’s teaching, and not a part of it merely; and we must learn all that He meant concerning God’s relations to the transient sorrows and joys of this world when He said, ” Be not anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? … For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”
13 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 9. The Grace of Christ. A Law of Conduct
In Civic Gospel, Class, Generosity, Grace, Jesus Christ, Obligations, Public Works, Service
To the imitation of Christ all Christian people are called; and in all human conditions it is possible to translate into conduct the law of Christian perfection. It is not merely in the virtues of His human life — this is the point of my paper — that Christ is our example. According to the measures of our strength we are to imitate the infinite grace which, for our sake, brought Him from heights of divine majesty to the weakness, the poverty, and the suffering which had become the inheritance of the human race. In His incarnation He has given us an example that we should walk in His steps.
14 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 8. Sympathy
In Civic Gospel, Golden Rule, Grace, Jesus Christ, Obligations, Sympathy
The imitation of Christ is not impossible to any of us, for in the power of His Spirit all His perfections may become ours; and His deep and perfect sympathy with all the vicissitudes of human sadness and joy was among the fairest and noblest of His perfections.
16 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 7. Courtesy and the Spirit of Service
In Ambition, Civic Gospel, Courtesy, Humility, Philanthropy, Service, Vocation
“The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister,” and if we are “in Christ,” we, too, shall find it “more blessed to give than to receive.” We misconceive the true genius of the Christian revelation if we suppose that it allows us to make it our chief business to care for our own interests — even for our own salvation. We trust Christ to save us, and this leaves us free to live for the welfare and salvation of other men.
14 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 6. Judging Others
In Civic Gospel, Gospel Parables, Judgement
How is it that we are so quick in discovering, and so stern in condemning, a slight fault in another man, and are unconscious that we ourselves are guilty of a greater fault — and, perhaps, a greater fault of the same kind? About the fact there can be no doubt. Conscience in some men seems to consist chiefly in a keen eye for other men’s sins. They cannot have much time for self-examination, for they are nearly always occupied in the close scrutiny of the character and conduct of their neighbours. They expend so much moral indignation on the sins of others that they can have very little left for their own.
12 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 5. Temperance
In Civic Gospel, Drinking, Temperance, Virtue
The enormous evils of drunkenness demand a sharp and stringent remedy; to save the drunkard it is indispensable that he should be prevailed upon never to touch the drink which has cursed him. It is an honourable thing for those who themselves could drink in moderation, to abstain in order to give moral support to those who cannot; and further, this abstinence is for most men, in all probability, physically safe, and for many men physically advantageous.
14 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 4. The Forgiveness of Injuries
In Civic Gospel, Confession, Forgiveness, Guilt, Reconciliation, Society
As God, for Christ’s sake, forgives us offences which as yet cause us no humiliation and pain, and which we do not specifically ask Him to forgive, so, for Christ’s sake, we shall frankly and heartily forgive our fellow-men those offences against ourselves in which they are conscious of violating no duty, and for which, therefore, it is impossible that as yet they should feel any sorrow. By our very forgiveness, we may at least lead them to repentance.
17 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 3. The Christian Rule of Justice
In Civic Gospel, Golden Rule, Governance, Justice, Obligations, Rights, Society
Above all, Christ has revealed the august greatness of every man — however obscure may be his earthly position, and however helpless he may be to vindicate his personal rights. We wrong men because we have not sufficient reverence for them. This is the root of all injustice. Brigands who will plunder a palace will leave the unguarded treasures of a temple untouched; their superstitious reverence for the gods restrains them from sacrilege. Men who will treat a peasant with reckless and insulting cruelty will treat even a fallen prince with the most tender courtesy. To those who really believe all that Christ has revealed of the present relations of every man to God and the infinite possibilities of righteousness, wisdom, power and blessedness, which are the inheritance of every man in Christ, every man will be invested with an awful greatness which will make an invasion of his rights an act of irreverence and profanity.
14 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 2. The Sacredness of Property
In Civic Gospel, Gospel Parables, Mammon, Property, Society, Stewardship, Wealth
It is the fundamental law of the kingdom of Christ, that when we acknowledge Him as our Prince and Saviour, we renounce our personal claim to all the things we used to call ours — to our money, our time, and our influence; we part with our property in ourselves, and this includes parting with our property in everything. It is just as imperative now as it ever was, that we should forsake all and follow Him. Do you say that this is a stern and tyrannical law, and that it makes life desolate and gloomy? No; it makes life free and blessed.
21 min read
The Laws of Christ for Common Life. Chapter 1. Every-day Business a Divine Calling
In Civic Gospel, Public Works, Society, Vocation, Work
It is as secular a work to create a walnut-tree, and to provide soil and rain and warmth for its growth, as it is to make a walnut-wood table for a drawing-room out of it. It is as secular a work to create a cotton plant as to spin the cotton and to weave it. It is as secular a work to create iron, as to make the iron into railway-girders, into plates for steam-ships, into ploughs and harrows, nails, screws, and bedsteads. It is as secular a work to create the sun to give light in the daytime, as to make a lamp, or to build gasworks, or to manufacture gas, to give light at night. So that our secular work is just of the same kind as a great part of God’s work. Lay a firm hold of this very obvious truth, and see how it affects every kind of secular business.
14 min read