5. What contributions has the Church made to social progress?
IV. Religion Today
1. What have Christian missions done to change the social conditions in non-Christian countries?
2. How do you rate the social service value of a first-class minister in a community? On what does his value depend?
3. Of what social value to a community is a costly and beautiful church building?
4. What investment in capital and annual expenditure does the maintenance of the churches in your community [pg 148] entail? Does the social return to the community justify the investment?
5. Are the issues which divided the Protestant denominations in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries still vital enough to justify the continuance of the divisions? Summarize the evils of the divisions and their counter-balancing good.
6. Is the ordinary criticism of the churches fair? Are ministers overpaid or underpaid? Do the churches graft? How do the churches compare in social efficiency with other similar social institutions?
V. For Special Discussion
1. Why did the reformation of the Church historically precede the reform of politics and industry?