"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another ..."

The love which Christians show for one another has always been a compelling, even unanswerable argument for the truth of our faith. Jesus said: "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." So well did the early Christians follow Jesus’ prescription that it was said of them: "See how they love each other." St. John Chrysostom, who was made Bishop of Constantinople in A.D. 398, remarked: "If we Christians lived as we should, non-believers would be more astonished at our lives than at miracles."

By the same token, the prejudice and intolerance exhibited by some Christians often calls into question the truth of our faith. When Gandhi was asked why he never became a Christian, he repli…