The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1862-05-29

1 ! u
soldier Of Christ 1.-The great Apostle o. tn,
Gentilss, and here is the sublime exampl,
oflife and of death, which all who hold tn,
same faith should i-nita!e. e,a ss
Nearly 1900 years have now passed sine,
Paul was ledforth to the place Of execution
outside the city Of Rome and in this periot
the religion for which he suffered has en-
countercd various fortunes, and has beer
incorporated in greater or less degree o
purity and power into the life and history
ofthe civilized world. Modern history |.
still in progress. It's Developments are i'm
perfect. And to many ignorant persons
and to many superficial observers, the last
Is centuries may seem to be aimless, and
tending to no particular results But Faith
teaches. and an ordinary degree ofhistorica
knowledge and Of spiritual discernment con
firms the assurance, that the course Of The
worlds history is in the interest or Jesus
Christ, and that the unfolding Of his king
dom and the extension Of its principles tc
all human affairs, is the work now dcvolved
upon the generations Of mankind. Ia the
prosecution of this work there is resistance
and opposition from the powers Of evil, and
this is the conflict by which the course o.
human affairs is marked.
Our Lord distinctly taught that the IN,
flnence Of his religion upon the world was
to he progressive. 1.-THE kingdom of heaven
is like leaven, which woman took, and hid
in three measures of meal, till the whole was
leavened." The ever wider and deeper appli
cation of christianity to the affairs Of The
world is the problem to be worked out
In this work not only individuals and CON-
munities, but also nations are to corporate
The influence of great states and powerful
Kingdoms has always been overshadowine
in the world. The history Of the world is
very much the history of its great empires.
To make the nations christian-to inspire
national life with the living spirit ofthe Son
Of God--to infuse and animate its legislation
and government with the principles of the
Gospel, and make the world virtually christ
endom-this is the work that remains to be
accomplished. And this object furnishes
the test Of national character, and is the
turning point Of national destiny. As said
our Lord in those words in which he ac.
counted for the downfall and overthrow OF
the Jewish nation-"He will niserably
destroy those wicked men, and will let out
his vineyard unto other husbandmen, who
shall render him the fruits in their seasons. +"
Did We never read in the Scriptures, ."The
stone which the builder rejected, the same
is become the head Of the corner this Is the
Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes
Therefore say unto you. The kingdom Of
God shall be taken from you, and given to q
nation bringing forth the fruits thereof"--
Those solemn and suggestive words explain
not only the overthrow ofthc Jewish nation,
but the whole course Of history to the pres.
ent time. The rise and fall of nations takes
place upon this principle. As the sceptre
departed from Judah with the introduction
Of Christianity, the lead in the development
ofthe kingdom Of God was assigned to the
Greek and to the Latin churches. Almost
from the first, Christianity appeared rs a
Greek religion. Its records were in Greek
The New Testament is Greek book. The
most Hourishing churches were in Greek
cities. Many ofthe most distinguished fathers
of the church were Greek. Athanasius is
still the teacher of the whole Christian world,
and Chryscstom is still the model Of pulpit
eloquence But asa whole, Greek Chris.
tianity fell an early prey to jarring and strife,
and has now been wasted for thousand
years by the invading hosts of Mohammed-
anism. What i~ tn come from u in the
future in the vast Russian empire and in
regenerated Greece, is ono of the interesting
problems for the future to solve.
At the introduction Of Christianity, Rome
was the Capital Of the world. and the new
religion naturally and inevitably tended to
gain authority and favor in the eternal city
As . consequent then was developed in, the
course Of centuries, the Roman Catholic
Church, and the supremacy of the Pope
This Roman empire, or the empire Of the
C@sars passed away; but II substantially
remained under the Papal hierarchy. The
change, it is not to be questioned, was pro
ductiye Of ofimaneuse Advantage to mankind
'Hhe government ofa sacerdotal class would
be grossly out Of place among people Of
universal Intelligence. 'But that which in
an age Of good government is an evil, may
in . period Of general corruption prove a
blessing. It is better that mankind should
be governed by wise laws well administered
and BY an enlightened public opinion, than
by priestcraft. But Il Is better that meu
should be governed BY priestcraft than BY
brute violence" For many centuries The
Roman Catholic Church was blessing Il
the world.
Norwas the decline ofthe Papal Hierarchy
possible until by the revival of letters anf
theinvention Of printing and Of paper, ths
minds Of men became in some measure su
perior to brutal authority, and conscious o
personal Independence OF these discoye
ries, or would rather say, Of these gifts o
Divine Providence, Professionalism WAS .th,
natural and necessary result. These gift,
were to beaccepted, and ifnot by the church
then by others outside, or by new churches