Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1867-12-24
Christ on Earth-His Associates His
Mission.

Mr.. Cover DO | rightly under~
stand you to say that Christ, when
upon earth, chose for his associates
the worst of sinners, that he preferred
the vicious to the righteous, and that
he was more delighted with men of
low morals than with the wise and
good =? r
ANSWER There is nothing we
dread so much as a newspaper dis
cussion with theologians-of which
there usually appears no ending
Perhaps we deserve a sound theolog>
zeal whaling for the liberty we took
last week in assuming some peculiar
tiles Of the Savior which for some
reasons or other most religious teach
ers think best to conceal by not adj
verting to them. And we suspect
our friend in many a good cause now
propounds the several questions above
in view of drawing US on so near the
luaelstrom Of heterodoxy that he may
push lis into the Whirl.
Without assuming even a general
affirmative to the several interogato-
ries, nor yet denying any Of them, and
without recurring to what we wrote
last week, we now affirm these sewers
al beliefs concerning the Savior's cons
duct and associations
9eing the Christ Of the poor, and
the poorer the nearer to them-him-
self Of exceeding poor parents, and
born in a manger, his father a me-
chanic and himself a laboring man till
near thirty years Of age, Bethlekam
and Judea being miserably poor
countries, and the people so poor as
to be scarcely worth taxing, it is GER
tainly true that His companions were
very poor, that his lot was hard
one from infancy to manhood in
his own words-"the Son of man
hath not where to lay his head"
The people of influence were not
his friends; the leading men and
women of the town were not, the
rich were not, the wise were not his
friends. The lawyers, doctors, bank
ers and landholders ridiculed his
claims as the Christ and Teacher.
Lay not up for yourselves treas
ures upon earth, for where your
treasure is, there will be your heart
also; we cannot serve God and nam.
mon and the like texts show that
Christ was not only very poor, but
that he exhorted men TO lives of pow
erty as being the best for them.
Very well, and what has all this to
do with the subject, will be asked
We answer very much poverty GER
tainly implies ignorance and the
twin vices, which are many. Christ
was accused of associating with pub
licans and sinners. 1t was said O
him, behold a gluttonous man and 6
wine bibber, a friend of publicans anc
sinners. He rebrked the servants
who spoke harshly to the low anc
degraded, who sought him as theil
best friend. Even his own disciple.
repulsed the simple at heart, wher
they came to see and touch their Lore
and Master. But he comforted anG
protected these humble but zealou.
followers. He sought not the grea
nor the wise nor the rich. But thes,
and the like often sought Jesus who
knowing them to be of impure hear
and seeking but to make money O.
fame out of Christ, as the practice i
these days, he always turned then
away with burning rebuke, III
might have had kings and merchan
princes for his companions and pat
rons, and could have gone to Athen
or Rome and been a sort OF Henri,
Ward Beecher. But his kingdom
was not Of this world. He woul
not make merchandise of him
selfnor sell his gospel to the rich. S
we may judge according to all huma
standards for Judging, that the grea
Redeemer Of man presided amonl
what were then as now known as til