The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-03-31

Easter and tho Resurrection.
To-day the Christian Church throughout
the world will commemorate the fact which
alone Of all the facts connected with the
Christian religion has made it what 1t Is, and
given 1t It's wonderful power among men.
That Jesus Christ came into the world is an
important truth in the scheme of human re-
demption to be believed by all men; that He
lived pure and holy life, and by precept
and example taught such system of morals
as the world had never known, are facts we'll
attested and that cannot be ignored; that in
certain place in the suburbs of the city Of
Jerusalem and on certain day He
died and was buried cannot be
successfully contradicted, but must be
and is believed by multitude of persons in
every cline and nation. But had the series
of facts upon which Christianity is based
rested here that system would have been
failure more miserable than any of the systems
of human origin which have risen and swa yed
mankind and persisted without leaving trace
behind, save of their innate rottenness and
immortality. But Christianity has gone
further. 1t asserts and proves that its
Author rose again on the third day from the
dead, as the almost universal creed of the
Church Declares and that He assembled into
heaven, whence He shall come again to
judge both the quick and the dead. It
is this living fact Of living Christ
that makes Christianity so different from
all other systems Of religion that have
ever existed or that now exist.
1.-THE gods of the nations are but silver and
gold," said the inspired writer, ''the work Of
mems hands they can neither see nor hear
nor talk nor move out of their places; they
all shall wax old, as doth a garment; they
shall perish but Thou remainest, and Thy
years." he adds, ''shall not fail" Had not our
holy religion o living Head it would have
been crushed out of existence long ago. But
he lives, He lives, who once was dead;
He lives our everlasting Head;
He lives, to grant us daily breath;
He lives, and we shall conquer death.
1t is eminenty fitting, therefore, that the
universal Church of Christ should consider
the anniversary Of His resurrection as the
greatest festival of the year. He rose again for
our justification, and without His resurrection
we could not have been justified. A dead
Saviour would have been as bad II not worse
for us than no Saviour at ALL But mankind can
believe in One who has had the power and the
| principle within Him to rise from the dead and
| to lead captivity captive. And the resurrec-
| ton of Jesus Christ from the dead gives every
man an assurance of his own resurrection !;
and upon every mans resurrection hangs our
individual hopes and aspirations for the future
life, for, as the Apostle Paul declares, eff
in this life only we (Christians) have hope we
are of all men the most miserable" ''But now
is Christ risen from the dead and become the
first fruits of them that slept" Here was
Paul's triumph, and here may the humblest
Christian on this earth triumph also.
Some OF our correspondents are expanding
considerable time and logic discussing the
question whether man is or is not immortal.
| We have noticed the subject in these columns
| on former occasion, and will not discuss It
now. But we want to call attention to the
almost universal belief in and aspirations of
| the human soul after a resurrection. Not
a mythical, incomprehensible resurrection
either, but a resurrection Of the body in its
| fullest individual identity. The bubbles about
widely separated parts of a human body
| being brought together at resurrection are
not worthy of moments serious consideration
| by any man who believes in the existence of
| Cod And we submit that the fact that men
almost ntuitively long for resurrection OF the
body has In itself the elements of truth and
certainty, we're 1t not so fully and clearly cor
roborated by revelation. Let then, the joyous
| carols ring out from every altar and every
choir to-day, and let the risen and glorified
Redeemer receive the homage and the praise
which are justly due.