Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1874-01-06
Social Consequences of the Birth
OfC3riSt

Social Consequences of the Birth
OfC8rist
Il is impossible to deny that Chris
tianity has been the most potent
social TO: ee that has ever operated
in the history of the human face.
The peoples who have adopted this
religion differ from all Others by
Eighcr standard of morals, greater
progress in knowledge, more active
spirit Of benev0lence. and more wise y
organized Institutions. The history
of modern civilization is the history
of those nations which have professed
the Christian faith. And it c2n easily
be demonstrated that their superiority
is not mere accidental atten !ant OF
Christianity, but direct cons quence
Of it. Now a religion which, original
ing nearly two thousand years ago,
in The soul Of Jewish peasant, and
which established q sta: dard of life
towards v hich all succeeding centuries
have been approXImating but have
not yet reached and the ideal of
hich las never been improved. is
the most gonderful phenomenon that
ever engaged the attention of human
MUD. Whence had that man his
@isdoni?'' The physical miracles
related in connection with his life
seem poor and trivial BY the side Of
this great permanent tLcme of won
der, that the son OF Jewish carpen,
ter as twenty centuries III advance
OF his o%m time in lis moral intultionS,
and perhaps as many centur eS IN nd
vance of our time. The dim and
doubtful prophecies recorded IN the
sacred writings are as nothing III com~
parisou with the clelr prophetic soul
Of that wonderful Nazareue whose
spiritual alsdom nineteen cent*ries
of prngruss have not yet outstrlpped,
and which 40 future progress is likely
to Supersede.
II is not by mere cnunciation oil
moral principles that the religion of
CHRIST has proved SO fruitful. The
greater part Of his precepts may be
found scattered here and there aTong
the writings of heather philosophers.
Their merit, as they proceeded from
his lips, consisted partly in their
coherent sSsemblage, but principally
in that rooted depth OF conviction
with which his whole soul was
penetrated that he was teaching the
saving truth To huml"iIy, and the in
cessant emphasis he laid on few
prof. ic principles, and t wisdom he
eyinced il singing them out as
fundamental These are the circum
stances in which be differed from
every other moral teacher and every
other founder Of religion. And
the wonderful, the miraculous thing,
is, that the most enlightened philUs-
ophera Of ali Succeeding times have
found no occasion 10 revise the moral
judgments OF that poor young man
brought up at humble, laboriouS occu-
patton IN a rural Jewish village In
a loose Ggurative way, We call HOMER
and SHAKESPEARE inspired; bat how
faint is the impress they left on sue
ceeding ages compared with the in
fIuence of the III taught Galilean !
His spirit is interviewer with The in
most life OF the most advanced
nations; it has moulded their institu-
tions, reformed their usages. and
colored their civilization the i'm
fiuence of CHRIST is the most astOnish-
ing moral and psychological phenon'-
enon in the history of he human race.
There is really nothing With "hieh 1t
can be compared.
From the infinite multiplicity OF so
vide field We will select. as illustra-
no Of the influence of Christianity,
the abolition of slavery, now being at
Ieenth completed in uur time, the
softening of the usages Of war; and
the elevation of woman. We should