The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-01-14
rnU FOUNDING or cnRisrIANIrY.
An Instructive Picture oil the Times Of Jesus
of nazareth


come to destroy put TO fuHl." Resist no
evil; bless them that curse you; do good t.
them that hats you" and Who.Osver sn ~ he ,
these sayings Of mine and do them. I VIII lNen
hin to a wise man tn It built his mouse up ~ a
rock; aud the rains descended. sni the Il - l.
came, aud the winds blew and beat upon that
house, but IL felt not, for was founded upon u
rock"
In these savings the ,c}urer hold, Jesus strucl
the kev-note Of Christianity. /, was not n re-
volt Nv inst ia ins,n; It was oniy a reiterated
assertion Of what othcr Hnl Oiisr prJph ,ts Of
the Hebrews Ind 81 often anI 50 ferveltly
preached aud promulgated. The law WAS "a
oOnunnc intsct-that Is, the apirltlh law, the
deeper law OF conscience, underlying tho form.
Of legislation, anJ the symbols OF external wor
ship.
Tue speaker went on to discuss tho secret oil
the Influence Of Jssua. tbs condition of the
peopie among whom tie lived. and the b iiefs
that obtained Ia HIS time. In looking at the
condition OF the jews. the speaker said the SUI
rrenacy OF their religion was belle, ed TO depend
upon the supremacy of their people. That SUI
| premacy had, long before, been promised BY the
| prophets, but II had not come. They were on.
pressed aud downtrodd-n instead OF meeting
with the success they had anticipated they had
constantly encountered defeat aud disaster Per.
/ OIL, T. 4lpt anu SYRIA niu slcceSskelN ne ii them
In suhiectDn. The very existenee Of their relig
| Ton was thrc tened, and the heather ORD, SO
| fr from showing amy indications Of conversion.
persisted in It's with greater pride aud OBJ
sunacy than ever. 30 strong WAS the opposi.
unn tnOy Encountered Oh every side that they
II at last come To expect SUPREMACY THROUGH
supern,tur.l means alone. IneN had the prom
ise OF Jehovah that lie would raise up a ruler
l from ne Old lac OF lsrael,s kings, son
OF David; that be would est bi~n the faith OF
III, people as the universal religion, and that All
the nations Of the earth sUoald DON before him.
Tue depressed STA OF political AFFAIRS ana the
decadencc OF temple Worship dd much To en.
courage this belief The temple had lost ia
hold upon che affections OF the people. The
l'harisees hi.d Tried to supDly the deficiency
10y Lying dowl new forms, b .sed on an
extension OF the Scriptures meaning These
forms. however, supposed "A certain degree of
educ ',i.n, and wniie they answered well for
tue middle classes tney were not at all adapted
for the poor and iliiterate.
Toward the close OF the first century Il. c..
TINS condition OF things reached climax, and
tncfc was wid fci incDt among the people OF
Palestine. Now, ~ at oil. the promise of the
Deity aust oe fuiniied Tue need was at the
hlsnrst; help, thch. must bc ngsest. Tue DO
lite situation was intOierable. After brief
interval OF INDEPENDENCE the Roman yoke had
been fastened uoon tho necks Of the people.
and the ranactty ~ their foreign rulers knew 10
bounds. Tue lana was Impoverished by inces-
san wsrs and ipqueni failures OF the crops,
ana defined 81 It's last + sources 10y tho uIiniOus
OF Roman de potisin aud to all this wila added
the h innilatiDg sense tnat II was a nation Of
iaplatofs that MAS thus PERMITTED To oppress the
CHOSEN people.
INC state ~ lrellng Just described was nowhere
more marked than IT. the district Of q .liiee. a
heautii'i land with green. grassy valleys. groves
Of sJcarnores, Uroad blue lakes, ana villages
resting licturespuely on the mountain slopes
that noutishod a population impulsiNe, passion
ate, and ardent. Impatient VIVA tue existing
urdet OF things ana iurlou, Tor revolt, Judah.
their iamOus leader, h I'd already pcrishcd ms
two sons ) imes and Sinon, had been nailed 10
the cruss. Inc Messiah was daily and uUuriy
eXpectea IN tueir uid-t: various impOste Il al
al eady arisen and quickly disappeared. when
would tue hour OF ueiiverancc come for theinl
W nen would tne true At,sSlal
=. IL SUCH u CINE. and to such people, Jesus u
N"zifeth arose. Wnit was the stdrttng trutn
he piouehtr What was tue new revoiation no
preached 10 the SONS OF meur lbe Old tau II,
meaning thing at eli ; mere tiite common
place, on the iiDs OF the time server and tue
VI aus Ole vendor Of moral phr SIS Meaning
iuiguty changes f,r the better when INV III
VITA ptOfoundcr sense OF It's -anctIiy, nj A
new saeredutss IN he. and larser Impulses, Tor
ever ani forever. IL tdusnt rishteOusnc-s :. md
the ch,lge tnat was to come d, righteousness.
aud So deep was lis convict on and 20 =. pturous
near; u" thoughl int he. himself, wa II be us
agtnor; himself Toe Messiah.
l lie novelty OF the teachings Of Jesus has
been sought for IA various directions among
others "a the OVERTHROW Of Pharisaism. ne
had, indeed, on OCCASION, spoken OF the phar,.
sees III the seVere.t terms, but these rcproaene.
were not directed against the party, but only
not me roe Of h,pJcrites, the gener ton IL
TIA. De- jc.a. iaosIa be held BORN, I"s Il %sd
OF the fhansee-. and tnat his words of.en
hlrd surety win theirs. Thirty years
before his birth hlllel. a teacher of the
fnarisrcs. whose gen leuess anl the ineekness
Win wnlcn he bore persecution we're even more
ak to cxplain ieiy tue essence Il me nav
and the uroplets, answered DO nct unto
others as tnuu woul lst not that others do uni,
tdLv."
jesus fully al u,ted the authority of the
rnr-ecs wncn ne aid: " Tue Phsris scs III IN
Mose IS seat therefore whatsoever tney md YOU
observe. tntt obs~rve and do"
novelty a. tie q -pal Of 4 Il,
tircr lnunued, dit not lie in the cxtcil. ION e
tue prophetic mission to tue hetrnen wtr,d
The iruuapiiitv scenlc to be that he cnncclNeI
ms MISSION TO be -irlrtly wiihin MS uwh people
- "nom nc certainly devoted nis chicf care ana
s'icitud". 81 aiu not sent" he sud, " out 10
~" lost sheep of the house Of I-rael" And
again, he culrged Ia. Apostles. 20 We not in
stlAaritans enter ye MT; 20 rather to the lost
-herp II the IA ~ OF l-lsel And as ,c ~,
3 c 'cn. srN NJ rue Kingdom of ne wen l. ~
n"i. Ara vet q coaid II 'rdly Oc doubtful
at me entire world Ms TO be included Ia me
benefits al tue uew err.
H. 81 "il he remembered, however, tn I the
millcnniiI aye "as Supposed to be clio e at
hana, circanst ,uce wnicn explins tns at
naions ~ the earth were expected TO ar-
cept isracl's laith If their own accord. IL va,
believed tnet tine time mad come for lie FUN,
ilcut ~ the promise: "Nrrlv / say mt, vnu
tn're hc sonir stInlins mere that shall not sic
oi dettn un,ii the Son OF Man OF come into iiis
Kingdom"
roo mission othc heather was, therefore. un.
uecr,shrt' nor w. II true, as had been claimed,
tnt Jesus substituted Tor the stern law Of rel m
uuuon ne,hp's ~ charity ana the llw OF love.
Love thy ntlsnpYr rs th,srlf" was written
IN tne bld lr-tanlent, hud brothers ire We an
one 10 another was the spirt of the exuurta-
uuns OF the prophets. Inv poor brother TOO
Is Inv brutLer ana In secret shll. tuou riye
chhrllv In the dusk Of the evening, tine Il. ,or
we're 70 90 intp the crlniHlds anu guinnr tlierc
una ~ man knew wAo mad gwen ana who had
received.
!ne ancient prophets we're ideali T., preachers
ui the ~llrit upppscu to the form. In Jesus we
tehtld renewal of their spirit, only differing
iinn MS predecessors "a TN that tho homes
tnhl tnei held cut Tor far al .ttut future
seemed - MN an the point OF realtgltion. md
that hr trilrve he, himself was to ful,lt tuen
nero wa, however tnit In Jesus methods
OF leicniug Nnich challenges peculiar r. vervnra
aud admiration. Tat seeming Welding TO
offence; that implicit trust in human n turr.
MS practice OF calling out AMI arousing against
an offender his own petter nature tine strength
~ rs CHARITY, MS neVknc-., and his love
Hlllel, TOO, mad beon knoNn among the Jews ~
master OF lnoekness, amt Buddha long bufure
the hit.h Of JcSus, hnd STA, Hatred l. MOI con.
u ltted o.! hhiiyd At any time. Ii tired Is con
qurlcd ~ love- Hut IN the story Of no ututr
LIE d. We hnd that the method md been pur-
sued with such consistent harmony from INC
beginning 10 the Cul.
Wuctner we behcii lie ,us In the intimate clscle
OF ms disciple, whether hs l. in-tructiur mo
nHtllhlr ilui = the sunny shorc, OF Luke G emo.