Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1878-07-06

him that doeth evil saVs'
"The result, then, would be to give
the civil administrator 10 'ne
unbelicving and unsodly, and TINS is
what u revered FREUD the doctor
believes" Not exactly my respected
friend, what the doctor believes.
He b, l ewes there is u God in heaVeh
who rules among the nations anu
kingdoms of men; who putteth GOWN
nations and raiseth them up, ana pa
ceth The 6usest of mcn to rule over
them. He believes this same Doo
clothes the lily with its beauty, ana
see,h the sparrow when 1t falls iie
believes maj He can be safely trust
ed 10 administer the government oi
heaven and earth, without the pre-
sumptuous iutermeddiing OF his poor
short-sigEted, erring children. The
editor closes his criticism by asking
two questions. 'lf this be the bioie
doctrine, why did not the ofncers Vi
Caesars court resign as soon ss they
became Christisns2 Why did not
Paul rebuke them for not doing SO.
| would feel better prepared to an
swer the first question If my irienu
| had told me when and where the om-
| GERS of CsBsar's court became Chris-
| tIaus. Lardner, vol. 8, p. 6lI, reports
| T%crtulIisn about the year A. ID. 2oo,
as saving: The Cessrs themselves
wou,u have believed in Jesus Christ
if they had not been necessary 10 Tue
world, or if Christians could have
been Cesars." In the estimation OF
TsrtuIliau, a Christian could not be
a Cesar or u ruler in human govern
meut. 1t is true that msny OF the o.
ficers in the Roman empire became
Christians, but did they wait 20 be
rebuked by Paul before they resigned
their offices? Let us see. Ieriulliah,
in his apology to Servius, says: we
OCbristiaus) are dead to all ideas OF
worldly honor and dignity. Nothing
il more foreign to US than poiitical
concerns. The whole world IS our
repubiic." Jones His. vol. l, p.
pig. We would not be surprised H.
when our friend wrote these ques'
tious. the cases of Cornelius ana the
~iaiior were III his mind. They GER
= taiulv were officers i'll Cssssr's gov
eminent ut the time of their CONVEX
son. Saul of Tarsus, and Matthew
, the tax-collector, were also ohcersA
the same government. we are 30
where told that these men resigned
their offices when they became Chris
= tiaus. Many of the Jewish priest
wer. also converted to Christianity
= Did they continue in the JeWls'
priesthood? We a"e 20 told tina
! tnev did not. But a any man
woman or child, who knows the du
" ties of the office of a centurion or IA
: ior under Nero. that blood-thlrstE
prosecuting ~tyrant, whose very am
biackens the darkest page Of huma
- history, would he have retained
j. disciple of Jesus Christ as al office
" in his government? Does any on
y believe that Saul still went with lie
tiers of authority, ~''breathinS on
. th~resteuiugs aud slaughter agalni
{ the disciples of the Lord?' Not onl
bringing to the stake men, 0ut poo
d]efenseless III Actsls: IL. Doc
" anv one believe that Matthew sti
held his office as collector OF the GO
ernment revenue, or did be resig
and follow Christ at the peril OF d
life? Oh, no doubt these men I
y signed their offices then they BEGAN
disciples: but as the Bible is silent
reference to Cornelius and the JaiiO
we will speak. Many years later a
AZ other centurion of the same Cover
' meut was converted to Christianlt
:! His conversion caused him, "Msrct
lus, q centurion, to throw away II
belt, his arms aud the ehsigns OF
office, and to exclaim with q io'
l" voice that he would obey none b
Jesus Christ, the eternal KING. q
that he renowned the use OF carl
we weauonp, etc" He was condemn
y" aud bcheaded. Gibbons Rome, v
=, d. GO. The unanimous testimo
" of the early Christian fathers is TT
during the first three centuries OF
- Christian era the disciples OF Cur
VI persistently refused to bear arms,
to take part in the affairs OF the -
" %eruIuent. Macmillan WAS brous
'"e before the tribunal to be enrolled a
soldier. On the p~ro-cousufs Ask
iHe hi, name, he replied: 81 am q CHI
ny tan, and cannot fight" 1t was,ho
'"' ever, ordered that he should be
rolled: but he refused to serve. 8
~" alleging that he was a Christian.
WAS Immediately told that there v
no alternative between bearing ar
and being put to desth. But
= " fidelity was not to be shaken. 81 C
" not fight" said he, "If | die" Hec
tinucd ste4dfast to his principles,
WIS consigned to execution
See Acts of Rumsit. | could III,
quotations to the saInc effect sufticl
" to fill a volume, but will simply
that Gibbon, Moshim, Orchard, 1
tulliou, Lardner, Jones. aud ev
- other historian, both sacred and
GU" fare, SO far rs known to me, bear
timouy to the fact that, for about
- 9 first three centuries of the Christ
era, no Christian could be induced
" take part in the administration OF
man governments; and that such
the case when that arch decelver
mp faIsitier, Constantine, by claiming
one have seen a blazing cross in the hi
'rst eus, under which was written,
heT this YOU shall conquer" Il thus
u'y ceived and misled Gods people.
be- | am wrong in regard to past hist
for nv friend can easily correct me 4;
ouia am right, should not the practice
uide those disciples in those hale aud