Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1879-12-06
''THE DESPISED NAZA-
RENE"
Beccher's Dialogue With Paul
About the Christ of Whom He
Was Not Ashamed.

WAS NOI AsIlilcus
Mr.. Beechcr's sermon was from part
OF the 10th verse OF tine first chapter Of
Romans: "For am not ashamed Of
the Gospel Of Christ" "'Well, why
should he be- every one Of us will saw.
But not one OF us would have said it in
PaupS time. II is not mere fancy but
a matter Of much interest to imagine
what would be Paul's thought to-day if
after two thousand years he were per-
United TO walk again, to discern the
Christianity Of the present age. Ii he
had looked at the great organized Greek
Church, an organic structure that has
persisted in existence through thou
sands OF years, standing in very great
splendOr to-day; what was there in his
time that pretignred the Greek Church
with its millions OF worshippers? or its
sister, ii l may say so, the Roman Cath
Ollie Church, for they are twins, with the
simple difference that they were born
at very different periods Of time. There
has never been anything comparable to
these two great churches. More won
deriul are these great cathedrals OF men
than any cathedrals in which they have
worshipped; more marvellous than any
structure o! the cities that ever went
up. ii Paul had seen the pomp oftheir
worship, the glory of their ceremonies;
il he had seen the Basilica of Rome,
the Gothic cathedrals OF medieval Eu-
rope, the marvels of II. Petersburg; il
he had seen that around about the name
OF Jesus had been erected structures
compared with which the Egyptian
monuments were as nothing, he would
not have had occasion to express shame.
Still less would he have been ashamed
of the learning OF the Church, its sacred
song, its charity, organized and efficient,
Tor it is fact that has been state !, that
outside of Christianity there never was
a hospital established except one, and
that one was for horses. More than all
these thing which / have mentioned,
tu PauIs cvc-who had the art OF dis
corning much from littlc-morc to
him, | think, would have been the cN-
preston Of ChriSt's spirit in It's humble
workings among Christian men and W.
men unorgauiLcd, or only slightly.
There is no man that doubts Christian
ity, that doubts the events of Christian
ity. They are all about him and cannot
be- disputed. 80 then, il Paul was now
on earth, seeing the products Of the CEN
turtles, IL would Ice very inaue for him
10 say, Il am not ashamed OF Christ.
Yet i'm some respects the glOrilying of
Paul was not mere defamation, Tor who
was Christ? Who God was he had told
thrm-'GOd who made the world; but
who was Jesus? \ peasant, amcchanic
AT a period of the world when workmen
were very low i'm the social scale, and
il one had asked who was this divinity
that YOU all worehip hc would have said
Jesus.
"'Of what country
Nazareth.
"'Who were his parents?
"Joseph and Mary, rcputedly.
"'WhO was his mother
Mary, who had just escaped a Iii
vorce through the magnanimity OF her
betrothed.'
"', What is his country
"'Judca.
"'Um-a Jcw-a bastard Jew. What
did hr do?
Worked as carpenter in the shop
Of his putative father
"'What became oi him"
"'Hc was charged with violation of the
Roman laws, tried andcunyictcd and put
To death.
"I'm-a bastard Jewish mechanic;
a malriactor. put 10 death Tor the viola
ton oi the laws ot his country; is that
the fellow Won bring to me for worship?
Now. ii YOU look at things from the sur
face, Jesus was that and that only, and
Paul. having the highest training, might
easily have thrown over Ill this a poetic
veil 0i mystery. But no; he said: Il
am determined not To know anything
among yOu'-what2 at poetry? OF his
tory! of rhctOricl no-'but ! am deter
mined To know Jesus Christ; and him,
not except as a malaiaCtOr, a man on the
cross; in weakness. IN death, and IN the
power oi death; and ann not ashamed
of that; not ashamed of my Jesus OF
Nazareth, born I'M a manger born out ot
wcdlock, who was carpenter; who was
condemned hy his own people aud cNecu-
tel bv Roman soldiers, showing that he
hail no power over death; there Is the
only power that | know, and am not
ashamed of that. What was there that
should have filled his mind There
WAS this consideration which justified
him-that while To all mems ewes this
Was simply a spectacle OF man IN time,
and subject 10 all the limitations OF time,
10 Paul he was a manifestation OF the
nature Oi God, or of 50 much OF
God as could be brought within the
limits ui the finite, with the limitations
of matter. the sphere ui the laws OF
uhvSical hic-sO much was Inaugurated
I'M Christ IL was the working of divinl-
~ i'm man for the purpose of interpret
inc % w. the invisible power ot the I'M
known nature of that tiOd which rules
the universe. There is still To us the
same story, although greatly incumber-
eel. greatly hidden, tor many OF the
sweetest things are hidden like the tenn
niles of Egypt bv the sands Of the desert,
and 80 many and many OF the sweetest,
most precious truths of the Word OF
God have been hidden bv the dry and
useless sand Of a useless philosophy
and We have o. dlg Tor our >avour; hnt
take away the sand. and 10 there Is re,
ve.,rI the God that 50 loved the world
that he gave his son who died Tor Us, and
diving left for Us q legacy OF undylng
love
The Date Of Christ's Birth.
As your columns are open to Biblical
and historical investigation, | wish to
offer a few facts relative to the date OF
the birth of Christ. The siXty-nine pro-
phetic weeks of Daniel were to run to
the first advent OF Christ, or to his birth,
as the angel then said; To-day is born
INTO YOU Savior, which Is
Christ" There is reason to believe that
these weeks commenced on the 10Th
dav of the 9Th Jewish month b. G. 1885,
which would end them on the l4th day
of August Il. c. 5. Paul says when
the fullness Of the time vas come that
is. the 60 weeks God sent forth
his Son, made of a woman" etc, Gal.
IN: 1. The true Christmas, or birth OF
Christ, was therefore August IL, b. Z.
). instead of December %, as the
, Papists affirm. The sheep were still
out at pasture at the time, Luke IL: s,
and they were always taken to their
shelter in that country about the time of
the fall equinox, so the claim for De
cember 25 is both without proof and
contrary To facts. Furthermore, Christ
was about 30 years old at his BAPTISM,
Luke iii 3D. which was in the 10th