The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-01-11


tation ofsneaking pusilanimity Whence,
then, our doctrine of supreme dependence
upon God, of ascribing all glory to him,
and of Judging and esteeming others and
ourselves as all and each appear in the
hight OF God-this doctrine which at
once declares mans greatness by calling
HIM to worship God, and yet subdues his
pride by showing that he is but the crea-
ture OF Omnipotent will which inspires
gratitude for the past, hope for the flu
ture, and the profound sense of depend
ence upon God as the ruling principle of
the soul-which availed to produce the
courage of Stephen, and the perseverance
OF Paul? Time would fail me to tell how
we owe to Christianity a new idea of
home and the family, of woman as
daughter, wife and mother, and of GEN
eral education. To say that Jesus has
completely revolutionized the thought of
all ages, were to speak in very moderate
terms. We look in vain for an explana-
ton of this revolution, till we accept the
doctrine of the holy incarnation.
The victory achieved by Christianity,
in less than three hundred years after the
erucifxion of Christ, without the use of
the sword, or the patronage of learning,
or the power of gold, over the arms, the
policy, the literature, the genius the
pride, and the superstition of the Roman
Empire, makes it easy to believe that the
Word who was God and made all things
became flesh and dwelt among men, full
of grace and truth. If this be not true
how did the cause of Jesus silence the
subtle sophistries of philosophers who in
herited all ancient lore, and how did it
flourish, notwithstanding the efforts of
the Lucians to wither it with sneers. or
exterminate it by ridicule? and of the
Philostratuses to supplant it by well-told
stories of rival miracles and of the Gel
suses to overwhelm it by powerful rheto-
ric? and of the Porphyrys to cut it down
with the keen, strong arguments of intel
lectual mysticism?
If you deny the incarnation, how do
you account for it, that when idolatry
and skepticism, finding that they were
unable to defend themselves by moral
weapons, resorted to the bloodiest perse-
cution, Christianity still continued to ad-
vance to victory? Why was it not ex-
tinguished when Nero drove in his spa
cious gardens through lines of torches,
thick set each torch being Christian
clothed in garments of pitch and there
set on fire why, when the ferocity of
Darius and Diocletian surprising the
virulence of Nero, the worshippers of
Jesus Christ were burned to death, torn
to pieces by wild beasts, their flesh pulled
from their backs piecemeal by iron pin
GERS Why did these men, in the pros
pect and endurance of such sufferings,
continue firm in their faith, and rejoice
that they were thought worthy thus to
suffer and to die for the Lord Jesus?
Why, Notwithstanding all, did the new
religion spread till it became polite for
Constantine to adopt it? why did it dis
place the Roman eagles that for ages had
awed the world, and in their place en-
blazon on the banners of the great en-
pire the Cross, and make that which was
late the emblem of the most abhorrent
form of death the symbol of the world s
highest civilization. The history of the
first three centuries of Christianity com
pels us to believe, with the Church of our
Lord, that the Word became flesh"
The four Gospels of themselves, and
apart from any external considerations,
make the mystery of the holy incarna-
ton easy of belief. Take the idea of
Jesus Christ, which they embody. I'll
you will first view the apparently contra
dictory elements of that idea apart, and
then contemplate the perfect unit they
constitute in the complete character of
the Christ, you must believe that the idea
is divine, that the gospels are historical
that Christ was, and that they truly re-
present him, and that he was God and
man in one divine person. 1t is not of
man to combine the extreme of weakness
and degradation, and the extreme of
power and glory, the extreme of holiness
and of compassion, in one personal unit,
and so present the most beautiful and |
soul-engaging idea ever held up to the
contemplation of our race.
The doctrine fully declared by Christ
and developed by his apostles, that he
came to put away sin by the sacrifice Of
himself, makes it easy to believe that the
Babe Of Bethlehem was the eternal Son
Of God. If he died for our sins and was
raised up from the dead for our iustifca-
ton, then he was declared to be the Son
Of God with power by his resurrection
from the dead To satisfy divine Justice
required such sacrifice, as only per-
son Of infinite dignity and yet embracing
in himself human nature could offer
Unless we can deny the doctrine of Gods |