Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1883-03-26


from God, and, therefore, be divine
revealed fact, which forces man In the
moral order, to submit his will to Iva
tenets by an act OF faith. Moreover,
that prophecy Is miracle, and the
fulfilment Of prophecy, as displayed
in the propagation and conservation oi
Christianity, Is q striking proof which
bears along with It the best founded
conviction of the divinity preached to
the world by Christ and His apos.
ties"
Thereverend gentleman then defined
prophecy, which he claimed to be a
certain prediction of a future event,
which cannot be known through
natural media; 1t must, therefore, bs
an event, the ful6llment of whtch Ii
dependent on the free action of man
it is an event, therefore, the knowl
edge OF which can only be impaired by
God TO the prophetic
"1f, therefore, God alone car
prophesy, prophecy is, Ia regard to the
conformation of religion to bs insti
tutcd and founded, a positive inten
tion by which We are enabled to recog
niSe the divine origin of religion"
1t follows upon this brief analysis
OF the nature of prophecy that, il the
propagation and conservation ol
Christianity were propheoied, and that
prophecy fnlfilled, that We have in this
fact an Iundeniable and irrefragable
proof that Christ was God, and the
religion He and His apostles preached
to the world was divine in its origin,
and the doctrine it proposed divinely
revealed
The lecturer then enumerated many
OF the most notable prophecies, and
showed how they had been confirmed
by history even to our time, supple.
menting the proof by well.known ex.
tracts from Draper and Macauly.
In enlareing upon the divinity of
Christianity, the reverend gentleman
adverted to the unparalleled success
which accompanied Its diffusion
through successive generations, which
success he held must convince every
impartial and unbiased thinker that
Jesus Christ, the man God, was the
author, Its guardian and protector, and
that the Catholic church, which IL tho
living organism of that Christianity,
has the sanction Of high heaven and
10 divine.
II the church were human, We
would naturally expect to find In her
history the evidence Of decay, decline
and dissolution which are met In all
merely human institutions. Chris
tians, ne claimed, were willing to rest
the issue upon the application of thi,
test, aud were content that even the
most bitter adversaries of the church
should make the application.
The lecturer then viewed the church
struggling and triumphing during Q
weary pilgrimage of nearly two thous.
and years, and pronounced II evidence
of the most remarkable fact In history.
And In confirmation Of this belief he
reviewed tho preachers OF Christianity
and contrasted them with the power
full ones on earth. He then referred
to the nature Of the doctrines they
taught, many of them transoendine
tho limited capacity Of naturally
proud and aspiring reason; to thu
morality which was az severe as 1t wal
unbendI { III its exactions, which re-
4 hired tho sscsitice of every lrregula
pract,ce and every invetsrase vioe
How d.fficdlt the task! How impossi
ole, in mere human ground, for thes
apostles, weak and unlettered men il
the eyes of the world, to have beer
successful! Their triumphs, however
was miracle, because 1t could ONLY
have been wrought by the divin,
power and assistance of God.
The speaker then gave graphic
and eloquent description Of the en-
try of Peter to Rome, tho struggles
of christianity with psganism, tn,
success of the former and the over
throw of the latter after o contest ol
many centuries, introducing In tn.
review, appropriate references to later
times, and concluding q follows:
The church hss walked patiently
and lovingly, bearing her crown o.
thorns like her heavenly bridegroom
she has been often soourged a. he wal
through many blood stained Jerus-
lem; but, like him, she bears q charm
ed life, "Doomed to death but fatec
not to dle." A pilgrim of faith and
love, with her home In the heavenr
she asks only free passage through
the world, and though the world ant
its powers oppose, immortality Il
written on her brow, and she will weal
for evermore the laurel wreath O
glorious triumph which she has worr
for nineteen centuries.