Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1885-02-02

AUQ " NuAC ~ II. liz INV W Ns~AAI
His deepest thoughts out of the world with
Him, unuttered, trusting with a sublime
faith that the Holy Ghost would lead Ills
church TO grasp them in the course Of its
subsequent development. Even what lie
did utter, was very imperfectly understood.
There was one mind, It is true, in the or
ipinal apostolic circle Of the finest quality,
and capable of soaring into the rsrest alti.
tudes of speculation. The works of Christ
as nix into the mind of John, and, after lying
there for half q century grew up into the
wonderful forms we inherit in His gospel
and epistles. But even the mind of John
vss not equal to the exigency OF the
church; it was too fine, mystical, unusual
His thoughts to this day remain the proper
ty only of the few finest minds There was
Ieeded thinker oil broader and more mas.
sive make to sketch the first outlines of
Christian doctrines; and he was fouad IN
Paul.
Paul wss born thinker. His
mind was of majestic breadth and
force. 1t was restlessly busy, never able TO
leave any object with which it had TO deal
until it had pursued it back to Its remotest
causes, and forward into all its couse-
ouerces. 1t was not enough for him to
know that Christ was the Son of God; he
had 10 unfold this statement into its ele-
ments, and understand precisely what 1t
meant. II was not enough for him to be-
Eeve that Christ died for sin; he had to go
further and inqnire why it was necessary that
He should do So and how His death took
away sin. Bat not only had he from ma
ture this speculative gift; his talent was
trained by education. The other Apostles
were unlettered men; but he enjoyed the
fullest scholastic advantages Of the time in
which he lived. In the rabbinical school
he learned how to arrange, and state, and
defend his ideas. We have the issue Of all
this in his epistles, which contain the best
explanation of Christianity possessed by the
world. The right way to look at them is to
regard them as the continuation of Chrlsts
own teaching. They contain the thoughts
which Christ carried away from the earth
with Him unuttered. Of course, Jesus would
have uttered them differently, and far better.
PauTs thoughts have everywhere the color
ing of his own mental pecuiarities; but the
substance of them is what Christs must
have been, if he he had himself given
them expression.
There was one great subject especially
which Christ had to leave Unexplained.
His own death. He could not explain it
before it had taken place. This becamet the
leading topic of Pauls thinking-to show
why it was needed and what we're its blessed
and glorious results. But indeed there was
no aspect of the appearance of Christ into
which his restlessly inquiring mind did not
penetrate. His thirteen epistles, when ar
ranged in chronological order, show that
his mind was constantly getting deeper and
deeper into the subject. The progress OF
his thinking was determined partly By the
natural progress of his own experience in
he knowledge of Christ, for he always wrote
straight out of his own experience and part
y by the various forms of error which he
bad at successive periods to encounter, and
which became providential means of slim
ulatiDg and developing his apprehension of
be Truth, Just as ever since in the Christian
Church the appearance of error has been the
means Of calling forth the clearest state
neLts of doctrine. The ruling impulse, how.
ever of his thinking, as of his life, was ever
,hrist, and it was his lifelong devotion to
this exhaustless theme that made him the
Thinker of Christianity.
3. Christianity obtained in Paul, the mis-
sionary of the Gentiles. 1t is rare to find
the highest speculative power united with
great practical activity; but they were uni
red in him. He was not only the Church's
greatest thinker, but the very foremost
worker she has ever possessed. We have
been considering the speculative task which
vas awaiting him when he joined the Chris
tan community; but there was no less
stupendous practical task awaiting him too.
This was the evangelization Of the Gentle
world.
One of the great objects of the appear.
auce of Christ was TO break down the wall
Of separation between Jew and Gentle, and
make the blessings of salvation the proper
ty OF all men, without distinction of race
or language. But He was not Himself per.
mitied TO carry this change into practical
realization. 1t was one of the strange limi-
ratioEs of His earthly career, that He was
sent only to the lost sheep OF the house of
Israel.
1t can easily be imagined how congenial
task it would have been to His intensely
human heart to carry the gospel beyond
the limits of Palestine, and make it known
to nation after nation; but He was led to
Calvary and crucifed in the midst OF His
DAYS, and had to leave His task to His fol-
Ioweis.
Before the appearance of Paul on the
scene, the execution of this task had been
begun. Jewish prejudice had been partially
broken down, the universal character OF
Christianity had been in some measure
realized, and Peter had admitted the first
Gentles into the church by baptism. But
more OF the original apostles we're equal to
the emergency. None OF them was large
minded enough to grasp the idea OF the
perfect equality of Jew and Gentle, and
apply it without hinching in all its practical
consequences; and none of them had the
combination of gift necessary to attempt the
conversion of the Gentle world on large
scale. They were Galileau fishermen, fit
,noUgh to teach and preach within the
.ounds of their native Palestine. But be-
vond Palestine lay the great world of Greece
md Rome-the world of vast populations,
Of power and culture, of pleasure aud bust
ness.
1t needed a man of unlimited versa
,ility, of education, ofimmense human SYM
pathy and breadth, to 90 out there with the
gospel message-a man who could not only
ne a Jew TO the Jews, but Greek to the
greeks, Roman to the Romans, barba-
rian TO the barbarians-a man who could
encounter not only rabbis in the syna-
gogues but proud magistrates IN their
courts and philosophers in their places of
learning-a man who could face travel by
land and by sea- who could exhibit presence
Of mind in every variety of circumstances,
and would be discouraged by no difficulties
No man of this size belonged to the original
apostolic circle; but Christianity needed
such an one, and he was found in Paul.
He gave bis heart to the Gentle mission,
and the history of his life is the historS of
how true he was to his vocation. There
was never such singleness Of eye and whole
ness Of heart. There was never such SUI