The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-04-01
THE GREATEST OF HEROES.
George R. Weddings Lecture Delivered
Last Evening on saul of Tarsus."
The APOSTLE Whose Life Was Devoted to the
Destruction of Caste-A Glowing TIib-
ute to the Jewish Race.


ute to the Jewish Race.
The lecture of George r. Vending on Saul
Of Tarsus" was delivered at Plymouth Church
last evening, under the auspices of the Lecture
Course Association, to fair. audience. In the
opening of his lecture, Mr.. Vending said:
II would show you tonight the most wonder
full man, in many respects, that the world has
known-and am not a hero worshiper / hold
that there is so much inherent greatness, so
much of the divine, in all men, that we wrong
the race by too great an exaltation of the indi-
vidual The broad humanity of Emerson har-
monies better with my feelings and convictions,
as look out upon the struggles of men and COM
munities, than does Carlyle's idolatory of king
ship And yet, although one may not so love
Sierra Nevada, or the towering crags of the
Alps to the long and peaceful stretches OF
watered plain and wooded valley, ones head
nevertheless is bowed, the heart throbs faster,
the cheek catches hue of pallor from tho light
Throne, as q sense of eternity comes
slowly on, when one contemplates
the awful and unexplored height of Chimborazo.
One may find greater pleasure in his travels
| than in looking upon waterfalls and rushing tor
rents, yet there is no soul that can stand I'M
moved before Niagara. 1t is not with the spirit,
then, of worshiper that approach the grand
cat man the earth has seen. The towering
heights Of his moral character, and the impetu
osity of his mighty genius, simply compel me to
yield that tribute, even as Niagara and Chin
boraZo compel me to confess a sense of illimita
bio majesty and power. The task am about to
attempt is to take the parsonage whom all the
world know as Saint Paul out of the clouds
which doctrinal theology has thrown aroun
him. would remove somewhat OF the mystery
with which he is invested in the popular mind.
l would dig through the controversial sand
that has long gathered around his stately
figure, l would put aside the binding dust
of UNCONVENTIONAL differences which obscures
| his personality, even as the desert sand blown
by hot winds for centuries, obscured some
OF Egypts choicest works of art / would fan
bid you look tonight not upon subtle and pro-
found theoloeian, but upon the majestic form Of
the orator, the hero, the martyr, the bold, ten
der, conscientious, loving and lovable. Hence
my theme is not Paul the apostle, the inspired
ambassador of new religion. but Saul OF Tar.
miraculous aid. Viewed simply as a man of
genius, of eloquence and of all heroic qualities,
setting aside for the time all claim to supernatu
raj power, and evading also discussion of mis-
profound theology. Paul stands out upon the
canvas the foremost Of orators the greatest OF
heroes the bravest of warriors, and the most
wonderful man among men,"
The lecturer, describing Judaism. paid the fol-
lowing glowing tribute to the jewish race:
20 Jew! Thy honor and thy glory are great be-
yond the power of man to tell! Great poets and
prophets have come from thy loins, great wealth
| and great learning, great writers and thinkers,
great philanthropists and merchants Greatness is
thy heritage, and great have been thy sufferings
The shrieks OF tortured Israel ring through
every land in every age for two thousand years.
But once more can it now be said, the fullness
of time Is at hand. Judaism in its exclusiveness
| is vanishing, and the Jew himself is taking his
rightfu place to-day in the great brotherhood of
man. The political recognition and preferment
OF jews, business connections with jews, social
intercourse with Jews, intermarriage with Jews.
all these matters of growing frequency
throughout America. and thank Gcd that live
in the land and age that sees all these signs of
reconciliation between gentiles and that
grand old Hebrew race. Under these
like Julian, Israel shall cry out, % Nazarene,
thou hast conqueredr He sees very dimly who
fails to read il this nineteenth century the signs
of Israels final dissolution Meanwhile, let every
statesman and every pulpit in the civilized
world denounce with righteous wrath that DID,
old crime of Christendom, that burning. shame
less crime, that Goddess, soulless. Chrstess,
crime, Christian prejudice against the Jew So
shall the time be fastened when the world shall
indeed believe that of one blood all the nations
of mankind are made"
He described the martyrdom of Stephen and
Pauls first appearance and dwelt upon Pauls
journeys, labors and prosecutions On the SUBJ
ject of Paups courage, he said no man, from the
Hydrologic age Of Greece to the days of the cru
saders, and from the crusaders to the death Of
Englands latest hero In the Souoan, no one can
be named who Is the peer Of Saul Of Tarsus.
He discussed Paul as orator, and said that by
an amazing misconception professional men who
would achieve excellence in oratory are prone to
pass st. Paul by in their study Of the methods of
great orators.
In concluding he said:
'Tn every great mans life there is one con-
trolling idea, one unifying purpose running
through all his work What was the dominant
thought in Pauls life work. OF course, speak
now not Of Panls theology, but of his philoso-
ply and his life IS viewed only from the human
side. What was the paramount object. the great
moving purpose Of this mans head and hearth
With Whitefeld it was salvation with John
Brown it was anti-slavery; with Washington,
patriotism; with Ruskin it is art with Wilber-
force, philanthropy; with Napoleon, glory; with
Shakespeare, poetry; with Columbus. discovery
with Plato, philosophy; with Saul of Tarsus it
was the universal brotherhood OF man.. HUI
manly speaking, the animating idea of Paul's
life was the destruction Of caste, the sowing
of that doctrine which makes jew or gentle
equal IN the sight of God. Paul is the
cosmopolitan. Let no man In this land
of ours call himself Christian who
would deny citizenship fellowship to any hu-
man being of any race or color. At last, at
Rome, an old man, gray and weak, he holds up
! his manacled hands and says: II am ready to
be offered" His last letter to his dearest FRIEND
young Timothy, was written here, and it an
swers every question we would fain to ask Paul.
as we stand at his prison door while he awaits
the executioner. 1t was in this prison, chained
| aged, and broken in health, that Pauls un-
quenchable spirit rose to such grand heights in
his immortal epistles to the Colossians and the
| Ephesians; but let US find the answers we seek
in this last letter of his, the letter to Timothy
Is there in thy heart now, thou noblest of noble
men, is there doubt now in thy heart concerning
the reality of that Damascus vsionq Listen. II
know Him whom have believed. He is able to