The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-02-25
the DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRIS
TlANlTY.
Rev. Mr.. sIanohards Ninth Lecture.

The Rev Henry Blanchard delivered the
ninth lecture of his course on "The Divine
Origin of Christianity, indicated by its His
torical Effects" on Tuesday evening, IN the
vestry of the Congress Square church.
Mr.. Blanchard announced as the subject
of the lecture "The Influence OF Christiani-
ty upon the Worlds Hope OF Progress" He
began by referring to his ascent of Mount
Washington made last summer for the first
time. Even from such a height, however,
only a small view of the world can be COM
nanded. To see it all, we must mount to
higher height, the height of thought There
we can behold the world in its place In the
universe. There we ask why it has come in
IN being what is the meaning of the pro-
cession of the generations of men over its
surface; to what end are all things tending?
He then dwelt on the various possible con-
captions of an end of which man may think,
and accepted for himself the one which
alone could satisfy his brain and heart-the
final perfection Of mankind. But whatever
may be the various ideas of progress, all
must be based on the beliefs of Christianity.
That teaches that there is One who has Gre
ated and who governs all things for good.
Philosophically considering the problem of
the worlds meaning, we see that we can be-
lieve in the surety of progress only on the
ground that there is one mind planning and
ruling over all. In the doctrine of the unity
Of God lies the hope of progress, Studying
history, we see the proof In all polytheis
tic religions there is no hope Of progress. In
India we have studied the effects of Brah-
minism and Buddhism. These are sad relig-
ions. They teach that existence is an evil.
They have no joyous teaching of future hap
piness on earth or in hereafter. The relig
ion of Persian taught conflict between two
mighty powers, of good and of evil. Its du
alism brought disaster. Cherishing, at first,
the hope of the ultimate triumph OF the
good, it had no power to live when its fol-
lowers were conquered. by the followers of
Mohammed. Egypt was great in knowledge
and power Her kings. were strong; her
hierarchy learned; but her religion could
sing no paen of hope of better time to
come.
Greece was lovely. Greece had art, litera-
ture, oratory. But even in Homer the sad
strain is loudly heard. In Eschylus, Sopho-
Giles, Euripides, we hear the sound OF doom,
prosperous was motto repeated by Gre
clan lips. The mystery of life, the mystery
of the universe appalled,. The gods OF
Olympus could not cheer. Goethe said
Mature losses her creatures out Of nothing
or whittier they go. She wraps man in dark
ness and makes him forever long for the
light. She is always building up and de-
stroying; but her workshop is inaccessible"
So the thinkers in Greece felt. Their rellg-
ion could give no hope OF progress
Rome was mighty. She had conquered
much of the world. But wealth, luxury, vice,
superstition. wrought their baleful work:
Men feared for the future on earth or beyond
it. A total eclipse of sun made Romans
thrill with terror Rays about the sun, look
ing like crown, the year after Caesars
DEATH were looked upon as sign OF the
wrath of the gods.
If now we look to Palestine, we see the
tremendous contrast. The unity OF God, the
power that makes for righteousness, in Ju-
dasm and Christianity, made men believe
that the Eternal had great plan,-the hnal
glory of Israel, and later, the final glory OF
all mankind. Mr.. Blanchard here dwelt at
length upon the marvellous history of Israeli
the leadership of Moses, the reign of David,
the captivity in Babylon, the struggle OF the
Maccabees, the warnings of Christ, the sec
ond destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. In
all disaster dwelt the deathless hope OF fn-
ture glory. The history of Christianity tells
the same great story Where mt It is, there Is
the words of Christ; we hear it again in the
words of Paul. In all the darkness of the
Middle Ages it still lives. Augustine utter
ed it in his "City of God" Luther, Calvin,
Knox, declare it. The Dutch Republic, the
Pilgrim Fathers. the American revolution,
our civil war, all, all, show us mans hope OF
progress as he believes in the one God, above
all, through all, in all, the Lord, God omnip-
otent, Science and poetry voice the nope,
since they, too, are servants of Christianity.
Tennyson utters it:
II can but trust that good shall fall,
At last, far off, at last, to all,
And every Winter change to Spring
That God which ever lives and loves,
One God, one law, one element,
And one far off, divine event,
To which the whole creation moves
The concluding lecture of the course will
1.or r;xyo