Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1886-09-27

above the surrounding hill tops, so that
without vanity or suspicion, he could bid oil
men TO "come and follow" him.
ADAPTED TO ALL CONDITIONS.
Then again in the production of the paint.
ing or the statue, whether it be the work of
one or many artists, there is no real life. 1t
is simply an ideal. 1t is simply bringing
out lifeless representation from dead
canvas or the cold and passive block of
marble or granite, whether 1t be the result
of single or a complicated conception.
But in the life and character OF our Lord,
we have not only four or five seperate and IN
dependent narratives with the unity of the
idea preserved throughout, but they represent
that character in all the variety of cir
circumstances in which it is possible to
place human being. Christ strnds before
the world in an endless diversity. He ao-
commodities himself to the sick and the
we'll; to the wicked and the pious to those
in public and in private life; to the high and
low; to,learned and illiterate; to the living
and dying. And yet this marvellous unity of
character never loses its balance and happy
equilibrium.
THE BIOGRAPHIES.
The gospel is not work of genius. The
bIographers of Jesus we're humble fishermen,
and yet they wrote when the world was Mt
its zenith of literary culture and fame. They
wrote no poetry, composed no fiction,
promulgated no philosophy. They were in
spired, it is true but their inspiration never
destroyed their own identity, though the
ideal of each independent writer is absorbed
in the common harmony of the whole. Thus
we find Peter sanguine, Paul melancholy,
John phlegmatic, but they never give these
colorings to Jesus. They all represent Him
as vivacious without levity, serious without
austerity, calm without indifference.
sELF-EvIDENoED MIRACLE.
Then as we look further into the wonder
full Book of Christ's life and character we
find this unity preserved in all the epistles.
There is no idea presented that is not per-
fectly consonant with the whole; that is not
a part of the one living and harmonious
unity. The same result follows the investi-
cation of the Old Testament.
The Bible is self-evidenced miracle. 1t
is Book which occupied sixteen centuries
in its compilations; which was prepared by
thirty-six different authors and comprises
sixty six different books or pamphlets. with
no possibility of collision, and yet all differ
ing from each other so distinctly that the
works of each are distinctly marked with
the individuality of its own author-as the
Genises, the apocalypse, the Psalms, the
Acts OF the Apostles-and embracing
a vast variety of material in gene
trSs 6s sS TR fG9BPhesy doc doc
of subject and compacted and framed
together with one Book, with one theme and
one conception, as though it were the work
of one individual. And this one theme and
one idea center and eliminate in the life
and death of the Son of God, so that we
behold tho Old Testament pointing forward
to this one idea, and the New Testament
pointing backward to it. Thus the types of
the Old Testament and the fulfillments of
the New, founded on the invincible word of
God, are clamped together across the inter
vening centuries in the person and character
of Jesus Christ, and all upbearing one solid
and compact arch. Here appears the unity
OF the life and character of the mysterious
Goldman, and to this central and solar
light of the universe is brought the living
question which has agitated the world for
nearly twenty centuries.
PERSONAL QUESTION.
And now, friend, what do you think of
Christ? You have the testimony of your
own intelligence. When Nicodemus came
to Jesus he said: Rabbi, we know that thou
art teacher come from God, for no mar
can do these miracles that thou dost, except
God be with him." Mark his language
I'VE know" All, friend, it is a fearful re-
sponslbillty that we assume when we &c
contrary to our own light and knowledge
The Savior prayed for his enemies when He
hung on the cross, but it was for the un
thinking rabblc. 1t could not have beer
for the thoughtful leaders who SO delibe
rately acted against light and knowledge
So the most fearful condemnation a soul
can know is the condemnation of its own
better nature and higher powers. 1t is then
that we enter the thraldom of character and
deliberately put ourselves outside the pale
OF Divine clemency. You have traced the
wonderouS character of this mysterious
Goldman. You have seen no other life and
character that bear any comparison to it.
You have seen more books written on the
life OF Christ than all other lives
intellectual trend of the world on this
subject. You have seen the gospel
OF this Divine Being spreading faster during
the nineteenth century-with more than a
decade of years yet remaining-thand during
all the previous eighteen centuries of its ex-
lstence. You have seen the population Of
this country doubling in about every twenty
hVe years with vast influx of foreign an d
largely irreligious population, sometimes
numbering as high as seven hundred thou
sand in single year, and yet you have seen
the gospel of Christ vastly more than keep
ing pace with it, until the members of the
evangelical churches of the United States
have increased from about one in twenty
two OF the whole population at the begin
ming OF this century, to one in ten, at the
present time. You have seen the gospel of
Christ coming up from the conflict of all the
ages. You see it bearing aloft on its brow
the seal of its Divinity and riding onward to
universal conquest. And now tell me "What
think We of Christi"