The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-03-31
EASTER.

Universal Christendom stands on
Easter Sunday surveying an open tomb;
yes, more; it looks upon an empty grave.
With the return of the Easter festival
we think Of the mighty miracle of Res
direction, and of Him who arose from
the captivity Of the tomb and is given
to US as the pledge of immortal life. 1t
is the day consecrated to Immortality by
the centuries of Christian history. It
comes to us in the opening springtime,
when the earth is awakening from the
sleep of winter, and all the associations
of the season suggest the coming sur
prises of the unfolding summer. 1t is
therefore the day that teaches us by
fact and symbol not only the great les
son of immortality continuance
of personal being beyond the confines
Of the grave-but also the necessity
of spiritual awakening, a rising up of
the soul to new consciousness of its
relation to the Infinite, with the added
obligations and responsibilities of the
renewed life. eff ye then be risen
with Christ seek those things which
are above"
Amid the delveings Of our antiquar-
ian learning we may find the genesis of
the Easter observance in the early
festivals of our Saxon ancestors, when
they paid their honors to their goddess
"Eastre," the angel of RETURNING spring.
But above and beyond the suggestions of
this now forgotten festival, is the great
Christian hope, the central truth of the
New Testament, richer in meaning and
significance than any lesson of nature
or the seasons. 1t is this great hope,
which touches our hearts at the East
ertide. The resurrection Of our Lord is
the one truth of all others which lends
vitality and significance to the Chris
tian religion. 1.-The Christian church,"
says Prof. Keim, sis built upon an
empty grave" and amid all the criti-
cism to which Christianity has been
subjected during the centuries, and not
withstanding the numerous assaults
which have been made upon its histor-
cal credibility, the fact Of the Resurrec-
ton of our Lord has never been assail-
ed to its overthrow. 1t descends through
the centuries as one of the firmly au-
thenticated facts made known to US in
the New Testament.
The most advanced skepticism has
contributed to the manifold testimon-
les in regard to the Resurrection. We
may quote here just one acknowledge
ment, which has been made in this di-
rection. Mr.. W. R. Greg is the author
of the well-known skeptical work, en-
titled 1.-THE Creeds of Christendom,
but ne has the candor to observe:
''If we had no further testimony to
the resurrection OF Jesus than that it
was believed by the whole original
Christian church that the apostles and
personal followers of Christ, who must
be supposed to have had the best means
of knowing it, chung to the conviction
enthusiastically and Witnessed to it by
their preaching and their death and
that Paul (not personal follower but
in constant communication with those
who were) made assertions of it in a
letter addressed to one of the principal
churches, and published while most of
the eye-witnesses to whom he appeals,
were still alive to confirm or contradict
his statements-ift the case rested on this
only, and terminated here, our grounds
for accepting the resurrection
would appear to be nearly unassailable
and irresistible, Except by those who
can imagine some probable mode in
which such a positive conviction could
have grown up without the actual oe-
currence having taken place to create
it,"
The Apostle Paul was not, as Greg
suggests, a contemporary of our Lord
and certainly is not amenable to the
charge of being swayed or influenced
by any of the "delusions" which are
said to have governed the disciples,
who were around him when the great
event took place. And this apostle
marshals the historical facts touching
the resurrection in the following words:
(Cor. XIV. SD
For 1 delivered unto you first of all
that which 1 also received, how that
Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures:
And that he was buried, and that he
rose again the third day according to
the Scriptures
And that he was seen of Cephas, then
of the twelve;