Sharp County record., 1888-03-15
STORY OF THE MAGI.
One of the Most Beautiful New
Testiment Narratives.

The story of the Wise Men VINO came
from the East to pay their homage t(
the Holy Child at Bethlehem has al
wavs been a favorite theme of Chris
tian art and legend. 1t was depicted
everywhere: on the walls OF the .Cata
combs; on the sculptured faces of sar'
cophagi; in the glittering mosaic5 O
the basilicas; in the palaces of the
rich and the churches OF the poor; OF
gilded Grinking-glasses, and carvec
doors, and marble pulpits, and paint
ed ceilings, and bronze coins, and
ieweled shrines-evelywhere that ar
has left its touch we see the infant
Saviour From the second century
the long, rich train of representations
runs on unbroken through the nine
teenth. There is hardly one of the
great artists who has not left us his
conception of it. We may safely say
that there is no subject i'll the range OF
history, sacred or profane, which has
found so many or such splendid illus
trations
Side by side with this stream OF pict'
ures and carvings runs the kindred
current ofimagination speaking to the
ear instead of to the eye. Traditions
and fables, myths and allegories,
fragments of history and philosophy,
poems and plays and chronicles,
gather about the story in marvellous
abundance. 1t is like trellis over
grown with vines, so luxuriant SO
fertile in leaves and blossoms, that the
outline of the sustaining structure Is
almost lost. 1t would be easy for one
who looked at it carlessly to suppose
that the whole fabric was flowery and
6Dj 6fDtjpHs Us wi With v g8hjtRg 88ht nuSa substantial a
less easy to mistake the growth of
fancy for the framework of history,
and accept the later legends as
belonged to the original narr1
Even among the most cautious
tians, who have rooted disliH
every thing that is later than Il
century, this mistake is made;
suppose the hymn: i
We three Kings of ORIENT are,
IS sung IN many Protestant Sunday
school in hearty unconsciousness that
its first line emboies two ecclesiastical
traditions.
Our first task, then, if we would un-
derstand the alteration of the Magi, is
to 90 back to the simple narrative as
it is given in the original records OF
Christianity. Then we must trace the
growth of the legerd which has been
trained about it, and then at length
we can hope to comprehend and ap-
preciate something of the works of art
in which it has been illustrated. For
the study of Christian art, let me say
once for all, is no mere pastime to be
taken up in an idle hour by those who
know little or nothing of Christian
history or doctrine. 1t is a study not
only serious, but also useful. 1t helps
TO illuminate those beliefs, and GUS
toms, and affections of the past by
which it is illuminated. 1t is profound
" true, as rule of human activity,
that men will not paint or carve that
which they do not love and believe
Pictures and sculptures tell the story
of religion as veraciously as the DEGREES
of councils and the chronicles of his
torians. But their meaning does not
lie upon the surface. 1t yields itself
only to him who studies them with
care and patience in the light of the
age from which they came.
The story of the Magi, as it is given
by the evangelist Matthew, is aston
ishingly brief and unadorned. He
tells US without preface that when
Jesus was born in Bethlehem certain
foreigners arrived at Jerusalem. He
does not tell us how many they were,
nor of what race, nor of what station
in life; although 1t is fair to infer from
the consideration with which they
were received at the court OF Herod
and from the fact that they carried
treasure boxes with them, that they
were persons of wealth and distinc-
tion. The most important statement
in regard to them is that they were
Magians, that is to say, disciples of
ZorOaster, and members of the sacred
Or priestly order of Persia, which was
then widely scattered among the
Oriental nations, and included men of
exalted rank. They came from the
East, word which to the dwellers in
Palestine could harlly have any other
meaning than the ancient region of
Chaldea, lying beyond the Jordan and
the desert Their explanation of their
journey to Herod was that they had seen
an appearance in the heavens (wheth-
er one star, or many, or a comet,
they did not say) which led them to
believe that the King of the Jews had
been born, and they had come to dc