The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1889-11-27
TALMAGE AT ATHENS,
The Brooklyn Divine on His Pill
NJ grimage to the Holy Land.
He Preaches sermon to the Atheniana
Based on Two Passages Of Paups
Ephtle to the Corinthians
The Profound Myster-
les OF Providence. ...

pol
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage, d. D.,
preached recently at Athens, Greece,
basing his discourse on the following
two passages from the Pauline epistles:
I. Corinthians, IL o. ''Eye hath not seen,
nor ear heard" and l.. Corinthians, xiii, 4
.: "For now we see through a glass,
1arkly." The sermon was as follows; N
Both these sentences were written by
the most illustrious merely human be-
Ing the world ever saw, one who walked
these streets, and preached from yonder
pile of rocks, Mars Hill. Though more
classic associations are connected with
this city than with any other city under
the sun, because here Socrates, and
Plato, and Aristotle, and Demosthenes,
ind Pericles, and Herodotus, and Pytha-
yoras, and Xenophpns and Praxitele
wrote, or chiseled, or taught, or thun-
iered, or sung, yetin my mind all those
men and their teachings were eclipsed
by Paul and the gospel he preached In
this city and In your near by city OF
Corinth. Yesterday, standing on the old
fortress at Corinth, the Acro-C -Corinthus,
out from the ruins at It's base arose in
nv Imagination the old city, Just as Paul
saw It. have been told that for splen-
ior the world beholds no such wonder
to-day as that ancient Corinth standing
On the isthmus washed by both seas, the
one sea bringing the commerce Of Eu-
rope, the other sea bringing the conn
merce Of Asia. From her wharves, In
the constructions of which whole king
IONS had been absorbed, war galleys
with three banks Of oars pushed out and
sonfounded the navy yards OF all the
world. Huge-handed mahcinery. such
ls modern invention can not equal,
lifted ships from the sea on one
side and transported them across
the isthmus, and set them down In the
sea on the other side. The revenue ON
GERS Of the city went down through the
olive groves that lined the beach to col
lect tariff from all nations. The mirth
Of all people sported in her Isthmian
games, and the beauty Of all lands sat
In her theaters, walked her porticos,
and threw itself on the altar of her stu
pendous designations Column and statue
and temple bewildered the beholder.
There were white marble fountains into
which, from apertures at the side, there
rushed waters everywhere known for
health giving qualities. Around these
basins, twisted into wreaths Of stone,
there were all the beauties OF sculpture
and architecture, while standing, as II
10 guard the costly display, was statue
Of Hercules OF FURNISHED Corinthian
- brass. Vases OF terra Gotta adorned the
cemeteries OF the dead-vases so costly
that julius Cesar was not satisfied until
he had captured them for Rome, Armed
officials, the corinthari.a paced up and
iown to see that no statue was defaced,
no pedestal overthrown, no bas-relief
touched. From the edge Of the city the
hill held its magnificent burdens OF col
urnns and towers and temples 1000
slaves waiting at one shrine), and cit
adel so thoroughly impregnable that
Gibraltar Is q heap OF sand compared
with It, Amid all that strength and
magnifcence Corinth stood and dHiled
the world. o, Il wts no 9 70 rusticA Who
had never seen anything fFrand that Fhul
uttered one of my t6xt8 They bad
heard the best musId dthathadicom9 from
the best instruments ips all the world;
they had heard sonQs Hosting from
morning porticos and melting IN even
ing groves; they had passed their whole
lives among pictures and sculpture and
architecture and Corinthian brass, which
had been nodded and shaped until
there was no chariot tTwheel in which 1t
q had not sped, and no tower in which II
had not glittered, and no gateway that
II had not adorned. Ah, II WAS q bold
thing for Paul TO stand thete amid all
that and say: "Aif this is nothing.
These sounds which,eofne from the tenn
pie Of Neptune are not music cenpated
with the harmoniee Of which speak. I.
These waters rushing IN the BASIN Of
w.k y i. Mn. 0k IA nc
Of Bacchus and Mercury are not gex-
uuisite. Your citadel OF Aero Corinthus
Is not strong compared with that
which offer TO the poorest slave that
puts down HIS burden at that brazen
gate. You Corinthians think this Is .
splendid city; you think You haye heard
all sweet sounds and seen all Beautiful
sights; but tell you eye hath not seen,
n nor ear heard, neither have entered into
4 the heart Of man thethings which God
\ hath prepared for them that lofe Him. "
Indeed, both my texts, the one spoken
by Paul and the one writer by Paul,
~ show us that we have very imperfect
A eyesight, and that our day ofsyison Is YET
10 come. For now we seethrohgh glass
darkly, but then face TO face. So Paul
takes the responsibilities of, saying that
the Bible Is an indiBtinct mirror, and
tnat its misslon snalt % nnaiy .,E sus
pended. 1 mink mere nay pe one nIplt u,
IN heaven fastened 70 .ns ,nrone. , os'
as now, IN museum, we nays laml
exnumea rom hercuianeun OF Nineven
ana we ooR AZ ~ WIN gIeae inseres.
ana say; HOW poor mgnt ~ must nave
given, compared WIN our m91ern 1s,I
lamps so l tnink tnae snis biDie
whlcn was lamp 70 our leee IN enil