Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-09-26
REVIEW OFTHEQUARTER
Lesson XIII, THIRD ouaRTEF, M
TERRATloNAL G1aiEs, oEPT. 2a.

The teachings comprisel in the twelv
lessons preceding are so many, varied an'
important that specific review, or ever
satisfactory mention of each principle ad
vanced, ia manifestly impossible. A fey
salient points, however, should be noted
The development Of Christian doctrines
the fact that these lessons deal chiefly witt
teaching and very little with personal his
tory, and especially the instances given il
llstrating the reasons why mon DO not nc
cept the gospel and order their lives in ac
cordance Herewith. IL she cases of thos
hidden to the supper, one was kept ava,
| by his wife, and another by his oxen; on,
by an unreasonable fondness, ana Gnothe
by mere love Of property.
Again, in the case Of the wealthy youn,
man we have Il very peculiar and affcctin,
instance. The text plainly shows that Ii,
was youth Of much nobility of character
and another evangelist adds that Jesu,
loved him. He wigs no doubt "onc Of thu
most popular men of our community" a,
the modern phrase has it, and yet he had not
abused his wealth or popularity, for he wa,
chaste, temperate and just. And yet ever
he failed to accept Christine had too mucl
money. or ut any rate thought too mucl
of it.
Other characters are the greedy ricl
man, the lazy and voluptuous man, tht
| merely indifferent man, and finally Dives
| against whom no serious allegation i
made-he seems to have been what some
call "a downright good fellow" "a jolly
dog" eating and drinking and having h
good time" never bothering his head
about reforming the world" but Letting
| each fellow look out for himself"
And on him n special condemnation fails
and what fearful condemnation! Out
of all who rejected Christ as recorded in
the quarters lessons he alone is followed
beyond the grave and selected as an in
stance of final and complete Reproduction.
Not the murderer, not the eXtortioner, not
even the impenitent thief-simply the man
who had drifted along and enjoyed him.
self and never inquired about the sick ana
sorrowlng Are we at liberty to conclude
that the state of society in the Roman en-,
pire at that time and the luxury then be
ginning among the wealthy were consid
cred in this parable? And surely there
never was time when the lesson WAS SC
applicable as now; for there never was a
time in the worlds history when so many
us in the United States in this generation
Never was the moral responsibility of the
wealthy so great as now Wealth is not
sinful; but as to life of mere enjoyment
Christ has given us the divine view in His
account of Dives. Of ali the sinners men.
toned during tho quarters lessons Dives
is selected rs the utterly hopeless case
1t should also be specially noted that the
work of the last quarter is practically II
study of Luke's gospel; the student should
therefore, rs occasion serves, examine the
authorities as to Luke. Here it is suiIi
cient to state that he was physician md
man Of learning, n companion for some
time Of st. Paul and author of the "Acts
Of the Apostles" Other facts Of lis lif,
arc not clearly proved, but tho primitive
Christmas received by general tradition
the statement that he was a native of An
tioch, II Greek by blood rather thpn Jew
or, ut any rate, Of Greek rearing and cult
urc, one of the earliest converts aud Il very
careful and diliCcnt student of all things
connected with the earthly life of Christ
The style Of his writing shows that he had
the Historical sense" very well developed
The first mention of this gospel is alleged
to he by Clement of Rome, about the yeal
100; and it is spoken of as work already
generally known to Christians and accepted
us authority For these and many Other
reasons the best judgment is that Luke
wrote his gospel not long before the dc.
struction of Jerusalem, and with the us.
sistance of st. Paul. Tradition ndds that
he died natural death ut the age of g.
after preaching in various countries As
to the style Of Luke it should be noted that
he il careful TO tx the time of each import
ant event by mentioning the rulers in
power Mt the time The construction is
artistic: First is the address to TheophiluS
and u citation of authorities, then the ad
vent of John the Baptist and events in his
toric order 10 the beginning of Christ's
ministry, and then the development of doc
trines and lessons in regular ordor.
The quarter now closing opens with an
impressive lesson on the proper use of the
Sabbath; it Is not to be kept by mere rigid
Journalism, as the Pharisccs kept it, but
with joyous devotion. The old jewish
Sabbath Is done away with. The parable
of the supper follows, and here, rs in many
other places in Luke, the fact is emphasized
that those who held rule among the Jews,
with very rare exceptions, had no welcome
for Jesus. The beginning of a Christian
life" taking up the cross"-the finding of
the lost sheep and tho lost piece of money
and :hc prodigal son ss an example of for
givoness follow rs regular chapters in
serial discourse upon tho work OF grace
The parable Of Dives and Lazarus is the
most vivid picture of the life beyond the
grave given in Christ's teachings, and APP
pror:iatcly closes this division Of this
gospel.
The miracle of the ten lcpcrs, the parable
of the widow who prevailed by prayer and
the contrastcd prayers of the Phnriscc and
publican logically come together as con-
tanning our Lords teaching on the power
of prayer in healing for the soul. Other
parallels and incidents follow, each intro
ducing an important principle of the Chris
tian faith, and the quarter closes with an.
other and most emphatic lesson upon the
hostility of the chief priests and the scrbes.
The student curious upon such matters
should consult some Of the recent discus.
sions on the prophecy concerning The do
struCtion of Jerusalem, and especially The
question lately debated with some heat us
10 whether st. Luke recorded tho prophecy
before or after its fulhllment As the city
was destroyed in a. d. 20, and as Luke was
travelling with St. Paul rs late as 81 lin the
spring of that yearthey reached Rome after
the shipwreck), the question Is ono Of great
interest.
\ Careful Georgian.
A wealthy Georgia man died recently,
and after the last sad rites the family made