St. Paul daily globe., 1890-12-29
A CHRISTMAS SERMON.
The World Plus Christ-Repent-
ance Made Possible.

ance Made Possible.
The following is an abstract of W. J
Lhaman'S Christmas sermon:
Tue world plus Plato means simply
the addition of another man to the myr-
lads of men. In Plato there is no hu-
man impOssibility. Therefore we might
substract him from the sum total of
humanity, and feel that nothing essen
al had been certainly lost, for others
might do his work, or even better
work. SO Socrates seems to us as not
essential; 3 it is not hard to imagine
that others might have done his
work. AS to Buddah and his great
work. the Buddhists themselves
claim him for only one incarnation OF
the light. of which there must be many.
Subtract Homer from the sum of hui
manlty, and you lose only one among
many great poets. Subtract Virgil and
there is still left more good Latin litera-
ture than any school boy can master.
Subtract any great man who is only
man, ana the loss is not irreparable.
For thousands of years history has gone
on adding man to man, and man to
man, much as drop is added to drop in
a rain shower. Altogether we have the
total humanity, with here and there
more noteworthy man. Yet these
greater men are only men, and their ad-
dltion is but an Increase in kind to the
general mass. But given the general
mass of mankind, add Jesus, and all is
changed. Something like chemical
reaction has taken place, and we have
the preclpltate of a new era, new
Kingdom, new relations toward one an
other and toward God.
/ h,,r
Minus COhfuciuS, you have lost door,
but it is not indispensable. Minus Bud
dab, you have lost window. but that is
not Indispensable. Minus Mohammed,
you have lost a sword from the arsenal,
but you are better. perhaps, without it..
Minus the whole line of the Caesars, YOU
have lost q race of terrible masters of
the palace. Minus the whole line of
the popes of Rome, you have lost an
other race of Caesars, not of sayiors.
Minus Christ, you have lost the founda-
ton, and the whole palace crumbles.
offer two suggestions: First-The
World plus Christ is other with respect
to itself. Without Him it advanced. but
it receded. In putting its best foot fore
most it was ever sure to trip. It's philos-
0phles failed to satisfy. Its tides of civ
lllZatlon rolled back, Corruption fol-
historian told US of the rise of Rome
than another begins to tell us of it's
''decline and fall" Unceasing trial
and certain failure is the sad summary
of the worlds work without Christ, But
in Him is the foundation rock for per-
manent building.
Second-The world plus Christ is
other toward God. Jesus is the one
mediator between God and man.
Through Him God seems more like a
supreme father than supreme ruler
we formerly knew God as a creator.
Christ shows Him to be also friend
in history we saw His terror, in Jesus
His mercy; we once knew that He
would punish, we now know also that
He will forgive.
The world plus Christ means, there
fore, reconciliation, the atonement, the
at-one-ment between the world and its
God. The Mediator is at hand. Re-
pentance is made possible, upon which
forgiveness is promised. So by Christ
the waiting Father and His hayward
child are made one again. So the life
of man does not end where the body
lies last, and the story of his love is not
all told when he stands by an open
grave.