St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-09-15

was the attitude which men ought to
hold toward the supernatural, and with
reference to this problem Arnold'S
books, Literature and Dogma" and
'GOd and the Bible,' were compared
with BrOwning'S tranScendental study
as found in death in the Desert" The
address closed with prediction that
''aS aesthetics were completed in Greece
because mems ideals of beauty were
realized and exhausted. so the time
would come when the religious striv-
Hebrew race, would reach a manifest
development in thought and institu-
tons as perfect for the uses of worship
as the Statuary of Greece was for the
revelation of beauty.
The evening subject was drawn from
the parable Of Dives and Lazarus. as
found in the sixteenth chapter of Luke.
DR.. Smith again occupied the pulpit.
The fruitfulneSS of CllriSt'S words was
indicated by the statement that Dante's
Inferno" had blossOmed out from the
seed found in this story of a man in
hell. The story was not told to satisfy
curiosity as to the nature of human
punishment in the future life. The ref
erence to human punishment was incl
dental aud was only to instruct us as to
fate of the rich man pronounced the
sentence against pride and selfishness.
The picture of Abraham'S bosom babe
men not to be cast down by the adverse
fate of life, for promised the trans
fguration of earJa'S woes. The doctrine
is that the wrongs of this world are not
eternal. The great lesson is to teach us
what to do with opportunity if we have
it, and not to grow faint of heart if OPP
portunity be lacking. No Lazarus
could ever coo! the parched tongue
of any bad man either in earth
or in hell. The lurd flames of untamed
passions can never be quenched by any
friend OF neighbor. Differ en- :es OF
character in every world make great
gulf. 1t can never be bridged for those
who seek to escape the penalty of sin
rather than to be set free from sin itself.
As the first lesson is our relation to op-
portunity, so the second lesson is our
relation to truth. LET Lazarus CO."
cries Dives. 'back to my fathers house
and warn my five brethren" This
shows that even hell had not wholly
maze him bankrupt in good impulses.
But the reply was: They have Moses
and the prophets" NAY, but" per-
sisted Dives, IF one rose from the dead
they would hear" But his mouth is
stopped with the words: IF they hear
not Moses and the prophets, neither
one Use from the dead" Ire
mendous teachings are there in these
words to instruct us in the conduct of
life. 1t is useless for man who is not
faithful to the truth he has to seek for
more. Men are not saved to the extent
of their knowledge, by the splendOr Of
the revelations which may come to
them, but by obedience to such truth as
they know, whether that truth be great
or small. Dramatic displays of Gods
power are not certainly effective. 1t is
said that when the earthquake shook
Charleston awhile ago the streets were
full of people upon their knees engaged
i'll prayer. On the other hand, when
Paris was in the midst of the black
plague, and there were funerals Oh each
square of the peSt-haunted city, every
revel known to that gay capital was
busy with it's CHASTITY gaiety. To those
who wish that they knew more of the
evidences of Christianity, that they
might be certain whether it be
true or false; to those who
look out into the darkness and
long that some voice from the
silent land might speak to them the re-
alities of an Immortal life, | give the
message of this parable; be thou faith
full to the truth thou hast. There are
many things that we are not to know in
this world; there are certain to be many
things which we shall not know in the
next world. Let us not on this account
permit anxiety to feed too much upon
our hearts. Continuous miracle would
cease to be miracle and would defeat
its purpose. Unused truth cannot
make a saint, as unread libraries will
not make scholar. The messages OF
love and self-sacrifice, of purity and
honor, which the gospel contains are
convincing. attractive, sufficient. The
soul that is not anxious to profit by the
truth which it has is soul already with
out hope. Neither would he believe
| though one rose from the dead"