Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-01-26
TWO KINDS OF RELIGIONS.

ocroll. The beginnings OF religion are at
last considered worthy of scientific treat
ment.
TWO KINDS OF RELIGIONS.
There are two kinds of relgions-the
rthnic. like the Egyptian, which confines
;tself TO the interests of single races, and
the Catholic. which oyerleaps racial limits
and aims of the dominion of the world. IL
;s a significant fact that the five great
Catholic religions are the only ones that
have been founded through vivid person.
ality. Their originators believed them
selyes inspired with new and saving
trrth. These were Confucius, Buddha,
Zoroaster, Mohammed, and Christ. Each
of these was born. eat, drank. married,
and died like other men-with one excep-
ton.
our lesson gives us an artistic as well as
n thrilling account OF the advent OF CHRIST.
Glance over the second chapter of Luke
from the eighth to the twentieth verse.
There is no sweeter story in the religious
writings Of all the nations of the world.
Not one of their great prophets was born
so pioturesquely and benignly.
coNYUcIUs AND ZoRoAsTER.
As far as we know. the Chinese do not
claim miraculous phenomena at the birth
of Confucius. He was born 551 b. @. His
ancestors were illustrious statesmen in the
KINGDOM of Loo. There is no special in
formation to be had about his birth or ex-
IRENE youth, except that he had the great;
est bump of reverence on record, formed
on the top of his head. in consequence OF
which he was named Kew"
who was Zoroaster? This is as great
riddle as the nature of the Trinity. He
has no personal history. His infancy must
have been excessive. for he was born ac-
cording to Hermippus, b. G.. $3.50, and ac-
cording to Professor Whitney of Yale, Is.
G. 1000. Marion Crawford has cleverly ex-
hausted imaginative information In his
exciting novel "Zoroaster."' At best, no
phenomena are recorded and we know ab-
solutely nothing about his birth.
MoHAMMED.
Take Mohammed: Here we have history
and plenty of tradition. He was born at
least of parents. in Mecca, between 567 and
57l A. d. Many of his biographies are well
educated up 10 the necessities OF the case,
and insist that his birth was accompanied
bv important miracles. The sacred fires
OF the Parsees were extinguished: The
palace Of the Persian King was shaken.
lake Sawa dried up. and other innumera-
BILE prodigies occurred after the style, and
borrowed from the apochrvphal childhood
of Christ. We do know that, as baby, he
had fits, which increased in intensity as he
crew up. and finally became the conduit OF
his inspirations. As Mohammedanlsm
numbers PIG, 000,0 600 followers we must ac-
cept with respect their miraculous preten-
sions.
BUDDHA.
BY far the most dramatic birth happened
TO Buddha, the immortal come-outer Oh
the Brahmin faith. His followers are 2O9,-
GOO 600 strong, and his debut was certainly
significant. The Sacred Books state that
while in the Fourth Heaven he determined
To save the world and so chose TO be born
the son of a king in the city of Kapilavasta.
His mother was virgin. and she, too, was
descendant, like Mary the mother OF Jesus,
of the kings of the land. Leaving Heaven
as O white elephant, Siddartha was con,
ceived as q fye-colOred ray OF light, ana
was born in a physically impossible way,
about $40 Il. c.. amid appropriate and re-
spectacle phenomena. He had the preco-
CITY to proclaim his mission as soon as he
Leaving Zoroaster, the Magian mystery
ont of account, what do we find? Two
prophets were born in the purple-Con-
fucius and Buddha; two in poverty,
Christ and Mohammed. All except Mo-
manned traced their descent from kings.
and their biographers made the most of
| the fact. Miracles came with three:
Buddha. Mohammed and Christ. The
most doubtful miracles are the Moham-
medan.
| THE ADoRATIoN OF CHRIST.
By far the simplest and most probable.
demonstrations attended the birth OF
| Christ. That is apparent by easy comparl-
son. In contrast to the vagueness OF out
| line. the crudity Of the miracle, how
beautiful we may say. how reasonable,
how satisfactory to the taste and to the
heart are the phenomena that ushered the
| Christian Saviour into the world! -,
1t is q striking fact that the child IN the
rock-hewn stable was first welcomed by an
extraordinary social selection. The anti
podes of society bowed before him. The
manual laborer and the braln-worker the
rich and the poor. the shepherd and the
SAGE. alike Hceived the mysterious sum-
mons and answered the call. Each recog;
nized the worlds master-spirit imprisoned
in wide-eyed babyhood, and each hastened
with significant eagerness and reverence
to accept. to give. and to adore.
ToLERArIos AND EQUALITY.
Here are the tawny guardians OF sheep,
the fighters Of wolves and of robbers: be-
sides them the silken. intellectual. refined,
the most cultured philosophers of the
Eastern World 1t was the first righteous
law of this strange advent that the prince
and the pauper should jostle each other in
the limestone grotto. on the same footing
before the baby king of liberation and
equality. We will venture TO say that at
this first service in the Christian Church,
Joseph. officiating as doorkeeper, did not
shove the homely. rough shepherd into q
back haymow for the sako OF giving the
elegant Magians q full front view.
Christian worship is nothing if not demo-
cratic. Fine clothes are not inconsistent
with devout heart. but pair of over
alls does not necessarily envelope the
lower limbs of heather. Advanced city
workers now know this. The broad-aisle
pews have to hear it-and bear it.
TIE NEW UNIVERSITY CLUB.
Probably the new University Club in
London, started by Cambridge and Ok
ford graduates, situated IL the very
pulse-beat OF the slums, has come
nearer to solving the question of Chris
tian brotherhood than any other move
ment in modern times. No shingle
Chapel" is tackled up to finish the
spiritual pauperization of q morally
decrepit community. This institution
is too virile to make that humanity
blunder. 1t is not carried on by the pro-
ceeds of swelLfair held by the parent
church under the patronage OF Mrs. Da-
kotah Bond and Mrs. Watered Stock. NO
| tDeOiORlchl STUDENT IL cuRd8cu W uOlu wv
services Sunday for those that are either
paid in washing or mending, pennies or
promises. to attend. Here the young men
1--we. Here they sleep. they eat. They
mingle on terms of equality with their
neighbors, the toughs." They put on nc
airs. They pretend to no mental or spiritual
advantages. They hold meetings, have de-
bates, play games with beggars and thieves
They attract by being men. That is suffi-
Gent guarantee of the sincerity OF their
purpose. They see that the streets are
clean, then they wash the babies, then they
scour the tenements, then they regenerate
O character. Now they save life. Exam
pie and straightforward work do it; nc
favors asked or given. 1t is man meeting
man and Christ meeting both.
ALL AT WORK.
Such work Is what the times demand
But let US give the Church, as well as the
devil, its due. 1t needs it. 1t has begun
10 wake up. At present there are in this
country dozen representative churches
each of which has its carpenter-shop IL.