The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-12-21

farewell feast to His disciples, made it the |
tenderest memorial to himself and an !
emancipation celebration for all the world
from the old covenant of
blood to the new covenant OF purity. The
old passover was meal for strengthening
the body; the Lords farewell supper was
chiefly for the consolation and sustenance
OF the soul. 1t was sad festival, for the
man Christ Jesus was was parting from his
friends, and the shadow of HIS troubled
spirit fell upon their anxious, loving ig-
norant hearts. The passover had been a
hurried feast, but the last supper was a long
love-feast with time enough not only to sat
lsfy hunger, but enough for rash. headlong,
but real love to protest against the Masters
object lesson in humility; time enough
for the curious but not overconddent dis
ciples to urge the confident love of John
swered and not rebuked; time enough for
the avarice of Judas, attending under the
disguise OF affection, to see itself detected
and dismissed to the sincerity of crime. to
the eternal punishment of remorse and HUI
man intamy; time enough for a converse
ton whose fragmentary report is our most
dear and cherished legacy of the human
heart of Christ. 1t was glorious supper.
for i'll its gentle and solemn friendliness
was symbolized and signalized the recemp-
ton of the world from tht old domain of
blood and beasts to the new domain Of love
and light.
The world has been long in learning the
lesson which is as yet but partially learned.
The very disciples for whose cOnlpanionship
at this feast their master passionately
longed knew SO little of His spirit and His
mission that they lifted their lips from the
dence. We have not gone SO far beyond
them that we can afford to scott. We
harden His words into coarse literalism; we
reject His tender, pure and sacred symbols,
and insist upou a revolving and impossible
Interpretation, whose hideous features we
strive to veil under the thin disguise of mir
acle. With the moan of Thousand genera
tions In His ears, the moan Of hapless
beasts massacred in vain expiations, the
sinless son of God held up the bread that
gives but not surrenders life, and made it
the parting token of His willing sacrifice,
is my body.' To the innocent blood of
sacriticial slaughter crying unto Him from
the ground of the whole earth He listened
and made answer. He took the cup and
said unto them: "lhls is my blood of the
New Testament" What was it2 Not blood
ulant. What was it? Not flesh at all, but
the fruit Of the ground, a real nutriment.
How can this man give us His flesh to
eat?' asked the heavy proved Jew. II am
the living bread,' answered Jesus. II am
that bread of life. He that believeth on me
uuuL 6v6EAASGluX llIGs DuVs more DlluO
than the blindest scribe and more stolid
than the stolidest Pharisee, without the ex-
cuse of a. long established custom of atone
ment by beast and Of expiation by blood.
without the excuse OF the natural hostility
to innovation, there are thousands among US
to-day who turn away from Christ's puri6-
cation ana naturalization Of Worship. and
when asked, How can this man give us
His flesh to eat?'' reply. "By miracle!"
We are so determined to worship with blood
and sacrifice, we are 30 resolved to 90 back
to the beggarly elements of this pagan
world from which Christ came to see US,
that We summon the Lord from His spirit
ual heavens into a loaf Of bread in order
that there may be something to sacrifice!
This is not an Improvement on the Jew
ish ritual; it ia retrogression to the pagan
ritual. 1t there must be sacrifice, it is
better to sacrifice an animal than man, If
that man is the prince of life, the Son of
out name. II there must be priest to
sustain religion, better that it should be a
Jew Staying bullock upon nn altar than
God crucifying His beloved Son upon the
cross, because that ia a proclamation of the
heavens.
It is difficult to speak of this with the re-
spect due to thought and sincerity. It is in
direct and degrading opposition to the
teaching and trend of our Lord. IT it could
be true, it would be shocking beyond ex-
preston. It would substitute for the ten
derest rite Of Christianitythe grossest rite,
Paul's rhetoric in stating the doctrine OF
Christ's 'sacrihciar' and 'expiatory" work
in behalf of sinners is declared to have been
necessitated by the fact that he was preach
ing to people still bound in the thongs of
the Mosaic law and still within sight of the
cross. 'What WAS a wise, practical form
Of sound words in Pauls days." adds Miss
Hamilton, "is but historical, not prac-
tical, form of sound words for us. *.''
Nearly every phrase which is here cited
from the Bible should be obsolete-should
be used never except in its appropriate his
says, impaired their own coloring to the
rhetoric of piety," and fright full colorinR
it is, CHASTITY and repulsive:
There is fountain filed with blood
Drawn from lmmanuel's veins.
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains"
Not hing but long usage prevents US from
seeing the hideOusness of the picture. The
Jews were familiar with blood. We recoil
from it. For us blood does not cleanse. It
stains. 1t is the stain of stains. For us
there is no sacrificial atonin2 quality in
blood. 1t is the sign manual of the gravest
crime. ~
:'Reconciled to God by the death of His
Son." redemption through his blood"
Christ our passover" 'set forth to be
Precipitation through faith in his blood'-
they are all relics Of Judaism and of the
pagan element in Judaism. Paul was la
boring to show it; to convince the Jews
that the law-of which Precipitation and
justification were u component part-was
good for nothing; was obsolete. BY the
deeds of the law shall no flesh DO justified.
The righteousness of God-alone,
without the law, outside of the law,
having nothing to do with the
iaw-is manifested in Christ Jesus
proclaiming redemption through repent
ance. All the Precipitation which God wants
is repentance, which is technically no pro-
pitiation at all. Faith in Christ is not faith
in the blood Of His body. but in the in
SEPARATION of His spirit.
All this gives some idea of Gail Ham
ilton's theology, as presented Sunday after
Sunday to her Bible class of distinguished
women and men in Washington, and now
touches on many topics. She sets the doc
trine of election as taught by st. Paul
against the doctrine of election as taught
bv the Presbyterian standards and the
Congregational creeds. and claims that
Paurs words and doctrines have been Jug
gled in the interests of theologians and
schools of belief. Presbyterianism comes
in for a full share of the authors sarcasm
and scorn. Among other things she says:
1t is surely most curious twist of the
illogical candor and ingenuity which makes
Paul preach the opposite of his humane
and liberal thought. He has passed through
Il looking-glass world. Ho taught that God
would contine himself to the Jews, but was
Father of the Gentiles also; and men have
bejuggled it into wicked doctrine that