Blue-grass blade., 1891-11-07

Brecl-inridge and Rev. Lyman
: Abbott, from Kentucky and
; Brooklyn, New York, respective
ly, AMI two of the most prominent
Preshyterians in the United
States, had gone all the way to
Kansas to help the saloon men
beat Prohibition. The New York
Voice, the national organ of Pro-
; hibitipn, said 1--WE want some
sanctifed cursing DONE, and l
said ''Damn such men,; and l will
not take it back il it ruins the
Blade.
l aia not much "sanctifed", but
| am an ordained minister, and
neither the church nor the state
has ever revoked my license as
such But like your "iridescent"
namesake from Kansas | am "out
of a job" in theology as he is in
craftsmanship.
While L think about it if you
want % pay me for my paper the
price Is the same old thing; $500
a year, unless you are poor man,
and then it is $l.OO. You knew
that, and ought to know that I do
not send any bills.
My brother, | have been study
ing men so long that you are Just
as transparent to me as a piece of
French plate glass.
There Is not a sentence in your
whole letter that breathes the
spirit of the Christian religion.
You did not write it because you
wanted to do good aud make
somebody happy.
You knew l was in a fearful
minority in this country, and that
even OF the people who think as l
do about religion, there are very
few who will openly say so. The
fellows that got Jesus Christ cru
CITED, didn't have to stop to argue
the case with him; they simply
yelled out "Crucify him.. You
object to my saying that Jesus
Christ was not born of ga liaisOn
of God with a woman. Your
Language seems to indicate that
you think he was 50 born.
You have got sense enough to
know that no woman ever had
child Of which 4 God or a ghost
was th4 father, and you are just
talking and writing for buncOmb,
because other people around you
are doing the same thing.
jesus may have called himself a
son OF God, but he pointed to
other d zen who were trying to do
good AID said 10 them "Now are
We the sons of God'; and he taught
all % is followers to speak of
God asIOur Father.
You don't know much about
the NeE Testament and the story
of Jesge, else, when 1 spoke of
Jesus at loving Mary, the sister of
Lazarus, who was pure. beauti-
ful, and sweet woman, you would
not have confounded her with
Mary Magdalene, a fallen but
penitent woman
1t would take too long to ex-
plain to you what was implied in
my mention of Gen. Lew Wal
lace's having left out of "Ben
Hurr" the Glove story of Jesus
and Mary the sister of Lazarus.
l will quote you from my book,
''The Rational View, page 356,
what l have there said on that
subject.
1t is as follows:
''On the other hand, the utter
ances OF Jesus and Paul seem
rather to disparage matrimony;
though Jesus seems to have
slowed Lazarus" and | think it
eminently to his credit to say that
his love of Lazarus was, perhaps.
no little enhanced because Lazarus
had two pretty and bright sisters
that entertained him nicely, the
one presiding in the parlor and
the other in the kitchen, when he
took his frequent evening walks
out to Bethany, about three miles
from Jerusalem, and stayed at the
house Of Lazarus and his sisters
until the next morning, where the
attractive Mary sat and listened
long to the beautiful ideas that
Jesus enunciated in his cOnversa-
ton, and with rapture more ex
alted than that with which Des- /
demona listened to the rec;tals of .
OthellO.
1t has always sounded to NE
like a story of human love for a
human woman, who was not the .
less attractive for her genuine
humanity, that made Jesus express
a little gallant partiality for the
probably younger and brighter
and prettler sister, who sat in the
parlor and talked to him, while .
her more domestic and more
home-spun sister was busy in the .
kitchen, and really making sac
rifice for his personal comfort, by |
getting him a nice supperof bread
and cakes and lamb and fish and
milk and honey, while she wor-
ried herself by misplacing forks
and spoons and dish-rags and pot
hooks, as she was wondering and
thinking what Jesus and Mary
were probably talking about in
the parlor.
To say that Jesus was touched
with a feeling of our intirmities,