The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1891-12-02

his iltLOlIC CcSCIIotu ny uAAASOAA 90
contemplate, had By his sermons rocked
Athens with comMo.ion, and he Was
summoned either by writ or laT or
nearly invitation " come upon tna1
puipiL Of rock and give q spsciolen OF
his theology. All The wlse-acres Of
Athens turned out and turned up 10
hear him. The more venerable OF taem
set in an .mphitheater, the granite
sSalS Of which are Stiil visible, out Tue
other peOpIe swarmed on all sides OF
tn. hill and at the base OF it to nsar
this man, whom Some called fanatic,
and others called q madcap, anG Others
blasphcmer, and others styled con-
semptuouSly this fellow"
Paul arrived in answer to the writ OF
invitation, and confronted than aud
gave them the biggest dose that NOR
tails ever TOOK. He was SO built that
nothing could scare him, and as 1of
Juc.teT and Athezia, the god and lle
youGess, whose images were III tut
sight on the adjoining hill, he had not
50 much regard tor them rs 20 htso tor
the AIT that was crawling n the s.,ni
under his feet. In that audience were
the first orators OF the world, anu they
had voices like flutes when tney were
passive, and like trumpsts Wheli they
we're aroused, and | think they laughed
i'll the sleeves Of their gowns as this III
significant looking man roSe 10 SPEAK.
III that audience were Schollasts, "no
knew everything, or thought they CID,
and from IL ecu ot the longest halr CT
the top OF their c-aulums To the emu "
the nal Oh The longest toe, tney Here
stuffed With hypercr!tlcism, ana INey
leaned back with d supcrcillou5 JOCK 70
listen. AS in 1889, l stood Oh That ioc:l
where Paul stood, and d SLAB of which
| brought from Athens by consent CT
the queen, through Mr. TrlcouplS, the
prime minister, aud had p!a;ed Ii yon-
Ger Memorial Wall, l read the "hole
story, Bible ii hand.
What have so Tar said in this dis
course was necessary 10 order that you
may understand the boldne.S, the uen-
ance, the holy recklessness, the Mag
nllce4cc OF Paul's speech. LIE 1rsS
thuuucr5clt he launched at the opposite
hin-the AcropoiiS-thaC moment 2ii
agi:tter with Idols ant temples. lie
cries out, Coo WnO made the Toilc.
Why, they thought tnat PrOmetheus
maze il, tua1 Mercury made II, llas
Apollo made 1t, that loSetton miiae IL,
that Eros made 1t, thai PanCrocuS made
| 1t, tnat Boreas made il, that IL TOOK I'll
the gods of the Partheuon, yea, al The
| gods and godde.ses OK the Acfopolls 10
make it, and mere stands g man "lCl-
out any ecclesiastical title, Geltner ~.
d., nor even a reverend, declaring :Aat
tbs world was made by the Lord OF
heaven and earth, and hence the INFER
euce that al the splendid covering o1
the Acropo!is, So near that the people
standing on the steps OF the Partnenon
could hear il, Was a deceit, q falsehood,
sham. ulasphemy. LOOK at tDe
faces OF his auditors; they are turning
| pale, and then red, and tnen WraLhiut'
There had BEEN several earthquakes ID
that region, but that was the seTereS[
Shock these men had ever iel!.
TIE Persians had Dombafdcd the
Acropo!is from the heights Of Mars
Hill. but this Pauline DomDsrdmenl
was greater and more terrific. IVY haE,
said MS hearers, nave We been hauling
with many yokeS OF oxen for centuries
these blocks from the quarrles CT Mount
Pentellcum, and have we had our arcn-
lte:ts putting up these structures OF ia,
pareile.ed splendor, and have we had
The greatest OF all sculptors, fnldlas.
with his men cn!seling away at tnooe
wondrous pedimenis and cutting away
at these frIeZes, and nave We taxed the
nations resources TO the utmost, no"
to be told that those statues see notn-
ing, hear nothing, know nothing
On, Paul, stop Tor a moment ana give
these startled aud overwhelmed audi
tors time to catch their breath. Make
a rhetorical pause. Take look arounu
you at the interesting landscape, ano
give your hearers time to recover! Se
be Gees not make even perioo, or 81
much as = colon or semicolon, on. !aun.
ches the second thund.Ibolt fis1t s.,'es g
the first and ic the same br0esn soss s
on to say, God "dwellsth not IN 'o~ple.
made with hands" Oh, Paul. Is no'
daity more IL the Parthenon, OF more
in the Erechtheium, or more IN the
temple Of Zeus Olympus than in the
open air, more than on the hill where
we are sitting, more than on Mount
Hymettus out yonder, from which the
bees get their honey "Ne more. re-
spends Paul, "He dwelleth not in TEN
pies made with hands"
But surely tho preacher on the pull
pit Of rock on Mars Hill will stop now.
His audience can endure no more. Two
thunderbolts are enough. No, IN The
same breath he launches the third thua-
derboit, which to them Is more fiery,
more terrible, more demolisbing than
| the others, as be cries cut, "hath made
OF one blood all nations" On, Paul.
you forget you are speaking to the
prosdest and most exclusive audience
in the world. DO notsay "ot one blood. "
You cannot mean that. Had Socrates
and Plato and Demosthenes and Scion
and Lycurgus and Draco and Sophocies
and Euripides and IEschylus and Peri
cles and Phidlas and Miltiades blood
Just like the Persians, like the Turks,
like the Egyptians, like the common
nerd Of humanity? q es," says Paul,
"of one blood all nations
Surely that must be the closing para
graph of the sermon. His auditors
must let mp from the nervous strain.
Paul has smashed the Acropoiis and
smashed the national pride OF the
Greeks, and what more can he say: ::
Those Grecian orators, standing on that
place, always closed their addresses
with something sublime and clinac-
trc-a pe1oration-and Paul IS going
TO give them peroration which will
ecNps. in power and magesty ali that
he has yet said. Heretofore he has hurl-
ed one thunderboIt at a tins; now he
will close by hurting tive at once. The
little old man, under the power Of his
speech, has Strengthened himself up,
and the stoop has gone out of his shoul-
Gers, and he looks about three feet tall
OF than when he began; and his eyes,
which were quiet, became tNo flames
OF fire; and his face, which was calm il
the introduction, now depicts WAirl-
wind of emotion as he ties the two
thunderbelts together with a cord Of in
consumab!e courage and hurls them at
the crowd now standing or sitting
arhast-the two tiUnGerSOitS of RaSur-