The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-10-11

this he rcrroved tho child saying: wbere,or.
dost thou ON tho Sabbath such things as ars
nor lawful Tor us to do? And when Jesus hcord
Joseph he struck his hands together and soN
TO hte spnrrnws. Flyi And at tho voice ~ b;.
command thcy began to fly. Aud whom thos.
that were there saw tn, miracle thcy vvor.
filled with great nstonishmcn," This tu,,
ponetrntcd even to Iceland: It has boon found
In collection of 1ceandic legends. where Il 4,
entitled Tho Saviour and the Golden ploycrs"
Here Ia another story from the same nry,rv.
phal narrative: Now. Jesus was years ola
and his mother sent him with ritchcrt, IN,
fountain to draw water with tho rhillro,
And IL came to PASS after liz had drawn m,
water that ono OF tho children camc against
him and struck the pitcher and hrokc II. pu,
Jesus stretched out tho cloak which he had On
and took UP In It "a much wntcr ~ there had
been In tho pitcher and carried Il 70 HE
mother The Gospel Of tho Infancy oven rom
resents tho divine child aa using his surc-
natural powers in the wnntonncss Of cruci,,
Tor tho purpose OF avcngng himself on M,
little playmates for their offences ar,in,
him. Thus we nro told that n hoy. n w,rt,,
OF iniqulty. came up and showed against tina
shoulder Of Jesus. wishing to make sport NJ
him or to hurt him II no could" And jesus
said to him: Thou shalt not go hnrk safe and
sound from tho way that thou gocst." And
Immediately the boy fell down and ,,icd. And
the parents OF tho dead boy who hnl s.cn villa.
had happened cried out. saving: "Whcr,
does this child como from? 7" AMI they ron,,
planned to Joseph. After some delay jesus "a.
stored tho boy to life
Mr.. Bernard points out how eagerly ,h,,.
stories werc assimilated by Muhammcdanism.
In the Koran. for Instance. We nni accounts
OF Mary being devoted to God ly Anna and q,
her being sustained durin. he: scjoUrn In III,
Temple by dlvincly sent fruit, of our Lord
speaking while yet in his crndlc. aud Of h;s
manufacture OF living sparlow- ont - mud
These and other LEGENDS relating t. Chris.
arc thought to havo reached Mohammcdans
through tho medium of a document ldistinct
from any OF the narratives hithrri mcnt toned
called the Arabic Gospel OF the Infancy which
1t seems IL still in some rrr,tn among ,hr
HISTORIANS Of Syria. 1t seems tu have bcrn
compiled as late ~ the NTH r"nidrr. A. b.
and has som" touches which brtrav an East.
ern origin. Thus it rcrornts that The coming
OF the wise men who were led 10y tho star To- thu
infant Saviour. had been predicted iy Iu-oas.
terthe Persian sage. 1t relates also. mans mira.
ces which arc said to have happened during
the flight Of the Holy Family into Egypt. Thus
In ono city denionnr ruuuG woman i, healed
ont OF whom Satan departs il, n form possibly
las Bishop EllicOtt rGmarksl unly t., rnmmo,
in the form Of Il yolng man. We add on.
more OF the stories reproduced by NJ. Bernard
from the Arabic GOSPEL Of tho Infancy. One.
upon time in Bethlehem So il i RECORDED.
the Divine Child. with some Of his rlayma'es,
went into shop Of dyer Finding him all.
sent and the coast clear. the children threw
all the cloths in the shop into n tub fall % blue.
When the dyer returned he wa, much vryel.
whercupon Jesus changed back each OF the
cloths to It's proper color. So strong a hold
did the story take on the popular imagination
that in Persia. according totravellcrs, II dyers
shop is still called Il Christ's shop.
Why. 1t may be asked do orthodox Christians
reject these legends while they accept til,
stories Of miracles set down in the regular t"s.
pels? Mr. Bernard answers that The former ara
not rejected because Of their miraculous char.
acter rs such. They are rejected he"alIs" tia
alleged miracles are not morally hcncllra'
Because they are p,,rpusrl"ss and herau..
they are badly ntteste,l. Moreover. the r..
mances which narrat" them G"c not anthem
tie. having no Ienlonstrablc connection with |
the persons whose name they bear. il is a.
the same time suggested that Will. disayow.
ing the myths superstitioIsly adopted br
medirvaism. il is well to remember that from
the faith Of medieval Christianity we INHERIT |
our own.