The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-08-02

venture He sleepeth and must not be
casion for the men of Baal. and the
whole occasion was of a most solemn
and awful character. On the whole. it
must be admitted that there is nothing
in the bible that can be called a joke
in our modern acceptance of the word.
and the fact has been used effectively
by those who oppose pulpit testing.
Probably it was never put more effect
lively than by COwper in the following
lines:
He that negotiates between God and man,
As Gods ambassador. the grand concerns
OF judgment and of mercy, should be-
OF lightness in his speech. Ills pitiful
To court a grin where you should WOO
To break a jest, when pity should inspire
Pathetic exhortation; and 10 address
The skittish fancy with facetious tales,
When sent with Gods commission to the
So did not Paul Direct me to a quip
Or merry turn in all he ever wrote.
And 1 consent you take it for your text,
Your only one till sides and benches fail.
No: he was serious in serious cause,
And understood too well the weighty terms
That He had ta'en in charge. He would
To conquer those by jocuIar exploits
Whom truth and soberness assailed in
vain.
At first blush this argument seems I'M
answerable, and yet a very strong
answer may be found to it in the
changed conditions Of life when those
times are compared with the present.
These changed conditions are not alone
the advances in science and art that
make our forms of worship so different
now from the forms of ancient times.
Life was more serious then than ii is
now, and people had a very different
idea of humor then. When Elijah could
call for the death of the prophets of
Baal because their sacrifice was not con-
sumed, when the daughter of Herodias
after dancing before the king could ask
the head of John the Baptist as a re-
ward when Christ could be crucifed,
when Stephen could be stoned, when the
masses could enjoy seeing their fellow
humans torn to pieces by wild beasts,
when the word Of Herod could cause
the death of the male infants of his
country, when Nero could make torches
of his Christian subjects. it is not to be
imagined that diversion would be found
in the quips and merry turns that are
considered amusing now. The same
difference may be seen now by turning
from the civilized nations of the world
to he har Of ri or
other countries where the frown of
savage monarch means the torture or
death of the offending subject. Life is as
serious there as it was in ancient times.
which permits the mind to turn freely
to amusement.
In all the bible there is but one char
acter who shows any sense of humor,
strength made him fearless. His riddle,
his mocking deceit of Delilah, and his
sending the foxes with firebrands into
the wheat of the Philistines, show a
manifest in his plucking up the gates of
GAIA and carry them away to the hill
top while his would-be captors slept. But
Samson was free from the apprehension
of damage that lay over the masses. The
enemies of the Philistines were nothing
TO him. He feared no ruler. and he had
no rulers dread of assassination. He
lived in something like the atmosphere
of safety that we enjoy now. AS we have
lost the dread that hung over the people
of bible times, it is but natural that our
lives should be lighter and brighter. We
are enjoying the blessings of Christian
freedom and safety. 1t is not to be ex-
pected that we should have the same
solemn view of our surroundings as the
Christian martyrs who were expecting
to be killed at any time. Paul tells the
Corinthians that he was five times
whipped with stripes. thrice beaten with
rocks and once stoned, besides numerous
imprisonments and casualties. What
did he have to joke about? Life was a
very serious thing to him, and you can
hardly expect a preacher of today to
view it as he did.