The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-04-02

tributed to him by Col. Ingersoll? 1t
requires no argument to demonstrate
that the mistakes" if real, would have
been fatal to the commemoration Of the
day. The ages cannot pause to cele-
brate the anniversary of an untruth,
much less can Christian civilization
be perpetuated upon a fallacy. The
highest flights of American patriotism
would not be equal to the task of hon
oring the Fourth of July if there was no
antecedent truth upon which to base
the national jubilee. The nations natal
day means something; it is founded
upon a historical fact, and because it is
fact mighty people unite in anthems
and peans of national rejoicing.
Historically, Easter commentaries a
risen Saviour. Spiritually, it means
more than that. For Redeemer, risen
from the grave, enthroned in Henven,
typical of human hope and the assured
life beyond the tomb, is the embodiment
of all religious truth. Jesus predicted
his Messiahship upon the truths of the
Old Testament as well as those he came
to reveal. A Messiahship based upon
"the mistakes of Moses and the other
prophets would be homogeneous and
farcical. Easter, therefore, stands forth
as the eternal signal light of a great and
undying truth. The waves Of skepti-
cism in all ages have beaten against
this rock in vain. Voltaire and Paine
and Hume assaulted it from varied stand
points, but there itshines more luminous
I,,
tools of the earlier skeptical writers as
others in turn will refuse to use his;
but there stands Easter, century after
century, to herald TO increasing millions
the glory of the truth.
1t is sometimes helpful and inspiring
to look upon truth from fresh vantage
grounds. If we study the truths of the
Old Testament as Jesus studied and pro-
claimed them, we get better insight
into all that is meant by His descent
into the dark tomb and His glorious
emergence. The books of the Bible.
written by various authors at different
periods of the worlds history, par
taking so largely Of local coloring,
nodded by the environments of the
writers, unless inspired must have alb
sorbed inevitably some of the contem-
pOraneous beliefs, creeds, maxims and
traditions in morals, political economy,
philosophy, astronomy, geology, med
icine and kindred sciences of the pagan
nations. Outside of the Bible all the
writings of those ages are more or less
permeated with gross errors. The most
fantastic notions prevailed about the
cosmogony of the universe, the nature
of the elements, the structure of the
globe, the cause and cure of disease, the
movements of the heavenly bodies and
all the physical phenomena known to
man. There was absolutely no escape
from the infiltration of these false con-
cepts into the books of the Bible,
written by a variety of authors I'M
known to each other and living in
periods widely separated, unless the
writers were inspired by superior ex-
istence whom we call God, and whom
Christ calls by the precious name of
Father. There is no escape from this
conclusion by any accepted rule of
logic.
But the Bible is free from all these
errors. This one characteristic of the
sacred writings is alone the greatest |
miracle of the ages. For though Christ |
raised the dead He had not the power
to raise such tremendous historic fact |
out of the grave of untruth
Easter, then, in commemorating |
Christ's resurrection, commentaries all |
truth. 1t is beacon light of tremen-
dous significance reaching across the
ages to the cradle of mankind and |
sweeping onward into the eons of eter.
nifty. ]. L. WAITE