The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-05-06

does LIZ Require More faith to Be an In
f1del Than Christian?-verily 1t Seems
So when One Considers the Wild Theories
of Unbelief
BROOKLYN, April 30.-In the Taber-
nacle this forenoon the large audience
listened with rapt attention to power
full discourse by Rev. DR.. Talmage, who
chose for his subject, 'Over All For
ever" the text selected being Romans tx,
8, stChrist came, who is over ALL"
For 1000 years the world had been
waiting for a deliverer-waiting while
empires rose and fell. Conquerors came
and made the world worse instead of
making it better-still the centuries
watched and waited. They looked for
him on thrones, looked for him in pal
aces, looked for him in imperial robes,
looked for him at the head Of armies.
At last they found him in barn. The
cattle stood nearer to him than the an
gels, for the former were in the adioin-
ing stall, while the latter were in the
clouds. A parentage of peasantryl No
room for him in the inn because there
was no one to pay the hotel expense.
Yet the pointing star and the angelic
cantata showed that heaven made up in
appreciation of his worth what the world
lacked. "Christ came, who Is over all,
God blessed forever. Amen"
But who is this Christ who came? AS
to the difference between different de-
nominations of evangelical Christians I
have no concern. fl could by the turn
ing over Of my hand decide whether all
the world shall at last be Baptist or
Methodist or Congregational or Episco-
palian or Presbyterian, I would not turn
my hand. But there are doctrines which
ere vital to the soul. If Christ be not
God, we are idolators. To this Christie
logical question I devote myself this
morning and pray God that we may
think right and do Alright in regard to
question in which mistake is infinite.
! THR FAITH OF THE INFIDEL.
I suppose that the majority of those
here today assembled believe the Bible.
It requires as much faith to be an infdel
as to be Christian. It is faith in diff
ferent direction. The Christian has faith
in the teachings of Matthew, Luke, John,
Paul, Isaiah, Moses. The infdel has
faith in the free thinkers. We have faith
in one class of men. They have faith in
another class of men. But as the major
ity of those, perhaps all of those here as
sembled, are willing to take the Bible
for standard in morals and in faith,
make this book my starting point.
suppose you are aware that the two
generals who have marsnaled the great
armies against the deity of Jesus Christ
are Strauss and Renan. The number Of
their slain will not be counted until che
trumpet of the archangel sounds the roll
call of the resurrection. Those men and
their sympathizers saw that if they could
destroy the fortress of the miracles they
could destroy Christianity, and they
were right Surrender the miracles and
you surrender Christianity. The great
German exegete says that all the mira
cles were myths. The great French ex-
egete says that all the miracles were le-
gends. They propose to take everything
supernatural from the life of Christ and
everything supernatural from the Bible.
They prefer the miracles of human nom
sense to TIE glorious miracles of Jesus
Christ.
They say there was no miraculous birth
in Bethlehem, but that it is all fanciful
story, just like the story of Romulus
said to have been born of Rhea Silvia
and the god Mars. They say no star
pointed to the manger; it was only the
fash of a passing lantern. They say
there was no miraculous making of
bread, but that it is corruption of the
story that Elisha gave 20 loaves of bread
to hundred men. They say the water
was never turned into wine, but that it is
Q corruption of the story that the Egyp-
tian plague turned the water into blood.
They say it is no wonder that Christ
sweat great drops Of blood; he had been
out in the night air and was taken sud
denly Ill. They say that there were no
tongues Of fire on the heads of the disci-
pies at the PenGecost; that there was only
a great thunder storm, and the air was
full Of electricity, which snapped. and
few all around about the heads of the
disciples.
+ AhOy say llldt 4hbIy dIu uudTGIld anu
Christ felt it important to get up an ex-
element for the forwarding of their re-
igion, and so they dramatized funeral
and Lazarus played the corpse, and Mary
and Martha played the weepers, and
Christ was the tragedian. put it in
my own words, but this is the exact
meaning of their statements. They say
the Bible is a spurious book written by
superstitious or lying men, backed up by
men who died for that which they did
not believe.
j THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST.
j Now, l take back the limited state
ment which made few moments ago,
when said it requires as much faith to
be an infdel as to be Christian. 1t re-
4uires thousandfold more faith to be
an infidel than to be a Christian, for if
Christianity demand that the whale
swallowed Jonah, then skepticism de-
mands that Jonah swallowed the whale!
can prove to you that Christ was God,
not only by the supernatural appearances
on that Christmas night, but by what in