St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-12-26

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| One might threaten thousand hells
| upon Ingersoll. and they will not
frlghten him. Nor does the Christian
claim to miracles aid the unbelever. If
! the miracles actually took place, the
claim to a divine Christianity is at once
established; if they were falsely alleged
| by these rude and obscure men. the i'm
| position would not have captured the
world Severe Christian virtue is not
much OF an explanation. Severe virtues
deter people rather than otherwise.
The historical mind sees strong
| proof of the divinity of Christianity in
its history during the age of martyrs.
| These were so many witnesses who
sealed their belief with their blood.
| Their number was immense, their tor
mentS terrific, their cOnStancy astOniSh-
| ing. Men and women of every aye and
condition were put to death. Joy and
| fortitude marked the manner in which
they bore their tortures. The persecu-
lions were long as we'll as cruel. They
lasted, with an occasional interruption,
from the reign of Nero to that of Do
clesian, covering period of nearly 300
| years.
ETHICS OF CHRISTIANITY.
The excellence of Christianity is seen
| from the example of its Founder. The
record OF His short public life has done
more to make the world better than all
the teaching of all the philosophers. III
| His moral code as we'll as in the ex-
ample of His life He surpasses all
others in way that men can CLEARLY
| see. The world never heard of any
| thing that can compare even remotely
with the sublime teaching of the Ser
mon on the Mount. The ethics of Chris
| tianity are so broad that they can be
fitted for all races and all times, and all
forms of government and all classes.
| Christianity proclaims the universal
brotherhood of man. 1t reaches the
rich as well as the poor. 1t forms a
healthy public opinion; it condemns
| social evils. Christianity is not to blame
If some men, while rejecting its prln-
| ciples, continue to enter its houses of
| worship and call themselves Christians.
ItinSpires noble acts. 1t brings rest to the
weary and heavily laden of oar race
| and peace to an uneasy world. 1t sends
men and women to work for their fell
lows in fever-haunted slums and cholera
| bsset cities. Its great motive is love-
| hllal affection. There are other motives,
| too, but this the chief one. st. PaurS
| description of the denominations of the
pre- Christian world in the first chapter
OF his epiStle to the Romans establishes
this. Athens and Rome were the two
centers of civilization. But Arlsto-
phanes shows that Athens was corrupt
i'll public and private, and Juvenal
writes of the denominations of Rome.
Pre- Christian civilization was character
lied by predoninance of might over
right. The civilization of Christianity
is the highest yet attained. A Christian
gentlemen is the nobleSt compliment
one can receive. The Christian home
is the most admirable element of the
social organism with which the world is
blessed. The most refined pagan peoples
held that man could have property in
man; the Christian church has always
| opposed slavery. In Atheus and Rome,
the brain-holGers of Pagan thought,
women had no independence. Aristotle
calls them chattels; Plato says they
were state property. They had no
either the slaves or toys of men.
The elevation of woman came from
Christianity. Even LiDanius. the friend
of Julian tile Apostate, acknowledges
this, 20 we Gods Of Greece" he eX-
claims, chow great are the women of
the Christians" The perennial eX-
istence of Christianity Claiming always
to be divine, throws the burden of
proof upon those who say it is mere
human Institution built up by the in
tellect and energy of man. This burden
anti-CnristianS have never been
able to assume. Their greatest
success has been TO raise some objec-
tons which have always been refuted.
Christ's divinity, the miracles upon
which Christianity rests, the prophecies
fulfilled, the marvellous propagation of
Christian teaching, the unearthly en-
durdnce of Christian martyrs, the tran
scendent grandeur of its precepts, its
far-reaching influence upon the life, do
nestle and public, of the human race.
all taken together. make an intellectual
onslaught that is irresistible in estab-
fishing the heavenly origin of Chris
tianlty. The fruit of its success is:
Love. which is sunlight of peace,
Age by age to increase,
Till anger and hatred are dead,
And sorrow and death shall cease.
Peace on earth and good willl
Souls that are gentle and still
Hear the first music of this
Far off, indefinite bliss!'