The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1893-05-17
SKHPTICISM.
II Requires More Faith to be an inf
del Than Believing Christian.
Agnostics Prefer Miracles of Human Non
sense to the Glorious Achievements of
Jesus Christ-Sermon by Rev. DIR.
L. Dewitt Talmage, ID. ID.

for his subject: over All Forever" the
text being Romans iX., 5: "Christ came,
who is over all"
For 1000 years the world had been
waiting for deliverer-waiting while
empires rose and fell. Conquerers 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 a barn. The
cattle stood nearer to Him than the an
gels, for the former were in the adj
joining stall, while the latter were in
the clouds. A percentage fpeasantry.
No room for Him in the inn, because
Ahere was no one to pay the hotel eX-
pense. 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
have no concern. If | could, by the
turning over of my hand, decide wheth-
err all the world shall at last be Baptist,
or Methodist, or Congregational, or
Episcopalian, or Presbyterian, ! would
not turn my hand. But there are doc
trines which are vital to the soul. If
Christ be not God, we are idolaters.
To this physiological question | devote
myself this morning, and pray God that
we may think Alright and do Alright in
regard to question in which mistake
is infinite.
suppose that the majority of those
here to-day assembled believe the
Bible. 1t requires as much faith to be
an infdel as Christian. 1t is faith in
different 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 majority of those,
perhaps all of those here assembled, are
willing to take the Bible as a standard
in morals and in faith, make this
book my starting-point.
| suppose you are aware that the two
generals who have marshaled the great
armies against the deity of Jesus Christ
are Strauss and Rcnan. The number of
their slain will not be counted until the
trumpet of the archa NIGEL sounds the
roll-cal of the resurrection. Those
men and their sympathizers saw that if
they could destroy the fortress of the
miracles they could destroy Christian
| ty, and they were right. Surrender
the miracles and you surrender
| Christianity. The great German exc
gete says that all the miracles were
myths. The great French exegete
says that all the miracles were
legends. They propose to take every
thing supernatural from the Bible.
They prefer the miracles of human nom
sense to the glorious miracles of Jesus
| Christ.
They say there was no miraculous
birth in Bethlehem, but that it is all a
.anciful story, just like the story of
Romulus said to have been born of Rea
Silvia and the god Mars. They say no
star pointed to the manger; it was only
The flash of passing lantern. They
say there was no miraculous making of
bread, but that it is corruption of the
story that Elisha gave twenty loaves of
bread to hundred men. They s&y the
water was never turned into wine, but
that it is corruption of the story that
the Egyptian plague turned the water
into blood. They say it is no Won
der that Christ sweat great
drops of blood; He had been
out in the night cir and was taken
suddenly i'll. They say that there
were no tongues of fire on the heads OF
the disciples at the Pentecost; that
there was only great thunder storm,
and the air was full of electricity which
snapped and flew all around about
the heads of the disciples. They say
that Mary and Martha and Christ felt
it important to get up an eXcitemen mt
COR the forwarding of their religion,
and so they dramatized a funeral and
Lazarus played the corpse, and Mary
and Martha played the wcepers, and
Christ was the tragedian. l put it in
ny own words, but this is the exact
merning of their statements. They say
the Bible is spurious book, written by
superstitious men. backed up by men
who died for that which they did not
believe.
Now. take back the limited state.
ment which made few moments ago
when | said it requires as much faith tc
be an infidel as to be Christian. II
requires a thousand fold more faith tc
be an infdel than to be Christian, for
if Christianity demand that the whale
swallowed Jonah, then skepticism de
.nands that Jonah swallowed the whale
l can prove to you that Christ was God
not only by the supernatural appear
Hnce on that Christmas night, but by
what inspired men said of Him, by
what He says of Himself and by His
wonderful achievements. Christ came
who is over all" All! does not thai
prove too much? Not over tn,
Caesars, not over Frederick, not owe
Alexander the Great, not over the Hen
rvs not over the Louises? Yes. Pill,
all the thrones of all the ages together
and my text overspans them as easil,
as a rainbow overspans mountain-top
"Christ came, who is over all" Thel
He must be God.
The Bible says that all things wer
made by Him. Does not that prove to,