The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1895-12-20

whose stories of the Old Testament
which are so often cited by our inf
del friend.
| Our infidel philosopher substitutes
Moses for Christ, and when he has
battered the great statesman and cap
tain OF Israel to his satisfaction, he
realistically declares he has taken
| away one of the formulation stones"
of the Christian faith. indulge the
belief, however, that the name and
ust fame of Moses will long survive
the continued attacks of the arch-in-
fidel. Living in the twilight of time,
Moses was the most ancient and auth
entic of historians, the proufoundest
and sagest of legislators for the con-
ditions amid which he lived, the
prince of orators, noble poet man
ager of men, and the heroic emancipa
pator Of his people. He was the
bright and controlling star of his era,
and one of the foremost in any age or
period.
The attacks OF the infidal orator up
on the New Testament are weak
sequel to his attacks on the Old. He
bases his chief argument against the
New Testament upon the ground that
those who wrote it did not agree in
their statements. 1t is matter of
fact that all of these alleged disagree
ments are inconsequential, and in no
wise affect the person and sublime
character of the Christ nor his teach
ings. The very difference of the four
Evangelists. in matters Of
no vital Importance to the
chief construction. prove the
entire absence of any conspiracy
at collision. We must remember that
Christ never wrote book or penned
an epistle He delivered orally his
principles to his diciples, and they
made record of them after his death
and ascension. The writing was many
years subsequent to the teaching.
If the Hebrew concept of God was
erroneous, Jesus, in the New Testa-
ment, gives us the true concept of the
Creator of the universe the Christians
God, and the infdel philosopher in
quires, is not this God a guess, an
inference?n 1 think the idea of God
is native to the soul of man. The con-
ceptiOn of supreme and masterful
Power runs through all the history of
our race. An ATHEIST may ascribe
creation to chance. You might just
as well assert that millions of type,
thrown together and shaken up, would
fall into poem like the Illiad, as that
all the order, system and design dis
played in this world should have come
by chance out of unOrganized matter.
Again, the prodigius activity Of men,
DRY, of the reasoning power, of i'm
agination, of the thinking principle,
must be of higher origin than acct
dent. There must be d mind-maker,
as well as world builder. do not
believe that there is perfectly ra-
tional man, that can honestly be an
atheist. The logic of the human
mind revolts at it. The best intellects
of the world, from Moses to Plato, and
from Plato to ChrisG, have all had the
highest conceptions of God. LOgi-
cally, it is ten thousand times harder
to be an atheist than it is to believe
in an all maSterful, wise and loving
God.
There is no rational explanation or
, Interpretation of the life or teachings
of Jesus on any satisfactory hypo,
thesis save that of his divine nature.
That explanation alone clearsup every
: doubt and mystery connected with
this wonderful man. / am satisfied
that Christians themselves do not
properly study and contemplate the
person and teachings of the Christ. a
am satisfied that those claiming to bt
priests and ministers of the great Goo
do not sufficiently portray the marvel
lous, the admirable Jesus of Nazareth
j We read with esteem of Confuscius
! of Socrates, of Plato; but we warn
with affection and love when we stud.
, and apprehend the beautiful person
and character of Christ. There is il
: and about Him that magnetism tina
t is not of earth. The very atmosphere
! in which he lived is pregnant will
2 the consciousness of its God. 1t i!
f not that the winds obey him, and the
Y storm sleeps at his commands; but it il
/ the nameless beauty, and perfect
l purity of His life. OF obscure parents
| and born in manger, He comes upor
! the scene in the Augustine age o
| Rome. Without education, without
2 rank, with no earthly pomp, with NJ
: social influence, with no government
behind Him, with no army, with M
: navy, He enters the hearts OF mel
: and sets in operation truths before un
2 known, which have 'revolutionizet
! every philosophy, colored all literature
: and reconstructed men and empires or
D tho pIlrn nrinciD1eS of love and iuStice