The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-11-25
Butte Department. {.
MEN OF CHARACTER
"Consummation of the Divine Pur-
pose-A Perfect Man"
SERMON OF REV. JAMES. REID
He Preached at the First Presby-
terian Church to a Large Au-
dIence-HighIy Instructive
and Interesting Topic.
SERMON OF REV. JAMES. REID

Rev. James Reid OF the College of
Montana preached at the First Presby-
terrain church yesterday morning on
the topic, The Consumma ton of the
Divine Purpose-A Perfect Man." A
large audience was present and the
sermon was listened to with close at
tention. DR.. Reid said:
1T has been well and truly said that
the meaning of creation is not under
stood till dust stands erect in a living
man. and 1t is just as true that the
meaning of Christianity is not under
1tood until. dust stands erect dn a per-
feet man. The aim of true Christianity
IS the development of all those powers
and virtues which combine to make
the highest and noblest manhood. How
radically different the ideas which still.
prevail as to what constitutes the nigh
est type of manhood.
There are those who sigh and long
for the physical powers of the cham
p.on pugilist or athlete, for this is their
ideal of a man. or they associate man
hood with position or wealth or fame
believing that one or all OF these make
the man. Some attach more signifi-
canoe. to the mental powers. some TO, the
moral and spiritual, and measure the
man by these, or the degree in which he
possesses them.
"There can be no doubt that tine great
apostle believed in the cultivation of
ell the powers of body and mind in
harmony. SO intOnately related are the
powers OF body and mind that to abuse
any of them by neglect Is to sin against
all. So universal has been the impress
sion that the student should have
lean and hungry hook that we cannot
quite get free from II, and we asso-
ciate them still. The idea that good
nutritious food and enough OF IL was
not consistent with the highest spiritu-
al development was very prevalent in
earlier times and gave rise to many
forms Of abuse OF the physical powers.
In the early centuries when war with
nsighboring tribes and peoples was
the rule, physical strength was the
ideal OF manhood. The ancient Greeks
attached great Importance to the ply
steal powers. They were overrated 10
the great detriment of the mental and
moral powers. 1t was a part OF their
religion to develop the body. The
highest honors of the nation were given
to the victors in the games to cele-
brate which the people came from far
and near. / fancy the physical weak
ness or deformity. possibly, of the great
apostle may have interfered some
what with his influence I'm Athens and
other cities of Greece. Plato in his
Ideal Republic urged that the weak
and siclxly should be disposed of in
some way or other, so that the nation
might not degenerate. They made
sport of Socrates because he fell so
far beneath their ideal of physical form
and beauty. but chiefly because of his
teaching. He brought philosophy down
from heaven to earth. He taught the
young men the beauty of virtue, that
beauty of mind and soul was infinitely
grander than any physical beauty. 1t
was very unpopular doctrine in
time and among a people whose ideal
seldom nose above the physical or ami
NAL. And yet II is very doubtful
whether in the development of athletic
sports we can even approach the Gre
clan ideal. The commercial spirit en-
tiers On and pollutes these as IL does
everything among us. What with bet
ting and the division of gate receipts
and all the rest, college contests have
become one of the humiliating devel-
opments of recent years. 1t Is to be
sincerely hoped that the American peo-
pie are surfeited with the professional
athlete and pugilist.
"A late writer discussing the ques-
ton as to whether the Olympic games
can be revived, says: Our young men
must. like the heroes OF Pindar. strive
only for the complete development of
their manhood, and their sole prizes
must be conscious delight In the exer-
else of perfectly trained powers and
some simple symbol of honor. They
must not prostitute the major portion
Of their youth for gold, directly or in
directly
''If a man Is satisfied with a lop-sid-
ed development, II follows that he shall
make but imperfect progress. The
ideal of Christianity includes all the
powers. 1t touches man on every
side OF his nature. When men have
neglected or abused their mental or
physical gifts or faculties, they have
perverted laws which are stamped In
every mans nature. The religion of
Greece did not tend to a high stand
ard on the moral and spiritual plane of
life. Jesus introduced a new order OF
things. While he did not despise the
body but even gave II a higher place
than before. yet he taught that the life
was more than meat. and that the body
was more than raiment. His thought is
to bring every part OF the man and
every power of the man into proper re-
lstions to every other part and every
other power.
'.The Apostle Paul brings out this
thought again and again--the thought
that God Intended man 10 be a beauti-
full harmony. He writes to the Christ
ian churches. 'Ye are Gods fellow
workers. Gods husbandry. Gods build
ing. Gods workmanship. or as the word
In the original signifies. "A poem 'Ye
are Gods temple In the symmetry and