Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-01-16
Cardinal Gibbons Answers IngersOll.


Cardinal Gibbons Answers IngerSOll.
In the Cathedral in Baltimore on
Sunday, January 9th, 1895, Cardinal
Gibbons preached a sermon in which
he answers John q. Ingersoll, the
famous and eloquent infdel.
AS reported In the Baltimore Sun of
the 18th of January, the Cardinal said
in part
sit is fashionable, as we'll as profit
able, to cast odium as well as ridicule
on Christianity and the Sacred Scrip
lures, which are the bases of the Chris
tian religion. A man of limited .capa
city, but of fluency of speech and
shafts of wit, can propose objections
and difficulties in a half hour which
NAV take learned man month to
answer.
81 would ask you, my brethren, to
have three answers ready in your mind
when you are confronted by any diff
culties against Christianity.
''First-Ten Thousand difficulties do
not make single doubt, and ten
thousand doubts do not Destroy a
single fact of Revelation; ten thousand
LAYERS of fog and cloud, such as hung
over the earth this morning, do not
blot out the sun in the heavens nor
diminish its splendor
"Second-The Christian religion has
been in existence for two thousand
wears and has been cherished by the
Wisest and best of men in every age
and country, and it is stronger today
than it was ever before.
''Third-All the civilizations of the
past and all existing civilizations to-
day worthy of the name, have been
based ON the doctrinal and moral
principles of the Bible.
at is time enough to surrender our
Christianity when some better system
is brought forward to supplant it.
THE venerable Peter Cooper gave
his son when child watch. The
next morning the boy had taken the
watch apart and returned it to its
primitive elements. But he found it
impossible to reconstruct it. The ia
Their, on seeing the wreck, remarked to
the child: My son, there are many
who have the capacity for pulling
down, but they are unable to build
again >
LET us transport ourselves to the
dawn of the Christian era, and let US
stand in Imagination on one of pagan
Rome's seven hills. We see at our feet
that immense city teeming with a
population of about three millions of
inhabitants. We observe that city
dotted here and there with idolatrous
temples and nitches to false gods are
erected in the corners of the streets
These people are given up to every
species OF idolatory. They worship the
sun, moon and stars of Heaven, the
seas and the rivers; the mountains and
They worshiped every striking object
in nature; they worshiped every living
being except God, to whom only divine
homage is due.
'In the language of the apostle to
the Gentiles, They changed the glory
of the incorruptible God into the image
and likeness of corruptible man and
of birds and beasts and creeping
things, and they worshiped the Great
ed instead of the Creator, who is bless
ed forevermore.'
''Such was the condition of society
when our Lord appeared on the theatre
of public life. He calls around Him
twelve insignificant men-men with
out human learning, men without pres
tige and fame, men without any of
those elements which are considered
essential for the success of any great
enterprise He commands them to
effect the most mighty moral revolu-
ton that has ever occurred in the his
tory of the world. He commands them
to uproot idolatry from the face of the
earth and to establish in its stead the
worship of the one true and living God.
when we contrast the weakness of
the apostles with the colossal task
marked out for them well may we ex-
claim in the language of the apostle to
the Gentiles, The foolish things of
this world hath God chosen that He
might confound the wise; the weak
things He hath chosen that He might
confound the strong, and the things
that are not hath He chosen that He
might confound the things that are
that no flesh shall glory in His sight.
mo thoughtful man can fail to adj
mire the wisdom of God in employing
such inadequate means, humanity
speaking, in the propagation of the
gospel, for if Christ had appeared as a
temporal sovereign, with all the males
ty and pomp of royalty, if He had used
the influence of the Caesars, and if He
had impressed into His service the i'm
perial armies, the world would justly
5 exclaim: There is no miracle here, for
it is not by the finger of God, but by
the arm of the flesh that it was propa-
gated
''Or if the gospel had been advocated
by the orators, philosophers, statesmen
and poets of pagan Rome, the world
would again cry out, There is no mir
acle here, for Christianity was develop
ed not by the folly of the cross, but by
the persuasive words of human wis
DOM
"Or if men were induced to embrace
the church by brides and emoluments,
the world would justly say, There is
no miracle here, for men are drawn TO
the church not by pearl of great price,
but by the gold that glitters.
But when they contrasted the
weakness of the instruments with the
marvellous work performed they were
forced to exclaim, The finger of God
is here
ut may be interesting and instruc-
tive to us to consider some of the prih-
cipal causes which, under the irresisti-
BILE influence of Gods grace, operated
SO powerfully in the rapid diffusion of
the Christian religion. The first and
most eftica Gioi3s IA hay be ascribed
lful teachings