The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-01-07
GIBBONS WAS ELOQUENT.
Cathedral at baltimore Crowded
with Worsh1ppers.


Baltimore, Jan. 6.-The cathedral was
crowded today. It was known Cardinal
Gibbons would preach at the solemn high
mass, and many who heard the sermon
agreed in speaking of it that his en1in-
ence must have had in his mind the elo
quent and attractive and famed Colonel
Ingersoll.
The text of the day was from Isaiah
*, Arise, shine, for thy light is come
and the glory of the Lord is risen upon
thee
It is fashionable as we'll as profitable
to cast odium as we'll as ridicule upon
Christianity and on the Scriptures, which
said he. a man of limited capacity. but
of fluency of speech and shafts of wit
may propose objections and difficulties in
d half hour which may take learned
man a month to answer.
l would ask you. my brethren. to have
three answers ready in your mind when
you are confronted by any difficulties
against Christianity. First. ten thou
sand difficulties do not destroy a single
fact of revelation, ten thousand layers
of fog and cloud do mot blot out the sun
Second, the Christian religion has been
in possession for 1000 years, 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 today wor-
thy of the name have been based on the
doctrinal and moral principles of the bible
tianity when some better system IS
brought forward to supplant it. When
we contrast the weakness of the apostles
with the formidable work marked out for
them, truly we may exclaim with the
APOSTLE of the gentiles: ''The foolish
things of the world hath God chosen that
things of the world. Hath God chosen
that he might confound the strong and
the things that are contempuble and the
things that are not, that he might bring
to naught the things that are, that no
flesh should glory in his sight"
1t may be interesting and Instructive
to us to consider some of the principal
causes which operated so powerfully in
| gion.
First-The- Christian religion save the
pagan. world a rational idea q, OF GOD. II
self-existing, of a God existing from eter-
nifty into eternity. This idea OF a SUI
preme being SO consonant to our intellec-
4 tual conception was in striking contrast
with the low and sensual notions which
the pagan world ascribed to their diVini-
| Second-The Christian religion not only
gave man a. sublime idea of his creator,
/ but gave him also rational idea about
himself. Heretofore man was a mystery
and riddle to himself. He knew not
! whence he came or whittier he was go
ing. 1t rescued him from the frightful
labyrinth of error in which paganism had
! involved him. The Christian religion
/ gave not only light to his understanding
| but peace as we'll to his heart. 1t
brought him that peace of God which
surpasset1l all understanding. and which
springs from the conscious possession OF
! the truth.
ever had, a message for the capitalist
and the workman. / admonishes the
| employer to compensate the laborer by
! fair and just wages and, what is more,
| to beStelW upon him kind and considerate
ttreatment and to keep in view the golden
maxim of Christ: whatsoever you
would that man should do to you, do ye
to him"
All the works of God have one striking
! characteristic; they all bear the divine
stamp of individuality. There are no
two stars alike in magnitude and SPLEEN
dor Each of you were created alone;
| you had a separate growth, separate
sanctification, and you will have sep
arate death. You are judged alone, you
are rewarded alone. you are punished
alone Each one stands ON his own foun-
dation: What a man soweth. That shall
he reap also
! But above all God loves each one Of
YOU personally. He does not contem-
plate the human family in the mass, as
I we regard a heap of sand. He has loved
| each of you with an eternal love. Let US
1 ask him to come and reign over our soul,
intellect, will and memory.