The Newtown bee., 1896-02-28

l Lay "uFu Jesus &ppSdiSu HI LIICA midst and gave His wonted aalu- i tati1n, "Peace be unto you" You would hardly ct to it'd Thomas there; he Was keeping c mpany-keep- ing company with his melancholy feel l ings. Tbomas WAS not with the others because he was unlike any of the others. i Despair did not drive him to his friends l for sympathy; it drove him more closely within the little circle If his own thoughts, there
 TO BROOD IN GLOOMY SILENCE,
 Thomas was not with the otLcr di>cip D's on the evening of the first Lord . ] by vheu Jesus appeared in their ] l1jdst; but he v45 with the orher dis, cjpIcs on the eveuiog Of the second . ImG'5 Day when Je=u9 catue among .henl, and h.s thoughts were sliN on the '.iuss of rhe Ua}s ill his Ma Le7'8 hands and tbe spra~- gash in his Matters side. When the lthor dr ciplos tad said to 1n., ''NTe have apeD >}o L>rd, Thoma- htd 2id, Il s>lli not bc!,>9e uni. h.sD. 5'e Uir, and <e"." TAc;a&c nas like a sord v -r- :Hop:" ~e ntec to day who
 ~>: T aU3 b-:iaYo IL Christianity, bur ;au L believe h} ca"1iug to faith along F.. g:..9re in >oh;uA fay n3jrd work {; --.r r. t cs..ra'.l !a'a l nn-: trace, 5 .....-.:i. F.: a;2.. I fvu-c "vnr@oma. l ~i.a t'' :::v.' Il: nj .;-3;.4 >g!.,u 1 ear -.t. r. i. ~41r ~'."u. t,,i~ 322trina of .. ...- .-'":. or .*t:.'.I ct0 s4G:+Gy uiy. -.:s ~.,.,,s -:-,.,.~ l-n: s.ii s.f t:i=- person ..: t;:.i z. -= :.,,s ,:." s4t5-jg myself s: " ...- 4.> "".r@ vl wo5bi"x mira. v-. j.. G.i!.:" ;4 pr4Ter han Cd ~ ::i t9-@er iii. l#%yes." Well, on the 2. .'": f ..:, -"c..,"5 Lords Day inru
 L-:...3o f.sa- Ill., siisg:p)es uere a*.
 :rHo.;d. and Ii",,:a@ v2a- with them ! -u- aI 2 rn .A&,,s-ae 'rhumas R. -'. :.;."rr sF. ger Aud hehol4 .l- irl.@ .. @ga ~:lch tjfbpr tav hand ....1 l.,rc i, iut> Nj. side; and be rU. ~:.irta-. hut heiirvirg" On, no: ] 1noUa- di5 ouj ,i5i1 tn come to believe . ia Jc-us' resurrection through the groove he had cti~eled out for himself. That voice, that look, that kind way of deal ing with the erriug, that wonderful way of overcoming doubt, why, those could .rlv be the characteristics If the Lord he had so long known and loved-''and Fhqmas answered and said unto Him, MsaIo,d and my Goa."
 said at the beginning of this sermon that the verdict of the centuries had done Thomas an injustice in thinking of him alone as "The Doubter." He was a doubter, but he was an honest doubter 1 Re was a dOubter, but he was a dOubter | because of his nature. He was doubt CT, but he was reasoning doubcer. l am glad that Thomas was a doubter, and you may be surprised to hear me say that; I am glad that he insisted on 1 the peculiar test he did; am glad that he waited one full week in the midst of his doubts and misgivings before he fully and finally came to thorough belief. Why? Because by doing 80 he has done the Christian church a service which it can never repay :; 1 Thomas doubts made the great central 1 fact of Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, fact of the most absolute certainty to all candid minds. Thomas doubts have made the Gibraltar of Christ ian belief unassailable and impregnable 1 against skeptical attack. Scientists can- not doubt this great fact, because Thom- as took the scientific way to prove it, the way of
 1 HUXLEY AND TYNDALL AND DARWIN, the way of most careful observation and experiment.
 Peter was impetuous and heady Peter would jump at conclusion, and the con- clusion might not be true. If Peter alone had said, II have seen the risen Lord," future ages might be inclined to doubt it; for Peter was so anxious to see the risen Lord, skeptics would say, that he would easily turn an apparition into 8 living person. If John alone had said, II have seen the risen Lord," future Johns loving heart, sksptics would say, might easily digtort and warp his reason. Bat when Thomas says, My Lord and my God" he is a persistent skeptic in- deed who says there is no sufficient proof of the resurrection. Thomas was cool, deliberate, careful; Thomas sifted testi- mony; Thomas weighed evidence; and when he gives his word about fact, you can rely upon the fact. Thomas wanted to believe in the resurrection of 3 l (never suspect for one moment that he was not as earnest in this respect as