The Indianapolis journal., 1896-03-22


it-either that God could De bribed or bought
by favors. or that He needed to be appeased
have been a very Dad Way to sweep that
all away at once. 70 have said 70 men,
This ,b Is great folly a you s;S;n cannot um ie
Iamis, you cannot appease the wrath
of God by bloodshed before the altar,
for the world could not have understoo;d. ,,; IL;
took the ecclesiastical system and put a
new life into it. The ecclesiasticfsm, the GER
emonialism. the sacrificial system OF pagan
ism was compulsory. that of Judaism was
made voluntary. The ecclesiastical, cere-
monial, the sacrificial system OF pasanism
& Was measured ny the value OF sne e,ance sacIince
of the man who offered IL. Speak unto
the children of Israel and say unto them,
IL any man bring an offering unto the Lord,
he shall offer il OF his own voluntary VIII
at the door of the tabernacle No man
was required; he might offer IL or not, as
underlies and runs through the Leviticai
system. Ii is at the very threshold. II
you offer ii II shall be Of a certain specined
kind III you offer cattle. oner sucn kin9
of cattle; If you offer doves. offer such kind
OF doves; if wheat, such kind of wheat,
under such circumstances, in sucn form
But IL is to be your voluntary Offering; IL Is
not compulsory. And then down all through
the Jewish ages ran these two currents OF
life-the prophetic and the ecclesiastical Tor
priestly), just as in the middle ages ran
the two currents of life-the ecclesiastical
and the reform. And the prophets come
again and again before the people, declar-
that He does not want them, that II Is not
what He asks. VIII the Lord be Pleased,
says Micah, with thousands OF rams MS, and
quire OF thee but to do justly, 10 love mercy
and to walk humbly with thy Godg
A HIGHER CONCEPTION.
"If time permitted it would be possible
to note the contrast repeated over and
over again by prophetic utterances. the
contrast between the prophets and the &C.
cle5lastical regulations OF the priesthood; /;
it is almost as marked as the contrast be-
tween the reformed preachers and the
Roman Catholic priesthood OF medievalism
We try to revive the lost ecclesiasticism
by the unbloody sacrifice of the mass, which
is shadow of the ancient sacrifical sys-
tenn, or in the pages of a creed which Is
but the shadow of a shadow. But the world
has passed to a higher conception OF God,
to an understanding that He is not to be
bought with gifts, that He is not to be
appeased by suffering, to the understanding
gradually dawning on us-we have not fully
learned it yet, even in orthodox evangelical
Christian churcheS-that it is the slnless
that suffers for the sinful. not the sinful
for the sinless; that it is love that Is
crowned with thorns; that it is God who is
the Lamb slain. i am conSciouS-more con-
Scious than you can be-of the lmperfec-
tion OF my evenings treatment of SO large
a topic. But I have given you, perhaps.
something to think over. To me the concep-
tion of revelation by inspiration, OF a liter
working up toward God, and God gradually
entering into human life, the conception
of a procession of pilgrims on their way
TO God in whose footsteps can follow,
makes this book dearer and more sacred
to me. In Genesis are the LEGENDS OF an
old world time rewritten, much as Tenny-
- T1xr1o onff ft,a ING a
God is written into those ancient legends,
making them full of divine inspiration.
Exodus and Deuteronomy interpret
as the mere aspiration or Will of man, but
as the voice of God speaking to humanity.
Leviticus shows a divinity even in ecclesiasti-
cism for even pagan and semi-pagan cere-
monfals are interpreted therein as the out
reachings of the human soul after God. The
historical books contain not the story OF
great nation, not the story OF great heroes,
but the history Of the process by which God
was working out the destiny OF one race,
that through that race He might work
out the redemption of the whole world. In
the book of Job is a man of the olden time
troubled by this tragedy of sin and sorrow
that troubles us all. but holding fast TO
God through all, and coming TO the con-
ciusion despite the clouds and darkness that
still God is, and God is good. In the He
brew psalter is the voice of poets, who
the reality that is behind all-God. In
the song of songs is the divinity OF wo-
mans love, pure. strong. faithful against
temptation In the ancient prophets is the
record of noble, heroic men, at once reform
ers, politicians. statesmen and preachers.
seeking to help the nation in the way OF
righteousness. In the four gospels is the
story of the manifestation of God brought
to its elimination, in the one unique life
of the Son of God, and in the epistles the
unfolding of that life and it's Interpretation
to the universal heart of humanity. And in
all, from Genesis to Revelation, through
al the imperfect conceptions, through
prophets that saw in part and prophesied in
part and always through a glass darxly,
| see God growing more and more into the
consciousness of His children. Not as the
northern lights flash up with sudden bril-
liancy TO fade away again comes revelation,
but as the sun rising over the eastern hills,
touching first the great mountain peaks with
it's golden glory, and rising higher and still
higher, till ii floods the valleys and the
whole horizon with its Illumination"