Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-04-06

''Benedictus" Thomas Tox
Angus Del" Thomas and Martin Fox
'eui creator Spiritus," Gertrude Ryan
Congregational Church.
me services at the Congregational
church were largely attended The
Easter singing was very fine. the quar-
tet giving. besides the regular church
singing, the beautiful anthem, Easter
seiis'' with soprano solo by. Mrs. r.
I. Whitehouse. A tenor solo, Easter
Day was beautifully rendered by A.
w. Brooks, with chorus by the qu irtet,
Miss Maude Sanborn was the organ
list. playing, besides other selections an
organ voluntary which was very pleas
ing.
The Easter sermon by Rev. ]. S. Will
hanson was, in part, as follows, taken
from the Psalm 1O-1S:
This is a day set apart to comment
| crate the resurrection of our Lord and
Saviour from the dead, and to rejoice
| In the hope of an endless life. The
AN'>'- >Ne.ci VI Vii iSl SlIelElHSIlS lndI
hope but does not create the immor-
tailty or the soul. That is something
which depends on the constitution of
the soul itself. and springs from it's
| nature as the oak from the acorn. The
strength which our Lords resurrection
gives to our hope of an endless life
comes from the fact that we potenti-
| ally bear the image of God. and that
a
| and powers at their climax could not
be held of death, therefore neither can
we thus his promise, Because l
live, We shall live also."is intensely per-
sonal and the source of great inspi-
| ration. There are a few belated per-
sons who still deny the historicity of
the Gospel record. A critical COM
mentary is being published under the
supervision of the leading critical
scholars in England and America The
introduction to the Gospel of Mark
says: What we call the newer crit
icism Of the Gospels, accepts the his
torical character of the writings as be-
ing substantially contemporapeous his
tory. Criticism thus confines itself at
present (and this may be taken as an
ultimate position) to the details of these
documents, and has ceased to attack,
or even minimize. the historicity of the
documents themselves. This state
ment is made before the critical schol-
arship of the civilized world. The men
who make it are neither infants nor
fools. but the flower of Christian schol-
arshp.
book, The Natural History Of the
Christian Religion" may be said to
lead the objections to Christ's resnr-
rection along another line Admitting
that the disciples were honest the au-
thor regards them as victims of
psychic phenomena which made them
honestly think that they saw the risen
Lord, but only as one might be hypno-
tiZed to believe that he saw a man
throw rope in the air climb out of
sight and eat the rope as he climbed.
Now. all admit that had not the dis
ciples honestly believed in the resur-
rection. the Divine force of Christian
ity would have been swept from the
earth. This raises the question
whether we are ready to say that God
accomplished more in the moral world
by means of mental delusion, than
He has by truth: that the most benc-
ficent force in human society came into
life and practice by lie. Here it
seems to me the choice is between
monstrosity and miraclo-miracle
agreeable to the natural oder. though
transcending our knowledge of and
power over that order.
Another objection comes from the
self-elected friends OF modern scieuce
that miracles never happen. Now all
depends on what We mean by miracle
Z, -, 80 Al.
all intelligent persons deny the possi-
bility of miracles: but, if the use of the
natural order by a superior intelli-
gence, like God. in a way that tran
sends our knowledge. then atheists
and idiots alone deny this.
The Y ray is miracle to the savage.
Nature exists for God, not God for
nature. To make the laws of matter
and mind into prison bars, which defy
the will of God, is as inane as it IS I'M
scientific and unphilosophical. and
ushers in dark fatalism. worse than
the hdeous nightmare of Calvinsn,.
This would be science which could
not minister to reverence. and the
ghost of religion. without a ray of
hope. We take the confidence OF the
Psalmist, as expressed in our text. to
our hearts, anu DelleNe tDdt All the
capacities of the mind and soul viii
find their satisfaction in the eternity
that lies beyond us, all the mys'tery
and pain of earth their justification in
Gods eternal day, that sorrow pain,
death and sin shall ultimately be con-
quered and Gods will pervade His uni
verse.
Unitarian Church.
AT the Unitarian church. the ser
vice was conducted by the pastor, Rev.
f. e. Newbert, who preached a highly
interesting sermon.
The following is an abstract of It:
Luke 1876. He is risen. Tie world 5
idea of Immortality is being shifted to
new basis. We say of Jesus today,
He is risen. We say it too of every
son of God who has passed through
life to death. Life has a meaning for
all. The purple is on our shoulders
Jesus is risen in a sense that tram
scends tradition. He is risen in every
larger mind he has helped create; risen
as men grow up into his ideals; risen
as life takes on carnestness through
his teachings. Today we get our idea
of Immortality from the very sum of