The herald., 1897-04-19
AT ST. vINCENT'S
Very Rev. A. ]. Meyer on Christ,
God or an ImnostorN

Easter In the Christian church is emf
nently the great feast of Christ's divin-
ity, for then Ii was He gave US the
grandest proof that He was God. From
the very beginning of the Christian era
the belief in the divinity of Christ is the
principal dogma, nay the very foundh-
tion OF Christianity. On it everything
rests. If Christ is not God, the Christian
religion is folly, and revelation Is a
fable. One Of the darkest signs of the
age, as well as the cause of decay of
moral principles, is the denial of the
divinity of Christ. outside of the Catho-
lie church, with few exceptions, this
fundamental truth is lost sight of;
hence the utmost Importance of keeping
in mind the proofs on which the Catholic
faith on this point rests.
God can manifest Himself to men only
to teach them what He is and mems
relations to Him. Whether the Most
High show himself on earth, or whether
He fill extraordinary men with His spir-
It, the final end can only be the knowl-
edge and sanctification of His name Jesus
Christ came to form a holy and believing
people, by preaching pure morality,
giving them means of sanctlfication and
dying for them. Now, If the Lord Jesus
was nothing but an upright man, chosen
to be the messenger of God to men. the
principal end of His ministry would have
been to render the world idolatrous by
ravishing from the deity the glory
which is due to it In order to appropriate
1t to Himself. For whether we consider
the luster of His ministry in the POM
rcus train of oracles and figures that
preceded Him, or In the wonderful cir
cumstances that accompanied Him,
they were such that IL He was only a
man, God who sent Him and arrayed
Him In such glory and power would
himself have deceived us, and would
then be responsible for the idolatry of
those who worship Him.
Christ appeared wonderful in all the
circumstances OF His life. Born or
virgin, angels announced His coming; a
star pointed Him out to the wise men.
Simeon foretells His greatness; the
Baptist humbles himself before Him; a
voice from heaven declares Him to be
his well-beloved son; the demons fly;
Tabor sees His glory; nature mourns
His death; at the empty tomb, angels
announce that He is risen.
His testimony concerning Himself is of
such a nature that we must either de-
ny to Christ the quality of righteous
man, or we must admit that He is God
manifested in the flesh. This alterna-
tive Is inevitable. If Jesus Is holy. He
is God; but even His enemies admit He
was holy. In other words, Jesus Christ
was either an imposter or He is God. as
no one can accuse Him of being the
former no one can deny Him the latter.
The teaching Of the apostles Of the
whole Christian church lays down and
maintains this truth as the fundamental
truth of Christianity; the martyrs died
for it. Now, IL Jesus Christ is God His
religion, His teaching, are divine; the
church He founded Is divine, and as such
can never corrupt or fall away from
Him as He has promised to be with 1t to
the end Of time; that the gates of hell
should never prevail against it; that it
should continue to be the divinely es-
tablished means of the salvation of the
human race forever.
The musical program at st. Vincent's
was especially fine. An augmented
choir beautiful solos from Mines Rubo
and Tolhurst, Herr Rubo and violin
solo by Dion Romandy in which he
showed tone and artistic handling that
has not been heard before for some time.