The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-16

4 second place, you must remember Ifldl < eAot
believes that the world is very soon to come come
to an end, in his own time probably, WITHIN
/ that generation certainly, and there Is gredt
! distress aud there are great prosecutions
and there are great troubles coming upon
/ the church, and he advised her. IN view Of
| that distress, much as Puritan might IN
! the time Of Charles /, much as Huguenot
| might in the time of Catherine de Meulcl.
| SO would not marry just now; Il As not
| wise, he says, in terms, in view OF the pres
| ent distress, it is we'll not to marry. 49,,
The second question that is asked MN
relates to meat offered to idols Ihere a
10 more idols, and we might perhaps pass
| that as belonging to an archaic age Hilsnt
we not? And yet there is one sentence III
| his answer to that question which Is, per
| haps, as often cited as any text IN the BIZ
| bic. It is this: If meat makes my brotn as
| to Offend win eat no meat while tne
world stands Let us see what 1t means.
| The worship of idols was a sacritlciaI Wof-
| ship. The Jews thought that by eating
meat which had once been oiIeren 10 t tbeVS
and then was sold in the market-plece, lmsy
| participated in the worship of the idol. Inc
| Jewish Christians had the same view, anu
| the general question was addressed 70 dui
| May we eat meat offered to idols! lie
| replied-In the first place, an idos Is noun
ing in the world Of course you can; sucn
you must remember that the old JEWISH
law had forbidden the eating of Things
Strangled and the eating OF Things IN WiIlcn
| the was the blood. and that the council at
| Jerusalem, Differed and directed by apos-
ties, had reinforced their laws and hau
sent resolutions saying II you abstain from
meat offered to idols and from things
! strangled and from blood and from fornica-
ton you shall Go we'll Paul draws a sharp
dine of distinction between the first three
and last, and says that an idol is nothing IN
| the world-of course, you are free 10 eat
meat offered to one. Still, there are men
who will think 1t is wrong to eat II, ana II
| they do it they will do wrong, for it IS
wrong to violate your own conscience, ana.
for my part, would go hungry rather tnan
| lead my brother into sin.
| INTERPRETATION OF LIBERTY.
"Then there are two propositions Paul
| puts: First, liberty, ana. secondly, how to
use your liberty. He puts them together
| clearly in Galatians. Brethren, you are
called unto liberty, only use not your liberty
for an occasion to the flesh You are
free man-that is first; if you can do more
| good by surrendering your liberty than by
using ii in any particular case~-surrender 1T,
that is the second. You cannot pick out
| one of these principles and leave the second
one You cannot say I am free man, l
| may do what / like, no matter how II al
| fects them; that is wrong on the one side.
| And neither may you say no man may eat
| or drink what l think will do his neighbor
| an injury that is to err on the other Slde.
| You are a free man-that is the first thing
| Paul says. Use your liberty so as not TO IN
| jure your neighbor-that is the second thlrg
"These two go together. And they go to-
| gether in the whole realm of Christian life.
| will apply it TO that subject to which 1t IS
! most Frequently applied-to the drinker Of
wine. The Christian is urged by Paul to
surrender his liberty for the success OF ms
| weaker brother. That is right. But ne can
| not surrender what he does not possess. Ii
| he is not free to drink glass of wine ne
mas no power 70 surrenFg rst 'i s this fuSda
| mental principle, that you are Tree 10 I0l-
| low your own conscience, and next, IN the
use of that liberty, you are to walk where
| other men can follow you. When men and
| women, sometimes individually and some
times collecting themselves together IN OF
mi, in
| ply is, I am free What shall l
do with the sabbath? ~, Then a,,,r you "a
ffhhs that which which you think right May ride a
| bicycle? May / take walk? May take a
drive? May go to a Sabbath concert! You
are to determine that by your own con.
science and your own judgment. If priest
or minister or church or law undertakes
to prohibit, then l stand on the principle
of Christian liberty; you are free TO decide
that question for yourself. Law mas q rlgnt
to prevent your interfering with the liberty
of your neighbor, but it has no right to
Interfere with your liberty to follow the
| dictates of your own conscience in matters
| that do not violate their rights. That is
| first. The rest is all built on that. Ihere
| is no basis on which one can surrender
| liberty unless the liberty is conceded. III
| there ever was a community tc whom the
restrictions of law, imposed from with
| out, were necessary, 1t was Corlnth-Co-
rinth, the corruptest city of the corrupt
| est state in the corruptest epoch. 1t there
| ever was a. church which the religious
teacher should surround with prohibitions
| and restrictions, to which the teacheL
| should have said: you must not look at
| such pictures; you must not go to Such
! places: you must not drink such beverages;
you must not eat such meats; you m must s nor
| church at Corinth But Paul does nothing
of the kind. On the contrary, he says an
| listen to them all and learn to take the
| truth and leave the cross; all things are
yours given you rfhy 70 en}oy ana al ali Ie; s1 n
| ferng and disease which lead on to death,
everything, only see that you use IT as
| Christ would have used it, to help and bless
'This was the principle of Tertulian, who,
| when asked may we visit pagan theaters,
| replied: Places do not contaminate, but
| what is done in the places. This was the
| principle of Gregory the Great, when ne
said to Augustine (not the theologian but
the monk and missionary to Canterbury,
| DO not destroy pagan temples, consecrate
| them this was the spirit which led the
| church to make this Sunday out OF pagan
holiday and convert it into a Christian day;
| this was the principle which led John Wes-
| ley to take secular music, mate 1t TO sacred
| words and say in defense, The devil mas
| had all the good music long enough. Inc
| method Of Paul and the method OF Chris
| tianity with all the problems of life, IS con-
| secration, not restriction; liberty of love,
| not law and bondage.
WOMEN AND THE CHURCH.
1.-THE third question addressed to Paul.
specifically, was respecting the relation of
! women to the church. In Corinth women of
| evil repute were the women who had lib
| erty; women of good repute had none To
| go into public assembly of any kind UNI
| yelled and to speak in it was at once to
mark the woman as a woman of the town.
| But Paul had said that in Christ Jesus
| there is neither male nor female. Paul
| had said, also, that woman is Gods child
| and that there is liberty in the church of
| Christ. And some women, availing them
| selves of this liberty, had come into the
assemblies unveiled and had taken part in
| the assemblies of the infant church and
were getting themselves and bringing III
| the church bad reputation; and Pau ar
| CUES at considerable length that the wom-
| en-, first, should always wear their wells in
| church, and, secondly, that they should
| not speak in church meetings. This
| is the passage to which l referred in
| the opening of the address as combining
| great practical common sense with Rabbin-
| iCal methods. Before l criticise ] will read ::
but I would have you know that the head OF
every man is Christ; and the head of the woman
| is the man; and the head Of Christ is God.
Every man praying or prophesying. having his
head covered, dshonoreth his head. But every
woman that prayeth or prophesyeth with her head
uncovered dishonOreth her head: for that is even
all one as If she were shaver. For If the woman
be not covered, let her also be shoTn but If II be
a shame for woman to be shorn or shaven, let
her be covered. For man indeed ought not to
cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and
glory Of God but the woman is the glory OF the
man. For the is not of the woman; but the
woman for the For this cause ought the
woman to have power on her head because of the
the woman neither the woman without the man,
in the Lord. For as the woman is OF the man,
even so is the man also by the woman; but all
things of God. Judge in yourselves; Is II cornely
hat God uucOVered2 Doth