The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-23
DEATH AND THE FUTURE
HOW DR. LYMAN ABBOTT VIEWS
THE GREAT CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
The Plymouth Pastors Reasons for
Resurrection OF the Body.
Brooklyn Eagle.

Before a large CONGREGATION in Plymouth
Church. Sunday night, DR.. Lyman Abbott
delivered the following lecture IN his course
on the Life and Writings of st. Paul.
In order to make clear this evenings
lecture it is necessary TO state for the ben
eft of such have not attended this course
and to recall. perhaps. TO the minds of those
who have attended 1t the last two lectures.
Paul comes to the city of Corinth, the most
corrupt city of that corrupt state in that
corrupt age OF the world. From this time
on there is a marked change in the theme
and topic of his preaching. lie no longer
puts to the front the second coming of
Christ, to establish by glory His kingdom
on the contrary, he makes henceforth the
central theme the life, passion and death of
Jesus of Nazareth. After a year and a half
of preaching in Corinth he goes away, and,
later a letter is sent to him which brings
him bad news. Divisions have crept into
this church, sectarian strifes. immoralities,
doubts and disbeliefs and contentious, rival
ries and jealousies. The letter does not
only send him this information; it puts
questions TO him. 1t seems a great pity
that this letter has not been preserved. 1t
would have thrown light, one would think
on the answers which he gives to 1t. l
fancy that it was written not wholly to
get information, but partly by some one
who wanted Paul 10 give answers which
would strengthen him in his part in the
partisan conflicts that were going on in
Corinth However this may be. Paul writes
in reply. He recalls first, his own expert
ence with them; he reminds them that the
theme of his preaching was the death of
Christ he recalls TO them that he put as
the foundation of his ministry not only the
historic Christ. but the spiritual capacity
of men to perceive the glory of suffering
and sacrificed Redeemer; he rebukes their
sectarian strifes and points them to the
remedy. namely, going back to the sim
plicity Of loyalty to Jesus Christ; he con-
dennis in vigorous terms the immorahties
which have crept into the church; he an
Swers their questions respecting marriage,
respecting meats offered to idols, and re-
specting the order of church worship and
the function OF women in the church.
TWO GREAT THEMES.
''And then he takes up two other themes,
which we are to consider o-night-spiritual
gifts and the resurrection. 1t seems that
there were in the church at Corinth men
possessing, or claiming to possess, different
gifts. and that there was an emulation, not
wholly sacred, between these men possess
ing or claiming to possess these varied gifts.
He gives us in the twelfth chapter cata-
iogue of these gifts: TO one is given by the
Spirit the word of wisdom; to another, the
word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to
another, faith. by the same Spirit; to an
other, the gifts of healing by the same
Spirit; to another the workings of mir
acles; to another, prophecy; TO another.
Discerning of spirits to another, divers
kinds of tongues; to another, the interpre-
tatlOn of tongues; but all these Worketh
that one and the self-same spirit, dividing
to every man severally as he will
These are the gifts: Wisdom, knowledge,
nj
ecy discerning of spirits, various tongues,
Interpretation of tongues. Some of these
gifts we readily recognize as existing in the
Christian church to the present day-wis
dom, knowledge faith, prophecy and dis
cernment of spirits. Wisdom, or the log
ical or philosophical faculty. which belongs
to what we might call the rational element
in the church. knowledge. the intuitive
perception which directly and Immediately
perceives the higher and diviner forms of
truth Faith, or the spiritual imagination by
which men behold the invisible world and
walk as on mountain tops in the clear light
OF neaven, or thlnk they DO Prophecy or
that kind of eloQuence by which one with
great interior passion moves ON the hearts
and emotions of men, what we sometimes
call spiritual magnetism. And discernment
Of spirits, or good plain Anglo-Saxon COM
mon sense In the discrimination between
teaching and teachers.
These various phases of life. these va
rious forms of gift, are common enough in
our times, and l think you will agree with
me that those who possess them not infre-
quently look down upon those who possess
a inherent form from their own. Thus, the
philosophical mind is very apt to look with
disregard upon the intuitive, and the in
tuitive upon the rational or philosophical,
while both of them call the man who walks
by faith mystic, and the mystic is more
humble than a great many mysties are if
he does not disesteem the man who walks
by philosophy and reason; and the discern
er of spirits, that is, the man of hard, prac-
tical, common sense, does not always dis
Germ char1tably or judge wisely.
UNPARALLELED GIFTS.
tIl,tA
which have no parallel in our own time,
even if they have an analogue-healing and.
working Of miracles, which may be put to-
Eether as one. and gifts of tongue. OF the
healing, we might say, perhaps, that there
is an analogy to be found in the claim of
Christian science and the faith cure of
power TO cure physical disorder through
purely spiritual means. And of the gift of
tongues, we may certainly say that there is
an analogue to be found in the experiences
or the claims of the Catholic Apostolic
Church. more widely and popularity known
as the Irvingites, who claim To exercise pre-
clSely this faculty of speaking in unknown
tongues. But for the most part and in all
orthodox or evangelical churches of every
branch. there is neither a claim to heal
physical disorder by spiritual means nor to
speak in unknown tongues. How are we TO
regard these so-called gifts? Are we to
think of them really manifestations of a
divine spirit? Are we to think of them as
belonging TO that early age. because the
early age had not yet drifted away from the
touch of Christ? Are to think that in
the apostolic church there were powers
which since have died out from the church
powers which ii has since lost? There
are some objections to this, which is the
current view. for il is to be observed that
these gifts of healing and these gifts of
tongues Go not appear to have existed any,
where, so far IS we can Judge, at least to
any considerable extent. outside the church
at Cornth. If we had looked for them
where the spirit of God is the strongest.
where the light was the purest where the
faith was the cle3rest. should have
looked for them rather in the church at
Philippi or in Ephesus than at Corinth;
Corinth, which was the church i'm which
there was the greatest departure from
purity of faith, the greatest sign of human
deficiency and imperfection; Corinth. into
which error and heresy and strife and i'm
morality had entered. Moreover. we find
Paul speaking with great freedom of some
Of these gifts, if they were wholly signs of
the divine spirit. He can almost be said To
scoff at the gift Of tongues. i would
rather he says in substance, L would
rather say five words that men can under
stand than have a gift OF tongues that peo-
pie cannot understand Are we, then. to
superstition? Do they belong to a super
gtftfous ace and 10 a degraded and timber
feet church, Do they belong 10 a condition
in which humanity was low down and iii ed
ucatedE Possibly. And Yet there are diff
culties in this view, for Paul speaks of them
as gifts He treats them as gifts of the
Shirt III God. he commands them In