The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-07-26
christian Life Column.
TgE MEANING OF MANHOOD.
BY HENRY VAN DYKE. D D.

tboughtful and eloquent sermons we
rave read for many q day.
This sermon is taken from ''The
Culture of Christian Manhood. A se
rioa Of sermons preached on Sunday
mornings at BattelI Chapel, Yale Uni
versity." Published by The Fleming
r Revell Co., NV York.
Lack of space Cthe entire sermon
would cover almost a page of The
PROGRESSIVE FARMER) prevents III
Giving our readers more than q few
n the most convincing and noble
thoughts in this sermon.
His text Is:
How much, then, is a man better
than a sheep Matthew XII: IL.
He says:
Oa the lips of Christ these noble
words were an exclamation. He knew,
az no n else has eve known, what
VAS in man" But to US who repeat
them they often seem like a question.
We are Sd ignorant of the deepest
meaning of manhood that we find our
selves at the point to ask in p~erplexity,
How much, after all, is a man better
than a sheep9 = X
"How much ia that nan worth9'
asks the curious inquirer. Tina man."
answers some walking business direc-
tory, lis worth a miIlion dollars; and
the man sitting nex5 Co him Is worth
q penny" What other answer can be
given by one who judges everything
by a money standards If wealth lie
really the measure Of valure, If the
end of life is the production or the &C
QUESTION OF riches, then humanity
must take it's place in the sliding scale
of commodities.
But we cannot receive His gospel in
n sense, we cannot begin to under
stand its scope and purpose, unless we
fully, freely, and sincerely accept His
great revelation of the true meaning
and value of man as man.
Suppose, then, that we come to Him
with this question: How much is a
man better than a sheep7 He will tell
us that q man is infinitely better, be-
cause he is the child of God, because
he is capable of fellowship with God,
and because he is made for an immor-
tai life. And this threefold answer
will shine out for US not only in the
words, but also in the deeds, and above
all in the death, of the Son of God and
the Son of man.
Tniak, Fl st, of all, of the mean
ing of manhood in the light Of the
truth that man is the offspring and
likeness OF God. This was not a new
doctrine first proclaimed by Christ.
1t was clearly taught in the magnif-
cent imagery Of the Book Of Genesis.
The chief design Of that great picture
Of the beginnings is to show that a per
soual Creator is the source and author
of all things that are made. But next
t. the, and Of equal Importance, is
the design to show that man is meal
culRbly superior TO all the other works
of God-shat the distance between him
and the lower animals IL nOI q differ
ence in degree, butte d IF .r.nce In kind.
Yes, the difference IL Sd greaG that we
must Use a new word TO describe the
origin Of humanity, and if we speak CT
the stars and the earth, the trees and
the fJwers, the fish, the birds, and
the beasts, as 1.-The works" Of God,
when man appears we must fnd q
nobler name and say, This is more
than Gods work; he is Gods child.
Through all Christ's words we feel
the thrilling power of this high dec
Erine of humanity. He is always ap-
peallng to reason, to conscience, to the
power Of choice betwean good and evil
TO the noble and godlike faculties in
man. --
And now think for a moment Of the
fact that His life Was voluntarily, and
Of set purpose, spent among the poor
est and humblest of mankind. Re-,
member that He spoke, not to philos
ophers and scholars, but to peasants
and fishermen and the little child en-
OF the world. What did he mean by
shat2 Surely it was to teach us that
that thIs doctrine of the meaning Of
manhood applies to man as man. Il
ls not based upon considerations of
wealth or learning or culture or elo-
oqIence. Those are the things of which
the world takes account, and without
which it refuses to pay any attention to
Us A mere man, in h eyes of the
world, is a nobody. Bat Christ comes
70 humanity in its poverty, in it's ig,
norauce, stripped of all outward
signs Of power, destitute of ali save