The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-23

but that is not the way the world is made.
The good and the evil are. strangely inter-
mixed in every society and IN every man !,
and IL the devil is not as black as he IS
painted. neither is the angel as white as ne
Is painted. Most Of us are gray, or black
and white In streaks.
And as 1t Is with the individual, SO has
II been always IN soctety--the truth ana the
error intertwined; In times OF great re-
ligious excitement the religious fervor aud
the superstitious error intertwined. So Tor
my part, / accept neither the explanation
which regards these gifts as they are
called, as the manifestation wholly Oh a
pure, divine spirit nor that which regards
them as the manifestation OF SuperStitlous
age. but rather that explanation which
would regard them as the manifestation of
a spiritual excitement in an age which Is
supersttious. 1t is not, however, necessary
TO answer this question definitely and pos
itively in order to ascertain the principles
which Paul applies and to use 1t ourselves
in the solution of our own problems he
says that, in the first place, no man can can
Jesus accused by the spirit of God. Ihat
seems. at first an almost needless remark,
and yet YOU must remember that Paul him
self had thought God had put the mark of
curse on Christ by allowing MIN 70 De crucl-
fed. True, that was before Paul CONVEX
sion: but we. know that at later epoch
in the church there We're Christians VINO
still entertained that view. They said it is
impossible that the Son OF God should have
been crucified, and held, therefore, that the
spirit of God entered into man at baptism,
because IL could not be thought that the
Son of God should grow from childhood,
ana that the spirit departed from MIN Oh
the cross when He cried, My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken meY because It
could not be thought that the Son of God
could die. So, on the one hand, the Son OF
God did not grow from boyhood to man
hood, and, on the other hand, the Son OF
God was not put to death by the hands Of
man. Now Paul says, first of all, nothing
can be spiritual which does not conform
to and ratify and interpret and shed light
upon the character and the career of Christ
from the manger to the cross. Any doc
trine or philosophy which tends to take
men away from Christ which tends TO
make them think less of Christ, tends to
cause them to substitute something in the
place of Christ, may at once be discarded
by the Christian without further argument.
| should apply it, myself, to certain forms
of so-called religious instruction IN our
own time-such for example, as the popular
forms of theosophy, which are taxing men,
it seems TO me, away from Christ 10 some
thing other than Christ.
TEST OF PROFITABLENESS.
And the second test he applies is profit
ableness. If the gift is not of use, it is to
be discarded. He applies this, at some
length, in his argument respecting the gift
of tongues. 1t is of no use, he says. to talk
in unknown tongues, for it is clear from
Pauls argument in Corinthians that this
was not a speaking to men of different lam
guages in their different languages for mis-
sicnary purposes. There was. indeed, no
need of that in Corinth, for all the people in
Corinth, we may be sure, spoke the one
Greek language and understood it; and al
though there were different dialects in
Greek. the.y were not so different in a city
like Corint1 that a missionary must be SUI
pernaturally endowed with power to speak
in tongus which otherwise he must have
laboriously acquired by study And Paul s
own argument shows that this talking with
tcLgueS was a kind of babbling, talking
without sense or reason or meaning or sig
1c oil oI 70 xr-lafE f- 10 hn
found in the inarticulate cries which some
TIRES accompany what certain persons call
getting religion Now, Paul says this
cannot be of any use to anybody; the gift,
to be of value, must be profitable
Then he goes on, with figure not alto
sether original with him. found before his
time IL classical writer's, but applied by
him to the solution of this religious prob
lem. Society is like a human body. 1t is
what we now call a solidarity. It is not
merely made up of individual units; it is
itself unit; but it is a unit made up of
different members with different functions.
The eye, the ear, the hand, the foot. are
all necessary for the one body. And so all
the varied gifts of life are necessary for the
one church, the one government and the
variety of function, and we are to recognize
unity of organism If we were to apply
this in our own time, l should say, for ex-
ample, young men should not all go into the
ministry, although sometimes you are urged
in that direction, for if all were preachers
where would be the congregation? I should
say, applying it to social organism, if all
are employers, where are the workingmen?
If all are workinsmen, where are the SUI
perintendentS? If all study to become
teachers and lawyers and doctors, where
are the plumbers and the carpenters and
the masons? Tolstoi urges that every man
should fulfill all functionS-WOrk with his
brain for few hours in the morning, and
then cobble shoes in the afternoon. My
own impression is that both the shoes would
be poorly cobbled and the brain work in
adequately DONE This, at all events, is not
Pauls plan. No, he said, let the foot be
a foot, and the eye be an eye, and the hand
be a hand, and all united in their various
functions to make the one great organism.
1t is a prophets perception of the great
principle of division of labor. only Paul
puts it more wisely, more philosophically
and more truly than it is in that much
abused phrase.
A SPIRITUAL WAY.
And the way in which this unity of or
gansm is to be preserved with the variety
of function is a spiritual way. 1t is by self
respect and mutual respect. If the ear shall
say, Because / am not an eye, l am not of
the body, is it, therefore, not of the body?
If the whole body were an eye, where were
the hearing? If the whole body were hear
ing, where were the smelling. Every man is
to respect his own vocation. If he is in a
vocation which he cannot respect the sooner
he gets out of it the better. No man is to
say. NV calling is not worthy calling
city, it is a worthy calling. The mother
is not to consecrate her son to the ministry
from the cradle she is to consecrate him to
the service of God from the cradle, and then
let him find for himself where he can serve
God best. A good blacksmith is a great
deal better than poor preacher. That is
the first thing A man is to respect his call
ing, whatever it is, and If he cannot respect
he is to leave it. And the second is every
man is to respect his neighbours calling.
The eye cannot say unto the hand / have
no need of thee; nor again the head to the
foot. have no need of you Society, gov
eminent the church, each is an organism
each made up of men with different gifts;
each is to use his own gift for the service
gift; each is to respect his neighbours gift,
and in this self-respect and in this mutual
respect the variety of function is to make
up one great divine organism. Each may
legitimately aspire after the best gifts; each
may desire what he thinks the nobler call
ing and yet, says Paul, / show you bet
ter way
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all
teachers? Are all miracle workers? Are all faith
healers? DO all speak with tongues? Do all in
terDret, but desire earnestly the greater gifts {?
others.
IF I should speak with the tongues of men,
and even of angels but have not love / am be-
come mere sounding brass or changing cymbaIs.
And if should have the gift of prophecy, and
should know all the mysteries of Gods councils
and should have universal knowledge; and though
i should have fullness of faith so that / could
remove mountains, but have not love. / am moth
ing. And though I should dole out in aims all
my possessions and though l should deliver up
my body that l may receive the martyrs glory,
and have not love. it profiteth me nothing.