The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-04-03
DEVELOPMENTS OF HTAlTH
LAST or DR. ABBoTT's LECTURES or
PAUL.s LIFE AND WRITINGS.
The IntermingIing of Masaism, Pa
ganism and Christianity = Man
saved by the Free Gift of God.


series of lectures on the life and writings
CT st. Paul The series. which has com
prised sixteen lectures, has excited great
interest among critics and Bible students
generally and the individual discourses
have been heard by large audiences. Last
evening DR.. Abbott said:
In bringing this course OF Sabbath even
ing lectures to a close my object is to con-
meet alike what have said to you respect
ing Paul's teaching with the history of re-
hgious development prior to Paul and with
the history Of that religious development
subsequent to Paul. OF course it is pos
sible to do this only in the simplest way
and in the most general terms In doing
this those of you who attended the lee
lures given last winter on the Old Tesla
ment as literature viii ind implied at least
II not expressed, a connection between that
series and this series. and the whole of last
winters and this based upon the doctrine
tlat the religious life of the human race
ike ali the rest of it's life, has been a grad
nal development in which truth has come
cut OF conflict with error and in which all
men, inspired and uninspired have seen in
part and prophesied in part.
Faganism has generally represented God
or the gods as wrathful with men because
OF their sins. 1t has represented therefore.
The necessity Of appeasing that wrath in or
der to secure forgiveness of sins. Practi
cally nearly all the religious cerenionials of
pagan beliefs have been ceremonials not for
me purpose of ascertaining the will of God.
not for the purpose of praising Him. not
merely for the purpose of confessing sin to
Him, but primarily and chiefly for the pur-
pose Of Diacating His anger and avoiding
the evil consequences which would come
from that anger. These pagan religions.
therefore have assumed the wrath of God
with man on account of his sins and the
necessity of appeasing that wrath by sacri-
ices and ceremonies They have been gem
orally also assumed q great gulf between
man ana God and the necessity of some in
LeIIneulafy TO mediate between man and
God or the gods, and these Intermediates,
tney nave called priests, the object of the
priest being to represent man to God be-
cause man was so eStranged from God by
his sins that he could not himself come into
the presence of God or the gods He was
90 Unite and sc. insignificant that he could
not come directly and immediately
And thus has grown up the system of
sacgihces ana the system of priests. with
all that has gathered about them The es-
stntlal principles of Mosaism, that is of the
Teaching OF Moses, as 1T is to be found in
the oldest books of the Bible the book of
the Covenant. struck at the heart of this
Whoie eXpiatory conception. Its funda-
mental declaration was this: God is q right
eous God. and He demands righteousness of
His children, and He demands nothing else
On the one hand was the affirmation that
no matter what sacrifices you offered and
no matter what priests you employed, If you
are not righteous you viii not appease His
wrath and you will not be satisfactory to
Him. On the other hand was the declara-
ttcn, if you are righteous. if you obey His
Jaw If you do what He has told you to do,
lie will ask nothing else He will be salts
fed. Thus you will appease His wrath. if
there be any wrath; thus, at all events, you
vi hG lafff IN i'm md he
able to Him.
TWO CONCEPTIONS
Thus, there were two conceptions now
before the world First, the notion that God
or tho gods were angry and must be salts
ned by sacrifices offered to them Second.
the notion that God was a righteous God
and was satisfied by obedience to His law
These two intermingled in the Jewish ma
ton and out OF them grew the Levitical
system and the prophetic teaching and
these two, the Levitical system and the
prophetic teaching, We're not consistent:
they were too often in sharp contrast one
with the other. The Levitical system modi-
fled and changed the original and simple
teaching of Moses. The Levitical system
insisted upon sacrifices, but very simpler
sacrinceS than the pagan did. The pagans
had measured the value of sacrifice by the
value of the thing sacrificed. On the con-
trary, the Levitical system declared that
spirit of contrition and repentance. A man
might offer a bullock, or a goat. or q pair
OF doves, or a Sheaf of wheat. The value
depended not on the thing offered but on
the spirit of the offerer But still, under the
Leviucal system, sacrifices were required,
and In its later development they We're re-
quired to be offered in one place "a certain
temple in Jerusalem) and they We're re-
quired to be offered through a certain
priesthood appointed for that purpose and
no one else was permitted to approach the
Almighty with those sacrifices. The priest
hood was necessary; the sacrifices were
''grhus the old paganism was modified by
he Levitical law; but still the old paganism
,aa been wrought into the Levitical law,
d against it the prophets protested, again
again. / have not time tonight to re-
eat those protests. which read to those of
you who attended last winters lectures.
Again and again they said, TIE Lord Is not
pleased with sacrifice, He does not care
Tor bullocks. He has given no. command
respecting them Again and again they re-
peated in substance, the declaration OF
Micah What doth the Lord require of me.
b INN w with my nv God Thus there were
three systems-the pagan system, the
Mosaic system and the intermingling OF the
two in the Levitical system.
When Jesus Christ came to the world
He repeated the teaching of the Old Tesla
ment prophets. SO far as we know He
never offered . sacrifice for himself. He
never advised others to offer sacrifices.
When men kneeled and confessed to Him
their sins He told them their sins were
stance. did He send them to the priest TO
make the Offering or sacrifice for sin which.
under the I1evitical code; which, under the
Pagan system. was regarded essential in
order to secure the forgiveness of sin. He
thus disregarded though He did not direct
IL assail the pagan and the half pagan or
1sevitical system. But He did undermine 1t
by DENYING its very fundamental poStulate.
He always and everywhere represented God
as a Father who was ready at once TO re-
ceive the erring child the moment he re-
turned 10 his Father with contrition and
confession.
IN ADVANCE OF MOSAISM.
''But more than that. He went far be-
yond Mosaism. and far beyond Mosaism
as 1t had been interpreted by the prophets.
AIosaism had said you must render your
self acceptable to God by obedience to law.
Now Christ in the sermon on the mount
declared that laws were external, and that
obedience to external law was not enough.
i man might not commit adultery and yet
he might be impure. A man might not be
guilty of profanity and yet he might lack
in simplicity of nature. A man might not
kill, and yet be wrathful and evil in pas
sion. Nothing he said, will satisfy the law
OF God except purity of heart and love in
the heart. Except your righteousness ex-
coed the righteousness of the Scribes and
FhariSees. that is. unless there is some
thing very different from and some thing
Far beyond Obedience TO law, which you
suppose God has issued from his judgment
throne. your righteousness viii not avail.
You must have an inward life. Your out
ward life must flow from this inward life.