The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1898-08-27

men cOuld DE convinced that they
do. Your position, then, as a
Christian Minister would seem to
be q most peculiar, most remark
able one;-the occupancy of which
| am not disposed to envy you!
For does it not compel you to
maintain, that the nature, or char
acter, or will, of God had been
truly and adequately declared to
men before the advent of Jesus
Christ that the idea of God re-
vealed to men by Jesus Christ
differed in no respect from that
impaired by Moses!-or that, if
these ideas differ, Moses being
altogether right, Jesus Christ
must be to some extent wrong.
Does it not compel you to main
tain, that the idea of God enter
tained by the best men, to-day,
would be precisely what it is, if
Jesus Christ had never lived; if
there were no vision from Calya-
ry; if Moses, rather than Christ,
dominated the religious thought of
the world Does it not compe!
you to repudiate the acts, or utter
ances Of the Divine Master, to
turn the shafts of your criticism
upon Him, to accuse llim-as did
the Pharisees-of heresY and BIAS
phemy, whenever any act or teach
ing Of His conflicts with u com
mand of Moses on any matter in
volving the moral welfare of hu-
manity? For surely you cannot
afford to contend that ~ mist ond
-l'''SIus differ not at all in their
teachings on any matter involving
the neral welfare of humanity.
WIN you answer by referring
me to your statement in the Dem
ocrat of the 10Th INST, that Jesus
endorsed Moses, {" and seek in
this way to escape the difficulty in
which you have placed yourself, =
again neglecting to state that Jesus
| did NOT endorse Moses altogether;
did not endorse all his teachings,
but distinctly, emphatically, re-
iected and reversed some of them;
did not endorse him in the sense,
that he deemed it no purpose of
His Divine mission to impart to
men q nobler, truer, higher, pro-
founder idea of Almighty God,
than could be associated with the
vision and revelation of the great
Law-giver! Such an answer
would but aggravate your difficult
| ty, and render your position as .
Christian preacher more unen7ia-
BILE.
For open the Gospel according
to St. Matthew at the Sermon on
the Mount and read to the end OF
the 9Th chapter, beginning with
the 31st verse. Here, in verse
after verse occurs the expression,
"It hath been said" or, eye have
heard that it hath been said, fol
lowed by words reversing, or mod
ifying, what had been said, what
had been taught. Said, taught, by
whom! IN some cases clearly by
Moses. Compare, for instance,
the 43rd verse of the 9TH chapter
of Matthew with Leyitieus KIN,
Is; and with Deuteronomy AAlll'
Ia, Or read Deuteronomy KILL,
| 10 and 90, and ask yourself If the
spirit of these versesis is in harmony
with the teaching of the Sermon
on the Mount. with Matt. Y, H
Then pass to the Gospel according
to St. John, and, beginning witt
the 3rd verse of the Sth chapter
read to the 18th verse. We arr
told there that the Scribes and
Pharisees brought to Jesus a wo
man taken in adultery and re
minded Hum of the law OF Moses
that such should be stoned,-
tempting Him, the Apostle says
that is, giving Him an opportunity
openly to disregard, or reverse,
Mosaic law, Did He, or did III
not, disregard that law 1o'
know that He did, unless you ar
prepared to discard the testimony m
of St. John; that he not only dl(
not command that the guilty wo
man should be stoned to death
but recommended NC pgunishmen
, for her Whatever. Compare tn
j words and action of the Master ol
, this occasion with peuteronom,,
.ltV, ?. nam,