The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-12-17
JESUS IND CHINA 5 SAGE
REV. A. N. ALCOTvE COMPARES THE
TWO GREAT TEACH.
ERS
MANY POINTS OF SIMILARITY
Both Displayed Wisdom at an Early
Age, Were Wanderers and Tray
eIed With DiscipIes-Their
Teachings Differ.

CohIuclus at the Universalist church of
Messiah yesterday afternoon aroused
great interest," more particularly so be-
cause the subject was one that has been
touched onltcDnsiderably of late in this
country The alecture was largely in the
nature OF aaeemparison between Confu-
Gus and Jesus, and the speaker brought
out the points sof similarity in their lives.
He said, in part:
IN Contucius we come ON thinker
we nave key to him in one of his say
lngs: Man is greater than any system
OF tnought; man can enlarge his princi-
pies. ThlS is the explanation of his won
derful influence over China. There is
something suggestive and encoura cling in
such a continued hold of thought and of
moral Ideas on so many billions of people
IN the aggregate during twenty-four cen
turtles.
When we see that Confucius and 70
rooster and other great thinkers ho!d
such wonderful sway over people, ages
AFTER their DEATH we are forced to be-
heve there is an essential Christ In
every man, no matter how germinaI 1t
may be- an essential Christ~in Buddha,
and in every man of his followers, and
SO on through the long list.
All great leaders of religious life
teach us that our aim should be lofty
and that belief should pervade in spirit
every phase Of lffe-political, social, leg
tslative, industrial.
BOTH WERE LOWLY MEN.
Both Jesus and ,Confucius were poor
The former, during his early manhood
wrought a t the carpenters trade Con
tucius, at the age of seventeen, worked
In an office. AS the Bible tells, Jesus
surprised parents and others a the age
OF twelve by reason of his precocious
wisdom. Confucils, at a youEnful age
mastered all the religious literature of
emma, and WAS wise in sacred lore.
1T might be said that Contiguous was
poor from his youth. because When he
was only tI3Fee years old his father died
and, shortly 4after his mother also When
she died. Qonfueius mourned her for
many years. shut himself up in his hut,
which was near-her grave, and devoted
himself to his books and his studies.
You all know what Jesus did for his
mother, when he hung on the cross. He
ala not forget-her- event the midst of
his agOnies. COnfucius was a Wanderer
from province to province, the most CT
his life going about giving instruction to
his disciples and others. In similar fash
ion Jesus Travelled about. Confucus did
not really have q place he could call his
home. Jesus>safd:
The foxes have holes and the BIRDS
of the air have nests, but the Son of Man
hath not where TO lay his head Jesus
was born in & stable at Bethlehem.
and an angel with a multitude of the
heavenly host appeared, saying: 'G1ory
to God in the highest, and on earth
pece, good will towrd men,
''Confucius was born in cave and, 1t
Is related, he was attended by fairies
at the time. 3. Jesus began to- teach at
80; Confucius Eat %. Jesus chose twelve
from among all those who heard him to
@be continually with him and about his
person. Confueius chose ten of the high
est class of7mind and character among
his disciples to eveE=-bes4 near = him for
especial instructionssand companionshfp
One of these was rash and i1npetuous
like the apostle Peter, and another was
loving and tender, like the apostle John
Now, in order to understand Confucius
it is Necessity to ever bear in mind that
he lived and did. his work under a strict
and rigid patriarchial system of society
There is nothing that explains the China
of today as does this fact this key
at teaches us why CONTIGUOUS thought
out the moral system which is his, and
why it contains as much and as little as
it does. 40 You all know under what con-
d1tfons Jesus lived and worked 1t was
different with Confuciu3. He began to
work in the year $50 3. c., at twenty
two. China was not by any means as
large as it is now. 1t was in area only
one-siXth of the present empire and the
population was from 10,00000O to $4,000, coo
of people. As 1 have said, Confucius ear
ly recognized the rights and duties Of life.
He was intensely practical. and he re-
fused to speculate on the Supreme Being
or on spirits. He declared that if We
could not know perfectly that which was
before our eyes, still less could we know
and serve properly what was invisible.
However, he did not neglect the wor-
ship of ancestors, nor common religious
rights He only would not speculate on
these schemes nor lay his emphasis here
He said: -.5i-~-
Z teach you nothing but what You
might learn yourselves The five funda-
mental relations and their virtues and
their laws, and the five capital virtues.
universal charity, impartial Justice con-
formity to ceremonies and established
usages, rectHude of heart and mind, and
pure sincerity"
.Confusius gave US the silver rule,
which is the golden rule negatively: His
life was a model one, and his disciples
and others endeavOred to copy his ac-
tons with the belief that they might gain
some of his VIRTUES in that way. They
watched how heS ate how he lay when
he slept how he acted before people, all
his mannerisms and characteristic ac-
lions.
HE WAS DISCOURAGED.
''He died in poverty, utterly discour-
aged. He had tried to get
some prince to adopt his sys-
tenn with the hope that it would have
a wide influence, but in this he failed
AT the age of seventy years he died, and,
strange to say. Immediately after his
death people began to lament him His
truths had struck a responsive chord
and the few thousand that had been i'm
pressed by him enshrined him in their
memories.
'FThe. results of his good work contin-
ued to grow, and has grown steadily,
as has Christianity. You all know what
it is today 1t is unnecessary to go in
to details. All China reveres Confueius
and his teachings.
But after all, Jesus Christ still re-
mains to US, and to the world. He taught
of life to come, of a heaven and q
Heavenly Father. His teachings We're
universal and were for all time Confu-
cius only lived in this world. His teach
ings were of what could be seen and of
what could be reasoned therefrom
Moral life was what he wanted. Jesus
came to save. to uplift and show the
pathway to everlasting joy