The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-04-21

in authority. Christ was constantly say
ing: Il say unto you" lie never rea-
soned. He announced himself and his per
sonality as the ultimate and indisputable
source of truth. How could He nave oone
this had He not possessed power over pirtn,
death, disease and nature? Lacking TINS
power, He was a greater Socrates or Pa
to-nothing more There is no escape IrviIi
this conclusion. Take away His WORKS,
and His words are worth no more anc no
less than the words of any othcr sIeat
man. If He did not rise from the dead, as
recorded. then the promise, Il go 10 pre-
pare place for you is simply mockeIy,
and death still an unsolved and unsoNaOie
mystery.
suppose you strike out the miracles from
the New Testament. what Is there leII!
Nothing but series of broken promises
inextricably mixed with our Savior teach.
ings. The same pen and moment that
records the one records the other. IL these
miracles did not happen ii is Impossible 10
avoid the conclusion that our Savior was
a deceiver. He is constantly referring 10
them and pointing TO them as PROOF Oh the
truth of His professions and claims. Mir
acles are the proof of Christs power TO
make good His claims and promises IL
He could not and did not heal the diseases
OF the body, how could He heal, as He
professed, the diseases of the souiY III,
when He bid the dead arise, they sull re-
manned dead-if, when He went down INTO
the grave He was holden OF death ana
His resurrection a myth, where does MS
power TO raise us up from the last day
come from? There is no escaping the con-
clusion that He was either Lord of nature
ton was not an after-added myth Is ap-
parent, for the church sprang up the very
hour that the fact of His having risen was
made known to the scattered disciples
Our estimate of miracles depends largely
upon our conception of the character OF
Christ If Iie simply n great teacher
we do not need them and reject them. III
He was more than that-a Savior-an OBJ
miracles
disputable part of His authority and His
commands. None but a supernatural being
can refer truthfully to himself as the ultl-
mate authority as Christ constantly did.
None but a miracle worker could make,
with the calmness that He did, the prom
ises and claims that He made. Think OF a
mere man saying. ''Whosoever believeth in
me shall never die" Teacher or Savior is,
after all, the controlling test, is 1t not!
Revelation is chain of three indissoluble
links-miracles, message, master. Impair
or destroy any of them and the whole chain
is broken. If miracles are myths, then the
Master becomes mere man and the mes
sage mere philosophy which must take
its chance with the other rival systems of
the world.
A word outside of such proof: Sup
pose immortality Is the product OF SEN
tirnent and incapable of demonstration
Is it any less precious because unprovable?
Is God any less a fact because hot sus-
justice of the peace? Are not the majority
of the vital forces of this world senti-
ments? What would life be without love.
or even without its dilution, friendship?
Yet love is a sentiment "Only this and
nothing more" What would have become
of our Union in the sixties but for patriot
ism? What could our great statesmen and
generals have accomplished had not the
greater people of the United States, in re-
spouse TO Lincoln's call, replied:
Were coming, Father Abraham. coming
right along;
We're coming Father Abraham, three hum
dred thousand strong"
Yet this was only sentiment. And when
We get down to ideas those which we count
as most stable often prove as evanescent as
that time and space are simply mental con-
ditions-and his argument Is so convincing
that only our common sense can refute 1t.
"A word as to the question, rs there any
proof Of immortality outside of Revela-
| tion?" 1t is universally believed that there
is something within us called spirit which
survives the shock of death But is there
any proof of this? Is not it rather one of
what Tennyson calls The truths which
never can be proved" Can we have
| thought without a brain, emotion without
| popularity speaking) heart, any more
| than music without voice or instrument?
! Can we conceive of life without organiza-
| ton of some kind? Now. death is disor-
ganization and dissolution. We all believe
| that somehow at death the spirit goes TO
| the God who gave it, but where is the
| proof? Up to date the claim that spirits
! can be induced to write upon states and
| make photographs only eXciteS a smile.
Death still remains an unsolved mystery.
As Goethe once said:
Believe me.
Who have chewed this bitter cud from year
10 year.
No mortal from the cradle to the bier
| Dissolves that ancient leaven.'
| Logansport, Ind, April 10.