Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-01-23

of Eden is an aliegory, and that Moses
did not write the Pentateuch, and that
the back of Job is only a drama, and
that the book of Jonah is an unrella-
BILE fish story and that water was not
turned into wine, although the bar
tender now by large dilution turns
wine into water. and that most of the
so called miracles of the Old and the
New Testaments were wrought by nat.
ural causes. When those infidels grad
uate from the theological seminary
and take the pulpits of America as
expounders Of the Holy Scriptures,
what advocates they will be of that
gospel for the truth Of which the mar.
tyrs died! Hail the Polycarps and
Hugh Latimers and John Knoxes OF
the twentieth century, believing the
Bible is true in spots! Would to God
that some great revival of religion
might sweep through all the theolog-
ical seminaries of this land, confirming
the faith Of the coming expounders of
nm entire Bible!
The Right to Borrow.
Furthermore, in that scene Of tho
text God sanctions borrowing and sets
forth the importance Of returning. l
do not think there would have been
any miracle performed If the young
man had owned the ak that slipped
the helve. The young man cried out
in the hearing Of the prophet, Alas,
master. for It was borrowed" He had
right to borrow. There are times
when we have not only right to bor-
row, but it is duty to borrow. There
are times when we ought to lend, for
Christ in his sermon on the mount de-
clared, From him that would borrow
of thee turn not thou away" 1t Is
right that one borrow the means Of
getting an education, as the young stu
dent of my text borrowed the AK. II
is right to borrow means for the for
wardinC of commercial ends. Most Of
the vast fortunes that now overshadow
the land were Matched out of Dor
rowed dollar.
If in any assembly it were requested
that those who had never borrowed
hold up their hands, none would he
lifted or if here and there hand were
lifted we would know that 1t was a
case of inveracity. Borrow. Why,
we are borrowing all the time. We
borrow from the Lord the sunlight
that shows us our way. the water that
Stakes our thirst, the food that re
frcshes us three times a day, the pill
low on which we slumber. We borrow
gladncsS from our friends; we borrow
all elevated surroundings. The church
borrows all its beauty from the Christ
who founded II. In our songs and ser
heaven.
We borrow time; we will borrow
eternity, and that constant borrowing
implies a return. For what we borrow
from God we must pay back in hearty
thanks and Christian service, in i'm
provement of ourselves and helpful
ness for others. For what we borrow
in the shape Of protection from good
government we must pay back in pa
triotic devotion. For what we borrow
from our parents in their good exam
pie and their hard work wrought for
us in our journey from cradle to man
hood or womanhood for all the ages to
come we ought to be paying back.
The halleluiahs of heaven will be re-
turned for crucifixion agony.
Debt a Calamity.
Hayden the painter said his ruin be
I,, h. ta
cy. and he wrote in his diary, Here
began debt and obligation, out of which
| have never been and never shall be
eXtricated as long as | live" DR..
johnson said: do not accustom your
self to consider debt only as an in
convenience. You will find it calam.
ity." We have a right to borrow for
the absolute necessities, expecting 20
pay back again, but we ought never TO
borrow for the luxuries. According to
the Laws Of Amasis," in Egypt If q
man died without paying that which
he had borrowed he was deprived of all
obsefuies. If that law We're In vogue
in our times, how many postponed and
impossible funerals!
Furthermore, let us admire these
young men of Elisha's theological sem
mary for the fact that they were earn
ing their own way. The most of those
today who are successful In the pro
fessiOns, indicating the sick or advo
eating the law or preaching the gospel
fought their own way on and up
Those are the kind of men who know
what education is worth and know
how to use 4. Many of us remember
that in college days the sons of atlluent
fathers, with plenty of money to spent
crowded with hooks never read and
wardrobes that kept them In perplexity
as to which of many garments was
appropriate for the weather that day
were worth to the world nothing thel
and have been worth to the world moth
ing since, while the young men in col
lege who had to economize three
months in order to get some book they
needed and who could hardly raise
money for their diploma have since
wrought nightly for God and the
truth. turning the world upside dowr
because it was wrong side up.
In the summer watering places north
south east and west in the great no
tells, serving at table and In baggage
room, are theological students who ar,
| in preparation for the ministry, earn
! ing in July and August the means by