The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-01
Manufacturers.
INTERNATIONAL SUNDAYsSCHO0I LESSON
tcs22s.1s: D:.,. Y. c'.ss.,

|
 save for my daily ianee
 Among the pslasant Aslds Of Aely Wssf
 misht despair. 1sunynan.
 First ouartes; Lseesn v.EAsts, xyii,
 aa-a4; 1shsraxy l, leoe.
 Paul at Athsus.
 Paul waS only . rsfuges iA A@0e Timothy before forsing ahsaA to sons new mission field. The city wne palpeoly unripe for the GospeL ehs yavlted her self, and was pufIed ID with tne eons | sciousness of her superice tn4ell1Geuoe. l She had need of nothing Thsse was none of the docillty of the utt1e ohild. which is . prsrequisita to entrance Q the une-
 dom of Heaven. But Pauts sparat wse
 stirred. and ha must needs av>sk ons whether the cultured AahepiAas vouia hear or whether they would fctbseS,
 what stirred his spirit was tho dsht ee the city uteraliy csowdsd with tdol tm-
 ages. It is said that taers were over
 5000 of them. It was proverb that v was easier to nnd god In Athens than I to Ind . man. No doubt Paul sAw etkns | in Athens, as one may see thsm tu lpdiA l and China today. 't0ods mended here
 and new ones made to crder. Al tue aesthetics of Athens went tor Aotning.
 It was an otfenss to Paul if tts best pro
 duet wa. only an smage 9Iassn % sy sfs s;s
 silence. arss ie the syaasosa'. thea n
 There are those who believe that Paul was actually arrested and cited befors the areopagites, the charge boing capital 1 one. the Introduction of . peity befoye tts I public recognition by thA state.
 Others think he was taken to the Ars- 1 opagus as . part of q solemn buriepdua; l that the mob nung itseif Into the seats | Of the judges. and that some one actine emnity used the form of law: May we know, if 1t suits your conveniance, what inc new doctrine of which you prAte-- may we know what 1t is7 For you bring certain strange things to our sara- We Iwould know. therefore. what these things mean"
 Luke stvss us in pafenfhesis clew to the cause of this sudden assembly on
 Mars. Hiu. It was mere insatiable. in-
 teilectual curiosity. which chsIectsrised ana strangers which were there. spent their time in nothing eiss but either to tell or to hear some new thing" There | were 300 gossip houses in Athens. open 1 day and night. for the interchange of l scraps of news. No wonder that these carrion crows fiew down about Paul the moment he opened his lipsf about Jesus and the resurrection.
 Amid the gaping and insulting thrcng Paul stood. the very embodiment of Chris
 tian gentihty He saw before nim an I opportunity of which he made the utmost. He. was absolutely fearless, yet with con- l summate skip he avoided arousing ar- taeonism unnecessariiy. He even. in the deftest manner possible. found common
 ground on which to stand with his curious auditory.
 Paul was an accomplished and ohssrv- | ing traveller. Evidences of the fact abound in his addresses and epistles. Out
 of the multitude of things observed. he screened with dexterous hand those he could use to best effect.
 l Tn some walk he had taken through the \ city he had noticed an altar. the inscrip- ton of which furnishes him with text --"To the Unknown God" With admir- able skill Paul evades the charge of in- novation which was made against Socra- | tes on that very spot four centuries be-
 fore. He is not introducing unlawfully new Delty--oniy making them acquainted with one Nhom they worshired. though
 without adequately knowing him.
 | The Teachers Lantern.
 Great riches are here in little room. A
 whole institute of theology Is packed in ten verses. Paul strikes polytheism dead-leyel blow when in one word he de- cIares the unity q God. Next the trip l hammer of his logic falls on the heathen idea of the eternity of matter. when he
 declares that God created the world. Next
 he aflrms the spirituality of God when | he declares that whom the Heaven of | S s-t~ lN-. | be confined within a temple made with hands, even though 1t were as large and lovely as wonder Parthenon. | The independence of Jehovah is affirm- | ed. He who is the Creator Is also the proprietor of all things. It is impossible | that you should serve him with your | hands. Again. you are mistaken in sup posing that the various races have sprung from the soil of their respective countries. so that some are better and others baser: not 50. but God has made them of one blood. So you ought not to call foreign CTS barbarians. but brothers You point with pride to the towering statue of Minerva upon the Acropolis. with her CO.,
 lossal spear made of the weapons of your enemies, gathered on the field of Mara thon; and you think of her as guarding the city which bears her other name. Athene; but would tell you of super
 intending Providence which distributes the races in the various places of their habitations, and which causes one nation to rise and another to fall.
 Next he afirms the. omnipresence of God Our souls are as certainly enshrined in the presence of God as our bodies are in the atmosphere. Tn Him we live and
 move and have our being. In Q Hash
 he reveals the folly of idol-worship He
 says: Your own poets. Aratus and Cle- anthes. say we are Gods offspring" Can God Himself be less noble being than we who are His offsprinG7 You ought not for a moment to think that the God head Is like unto gold or silver or stone graven by art and mans device. even
 though it be as lovely as Phidias's famed | statue"