The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1903-04-11
OUR EASTER SERMON.

Written for the Review by Rev. DR.. Emory
Miller of the First Methodist Church.
He is not here for He is risen, as He said Come,
the place where the Lord lay And quickly, and
tell His decipes He is risen from the dead Matthew
XVIII 81
Fo delivered unto you all which also
ceived: that Christ died for sins according the
scriptures and that he hath been raised the third day
according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to
Cephas; then the tweve then appeared above five
hundred brethren at once of whom the greater part
main until but fallen asleep then he ap
peared to James, then all the apostles and last of ALL
to the child untimely born, he appeared to me also
Cor. XIV, 3-S
"Who hath brought life and immortality to light
2 Timothy
The first Sunday after full after the
March always Easter Sunday With the Jews this day
the 10th of the month Nsan the second day following the
Passover when they marched of Egypt led by Moses With
pagan Saxon celebrated with feass
honor of their Goddess whom they honored
the mother of all natural life Vegetable animal and personal
But as the Christian religion displaced paganism this day
to be observed Christian festival the of the
day when "le and immortality brought to light by the
resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, from the dead
THE PHIL LosoP1c BASIS OF THE FESTIVAL.
The deepest and important questions which
minds are thesetw What the origin of life? and
Does personal life continue after bodies die? Another
less explicit putting of these questions is whence and
whher? According the accept these
questions third question: What should be the
character of present life? All sentance Whence
We might easily dismiss these questions five nothing
than Of high, perhaps the highest order of animals
Then could and drink and make and sleep and
die But the fact that changes the who
For in addition having and
thus discover realms of knowledge have the OF
obligation feel and regard others
o1 bad and praisewohy for good Intentions
and above all free to form and choose nten
and thus determine characters and thus also
round other people with the influence of good bad
characters and actions Thus may corrupt improve the
conditions of Others helping them them and
making their lives miserable happy difficult
easy according the effect produce their ccum
Thus become conscious that improve
to be fit to live better life than this by the de-
gree affect the welfare Of others heap of guilt
and deserving In other Words form characters and
characters either the nobest the ves forces that exist
in the world Whether man be pagan Christian
nfde he in his honest hours if he has any, concerned
about his character than about his wealth. his his intel
ectua attanments Thus feel that personal life
is immeasuraby beyond all vegetable merely
its importance and reaching scope of its and
possibilities This makes fairly cry Whence
3 this lfe and whittier does it extend2
Greek philosophy specuated much the origin of life
but only eliminated in altar inscribed To the unknown
God" And diferentatng personal from animal and
Vegetable life its thinkers scarcely touched the question
The pagan Saxon did better mixing faith with their
ing worshpping personal deity who in their thought
stood for the of life Their spring easts when
seeds and bulbs and buds began and expand
life beauty under the of the
equinox, all told of necessity of
which asking What that force
which originates life and assigns its laws But when these
and embraced the gospel OF the cruced
and Jesus their belief based upon the demands of
by the affirmation of fact The light of their
pagan deity paled like the before the rising Sun of
righteousness the vernal equinox Of history
healing his beams Their worship transferred from
the Goddess imagination the Lord who had brought
immortality light the gospel and the day which
3 had been pagan holiday became Christian festival
In like Israel had kept it festive day fol-
lowing Passover Israete who accepted Christ found in
Him the Lamb the Passover and his resurrection the
q Continued Page Five