Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-03-28

| Old Testament, that that book does not
contain any revelation referring &c
Christ as the Messiah. Here the Assri-
ologist and the man of research and
writer of history ends, and the the
ologian, with all his bright and dark
sides, begins.
las might have been expected the
excavations have brought to light In
formation which bears upon the relig-
ious domain of the Old Testament
The fact that it was so ought to have
been duly chronicled by him, ana ne
might have called attention to coincl-
dences where they occurred and have
explained them, while leaving his au-
dience to draw all the purely religious
conclusions for themselves. In that
case his lecture would have commanded
the entire interest and syinpathics oil
the lay public. Unfortunately, ne ana
not do this. He dealt with the question
of revelation In very polemical man
ner, and he more or less denied Reveal
tion-in fact. he thought thak he could
trace Revelation to purely human eie-
ments This was a grave mistake: for
in adopting his course he touched, In
the case of many of his audience, their
profoundest and most sacred 'convic-
tons
Il distinguish between two difle
kinds of Revelation-one continuous
and to some extent historical. and one
purely religious, a preparation for the
later appearance of the Messiah.
with regard to the first kind of Rev
citation 1 have to say that there Is to
my mind not the slightest doubt that
God constantly and continually reveals
Himself in the human race, which is
His own, and which He has created.
He has .breathed His breath into man
that is to say, He has given part OF
Himself, a soul. He follows with ia
therly love and interest. the develop
ment of the human race; in order TO
lead 1t and advance it further. He re-
veals' Himself, now in this, now in that,
great sage, whether it be 4 priest or
king. whether it be among heathens.
Jews or Christians. Hammurabi was
one of these and so were Moses. Abra-
ham, Homer, Charlemagne. Luther,
Shakespeare, Goethe. Kant, the EN-
peror William the Great. These he
had sought out and of His Grace ludg-
ed them worthy to perform In accord
ance with His will glorious and i'm
perishable achievements for their peo-
pies, both in the spiritual and in the
physical sphere. How many times
aid my grand father expressly and en-
phatically maintain that he was only
an instrument in the hand of the Lord!
The works of great spirits have been
bestowed by God upon the peoples IN
order that they may model their deVei-
opment upon them, and may continue TO
feel their way thru the confused LADY
rinth and the UNEMPLOYED pathways OF
their earthly lot. God has certainly
revealed Himself to divers persons In
divers ways corresponding to the posi-
ton of nation and the standard OF
civilization 1t has attained, and ne SUI
does so in our day. For just as we are
most overwhelmed by the grandeur
and might of the glorious character OF
the creation when we contemplate It,
and. as we contemplate, marvel at the
greatness OF God, which 1t reveals, as
surely may we recognize with gratitude
and admiration In everything really
great and glorious which in an individ-
ual or a nation does the glory OF the
Revelation of God. He thus acts d.
rectly upon us and among us.
The second kind of Revelation, the
more strictly religious, is that which
leads up TO the appearance OF our LORD
From Abraham onward it Is introduced
slowly but With prescient vision, hmm
lite wisdom, and infinite knowledge, 81
else mankind would have been lost
And now begins that most marvellous
operation, the revelation of God. The
seed of Abraham and the nation de-
veloped therefrom regarded with iron
consistency the belief in one God as
their hottest possession. They We're
obliged to cherish and foster it. They
were disintegrated during the captivity
in Egypt; Moses welded together the
separate fragments for the second time
and they always persisted in their en-
deavor To preserve their 'monotheism
1t is the direct intervention of GOD
which makes it possible for this peo-
pie to emerge once more. And so the
process continues thru the centuries
until the Messiah, foretold and an
nounced by prophets and psalmists. at
last appears. This was the greatest
revelation of God in the world. For
He appeared in the Son Himself; Christ
is God; God In human form. He de-
livered us: He inspires us: He attracts
us to follow Him: we feel His fire
burn in us, His compassion strengthens
us. His displeasure destroys us: tho,
at the same time, we feel that His in
tercession rescues us. Assured of VIC
tory. relying on His word alone, we
endure labor scorn. wretchedness, dis
tress and death; for we have in Him
the revealed word of God, and God
never lies.
1T is to me self-evident that the
Old Testament contains number of
passages which are of the nature of
purely human history and not Gods
revealed word There are purely his
torical descriptions of events of every
kind which are accomplished In the
political, religious, moral. and spiritual
life of the people of Israel. For exam
pie, the act of the giving of the law
on Mount Sinai can only symbolically
be regarded as inspired by God, mas
much as Moses was obliged to resort
to the revival of laws which perhaps
had long been known (possibly they
originated in the codeX of HammurabD
in order to draw and bind together the
structure of his people, which in Its
composition was loose and hardly capa-
bic of offering any resistance to out