Sistersville daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1902-1905, 1903-01-23
For his audacious twisting of the

For his audacious twisting OF the
sayings of Christ to suit the posi-
ton occupied by his Pa and him
tself In the world of wealth, young
Rockefeller Is attracting attention
We reproduce some of the "atten'
ton"
! John D. Rockefeller, Jr., son and
heir 10 the fortunes OF Mr. John
D. Rockefeller. the Standard Oh
multi-millionaire and perhaps the
richest man In the world, gave last
Sunday his Interpretation OF our
iSaviour's words, Sell all that thou
hast and distribute unto the poor,
and thou shalt have treasurers IN
heaven" Mr.. Rockefeller's daily
increasing fortune has already made
lit evident that he had found some
way of constituting the Saviour's
command more literally than a
! strict and literal Interpretation.
! As professional Christian and
{ one ofthe foremost members OF the
! Baptist church In America. this
! view Of the ethics OF wealth and the
moral obligations of vast fortune
as voiced by Mr.. Rockefeller Is ex-
; tremely interesting. On this page
will be found the views of many
other American citizens. some who,
like the rich men mentioned In St.
Luke, must answer for their stew
ardshibs of great fortunes.
To fully appreciate what warrant
Mr.. Rockefeller finds for his state.
ment that theSaviour"did not mean
1t In a literal sense" we must read
the preceding and the following
verses of the eighteensh chapter OF
St Luke. It would seem that the
Saviour's words were carefully
chosen aud that If anything which
Christ uttered as recorded In the
Bible was meant to be accepted HIT
orally and followed absolutely 1t
was these very words of positive
and unqualified command to the
rich man.
Itis carefully pointed out by St.
Luke that the rich man had pains
takingly followed all of the com.
mandmep,s from my youth up"
and still the Saviour sald:"Yet tn, u
lackest one thing. Sell all that
thou hast and distribute unto The
poor"
The following Is the full context
of St. Luke, xviii, Is 20:
IS And certain ruler asked him,
saying, Good Master, what shall l
do to inherit eternal life"
10. And Jesus said unto him.
"Why callest thou me good? None
are good save one. that IS Cod"
20. Thou knowest the command
meuts-Do not commit adultery.
Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not
bear false witness Honor thy ia
Their and thy mother.
II. And he said. "All these
have 1 KEEP, from my youth up"
~. And when Jesus heard these
things, He said unto him: "Yet
lackest thou one thing. Sell all
that thou hast and distribute unto
the poor and thou shalt have treas
ure In heaven; and come. follow
me"
"a. And when he heard this he
was very sorrowful. for he was
very rich.
"a. And Jesus seeing him, He
said: How hardly shall they that
have riches enter into the kingdom
OF God. IN. Y. American.
Says the Rev. DR.. Clifton Hardy
Levy:
eff there be any one saying OF
Jesus that Is supported by the best
of Biblical authority 1t Is this story
Of the rich young man who came
to him for advice as to the way In
which he was to reach the kingdom
of Heaven. 1t Is to be found In
almost the identical language In
Mark, Matthew and Luke. Schol
ars hold that In Mark lies the
earliest version of the life of Jesus,
so dwelling upon the text there 1t
is easy to see that Jesus was not