The Tupelo journal., 1903-12-18
THE BIRTH OF JESUS.
To Attempt to Eliminate the Mfracu-
lous In to Mutilate the Picture
Beyond Recognition.

1t is a matter of the first significance
that the two great festivals of the Chris
tian church, Christmas and Easter, cen
ter about the two prime miraculous
events of Jesus life-His birth and His
resurrection. According to the simple,
unaffected narrative of the biographers
OF Jesus, His life began and ended in
miracle. Those prepossessed by a SUI
perficial materialism, says the Chicago
Advance, are telling us to-day that we
have all that is essential of the life of
Jesus without these myths" of His
miraculous coming and departure. Not
so. Such an assertion is a fragrant flying
In he face of the plain facts of his
tory. Such a theory is pure conjecture.
II Is the creators Of this theory of what
a Christianity Of non-miraculous origin
would do, who are the inventors of a
pure Pigment of the imagination. That
which has actually accomplished the
triumphs Of Christianity was not the
kind OF story or figure which their toll
some philosophical ingenuity has
framed. "The story which has trans
formed the world" was a story in which
the miraculous was a prominent and
indissoluble element.
No one can fail to recognize the fact
that Christianity has its origin, not In a
system of ethical maxims nor in a record
Of charitable deeds; but in a Person. Je-
sus spoke as never man spoke; He per-
formed many signs, wonders, and
MIGHTY Unrl-c. hut u,hof IJa eo;l o.l
what He did derive their meaning and
find their explanation in what He was.
And in this mystery of His Being, the
fact Of His birth of a virgin overshad-
owed by the Spirit of God is a most har-
monious factor. None other than a Be-
ing to whom such unique origin is per-
fectly natural and consistent could have
had the influence which He has had
upon all after times. To suppose that
the mighty revolution in human his
tory which Christianity has effected, so
Transforming human society and color
ing it's finest fiber, that it is impossible
for the greatest unbeliever to speak or
act apart from its influence, could have
been the results Of legends gathered by
oiluplc HdliiSdH pedSdLIS dlOuuu the
story of a low-born but gifted Jewish
youth who died in disgrace at the hands
of a Roman executioner; this is to
imagine a greater miracle than any
which their pens record.
Though the evangelists record the
life of Jesus from different points of
view, they are at one as to the con-
gruity to His nature of His miraculous
origin. Matthew looked upon Jesus in
the light of tradition, and as the con-
summation of Jewish history. His
birth. like the other important events
of His life, was so ordered that 1T might
be fulfilled which was spoken by the
prophet" Luke interprets Him in his
relation to the redemption of mankind.
He identifies Himself with the Servant
Of God and that He has come
in the interest of the poor and the op-
pressed. The distinctive parallels of
Luke, the Good Samaritan. the Pharisee
n the Publican. the Rich Man and
Lazarus, rebuke pomp and vainglory.
and o a revolutionary doctrine
of the regeneration of society through
humility and service. But this revolu-
ton is to be brought about not by a
maxim, but by a Redeemer, over whose
birth a choir of angels chants a prom
Use Of glory to God and peace to men.
To John Jesus is the everything Son of
God, the Word made flesh, and though
the incidents of the miraculous birth are
not specifically mentioned by him, they
are in thorough harmony with his sub
lime portrayal of the nature of Him
who lived Tin the beginning" Mark
does not tell the story of the birth.
probably because he was relating the
words of an eyewitness OF His later
years; but certainly not because his
narrative is less firmly dyed with the
miraculous element.
What impresses the reader is the
complete harmony and continuity of the
story of Jesus birth. as of all other
miraculous events, with the rest of the
narrative. There is no abrupt change
from the story of miracle to the story
of other events. The two blend COM
pletely. In fact they are not two sto-
ries but one. To attempt to eliminate
the miraculous is to mutilate the pic
ture beyond recognition. The mira
Giles are always treated as simple, ra-
tional and congruous to such a One as
Jesus was. The Christian world is not
PISS in celebrating the birth of Jesus
as it does. 1t is the natural. reasonable
beginning of "the signs and wonders
which He did"