The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-10-19

derstand and take the words literally and 1t should be left to the acumen of men fifteen hundred years later to dis cover that, although no two of them could decide just what our Lord did mean: still, his words were not to be taken literally.
 2. The disciples, understanding our Lord literally, are ineredulous and want to know how our Lord can do this thing. Our Lord appeals to a miracle. 'Doth this scandalize your" He says, If, then, you shall see the Son of Man ascend up where He was before?" He means by this, that If this, the giving of his real flesh and blood, seem impossible, what will they think when they behold so great a miracle as His ascension. Now, since there is nothing in the figurative meaning of Christs words to awaken doubt as to Ills power why should He do such an undignihed thing as to couple 1t with His ascension?
 g. Taking these words to mean a real eating, every word in the discourse may be understood in its obvious sense, but supposing a flgurative sense they become strange and unintelllgible.
 1. The common translation of the fifty fifth verse is For my flesh Is meat in- deed and my blood is drink indeed" Now this, even, Is strong enough, you would think, but in the Greek codices of this
 
 are each qualified by the Greek adjective meaning real, actual" making the pas sage For my flesh Is real actual meat and my blood Is real actual drink" By this Jesus declares that the Eucharist is not mere type or symbol. but a real, supernatural food, which operates in its own high order an effect like to that which food and drink do for the body.
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 5. When a wise legislator announces something as necessary for salvation, or dinary common sense should prompt him to enunciate his doctrine in most clear and unmistakable terms, especially when he foresees, as surely Christ did, that his whole following will take his words in their real sense and will act accordingly. From It's very establishment up to the sixteenth century, the Church of Christ, as councils and the works of the fa- thers show, believed in the Real Pres ence. Since then the largest body of Christians in the world. the Catholic church, together with the Greeks Ar menlans, Syrians and Copts have be- leved and do now believe in the same. If Christ meant His words to be taken fguratively, is it possible that He God | perception as not to give some clear evi- dence of his meaning, thus preventing such a horrible error from being then accepted and perpetuated through the ages? Does not such a supposltion give the lie to His words, Behold l am with you all days!"
 6. Closely allied with the foregoing ar- gument is this Whenever our Lords l hearers, taking his words in their req sense when He wished them to be under stood tigurativey, made objections, His constant practice was to explain them in- stantly In their figurative sense, al- though no great error would result from their wrong acceptation. These instances are SO many that time will not allow their enumeration. Let two suffice. He told Nicodemus that "unless q man be born again he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven" Nicodemus, taking his fgura- tive words in their literal sense, was surprised. How can a man be born again?'' he asked. Christ at once explain ed: Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost" Again our Lord told his disciples Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." They took Him literal- l ly, but Christ lost no time in explaining that He referred to the doctrines of 1 these sects.