Democratic messenger., 1904-12-03

east as one of themselves. We find
the place of his birth. We can find
the places where he passed his boy
hood. where he went as Il man. where
he died. where he was resurrected and
the hill from which he ascended.
The Land and the Book.
The land and the book are one. The
personality of Jesus Christ. in the first
place. has Il true. Il vitaily true. geo.
graphical setting. No Bible student
ever walked the J Judaean hills with eyes
truly opened TO the divine truth that
he did not have his belief in Jesus
Christ irrevocably sealed and infinitely
strengthened by the conformation of
eastern customs and geographical facts
with the recorded biographies of
Chrst's life Henry \. Harper. the
great archaeologist. the author of that
marvellous book entitled The Bible
and Modern Discoveries" presses
home this statement upon his readers
i'm powerful way. On one of DR..
Harper's pages I find these words: "A
very dear friend of mine. a splendid
explorer. Il great traveller. was at heart
and in secret an unbeliever in the
divinity of Jesus Christ Circum-
stances compelled him to explore Pal
estine To understand the country he
found that he must read the Bible. and.
reading it in the full blaze of light.
which custom and country and mod
ern investigations threw on il. he
found that Jesus was indeed his Saw
iour. He brought the full power of
his able mind to bear on all he read
and all he saw. and. as result of
those geographical studies and the
Christ life. in humble alteration he
bowed before his God and Redeemer.
There was no sudden. no violent.
change. All had been noiselessly and
gradually accomplished. He was con-
vinced of the divinity of Jesus Christ
by the witnesses of the dust" | might
20 on and quote scores of testimonies
just like DIR. IIarper's in reference to
the harmonies of the Christ life with
the geographical facts and the Hebrew
customs of the Palestine hills.
Studying today the evidence of the
things not seem in reference 10 Jesus
Christ. is there nothing rational. moth
ing overwhelming. to you in the har-
mony between the opened leaves of
eastern rocks and the biographies OF
the four gospels? Is there nothing
marvellous to you in the fact that there
is not detail in all Christ's earthly
I'll, nI ha
rocks of the Palestine hills and val
leys. which are absolutely in accord
with one another! The men who
wrote the Bible were not historical nov
elistS like the author of the Tower of
London or of "Kenilworth' or of "Ro-
mola'' or of The Crisis" They did not
accept historical facts when they want
ed to use them for the benefit of their
plots and reject those facts when it did
not suit their convenience to use them.
They. did not put Christ i'm imaginary
places at impossible times and put fic-
titious and impossible statements in
his mouth. Almost every detail OF
Christ's earthly life can be verified by
geographical position and eastern Gus
tom. That classic book of travels
written by Richard Henry Dana. called
1.-Two Years Before the Mast" is sup
posed 10 contain Il perfect geographical
account of the early coast of southern
California and its people. But the
Bible is a more wonderful guidebook
to the Holy Land than Dana's master
piece could ever be to California. The
best guidebook through the Holy Land
ever written is the Bible. In its every
detail the Christ life is found to have
a perfect geographical setting. Is there
nothing wonderful to you that the land
and the book I'm reference to Christ's
life are one?
Jesus was not a NEUROLOGICAL char
acter. Before you can obliterate the
story of Jesus Christ from this earth.
on which he so sublimely lived. you
will have to grind out of sight and for
ever erase the sacred hills of Pales-
tine" once wrote David Gregg in a
book for which authorship he was
elected an honorary member of the
Royal Geographical society OF London.
You will forever have TO grind out of
sight the sacred hills of Palestine.
where Christ was tempted. and where
he preached his wonderful sermon. and
where he was transtigured, and where
he died. and where he ascended God
be praised for the gospel according to
geography. God be praised for the
Holy Land. with it's Jordan and Beth
Iehem and Hermon and Zion and Cal
vary and Olivet. These are all inde-
structible pages of the divine and in
destructible book. These are all wit
nesses that Christ has spoken to men
and lived among men and wrought out
salvation for man." Christ was u God.
Yes. Christ was a man! BY the evil
dence of the pages of rock ] know 1t.
Other Evidences of Divinity.
But we find Christ as the evidence
of things not seen" in another way.
BY the fulfillment of Scripture prophe-
cies i'm reference to his birth. his life.
his death and his resurrection we
know that the prophecies of his second
coming will he fulfilled as well as was
his first coming. We know there will
come time when. upon the white