The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-06-05

He ever command anybody to write any book whatever about Him, setting forth what He taught and did?
 It is not more probable, it would seem, that the Christ deemed it necessary for His teaching to be made known to men through an infallible book than that He expected it to be declared by an infalli- ble Pope! Infallibility, whether paper or papal, whether of voice or pen, so far as we know, never concerned Him for a moment. And for the reason, doubtless, that He knew the truth He was teaching was too authentic a declaration of what God is and of what man is, or ought to be, to need to be carried to men through any other than the ordinary channels Of human effort and human testimony. Half truths and counterfeit truths may need an inspired" voice or pen to give them currency, the whole and genuine truth never does.
 The law of gravitation in the physical sphere would not seem truer, or be &C., cepted by more people, if it were SUD-
 posed to be witnessed by thousand in- fal1ible popes, or ten thousand inspired books. It is the law and there's no get ting around 1t, or rid of it. So, in the spiritual sphere, it's great fundamental truths and laws do not need to be ac- credited to Us by miraculous men, or miraculous writings-they need simply to be declared to us in the speech of one human soul speaking to another; and l they accredited themselves in our con
 sciousness, and accredit themselves, if
 we permit them, in our experience.
 Shall we be met by the objection that, | unless we are able to open and read
 an inspired biography of Jesus Christ,
 we can not know enough about Him, or
 anything certainly enough to make up our minds as to whether it is worth
 while or not to be His disciples?
 The man who would offer such an ob-
 jection as that. would suggest that he
 must be in a state of most amazing and | distressing agnosticism concerning many
 of the greatest persons and greatest
 realities of human history!-that he has | never, e. B.. been able to learn enough
 about Alexander the Great, or Julius
 Caesar or Socrates, or Napoleon Bona
 parte, or Cromwell or Washington, or a
 hundred other notable historic hgures,
 has never been able to learn enough
 about them through the pages of any
 book to form a moral judgment as to the
 character of any one of those men-as to
 the thing, or things, he conspleuously
 stood for, and strove to accomplish, De-
 cause of not one of them have we an
 inspired biography!
 Surely it can not be unreasonable to
 hold that the life, the personality, the
 character, the teachings of Jesus Christ
 were great. wonderful unique and i'm
 pressive enough in themselves to De
 epoch-making, and to render more than
 ordinary historic witness to what He was and did unnecessary.
 Does Not Lose Value.
 Why should not His biographers, spirit ually taught, impressed, enlightened by . Him through days and years of inti- : mate companlonship-why should not they have been able to tell us substantially simply as devout men desiring 10 lei the truth what He taught, and how He impressed and enlightened Ihemy Why should they not have been able to tell us this? And as matter Of Tact Is not that just precisely what they
 have told us as their vital message! they have told us the truth, inspiration would not make it more true and, ln
 spiration lacking, i is not less true. If they are inspired, the best thing we can say about the books of the New 5 Testament is that they bring before oul l, moral consciousness and conscience th' character and teachings of Jesus Christ If they are not inspired, still do they :, fulfil the same high office. This Is then great value. and indeed, their only value : and, therefore 1t would seem that IVY WY can afford to be indifferent, while tn' e philosophers and theologians battle apou
 questions of inspiration!
 Should we not rather concern ourselVe'
 | to answer this-for us the supreme ques
 ton of questions, viz: Shall we Ignore the undoubted character and the undoupt ed teachings of Jesus Christ as they art
 presented to us in that book or shall VI
 give our love and reverence to His char
 acter as the eternal model of what oui own should be-our devout heed to Wna He taught as expressing the highest WIS dom of human life? Shall we choose tt 5 be or not to be His spiritual friends ant followers-to live as He would not or a' He would, in the circumstances that be
 set in the conditions that surrounds us f Has Lured Souls.
 s So, then, whether or not at the com . mand of Peter and John, Tn the nam r of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up ant { walk" the lame man rose and walked , whether or not In the name of Jesus e such physical cure was ever wrought d indeed by any of His followers, We ma. n decide one way, we may decide another q Perhaps such cures have been so wrought
 perhaps they have not.
 But this is certain, to this we ma!
 pledge our faith unswervingly and dog O matically, that, in the name of Jesu e Christ of Nazareth and the world. hun . dreds, thousands in every age; hundreds t thousands, spiritually lame from thei f. mothers wombs-lame with lamenes O perhaps generations old-have been bid e den by His true disciples to rise ana Walh 2 and have obeyo,l the bidding have risel t up, healed of heart and soul, rejoicing = and praising God--to walk hencefort
 and forever the ascending pathway O # spiritual conquest over and away iron n the trail and mire of the sin-cripple' e self
 e In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up anu if walk,
 IT In the realm of spiritual struggle, ol the field invisible of life and death con l., flict between good and evil, where tn l., grapple is hottest and most tragic be l. tween the devil and the God in man [ have these words ever lost, can they eve n lose their healing, supernatural power? - Who among us today spiritually de l. formed and lame outside the gate of tn Q temple of the higher ife-a beggar. vo l., cal or dumb, for tho aims of divine bet ,, terment-who among us might not in tn :. name of Jesus Christi rise up healed an, f enter rejoicing into that temple, to knoy , himself in it's still sanctty, redemme, r. and companioned by the spirit of the say
 ing Godl
 Q One fare plus 9 cents for the roun, r. trip from Birmingham to Atlanta vii l. Southern railway, account Master Plum r. bers' association. which convenes at tha - point June 6-9 Tickets on sale iron e points beyond 250 miles June 4-5, iron ,- points within radius of 250 miles June h and morning of G. final limit returning Y June l5. 1905 Rate from Birmingham l, Ala, to Atlanta, Ga. $5,25. Three train e per day each way between the abov ., Doints For fiirther inform, Q tfon nrp1v f