Catoctin clarion., 1905-04-13
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
s SUNDAY SERMON : !:
b Y = n
Y A Scholarly Discourse By =
2 Rev. DR.. H. G. Swentzel. y
D q

= Y Y Y Y


Jesus Christ" the Rev. DR.. Henry c.
Swentzel, rector of st. Lnke's Church,
Clinton avenue near Fulton street,
preached Sunday on 1.-The Divinity of
Christianity" The text was from
Timothy i'll: 1.-THE Glorious Gospel
of the Blessed God" DR.. Swentzcl
said in the course of his sermon:
Christianity shows the credentials
Of divinity. 1t IS not set Of doctrines
and principles which men or even the
best of them have invented, but it
processes to come directly from the III
finite Jehovah Himself. 1t is not sim
ply one among the worlds religions.
1t stands alone and is unique In the
manner and method Of its origin. 1t
was not whispered into the ear Of a
seer by the Almighty; it is not the
result of visions: it is not the product
of learning and piety. 1t comes direct
ly from the infinite God, who actually
adopted human nature in order that He
might talk with mankind face to face.
| 1t Is immeasurably more divine than
the religion of Moses and the prophets
because it was delivered personally by
| the incarnate Lord Himself. The
themes of which He treats are of such
| tremendous moment that any solution
| of them ought to be carefully Scrutin-
lied. Who and what is God? Who
and what is man? What Is the true
! ideal for the present? What is the
outlook for the future? What of I'M
mortality and heaven? TO these in
terrogatories the Lord speaks with
tones of infallbility which popes and
| synodS have not dared to initiate or
even to claim. The author of the Ser
mon on the Mount was the eternal Son
of God and His religion is nothing less
| than "the glorious gospel of the blessed
| God
To say that Jesus of Nazareth is a
divine Being is not synonymous with
the error which calls Him divine
man. There have been many divine
men-men who had mission and
message from the Most High, men who
were called to lead humanity to better
and nobler things; sons of men who
We're filled with Gods spirit, and
counted not their life dear If 1t were
spent In His service, prophets of re
form. prophets of liberty, prophets of
philosophy or literature or art. In
the hall of fame stand the images OF
the vast army of divine souls who
have been the champions of Gods
cause and the captains of His hosts
in every cline. In far lofticr sense
In a literal sense which warrants no
jugglery of words and no legerdemain
of metaphysics, was Jesus Christ
Gods Son, His only Son. The Chris
tlan Scriptures propose this sublim"
truth which should be hailed with uni
versal acclaim. 1t is constantly as
sumcd in the four gospels even as it
was by Himself, that, though He was
born of the Virgin Mary, He was STILL
in the later language of the Nicene
Greed, God of God, Light Of Light
Very God of Very God"
In one way or another Our Lord de-
clared His divinity time and again
He made Himself Gods equal with
such plainness that even His enemies
could not mistake it. They acc"oed
Him Of sacrilege so strongly that they
wrung from Him the well-remembered
reply: Say ye to Him whom the Fa-
thcr hath sanctilicd and sent into the
world, Thou blasphemcr. because |
said | am the Son of God?' 1t is true
that He loved to speak Of Himself as
"the Son of Man." but that title really
have been n son of man without being
a divine parsonage, but lie could not
be truly the son of man unless He
were, more than all, the Son of God.
1t is no wonder than when the people
beheld His moral perfection and saw
His works and listened TO the truths
as they seemed to come from the
mouth of God. they asked, WHO is
1,;y, ,,.1 ,,St l,o
memorable interview. which has often
been conspicuous in the church's re
gard, should not lightly be put aside
The Lord said to His disciples, Whom
do men say that |, the Son Of Man,
am? Whom say yr that | ann Then
it was that Simon Peter made the great
confession. Thou are the Christ, the
Son of the living God" In advance of
His birth the arChangel gave this as
surance to the Virgin Mother, That
holy thing which shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of God" And
when the end came and Jesus had
breathed out His life on the Calvary
cross, the words of the Roman Centu-
rion were fitting finale for the record
of His mortal career, Truly this man
was the Son of Cod
The divinity of the Founder Of Chris
tianity justitics the ccrtitude OF His
disciples. This absolute certitude
should be appreciated. We should will
ingly take the Lord at His word. And
vet He does not demand that the dis
ciplcs shall cnslave thcmselves-Hc
who came to make them free. to give
them "the liberty Of the glory of the
children of God" That liberty is sure
ly not dead letter. The Divine Mas
ter would not put shackles on the
human intellect. He does not dis
courage the conservatism which dis
dains to consider the present or to
look for golden age in the future.
If He be heard Alright He will stimu-
late thought and investigation. Bet
ter than ourselves did He know that
the real advancement of the multi
tudes is In harmony with His plans
and that the period of the finest piety
will be Il time of the greatest enlight-
enment The divinity of Christ should
not be treated as Il brutum tilmen.
Rather is it truth--a fact-which
should steady and hold Christian peo-
pie amid the growth of ideas and the
struggle of theories. Whatever truths
may be discovered. whatever thinkers
may say or print, whatever conclusions
may ensue in the intellectual world,
the Christian religion is forever true.
because it is nothing less than "the
! glorious gospel of the blessed God"
1t is on this basis that the honest
| doubter may take his stand. Doubts
are not necessarily sinful. People
who never think will never doubt.
1t could scarcely be expected that
Christianity would not cause intellect
ual disturbances. 1t has to do largely
with mysteries incOmprehensible and