The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1905-10-27

4
His salvation, his sanctifcation, his
gloriication are not crisises in his life
history effected by mechanical and mag
zeal powers. They are stages of de-
velopment reached by the processes of
spiritual life under spiritual influences.
Our teaching on things to come must
Justify itself to reason and conscience.
We must, like Paul, make our appeal
to the moral sense of men. Any doc
trine that fails here has lost its power
for good, and is doomed.
There is "a contamination of the
age"-there is "day of the Lord"
Creation has an aim-history has a
worthy goal-the human race is moving
on towards a glorious destiny. All
things that are not necessarily con-
nected with moral character and spirit
ual development with individual and
social perfection, must have have an
end. Can we believe that in the con-
summation all men and all things will
fare alike? Will this grand consumma-
ton be reached as definite crisis or
will it not be reached by process OF
transformation, by gradual passing
from the imperfect to the perfect and
thus from the temporary to the eternal?
Are there well defined and definitely
stated events to accompany and thus
| to mark this consummation? Do we
know what these events are and can we
locate them chronologically?
All must acknowledge that if we have
tany such knowledge that knowledge is
found in the scriptures of the Old and
New Testament. There is no way by
which to know the future if God does
not reveal it. Hence the appeal of all
parties, to the controversy, is to the
teaching, of prophet and apostle. And
especially to the words of Jesus him
self. But we must not forget that the
teaching of Jesus comes to us through
HIS dponIleS. IHlS Teaching was HeCco'
sarily colored by their conceptions. And
their conceptions were colored by the
popular religious teachings of the time.
This popular teaching had its basis in
the teaching of the Old Testament proph
cts, and their teachings on last things
was apoealyptical. If we are to have
any rational conception of the teaching
of our Lord on these solemn matters, we
must interpret his language in the light
of its historical situation. And when
we have done all that can be done in
this way to come at correct doctrine
of last things that doctrine must be re-
viewed in the light of the Spirit of
Jesus. We must see to it that our
scheme does not in any way contravene
the revelation of God in Jesus Christ.
This apoealyptical and highly pictorial
language of prophet and apostle and OF
Jesus himself must not be made to do
violence to the spirit of Jesus, and to
the moral sense of man taught in that
spirit.
All the events connected with the
winding up of the dispensation, are in
the New Testament clustered around
what is frequently and technically call
ed ''the parusia." 1t is also sometimes
called ''the day of the Lord" and "the
revelation of the Lord Jesus"
The Old Testament prophets looked for
coming of the Lord,'' day of the
Lord', which in their mind, was always
associated with judgment and destruc-
ton Tor the wicked and blessing and
glory for the righteous. This great and
terrible ''day of the Lord" was paint
ed in lurid colors. The prophets called
in the events of history and the phe-
nomena of nature to help them enforce
the lessons of the coming day of judg
ment. The language of vision and
apocalyps was called to their aid. Spirit
ual events and processes were portrayed
as political revolutions and as conclu-
sions of nature. To the prophetic mind,
the political and physical worlds existed
for the kingdom of God, and the
epochs in the latter were marked by
crisises and cataclysims in the former.
1t was then most natural that the
Jew of the later ages and especially dur
ing times of persecution, to find and to
express his hope and consolation in the
language of vision. Indeed their thought
and their language was moulded by the
apocalypses of the Old Testament proph-
cts and also by the noncanonical apoca-
| lypses. We are not, therefore, surpris-
ed that the books of Daniel and Enoch
moulded the thought and furnished the
| language of the Jesus and the Apostles
The language of apocalyps is the nat
ural language for thoughts of final judy
ment. The Messiah was called the Son
of Man. All were looking for the com.
ing of the Son of man at the consum-
nation of the age, for general resur-
rection of the dead and for universal
| inIo,,,ap{ 10 +bo