Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-22
DEATH WARRANT
FACES SC0FFERS
REV. DR.. IDLEMAN DISCUSSES
BURNING QUESTIONS
New Assistant Rector Of st. PauIs
Pro.CathedraI Declares That His
tory Condemns Those Who
Answer Falsely

What Think Ye Of Christ, Whose
Son Is He?" we're the words of the
text of Rev. L. NJ. Idleman, the new
assistant rector OF st. PauPS pro-
cathedral, yesterday morning. Rev.
Mr.. Idleman said in parts
"A great writer and thinker has
said that every man may live all his
tory in his own person, and that until
he does live history in that way 1t has
very little meaning for him; that until
he feels in his own breast the motives
that control the conduct and ambitions
Of an Alexander, a Caesar, Napoleon
and a Washington, those names bring
very little Of value to his being.
IF you and / would learn anything
Of value in our lives which we can
live but once, we must make a care
full and philosophical study of past
history and also Of present issues
which go to make history for future
generations.
history a Tribunal
History may be termed a tribunal
before which every man tried and
sentenced to oblivion or eternal ex-
istence. Before the tribunal of his
tory has passed for trial every re-
former, philosopher, nation and every
slightest trace of influence upon the
worlds affairs. and each has been
tried by the one great, searching
question, What think ye of Christi
Or, in other words, what is your
IDEAL? For Jesus Christ Is the stan
dard by which every man, patton and
age have been judged and proven true
or false.
"In turning back the pages Of his
fnv- Int II ard-
ed as possessing the earliest known
of recorded civilization; that period
dominated by Egyptian influence.
Here was the forerunner of all art that
followed; her astronomy was the foun-
dation Of all subsequent knowledge Of
the heavenly bodies, the movements
and the laws governing them.
Egypt and Her Army
"But she was continually fitting out
great armies for foreign conquest and
when asked the question regarding her
ideal, she pointed to her -Pharaohs,
her soldiers, her rulers her despots
and what is now left to tell of her
wondrous glory. her power-the silent
Sphinx and the pyramids, half buried
in sand, like her history.
1--WE turn to Greece and Rome with
all their gorgeous splendor, wisdom
and power. We think surely here In
the home of patriotic Greece, in the
ancient abode of philosophy, art and
literature, where valor and manly
courage was proclaimed in a hundred
battles, we shall hear the true and
satisfactory reply to the great ques-
ton, What think We Of Christi
but this is an age of conquest and
only those qualities which point to
that end are considered essential to
it's ideal of men. The histories of
Greece and Rome read much the same
the names of Alexander and Caesar
come to our. minds again and again
as the greatest exponents of this, the
greatest Of conquest. The world cried
out its need for a perfect man and
Alexander and Caesar were the answer
Greece and Rome gave. Conquest, the
subjection of others for the benefit Of
self, was the seal of their doom and
today what do we find as a result of
striving? Only monuments guarding
the memory of a lost and decayed
grandeur.
Era of crusades
'Let us turn to civilization. stirred
with new life to a realization of some
thing better and higher. 1t was the
era of the crusades, the ageNo Of chiv-
airy, when men were learning to for
get personal ambition in fighting for
IL higher cause. 1t is indeed step
upward when men, bearing the cross
of Christ, forsook homes, father, moth
er, wives and loved ones, and took
up arms to defend and protect the
cause they had espoused. And we
think we shall find the great answer
here. But again we are disappointed,
for here we see men going forth with
swords and spears to contend for Him
who never used weapons against his
fellow man, but love, gentIeness and
patience.
I'VE behold men going forth, naughty
kings and armored knights in his
name, who, when he was reviled, re-
viled not again; who when he was
stricken cried out in behalf Of those
who prosecuted him, Father. forgive
them, for they know not what they
= do.'
Medieval Age
1.-THE medieval age in the glamour
of its romance and chivalry also has
answered falsely and today, instead
of a vigorous, healthy, progressive
civilization we find as evidences of all
the grandeur of this age, ivy-clad
ruins of once mighty castles and
traces in literature of once splendid
reign.
"How clearly and fearfuIly does his
tory show that doom has set its death
warrant upon every age, every nation
and every man who has dared to bold
ly, yet falsely, attempt to answer in
this life, this great question, What
think ye of Christ?
History then, as a tribunal trying
in turn the ages, the nations and the
individuals by this eternal test of life,
has proved her infallibility as court
in this world and has recorded so that
the blind may see, the deaf may hear.
the condemnation of all those who
have answered her great question
falsely"