The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1906-05-05


serving every propriety, ask that the
power of that church be used to pre-
vent occurrences of brutalities that
shock the civilized world. We can
do more than this. We can set an
example. We can teach the men,
women and children of our own land
to array themselves on the side OF
truth. We can teach in press and pull
pit that the statement that Jesus
Christ was crucified by the Jewish
nation is the wickedest falsehood that
ever fell from human lips.
If Christ was a mortal, If he was
the son of Joseph and Mslx born in
the good old-fashioned wxST he was
crucified by the Romans. n he was
the Son of God, he was cfdcihed by
the direction Of his fathSr Under
neither proposition can the Jews be
held accountable. If he was a mortal
he was the prisoner of Rome, and n1e
Jews, as a race, never cried for his
blood
Let us look at the evidence. The
saying that are accredited to Mat
thew, Mark, Luke and John agree
that Christ was popular with the Jews
at Jerusalem He had advocated what
seemed to him necessary reforms,
Those in charge of the Temple OBJ
jected He called them harsh names,
and the common people seem to have
agreed
Matthew says that when the chief
priests and Pharisees would have laid
hands on Jesus, after he had driven
the traders out of the Temple, they
dared not do SO, because they feared
the multitude9
Matthew and Mark agree that when
the priests and scribes consulted, at
the house of Caiaphas, about the kill
ing OF Jesus. they agreed that it
should not be done on feast day,
'.lest there be an uproar among the
people"
Luke says that all the people were
attentive TO Christ, and that when he
taught in the Temple all the people
came early in the morning to hear
him. and adds: 'tAnd the chief priests
and scribes sought how they might
kill him. for they feared the people :
When these accounts were written
no man knows or has information
upon which to found reasonable
guess, but III the discussion of this
subject there IS not any other testi-
mony TO be considered, because there
IS not any other testimony obtaina-
BILE. This seems certain: The Jews
did not have power to put Christ to
death, and Pontius Pilot did not care
anything about the religious contro-
versies of the Jws. It is certain that
Christ was accused OF treason. and it
IS certain that he was executed by
Roman soldiers; that Pontius Plate
did not desire to pronounce judg-
ment; that his wife was opposed to
it; that he washed his hands OF the
matter, and then told the centurions
to proceed with the crucifxion All
these propositions seem to be absurd.
Pontius Pilot cared nothing for the
shouts of a rabble 1t may be that
he was somewhat III dlsfavor at Rome
that he feared it might be reported
.aes that he had s4.-~lded one who
was charged with treason, but this
cannot be made to agree with the
story that he first acquitted and then
executed his prisoner. To have re-
ported such a proceeding to his En-
lperor would have been to invite dis
grace and dismissal
But let rs take the story as it is
generally taught. Let us suppose tina,
a rabble, melted by the priests, made
enough noise to induce Pontius Plate
to pronounce judgment of death
How, in the name of common sense
does this place the crucifxion upon
lthe Jewish race? When a mob
ilynches a prisoner in New Jersey OF
delaware or South Carolina, we dc
by the American people. The mob
that yelled at Pontius Plate was
wholly without authority to say tahl
its doings should become a charge
against the Jewish race. A mob can
not charge its wrongdoings to the
debit account of a nation, and yet so
liberal writer as Ernest Renan, after
quoting from Mark, says:
1T was, then, neither Tiberius nor
Plate who condemned Jesus. 1t was
the old Jewish party; it was the Mo-
sale law. According to our modern
ideas, there is no inheritance of guilt
from father to son. Each must ac-
count to human or divine justice only
for that which he himself has done.
Every Jew who today suffers for the
murder of Jesus has therefore right
to complain, for he might have been
Simon the Cyrenean, or at least not
have been one of those who cried
Cruelty Him! But nations, like in
dividuals, have their responsibility
IT ever a crime was the crime of 4
nation, it was surely the crucifxion
of Jesus. His death was legal in
the sense that it was primarily caused
by law which was the very soul of
the nation"
Admitting for the moment that
Christ was crucifed under the Jew
ish law, it may be well for Christians
to remember that the law is not found
in = secular volume 1t is, in all its
beauty, found in the thirteenth chap
ter of Deuteronomy, and the children
of our Sunday schools are taught that
it was written by Moses, under divine
guidance, shortly before his death.
1t reads:
g. IF thy brother. the son of thy
mother, or thy son, or thy daughter.
or the wife of thy bosom, or thy
friend. which is as thine own soul,
entice thee secretly, saying, Let US
go and serve other Gods, which thou
hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
=. Namely, of the gods of the peo-
pie which are round about you, nigh
unto thee or far off from thee, from
the. one end of the earth even un,o
the othr end of the earth;
8. Thou shall not. consent unto
him, nor hearken unto him; neithe,
L II. /. -. L Il