Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-04-08
THE PULPIT.
y
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
DEAN HODGES.
Theme: Defense of the Faith.

Brooklyn, N. Y.-Sunday evening.
at Holy Trinity P. 3. Church, the
Very Rev. George Hodges, dean or the
Cambridge Theological School, deliv-
cred a lecture on the early chu:ch.
The subject was THE Defense of the
Faith" Dean Hodges said:
The first antagonist of the faith
was prejudice, crowned in ignorance,
growing up into contempt and then
into hatred, and resulting in preju-
dice whereby the Christians were &C
cused of atheism and sedition, and of
immortality. Of atheism, because
they had no images in their sanctu-
aries and because they worshiped in
q fashion unknown among the relig-
ious of their time; of sedition be-
cause they refused to acknowledge
the divinity of the Roman Empire;
and of immortality because they held
secret meetings, and not knowing
what took place at these meetings,
everybody might guess what he chose
and the mind Of man is SO consti-
tuted that under such circumstances
some people, will guess very unpleas-
ant things. So, by. virtue of ignor-
ance, in almost entire absence Of
facts, there grew up around the
Christians a thick atmosphere Of pref
udice. It is astonishing, remember
ing all that afterward happened, that
Christianity should have existed for
one or two centuries almost unnO-
ticed, and then only with derision and
a~ntagonism. There was .Lucian the
satirist, who makes one Of his char
acters, Perigrinus Proteus, profess
to be a Christian, and when he is put
in prison is visited by prominent
Christians, who reverence him be-
cause he is in danger Of martyrdom,
and then says Of them: "These mis-
guided creatures have SO persuaded
themselves that they are going to live
forever that they have lost all fear
they have been taught by their
Master that they are all brothers, and
they love one another in an amazing
manner" It is a friendly comment,
but mingled with contempt. There
was CELSIUS, the critic, who wrote q
long and substantial book against
the Christian religion, in which he
decried it first OF the ground Of his
tory. He SAYS it is not historical be-
cause it is filled with accounts of mir
acles, and miracles cannot. happen
and so ae begins with the virgin
birth and the resurrection, and dis
credits miracles, which he say
Christ was able to do by meals o
: tricks He learned in Egypt. And
second, of philosophy. He says tn
incarnation is impossible becaus
!. God Is intangible, and unnecessar,
because God is good. It is absurd, h
Y says, to think that God cares for an
little company of people and service
on this planet, and he praises tn
Crool,c wha mt +hoir frY,Sf IN roacO,
? over against the Christians. who pu
g their trust in faith.
e There was Marcus Aurelius, en-
8 peror, philosopher, moralist, the on
e man in the pagan world whom W
would have said beforehand woul
I have appreciated the Christian relif
ion and would have gone out to NEE
it.. He views them with a faro
= contempt and refers with some d.
e rision to the alacrity with whic
Christians go to martyrdom. TIL:
Is religion, which within a few centu
O les was to take possession of tt
Roman world, which was to be tt
- most notable fact in the history
:, the race, began in ~obscurity, an ol
= security amazing to us. When Chri
10 tianity came to be a little know
8 there came in it's defense against i
antagonists the Apologists, chief
t, whom was Justin Martyr. Born
le Sychar, in Palestine, Of pagan pa
entage, at an early age Justin devote
"a himself to philosophy. In his desi
= to learn the relation between Gt
and the world, he in turn sought tn
knowledge from the Stoics, the pc,
ie patetics and the Pythagorians, al
finally turned to Christianity and di,
-. martyr at Rome. From some wrj
ings of his we learn that in the mi
IN 49, IA ~ - III
eAs@A % AZ NSSu oAu ~ AVCA1dIA'
of the creed, and no formulation