Decorah-posten og ved arnen., 1909-05-28

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the first Christian martyr. Hasten
ing toward the city gate is the figure
of the voung scribe who held the
garments. In his great soul he has
sworn holy vengeance on all who fol-
low the Nazarene. Not only this
Stephen, but the whole Christian sect
must be rooted out. And he, Saul OF
Tarsus, mighty n his duty, will do
it or die, Girding himself with the
sword Of persecution, he pursues his
victims to the very gates of Damas-
Gus. But his mission is never ended.
For this Hebrew zealot, this blind
lover of Mosaic righteousness, this
despot of vengeance, is at once con-
verted. BY a very miracle, Saul the
Prosecutor is become Paul the Chris
tian.
With the conversion of the Great
Apostle comes a new chapter in the
annals of men. Unknown to himself,
he is now to be the helmeted leader
OF a world-movement never since
equalled. Judaism, proud and con-
servative, has been wrested from him.
The old religion is replaced by one
stronger and broader. In it, he sees
the universal ideal. In it, he reads
his one duty: to preach the gospel to
every creature. Three and a half CEN
turtles before, Alexander the Great
invaded the civilized world and sub
dued it by armed force. Now comes
a second conqueror: the soldier whose
triumphs are the redemption of a
Corinth and an Ephesus; whose arms
were not carnal but spiritual.
Well does the historian say that the
kingdom of the Son of Man was
founded IN darkness and gloom. Rome,
mistress of the world, worships she
knows not what. Her golden age
died with Augustus, her morals with
Cato. Greece heaps incense on Pa
gan affairs stained with lust. Virtue
is Stunned as it were the poison once
poured into the cup of Socrates. Je-
rusalem in the mailed grip of Rome;
her king, a puppet clown. Even the
Christian circle seems infected. The
first apostle to die was a traitor; the
hrst two converts that perish were
liars and hypocrites. Now a handful
OF fishermen remain to guard the seed
OF divine truth. Though staunch in
themselves, their weakness is in the
strength of their enemies. On the
one side the orthodox Jews threaten
to corrupt them by crafty interpreta-
tons of their holy creed; on the other.
the arguing Ebonites likewise seek
to pervert them bv unlawful COM
promises, and al around them-on
every side, is the boisterous camp of
Paganism ready at a nod TO annihilate
them by the sheer might of imbruted
force. Surely, it is a desperate and
dark hour for the Cross.
But God saves his good men for
critical times. Providence provides.
The look of destiny turns now, not
to the martial palaces of Rome or
the classic halls of Greece for a de-
l~iverer. But yonder-from the lowly
desert of Arabia, from his three years
clustered meditation, comes one who
for moral grandeur and exalted mo-
tive stands pre-eminent among heroes.
With the glowing helmet of salvation,
the glorious shield of faith, and the
two-edged sword of his divine mission,
Paul the, Great Apostle stands forth
armored for his great exploit-the
fight of a good man.
II the missionary Livingstone met
his anguish in the dark Jungle of
Africa, then much more Paul, plunp-
ing into the moral wilderness of his
time, bowed in agony as the thorn
was pressed into his flesh. Travelling
through the districts of Asia Minor,
he is repulsed by his countrymen,
scoffed at and beaten. Grieved, he
turns with a sigh to the Gentiles. The
Jews, though silenced in argument,
pursue him like hungry wolves. Their
words like singing whips, lash the
city multitude into a frenzy so that
at lconium he is beaten with rods and
at Lystra he is dragged in the dust
and stoned out of al semblance of a
man. Bruised and weak, he proceeds
to Athens. Out of curiosity the
philosophers invite him to speak in
public. As he ascends Mars Hill. he
sees below him the city with its maze
of shrines and idols. Outlined against
the blue Athenian sky stands the Ac-
ropolis, And near by, boldly and
beautifully wrought by the hand of
Phidias, catching the golden CLEAN
of the sun upon her bronze shield and
polished spear, stands the colossal
Minerva, the patron goddess of
Athens. Almost within the shadow
OF this divinity Paul arises to speak.
What will he say? What is his phi
losophy? How will he preach a new
religion? But the great apostle
speaks plainly and fearlessly: Eye
men of Athens, as | passed by and be-
held the objects of your devotion. |
found an altar with this inscription.
To the unknown God Whom. there
fore, We worship, though We know it
not, him declare | unto you" Thus
runs the burden OF his speech flowing
as the very life-blood of his heart.
Some mock, others marvel. But
though he left behind him neither
church nor mission, and though the
philosophers knew him only as "a
setter forth of strange gods" yet the
small end of the sundering wedge has
entered. The Apostles coming marks
the beginning of the end for Pagan
ism. And as long as -ood men fight
for truth, believing that the knowl-
edge of it will set men free, so long
will the figure of Paul stand forever
on the Areopagus, the great teacher
TO the Gentiles.
Paul's great desire is to go to
Rome. Long has he perceived this
to be the strategic point of world
influence. But his hope is long de-
ferred. For thirty years he must
march against ~heathenism, tearing
down the walls of s~ectionalism and
putting up the brotherhood of man
behind a bulwarK of churches. Then,
he hehnlds the Eternal City BUT how