The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1909-04-09
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
DEAN HODGES
Theme: Defense OF the Fa%h.

AT hOIg lIlullI i. T.. AHuTCut the
Very Rev. George Hodges. dean OF the
Cambridge Theological School, deliv-
cred a lecture on the early church.
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 ac-
cused OF atheism and sedition. and of
immortality. or atheism, because
they had no images in their sanctu-
aries and because they worshiped in
a 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. II 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
antagonism. There was Lucian the
satirist, who makes one OF his char
acters, Perigrinus Proteus. profess
to be Christian. and when ne 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
of death" and he says. again, that
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 a
long and substantial book against
the Christian religion, in which he
decried Il first on the ground of his
tory. He saws II Is not historical be-
cause II is filled with accounts OF mir
acles, and miracles cannot happen:
and so he begins with the virgin
birth and the resurrection, and dis
credits miracles, which he says
Christ was able TO do by meals of
tricks He leivned in Egypt. And
second. of philosophy. He says the
incarnation is impossible because
God is intangible. and unnecessary
because God is good. 1t is absurd, he
saws, TO think that God cares for any
little company OF people and services
on this planet, and he praises the
Greeks. who put their trust in reason
over against the Christians, who put
their trust in faith.
There was Marcus Aurelius, en-
peror, philosopher, moralist, the one
man in the pagan world whom we
would have said beforehand would
have appreciated the Christian relig-
ion and would have gone out to meet
it. He views them with far-off
contempt and refers with some de-
rision TO the alacrity with which
+ Christians &C TO martyrdom. This
religion, which within a few centur-
les was 10 take possession of the
Roman world, which was TO be the
most notable fact in the history OF
the race, began in obscurity, an oo-
scurity amazing to us. When Chris
tianity came TO be a little known
there came in it's defense against its
antagonists the Apologists, chief of
whom was Justin Martyr. Born at
Sychar, in Palestine, OF pagan par
entage. at an early age Justin devoted
himself TO philosophy. In his desire
to learn the relation between God
and the world, he in turn sought this
knowledge from the Stoics, the peri
patetics and the Pythagorians, and
finally turned TO Christianity and died
martyr at Rome. From some writ
ings of his we learn that in the mid
die OF the second century the Chris
tians had no creed and no recitation
OF the creed, and no formulation OF
the truths Of their religion. Justin
made some differences from the Bible
in the direction of faith. He laid
great stress upon the argument from
prophecy, and had much to say about
devils. with whom he identifies the
gods of the Pagan world, and he be-
lieved in a literal millennium. There
was a lack or order and formality in
the church, but they took collections,
he says, and describes a service at
which there was a reading OF the
Bible, a long prayer, a hymn and
sacramental feast of bread and wine.
The second antagonist or the
Christian faith was Heresy. The time
came when men OF education and
learning began 10 be attracted toward
the Christian religion, and there was
a natural desire on the part Of Chris
tian teachers 20 prove the Christian
religion 30 those persons, 10 make II
reasonable 10 their cultivated minds,
and the result was sometimes heresy.
Heresv. / suppose, is almost always
the result of that kind of purpose.
These heretics were the Gnostics,
whose aim il was TO make some kind
OF a com bination between Christian
truth and the other kinds OF truths
floating about in the minds Of men.
Gnostics found two great difficulties
in religion: One, the difficulty Of re-
conciling the New Testament with the
Old Testament. partly on the ground
. f,H ge 60 from en-