The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1909-09-25
ADDRESS OF
REV sH:!O1'T D
AT CORNER STONE LAYING OF
" PALATlNEs BAPTls CHURCH,;
: THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

Following Is the address OF Rev, G..
M. S1lott, OF Mannington. !. delivered MT
the corner stone laying of the Palatine
.Paptfst Church: i!
.tupcns this Rock l Will Build Ny
Church and the gates of hell siall NOT
prevail against It." Matthew, NFI:1s.
If Jesus had said 'tthou art Peter and
upon this rock will" spllttmy church,
1t would have been nearly as We now
observe It's application. However, He
did make some things absolutely sure:
| ul$That the church rests upon an en-,
during foundation. t2l It ilentife5
the Mnster-builder and insures the per-
petuality of the .etlifice and infies tho.
utmost powers that can be assailei
against it. Iss y n.
The time had come when the follow
ers of Christ must give nn Intelligent
opinion OF who and what He was. He
pointedly asked them the question,
"Whom do men say that I. the Son OF
God. am?" They answered. Him varl,
.ously. and then He. put the matter
squarely before them as a personal
question. Peter. acting rs spokesman,
self appointed. made bold to say.
Thou art the Son Of the living God"
Christ at once showed him that such
a knowledge could not enlinate from
his mere human knowledge, but was
arevclation from God.
Then He uttered my text. which has
caused men to differ instead of unite,
from that day to this. It Is still with
many question as to whether Christ
meant that He Himself was the rock,
or, that Peter was the rock. or that
Peters confession was the rock. Let
us study 1t for, ourselves and formulate
!, our own creed oft.
1.-THE ccnfessor.
Previous to this our Lord had called
Peter Cephas. which in the Aranlaic
language He spoke. means stone. Now
He reaftlrms 1t, speaking the Greek
tons1e In the masculine gender 1t
means mere cobble, or pebble, easily
moved about. and not very large, and
strong: a mere silver Of stone broken
off from the mountain ledge and hur-
ried swiftly from place to, place, m
easy prey to waves and eldfes. l
think our Lord meant to impress Peter
with the thought that he was not fit
to be a personal foundation for any
thing permanent in the chuch. This
am aware is the very opposite to high
church views geneally taken. Churches,
that havc heen built upon mere men,
oven great men,, have not had a splen-
did career. and have not had the per-
manent success that should character
Ice the eternal etliflce which Christ
came to establish. Too many churches
depend upon what men can do, and
what they are, rather than build upon
Christ nrH His divine nature. More
over, IL felt called upon to accept
this doctrine OF human foundations tor
divine structure. would not he Will
ling to admit that there ism single con-
vincing proof that Peter was ever. In
Rcre, and II he ever was there 1t wns
Mt the very end and last year of his,
life and would not leave time to estab-
lIsh the Apostolic succession and place
himself lteforc the world MS the vice
regent of God Almighty. There Is no
authority that will bear investigation
that lie ever appointed any successor
to himself. or to his Office. Mt ALL Hal
he made such an appointment the nrin-
ciple would have been SO popular at
frst that n wide literature would have
been esta blished on the subject ana
the writings of the Greek and Latin
fathers would abound In references.
The only proof that have ever seen
is among pepal writers who run on 10
tellfns that when Peter went to Rome
he did this and that. and then later
they refer to themselves and say as
we hnve shown. that Peter was IN
Rome. and did this and that. nnd they
pxnnct men and women OF historical
accura cy3to accept this rs proof. rlo
not ACCEPT 1t as proof nor rs collateral
evidence. IA certain popular novel.
"ouo Vadfs," makes Ii appear by inti-
nation that of course Peter was
among the hiding Christians In Rome
during that great persecution. This is
only fiction.
In ali our Lords dealings with Peter
He never gave him my privileges He
did not equally accnrd TO some or All
OF the rest of His disciples. Never IN
subscunent life do we find Peter acting
as the head OF the church. nor do we
nh others treating him as such. IN
that notable difference OF opinion con-
rern ing the great Gentle question
paul openly rebuked Peter and decl'lT
elly differed from him.. Peter certain
ly was married man. and acted III
every way like any other man. Neither
Is there any history that Is authentlc
that will show that he did any othhr
than as all the others did In reference
to nil matters concerning his WORK he
was. taken into the death chamber anu
into the Mount OF Transfisurat1on IN
company With James and John, ami
was rs utterly Unable to perform
miracle and save the young de1nnniac
as any OF the rest. He denied ms
rord and cursed and swore in doing
n and this does not look much like an
art worthy ofsthe head OF the church,
Christ characterized him as u rolling
stone: caught np by the tiles OF the
brooks and rivers and carried rolling
here and there. in one direction anu
another, This process did smooth OF