The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-05-18
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tons and heritages Of life. we owe
most of what We possess OF llbery ana
tolerance and intellectual life to the
sou spirits who dared to do battle tor
the truth. Let US not now decrY
them. Paul and Barnabas met the
narrowing seDaratism Of the Pharisal-
cal sect of Jerusalem Christians with
a flinty front. They champloned Tree
dom in Antioch itself. and then made
the three hundred mile journey to
Jerusalem to continue the debate III
the Council of the apostles and elders.
This first great heresy of the infant
Church was fought out in the presence
of the whole Church, n the day was
won for a br~oad-gauge conception OF
the Kingdom Of Christ.
Working by the Way.
Fighting is always bad when 1t
causes men to quit work. Christian
controversy is good when it inspires
men to activity. The trouble with
most differences Of opinion IN churcn
circles is that persons become 50 Dusy
about disputation that they forget to
do the first works. The OF
the early Church is worth studying
here. Paul and Barnabas were fight
ing like good soldiers for what they
believed to be the pure teaching OF
Jesus. Withal they kept their first
mission. From Antioch they were
| conveyed on their way by the church.
after the delightful Oriental fashion,
which so beautifully p~ersonlfies fellow
ship; and as they went they continued
preaching.
We cannot imagine Paul and Barna-
has, like modern men with a grievance,
button-holing everybody they met with
a story of their side of the quarrel
They had better news to tell. SO they
| brought Joy to all the brethren along
the way as they reported the conver-
sion of the Gentiles and the triumphs
of the Gospel.
When they got into the assembly at
Jerusalem, the sparks did not begin to
fly. The first discussion was not of the
c~OntrOVerted points at issue. After the
salutations of peace and the fr~aternal
| greetings, Paul and Barnabas re
hearsed all things that God had done
With them The story Of the Gospels
triumphS is better worth telling than
any factiOnal plea or argument. We
need have no fear for Christian de-
bates if they are preceded by a cOm-
mon rejoicing over the progress OF the
Kingdom. Let the hurch get to-
gether on the broad platform of world
eVangelization. and it will not fall
very far apart on any points of doc
trine or pOlity.
\ Great Debate.
He is a ~ortunat man who has
heard a great ecclesiastical debate,
conducted on a high plane by master
minds. Several such / treasure as
memories, but l would give them all
to have heard an hour of that mighty
disputation before the first Council al
Jerusalem. What orators there were
Paul and Barnabas and Peter and
James. Luke charitably refrains from
mentioning the names of the advocates
of q na~rrOW-Sauge gospel. They seem
to have been utterly annihilated in the
discussion. After their first presenta-
ton of their case, we hear nothing
from them.
The dabafo went oil ono WOW n,o1,o1
by the teaching of experience, and
proved by the very OLD Testament it
self. The Jerusalem Church put itself
SQuarely on record in favor of q world
embracing Gospel. The narrowness Of
Judaism was given a death blow, SC
far as the Christian Church was con
cerned. 1t was not many decades be-
fore the Judaizing tendency had disap-
peared from the early Church, al
though something akin to it is ever
and anon cropping out in these latter
days.
The First EnCyclicaI.
From the apostles and elders of the
Jerusalem Church there went a letter
OF greeting to Antioch and the Other
new Gentle centerS of CHARACTERIZATION
Accompanying the written Word were
a deputatiOn Of the church's strongest
men. In manly fashion the encyclica
gave affectionate endorsements to Pau
and that there might be ne
as 10 how the home
church rated them. Then it declared
against laying upon the Gentle con.
verts' backs the needless burden O
Jewish rites. It merely stipulated
that in some matters Of practical con
duct the new converts walk carefully
Some concession was made for tn,
Jewish sentiment with respect to tn,
eating of meat that had been s~tranglet
or from which the blood had not beer
trained. It was a atholic letter. ant
worthy of the builders Of the Chris
tan Empire. It's spirit, happily, il
reflected today in the utterances O
most of the great leaders of Christen
; dom. There is visiting on this cont
nent at the moment a distinguished
English churchman who has suffered
serious opposition for the very sam,
breadth Of view with respect to hi,