The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-07-17
BY WnL1AM T. ELLIS.


BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
World interest centers this weeK
in the second city of European Turkey
for two reasons: one is that Salonlca
is the place of Imprisonment of the de-
posed Sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hand,
and the center of the Young Turk
movement; and the other is that under
Its ancient name of TheSSalOn1ca, the
city Is the scene of an incident that Is
being studied by members or the sun
day schools of the whole world It is
a coincidence of striking interest that
Just now these WOrld-affecting events
should be located in the one place.
This historic city, named by Philip
of Macedon after his daughter. sister
of Alexander the Great, because on
the day he received news of her birth
Philip gained a victory over Thessaly.
1t was at ThessaIonica that xerxes
rested his army before attempting the
invasion Of Greece. Cicero, in his ex-
ile came thither from Rome, & cen
fury before the visit of Paul. In the
middle ages, ThessaIonica was the bull
wark of Christendom in the East 1t
was captured by the Saracens. in 500
A.. D., taken by the Crusaders 11S4, and
finally by the Turks in 1880. Now It
has become the head center of the. re-
form Turkish party, which promises
new day of religious tolerance and
of civil liberty for the Ottoman en-
OF all the personalities associated
with this historic spot, the Apostle
Paul is the greatest. Yet none of the
great names linked with Thessalonica
ever came to IL more incOnspicuously
than did Paul and his friends. We
picture the great apostles advent as
an important event, and 1t was Yet,
could we have witnessed the reality,
we would have seen the little company
of travel-worn and weary pilgrims en-
ter the town as quietly as humble
strangers could do, Nobody paid par
ticular attention to them ex-
sought quiet lodging. and
then went from door to door of the
tent-making homes, seeking for en-
plOyment. All was as commonplace as
could be imagined. The inconspicuous
little Jew whose character was reveal
ed only by a second look at his face,
searching for work from his fellow
countrymen did not fill the role of a
Xerxes or an Alexander in the COM
mon eye. Nevertheless, beneath his
cloak was wrapped UP more of pOrtent
for Thessalonica and for Europe than
ever came in the train of Alexander
the Great.
When the Best Side with the Worst.
The butler may look more imposing
than the head of the house. but when
he opens his lips to speak we know
him for the butler, even as by the
same token we know the head of the
house. Broadway can change a tramp
over night into a mirror of fashion,
but when he speaks his true worth is
revealed. Sabbath came. and these
pilgrims entered the synagogue
and began to reason about
the great things of the other
world They at once became
marked men, No longer were they
commonplace pilgrims seeking work;
the city soon knew that great teachers
had come to it i'll humble guise.
Often the best unites with the worst
in opposing better. The Jews of Tines
salonica we're morally the cleanest e1e-
ment in the community; yet, because
they disagreed with Paul's teaching,
they Joined hands with the rabble to
aries. They did not hesitate to appeal
to the lowest mob passion in order to
accomplish their purpose. The Jews
also were jealous, and they also were
resentful of PauIs teaching of a cruel
fled Christ.
The last virtue men display in con
nection with religion is the virtue of
tolerance. Even the man whose creed
IS a protest against religious conser-
vatisrn is intolerant of all who differ
with him. We cannot deny that even
in this liberal day men who do not like
TO hear of the sufferings of Christ and
whose fastidiousness would Danish the
sight of blood from all Theological
teachings, and who would eliminate
the cross, profess their advanced posi- |
tion with heat and intolerance.
A Heros Hards1lips.
The fact belongs to the A B c of all
religious teaching that controversy
upon religious themes has a tendency |
20 arouse the lower passions. When |
engaged in debating the leftiest truths |
that can engage the human thought, |
men indulge in the meanest suspicious |
and utter the basest insinuations. and /
even resort to dishonorable methods |
The Thessalonica Jews, like those of |
their religious capital who had cruci- |
fled Jesus, made a pretext of their |
loyalty to Rome when no sentiment |
was farther from their hearts.
So Paul was driven from the trou-
bled city on the charge of having been /
one Of those who had turned the world /
upside down,-or, better, right side up. |
He was not surprised at this perseeu- |
tion and opposition. He had grown /
accustomed to IL. Like every other pio-
neer of a great cause he had learned |
to endure hardness. He himself in /
one OF his letters calls the roll of some |
of his missionary experiences-"i la |
bors more abundant. In stripes above |
measure, in prison more frequent, in /
deaths oft. OF the Jews five times re- |
ceived forty stripes save one; thrice /
was beaten with rods, once was I
stoned, thrice / suffered shipwreck, a /
night and a day have I been in the |
deep; In journeytngs often, in perils |
of water in perils of robbers, in perils |
by mif1e own countrymen. in perils by |
the heathens in perils in the city in |
perils In the wilderness, in perils in the /
sea, in perils among false brethren: |
in. WEAKNESS and painfulness, in watch |
1ngS Off, IN munger and thirst, In TaSC- |
1ngS often, in cold and nakedneSS.' |
This was the price paid for the service |
of the Crucified In it all Paul learned |
the glory, for he found himself a shar- |
er of the cross Of Jesus.
A Friend in need.
In his extremity OF persecution, Paul /
was cared for by the converts he had /
made. It was the brethren who sent /
him and Silas away by night from /
TheSsalonica to Berea, for this man /
had the royal gift of attaching men to |
himself with steadfast loyalty For |
him his friends were willing to risk 4