The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-09-03

from his language? And did he stop
short of the description from reasons
of sympathy or modesty or shame? Is
this the general teaching of Gods
Word or has a great and terrible mis-
take been made? And have we mis-
taken a figure of speech and treated
it as literal? We erred. We misunder-
stood. The Great Teacher who rebuk-
ed his disciples, James and John, when
they desired to call fire from heaven
upon the city of Samaria, because the
people thereof refused to sell them
food for the Master-the sympathetic
One who said to them, Eye know not
what manner of spirit We are of; the
Son of man came not to destroy mems
lives, but to save them"-could that
Son of man in any wise intend to tell
us that our great Heavenly Father had
less of the spirit of love and right
eousness than the two impetuous dis
ciples? Did he mean to intimate that
while the disciples impetuously might
have been willing to destroy the earth
ly life of the Samaritans, the Heavenly
Father, of still more demoniacal dis
position, would treat practically all
mankind ten million times worse than
that and use Divine Power to all eter-
nifty to perpetuate the sufferings of
his earthly creatures which his own
Word declares were born in sin, shape
en- in iniquity, in sin did their mothers
conceive them Earthly creatures, too,
whose environment was u1lIdVOrdDl0
and whose Adversary. the devil. God
neither destroyed nor bound?
Such an Interpretation, my dear
hearers, is not supposable. We must
look for some explanation of the Mas
ter's words more consistent with his
own character and with the Heavenly
Fathers character, and more consist
ent with our conception of what just,
loving, wise and powerful Creator
would do. 1t does not answer the pur-
pose to say, as many do, "Bosh. do
not discuss such a matter. Nobody
now believes such thingsi" This one
Scripture reDudiated would shake our
confidence in the whole Bible But
rightly explained and understood it
would settle and increase our faith in
the Scripture as a Divine message.
This, then. must be our object-not
merely to cast from US the devilish in
depreciation of the dark ages, but to
ascertain the true Interpretations
get the true lesson from the words
of the Great Teacher. Thousands are
drifting off into more or less open
infidelity simply because of the IRA
tional Interpretation given to this
text and two or three others. And
these errors have become so fastened
in our minds from childhood days that
they have become part and parcel of
our very lives, so that many. of us
would have been inclined at one time
to dispute the very existence of a God
as MUCH as 10 dispute SQC1
Misrepresentation of his glorious
character.
Entering Into Life.
Let US go back to Jesus day and in
mind place ourselves with those who
heard him utter the words of our text
and context. The Teacher had just
said, eff thy hand offend thee. cut it
Oft is better for thee to enter into
life manned than, having two hands.
to go into hell, into the fire that never
shall be quenched, where their worm
dieth not and their fire is not quench-
ed" He said the same in the follow
ing verses respecting the foot and the
eye. Was he speaking literally or fig
uratively? Does any sane person sup
pose today that Jesus advised a literal
cutting off of hand or a foot or the
plucking out of an eye? Assuredly
not. And the person who would follow
his counsel in that way would be con-
sidered unbalanced in mind We all
recognize what he did mean, namely.