The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-04-30

ing. Here To-Day AsOf'
York paper which lies De-
fore me, is four column
heading and long arIcle
upon the latest phase OF the Sunuay
question in the metropolis; Wnle 0A Si
side of it lies a Bible. open az ulS
cussion of the Sabbath question re-
corded two thousand years ago. :.
Bv contrast. the newspaper arIlcle u
pitiflllIv local and shallow ana one
sided. it seer7s to see this whole vast
social and religious problem only, az
1t WERE through the bottom OF w tSs u -
beer glass. There is no evidence IN ~ w. :
headlines or in the text tnat the
sunday question is, or ever has been,
more than New York issue. Sucn an
attitude is hopeless of finolng PEI
manent solution. on Ine oo,aeA ,.., s1,
mode of life and whose envlronIlel II :
would excite he unconcealed conteniRJ1
of a modern New Yorker, dealt VIII VII
two epfsodes which raised the SapDatI
question in a manner which provides
the best light upon the same issue as
1t has persisted unto TINS Gay, cr r.I,.
political complexities in North amer me- :,
Tea and in many parts OF Europe. h
Conclusion is irresistible that the most
mansible first step to take in any con-
efderation for this theme is to find OUT
what the New Testament says aOou' It,
A Modern Perplexity.
.pules must be changed with chang
sn1 Conditions: principles apply for all
time. The Jewish Sabbath is only
1nannorv. The Puritan Sabbath is as
antiquated as the Puritan nat. me I.
modern Sunday, in its observance, is
inchoate and unsatisfactory. Multi
fudes of concerned persons are russlng
around trying to formulate rules t Ia
viii fit everybody everywhere a,.,, t fn@
xrespin. essentials and enunclatlng
principles are conspiculeusly lacking:
The Sunday question Is really one o.
the big problems OF clvi Il,a aoIi,t,o17.
Yet most persons interested seem TO
he hopeIessly muddled. Only Jesus
sneaLs in clear tones message suited
Manv GOOD people are deeply CON
cerned that ttleir children do not love
sunday The day is an ordeal to pc
endured. 1t IS hedges all about Win
ssdon'ts," but there are few gates marx !,
ed siThis do in remembrance OF Me
Even their elders perceive that Ins
old fashioned program OF Gay LiI I'1
with church going is not the most truly
religious, or expressive or the Gay
purpose, for many persons IN tnese
crowded days. They also realize, even
though they do not always unoerstano
why. that the worship day cannot saIe-
Nv be turned into work DAY or d
Dlav dav. ssThe Sabbath was made
Tor man." but if it is robbed or It's
neculiar identity, and made just IKE
other days. it would ,a as n sabb nYIn
pointed out, be no longer 0aDOaei'
but a Monday or Tuesday.
Jesus the Sabbath Breaker.
The norton of the biography of
Jesus t1pon which this lesson is based
comprise two episodes, wherein Jesus
and his little band of friends ngureo'
in the eyes of the Pharlsees, as Sap-
hath breakers. The first criticism
arose from the act OF the olsciples IL
plucking grain from the field through
which they passed Can act pernlio. a+I
ON other days by Jewish law), and eat
ing it. The strict constructlonlsts
among the Jewish teachers contended
that plucking grain was a TORN OF
reaping and that to run IN the Ianos
to remove the chaff was threshing;
Therefore the Jesus company had
worked on the Sabbath!
The other incident occurred In the
gistent rch-goer-where he healed
a man with a withered hand. The
Pharisees themselves called MS atten-
tion to this case Of need. not because
because they wanted to entrap the
healer Unconventional and unafralo,
Jesus straightway performed the mir
acle, thus defying his critics, ana aooe a.
Snv one moro ember to the fires OF
their Jealous. blind hate, Whicn was
destined to consume him
That Jesus broke the Sabbath-their
idea Of the Sabbath-was one OF the
~reak grieva noes of the Jews against
him. Nor was their luminosity lessened |
by the way in which he proved the
Brightness OF his course by their own
laws From the old Testament Incl |
dent Of David and the shewbread. and |
of the labors Of the priests on every |
Sabbath, he justified the action of his |
disciples In the sra "a ss1e y tn shsep
from pit on the Saboath, ne mace
clear that, as man is better that |
y sheep, so 1t is lawful to do good on |
the Sabbath.
''Stretch Forth Thy Hand
A..
the parabolic meaning of the healing |
of q man with a withered hand. Rev
DR.. w. Frost Bishop thus pictures 1t |
with vivid touch:
ton that shall recall every device. |
mechanism o.. piece of machinery dur |
ing all the nges. from the first brick |
made in Egypt down to the latest sub |
marine cable, wireless telegraph ap- |
paratus, or Intricate airship, when the |
Idea of the human hand and its min |
1stry shall have been infected. not alone |
through man fractures, but through the
liberal arts as well-through music |
with the handling of the harp and or |
gan, through architecture with its |
groined arch and frescoed wall, |
through painting with its miles and |
miles of canvas whose every inch has
received numberless touches of the |
brush of the artist ane through sculp- |
the one in the right hand of the ar
fist and the other in the left-under |
the full sweep of such reflection let |
us read the eloquent words of Christ's |
Gospel: And he entered again into |
the synagogue; and there was a man |
there which had wfthered handl" |
The whole gospel In single picture: |
the curse of sin symbolized by a with |
cred hand: the salvation OF Christ by |
its restoration
A Man VS.. A Sheep.
The intense social passion which is /
possessing the hearts of modern men
70 a steadily increasing degree. had