The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-07-14


he lifted up his
eyes, being in torments. ard seeth
Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his
bosom" luke xvi. 81 Addressing the
public under the auspices of the In
ternational Bible Students Associa-
ton. the speaker said
am not choosing my topic for this
occasion according to my own prefer
ences, nor do l wish to do so Realiz-
ing that great cloud of superstition
and erroneous Interpretation Of Gods
Word acts as an earth-bOrn cloud to
hide the heavenly Father from our
eyes of faith. | am continually address
ing myself to the removal Of this bar
rier, TO the intent that the light Of
the knowledge Of the glory of God as
1t shines in the face of Jesus Christ
our Lord may shine into the hearts of
all of Gods dear people more efful-
gently than heretofore; to the intent
that. with the clouds removed. our
eyes may behold the King in His
beauty. and our hearts be drawn to
Hin as to Father. as to a God Of
love. as to an Almighty Savior.
Time and again as have delivered
an address setting forth the Divine
Plan of the Ages from the Bible stand
point, | have been approached after
ward by Christian brethren who said,
What you say, Pastor Russell. is
cheering. is God-like, is just what our
hearts are hungering for and crying
for but-but | cannot accept it be-
cause of the Lords Word respecting
the Rich Man and Lazarus and His
description of their fates."
What I say to these privately never
reaches the ears of others who have
the same query and the same obstacle
to meet, hence take this as my topic
on this occasion, not only for the bene
fit of this audience. but for the bene-
fit of the larger audiences to whom
| speak weekly through the columns
of the press Of this land and Great
Britain ana Australia numbering mil
lions. All need to have this stumbling
stone removed from their pathway, and
by Gods grace we will remove it. He
lips for the purpose.
Literal or ParaboIic-Which7
1t IS not sufficient that l declare that
in the Scripture under consideration
the great Teacher was giving a parable.
It is not sufficient that quote. with.
out parable spake He not unto the
people" Some dear. earnest children
Of God would object. saying. ''Tt reads.
there was n certain Rich Man. etc"
| must. therefore. prove that it is
parable and not literal statement by
showing that. considering it as III
cral statement. it would be untrue and
absurd. After thus proving it to be
parable will discuss It as such.
IF 1t be statement Of literal facts
then all the facts must be taken lit
certain man was rich and Jared
beautifully every day and was clothed
in purple and fine linen he would go to
an eternity Of torment. without n sin
gle charge being made against him
along the lines of murder. or injustice
ing of the kind appears. Furthermore.
nothing is said Of the poor man as be-
ing godlv man. a saint. but merely
that he was poor full Of sores. which
the dogs licked: and that he ate the
offal from The Rich Mans table
IF those be the grounds and condi-
lions upon which any Of us have had
hope for eternal bliss. surely com
paratively small number could claim
II. Did we ever have such expert
cnccs? II not what ground have we.
according to this teaching. for O hope
of reaching Abraham's bosom? And.
additionally. If the statement is lit
oral one, Abraham and his bosom must
lie considered literal also. and If only
two or three who were beggars like
Lazarus were before us. what hope
would we have for room in Abraham's
bosom? But enough Of this. We see
clearly that the statement is parabolic
and we must look for such an interpre.
tation as will ct all conditions. And
here it is!
Viewed as Parabs.
Viewing the matter as parable. our
difficulties all disappear as soon as we
get the key. The great Teacher in
this parable was criticising the lead
ers of the Jewish nation and fore
telling their fate. He Himself was an
outcast. so were His disciples and 80
have all been since who have become