The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1911-08-24

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w=gai s~rsafAix stszs ss Il arssessssy
sN ss@ak ST hss nes hssspE asaaas*si
es Ihe seane - SarSss. tie soat4.
aaa that tas attitude ar tbs, world
toward ihc gesssei today IS much The
Sane as in his own tsase. tha, II Is
an attitude OF contempt ana hoasiE
l.y. The modern leaders OF Thought
the representatives OF philosophy and
science fso-calle6l, and a vast
host OF parrots who repeat their
opinions and their words, are con
stantly dinning in our ears that the
teachings of the gospel are old worth
less dogmas that we have no use for
now.
The literature of today IS full of
attacks. and ~disparaging and deri-
sive comments on Christianity. ana
especially on the gospel. The at
moosphere is poisoned with doubt
and unbelief, with materialism and
Indifference. And a great number
of ~so-called theologians and christ
ians are now so ashamed of the Cos
pei that they dare not teach it and
profess it, but busy themselves with
continuing some new form of Christ
ianity from which the gospel shall
be eliminated. There are many
3 n h ,foh oc fn10v Wh.ra vn1y !, q II 90 !,
much fine grammer and rhetoric,
much moral, much psychological and
political wisdom, but not n word
about the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus.
There are many now that tell us
point-blank that We ought to be
ashamed of the gospel OF Christ. ii
we appeal to Paul, We are told that
must not attach too much import
ance to the fact that Paul, nineteen
centuries ago was not ashamed of
the gospel. They tell us that Pauls
attitude was very commendable at
that time; for at that time the gos-
pei represented the highest stage Of
religious Developments is differ
'ent now CD.
They tell us that when the con-
'temporaries of Paul treated the gos-
pei with contempt, it was because
they were so ignorant and benighted
that they could not understand and
appreciate this new and advanced re-
ligion; and when Paul boldly defied
their contempt. he proved his intel
lectual superiority, he proved that he
was in advance of his age. But if
Paul had lived now, they say, if he
could have looked into the wonder
full depths of our wisdom, if he could
have studied the luminous thoughts
and broad views of the twentieth CEN
fury, he would have thought and
spoken quite differently about the
gospel; he would have then seen
that we have now altogether out
grown the gospel, and must now rele-
gate it to the category of past SUI
perstitious.
But if Paul could hear this silly
boasting, and see how it affects mod
ern man, how it turns his head and
makes him gullible, so that he is
ready to swallow almost any stale
old lie that has been given a little
new varnish and is advertised as the
latest product of modern thought, we
believe he would judge these boast
ers of today, as he judged the boast
ers of ancient times and say, Pro
Tossing themselves to be wise, they
became FOOLS" (Rom. 1, 22). We
believe he would recall his own
words to Timothy respecting the last
days-"For men shall be lovers of
their selves. covetous, boosters,
proud, blasphemous, d%isobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy'-
Gil Tim. 2, %. He would undoubt-
eddy find many things to admire,
many improvements. many evidences
0of progress. But he would certain
ly not admire those wretched carica-
lures of the gospel which are now
represented as being such wonder
full improvents on the old gospel. Let
us not exaggerate the difference be-
tween our own age and that Of
Paul. We have no right to speak of
the age of Paul as an age of barbar-
ism and ignorance. Every student
of history knows, that the ancient
Greco-Roman world, in which Paul
lived, had developed a culture of SO
high an order, that it is, in many re-
spects, still unsurpassed. AS re-
CARDS intellectual powers and capaci-
ties, no people has ever excelled the
ancient Greeks, who in SO many de-
partments of civilization, in sc many
arts and sciences, have continued to
be the teachers of mankind down to
the present day.
49, 80