The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1911-07-21
AIF A MAN DIE SHALL HE LIVE
AGAIN?v
To the editor ocala Banner:

He Live Again." is one of tremen-
dous Importance to mankind. Has it
ever been answered satisfactorily?
The answer to this question is largely
a matter of individual temperament
and opinion.
In my opinion there can be but one
answer and that answer may be found
in the Gospel record of the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. If this
man, Jesus of Nazareth, was, indeed,
the son TO God, and if, as the Gospel
states, He arose from the grave and
held communion with His apostles,
then will every man, woman and
child who has lived upon this earth
of our, live again.
On the other hand, if, as some con-
tend, the Biblical record of the death
and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a
mythical tradition, having no founda-
ton in fact, then is the question not
answered nor is it susceptible of an
answer.
OF course Mr.. Bryan's illustration
based upon the incarnation of the
grain of wheat is beautiful, but does
it answer the question?
In my humble opinion it does not.
The grain of wheat is simply matter
nothing more, there is no spirit
there-no consciousness. In its pro-
cess of termination it is simply mat
ter reproducing matter-only this and
nothing more. How then can we ac-
cept it as an answer to the question,
IF man die shall he live again."
AS to the doctrine of Karna or re-
incarnation as applied to man, what
proof have we that we ever lived a
carnal life before this present life or
that we will live a carnal life after
death? None whatever.
Therefore, as l said in the opening
sentence of this article, the only an
swer to this question is found in the
Gospel record of the death and resur-
rection of Jesus Christ, the son of
God.
But was He the son of God? Upon
tn answer to this sub-question rests
the whole burden of evidence. In a
lecture which l delivered before the
Gospel Mission here some months
months since entitled "The Carpenter
of Nazareth" / attempted to prove
that he was indeed the son of God.
This lecture covers too much scope
for an article of this kind, therefore
will only give to you its closing sum-
airy.
Two thousand years ago in old Jul
dea a humble carpenter was at work
beside his bench. His tools were
crude and primitive. His aspect was
meek and lowly. His hands were toll
stained and rough. His raiment was
of the coarsest. His station in life
was cast among the poorest OF the
poor. And yet the name of this hum
BILE carpenter of Judea-this man OF
sorrows-was soon to become the raj
lying cry of the forces of righteous
ness in their tremendous struggle
against the enemy of mankind.
The name of this carpenter-this
meek and lowly one-was Jesus; yes,
Jesus of Nazareth; and the name OF
this humble Nazarene has been thun-
dering down the centuries electrifying
men and women into deeds of hero
ism and self sacrifice whenever the
forces of evil have been arrayed
against mankind.
Twenty centuries have been mum
bered with the past since that fateful
4 day in old Judea when the poor car
Npenter of Nazareth toiled up the rug
ged slopes of Calvary almost fainting
beneath the cruel burden which He
bore.
These twenty centuries have given
ample proof of the divinity of Jesus
Christ They have witnessed many
changes on the face of this old earth
of ours.
At the dawn of the Christian era
two thousand years ago the Roman
empire was at the zenith of itspower
and prestige. Its imperial eagles had
been borne to the uttermost parts OF
the then known world and the tramp
of its splendid legions was heard in
every land.
The vast coliseum at Rome, thai
mighty temple builded to the god OF
Mammon, with it's eighty thousand
spectators, echoed and re1echoed tc
the applause of the populace as some
poor Christian martyr met his death
in the great arena. And Rome, the
pagan city, sat enthroned on her sew
en- hills beside the yellow waters OF
the Tiber. But all this has passed
away and modern Rome is Christian
city. The measured tramp of the !e
gions is no longer heard upon her