Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1911-07-15

he lifted up his
eyes, being in torments. and seeth
Abraham afar off and Lazarus In his
bosom" luke xvi. 23l. Addressing the
public under the auspices OF the In.
ternatlonal Bible Students Associa.
tion, the speaker sald:-
/ am not choosing my topic for this
occasion according to my own prefer
ences, nor do | wish to do so. Reallz-
ing that q great cloud Of superstition
and erroneous Interpretation Of Gods
Word acts as nm 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
II 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
Him as TO a Father. as to n 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.
wird by Christian brethren who said.
"What you say, Pastor Russell, is
cheering, Is Godlike, is just what our
hearts are hungering for and crying
for. but-but cannot accept II be-
cause OF the Lords Word respecting
the Rich Man and Lazarus. and His
description Of their fates."
What say TO these privately never
reaches the ears Of others who have
the s0me query and the same obstacle
to meet. hence take this as my topic
on this occasion. not only for the bene.
az Of this audience. but for the bene-
ht OF the larger audiences to whom
l speak weekly through the columns
Of the press OF this land and Great
Britain and Australia numbering mil
lions. All need to have this stumbling
stone removed from their pathway, and
by God's grace we win remove II. He
Will remove It. using our stammering
lips for the purpose,
Literal or Parabolie- Whleh7
II is not sufficient that declare that
in the Scripture under consideration
the great Teacher was giving q parable.
II IL not sufficient that quote, with
out parable spake He not unto the
people" Some dear. earnest children
Of God would object. saying, 1T reads.
there was certain Rich Man, etc"
l must. therefore prove that 1t is a
parable and not literal statement by
showing that considering It as lit
eral statement, II would be untrue and
absurd, After thus proving Il to be a
parable viii discuss II az such.
II II be statement Of literal facts
then all the facts must be taken llt.
orally, This would mean that because
certain man was rich and fared
bountlfully every day and was clothed
In purple and nne linen he would 20 TO
an eternity OF torment, without sin
gle charge being made against him
along the lines OF murder, or Injustice
or hlasphemy for In the account moth.
Ing Of the kind appears, Furthermore.
nothing is said OF the poor man as be-
ing godly man, saint. but merely
that he was poor full Of sores, which
the dogs licked; and that he ate the
ofral from "rhe Rich Mans" table.
IL those be the grounds and condl.
lions upon which any Of us have had
hope for eternal bliss, surely a com,
paratively small number could claim
IL Did we ever have such experi.
encesH II not what ground have we.
according 70 this teachng. Tor hope
or reaching AhWhOms hoSom9 And.
additionally, II the statement Is a nt.
eral one, Abraham aud his bosom must
be considered literal also and II only
two or three who were hcggors like
Lazarus were before us. what hone
would we have for room IN Abaham's
bosoml But enough Of this! We see
bleariy that the statement Is paraholic
and we must look for such an interpre.
tation as win ht all conditions And
here II "a
Viewed as a Parable.
Viewing the matter as parable. our
dinieuliies an disappear as soon as we
get the key. Tho great Teacher In
this parable was eritlcising the lead.
ers OF the Jewish nation ana torc-
telling their fate lie Himself was an
outeast, 50 were His disciples and so
have all been since who have become