The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-07-11

NNksSisSr- 5 .Als95slty uNt, Anu III neh
TT1f1a he lifted up bis
eyes, being In torments. and seeth
Abraham afnr Off aud Lazarus la his
bosom QAi.c xvi. .3L Addrcssing the
public under the auspices OF the In.
ternatlonal Bible students Associq
tion, the speaker sald:- .Nt,r
| am not choosing my tonIc for this
OCCASION according 90 my own prefer
cnces, nor do wish TO do so. iealiz-
ing that great cloud of superstition
aud erroneous Interpretation of COILS
Word acts us nm earth-horu cloud to
hide the heavenly Father from our
eyes OF faith. nm continually address
ing myself SO the removal of this bar
rler, TO the intent that the light OF
the knowledge of the glory Of God as
It shines III the face of Jesus Christ
our Lord may shine into the hearts Of
all of Gods dear people more efful.
gently than herctoforc to the intent
that. with the clouds removed. our
eyes may behold the King in His
beauty. aud our hearts be drawn to
Him as TO a Father. MS to u God OF
love, as TO an Almighty Savior
Time and again as | have delivered
au 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 ure hunGering for and crying
for. but-but 1 cannot accept It be-
cause of the Lords Word respecting
the 'Rlch'AIan and Lazarus, ana His
description Of tfielrifates.r'h
What say 10 these privately never
reaches the ears Of others who have
the same query and the same obstacle
TO meet, hence I take this as my topic
on this occasion. not only for the bene-
fit OF this audience. but for the bene-
ct of the larger audiences 70 whom
| speak weekly through the columns
of the press Of this land and Great
Britain and tralla--numbering mil
lions. All need TO have this stumbling
stone removed from their pathway. and
by Gods grace we will remove 1t. He
will remove It, using our stammerlng
lips for the purpose.
Literal or Whieh2
1t Is not sufficient that declare that
In the Scripture under consideration
the great Teacher WIS giving parable.
1t is not sufficient that / quote, with
out a parable spake He not unto the
people" Some dear. enrncst children
of God would object. saying, 1T reads,
there was certain Rich Man. etc"
must. therefore prove that II Is a
pars ble and not literal statement by
showing that. considering 1t as lit
eral statement, It would be untrue and
absurd, After thus proving 1t to be a
parable I will discuss II M such.
If IL be statement Of literal facts
then all the facts must be taken lit
orally. This would mean that because
certain man was rich and Jared
boGntifully every day and was clothed
in purple and Hnc linen he would so TO
an eternity Of torment. without sin
gle charge being made against him
along the lines of murder, or Injustice
or blasphomy, for IN the account moth
Ing Of the kind appears. Furthermore.
nothing IS said Of the poor man as be-
ing a cody man. a saint. hut merely
that he was poor. full of sores. which
the dogs licked. ard that he ate the
offal from "Thc Rich Mans" table.
L. l., 1AVAf
tions upon which any OF us have had
hope for eternal lSlss. surely com
paratlvely small number could claim
IT, Did we ever have such expert
ences? IL not what ground have we,
according TO this teaching for q hope
OF reaching Abraham's bosom2 And
additionally. IL the statement ia q lit-
eral one, Abraham and his bosom must
be considered literal Also and II only
Two or three who were beGgars like
lazarus We're befnre US, what bOpe
would we have for room IN Abrphama
bosom? But enough of this, We sec
clearly that the statement Ia narnbolic
and we must look for such an interpre'
tation as will Mt all conditions And
here II Isl
Viewed as a Parable,
Viewing the matter as q parable. ouI
dimculiies NIL disappear MS soon as we
get the key. The great Teacher III
this parable WAS criticislng the lead
ers Of the Jewish nation and fore
telling their fate. He Himself was an
outcast. so were His disciples and So
have all been since who have become
His followers. "As He was 80 are W.
IL thIs world" n
"rhe Rich Man" OF the parable rep
fesented the Jewish nation. The fine