The Topeka state journal., 1911-08-12


upon it, I stood outside the
wall of old Jerusalem ana
N looked upon the SCARED req
biII which thousands of rev
aren't students of the Bible ana ol
archaeology believe to be the VerlIaple
spot upon which the worlds HeoeeiheI
,.ree cr1cified 1t is a place for long,
49, tlouvhts is Calvary The ground
faIIs away sheer to an ancient place Oh
TafuQe At the bottom, significantly
iS the entrance to the caverns known
as the grotto of Jeremiah OnueT-
meath Calvary runs the place OF ING
1v,vvtsonnnent of that fOrerunner OF
the Messiah who, like him. sullereu
for the city and its people
Whatever the histOricity OF Jere-
,,iab,s Crotto. and of Gordon's Cal-
1,arv the sym bolism holds true; tHe
one is built partly upon the olhel- nc
greatest of the prophets came sulleI- sul-
ing in the train Of the IalthIuI one5
No had gone before; and they snareu
1fe calvary. jeremiah, of the sword
vieroed heart was a man OF sorrows
and acquainted with grief, and all pc
-a,4se he loved his people and ms
Tord We do no impiety to the leadeI
of all who love unto the utteIllOs' l-H
when we include in the goodly LelloM-
ship of prophets and martyrs al " w. -
Give their lives as a ransom Tor lhelI
SeIIo7prnen. We are missing the pom.
IelIq s tI,Ss - r,ontbs study in the life of
Tereu7iah If we do not set other
hearts and our own as we'll. agloW
with the glory and greatness OF tIe
life that is lived for the utterahce oA
Gods holy truth for our present tiiile'
The Old Prophets StenOgrapher.
There is such a thing as apostolic
successiOn; whatever else the phrase
T9ev mean it surely means that they
are IN succession to the apostles VINO
carry on the apostles work; and tney
are in succession to the prophets VINO
continue the message Of the prophets
Jesus and His disciples were IN ul-
rect succession to Jeremiah ana lHe
other Old Testament prophets ana
their disciples. We wonuer II DanlSi' h-l't
himself to rank later among the great
er prophets. did not get the hght LOT
his torch from this flaming Jeremiah
whom he may have known ere he was
carried to Babylon?
Baruch. we know of certainty.
stood with jeremiah, helping MIN, anu
so sharing his dangers and privileges
Now Baruch bore no hlgh souilullts Is
title. though Of noble family His OF
zee was that of stenographer. He
wrote to Jeremiah's dictation-and
what his skill and faithfUlness meant
to the harassed prophet every pusy
man of affairs who has to lean heaN-
ilv upon his secretary's assistance can
readily unG erstand. The book that
was nroduced went by Jeremiah's
name among men, but 1t really was a
nartnershfp affair, like most BOOKS;
ar.f#sin this case the real author was
God. with jeremiah and Baruch as col
laborators. Great was the youhB
mans privilege-though he doubtless
Thought oftener of his cares and an
novances and dangers-and great is
the privilege of every worker in the
Droduction and transmission of vital
n essage Of the world.
Giving Wings to Words.
The modern newspaper and tele-
praDh would have solved Jeremia-h's
dif1culties. He found that an oral
delivery Of his message was made
ouate His problem was to reach the
whole nation as quickly as posslpie
with his warnings from Jehovah
Since he lived in a day when there
was no printing press, ana no quicker
means of communication than that of
mouth to ear he had to write out his
words with the help of a scribe, and
send them where he coulc not go him
self He in the loneliness Of seclu-
sion, with Baruch for his intermedi-
ary. was to send forth writings that
would shake the whole nation.
In this he may be said to have been
more up to date than the Christian
church of the Twentieth century. The
backwardness of religious agencies
in utilizing the facilities of their time
is almost Incredible. The newspaper,
ready purveyor Of whatever the pub
lie demands, is eager for readable re-
ligious news and thought The
church has the greatest message of
all time to speak. Yet the newspapers
are filled with everythings else ex-
cept an absorbing treatment of this
- VEr
are the brains of organized religion?
Why is it that an alert Christian
man can fill the nation with propa-
ganda, as head of a political press
bureau, while the church has no
thought of using the same talent for
her great single purpose? Even when
religious agencies do timidly enter
this field it is usually as promoters of
some special organization or doctrine.
At great and representative Christian
gatherings, like the Federation of
Churches, this subject is not so much
as mentioned, and the same is true of
the brotherhood conventions of prac-
tical business men. Let it be said that
the press. which alone reaches all
men in this land stands ever ready to
publish interesting. living, sane and
unsectarian religious literature, be it
in story, poem sermon or picture.
How Jeremiah's heart would leap at
such an opportunity!
The Days "Best Seller"
Every editor and every other alert
observer of the signs Of the times,
is we'll aware that the taste of the
great solid, silent public is incurably
religious. He knows that the chief
staple of the publishing houses, next
to fiction. is religious literature, and
that religious stories are the most
popular of novels. Also he knows
that the Book which has steadfastIy
kept first place as the best seller
since the art of printing was invented,
is the old Bible of which jeremiah
wrote a part, with the help of Baruch
the scribe. Figures fail to tell the
story. There are now translations of
the Scriptures into five hundred
the languages and prin-