The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-04-05

BAsa8u% a EhuHE-Iuey LlhL pHTkGSuE&u
Him-they that said. .'FIe hath a devil
and is mad"-they that ''took up stones
to stone Hfm"-tbey that finally cruel
led Him. He came unto His own,
and His W received Him not" except
a few sanity, elect ones.
st. Paul also had persecution from
the Jews, who repeatedly sought his
life He lived after the establishment
OF the Church. He had also Christian
brethren, begotten Of the Holy Spirit
and fellow-members OF the Body Of
Christ. Jesus had none such. "Of the
people there were none with Him"
The Holy Spirit was not given until
Peutecost; hence Jesus could not re-
ceTre Christian persecution. The near.
est approximation was the case Of
Judas. But If st. Paul enjoyed the
sweetness of Christian fellowship In
his study. labors and tolls, he also
knew the bitterness of opposition and
prosecutions from false b~rethren-the
climax Of his perils. We may be sure
that such experiences were more diff
cult for him to bear than any others,
because they came closer home. They
came from brethren Of the closest i'm
aginable NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Of the Body of Christ.
The Cody Suffer Persecution.
AS we glance down through this Cos
pei Age, from st. Paul's day to the
present, we find, that all followers Of
Jesus have had experiences such as He
foretold for MISREPRESENTATION We
find that these prosecutions have come
from every quarter, but none, appar-
emily, more severe, more cruel, more
perilous, than those which have come
from Christian brethren. 1t is scarcely
necessary for us to refer to history to
demonstrate this fact. Disputes be-
tween Christians have been very bit
ter. Thousands have lost their lives at
each others hands. The word hereto
became more obnoxious than any other
term in the dictionary.
Neither Catholic nor Protestant can
deny the terrible story of the pages
OF history. All true men are ashamed
Of the record. All are ready to say,
1--WE would not so have done" Monu-
ments stand in various parts of the
world, marking places where sectarian
strife has manifested itself in %atrocious,
barbarous acts. Our Catholic friends
blush at the story Of the Huguenots.
Our Church of England friends blush
at the story of the Covenanters and
1 nFhnR nn-nn0fnT {cfn nV1s Tsnnhu
terrain friends, in turn, blush for afro
cious acts, injustice, etc, done In the
name of Calvinism. T.
We might almost say that each de-
nomination in it's turn has been a sub
ject Of persecution from one and an
other. Baptists were publicly whip
ped-sometimes driven from their
homes to exile. So were the Puritans.
who afterwards became prosecutors
themselves. The Methodists also suf-
fered from s~eetarian spite and jeal-
ousy, ignorance and superstition. In
deed, who will dispute that Christen-
dom has good cause to be ashamed of
standpoint may be?
Thank God for the advancement
made along the line of human sym
pathy! No longer can civilized peo-
pie take pleasure IA public executions,
tortures, burning at the stake, as in
former times. Whatever competition
may remain between Christian breth-
rem, the peril is not that Of open per
secution; for general sentiment has ad-
vanced beyond the point where physi-
cal torture could be tolerated.
We have come to the time when
Calvinists erect a monument to Serve
tus, expressing dissent from their great
leaders mistake in causing a Christian
brother to be burned. We have come
to the place where the "perils amongst
false brethren are Of a different kind.
Now whatever jealousies or riyalries
there may be, either at home or In the
mission fields, are recognized as i'm
proper and suppressed. SO far as, breth-
rem connected with popular and infuen-
tlal bodies Of Christians are concerned.
But is it not true today that the
Truth is unpopular? Has this not al
ways been the fact? is 1t not true that
in proportion as the denominations
have become popular they have escap-
ed persecution? But woe be. to those
who, as were Jesus and the Apostles,
are unpopular! If they indeed escape
the cross, the g~uillotfne, the rack and
the fagot, they are amenabIe to other
means of torture. Something can be
trumped up against their personality.
I~nsinuations can be given by word and
look, and shrug of shoulder. More
damage can be accomplished In this
way than in outward attack.
Evil1speaking, evil-surmising, SIAN
aers, ambiguous suggestions, etcs-all,
as torture-can be applied to the fol-
lowers of Jesus today. And all who
today take such a course are sharers
with the Indicators, even though they
do not indulge in physical torture. Who
can dispute that sometimes mental tor
ture Is equally severe? In our day
there r other and more refined ways
OF prosecuting, torturing, open to false
brethren, than Imprisonment o. cruel
fxion or burning.
And what shall we say Of the false
brethren who do such things2 And
how shall we assure ourselves that we
shall not be Of them2 Undoubtedly
D Master ~ still of the same NINA.
as st. John expressed when he de
clared, "Whosoever hateth his brother
Is a murderer, and We know that ne
murderer hath eternal life abiding in