The Washington herald., 1915-01-10
-, DIR. ". W. BAKER.

Bl DIR. ". W. BAKER.
General ~Darrurmls have appeared in
rrw Srrap,5-. ia reports from various
counrrirS. m sermons delivered in tn"
churches. IT'S To- the advent OF World
Tea, her which have been heard from
Tnrosounu..u rlatrurm~. and written
about i'm Th,o-orhtral ma=azin"s. At
inst un,rr rus was spoken about some
wears ago. it received hut little attention:
Irn -raduarIt. more and more motto"
las IC,n taklf Of iJ. until now il can
not I". said tn hr confined at AL TO
TheoSopni,I uitoIHnreS. hut a wide
surcad cNu,.,IaIlor- h. seen that some
great Teacher is likely soon to appear
in our world. 4 few leading men i'm
1ao churches ruNc proclaimed their he
lief i'm such a comiu" From one land
after another ", lind the idea coming
back Iu our Own. and 10 seems that ih"S'
mo aye i'm sumo way responsible for
rriu-tu- the subject before TN" puhi
have a duty 10 lay H.lur" Their icI'"N~
some of tf.. r,.4~uu~ which have made
them believe in the coming "r a Teacher
of The world I want tu put before You
certain lines of thought which suggest
that such a belief is RATIONAL som" or
the grounds which have lei US to think
such a coming Likely. and in doing thus
10 leave yOu to Iudg" of the validity "l
the arguments. Of lu" r"t"naIIt' "i IN"
whole conception. At least viii puJ
before you our grounds. and If is for Nou
10 Judge whether lhoS" grounds be solid
lrrTcr orr feet or mot. Let me remind
You at the outset that during iD" last
century. within certain small sections at
H.. Christian community. good deal was
said about what Was then called tie
second coming of th" Christ. tn" idea
was fairly familiar about tho middle Of
with ridiru.r than With q wild" accept
anrn ID was rrr forward along certain
traditional lines. aud was quite out o'
accord with the rr6, TlN progress Of the
world II was SIrTu~ei that this C0lliuE
would bring our world To an end. II
WAS thought that tho Christ had come
once 10 redeem. would return second
time i'm order To IudCc and q rnn~idcra-
rIc number OF l'"oI,In considered that the
time was coming when the prophecy
would rud lulfllmout. Various bodies
scattered throu-h the churches, affirmed
their belief in such return, and YOU
ind still among m" Christian cnmmuni-
Ties very considarahIo number Of pco-
pie who hold that idea "f the return OF
the Christ rn bring "ur world completely
90 an end
1t was pointed out when these state
rlcnts were made that If yuu took the
NcrsoS that were quoted lon the New
r, stauont. and looked at them in their
original Greek. Nou did not Gnd there
thu conception of the end Of our world.
hut rather Of tho closing Of an az" or
period. The 1hoUght that tho world had
different ages through which il PASSED
had louE been familiar i'm the East.
among the IIiuius and the Buddhists. II
came into the West. and was found
among th" Creeks and the Romans. and
his idea Of the winding up Of an age.
r.
It's way. as has heen often pointed out
hv sch. lars. into the New Testament,
and WAS connected i'm these teachings
with the return OF the Christ.
A. the translation became widely
spread. and comparatively few con-
.rrned themselves about the original |
statement I'm the Greek. this idea of the
destruction Of the world became, very
widely spread in Christcndom. but in
our own days IL found hut small accept
RnCe. being too much out Of accord with |
the normal line Of thinking TO make or
binary men nf the world. however
thoughtful they might be. willing to
accept this notion OF sudden conclusion !
10 ne put to all the activities Of the !
world in which they were living. And so
things remained. until a new view Of ,
the relation of great Teachers to the |
world gradually began to spread among |
thoughtful people. The conception Of |
World Teachers. as brought forward by |
the TheOsophicaI Society. developed to |
4 very great extent although It included !
the ordinary Christian view Of Christ l
as a great Teacher and Founder Of re
Ngion
The TheosophiCal conception. as widely |
put forward. asks one to consider the |
coming Of World Teachers as normal |
not as abnormal; as under a certain |
3efinite law. and not as a breach Of |
continuity: as part OF the Divine plan |
working out in human evolution, by |
which these Teachers form long suc- /
session, appearing at quite definite In l
.ervals, and accompanied by certain def |
sitc signs or conditions In the civiliza- |
Ion Of the world 10 which they come |
Theosophists, looking back over the /
worlds religions, pointed out that each |
religion had such great Teacher as It's /
Founder: that no matter whore you \
gearched in the past you found SOM
magnificent figure AT the commencement