Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-03-26
BIBLE SHEDS NEW
LIGHT ON CONFLICT
Helps Interpret Dispatches of the
Present War; Maps in Backs
Particularly Enlightening
(By William r EIlis)

(By William r. Elis)
Most of the dispatches from the
world war need interpretations; and
many careful students of present his
tory are finding that the Bible is the
most Illuminating of all books. 1t
reveals the principles which are be-
ing worked out in this greatest Of
human upheaVals. The maps in the
backs of our Bibles are the best to
study If we would understand pres
ent military operations in Bible
lands. Most significant of all, how
ever is the new light which the old
Bible throws upon the providences in
the progress of events.
Bewilderment and confusion will be
the lot of the laymen who try to mas
ter all the details of the present COM
plicated world situation. One clean
trail through il all is the truth, which
underlfes the present Sunday School
lesson, that God deals with nations as
with men; and that in the march of
mankind as whole His purposes are
being revealed. Even as in the an
clent history which we have been
studying for the past quarter we saw
Il nation led and defended and pro-
Nided for and chastened by an over
ruling Providence, so in the present
even now the hand of the King of
Kings whose objective is the king
dom of heaven on earth.
Lying on the surface of the pres
ent, as Of the past, we may see the
proposition which is presented as the
lesson theme. namely, that Gods
mercy was shown to His disobedient
people. Old Israel needed first of all
the mercy of God. on its merits it
was failure, and had forfeited its
right to exist. In its hour of pride it
could have cried, with the poet of
Queen Nictoria's Jubilee.
The tumult and the shouting dies:
Ihe captains and the kings depart
sun stands Thine ancient sacrifice
A humble and contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us vet,
Let we forget-lest We forget.
IF, drunk with sight of power. we
loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee
in awe,
such boastings as the Gentiles use.
or lesser breeds without the Law
Lord God of Hosts. be with us vet.
Let we forget-lest We forget"
For three months the Sunday
Schools have followed the deliver
ances OF oft-slumping Israel through
the period of the Judges. They have
studied the great figures OF Deborah
and Ruth and Hannah, who shine
with new luster in the light of the
days interest in feminism: the two
great priest-patriots, Eli and Samuel.
and the tall king. Saul, and the no.
bier son, valiant Jonathan. The les
sons have been succession of char
aCter studies.
Written plainly upon all these biog-
raphies mas been the truth that divine
providence and human personality are
strangely intertwined God somehow
does His work through men and
women who dare to be their best
selves. The rare courage of perfect
self-abandonment" was given by one
observer as the secret of Billy" sun
days pulpit power He does let him
self go the limit for God. Given a
man or woman who is brave enough
to shake off the trammels of conven-
tionality, and to permit the noblest
powers to have freest expression, and
the result is sure to affect society pro-
toundlN. In our social and national
needs to-day we require no other helu
this side the favor OF God. so greatly
as devoted personalities. The cry
which John j. Holland once voiced
still asccnds:
God give us men A time like thi.
demands
Strong minds, great hearts. true faitl
and ready hands:
Men whom the lust OF office does not
kill.
Men whom the spoils of office canno
buy;
Men who. possess opinion and will
Men who have honor-men who vii
not lie;
Men who can stand before a dema
gogue
And damn his treacherous flatterie.
without winkinS,
Tall men, suncrowned, who live abov,
the fog
In public duty and private thinking.
y drear monotony marked most o
the quarters Sunday School lessons
in that they recorded the cVer-recur
/ ring religious lapses of Israel. Lcf
to themselves. the people slumpct
! into heathendom. They needed re
/ rivals as truly as do we to-day. Il,
nature. they seemed to turn awal
! from God.
That characteristic is one which.
! fear, some teachers will gloss over
The doctrine of original sin is no
| popular to-day. The pendulum ha
swung to the other extreme and tn
! popular teachers are crying. like tn
serpent to Eve, ''Ye shall be as gods.
Z That man is godlike, that sin is a de
/ lusion. that human nature is divine
and that its behests are TO be obeyet
above the Decalogue is the popula,
creed.
I True. those who dare look all fact!
I in the face find a suspiciously larg
number of the teachers of this old
/ old philosophy. which nowadays mas
| querades under various new labels
themselves prone to violate the fun
damental laws which society has Sc
| up for its own protection. But wha
are the ten commandments to al
| emancipated man or woman who re
CARDS himself or herself as divine
The logical outcome of this popula
nation is frequently a reputation o
| honor and truth and patriotism an,
the service of society.
a study of the generations of Jew
ish life which the Sunday School
have had recently in review leads u
to accept the truth that human ma
| ture left to itself, sIumps from il
| highest obligations The peoDIe eaS