Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-04-10
AN EVENT THAT EXPLAINS THE I
PAST AND ASSURES THE FUTURE

/, do not know of any other adequate So
luton that has ever been proposed"
This profound utterance Of Senator
Davis is in harmony with the declaration
of ST. Paul. THAT if Christ be not
risen, then is our preaching vain and
your faith is also vain" The converse
of st. E'aurs proposition is that if Meth
err the preaching nor the faith has been
vain, Christ surely rose. The living
church is the vital evidence of the Risen
Lord. With the dead body of the Mas
ter on their hands, the early disciples OF
Jesus could not have established the
Church in Jerusalem, much less have
carried the gospel to the Gentle world.
They would have lacked both the motive
and the courage required for their work,
and the enemies of Christianity would
have been able to strangle the new faith
at it's very birth. The triumph of the
gospel as manifested in christian history
is the visible miracle which grows
larger day by day, and attests with ever
increasing power the resurrection of
Christ The success of christianity
establishes it's divine character.
BY this statement it must not be in
ferred that l mean to say that the mere
success OF a system is the proof OF it's
truth. The triumphs of Buddhism,
Brahminism and Mohammedanism show
that the most grievious and grotesque
errors may attain power over vast bod
les of men. But the success of these
man-made religions may be easily ex-
planned on the perfectly natural grounds,
and the character of their success offers
no parallel to the triumphs of Chris
tianity.
Buddhism, vast as is the population
which processes it, has never been able
to travel outside the continent of Asia,
while the religion Of Jesus Christ is
found in every part of the world. Brah-
manism also is incapable of worldwide
extension.
Mohammedanism may be explained
partly by the practical genius of Mo-
manned, partly by the qualities of the
Arab mind, and partly by the fact that
| it is a system adroitly constructed out
! of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures.
Moreover MohammedanIsm consecrated
sensual indulgence, and thereby made
high bid for Asiatic popularity. Mo-
manned also employed the scymeter rs
the instrument of his apostolate, and by
physical force achieved success. In
sharp contrast with Mohammedanism,
Christianity forbids every form of sem
sualism and enjoys the hardest and
1
use physical force for it's propagation.
BY purity il has triumphed and not by
impurity; by faith and not by force.
The quality as we'll as the quantity
of the results of Christianity set 1t
quite apart from all other religions
which. have challenged the acceptance
of men. When it came into the world
it found all the religious and philo-
sophie systems which have pervaded the
earth in a state Of decadence. The most
enlightened nations were in moral de-
cay and all the religious forces of the
earth had become impotent. The re-
liEion of Christ entered a hopeless and
HELPLESS world, and without the aid of
! physical force and without making any
concessions to the depravity of human
nature, it gave rise to a new life of lofty
type and boundless progress. 1t is not
too much to say that IL saved the world
from despair. It is impossible to over
state the darkness and degradation
which would have settled upon man
kind If Christianity had not appeared.
But the benign results of Christianity
achieved in the first century and the
blessed consequences Of 1t which have
flowed through all the centuries would
have been impossible If Jesus had not
risen from the dead Truly something
happened in the first century which
alone EXPLAINS the wonderful history Of
the christian era and that event which
happened then is none other than the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. IF Jesus
did not rise from the dead, there is no
understanding Of modern history.
Great British thinker has recently
presented this truth most strikingly. He
says:
I'm the days Of Christ. the apparently
hopeless world was sinking helplessly
into social chaos Gradually, out of the
chaos we have seen new life rising until
at last It has nearly overspread the
earth The nations which have received
it stand today in the front rank. And
to these the most hopeful Of other ma
tions are looking for help. Even in the
social life of our own country we see
the moral influence OF Christianity. If
these influences were removed there