Evening star., 1926-10-14

Questions from readers are answered daily
Federal Council of Churches OF Christ in
america Dr. Cadman seeks a3ss;se to answer M If
the trends of thought in the many letters
which he receives.
Youngsville, y. y.
II Jesus came not to destroy the law
and the prophets, but to fulfill them,
why are not all the Old Testament re-
! quirements still valid for Christians?
| Answer-They are not only invalid
p; FOR Christians. they are not even valid
! for Jews. The Old Testament is
| progressive revelation of the nature
and will of God. some elements OF
which supersede other elements. es-
! pecially in it's Legislative sections.
Moreover, many Old Testamen; re-
| qurements presuppose social and po-
| 'itical situations which have since be-
! come obsolete. The Passover itself. Is
rael'S most sacred feast of remem.
brance and thanksgiving, is no longer
observed precisely as its biblical rites
specify.
Jesus was manifested in order that
all men may realize the eternal Verl-
ties for which the law and the
prophets were preparation. Those
in whom the spirit of Jesus lives con-
sciously enjoy that fellowship with
God of which Judaism and it's Scrip
lures were the historic prediction and
in part the fuftillment.
According to St. Paul. believers in
Christ are free from law not free
to do as they please but free from the
bondage of external codes because
they are animated and controlled by
indwelling justice and good will
toward all men.
! Corinth, Mo.
What was your favorite love story
as boy?
Answer.-R. d. Blackmore's Lorna
Doonc," with The CloiSter and the
Hearth" by Charles Reade. as close
second. The gloom and terror OF the
Doonc Valley, the brightness and
good cheer of the Ridd homestead;
the bleak, wild moorlands and noun"
tainS and the robbers and gold dig
gers who hid in them: the huge size
and strength of John .Ridd; the feroc-
ity of that cl-browed ruff1an, Car
yer Doone; the mystery, grace and
loveliness of Lorna; the domesticated
womanliness< Of Annie; the biting hui
NOR of Ruth and the fight to the
death between John Ridd and Carver
gave this book great hold on me.
[ own that / still read it with delight.
rs do THE Cloister and the Hearth"
and live again in medieval cities or on
the uplands of Dartmoor and EXmoor.
I wonder what Prof. William Lyon
Phelps would say about such primitive
literary tastes as mine?
Washington, D. G.
Can a person who is seldom, If ever.
happy on earth be happy in heaven?
AnsWer,-The answer depends on
ones conception of happiness. Some
natures are as sensitive as the aspen
tree, whose leaves quiyer when not
breath of air is perceptible. and
others are apparently imperviouS to
inward strain or stress of outward
circumstances. They pursue the even
tenor of their way, whatever winds
may blow. .
Again, you must have met those
rare and pensive spirits who refuse to
compromise with the swarm of per-
ishable things around them. AS like
" as not, their gay boisterous ac-
quaintances deem them unhappy.
Think also of the jaundiced souls,
sullen and mOroSe, who. as Dante
declared. were barred from heaven
until their self-wrought misery had
been cleansed away.
1t should also be clearly understood
that happiness cannot be the goal OF
true life, still less its crown. Its
standards are too variable. it's pres
ence is too f1uctuating, it's absence is
too frequent, it's destruction is too inn
minent, to make it mans chief aim.
Was it not Carlyle who insisted
that while one could seldom be happy.
one could always be blessed? You ask