Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-02

@. What is the modern interpreta-
ton Of John xiv.13-14; st. Mark, xi.24
and Matthew xiv.22?
A. ST. Matthew xiv.22. "And al
things, whatsoever We shall ask in pray
err, believing, We shall receive"
st. Mark xi24 "All things whatso-
ever We pray and ask for. believe that
We have received them. and We shall
have them"
st. John xiv.13-l4. "And whatso.
ever We shall ask in my name that will
do that the Father may be glorified in
the Son. If We shall ask me anything
in my name, that will I do"
Bishop Jeremy Taylor said that "our
desires are not to be the measure of our
prayers, unless reason and religion be
the rule of our desires" All the verses
which you have cited, though general
and emphatic in their statements. con-
tain important conditions. The phrase
in st. Mark. believe that We have re-
ceived them. e., that your request
has been granted before ever your pray
er is uttered" implies a truStful self
submission to Gods control as the in
diSpensable prerequisite for the answer
ing of our prayers.
In st. Matthew the condition is SIM
pier: believing" Yet what immense
| ties are implied in this single word.
| How often doubts and heSitancies rem
! der our prayer ineffective and fruitleSS.
1.-The condition laid down in st. John is
lin my Name which indicates that
our prapers must be in correspondence
with the mind of Christ. who acts as our
Intercessor. Supplications for spiritual
aid which meet with the above condi-
| tons cannot fail to furnish comfort
| and strength. The sincere petitioner is
aware that even the act of falling on
his knees without uttering word is a
| spiritual benediction. God has already
| anticipated our real needs. When men
| open the door of the hearts inner
| sanctuary. His gifts are already there,
| awaiting them.
@. What is the meaning of the
eighty-seventh verse of the twenty
| eighth chapter of Ezekiel; also Daniel
ii.44?
A. 1. The whole chapter in Ezekiel
| is best interpreted as a sermon on the
| text. 1.-THE fathers have eaten sour
grapes and the children's teeth are set
| on edge" The Jews had so often
quoted these words to abSolve them
selves from personal responsibility for
| their actions that they became current
proverb. Hereditary laws thus received
in them rough and ready expression
as an apology for evil doing.
But Ezekiel knew that those who en-
deavor to transfer to somebody elSes
shoulders their own guilt damaged their
souls. Every individual Is presumably
obligated to obey the laws authorized
by revelation, conscience and society,
and on this basis he receives sooner or
later his rewards or punishments.
The illustration you have chosen from
verse 18 is that of father who
treated his brother unjustly. Ezekiel
conceived him as dying in his iniquity,
but there are worse penalties than
death. Its release is sometimes merciful
and it solves multitudinous problems
otherwise insoluble.
2. Daniel ii.24, reads: "And in the
days of those kings shall the God of
Heaven set up a kingdom which shall
never be destroyed, nor shall the SOW
ereignty thereof be left to another peo.,
pie, but it shall break in pieces and
consume all these kingdoms and it shall
stand forever"
These words were originally descrip-'
ton of the ideal dominion which was to
be established under AntiochuS Epip-
hanes, destined to overthrow all exist
ing dynaSties and exercise worldwide
sway. The one kingdom equal to such
supreme authority Is that of Christ as
the moral leader of the race. But DAN
lei may not have had this spiritual SOW
ereignty in mind when he wrote the
passage in question.
@. What form is Protestant unity
likely to take in the future?
A. AS I see it, this movement will
follow the line of least resistance, which
is toward comprehension. II this view
is correct, Anglo Catholics and Evangel-
icals, FundamentaliSts and ModerniStS
win agree to differ, but will pool their
common beliefs in cooperative service
for mankind.
The cocksure groups, convinced that
they have encompaSSed divine mysteries
which surpasS human knowledge and
experience, may resent this process. But
Protestanism's soul is in its freedom to
think and to state the assured results
of its thinking. 1t is persuaded that
only through freedom of thought can
truth prevail and that internal harmony
cannot be purchased at the cost OF
strangled convictions.
For the truth is not static, but dynam-
ic; not final. but progressive. Uni
| forrnity of opinion is, therefore, an
unsound condition and one which his
tory condemns. 1t is Gods love in
men that constitutes them community,
dtlO ttitS kOVC OOCC liOt QCPCAO uPOAA
| dogmatic formula advertised to con-
| tain the whole of any given reality.
| Nevertheless, there are immovable
factors in the Christian religion accept
| ed by Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics
and ProtestantS alike. The fatherhOod
of God as a personal Deity, His self
manifestation in Christ, and Christ's
reign in Righteousness on the earth. to
| be completed in the blessed immortality
hereafter of those who do His will here,
are fixed and deathless verities in which
Protestant freedom finds ample room
| for its exercise of faith and reason.
@. What did Christ mean in John
x16, when He said: "Other sheep I
have which are not of this fold?
Did He have in mind the Gentle
races?
A. This authentic saying of Jesus IS
interpreted by all commentators in the
way you suggest. It's teaching accords
with another saying recorded by st.
Matthew, viii2: MANY will come from
east and west, and take their places be-
side Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the
kingdom of God"
Similar teaching is found in st. Luke.
xiii.28. which corroborates the fact that
an implicit universalis:n underlies the
message Of our Lord. For what other
reason did He announce in the Sermon
on the Mount that His followers should
be 1.-The light of the world" and "the
salt of the earth? The aged Simeon
also predicted that the infant Jesus
should be "a light to enlighten the Gen.
tiles" as well as the glory of Israel.
1t is a correct inference that since
IL l. IL ~