Evening star., 1951-12-25
7insel Can't Conceal Todoy's MeoninQ
By George Kennedy

OEAE ID Vl1G 1CPO1bCI WlIV gives tllo
IL better account Of the Nativity
better than Matthew, who SO excelled
in reporting the Sermon on the Mount.
Mark and John start their gospels with
the beginning Of Christ's mission. His
baptism in the Jordan.
It would be more accurate to call
Luke a historian. He was Greek
who lived in Antioch, at least for time.
and probably accompanied Paul In his
voyages to the cities Of the Mediter-
ranean. It is thought that he is "the
beloved physician" Of the Epistles.
Luke wrote the story in Greek about
AID. 65-more than 80 years after the
death Of Christ, whom he probably
never met. It is Luke who tells how
"the angel Gabriel was sent from God
unto city of Galilee, named Nazareth.
To a virgin espoused to man whose
name was Joseph, Of the house Of
David; and the virgins name was
Mary" The angel announced that she
would bear son "and he shall reign
over the house Of Jacob forever; and
of his kingdom there shall be no end"
It Is Luke who sets the date OF the
birth in the history of empire. It was
the year of the decree from Caesar
Augustus that all the world. should be
taxed. And this taxing was first made
when Cyrenius was governor OF syria.
And it Is Luke who tells how Joseph
and Mary went to Bethlehem to be taxed.
sand so it was, while they were there.
the days were accomplished that she
should be delivered. And she brought
forth her flrst-born son. and wrapped
him In swaddling clothes, and laid him
in manger; because there was no room
for them at the inn."
There it is, set down in the first
century, the Virgin Birth. the start OF
the story that ends with the Resurrec-
ton, those unbelievable events. Western
mans belief in them changed his society
and his personality.
Modern thought which tries to syn
thesize the vast accumulation Of data
we have about the world and man gives
new meanings to old words to suit its
purpose One of them Is culture" which
the social scientists redef1ne to mean
everything Intangible that one genera
ton passes on to another. Culture is not
the pottery and the wheel but the know
how of spinning the wheel and shaping
the clay. Culture is also the inheritance
of likes and diSlikes. ideas of right and
wrong, good and bad; loyalties and
hatreds, prejudices and beliefs. Ger
tainly, under this definition no one Of
European stock has been uninfuenced
by Christian culture.
The emotions that modern man ex-
periences when some one disparages the
chastity of woman Of his family are
due in part to his descent from people
,1o f1a Nff hn nvytpu pusy
mother. Our troops who were sent to
India, Burma, China and Japan had
opportunity to witness how different the
position of woman is in mont Christian
civilizations.
Between world wars the fashion to
minimize or disparage the Christian
influence "a fashion that began way
back with Gibbon-reached its height.
But times have changed. It Is signif1-
cant that while Gibbon regretted the fall
of the Roman Empire and held Chris
tianity partly to blame, the comparable
English historian Of our day. Toynbee.
seems to take some satisfaction with
the fall Of the empire because great re-
hgion rose out Of its ruins. ="
There were those of us In the lost
generations of World War I days who,
being against both past and present,
took great delight In Anatole Frances
little story, The Procurator of Judea."
AS remember it, Pontius plate was at
another post, Cyrenacca or Libya, some
20 years after the cruciflxion, and he
was entertaining pro-conSu who had
just come from Rome They were hav-
ing a drink together on the terrace of
villa overlooking the Mediterranean.
The visitor said that times were diff
ficult In Rome, the Christians were caus-
ing disturbances. Pontius PLATE asked
what were Christians and the visitor
said that his host certainly should
know. Wasn't he Procurator of Judea
when Christ, whose followers consid-
cred him god, was crucified? Didn't
Pontius PLATE remember? Pontius PLATE
thought it over and confessed he could
MT remember the incident at all.
I think now that we were pretty
stupid to be delighted with that story.
whether Plate remembered wasn't Of
the slightest Importance What was i'm.
portant was the tremendous effect Of
the story in the gospels It captured
the mind OF Europe. Except for the
Greeks and the Latins, the Europeans
OF taat day were barbarians or savages
at time when China had gunpowder.
paper and movable type. But the
Europeans became the most successful
people Of the world.
They were warlike people-still are.
But the veneration Of the Child in the
crib developed great tenderness in them
Tor children. Infanticide had been
common before and legal in the empire
II committed by the father. Their COM
promise with Christ's pacifism was chiy-
alry-combat tempered with mercy.
inns country was shocked into a reali-
cation Of what warfare without chiyalry
means by the United Nations report that
5000 American prisoners Of war had
been killed in mass executions by their
Chinese and Korean Red guardians.
The concept of the Man-God has
made man important and life impor-
tant in the realm of the Christian cul-
ture. The Importance of what hap