Year: 1871

The Incarnnei0u Mystery.


During the coming week the civilized world
will commemorate one of the grandest and
greatest events recorded In history-namely,
the incarnation and birth of Jesus Christ, the
Saviour of Mankind. The Christian Church has


fixed the fullness of time for this event toward
the end of December, and the world has almost
unanimously consented thereto. There is
very little dispute among men in regard to the
life and sufferings and death Of Jesus Of
Nazareth. There has been great deal of
controversy, however, over his miraculous
birth and his Messianic mission. And besides
the vast body of Isrselites in all parts Of the
earth who stoutly deny these things, there are
many nominal Christians who disbelieve, or
affect to disbelieve, the entire history Of the
man Christ Jesus. And one of their strong
arguments against this fact, which the Church
so firmly believes and proclaims, is its con-
trariety to natural laws. That virgin who
had never known man should become q
mother is undoubtedly opposed to the course
of nature; but the Christian Church accepts
now, as it has always done, the conception
and birth of Christ as miraculous events, and
does not undertake to argue the matter upon
scientific or philosophical principles. That
such person as the historic Christ lived and
rose again from the dead, are facts as
amply verified as any fact in science or morals
need be; and that ''this Jesus whom we
preach, and whose birth we are soon to COM
memorate, lived and died to redeem sinful
race Of men can be testified to any day by
more witnesses of every age and in every land
than almost any other proposition that can
be named. Still, with such q cloud Of wit
nesses ever ready to attest the truth of this
doctrine, men will bubble over 1t and re-
ject it because they cannot understand it and
because they find no analogy in nature for it.
But the philosophy of it is very simple and
comprehensive.


All forms of life In nature, from the highest
to the lowest whether vegetable or animal,
require for their production or reproduction
the union of two bodies-the body of the seed,
for instance, and the body of the earth into
which it is thrown. But these bodies pre-
suppose pre-existing life and power; and Ma
ture herself tells us of q time when her womb
contained no seed nor germ of life, and when
she was "without form and void" Then it
was that "the Spirit Of God moved upon the
face Of the waters, and, through various crea-
tive processes, brought forth the different
forms of vegetable and animal life which we
behold in beauty and endless variety on every
hand. Why is not this fact Of creation
denied? 1t stands alone; there is moth
ing like it. 1t is miracle, and as
such Is as unworthy of credence as any
other unattested miracle according to the
standard of evidence raised by those who re-
ject Jesus Christ because of his miraculous
conception and birth. But there appears by
the record to be very close analogy between
the two recorded facts-the creation and the
birth Of Christ-and though Moses and Luke
will hardly be accused of collusion in this
case, they use language almost identical to
announce both events. Moses says that ''the
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters, and the result was good, and beauti-
fnl and holy forms of life. St. Luke, using
the angels words to the Virgin Mary, says,
''Tbe Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and
the power Of the Highest shall overshadow
thee; therefore also that Holy Being which
shall be born Of thee shall be called the Son
of God" If this language, used to describe
two apparently differing and very distant
events, is not as substantially alike as it could
we'll be, then we confess we do not know what
would constitute similarity OF expression.
Indeed, the two facts and events have q
much closer relation to each other than VIC
are at first inclined to admit. And to under
stand the latter physiologically we must recur
to the former, and note another peculiar phrase
of the Bible narrative, which in its simplicity
contains the key to this mystery.


Immediately after the Fall, when th'
Creator pronounced sentence Of condemna
ton upon our first parents, He held on
to the woman promise that che
seed" should bruise the serpents head
This is the only promise given in the Sacred





Invariably the promises of God regarding
offspring have been made to men. To Abra
ham the promise Of Inheritance was to chi
seed, and to Isaac and Jacob likewise. David
and Solomon also received promises of good
ness and mercy to their seed and offspring; and
the record is uniform in this regard, save in
this particular instance Of the promised


Saviour made to woman. And its subsequen


fulflment produced a perfect human body
sinless and pure, by the same power an,
means as the original life was produced at th'
Creation and without at all violating the Law
which requires the union of two bodies Il
produce or reproduce life. In both instances
there was the union of a spiritual with physi
cal body and the offspring was ''good" o.
"very good" The proper understanding o