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mi i ocate r 11 Oi "iT" uJLuLJL Hobbitt & Gray? Iublislier !Publislied in the Interests of Aletliodism in jNorth. Carolina. '32.20 Per Annum, in Advance. Vol. XXL-Xo. 9. Kaleigh, N. C, Wednesday, March 3, 1875. Whole No. 1,047. 1 Selected JJoc.trjj. What is God ? . )Y i il ire !i ; .i? my so'il aires , Wm: H (ii v t'-nii 'i iw look- i My lire '.' An bin ;ui i' Mi..v Ii li'ij; J Before Ii ( wr ii.i ; ! r-nr-'s '.' Hist Liny tuiiii. h si :i'iv 'ace? j Tiiju'rl here ; iM-.i'n mere, Ihoa'it eveiy- i , wl-ere, i. Mill-! . iv itif tr ti'ie I lay v ic !i--ar. ':, Mine acaiu.; eyes eo 11 i illy place. Jlv weax aaud v linly s.?.uvii I ir ihee. ' 1 k miv i'.ioii art. 1 liiy w irks. Willed rdlo'.V l.,Uil.J .-OilH' lOUC Iiil'k-. v Hi- ll J -v , 1 CI'l.lOl Si'.'. ;-,Ci'i ui in when r.ioe.i iu t!i:s 'I'll' ' -'ay I..ve llun wh'ch ri 'it ly Essence is, h i no iorm. no sti.ipe like his ? 'But ye; he '.'-els it lay by ti.iy. .. C i". I l sai.l l . !ov .1 luati Who is 'lot, tiio" h-.' was like mo, 11a; now his l,m!h to dwell wilh tnoe, To 1 ve ul rue la.'fc'er plan V , O .!. '-'! 1 do 1 Kv :!- now V '. Tii. .'i .ui m a', si. t ,r ii'""-.'. : -" Is .hi- lice: w.thitl :u- iov- ". - I love u' s i iwi'v- hei. w. I study perieci liuiu ui forms. lJ.it t.itioy ::oao i.- lis- to thin-: Iiiia.'iii t ioa -raws no line More like t-. thee una to the wc-;iu-. My iuial s nmoiHits i Lis little world And pierce .hro' i's cirelin dome, To view thy t -aiiii'es, liti.l thy home, " I wander oil thro' Vapors eutl'd. Exh m-'ed soo'i lis;, sjiir.t falls. And sinks on-.em to piv.-etit c ire To ditje brie, hovv yon one lat'.-s. Which ail my soul's aOeiuio i calls. And soon wi'hiu. yet IVotn ulmve, A fnile voice di-peis my leal : ' ,-No merer wtti" tiiy tot'tn. o- where I a: i. r.-iu-'iiio-r, .; .-1 I- love.' " 6 o in m u n ic a t c H . For the Advocate. "THE CUii:E OP BLOOD." lleatiif 'aiVatu 'ii. dr. ALt-Itrs. K 1. 1 i';..,;-: I foul that 1 OWv you tunl your iv:i u.;s ;ia iipolxy an. I a debt of grtitiiu.lc tin apology lor Continuing this ilicuion -o long, an'l a debt of gratitude for the kind and patient attention given the parties to this discussion, i beg that you ainl they will remember v. ho it was that provoked the discussion. 1 trust, too. thatyoii will accept, as en tirely satisfactory, my apology for ta king part in an-1 continuing it. It is that the cherished doctrines of my church and the Bible are controverted by prominent and influential minis ters of that church. It is that they have -promulgated" and continue to "promulgate," through an organ of our church, views that are, iu my opinion, both unscriptural and aati Methodistic. And I beg, Messrs. Ed itors, that you and your readers will bear with us a little longer. For if We stop liu .v any good results of this discussion may u-A be reached. Iu my iirst and iifth articles, I tried to show th it the theory of liro. Kobey and Ir Cioss is utterly incon sistent with the tuaching of the Bible concerning God's justice and mercy. That, for (Jod to damn the Leathen for a violation of tire moral law, in the absence of the gospel and a prac ticable condition of salvation, would be maLii'estly cruel, hard, and unjust. I think I made it appear, too, that sach a course, on the part of the Al mighty, is not only hard and unjust, but that it is out of harmony with His dealings with others with rational adults, in Gospel lands, and inLnts and idiots, everywhere. And, I am persuaded that your intelligent and Unprejudiced readers accept that rea soning as conclusive against the theo ry I am combating. But, lest Dr. C. and Bro. 11. should continue to be lieve that the theory of heathen salva tion would sutler in a contest with theirs on their chosen ground,I cheer fully and gladly accept Bro. Itobey's challenge to meet him there. After quoting liom. 2: 12, li and lo, he Bays, "it is amusing with what gravi ty the advocates of the 'standard tho ory ' quote these passages, as though they really- thought that they prove something to the point." And, after giving what is certainly a very re markable exegesis of this passage, he, with an air of triumph, says, "we re spectfully ask that the defenders of the 'standard theory' come to the point and defend, if they can, their favorite fortress." Well, although this passage has not hllm'to been my "favorite fortress"- not having quo ted it except incidentally during the whole discussion f am now inclined to regard it as such. Indeed, I feel under obligation to Bro. 11. for calling my attention specially to it. I am 6 it'ucly willing to leave the settle ment of this whole question to a fair interpretation of this single passage. And, I must say, (I do it with the "utmost sincerity,) that did I not know something of the power of an erron eous theory to bias the minds of those who adopt it, I should be ut terly tuiK..ed at the construction which Lr C. and Bro. 1'. put upon this passage. They seem, indeed, to have totally misapprehended the apostle's design and argument. IVo better, probably, ought to have been expected of Bro. Yates, Bro. Aber nethy ami myself, as we '-have never studied the subject;" but such a blun der is almost inexcusable in those who seem to have made the matter a seciultif. They represent Paul as teaching just (.ractli the recerse of what he really does teach. Now, this may seem to be rather strong lan guage, but let us see if it is not war ranted by the facts in the case. For the sake of brevity, I will not quote the passage, but beg that the reader will get his Bible and read, with me, Bom. 2: (-l, before going any far ther. The passage that is specially in dispute is the 12th verse. It is insis ted by Dr. C. and Bro. Ii. that Paul teaches here that all the heathen those who sin '-without law" inevi tably ''perish," because they have not the gospel; while those who have the gospel, and sin "in the law," need not necessarily be lost. Xow, it seems to me that the capital mistake that these brethren niade.in interpreting this passage was their failure to exam ine the context, to ascertain what was the !:ij)t or h-if't of the apostle's ar gument. 1 think, indeed, that we shall find before we are through that the theory of our interpreters is not only inconsistent with the general drift of the apostle's reasoning, but that it is also jlitlj 'ontrt!ictc7 by plain statements, made by him in the context. I need hardly say that we must never, by our interpretation of .Scripture, make a writer teach what was foreign to, and inconsistent with, his manifest design. Least of all, should we make hiin llatly contradict himself. Xow, I propose to show that Bro. Ii. and Dr. C, by their the ory of interpretation, make Paul do both these things. "What was the design or drift of tne apostle's rea soning or teaching in this chapter ? I think it will be generally admitted that his leading design in this epistle, so far as it was designed for the Jews, was to teach them the doctrine of sal vation by faith, rather than by works. Xow, as preliminary to this general conclusion, he had shown in the pre ceding chapter that the Gentiles were very corrupt and sinful in their lives, and consequently could not be saved by works or "the deeds of the law." Lest his argument should lose its force on the Jews, he proceeds, in this chapter, to correct two errors that they had fallen into. They believed that all Jews, because of their having descended from Abraham, having been circumcised, and having received the written law, were accepted of God, and would be finally saved; while all the uncircumcised Gentiles, who had no written law, were 1 ejected by Him, and would be finally lost. If any one doubts that Paul's design in this chapter was to correct this double er ror of the Jews, I beg that he will read the whole chapter before we pro ceed further. The Jew seemed to say, substantially, "your statements concerning the corrupt state of the Gentiles proves nothing in favor of your theory of salvation by faith; for none of the Guil'da are saved oi tiny i-ondlibjn; and we, Jews, are saved on other conditions than that of faith." Paul then proceeds to show that God's judgment of, and linal dealing with, men tire based on their character or works, and not on any superior advantages or ceremonial observances. He shows that the works of the Jews weie wicked, as well as those of the Gentiles, and that "the judgment of God is according to truth" the facts "against them that commit such things," whether they be Jews or Gentiles. He then warns them against hoping to "escape the judgment of God," while they live in sin, and adds that He "will render to every man according to his deeds," whether he bo Jew or Gentile. Hav ing laid down the general proposition that God "will render to every man," Jew and Gentile, "according to his deeds," he proceeds to amplify and explain it. He says God will visit "iinl.ilnatton oiul frath, tribulation a. ml iinijii'tsh upon every soul of man that doet'u evil, of the Jeir first, and also of the Gentile; but ylory, honor mill jiijiic.!' to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile for there is no respect of jjersons with God," Ho not dealing any more hardly with the Gentile or heathen, who has no written law, than He does with the Jew, who has. Having stated the general proposi tion that he was arguing in opposition to the Jewish theory, in other words "God is no respecter of persons" he goes on to explain and amplify it still more fully in the next five verses. He says, "for as many as have sinned" and afterwards ftiiied to repent "without law" the heathen Gentiles "shall also perish" suffer or be punished -" without law " without any trial or condemnation by the written law "And as many as have sinned and afterwards failed to re pent "in the law" against the writ ten law "shall be judged" condem ned and punished "by the law" in accordance with the threatening, and with the penalty of the written law. "For," continues Paul, "not the hear -ers of the law" those who have the Jewish Scriptures "hearing" better rejjiesenting their mode of receiving Scripture truth than reading, as the Scriptures were then very scarce and they were read and explained to the people by their religious teachers, "but the doers of the law" those who perform the condition of final salvation, whether they have the Scriptures or not whether they be Jews or heathen Gentiles "shall be justified," accepted and saved, ("when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ") at the last day. 'For, ' continues the apostle, 'when the Gen tiles' the heathen 'which have not the law' the Bible 'do by nature' the light which they receive from the works of nature, tradition and the Spirit 'the things contained in the law' the Bible 'these' the heathen 'having not the law' the Bible 'are a law unto themselves' the light of nature, tradition and the Spirit supplying, in some measure, the place of the Bible 'Which' the heathen 'show the work of the law written in their hearts' exhibit to others, in their lives and good works, the fact that the substance of the Bible teach ing has been impaited to them by God, through nature, tradition and the Spirit "their conscience also bearing winess'' to the fact that their lives have been in conformity with the light or truth revealed in this way. Xow, I think that with unprejudi ced readers I might safely rest my case on this general paraphrase and exposition of the apostle's teaching. But, as all men are not unprejudiced, and as Dr. C. and Bro. R. seem to be so certain that they are right in their interpretation of the 12th verse, let us look a little more closely into it and the context. In the first place, our interpreters make a mistake when they apply the term 'law,' used by Paul ir. the 12, 13, II and 15th verses, exclu sively to the decalogue or moral law. For, he certainly does not here use that term in so restricted a sense. On the contrary, he evidently applies it to the Jewish Scriptures at large as a whole. In support of this as sertion, I offer, first, the fact that Paul teaches that a man may so do or obey this law as to be 'justified' or saved. He says, 'not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the lain shall be justified.'- Xow, if Paul does not mean to teach here that a man may so do or obey this law as to be justified, or saved, as a consequence, then he stultifies . himself. If he does mean so to teach, then he must refer to the Jewish Scriptures, as a whole the gosfiel that was in them, as well as the moral law. For he teaches elsewhere that no man can so do or obey the moral law as to be justified or saved by it.- Secondly, in the next chapter he quotes from the 14th Psalm and then applies the term 'law' to that Psalm or quotation: "What the law saith, etc. (See Clarke's note in loco.) Let us bear in mind, in the next place, that it was the substance of this law, the Jewish Scriptures, and not the decalosrue alone that has been written on the heathen heart by God, through nature, tradition and the Spirit. For, Paul says they "shew the work of the law' the same law or Scriptures that the J ews had "written in their hearts." But if the heathen of Paul's day had the substance of the Jewish Scriptures, as a whole, "written in their hearts," they had the substance of the gospel that was in those Scrip tures. And, if there was enough of the gospel in them to save the Jews, by giving them a practical condition of salvation, so was there in them, as written in the heathen heart, to do the same for them. Hence, Paul says, "for when the Gentiles,which have not the law, do by nature the things con tained in the lain" the Jewish Scrip tures, etc. That the apostle means to teach that the Gentile or heathen can so 'do' or obey this law as to be saved, is plain from the fact that the conjunction 'for' connects this state ment with the 13th of the preceding verse, in which he speaks of so doing or obeying it, as to be 'justified' by it. But, let us examine the 10th verse again. It reads: "But glory, lionor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile" Now, if Paul does not teach here that a ' Gentile or heathen could so 'do good' perform the condition of final salvation as to reap, in Hea ven, the reward of well-doing "glory, honor and peace" then he does not teach that the Jeio' could do it. For, he certainly affirms the pos sibility of salvation in the case of the former as plainly as he does in the case of the latter. And, if he does not teach that the 'Gentiles' may do good and be saved, neither does he teach that he may do evil and be lost. For, exactly the same form of expression is used in speaking of both courses and their results. Once more. If the 'Gentile' cannot secure 'glory, honor and peace' in Heaven, why doas Paul, in speaking of the matter, say 'to the Jew firs!, and also to the Gentile V 'First' and 'also' are correlative terms here, and if the 'Gentile' is not sa ved 'also,' then the 'Jew' is not saved 'first.' And if the Jew is saved 'first,' then the Gentile must bo saved 'also,' or Paul's language is adapted to mis lead. A word now on the 12 th verse. Bro. Yates has saved me the trouble of writing much on that. I am ama zed at the construction that Bro. Ii- and Dr. C. put upon it. I am sure that if they had, without prejudice, consulted their Greek Testaments and Lexicons, they would have seen that so far as the final result of sinning is concerned, Paul teaches that it is sub stantially the same with both J ew and Gentile, only worse with the former, because he sinned against greater light. At least, that the word ren dered 'judged' means 'condemned' or 'punished' or both; the same that it does in Heb. 13: 4, when Paul says, "whoremongers and adulterers God will judge" punish. So that if all the Gentiles are to 'perish,' all the Jews and Christians are to be 'judged' jnmisted. It they liad viewed tms passage in the light of the context and other passages, they would have seen that the sentence: "As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law,' is an absolute form of expression, where a condition is implied. It is clearly parallel with such passages as the following: 'He that believeth not shall be damned,' that is if he persist in his unbelief till death. Again: 'All liars shall have their portion in the lake,' etc., that is, if they fail to repent before they die. So, 'as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law,' if they fail to repent of their sins, not otherwise. We see, then, that Paul, in this passage, teaches just the reverse of what Bro. Ii. and Dr. C. says he does, viz: That (rod does nut deal more hardly with Gentile or heuiiu ii than, he does with the Jew or Ghri.stia,and thatthe former has a possihl.it y of sah'iition. If I have not displayed sulticient 'gravity' in quoting this passage in support of my 'standard theory' to 'amuse' Bro. Ii. again, I trust that I have found in it a ;raoe deep enough to bury his 'horrible theory. Jxo. Ii Bkooks. Goldsboro, 22 Feb., 1S75. For the Advocate. St-asoa ami Faith Christianity, it has been affirmed and truthfully too, is a Divine Fact, and not a theory, or a sentiment. Men disregarding this affirmation, have been constructing theories for four thousand years and more, and labor -ing in them with mighty energy to show a true God, a true system of re ligion and attempting to give the ori gin and destiny of men, what is required of them as a condition of immortality and endless bless. All of these sys tems and theories have been, in the whole scope and tenor of their teach ing, opposed to Christianity and true religion as set forth in the Bible, the great store house of facts; facts divine and eternal in origin and effect. First heathen philosophy appeared, mani fested in the system of learning among the Greeks and Iiomans, and began the construction of a system of religion to meet the wants and desires of man's immortal nature, and when this had gone to its sublimest heights, swept over its fields of investigations and had reached the, "adamantine walls," the boundary between lieason and Faith, it heard a voice powerful in authority, saying, :'thns tor shalt thou go and no farther;" this system at this point demonstrated the saying of St Paul, "the world by wisdom knew not God." After the failure and partial decay of this system of theorizing and reasoning, Scholasticism with its subtilities appeared, or was construct ed, and undertook to set forth truth and reason in their native colors bringing out in the undertaking, everything that was hidden and re condite. This system flourished greatly in the twelfth century. The effect of Scholasticism was absolutely to bury as far as possible, every linea ment of divine truth, beneath the ponderous tomes of mysticism, until the Bible and the doctrine of justifies tion by faith was well nigh lost to the world. The final result of this was darkening counsel by words without knowledge. Then came the period of 'the revival of Letters." This was dur ing the time of the Keforniation when Luther and his coadjutors were strug gling for the true light. This period was remarkable for extraordinary mental activity in every department of learning, (theology not excepted) and in many instances, rejecting mys ticism and scholastic subtleties yet diluting the teaching of divine revela tion sweeping out boldly into the regions of free thought and inquiry. This mental activity brought much that was true to the surface but masses of baneful error. Mind though mighty in its capabilities, cannot un less directed by divine light reach the true empyrean of thought an I learning. The fourth system, and the one now flourishing, boastful of its native powers was called the reconstruction of the Methods of inquiry into the subject of Physics and Metaphysics. All of these, (in a certain sense and a fearful one too) may be recognized, as so many struggles, contests, battles and whatever else may convey the idea of conflict; first to oppose learn ing to the sublime and glorious truths of Christianity, and secondly, to array Reason a gainst Faith, just as if there was no realm for reason, save one in opposition to faith. The two have their distinct kingdoms and they may both be wielded, or exercised, without hinging v-ae upon the other, lieason may investigate every subject arising in its wide realm, build its grand temples and then Faith with a diviner and more skillful hand may paint rea son's landscapes,in more glorious dyes of beauty, decorate its temples with gems of blazing lustre and then do no wrang to proud Reason. Faith found ed upon God's eternal Truth and the wealth of the Atonement may lead proud reason beyend its ample domain of material things and introduce it into the regions of fadeless bliss. He who made reason and marked out its boundary linos made man, made him capable, not only of reasoning, but capable of exercising faith, not to struggle against reason, in deadly and runious conflict, but the two were intended to hormonize and to assist one another to the fullest compre hension of God and of his plans for the government of his moral subjects. Reason has vast resources. Faith glorious disclosures. These two when combined and harmonized, show to men all of the departments of God's benevolence, point out the wisdom of every law, that has been enacted for the control of the intel ligencies of the universe and to use the language of an eminent writer, shows to us, who exercise these, "the beauty of the blueeyed orb of divine Truth." Separating Reason from Faith, we bring on a state of moral and physical revolt, and superstition conies in like a flood, sweeping the soul away from the blessings of God, its dark folds shut out the beams of light from the sun of Righteousness and finally brings the death of the soul. j We need a revival now in learning, another reconstruction of the modes of exercising the mightiest faculties we possess, a revival that will bring Reason and Ft'.ith to God's altar, ar rayed, each in all of their original and redeemed powers, to be uuited in eternal wedlock, that henceforth they may go with man, in his eltorts to bring peace and joy to the sorrow smitten sons of this world. With Reason's powers man searches for the kingdom of heaven and when the evidences of its glory and riches have been examined and the treasure -trove discovered, Faith can mount aloft ami take tne Kingdom. aitn noids a higher place in God's economy than lieason. Reason the foundation, Faith the capstone, faith through grace "lays the topmost stone." Reason the strong one that labors to bring together all of the resources ot the Atonement; Faith the faculty of the soul which embraces redempti on's wealth and brings peace and joy to the soul. Divorce these powers and man is thrown at once into a moral and spiritual paralysis. Reason, touched by the power of the atone ment and taking faith to its assistance, is-fully capable of grasping God's great scheme of redemption. Reason properly used is the glory of man and the friend of God's cause misused, it is a destroyer. C. C. Donsox. Feb loth, 1875. For the Advocate. Acfiau v. Talking. Messrs Editors : What the world needs is more doing and less blowing. There is a wonderful power in words to be sure, but they must be weighty; otherwise they are less than nothing and vauity.' Here is what I have to say: Let every Methodist in N. C, and particularly every preacher in the X. C, Conference, estimate his value and then ask himself, 'How much of this capital can I lay on God's altar this year?' Let this question be asked in the fear of God. Don't be afraid of this solemn question, my brother, repeat it think over it again. The question is, not what can I say, not how much noise can I make, but what can I do? 1 11 ask myself this ques tion and I'll write down the answer when conscience speaks. What am I worth1? Well, I pay tax 27,80 on two thousand dollars no more Do I pay as much to the church as I do to the State? Can I? Aaa I able? Ha ve I been doing so, and can I continue to do so? Let us go back two years Tax receipt for 1873, thirty one dollars ($31,00;) for 1874,twenty seven dollars and eighty cents, making fifty eight dollars and eighty cents for tha two years past. Within that time I have paid twenty live dollars to Trini ty CoPege, twenty five to Davenport , twenty to Greensboro j tea to Ruthcr ford, ten to Widows and Orphans, thirty to Missions, making one hund red and twenty,besides various smaller amounts not counted. Xot a dollar of this was collected from the people, but paid out of my own funds. Xote, I have never received as much as six hundred dollars for ministerial services but one year since I have been a mem' ber of the Conference. This I have done. Xow what can I do for my Lord, my church and my country this year ? The Lord being my helper, I propose to buy one hundred dollars worth of books to help prize out our House, by the first of March; I propose to be one of two hundred to give Bro Cunninggim the ten thousand dollars he asks for Geensboro College; I pro -pose to be one of all who are orthodox on the possibility of a heathen's salva tion, to give twenty dollars for Mis sions. Let those who believe that such men as Socrates, Seneca, Cato and others are in hell, give more. All this and as much more at I can, I intend to do before the end of the year. I will have to deny myself to do this, but I am willing. Are yon If you are not, yon are not of the number who are invited to follow J esus. 'If any man will come after me let him deny himselt! Your bodies, brethren,your bodies must be present ed 'a living sacrifice.' If we would render to God acceptable service, we must 'crucify the flesh 'put off the old man; keep under the body' 'morti fy our members! But he who is not willing to deny himself many things that would please his fancy or gratify his appetite which he has perhaps already perverted, is not willing to do what God requires. There are those who seem willing to render to God a service which costs nothing, and! which they call sijirltual, but ti.p sacrifice of the body is more than they can offer costs too much. It is a shame to tell, but it ought to be told until every guilty cheek might burn, that there is enough money wasted, worse than wasted by members of our church in our Confer ence bounds, in violation of one single general rule needless self-indul- ence, to pay off the whole Conference debt. I am ashamed! But what can "do? Why I can do this, and the Lord being my helper, this will I do. I will 'deny myself that I may have something to 'give to him that asketh.' Tell Bro. Cunninggim to put me down for S50,00 to Greensboro, also Bros Robeyand Closs to put me down 20, for Missions. Didoso. The Pilerim and the Knischt. In a noble castle there once resided a very rich knight. He expended much money in adorning and beauti fying his dwelling, but he gave very little to the poor. A weary pilgrim came to the castle and askeL for a night's lodging. The knight haugh -tily refused him, and said: "This castle is not an inn." The pilgrim replied, "Permit me to ask two questions, and I will depart." "Upon this condition speak," re plied the knight; "I will readily answer you." The pilgrim then said to him, "Who dwelt iu this before you?" "My father," replied the knight. "And who will dwell here after you?" still asked the pilgrim. The knight said, "With God's will my son." "Well," said the pilgrim, "If each dwells but a short time in the castle, and in time must depart and make way for another, what are you here otherwise than guests? The castle, then, is truly an inn. Why, then, spend so much money adorning a dwel ling which you will occupy but a short time? Be charitable, for he that hath pity upon the poor lendeth to the Lord, and that which he hath given he will pay him again." The knight took these words to heart. He gave the pilgrim shelter for the night and was ever afterward more charitable unto the poor. John the Baptist ami Christ. To this preaching, to this baptism, in the thirtieth year of his age, came Jesus from Galilee. John was kins man by birth, but the circumstances of then- life had entirely separated them. John as a child, in the house of the blameless priest, his father, had lived at Juttah, in the far south of the tribe of Judah, and not far from Heb ron. Jesus had lived in the deep se clusion of the carpenter shop in th e valley of Galilee. When he first came to the banks of the Jordan, the grea t forerunner, according to his own em -phatie and twice-repeated testimony , "knew him not.' Though Jesus was not yet revealed as the Messiah to his great herald-prophet, there was some thing in his look, something in the sinless beauty of his ways, something in the solemn majesty of his aspect which at once overawed and captiva ted the soul of John. To others he was the uncompromising prophet; kinffs hecou'd conpro'ib with rebuke; Pharisees he could unmask with in- dignati'on; but before this presence all his lofty bearing falls. As when some unknown dread checks the flight of the eagle, and makes him settle with hushed scream and drooping plumage on the ground, so before the purity of sinless life, the wild prophet of the desert becomes like a submissive and timid child. The battle-brunt which legionaries could not daunt the lofty manhood before which hierarchies trembled and princes grew pale re -signs itself, submits, adores, before moral force which is weak in every external attribute, and armed only in an invisible mail. John bowed to the simple, stainless manhood before he had been inspired to recognise the divine commission. He earnestly tried to forbid the pur poses of Jesus. He who had received the confessions of all others now re verently and humbly makes his own, "I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?' The res ponse contains tae second recorded utterance of Jesus, and the first word of his public ministry, "Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becemeth us to f ul lil all righteousness.' Farrars Life or Christ. Judaism and Early Christianity. There is no question that the earli est Christian Church was a Hebrew Church. There is also no question that it was an offshoot from this He brew Church which planted itself with exceptional vigor at Rome; and that hence Roman Christianity, from that time to this, has been strongly tinc tured with Jewish elements, has blazed with Jewish intolerance, delighted in Jewish gorgeousness, and fallen a vie tim to Jewish realism; while Pauline or Augustinian, or Protestant idealism ! has struggled manfully indeed, but too often in vain,to overcome the deef weight oi these lower ingredients m Catholic Christianity, and to assert lor intelligence and freedom their true place in the church. That this strug gle of the Petrine and Pauline ele ments of Christianity is still going on under our eyes, as it has been goin on in till aires, need not be said. But I ifc iri essential to the healthy solution of the problem that both views should be clearly understood. The lower, sensuous, realistic Roman type of churebmanship can not be thoroughly understood without an understanding of the early Hebrew Christianity out of which it took its rise. Would any one, therefore, see howr much and ho w little Romanism has to say for itself, let him go to the Holy Scriptures,and 1 jutting aside their Pauline ingredi ents fSt Luke and the Acts and St. Paul's Epistle.) he will then find that he has left upon his hands (1) the Jewish Old Testament complete; (2) the literalism of St. Matthew and St. Peter; (3) the sacramental mysticism of St. John: (4) the ascetic moralism of St. James and St. Jude; (5) the gorgeous ritualism of the apocalypse and out of these Hebrew materials he might perhaps be able to construct, in its main features, the Roman system of religion. Reintroduce, howeve r, St. Paul and all this wonderful phantasma goria begins to brtak up. Its unity and completeness is troubled. Pauline freedom, individualism and intelli gence, entering into combination with the previous Hebraizing ingredients, produce that vivacious and whole some effervescence which we see going on at this hour in all countries where Christianity is really alive, and where the Scriptures in their completeness are really studied. LWtnhurg Heview. Lorg Lives- Moses wrote the 90th psalm. Some think he composed it in view of his own immediate death, at the age of a hundred and twenty years. In that ode his mind seems deeply impressed with the great brevity of life: "Thou earliest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep; in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth We spend our years as a tale that is told.' Inspired writers have used almost every apt figure to teach the swiftness of time and shortness of life. They compare our eartly existence, to a weaver's shuttle that flies so fast that one cannot trace its course with the eye: to one riding fast, who presses on day and night, and never stops; a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away; to a span which is the breadth of four fingers: to a moment, and even to a little mo -ment. Much as men differ on most things, nearly all sober men agree that life is short. The poets sing about "an inch ot time.' Yet on this point of time hang the most weighty and the most solemn things. They, who here live unto God, shall for ever reign in glory. They, who despise his goodness and waste their precious moments, shall awake to sh ime and ovsrlasting con tempt. Never were such crowns and victories lost or won, never were such treasures ot joy or grief laid up as in this short life. Short as life is, it is long enough for the evil disposed to do a world of mischief, and for the well disposed to do an immense amount of good. Sea how busy and successful the wicked are in treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath. Behold the succoss of those who seek for glory, and hon or, and immortality. They lay up a good foundation against the time to come. Blessed is he who seizes tha happy moment, lays hold on eternal life, makes peace with God, works rigteousness, sows beside all water courses and gathers fruit unto life eternal. JV. Y. Observer. Marcli' Winds. How d' ye do, again ! Glad to see you, my dears. Do you know that, in very old times, March was the first month of the year ? They deprived her of that honor long ago, but she has blustered about it ever since. Her winds soon will be talking to the trees, and trying to make them think it is time to 'turn over some nevr leaves.' I listened one night last Spring. The moss declared that I snored so loud that she could not sleep. I felt sure that it was not I, but I quietly staid awake to Bee, and I soon discovered that it was Mr. Meddle some Wind, He came rompiner through the woods, talking to every body in our neighborhood; trying to give them bad dreams. First I heard him say to the dear tree branches: 'Rub each other; show some spirit; anything for fun; break your brother's arm off, and see how he will scold; hit the next tree a lit tle, she's a maple, and too weak to strike back ! Ha ! that's fun !' The poor, sleepy branches did as he told them, and there was a regular family row up there. One would suppose he might be satisfied then. But no; his fun was not complete until he had spoiled the solid comfort of our 'feeble folk, ' the ferns and old leaves, and even the tiny things under them all. So down he came, and made a great ado. Ho blew all the leaves A about, calling out: 'You foolish things! to lie still here when you might as well take a frolic. Jump up and have a race! Never mind the baby -flowers! One cannot always be made a blanket of. Stand up for your rights, old leaves, and let the blossoms freeze. Who cares?' He actually slapped me in the face a dozen times! He put his arm around the poor lady-ferns and proposed a waltz; but he almost twisted them off their feet, and then laughed at them as he slept away soundly, and only groaned once when some pine cones came pounding down on her head. But the next morning she began: 'How you did ' When I inform- her that it was old March Wind who snored, and if she did not believe me, she had better lie awake and judge for herself. From lJack-in-the -Fidpit,' St. Nicholas for March. It 1 Had Leisure. 'If I had leisure, I would repair that weak place in my fence,' said a farmer. He had none, bowever, and while drinking cider with a neighbor, the cows broke in and injured a prime piece of corn. He had leisure then to repair his fence, but it did not bring back his corn. 'If I had leisure,' said a wheel right, last Winter, "I would alter my stove pipe, for I know it is not safe.' But he did not find time, and when his shop caught fire, and burned down, he found leisure to build another. 'If I had leisuresaid a mechanic, 'I should have my work done in season,' The man thinks his time has been all occupied, but he was not at work till after sunrise; he quit work at five o'clock, smoked a cigar after dinner, and spent two hours on the street talking nonsense with an idler. 'If I had leisure,' said a merchant, "I would pay more attention to ac counts.' The chance is, my friend, if you had leisure, you would probably pay less attention to the matter than you do now. The thing lacking with hundreds of farmers who till the soil is, not more leisure, but more resolu tion the spirit to do to do now. If the farmer who sees the fence in a poor condition would only act at once, how much might be Baved. It would prevent breechycattle creating quairels among neighbors, that in many cases terminate in law-suits, which take nearly all they are . both worth to pay the lawyers. Annual of Phrenology and Physiognomy for 1875. How They Did It. A gentleman hi a Western city, sitting in a pew with a lady with whom he had formerly been on, terms of intimate acquaintance, handed her a Bible with a pin stuck through ;he fol lowing verse: "And row I beseech thee lady, not as though I wrote a new com -mandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another." After reading it she stuck the pin through the following verse and hand ed the book back to him:- "Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink, but I trust to come unto you and speak face to face, that our joy may be full,"
North Carolina Christian Advocate (Greensboro, N.C.)
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March 3, 1875, edition 1
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