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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (April 19, 1908)
THE SUNDAY OREGOXTAX. PORTLAND. APRIL If), 1908. ' ll ' ' cp HrTr-3 If ; ti ,n m imr n.- i .nut .-.jwnf.-i3tmtiitr it. - rr mumi 4Zt-,m,jmn -ri.nm tmn m mjl V"- . (fQffvt ;' iri'"n n 11 i " inn Mimrnnniii p 1 ' lUINIHlW W. HLIIMI.IIJ llll , IWWII. LIlll.lHJi.llIWIH.llll III II U , ' J Jl.t 4 WI.IIW (.HI III I 'I W ' t.HILI . IW I H 1 1 111 WW, II I III l HHH ' ' Jl I II I Hill I W ' ' ' I II I. U MB1 HMMWl - : : 1 ' " " r . ' 1 7 i . - . : r ...... . , . , - , . " : ! Caster (reetmgs By VERY REVEREND ALEXANDER CHRISTIE I'm Archbishop of Oregon'. . MyHD EARTKH appeal (rolnpr forth from the Cartholtc pulpit from year to-year hnuid gm bo ailnpted to the moral and Intellectual condition of ociety. With thla principle Fly to Kul'ie us, we would affirm that It Is ueofnl at- the prencnt day to emphasise the ' mmlr fuel that Christ's resurrectton Is the convincing proof of the truth and finality ot the Christian religion. . The fart that saddons the man of faith today Is that the non-Christian world Is not doing justice to the evidence of Christianity. Instead of considering with serloua'and ' reverent uttontlon tho tcrand, luminous facts which provo Christianity to be the divine, the ultimate religion of tho race, men ore frttterina- away their time and their lives In the pursuit of the ephemeral systems which have naught to commend them but their nov elty and thf hold presumption of their erratic prophets. Man by the very law of his belnsr believes In Ood. in Immortality, In free will, in moral responsibility, and all human experience finds true expression In the declaration of the Savior: "Man llveth not by bread adone, but by every word- that proceedeth from tlio mouth of Ond." In truth, reilRlon Is the deepest Instinct of the hirrrfan soul, nd th erlrltuftl needs ot man are as real and imperative u the hunger and thirst of his body. . . In the providence of God the resurrection was to bo the crowning .evidence In support of Christ's ciinracter and claims. St. Paul Identified the whole cause of Chris tianity with tile reality of this all-important fact. "If Christ be not risen- front-. .the'., dead, our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain." The Importance of toe fnct in Christian evidences cannot oe overestimated. As to the ronllty of the resurrection, wn can only repeat what tho Christian apologist has maintained and established from time Immemorial. Tho books of the New Testament are trustworthy documents and Hh evidence they furnish of the event of Easter morn is convincing beyond rha 'Vango' ot'-' reasonable doubt. ' 4T Tlie resurrection established Christianity as the ultimate religion of the ra.ee. Ti " means thai the gospel of Christ is the teaching of Infinite wisdom and that the doctrir.ua of Christianity are necessarily and permanently trile. " V. And after all is a fantastic religion of probabilities suited to the exigencies of man's moral and intellectual life? Is there any consolation in praying to an. unknown .' mid unknowable Father who may be in heaven? any sufficient and compelling reason tot being noble In conduct, if judgment after death is but ' a possible contingency? Are we to expect that men will put up with the grir.diug drudgery of being persevertngir; good, will resist the fierce onslaught of passion in all its rorms,' will fight the good fight T anil never give up, if the outcome of the whole enterprise Is highly, problematical. No. Faith, firm and absolute, has ever been the mainspring of virtue 4- Jioble enterprise. The lives and the- work which the world is wont to look upon with emotion and admira tion were the product of a deep and living faith. It is faith that begets the philanthropy f all ag.s; faith that inspires art, that consecrates 'music,' .tSat ennobles literature: faith that transformed society and built upon' the ruins of paganism our .humanitarian civilization. In a word, faith has ever been the victory overcoming the world. ' And when we stop to consider the reasonableness of Christianity's answer to life's problems, as compared with the solutions offered by the typical apostle of so called free' thought, we shall have little reason to make apology for the faith that s In us. :Chrls-' tlanity teaches that an Infinitely perfect Creator gave existence to the world, that the moral and religious instincts of man throw light' on the meaning ami end or his existence and that In revealed religion and all that It Involves wa have precisely what might be expected from a study of our. inner selves and the recorded experience of the great humau family. . ' . . Subsequent to the fact of Christian revelation we have nineteen centuries of Christian history, and this- same history is a vindication ol the-ArVHilty ot the- Christian religion. There is no adequate explanation for the phenomena -of the. Christian era but the onewhich Christianity gives In accounting for its dwn'..orlgtn, -"The Word was mads- ftesb and dwelt amongst." '- . , -. ; We boast of enlightenment In our day. but the truth is' that our culture ia mora apparent than real, more superficial than solid. There was never. so large and so general J a dirrusion or Pad philosophy and religious error as at the present day. The highly wrought Individualism of our day makes every man a elf-appolnted teacher, and -the euphemism of "free thought" has sublimated every crt of absurdity' for the airy philoso phers who glory In their own conclusions. A sincere, self-sacrificing love of truth Is a. rare virtue, and they are most flippant in their Indictment of ChrteManlty who know least what Christianity Is and what credentials it enrolds, : The difference between the religion of Christ -and the negative, cold,, unfeeling theories of hostile, crltles is this, that Christianity. Is a proachable, workablo, satisfactory plan of life, congenial to the highest and holiest Instinct of our soul, consoling to our sorrows, helpful and hope-giving in all the untoward circumstances of life. It makes man realite that he is the direct and personal object of God's tender solicitude andxlove, that he was red' emod-by the incarnate Son of God, and that In the Easter triumph of his Savior he has the pledge of his 'own future victory over suffering and death! It to hard to see how any woll-disposed man can find it in his heart to say that tke hopeless, chilling philosophy which makes man an excited atom on the'faee of a heedless and unheeding sphere has more to recommend It to the mind and heUrt of man than the teachings of Jesus, the Savior. "It Is hard to see how men can make themselves believe that the conquering world-wide fact of Christianity could. Jlave been the chance product of a mythical resurrection, a dozen half-demented' apostlca. and a handful of fable. If the unbeliever would pauso to consider tfic number and character of the absurdities Inherent 111 Ills system lie would be overwhelmed by the breadth and depth ot bis own credulity. N'o; tlie strongest argument against Christianity is not to be?" found In philosophy, in history. In the promptings of otir own moral and mental life. The difficulty, with Chris tianity, the .-Ircnmstance that makes It a "hard saying," ii tills, that It inipoKcs obligations. A luxiiry-loficg world, immersed Jri the pleasures of sense, has little relish: for elementary duties of Christian living. Vurtty. humility, self-denial, prayer, alms-giving these are the tilings that sajilon the heart of the worldling and dull his ear to tho teachings of Jesus, tiie Msler. Chrigtianity Is living and doing as well as belioving,. and man -must be true t. the priimptlng or liis conscience before he is meet to proilt by the word of eternal life. "Blessed are tiic clean of heart, for they shall soe God." These words of our blessed Lord summarize Ul'c. whole issue. If men are-blameless . In.-daily life,' earnest in the pursuit of truth and well disposed to furflll Its obligations, the intellectual difficulties of Christianity, speedily melt away. And then, instnad of having taliape their lives according to the tentative, timorous behests of fluctuating probabilities, they will have the strong anchor age of Christian faith and Christian hope, and the sweet solace of Christian love. Hut if F.aster if a reproach to the dilctantc unbeliever, it is a trumpet call to those who have the faith. "If ye be risen with Christ." says St. Paul, "seek the things that are above." it is our duty to prosper the cause of Christ by leading lives worthy of our pro fusion. To the practical man of affairs, steadfast integrity is" the best argument for Chris tian truth, and our Ixird himself approves this method of appeal when he urges us to "so let our light shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify their Father in heaven." If we were all Christians in fart as well as In name, we would do much in our day to further the work for which Christ suffered, died and rose on Easter morn. To siiiirtlly our own souls and the souls of those about us. the transcendent excellence of this w.:k has Its vindication in Christ's resurrection from the dead. The essence of the truly successful life is neither name nor learning nor riches, but the fulfillment of each day's duties according to the miud of Christ, to serve whom is to reign both in time and in . elcrnity. "It o be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above." of Casiter, By RIGHT REVEREND CHARLES SGADDING Episcopal Jjishojj for Oregon ' . ' , - ' - -. '' ' r Blessed be the aoAT.-and lsathr''Vif''our' liord Jesus Christ'who, aeeor-dlBs to his grat mercy, b gat us again Into a living- hppe .by the resurrection ot Jesus Christ from the dead. Into an inhert.t-'-ance incorruptible, and utid&fllert, and that jhulsth not away, rsiir'td In heaven for you. who by the power, of osd arv guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed In the last lime. ' I Peter l:8- (B. V,).. . ' " , . . ' c . .'-'. .... IVINE life Is Invincible. Immortal hope tunes trie ampto song, for the finaf thought of God. in connection with that "one divine,, far-off ev.eut, toward which all .--creation moves. -.' j.' As the light of a cloudless morning, break with indescribable' glow,' beyond the mass of vlslbln vapor, that drapedotbe star-Jeweled night, ,0 life's glad day. Dorn amid soraars of triumphant hope, shall be round beyond the n'a-ht of death, moistened by the dews of our earth-born grief. Death is the -eervant of llfe.v All children of Ood. wrapped In the swaddling garment of -human flesh, may find It so, even though they be "children crying In the night, children crying for the light." for though tliey'be children of mortality, even more are they children of immortality. To tha better part of man even despair Itself, which Is never quite despair, may only be the shad' ow of the larger hope, waiting -to. bring an inspiring' doxology into life, while all the guar dian angels of truth nave kept their ceaseless vigils through' the night, singing, "weeping may tarry through tho night,' but joy cometh in tho -morning." Any person may flnd it so. -.The man . 'who wrote ou"r text had found 'It- so. Peter;, bud been an lm- perfect -man. but a pprfeet hope may , .glow don upon ".an imperfect soul. -Peter had not' .discovered himseir. Tho gob within him had fallen amid the debris of failure. His nuifccurlal fidelity had given place'tci miserable tnffdellty. Cowardice had thrown ita shivering sword -at fleeing courage. BoastMig of- his loyalty to Christ .at one time, at another time he bad denied his Lord, and that shameful denial-had placed aelf erected barriers' between himself and Christ.- Evan (its penitential tears seemed to fall-like-' Ice upon his hot heart. In spite of all, the cruilfijilan of Christ had quicklw followed his so-called rial, where Justice had been-a libel upon, that whrd. and might seemed to tri umph over right, and death' and shame had claimed the txfrl of life and glory.; and a bor rowed tomb held the aody of him who had 'been seated upon the highest throne In glory, before he came totthe lijwest place on earth.. 'It Was a dark night. Peter's consuming grtef seemed able to do soviutie Tor him; but ltidld, at -least, save hint from Judas-like .despair. .. . jt-: ; . : yi : .3' ....' : There is a difference in meq. In their 'fssintial nature, even amid the greatest fail ures in life. But. still, Christ was-dead. Christianity was burled- wWt.Hlm. Gone was the;, greatest enterprise tba earth had ever- known, - The hands that bad corav to turn the tur bulent streams of the centuries, and lift empires from' their rusty hlngef.aand bear a saved world back to the bosom of infinite l'ove.-wfrre, still and to!. n disth. It set med. But, in reality-Christ was only' sleeping, tlrjfough the cbbl, sV.lKht;. after tfce heat-and strain of this conflict. He awoke.-: He aijec. He triumphed" 9VBf death. - He appeared -to hi. . disciples. He was especially mindful f Peter, because Peter specially needed, him. Heaven Ver offers the greatest help to those-who most need that-help, and the best Is oKen found next to that-whld! seems to be the worst. The gladdest may be nearest the. saddest v.. . " .. :-,v"v', .', Lift' up "your heads, ye- aorrowiflfc -'ones, .- V '. - -. -.-''-. :' ,'.' Ar"l elad ot heart, ',' jt ,. , ." -j-. - . -.,' - i ;Vor calvary imy. and Easts. dajr.OT-'V' ;? . .- ,' - - 1 . - - Were .Just one day apart. - . . -. ; , The"Jefeated. bnl delivered, servant of Christ had passed from' darkness Into lnef- ft Jf , and a oxo,0'y Pssed through his" sensitive soul" as a- thrill of heaVen. The ?w5i.-'i; ' JVJ"1 drlven awy 'th0 JJarlUtesr of Calvary day, and the song of this nmn g iffe -a. fun-bf -the living hope. ... . '. . -, "Eaater ia tn blrttidtiy-anniversary of Mie World's new, hope.'' It is notpa day 6f gloom '"'"F lid"": It is not a day of Sorrow, but of Joy; It Is not so much a day for thoughts the i aurrrt.?inh ?A .hi910t f !"ue?' aay for metaphysical and profobnd argumeiyt about of life S iJhi8 p,,y"1?1 dy- as one for the acknowledgment of ihe supreme fact evemn iVh,.?! JmIJltai Phenena. -and uncJialienged attestations, that,, while "life evermore Is built on death." the better life is found through death and beyond death. . rradatinn! tr .uh fH vast chR'n f being In the whole cosmic prbcess. and In the -Jff lift fL fii .I tery lading up to rtan. a a spiritual entity, differentiating his species tlJ i, ?Jl5.a.'v Lher8 ta distinct Identity with the spiritual nature ot God. As. we go from vlh'S.8 hl!rh,er- .n,d greater includes the lesser of whloh It ie comfosed. and 5?Lf k S .qual.l? aI' "s Parts, ao Christianity's larger and better life, and its living nope Beyond the death and resurrection of Christ. Hence the. origin, and nature ofth5, world's supreme hope, even the living hope. " .J .1.1 Ita rl8T,n a m heaven, and not of earth. EartH could have afforded no sncft hope Slii i Hunln'ty could not have invented It. Without God. it were impossible. Without r-iSWs V?.8."' . wtrf. ""'h'nkable..' It deinaneTs the personal equation of the character of Christ. W ithout spiritual aptitude and receptivity for God.' tt were an unknown quality and quantity of the highest Il'e in the World- Without an experience of spiritual and. eternal llte. whlla we stilV inhabit these Immortal bodies. It Were well-nigh preposterous f.V".',? rational mind and a credulous faith. .But g:ve lis God and Christ, and spiritual life, then we have that which is infinitely more than all arguments for, or against the' physical resurrection of Christ, and of all Whose natural bodies "sleep In him," and hope fver'? 'vinS ,h,on reveals Its origin in God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Christian religion utters the word, ''blessed," before the majesty and power of hla character. , , - ' t . ,.Thee fants once granted, 'ten what follows? This, assuredly this: Like produces' like like partakes of the nature of like. 'This living hope, being born of the life of God, is like -tho life of God. The lif of G6d Is its essential content. Jesus Christ Is its foundation, the Holy Spirit its asstiranoe and the new birth of the individual soul Its immortal product, and a spiritual experience of eternal life as a present-tense possession its unanswerable argument. " - - - Our text tells us of the object of this flvtng hope. . It i an inheritance. -Here three descriptive, and almost synonymous words are used to convey the underlying Idea of per-V manence. These words tell us that the Inheritance Is Incorruptible, undefiled, and that It! fadeth not away. Certainly! It could not be otherwise ,,Jf It Is It to be in correspondence with God. and his immortal offspring. Here the lawof spiritual correspondence and affinity -is inviolable. The province of this living hope hi not limited to man", nor yet to the things which God has reserved for us. Residing in the spiritual ex-oerience of tboae who know tho new birth, even more does it locate in the hcrt of God, our Father, and lie" , Is, aa Paul says, theJ'God of hope.- ' . " - vtiere? ia a ueep-ana beautiful sense In WhlcTi tli ambitions of God are fixed upon man. He does not look down from heaven and riesnalr"-uf us. even amid our failures hut he dwells in us. and becomes also the divine environment of our lives, and, keeping our fnheritance'twhatcver that may be, for us until the tlnie arrives for us to enter into the same. He"likewise guards us by his power, that the inheritors and the Inheritance may at last meet in fullest measure and parpctual reaiiaation. He never despairs of his divine enterprise in our creation, redemption, salvation and perfection. He saves us, not only from stn. but from death, so tiiat It is not the Christian, but death Itself, that diesj Con cerning the Christian, as well as the Christ in im, may be said: "Death hath no more do minion over him." . v . -. From these considerations, we should, therefore, conclude: First This living hope is God's unchangeable answer and eternal pledge to that universal craving for a complete and perfect life. Second That, even as Christianity, which is pre-eminently the religion of optimism, has r.o more optimistic note than that which this livipg hope brings, the only mood and attltu.de of this living hope1 is optimism, which grasps the Fatherhood of God. as His own final thought and follows the logic of his life, and love, and power, to their own relentless conclusions, wKh all its contents, for the -whole family of God. Third The deepest meaning and the supreme- prerogative of Easter must ever be found in the. fact that It evokes, intensifies and perpetuates a more profound aporeciation of this living hope, with all of that for which it stands. We should appreciate this hope. Itself; we should appreciate tile Inheritance, which is more than heaven as a state, or con dition: we should appreciate, and love more than ever, God, the Father, who is the author of tiiis hope: God. the Son, who Is the foundation of this hope; God, the Holy Spirit, who is the revelator of this hope. . . This is the deepest, richest and sublimest meaning of Easter. . " Therefore, in tho sanctuary of the individual soul, where God comes to bring the life of heaven today, let us rejoice and be glad, and sing as our Easter doxology, "Blessed bo the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled. and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you (us!, who, by the power of God are guarded through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." ... . 3 lltorng itoge By REVEREND LUTHER R. DYOTT, D. D. 'Pastor First Congregational Church, Portland Reswreetiea, No Rlevailvw. RE we "riBen with Christ?" The resurrection Is not merely an historical fact; It la a principle of spiritual energy. It Is a moral change. It Is not merely a movement, - shifting of spiritual position from a lower to a higher point in the same sphere. - That would be an elevation not a resurrection. A resurrection is a transfer from one state- to another. It is necessary to remark this distinction, because an elevation in thought, or morals, is sometimes described as if it were a resurrection of faith And life. Felix, Agrlppa, Emperor Julian, Rousseau, were all "elevated" by Chris tianity; but were not risen with Christ, This Is a-distlnctlon which Is vital. He who does not mark It, misses the force of tho Easter message.- We enter Into this "resurrection life" Just In so far as we are In union with our living; Lord. Let us try to understand the scrip tural, assurance of how Uils can be A Spiritual Body.' The body of the Lord before and after the resurrection was the same body. The body of a man in tho prime of his life ia the same body as the body with which he was born and with which be'wlll die, whatever material or physical changes In It there may be. The "body of the future will be the same body a tho body of the present life. But Its condition Will W greatly changed. As for the Lord, so for us. It will be a body "In corruption," "In gloy,".-"ln power," "spirituals" ' ,-, , Holy baptism ia described by St. Paul as the means whereby Christ unites us to hla sacred bodt "In one spirit were we all baptized into one body." "In my baptism," the child is directed to sajf-lri;";the catechism, "1 was made a member of Christ." Such union 'With a"' 'rtead body, orTwlth a merely natural body, if living. Is inconceivable. The explanation la slmpje when we understand the spiritual faculties of tho risen body of 'Christ. ; ,-, . .... - Again, in the Holy.Eucharist, Christians receive th.e body and blood of Christ. "This la my body, this la my blood." ate the Lord's own words. ' In the church eatochism we learn that "the Inward part or thing signified Is the body and blood of Christ, which are verily ana Indeed taken and received by the faithful In the Lord's supper." What Would com- - munton Or reception of a-dead body mean? What would communion or reception of a merely natural body mean?- It fe not surprising that In misunderstanding, some have shrunk back with perplexity, or" disregard, or horror, or unbelief. The communion or reception of the spiritual body of the living Christ is a vastly different thing. In the spiritual powers of his risen manhood he- is a fount of life unto the soul. In our "con tinual remembrance of the death of ChHst" we plead before the Father the body and blood, the sacred- manhood, of the Lord, who, for our salvation, has passed through death. We claim in the "remembrance" all the merits of his passion and death. But It is not his dead body and blood, his dead manhood, which we plead. It Is the living Christ of the resur rection "morrWng, who said, "I am the resurrection and the life," who is on the altar In our midst, whom' We present before the Father's throne,, whom we receive into our bodies and souls in Our communion. He--is indeed the Christ or Calvary, as he is the Christ of Beth- . lehem. He la indeed' the lamb that has been slain. But he Is also the llvlnar Lord, who la "alive for evermore," who holds'the keys of death." Tbe Message or Raster. '.' 7- ' . . The Easter message than, ia essentially that Christianity is aaloa with a living peraom. 'Herein lies the great distinction between Christianity and all other religions. Other religions teach seme truths-; o.ther religions contain some elements of moral conduct. To deny this would Involve blindness to facta, and forgetfiflness of the revelation to the Jews, that God 'left notvhlmself without witness" In the heathen world, and that all men are still created In the lrnagCif God. .But whatever other religions may possess, they have not "faith In Jesus Christ, thS .resurrection and the fife," and they do not convey union with God through a living person.- For the Christian there, by the working of the Holy Ghost, there is the presence of the Incarnate Lord. That presence in all- Its fullness requires that be is, at this moment, perfect man in body and in soul, as well as very and eternal God. The risen body of Christ Is the link between us and the death of Christ, because it is the body wherein be died. It is the. link between: us and the intercession of Christ in heaven, because it ia the body wherein fie pleads there and wherein he Is present here. As we present the sacrifice on the" earthly altar, we enter into the heavenly worship in which he ir the high priest and the prevailing victim. In which he pleads "the one sacri fice of himself for sins for ever." In the spiritual powers of his risen life space Is nothing. We are In him, and therefore we are with him at the heavenly altar. He is In us, and therefore be is with us at the earthly altar on earth. Into his own life we are uplifted. In the merits of his incarnation, his days of work and nights eft prayer, his Bastion and death, hla resurrection and ascension and heaWenly pleading we have part. , Test f Love. " ' . One of the fruits of this "resurrection life," as well as one of Its evidences, Is love. "We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love." This, then, is at ones the cure for death, and the business of life to learn to lov; and if we would learn, we must practice:... Life is full of opportunities. We loarn to love every day by taking our trials, by standing our vexations, by bearing with the sordid and petty souls by -whom we may be surrounded; above all. by trying to help them, by trying to understand their un conscious wants. There are 10.00D unconscious wants around you In the stupid people who bore yoti, Iti the frivolous people who try you. In the malicious people who revile you, -in the pleasure-seeking rabble; deep down there are. wants In all. Love does still work miracles. It raisesad souls to IKe.- Now as always tho real test of true religion is not religiousness, nor orthodoxy, nor anything else, but love. Fellow Me. . . - Being "risen with-Christ," we ars to "seek things above." and the way to seek things above Is to listen to and obey the still small voice of that indwelling presence as it whls-"-psrs, '"follow me." Lire Is full of enigmas, mysteries, uncertainties and perplexities: but bur- Losd can solve these enigmas and mysteries, for you go not to a dead Christ, but to one who is risen Indeed. ' Go to him. then at every turn and twist of your life, as humbly as' the child Samuel, and say, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth." Tou will have a conscientiousness that his hand Is stretched back to lead you. to him, and you will hear his loving voice whisper, "follow me." Whatever uncertainty there may be about your "seek ing things above," all is made clear.when you hear him say. "follow me": and all dark clouds of doubt and mystery are rolled' away at the rising of this eternal sun, as some one has beautifully expressed it In the following lines: Our dim siree seek a beacon. And our vteary feet a snide. And our hearts of all llfe'a mysteries B-elc a meanlnr and a key: "But a cross shines on our pathway. On it hangs the crucified; And he answer all our loirrinfre . , , "With the whisper: "F-ollow me." - -.' - ' Life is a duty dare It. Lire is a burden Sear it. I,lfe U a tbertr crown wear it. Thoustt 1t breaei thy heart in twain. Though the bui-len bear thee down, i-Ioee thy Hps and stand the pain, . First the cross and then the crown.
