RELIGION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2875, 1 October 1895, Page 3

RELIGION.

The Rev. Father Lemannent dea Chosnais delivered his fifth lecture in St. Joseph's Church, Terauka, on Sunday evening on " The Re-uuiou of Christendom," his subject beiug : " Was the propagation of Chistianity quite natural ? Can it be explained without supernatural agency?'' There was alarge congregation. Taking as his text Matthew, xxviii., 20, " Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world," the rev. gentleman spoke to the following effect: —Modern sceptics seem to aee everything through colored glasses; for them the spread of Christianity is most easily explained without any miraculous agency. If the world became Christians, it is because it fancied Jesus Christ to be God, His doctrine to a heavenly revelation, aud His miracles and those of His Apostles to be true. The wonderful constitution of the Christian Church, its bishops, priests, and religious orders, so cleverly devised, may also account for its rapid growth. The doctrine of Christ, containing the j most beautiful maxims aud precepts of | oriental theogonies, and the most famous philosophical schools, even men of intellect greatly admired it and naturally felt drawn towards it. In all this everything was very natural and simple, and there is nothing to wonder at. To these sophistical assertions, 1 reply : The rapid spread of Christianity and the conversion ef the civilised world cannot be explained without a Divine agency. I.—lnstead of the the Gods who have been adored for so many ages, in whose honors magnificent public festivals had been instituted, who had powerful pontiffs, influential priests, attractive and imposing ceremonies—the favor of the emperors, and the veneratioD of the people—the Apostles preached a God who was born in a stable, brought up in the shop of a carpenter, and died on a cross between two malefactors. 11. Instead of the brilliant and flattering fictions of Pagan Mythology and the easy precepts of philosophers, they proposed a doctrine full of mysteries, incomprehensible to human reason. They preached the necessity of detachment from all earthly things, poverty, mortifiation, and Belf-sacrifice for God, for our country,and our fellow-men. lll.—lnstead of temporal favors, they promised a future blißs in an unseen world. IV.—lnstead of the protection of emperors, magistrates, and great men, theypromised to their followers hatred, persecution, exile, imprisonment, and the most cruel death. Yet, in spite of the opposition of emperors, priests of idols, and philosophers, after three centuries of resistance, the Christian Religion had replaced that of the Caesars, and Jesus Christ was adored as the Son of God and Saviour of mankind. This fact cannot be denied ; history isjthere, testifying to its veracity. Bear in mind that in order to lead a Christian life one must do violence to self and make heroic sacrifices. Who would consent to make those sacrifices for a religion which would not be manifestly Divine, and whose promise of a future bliss can reasonably be doubted ? Agaiw, when you come to think that thousands, nay milions of men of genius, learned philosophers, governors, consuls, ambas sadors, senators, ladies of the highest rank, teuder virgins, brought up in the midst of every comfort and luxury, sacrificed everything for Jesus Christ, and even shed their blood for Him, this alone should be sufficient to bring conviction to the mind of the greatest sceptic of the Divine character of the Christian Religion, were he not held back by prejudice aud passion and unwilling to be converted, because unwilling to make the sacrifices Christianity imposes on its members., Pride of the intellect and sensuality are the great obstacles to the conversion of scientists. Christianity is too strict for them; they want to lead an easy independent life and be under no control. They are not humble enough nor mortified enough to be guided even by th" infinite aud admirable wisdom of God, (" Nolnit intelligere ut bene ageret." Is. xxxv. 4.") Let us now return to onr thesis. Modern sceptics, echoing the sophisms of Gibbon maintain they see nothing miraculous in the rapid spread of Christianity ; it w as the result of an erroneous belief in the Divinity of Christ and His promises of a future aud endless blisß to His credulous followers. If Jesus Christ was God, as we have demonstrated in a previous lecture, the belief in His Divinity wan not an illusion, nor the hope of eternal bliss a vain fancy. The world became Christian, because the Messianic prophecies were certainly fulfilled in Our Lord, because His miracles could not be called into doubt and showed that He was really, as He declared, the Beloved Son of God aud Saviour of the world, aud becaußo,haviugiiover frequented any school or academy, hia doctrine bears the stamp of Heavenly inspiration; because the transformation of the Apostles after the Day of Pentecost, their miracles, their heroic life showed them to be indeed as they said they were : " The. ambassadors of God and Ministers of Christ." Tim world, particularly the Scientific world which embraced Christianity, was iu a position to judge whether the evidence of Christianity was true or false. The early Christians were convert:) either from Paganism or Judaism. Why did so many thousand Jews, who were so attached to their religion, abandon it? Take St. Paul, for instance. He was a disciple of Gamaliel, if Christ did not appear to him and instructed him as he relates, why did he become suddenly a follower of Christ? Why did ho" go to Arabia, Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome to preach His Divinity ? Why did he shed hiß blood for Him ? Why did thousands of persons of both sexes abandon the State religion, which, as we have soeu, was so popular, so attractive, so flat tori ug to human passions, to embrace a religion which was despised, hated, and persecuted ? If the miracles of the Apostles, which thoy had witnessed, were not manifestly j supernatural and Divine, their conduct would be incomprehensible. Yet their conviction was so strong that nothing in the world could shako it, and one and all were ready to die for it, and actually many millions died for thoir faith. A witness. whose probity is abyvo suspicion, who is willing to die iu testimony of the veracity of his statements surely deserves to bo believed, and when millions of witnesses do the same, in different places, aud at timo.", their joint testimony acquires * strengh which is perfectly irresistible, it j» that the hope ot immortal glory promised to the Christiana may easily explain the fortitude ot the oarly martyrs. Certainly, but how came the early Christians to believe in the immortality of the soul and the glory ot the blessed, if not b' cause on account of tho miracles and admirable life of tho Apostles. They could not entertain the least doubt about thoir sublime mission and tho certainty of everything they taught. Plato and Cicero wrote o,t tho immortality of tho soul, did any of their followers of lor to die iu testimony oi what thoy find said ! N», becauso the teaching of Plato aud Cicero was not like that •.i[° tho Apo.-itle;;, attested by Divine miracles. Lt is, indeed, tho hope of .eternal glory that has converted tho world, but this hope would nevor have beon

I universally entertained as it was had it not rested upon incontrovertible proofs, adapted to the capacity of the most sublime intellect aa well as of the uneducated classes. Shall we say, with Gibbon and other aceptica, that the would-be miracles of the Apostles and early missionaries of Jesus Christ were only apparent, and that they deceived the multitude by clever tricks of dexterity and prestiges ? What! Millions upon millions of men, womei, and children, magistrates, philosophers, and scientists were—for 300 years, and iu a thousand different places, deceived iu the same manner—by tricks of dexterity and prestiges—which they mistook for heavenly miracleß. Is this possible '! Is this credible ? For 300 years, the Apostles and Christian missionaries could have played the part of a charlatan without ever being found out! If such was the case, it would be a greater miracle than all the miracles we ascribe to them; and then, what would becomo of histrical evidence? There is no fact of which we could be certain, and which could not be denied. The wonderful constitution of the Christian Church, it is again argued by our adversaries, bo cleverly devised; its bishops, priests, monks, and benevolent institutions ; its grand ritual, its gorgeous ceremonies, etc., may easily account for the rapid growth and development of Christianity. In the ages of persecution the Church had no grand ceremonies, no pompou.3 display, no majestic ceremonies; Christians had to hide themselves in places under-ground, to assemble in the caves of the mountains or in the forests, in order to celebrate or assist at the sacred mysteries ; yet these were the golden days of primitive Christianity. What now becomes of the theory of sceptics about the pompous display, gorgeous ceremonies, etc. ? As to the wonderful organization of the Christian Church, how could it have been organized at all, how could the hierarchy have been established, how could the various religious orders have been formed without the co-operation and liberality of the faithful ? And how could the faithful have consented to make the sacrifices necessary to commence, to preserve, and develop these admirable institutions, if not convinced of the divine origin of Christianity and of the supernatural mission of the Apostles ? When attacking religion rationalists seem to forget all the rules of logic and of the art to find out the truth ; they put a veil over their eyes not to behold the beautiful light of the sun, which is shining with all is brilliancy anddazzlingbeauty before them. They are wilfully bliud who will not see. V. ho would have consented to obey the Komau pontiffs, bishops, priests, and other sacred ministers, if they had not been looked upon as the representatives of God? And who would have looked upon them as the ministers of God, if the proofs of their divine mission had not been quite certain? Who would ever have consented to fast, to abstain, to pray at stated times, to assist at mass on Sundays, to go to confession, if these things had not cortainly been commanded by Christ ? If they had not been enforced by His Apostles? (Y« be continued.)