Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

January 6, 1909. TH! Shamrock-Land By Rev. Plummer F. Jones, Avonia, Va. A most beautiful book, handsomely illustrated. The Interior: "Readers can find no better high road to knowledge, none more charm-strewn, than that which Mr. Jones takes through Shamrock-Land." ON SATURDAY Prepare for YOUR Sunday Dinner This Dessert of Jell-0 Dissolve one package Lemon Jell-O in one pint of boiling water. Just as it begins to tliickeu stir in one-fourth cup maraschino fL,2\ cherries and one-fourth cup English walnut meats, mixed. When firm,serve WW''<''1 'f'*l with whipped J J/1%-11VV^ *ifJM It is delicious. fJell-O is made in 7 flavors. Costs 10 cents at all good groIlluntrated Recipe Boole, The Genesee Pare Food Co., Le Roy, N. Y. AGENTS: $103.50 Per Month Sure md olh? ucful ?ajT* ^0 Mtooi.h.t ICIIU. , \SELf SHARPEHIH6 t?t*1" Po*?ln "TutfrOMEN^J^^ T*?riT!Llu 1 h#ur?i ?** n*3o. Wo ritf. Jf *nU? *0 B"OW ANY ONE IlOW TO MAKE t J to flO JJ , . 7* h*T* BW* P*t?RUd good* for *.# through ogoRU.thot oro not found In itoroo. than an* of k? u.k. it n t. ixsk"*- a i?ui will"<u. xddrm |Th?wiM Mfg. Co., m H??? HMg.f "'f'"] Okl?| Why Does It Cure Not because it Is Sarsaparllla, but because it Is a mecjlcine of peculiar merit, composed of more than twenty different remedial sgents effecting phenomenal cures of troubles of the blood, Stomach. Ilvor and bowels. Thus Hood's Sarsaparilla cures scrofula, eczema, anemia, catarrh, nervousness, that tired feeling, dyspepsia, loss of appetite, and builds up the system. Get It today In the usual liquid form or Id chocolated tablet form called Barsatabs. I will not count On aught but being faithful. ?George Eliot. E PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOUT THE AIM OF THE ACTS. (The Sabbath School lessons for 1909 will be taken from the Acts and the Epis1 ties. We give a review of next year's lessons, In the form of an introduction to the Book of Acts, written for the Westminster New Testament, by Professor H. I T. Andrews, of New College, L?ondon.) une or tne questions which it is necessary to ask before we can understand Acts is, Wny was the book written? What was the writer's purpose? It may be taken for granted that the writer's primary purpose was historical. He wished to set forth the story of the progress of the Church after the resurrection of Christ. Acts is a continuation of the Gospel of Luke. But it cannot be doubted that over and above this primary purpose there were some secondary motives which weighed very considerably with Luke in the composition cf Acts. Luke is not a mere annalist. No historian worthy of the name ever consents to be simply a machine for tabulating facts. We have only to call to mind such classics as Grote's History of Greece, or Clarendon's History of the Great Rebellion, or Gibbon's Decline and ran or tne Koman Empire, or Green's History of the English People, to see how great authors employ historical data to illustrate and support their own political or religious views. It would not be too .much to say that most histories, like many novels, are consciously or unconsciously written with a purpose, and reflect the principles and prejudices of their authors. wnai, tnen, were L,uke's secondary motives in writing Acts? 1. It seems quite clear that Luke intended Acts to he not merely a historical narrative but a defence of the Christian faith as well. As we shall see presently, when we come to discuss the date of the book, Acts was probably written in the reign of Domitian, at a time when Christianity was beginning to come into conflict with the Roman Empire. There were signs on every side that the Church would have to pass through its baptism of fire. The spirit of persecution was in the air, and spasmodic outbreaks had already occurred in many provinces. Public pressure was being brought to bear on magistrates and governors to induce them to stamp out ' the pestilential religion" of the Christians, and it seemed inevitable that before long the Roman Empire would find it necessary to bow before the storm of prejudice which had been aroused, and hand over its Christian subjects to the fury of the mob. The xfook of Acts seems to have been written as a kind of counterblast to the anti-Christian agitation which threatened to force the imperial officials to sacrifice justice to public clamor. Theophilus may have been, as many people think, a Roman magistrate, but whether this was the case or not, the Book of Acts was evidently meant to show, by an appeal to history, what was the correct attitude for a Rowion /\fR/tlo1 f a o <1 Ant tniirar/la PhrleHonliv AAAOAA umvmi iw auuj/t wunaiuo VUIADUOIIII,;. Hence we find Luke laying the utmost stress on the justice and kindness displayed by Roman magistrates towards the new religion in early times. There are many illustrations of this friendly feeling in the hook. Sergius Paulus, for instance, the proconsul of Cyprus, is represented as embracing the Christian faith (13:12). The magistrates at Philippi are depicted H. ^5 as bitterly repenting their hasty and unwarranted action in scourging and imprisoning the apostles (16:38, 39). Gallio, the brother of Seneca and proconsul of Achaia, scornfully dismisses the charges preferred against Paul by his Jewish opponents at Corinth (18:1416). The town clerk at Ephesus protests against the savage attack which the mob* Mad made upon Paul and his companions (19:36-41). The Chiliarch Claudius Lysias protects the Apostle on several occasions (22:28; 23:10, 23-30). The procurator Felix refuses to condemn Paul (24: 25), as also does his successor FesTus (25:9). Publius, the head man of Malta, entertains Paul and his ship-wrecked companions, and treats them with the utmose courtesy (28:8). And finally, whem Paul reaches Rome, though he is a prisoner, he is allowed liberty to preach, "none forbidding him" (28:31). The phrase "none forbidding him" is represented by a single word in the Greek and placed in a most emphatic position in the sentence. It is the last word of the book, and may be said to constitute its climax. "None forbidding him" sums up the moral of Acts, and is the message which Luke gives to the Roman officials of his day. Acts may therefore not unfittingly be called the first Christian vindication of the ereat principle of religious liberty. 2. Roman officials were not the oniy class which Luke had in mind when he wrote the book. He intended nis narrative to be an encouragement and a comfort to his suffering fellow-Christians as well. The words which Luke puts into the mouths of Peter and John as they stood before the Sanhedrin?"Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye: for we cannot sneak the thiners which we saw and heard" (4:19)?are not meant to be mere history: they are intended to be a rallying-cry for Luke's contemporaries, an incentive to courage and heroism in face of the policy of repression which was endeavring to reduce Christianity to silence. The whole of Acts breathes thespirit of dauntless and invincible loyaJty to Christ. The earliest disciples bear their witness in the teeth of "clenched antagonisms." The Sanhedrin threatens. the Jewish mob howls for their blood, but the Apostles and their followers are never deterred from their mission. Nothing could exceed the opposition which Paul has to encounter in the discharge of his work, yet in spite of all he never wavers, but persistently delivers his message, and never loses an opportunity of presenting the Gospel to his fellows. The Book of Acts may thus be said to be the message of the Apostolic age of the persecuted Christians in the reign of Domitian. The message is twofold. (1) No opposition or persecution must be allowed to silence our witness for Christ. (2) Persecution is part of the discipline of life, and a powerful agent in the dissemination of truth. "Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God" (14:22). 3. A third motive which seems to have influenced Luke in the composition of Acts is the desire to dissociate Christianity from the Judaism of Palestine. The great war between the Romans and the Jews, which had culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A. D., had induced a hitter feeling of hostility Luruu&uuuL iuc ciiiyuc. IU an