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In th 0 midst of Bethlehem a dull square,
paved with cobblestones, opened before the
Church of the Nativity. We gazed upon that
ancient building with awe. It is not beautiful,
nor stately, nor a gem of architecture. But it
is probably the oldest Christian Church in the
world. Justin Martyr, who died i6o years
after Christ, speaks of this church, as built
upon the spot where Jesns was born. Here St.
.Jerome labored for years, living and dying
(September 30, 420) in a little cave by the
wall of the church. He wrote a library of
theological books, but the civilized world re
members St. Jerome as the author of the Vul
gate. lie gave the Scriptures to the Western
World in their vernacular.
In t his church Baldwin, a Belgian knight,
was crowned "King of Jerusalem"; at the
close of the First Crusade. He declined to be
crowned in Jerusalem, because he said he
would not wear a crown of gold where his
Saviour had worn a crown of thorns ? that is
about all the world remembers of King Bald
win, but the sentiment does him honor.
Here, alas! as in the CJnireh of the Holy
Sepulchre, we find throe tribes of Christians
huddled under one great roof, each hostile to
the other: Oh! that these so-called Christians
would learn something of the spirit of Jesus
Christ! Oh! that they would fling away their
mummery and prayer-books, pick up the Bible
St. Jerome opened to them, and follow its
teaching. As in Jerusalem, the Greek Church
has the best of the situation. The Roman
Church has a monastery hard by the church
wall, and a cave under the church. As
throughout the East the Roman Catholic
Church is clean, the Greek Church is dirty,
and the Armenian Church worse than dirty.
I wondered what St. Paul would have said, if
he had seen the vermin crawling over the
Oriental rugs in the Armenian Church.
There are other things more disagreeable
than filth and vermin, namely a plethora of
holy lies. There is a spring under the church
of good, pure water. When the Virgin and
Christ-Child were thirsty a star fell from
heaven and hit the ground so hard that it
opened this spring! There is an altar where
the Wise Men offered their gifts. There is an
other altar where Joseph heard the Lord
speak to him, and still another where the blood
of the innocent children (the first Christian
martyrs), slain by Ilerod, fell to the ground.
Near the birthplace of Jesus is a marble
manger, and in it a doll, and the doll has a
crown on its head ! It is intended to honor
Jesus. The bedizened doll especially irritated
me. T wished to make away with it. It
seemed a gratuitous sacrilege, more blatant
and insistent than the other holy lies.
These altars, pictures and false stories are
encouraged as aids to worship. One cannot
blame the ignorant people, with child-minds
for the most part, and almost wholly illiterate.
Neither can one blame the parish priests. They
hav? but little intelligence and less learning.
Tli average parish priest in the Orient is but
little, if at all, superior to the people to whom
he ministers. But the leaders are responsible.
The bishops and the heirarchy above them
must know and do know that these childish
tales are false. It is a matter of common
knowledge. The leaders of the church must
have direct and detailed information that a
casual visitor has not. It is impossible for a
western visitor, Protestant or Catholic, to
acquit the heirarchy of the Oreek and Latin
churches of deliberate and far-reaching de
ception in holy things. Only on the ground
that the end justifies the means can they be* ex
cused. Alas! the results of such mummery in
itself alone considered, condemns such false
practices even if the logic of principle and the
plain prohibition of Scripture be left entirely
without consideration. After centuries of trial
the end conspicuously condemns the means.
We come to Bethlehem with thankful hearts
for the great Truth, undisturbed by childish
falsehoods, by ignorance or by superstition.
The noble front doors have been closed with
brick, except one which has been closed with
planks. One enters by a little door set in this
portal. The vestibule too has been closed with
brick walls. It resembles a prison vault.
Within the nave, the elegance and simplicity
of the building makes the poverty of the mod
ern interior sadly conspicuous. Four rows of
stately pillars lead down the nave. There are
44 columns of rod sandstone set. on massive
blocks of stone. The Moslems (to show their
utter contempt for Christianity, used this
church as a stable for their horses. The
Greeks built a solid brick wall between nave
and choir to protect the sanctuary. It is now
partly removed, and it lends an air of crum
"Jacob passed this xtf\y and here liLs beloved
Rachel yielded up lier life when Benjamin wax
lK>rn. He laid her in a tomb which 1ui.s been re
spected and protected by Jew, Christian and Mos
lem, alike."
bling delapidation to the noble structure.
The high altar is erected over the cave in
which our Lord was born. To the right is the
Armenian wing of the church, the center and
left are Greek. Each has a stairway descend
ing under the altar. Candles were handed us,,
after a fee was paid, and we entered the little
crypt. It is so small that 36 or 18 persons fill
it uncomfortably. Against the rock of the
hillside is an altar and under it a star with
the words:
"Jesus Christus natus est hie de Virgine
Marie."
It is impossible to describe the feeling of
awe that sweeps one's heart strings as he
stands in this holy place. Without a doubt
this spot is authentic. The earliest writers
and saints so believed. Modern scholars are
agreed that Jesus was born in a cave under
the hillside of Bethlehem.
We stood in long and reverent silence. Not
a word was spoken. The candles flickered in
misty drafts. Dim lamps hung about the cave
gave forth more odor and smoke than light.
The ornaments were tawdry. The hangings
far too elaborate. We wished for the sim
plicity of Christ in this holy place. The Orien
tal idea is to overlay all with tinsel.
In the deep gloom I had not noticed the sol
dier, a Palestinian, in British uniform. It is
the law. There have been so many riots and
so many quarrels here; and so many visitors
have stolen holy ornaments and even cut tho
canvass that is spread over the rough walls
that a guard must descend with every visitor.
We yielded up our dripping tapers and
passed out of the church. To the east the hills
fall abruptly. Green pastures descend steeply
toward the Sea of Death. The day was almost
done. The sun hung low and long shadows
were flung like soft mantles over the land
scape. The Dead Sea was completely hidden
in the twilight of dim distance, for in that
deep gorge the sun had set.
These sloping pastures are called "The
House of Watching," for here the shepherds
watched their flocks by night. These hillsides
are rich pastures still. Even as we stood and
gazed the shepherds were gathering their
sheep and goats into the protection of the
folds.
The familiar words of Phillips Brooks run
through my mind as we walked the narrow
streets:
' ' O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see
thee lie,
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent
stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting
light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met
in thee tongiht."
"How silently, how silently the wondrous Gift
is given.
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings
of Ilis Heaven.
No ear may hear ilis coming, but in this world
of sin.
Where meek souls will receive Ifim still, the
dear Christ enters in."
And then there is the cry of a lost and sin
ful world that looks to Bethlehem for salva
tion; aye, and shall not look in vain;
"O little Child of Bethlehem, descend on us
we pray.
Cast out our sin and enter in. Be born in us
today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad
tidings tell.
Oh ! come to us, abide with us, our Lord Em
manuel."
WHEN GOD WORKS WITH MEN.
God is present in human affairs. Instances,
the Spanish Armada; Napoleon's campaign
against Moscow, where, on "one memor
able night of frost, twenty thousand hoirses
perished and the strength of the French
army was utterly broken." Here God used the
snow and the cold, as he may have used the
pestilence or the simoon to destroy Senna
cherib. -Victor Hugo attributes the defeat of
Napoleon at WTaterloo to a few drops of rain,
more or l?ss, which in the early morning made
the roads unfit for the movement of artillery.
Providence, he thus claims, defeated "the man
of destiny." ? Selected.
Our days are in God's hands. And this not
calling us to put on sack-cloth for, if they arc
in God's hands, they are in good hands. They
surely could not be in better keeping. "It is
a fearful thing to fall into the hand of the liv
ing God." Ik it? God is love. Is it a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of love? Yes, as ?
rebel. But for the Christian, it is a lvlessed ex
perience. For the Christian the fall is a flight,
the sinking a soaring, the prostration is a pro
motion. It means slipping into the clasp of his
Father.