Article July 19, 1913 Issue

THE LECTURES

with contributions from Edward de Graffenreid, C. B. Edwards, W. S. Hill, John E. Little, Percy Willis, Thomas Nelson, H. B. McClure, Derwent S. Whittlesey

Judge Edward de Graffenreid, associate judge of the supreme court of Alabama, in introducing William R. Rathvon, who lectured on Christian Science, spoke in part as follows:—

The most valuable collection of books with which we have acquaintance is the Bible, for upon its doctrines rests much that is best in the thought, in the laws, and in the civilization of the age; and the most valuable part of the Bible is the New Testament, for through it all mankind is brought within the covenant made by the Almighty with Abraham. One of the contributors to the New Testament had the right to lay claim to more than ordinary literary distinction, since the book of Luke is the most beautiful book in the world. Its author was a physician and the amanuensis of St. Paul, and he was in all probability the author of the Acts of the Apostles. His works are filled with both divine and human philosophy.

The life which is consecrated to some noble and useful purpose is the best life. Abraham was only a simple shepherd, but his life was consecrated to the service of his God, and the light which in the dawn of the present era of the world's history Abraham kindled upon the hills of Chaldea, grows broader and brighter as the world increases in age. Moses was, according to Biblical teaching, cradled among the bulrushes which grew upon the banks of the Nile, but his life was consecrated, under divine direction, to the service of his people, and the laws of that ancient lawgiver find expression in the statutes of every civilized nation in the world. Jesus was born in a stable and grew to manhood in the home of a carpenter, and yet his consecrated name falls daily from every pious lip and furnishes hope and consolation to every pious soul. Stephen's life was a consecrated one, and while it appears to have made but a passing impression, his martyrdom sank deep into the heart of Saul of Tarsus, who was consenting unto that death, and probably led to his repentance and conversion, thus furnishing, in the person of the apostle Paul, the great Christian logician and theologian of the world.

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