The man we can't ignore


THE QUEEN'S WORK
3742 West Pine Boulevard

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI



Imprimi potest:

Samuel Horine, S. J.

Nihil obstat:

Praep. Prov. Missourianae

F. J. Holweck

Censor Librorum

Imprimatur:

•i^Joannes J. Glennon

Archiepiscopus Sti. Ludovici

Sti. Ludovici, die 2 Decembris, 1932

Copyright 1932

THE QUEEN’S WORK, Inc.



THE MAN WE CAN’T IGNORE

The calendar read the first week ofAugust, but the weather shouted late
October. The lake crowd shivered in sum-
mer dress, and the homes along White Bear
Lake were closed tightly about the warmth
of fires on open hearths. A spanking breeze
came ofif the lake, cold and wet. The surface
waters rolled and fussed along the piers and

shore line—gray like the low clouds cross-
ing the sky in packed formations.

Tommy McShane was removing the cover
from a motorboat. The beautifully lined toy,
champing and tugging in the heavy wash,
threatened to snap her tether. Running out
on the dock, rejoicing in the bold weather,
the wind in her clothes, her wave blown to
a memory, came the popular daughter of
Doctor Weyward.

“Hello,Tommy,” she shouted. “And please
admit I’m here on time.”

“Hello, Palmolive.”

“Why Palmolive?”
“Oh, the green wrapper you are wearing

and the honest complexion.”

“Thank the sun and plenty of spinach in
my youth.”

Inland Gale

In a moment the motorboat was off,
sweeping round the end of the pier and out
into the lake. Alert to every thrill, eagerly



riding into the challenge of the wind and
flying spray, Jane and Tommy enjoyed the
heavy going to the full.

“Great, isn’t it?” she cried, lifting her head

to the wind, eating it up, intoxicated with it.

with this. Wait till we reach the point. I’ll
pull this beast right up on its hind legs.”

Seated on the mahogany hatch, her feet
swung down on the seat, she reached for-
ward and downward, clinging to the blue
sweater at his shoulders.

“Make it go, Tommy, make it go.”

Fighting the Wind

The voice of the engine opened up, ran
down a couple of octaves to a deep bass,
and went into a crescendo. The nose of the
boat lifted out of the water higher and

higher, and like a sword knifing through the

peaks of the waves, the boat shot past the

point and with incredible speed cut a long

triangle down the lake. It was furious go-
ing—bucking, hurtling, and splashing.
In a moment they were in the bay before

the town of White Bear. The power was
cut and the flying shell slumped immedi-

ately.

“Was that wild enough for you?” he
challenged.

“Wonderful! It was barbaric!” she ex-

ulted. “I love wild things like this.”

Like Wild Music

In a rich baritone he sang out the first

theme of Marche Slav.

— 2 —



She shivered with emotion. '‘That’s my
favorite. It sends big icy chills down my
back. I feel that bubbling forces will burst

through at any second.”

“Volcanic, Jane. But if Tschaikowsky had
only known Russia after those seething
powers had blown off the lid, what a sub-
ject for his genius! The smouldering crater
of Russia!”

“My, how dramatic you are! Smoking
Russia! Tell me about the big, hairy men
with flaming torches, the darkening steppe

and horror prowling. Woof-woof, Tommy!
You can’t frighten me.”

The launch got caught in the trough and
began to roll treacherously. Tom sped up
the idling engine, cut a graceful swath in

the bay, and started on the five-mile course
to Wildwood.

“Say, Little Emotion,” said Tommy, “just
one snort out of rioting Bolsheviki would
put you away like a toppled doll.”

Like Russia

“Why all the gloom about Russia? They
are just getting on their feet after all the
years of serfdom. They’ve gone modern.
That’s all. Learning industry and things.
A mechanical revolution.”
“That’s not the, sad part, Jane. Everybody

likes to see them move ahead. But they
have never matured over there. No growth;
and no tradition to build on.”

“Oh, yes, they’ve got plenty to remember.
A fine memory of long suppression. They

— 3 —



know what they don’t want. You can bet
on that.”

“Well, if they didn’t want any more op-
pression, they certainly are getting what
they didn’t want. They can’t even think as
they might wish to, now. Freedom of
thought is gone. Decent parents are not
allowed to teach their children the con-

soling religious doctrines that made their
harsh lives at least livable during the days

of the Empire. The state has condemned
them all to atheism. They are raising a
monster; the Soviet will never be able to

control it.”

Backs to Christ

“Oh, Tommy, just because a few churches
were burned and closed you are getting
hysterical. You have to expect such things
in every violent change.”

“Not the loss of a church here and there
so much as the purpose back of the change
is significant. They believe that by crushing
out religion they are getting revenge for

their past slavery. They are hurling their
furies directly at Christ—the only person
that can possibly save them and give them
stability. If they want, western civilization,

let them look at the foundation upon which
it is builded.”

“We get along without Christ. I’m not an
atheist, but I don’t go to church.”

“But you don’t get along without Christ
—not after nineteen hundred years of
Christianity. The flavors and salts of
Christianity have sunk deep into our body

— 4 —



politic. They are there. Christ is there

even if you don’t recognize Him. As long

as we have the tradition of Christianity, or
are sponging upon the good fruits of its

teaching, no one can say that he is getting

along without Christ.”

Through Hate to Oblivion

‘‘Well, Tommy, I think that Russia will
always know about Christ anyway; for peo-
ple who hate anyone have to know who it
is they hate and the reasons for their

hatred.”

“That’s just the sad part about it. If they

really knew Christ they could not hate Him.
What they hate is not Christ at all but
a distorted picture of Him. But why worry
about it, after all? Rome tried to ignore
Christ. When Christianity was only an in-
fant, Rome swore to crush it out. She
failed. And if Rome failed when Christi-
anity was young, I don’t see how Russia
can succeed now that Christianity has
stature and is spread over the whole world.”

“A good point. Tommy. But can’t Russia,
say, just drop Christ out of her life, just

let the people grow up without ever hearing
about Him?”

“No, I don’t think so. Russia can’t edu-

cate her children without mentioning Christ.
History is against it. An educated Russian
might care to travel. As soon as he steps
out of his country he will be confronted

with Christ in a thousand ways. Churches,
the cross, Sunday, the calendar, he will

meet Christ everywhere. They really can’t



expect to get away with any plan like that.
They might just as well face the facts and
admit that they cannot ignore Christ.”

Homeward

They swept close in to the resort called
Wildwood; and cutting down the gas,
worked slowly through the public bathing
places.

The place was deserted. The amusement
halls and the scaffolding supports of the

mechanical toys for grown-up folk were
specter-white and dreary-looking. The cold,
raw morning kept away the daily color and
the babel of the noisy crowds searching for

happiness at their shrines of varnished

pomp and tin-pan splendor. The dreariness
drove Jane back to her mind, where the
question, “Why can’t Christ be ignored?”
was making a nuisance of itself. It de-
manded her attention.

The ride from Wildwood to Montemed
is a short one. In a few minutes they were
back at the dock, serious like the weather.

As they followed the walk up to the cot-
tage, a casual passer-by might have ob-

served their thoughtful deportment, and
smiled to think that young lovers still
quarreled and that life was an old story
ever much the same, a monotony of joy and
sorrow.

Doctor at Ease

Doctor Weyward had watched Jane and
Tommy go off in the launch and then
turned to make himself comfortable for

— 6 —



the morning. He was a squat, paunchy
man, with a round, jovial face. Deep-cut

radii at the corners of his eyes told of

kindness and sympathy. His eyes did most

of his conversation for him—wise old eyes
hiding in the caves below his heavy eye-

brows. When one thought of the doctor,
one remembered those alert eyes.

The dull, chill morning was forbidding,
but the snapping of the fire in the open

hearth and the feathers of yellow flame

weaving among the twisted fagots were
warm and inviting. There stood his easy-
chair yawning before the fire. Its ease and
comfort, a warm punch, a pipeful of fresh
tobacco, an essay or two by his favorites,
Cobb and Baring, were rather pleasant
antidotes for a dreary day, and not to be
scorned by a man well on in years.

Snuggling down into the chair, he took
up Cobb’s ‘‘Here Comes the Bride” and be-
gan to read “Some Crying Needs.”

Reformers Rampant

He chuckled audibly as he finished the
second paragraph. “All male professional
reformers should be bumped off at dawn.
In the case of lady professional reformers

I shouldn’t care to wait that long; I’d have
them out before the firing squad as soon
as the moon was up.”

His brother Fred had unwittingly married
a lady professional reformer. Poor Fred
had been uplifted so much and trained to
act like so many leaders of the various sects

— 7 —



that he now looked like a composite re-
ligious conference on marriage problems.

A sound of mirth rolled off the doctor’s
lips, a sound that came from the depths of
his body. He pictured Fred aligning the
firing squad at once, without waiting for

the rise of the moon.

“I have been neglecting Fred,” he

thought. “I must get him out from town
for a night. The poor devil needs a drink
and a decent laugh. I will read this at him
and then lean back in my chair to hear him
roar out his woes about Emily:”

The doctor had listened to Fred’s screed
so often that he knew it almost by heart.
The trick of getting his brother started was
an old one with him. “This paragraph will

do the work. Then after a pause Fred will
get going. ‘What a woman! Can’t see be-
yond her nosey nose. She’s the All-Amer-
ican end of reformers. Damning the Pope
for being infallible and outpopeing the

Pope by their own dogmatism! Forcing
morality upon us by stuffing the ballot box!
They pin the whole nonsense on the fair
name of Jesus of Nazareth. No wonder
they see religion breaking up. They’re

blocking up the doorways of religion. Smug,
self-righteous Dracos. A lot of sound and
fury.”

Enter Aunt Emily

Someone entered the room and stood
behind his xhair. His laughter and the

dream speech stopped together and alto-
gether. He felt the blood go from his face;

— 8 —



for somehow he felt at once who that per-
son was. When he turned and saw Emily,
Fred’s wife, he did not learn anything that

he had not known from the first. Emily
had all the bearing of a magistrate in the

unofficial court of virtue. She was a school-
marm in the new university of religion.
The service of her stale god. Philanthropy,
was heavy and one could read its record

out of large blue year books.

Reform on the Loose

The doctor was a philosopher and a
reader of poetry and the informal essay.

He had a warm heart. He knew love. The
companions of his leisure—the glass spark-
ling with Three-Star Hennessy, the blue

whip of smoke standing in his pipe-bowl,
the humor of Cobb, the restful chair—all
were splendid witnesses of his expansive
soul. But strange to say, they graved marks
of pain on Emily’s face.

‘‘How do you do, Emily?” he said limply,
and, a trifle unnerved, awaited her exorcism.

Introductions

As Emily was about to speak, the front
door opened, letting in Jane and Tommy.
Doctor Weyward realized that their pres-
ence would spare him an annoying scene
with his brother’s wife and that strategy
lay in their company. As Emily whisked
the scandalous glass out of the room, he

called to them.

“Come in. Come in here. You scamps
must be chilled after the ride. Pull a chair



up to the fire and make yourselves com-
fortable.”

Tommy McShane was introduced to Aunt
Emily. “He is such a promising lawyer,
Aunt Emily,” Jane babbled on, much to
Tommy’s confusion, “and has loads of ideas.
You should hear him on Russia. We were
just discussing how absurd the Russians
are in trying to ignore Christ.”

Aunt Emily beamed. “How beautiful,
Jane! You must tell me about it.”

“Well, we decided that it is impossible to
go through life and neglect Christ; that
everyone has to consider Him.”

None Can Ignore

“Why, of course, Jane,” Emily replied,
in that vague voice so habitual among
students in September. Memory, lost in a
rapid and useless search of the answer,
seems to speak from the far-off places of
her flight.

The doctor had grown so accustomed to
the dogmatic positiveness with which Emily
spoke on religious matters, even in de-
nouncing dogma, that the flimsy, undeter-
mined tone had about the same effect upon
him that would have been produced if she
had offered him a drink. A germ of an
idea—a mere suspicion that Emily was not
well founded in her professed business

—

evolved so rapidly that, before he could

squirm to an upright posture on the edge
of his chair, the resolution of testing her

knowledge had been planned, debated,
judged, and decided upon.

— 10 —



“Why can’t Christ be ignored?” he asked
her, so quietly and so innocently that if

Emily had not been coasting her memory
up and down the ruts of her brain in the
section labeled “Sunday school” she cer-

tainly would have read his purpose.

Jane, who was little better than a modern
pagan, had the same question in her head
and turned to her aunt Emily for the

answer.

Messias

As Emily remained silent, the doctor’s
alert eyes lighted up.

“Because He was the Messias. He was
foretold as God,” Tommy suggested, after
the fashion of prompters in the flies speak-

ing out the cues to the stumbling memories
on the boards.

While the doctor scowled at Tommy for
intruding into his cross-examination, Emily
was cudgeling her memory. At last all the
old lessons she had given the children in

the Oak Park Chapel came tumbling out.

“Centuries before His birth,” she said,

“Jesus Christ lived in the soul of a people.

In fact His mission was prepared by the
Hebrew people. From their earliest begin-
nings they had a knowledge of the one true
God. Pagan nations were their neighbors
and often enough led them away to a cap-
tivity in the heart of idolatry; yet their

faith in the one God was unshaken. This
belief, so unique with them, kept them
united. They became an exclusive race.
They clung to the hope that from among

11 —



them would grow up the Messias, the One
foretold by the prophets, who was to rule
Israel and extend her power over the whole
world/'

Prophets Speak

Never had any other idea of the doctor’s
failed so utterly. Emily poured on.

“Great prophets stood up in those days,
calling attention to the Coming One. Bit
by bit they enlightened the people about
His future work. He would redeem man-
kind, by suffering, from the slavery of sin.
All nations, until the end of time, would
be able to profit by His scheme of‘ sal-
vation.

“Events in His life were prophesied. He
would be born of a virgin, in Bethlehem.
Wise men would visit Him. The great
Isaiah described His miracles. His passion

and death as accurately as though he were

an eyewitness of them. I believe that, if

one were to piece all these prophesies to-
gether, the main outlines of the biography
of Jesus of Nazareth would be complete.

“Another wonderful thing about the Mes-

sias is the time of His birth, which was
given out so many centuries before. He
would come before the scepter had passed
from Judah and after the second temple

had been built. And so on.

“So really, Jane, Christ is too unusual a

person to be neglected. He just cannot be
ignored.”

“Oh, auntie, you don’t understand us. We
didn’t mean that one need not know about

— 12 —



Him—ignore Him that way. We meant ig-
noring what He said, ignoring that His
teaching has been the foundation of our

civilization; that we must consider it.
Wasn't that it, Tommy?"

Trustworthy?

The doctor's eyes betrayed his pleasure.
“Well, listen to Jane," he thought, “check-

ing up her aunt so neatly!"

“I think it might be wiser, Jane," Tommy
answered, “if one considered who the per-
son is that does the teaching, before pay-

ing attention to what he says. Is he worthy
of trust? Does he know what he is talking
about? What authority has he? What are
his credentials? When you are satisfied
with the information you receive on these
points, then consider the teachings."

“But, Tommy, you can't find out anything
about Christ. All we have are His gospels.
We can study His doctrines, but they are
only a part of Him, like a piece of music
that tells something about the composer,
but not a great deal. We try to find other
information about him in books. But Christ
only appears in the gospels."

“Why, consider all the prophetic wit-
nesses that Mrs. Weyward talked about,"
Tommy responded. “Isn't there a conclu-
sion to be drawn from the prophecies? We
know that God knows all things and is the
only one who has knowledge of the future.
These prophets were people like ourselves;
they didn't have any monopoly of future
events. And they admitted it. They did

— 13



not claim any superiority, but frankly
stated that it was God who gave them the
information they imparted to the people.

“But the One who was to come was fore-
told to be God. It was God Himself who
would come and save His people. And it
was Jesus Christ who fulfilled all these
prophecies. Saint Matthew wrote his gos-
pel in order to show that Christ had ful-
filled the prophecies and that the Jews
must accept Him for what the prophets
said of Him—that He would be really and
truly God. That is why Russia cannot ig-
nore Him. That is why everyone must con-
sider Christ.*'

The Jews Were Unconvinced

“But the Jews didn’t think that Christ
had fulfilled the prophecies. They don’t
think so today.” The doctor finally had
got himself into the argument.

“That isn’t altogether true, doctor. Many
Jews at the time of Christ did accept
Christianity. Five thousand were converted
after the first speech of Saint Peter. Some
of their greatest doctors of the law studied

the Scriptures in that day and embraced
Christianity. Many in our own time are
being converted.

“Still one must remember that the Jews
had begun to dream of a Messias in the
role of a great leader. They were in high
hopes of ruling the world. They expected
to take over the power that was Rome.
Human nature, especially boastful human
nature, finds it rather difficult to put aside

14 —



its sweetest expectations and substitute a

failure for them. They could not get them-
selves to think that a crucified person could

be the great leader they had been waiting

for during so many centuries. They got the
spiritual kingdom of the Redeemer mixed
up with the temporal. If they refuse to

consider the proofs and credentials of

Christ, how can they be said to have given
the matter fair treatment? If they say that

Christ has not fulfilled the prophecies,

where are their proofs? One unfulfilled
prophecy would be sufficient for their stand.
They are, as Christ said of them, stiffnecked
in this regard.'^

Impossible to Cheat

“It seems to me. Tommy, that anybody
who knew these prophecies could adapt his
life to them and pass as the One who was
to come.’^ Jane was showing a deep interest.

“No. Not a chance. What man could,
for example, manage to be born of a virgin?
Who could pick the town of his birth? What
has the unborn got to say about the tribe
in which he will be born? One cannot pick
out one’s own kind of death. These detailed
prophecies are more than mere biographical
data. They are so unusual as to stand proof
against anything like a fraud. When they
are fulfilled, they point with certainty to

the object for which they were intended; to
a manifestation of divinity.”

Aunt Emily’s face manifested that fine
shade of thought and concomitant passion
that registers in the person of the leading

— 15 —



lady when some girl in a subaltern role
steals the act from her.

No Consequences

Who was this young fellow to draw
conclusions for her—conclusions she never
intended? Years back she had accepted

the thesis that Christ was a myth and
Christianity a legend. Had not the new
philosophy of Humanitarianism gathered

the necessary statistics to prove that, if

civilization is to go ahead, the criminal, the
insane, the poor, and the crippled, always
stumblingblocks to progress, must be quietly
but effectively destroyed?

She and her colleagues were most willing
to admit that Christ was a great teacher,
but still a teacher whose doctrine just did
not fit in with the newest modern thought.
His care for the poor, the insane, and the
criminal nursed the survival of the unfit.

Much recent thought was wrong if Christ
was God, and therefore she took it that
Christ was wrong and could not be God.

“The things I have just said prove
nothing,’* she said condescendingly. “You
must learn to know that modern criticism
exploded all this poppycock about the
divinity of Christ. The men who wrote the
New Testament had a splendid knowledge
of the old prophecies, and in writing up

the life of Christ wrote it in the light of

these prophecies. They fitted His story to
the old biography, for they knew that
people could not escape the overwhelming
proof such coincidence would offer. So,

— 16



very cleverly, they measured this new life
to match the pattern of the old, and by
doing so imposed on the world the greatest

fraud of all time. In fact it was only dur-
ing the last century that it was detected. So,
young man, although your conclusions were
neatly drawn, they actually mean nothing.”

Things were getting tense. Jane and the
doctor exchanged a wink which said “I

woudn’t have missed this for anything.”

True Records

“But Mrs. Weyward, that was an ex-
plosion that didn’t blow up anything. It
turned out to be a lot of noise and smoke.

The gospels were written at a time in which
those who had known Christ could read
them or listen to them read. These people
were in a position to judge whether or not

these accounts were true.

“The lovers of Christ would not have
permitted a distorted picture of their Friend

to get into circulation. Nor would His
enemies, who had put Him to death and
were at the time persecuting His disciples,
have allowed an invented story to pass for

an accurate account. If they could have

detected any forgery in the gospel records,
they would have joyfully pointed it out in
order to condemn those records as frauds
and burn them and bring discredit upon
Christ’s followers.

“The theory of fraud you mention did not
have any foundation. A few critics went on
the assumption that the gospels were writ-
ten about one hundred and fifty years after

— 17 —



the death of Christ. But when these critics
got down to solid study they found from
their careful research that the New Testa-
ment was put in writing in the lines of those
who had walked with and listened to the
Master. This blasted their theory, and the
whole superstructure of myth and legend
came tumbling down.”

Discarded

Emily was like a man who has entered
the sad struggle to fight for his hair. As
his brow lengthens out, the bald reality
drives him to either of two desperate re-
courses: a wig to fool everybody else, but
which only fools himself, or an attitude of

defiance. ‘‘To have lost my faith in Chris-
tianity,” she began slowly, “does not prove

that I am irreligious. I believe that the
personality of Christ is most attractive and
for certain people presents a very high mark
of goodness for them to aim at. There is
the splendid example of His courage to lead

them on. But any socia- worker knows
that our modern social maladies are with us
despite the presence of Christianity and that
Christianity has failed utterly to correct

them. The weaknesses of today's civiliza-
tion are the weaknesses of Christianity.

We must resort to our own ingenuity and
efficiency to remove them.”

Why Different?

“Mrs. Weyward, you interest me very
much. But may we stay for a time just on
the personality of Christ?” The others
nodded agreement, and Tommy continued.

— 18 —



“If Christ is merely a good man, He is no
different from, say, a saint; for saints are

good men too. But if Christ is a divine
person. He is essentially different from man;
for His personality is that of a personal

God, while ours is a human one. Christ and
I differ in personality. Like me, He had a
human nature. The fact that He is God
makes Him very different. A God can
demand service of his creatures. It is up
to them to learn what that service is; and
the giving of service according as it is de-

manded of them constitutes their religion.

“If I believe the truths that He has
revealed to me, I am said to have faith. If
I observe the rules He has laid down for
my conduct, I am said to be moral. How
do I know what I am to believe and do?
Why, I study the 'teachings of Christ. I
study His teachings rather than any others,
because of His personality, which He has
proved to be divine. He has proved that
He is God.

Exit Aunt Emily

“It is all a great problem. I’m sure,”

Emily said, with a sigh.

“Please let me interrupt this discu^ion
and get you to luncheon.” Jane was speak-
ing. “It is late now and the cook will be
serving us notice if we delay further. We
can talk after dinner.”

Mrs. Weyward had an early appointment
to keep and could not stay.

“Pm indebted to you for a most interest-
ing morning, x am sorry to leave, but we

— 19 —



will try to arrange a similar meeting soon.

I am pleased to have met you.” She threw
a pleased smile over toward Tommy and
turned from the room.

“Say, Emily, tell Fred to come out one
of these nights.” The doctor had almost
forgotten his promise.

“Thank you, doctor. I know he will be
glad to come.” She was gone to her car.
“She’s always in a rush, Tommy. Now

she will be off to some fool committee.
Well, what do you say to a little appetizer?”

A Mystery Indeed
After a late lunch the three were toying

with a very friable cake and puddling with
their coffee in small cups and saucers. Jane
teed off the conversation with a fine drive

straight down the fairway.

“Do you really think, Tommy, that Christ
was God? Just think what an awfully large
thing that is—God Himself. It is hard to
believe.”

“It is too wonderful to understand. The
more one thinks about it, the more wonder-
ful it becomes. It is a mystery this life

of Jesus Christ. A divine person living an
earthly life! We cannot fathom it. But the
fact is there, and honest thinkers must face

the truth.”

The doctor passed cigarettes about, but
preferred a cigar for himself. Jane’s in-

terest in the person of Christ was like a
revelation to him. He had known her a
long time. He knew her temper. He had
never suspected this of her.

— 20 —



The Story of Doubt

“I had my proper religious training/’ she
went on. ‘T learned my bible stories in our
Sunday-school classes. How sweet I was,
in my white frock and white hair-ribbons,
holding devoutly my picture card of the
Good Shepherd awarded me for attention,
attendance and deportment!

‘‘But when I got into high school, I was
taken up with other interests. There were
parties and puppy loves. One forgot about
the soul as the root of personality. The
milliner, the tailor, the hairdresser made us
attractive personalities and we were happy
to wear them everywhere.

“Then daddy sent me down East to col-
lege. If I had any religion left when I
arrived there, it certainly didn’t last long.

We had famous professors; and since they
didn’t think much about God, we didn’t see
any need to stress the point. Whenever
mention was made of God, it came wrapped
up in a sneer or tucked in a joke that made
us laugh. God did not amount to much. The
literature teachers were forever praising
realism and begging us to live bur full lives.
Self-expression was a slogan. Failure was
the test of life. Christ was considered an
eminent example of how not to do things.
So there you are. Tommy. You say that
Christ is God, that we cannot ignore Him,
and that we must follow His teachings.”

The doctor looked his interest. He did
not say anything. A slow flow of light blue
smoke curled up from his lips.

— 21 —



Tommy rubbed the ash from his cigarette
against the side of his coffee cup. can

show you from the Bible that Christ lived
as God. Have you got a Bible handy?^*

Protestant Bible

The only Bible that could be found was
a copy of the small Gideon. It was one of
the war editions that the doctor had picked
up during his service in the medical corps.

Jane was a trifle embarrassed in offering it

to Tommy. Many pages had been torn from
it, and this hardly spoke of becoming rever-
ence for the holy book; and besides it was
a Protestant version.

“Oh, fine, Jane,^^ Tommy commented.
“This will do very well. I want to select
some of the sayings of Christ that show
that He spoke with divine authority: ‘Be-
cause I am God I can dictate laws to you
and give you a knowledge of truths that
are veiled to you.* Observe how He does
this.**

Acts of a God

He opened the book at the fifth chapter
of Matthew and read the twenty-first verse:
“Ye have heard that it was said to them
of old. Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever
shall kill shall be in danger of the judg-

ment. But I say unto you that every one
who is angry with his brother shall be in
danger of the judgment.** And in verse
twenty-seven^ he read, “Ye have heard that
it was said. Thou shall not commit adultery.
But I say unto^ you that every one that

— 22 —



looketh on a woman to lust after her hath
committed adultery with her in his heart.”

‘‘It is not my intention to read the Com-
mandments to you, but I want you to note
the words ‘But I say unto you.^ The Jews
knew that God had given the Ten Com-
mandments to Moses. Now note what
Christ is doing here in His sermon on the
mount. He is changing the commandment
of God somewhat, and He is doing it on
His own authority. ‘Of old it was so and
so, but now I make it this and this.* He
is speaking, as God did, with divine author-
ity. And the Jews knew this.

“Another case we have here in the ninth
chapter, beginning with the second verse.

‘And behold, they brought to him a man
sick of the palsy. Son, be of good cheer;
thy sins are forgiven.* Now every Jewish
boy and girl knew that God alone could
forgive sins. And yet Christ said this
man*s sins were forgiven. Again He speaks
as God does, for to absolve sins is to
exercise divine power.

“One more example. In the sixteenth
chapter, verse the twenty-seventh, we read:
‘For the Son of Man shall come in the glory
of His Father with His angels; and then
shall He render to every man according
to his deeds.* The Jews knew that God was
to pass judgment on their lives. Christ tells
them that He is this judge. Certainly He
says He is God, for only God uses divine
power without restriction. Now I will read
a verse or two where He comes out straight
with the answer, ‘Yes, I am God’.’*



Tommy looked up for a question or a
difficulty, but as the doctor and Jane seemed
very much interested and said nothing, he
continued.

Claims of a God

“In the twenty-sixth chapter, verse the

sixty-third, we have the following: ‘And the
high priest said unto Him, I adjure thee,
by the living God, that thou tell us whether
thou art the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus
saith unto him. Thou hast said it. Never-
theless I say unto you, henceforth ye shall

see the Son of Man sitting at the right
hand of power, and coming on the clouds
of heaven. Then the high priest rent his
garments, saying. He hath spoken blas-
phemy; what further need have we of
witnesses? Behold, now ye have heard the
blasphemy. What think ye? They answered
and said. He is worthy of death.* There
is nothing indefinite about this question

and its answer. Christ unmistakably said

that He was God.” The doctor lifted his
head and blew a thin blue line of smoke
toward the ceiling. His eyes were medita-

tive behind the half-closed eyelids. Jane

and Tommy watched him, for it was quite
evident that he had something to say.

Why Son of God?

“How can you put it as you do, that
Christ unmistakably said He was God, when
He really said He was the Son of God?
We were taught that as soon as we were
baptized we became thereby sons of God
and that Christ was our brother—that He



was the first son of God in this sense. Do
I make myself clear to you? He was the
first to experience that close intimacy with

the Father, so that the Father could say of

Him: 'This is my beloved son in whom 1
am well pleased'.”

"That isn’t what the high priest meant

when he put the question,” Tommy an-
swered. "He knew that Christ claimed to
be God, that He preached with divine
authority, and that He performed miracles
to prove His divinity. And so, when he
addressed the question to Christ, he meant,

in plain, blunt words, ‘Are you God?’ His

judgment is a proof of this. ‘You have
heard the blasphemy. What think you? And
they said. He is worthy of death.’ Well,
if it had been a question of a mere moral
union—an adoptive sonship—there would
have been no reason for the charge of blas-

phemy.

Clear Words

"Although Christ is often called the Son
of God,” Tommy continued, "one must not
be led into thinking that He is not God.
‘I and the Father are one.’ St. John refers
to Christ as the Word of God. In the first
verse of his gospel he writes: ‘In the be-

ginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God.’ Christ is the natural son of the

Father, for in putting on our human nature
He did not lose anything that He was. He
remained a divine person—the Second Per-
son of the Blessed Trinity, the eternal Son
of the eternal Father. What we are dis-

— 25 —



cussing is whether or not Christ is really
this divine person. We have seen that He
speaks with divine authority and, under a
solemn oath administered by the highest
Jewish tribunal, declares that He is that
person—the Son of God.

The Just Man

“But is Christ worthy of our faith? We
have considered that He said, T am the
Son of God.' Should we believe Him? I
answer that we must, for His holiness is a
guaranty of His words.

“Judas, His daily companion, proclaims

Him a just man. The traitor w^ould have
snatched at anything to condone his dis-
loyalty. Any fault in his Master’s words or
actions could have saved him. *1 have sinned

in betraying innocent blood,' he cried in his

testimony to the priests of the Temple.

“Pilate, His judge, after listening to all the

testimony that the Jews could produce,
said, T find no fault in Him.'

Sinless

“There is no flaw in the perfection of His

moral teaching, and His conduct is fault-

less. He said that not the act alone, but
the mere looking at a w’oman to lust after
her, constitutes adultery. Not the outside,
but the inside, of the cup and platter forms

the test of moral spotlessness. If Jesus had

been guilty of the slightest sinful fault. His

disciples, who were with Him continually,
would not have believed in Him.'

“He proclaims Himself without sin. ‘He

— 26 —



that is without sin among you, let him
throw the first stone at her,’ He says to
other men. But speaking of Himself, He
hurls at the Jews, who searched His life
with their merciless eyes, the unheard of

challenge: ‘Which of you shall convince me
of sin?’ This is unassailable virtue. He has
a horror of deceit. He denounces ruthlessly
the hyprocrisy of the Pharisees (whited

sepulchers). He scourges the merchants
out of the Temple. He is all loyalty, all
truth.

“The more saintly a man is, the more
conscious is he of his own defects. Christ
would have been the first to lament His
own weakness. He asks forgiveness for
His executioners and, facing death, none
for Himself.

Death for Truth

“Could anyone hesitate to believe Him
when with impressive calm he declares Him-
self God though knowing that He is thereby
condemning Himself to death? Death is
a great test for truth. No man is anxious
to die for a lie. The danger is that he
might lie to save his life. But Christ is
truthful in the face of an awful death, the

most humiliating of all deaths, crucifixion.
There a man does not lie.
“There is one truth that Christ teaches

over and over again. It is the lesson of
His life. Throw out this truth, and the life
of Christ is meaningless. It was the burden
of the persistent statement T am the Son
of God’.”

— 27 —



Thirteen Spades

“Is there anybody home?’* The smooth,
rich voice of the doctor’s wife preceded her

into the room.

“Well, what a funny how - do - you - do
this is!”

The room was filled with tobacco smoke
that all but blotted up the weak light of
the late and very dull afternoon.

“Oh, hello!” the doctor greeted his wife.

“What time is it?”

In a moment they were all talking at once.
In another they were deeply interested in

the unwrapping of Mrs. Weyward’s bridge
prize. All the chirp of small talk that had

made the bridge party a twittering success
lived again. And the notable play of the
afternoon had been made from a perfect
bridge hand.

“Imagine thirteen spades in one deal!”

“That’s a mighty nice punch bowl.”

“Please do not start talking nonsense.

This is a scallop dish for cracked ice.”

“Who got the thirteen spades, mother?”
“You will be surprised to know, but not

any more than I was. I almost collapsed.
I became so hot and nervous! I uncovered
the cards, spade after spade, and I had them
all! I was so weak I almost dropped them.”

Interlude

“Oh, you dear old dear!” Jane jumped
into her mother’s embrace and they waltzed

about the room, hugging each other. “I’m

so happy, mother!”

— 28 -»



After a bit mother stopped the jubilee

to make arrangements for dinner. The
doctor went down on his hands and knees at
the fireplace and tried to breathe life into

the indifferent embers. Jane turned on a
few floor lamps. Tommy helped the doctor
get the fire going. Then chairs were drawn
up to the warmth of the fresh fire.

‘‘Go on, Tommy, and finish up. We have
a quorum again. I really must get this
matter decided now, for I want to know
whether I am to take up my prayers again
tonight or not.”

Miracles

“Let me put in a question,” said Jane to
Tommy. “There has not been anything
said about miracles. I remember now of
hearing at college that Christ proved His

divinity by working miracles. But we were
taught that miracles were plain impossible.
And for that reason Christ could never
prove that He was God. What do you think
about that. Tommy?”

“Well, Jane,” Tommy began, “take this
bridge hand—your mother’s perfect bridge
hand. Do you think the cards were stacked?”
“Of course not. Mother is not clever

enough to stack cards. Anyway, no woman
would take a chance on fixing the cards.”

“So you would say the thirteen spades
came just by luck?”

“Yes. Luck or chance.”

“What do you think, doctor, would have
happened if on the next deal your wife had
another perfect hand?”



“Oh, Tommy, I should be rather slow
to predict anything about women’s behavior
in such an event; but I am sure that, if
nothing did happen, there would be a
terrible lot of unpleasant thinking going on.”

No Coincidence

“And then let us say that on the third
deal she again held those thirteen spades.

What then?”

“A riot, certainly. All would scream at
once that the game was crooked. There
would be an end to the game and the start
of a wonderful scandal.”

“That’s about what I would expect, too.
People are patient enough to accept chance
occasionally. But if the unusual occurs

repeatedly, they demand an explanation and
refuse to have anything to do with the

possibilities of chance as a probable solu-

tion.

“It is the same with the miracles of
Christ. Hour after hour and day after day
the wonders of His power are manifested.
Chance, as an explanation, is absolutely out

of the question. The only sane way to
look into the matter is to take Christ at

His word. He said He was God. What is
more natural than for Him to act as God?
He had to prove that He was God. If He
acted merely as man, all His kindness, good-

ness, and so on would not have won for
Him any higher distinction that what is
common to the greatest saints. He had
recourse to His omnipotence, and by using
this control over the physical laws He

-30—



showed most conclusively that He was more
than man.

Beyond Human Power

“You perhaps have heard it said that
miracles cannot be, because the physical

laws are so fixed that they cannot be

tampered with. Consider for a moment the
heads of our great corporations. They made
the rules that guide the actions of their

employees. And they demand that these
rules and regulations of policy be obeyed.
But this does not mean that the heads
themselves cannot shift their rules and

change their policies. Of course not.

“It is the same with God and His uni-
verse. He very wisely set the business of
creation going with all the precision of a

fine watch, but He did not by any means
get Himself tied to His own machinery.
It is absurd to think that He is dependent
upon the creature of his handicraft. And
when these laws of the universe do not
observe their customary rhythm, it is a sure
sign that God is at the controls, for no
other power can interfere with them.

“To cure the blind by the application of
a little mud moistened with spittle is an
achievement that no doctor can imitate. A
mere word to the sick and the crippled, the
diseased and the insane, and they were made
whole. Dead people returned to life at His
command. Men cannot command life. It
is very hard to fool stout fishermen who
can tell a storm from a calm. There were
no strings to pull, or black cloths to hide,

— 31 —



or dark rooms to conceal when Christ
opened eyes blind from birth, made decay-
ing bodies snap into living men, brought

sudden peace to a stormy sea.’^

“Now (and this is the point), Christ refers
to His miracles as proofs of His divinity.

To show that He is God He does the works
that God alone can do. The people behold
the wonders. They know these wonders
back up His teachings. They believe on
account of them. Therefore I say the re-

sponsibility of God is involved.

“Since God could not lend His aid to a
liar or to a blasphemer (one claiming to be

God when he is not) without people accept-
ing untruth in His divine name. He could
not permit the miracles to take place. But

it was to approve the teaching of Jesus
Christ that the miracles were performed.
Therefore God the Father set His approval
on ChrisCs teaching. The miracles are
Christ’s divine credentials to show that what
He says is true: T am God.’ What room
is there for doubt? One miracle would be
enough to prove Him God. Christ worked
thousands. Therefore He is God.

The Great Proof

“Now, Jane, let us apply all this to one
of His miracles. It will serve as well as

taking five or six. And since His resurrec-
tion is considered the greatest and the most
far-reaching of His miracles, in this that it

sums up His whole scheme of salvation in
a final proof, let us consider it in detail.”

Tommy flipped the pages of the sorry-
— 32 —



looking Gideon until they stopped at the

twenty-first verse of the sixteenth chapter

of Matthew. “From that time began Jesus
to show unto His disciples that He must go
unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of
the elders and chief priests and scribes, and

be killed, and on the third day be raised up.”

“He replied to the Jews,” Tommy con-
tinued, “who asked of Him a sign confirm-
ing the authority He claimed: ‘An evil and
adulterous generation seeketh after a sign;

and there shall no sign be given it but the

sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah
was three days and three nights in the
belly of the whale, so shall the Son of Man
be three days and three nights in the heart

of the earth.*

“This was so clear that Christ’s enemies
understood it. As night and the storm
following the death of Christ came down
among them, they went to Pilate and told
him how they remembered that while
Christ was still alive He had said that after
three days He would rise again. ‘Command,
therefore, the sepulcher to be guarded until

the third day, lest perhaps His disciples

come and steal Him away and say unto the
people, He is risen from the dead, and the
last error will be worse than the first.* His
resurrection was to be final proof of His
divinity.

“This rising from the dead was so marvel-
ous that even His apostles dared not believe
this promise, daily comrades of His though
they were, who had seen the workings of

— 33 —



His power. What could this mean? they
debated among themselves. The sad story
of their unbelief began with the capture of
the Master in the garden. In fear they ran

and hid themselves in the Cenacle. Some
of His disciples fled in despair to Emmaus.
His friends among the women carried spices
to the tomb for the embalming of His body.

Fulfilled

“And yet after the resurrection they all
testified that Jesus fulfilled His prophecy
in Himself.

“That Christ really died is proved by the
witness of his executioners, men thoroughly
experienced in this sort of thing. And yet
one of them opened His side with a spear,
a very helpful bit of precaution so far as

this argument is concerned. St. John, who
was there, saw the soldier do it.

“Then, too, common sense says that
Christ really died. He was in torture for
fifteen hours. The loss of blood during
the scourging and crowning with thorns

and the three hours on the cross, and at
the final spear thrust—why, this shows
death a hundred times over.’’

Seen by Thousands

“Therefore He truly rose. For many wit-
nesses saw Him living again—not one poor,
nervous, sick woman, but a great number
of men and women; not once only, but
frequently over a period of forty days.

Briefly they were: the women who went to
the tomb to complete the burial rites; the

— 34 —



apostles Peter, James, Thomas, the whole

group gathered in the Cenacle; the disciples

on their way to Emmaus; the five hundred
witnesses of Tiberias; and many others.

“I shall hurry through these points in

order to be done with this argument by

dinner time. Now it cannot be said that
these people had seen a ghost or a phantom
of some sort. For Jesus spoke to them and
reassured them. ‘ It is I. Fear not.^ He ate
with them. He prepared a breakfast for
them in the clear light of the morning on
the banks of Gennesaret. He made them
touch His body. ‘See my hands and feet,
that it is I myself. Handle and see.* And
as one of them was still in doubt: ‘Put in
thy finger hither, and see my hands; and
bring hither thy hand, and put it in my side.’
It is the same test that proves that we are
alive and are what we are, living men.

“Moreover the tomb was found empty
on the third day. The seal of dread Rome
was on it. This seal was sufficient to pro-
tect the tomb against violation. The Jewish
seal also was on it—the seal of the temple
that was holy. It was sacrilegious to break
it. Roman soldiers guarded; the Roman
soldiers did not sleep. Yet the tomb was
empty on the third day.

Who Could Have Stolen?
“For the sake of argument let us say

that the body of Christ had been stolen.
Who could have taken it? Certainly not the
Jews themselves; for they were the ones
who wanted it safe in the sepulcher and

•--35 —



had the precautions taken to insure that it

would not be stolen. How joyously they
would have dashed to that tomb and ex-
hibited the body and proved to the Chris-
tians that Christ had not risen from the
dead. The body was their evidence; and
it could never have been refuted.

“The disciples could not have taken the
body. As they tell it to their own con-
fusion, they were in hiding out of fear of

the Jews. When the threatening mob circled
about their Master in Gethsemane their
hearts and their courage failed them, and
soon they were flying down the hillside.
Slipping furtively from shadow to shadow,
they made for the Cenacle. The moon
spilled a white-gold wash upon the town,
but the apostles entertained themselves

with the mysteries of the darkened places,

quaking in fright. They were still in hiding
when the news of the resurrection first
reached them.

Not Women

“The holy women would not have gone
out early on the morning following the
Sabbath with spices for Christ’s body if
the disciples had removed it. If any of
their friends had been out to the sepulcher,
the news of the Roman guard stationed
about it would have been known to them.
And yet the women only worry about the
difficulty of removing the stone from the
entrance of the tomb. They never dreamed
of the far greater difficulty of breaking

through the Roman and Jewish seals and

36 —



of dealing with the stern, unbending dis-

cipline of Rome. This doesn't show much
for the stealing charge.

‘Tf the disciples had stolen the body of
Christ, there would be no story about their
slowness to believe that Christ had risen.

Nor would they have ever allowed them-
selves to be put to death rather than not

announce the resurrection. So that just
about takes care of the thieving question.

Hallucinations?

‘‘Sometimes one hears of an eccentric

saying that the apostles were the victims
of a collective hallucination. But such a

one forgets that these men were sailors and
fishermen, out-of-door, robust fellows. Their

testimony is so varied, so often repeated,

so precise and coherent that collective
hallucination is out of the question. Victims

of hallucination? These stout men so deeply
depressed, men whose broken moral courage
was so suddenly enlarged and overwhelmed?
Not a chance. Common sense says that it
is better to admit that their testimony is

true and irrefutable.

“The people to whom these gospels were
read knew the writers; knew the Man they
wrote about; knew His teachings and His
life’s work. None of them protested, neither
His friends nor His .enemies. The heretics
argued with the Christians, using the same
versions of the sacred texts. If there had
been any doubt about them, they would
have destroyed them and all discussion to-
gether. All knew that the story was true.

— 37 —



“The apostles were not fools. Saint Peter
says that if Christ is not risen from the
dead Christianity is a vain thing. With
Pascal I think we can accept their testi-
mony; it is not hard to believe witnesses
who die for their testimony. With these
dying men we can and must say that Jesus
Christ is God.

Obligation

“Therefore Christ is God. He has proved
it.’’

“We are creatures of God. He gives us
our life and existence from day to day.
Christ has taught us how we must spend
our days. If we observe His instructions,
everything is as it should be; if we do not,
He says we are to blame and must face
the consequences.

“So no one can ignore Christ. Everyone

that hears of Christ must consider who He
is. Each person must decide whether he is
to follow His divine will or not. That
decision will be the story of his life;

other accounts or great feats, of great suc-

cesses, of great philanthropies, or of what-

ever else do not enter into the real life.

Christ says that He will judge all men at
the end of time and his test of life will be

found in the answer to the question ‘Have
you done the will of Gqd?’”

Tommy stopped speaking. The three
were silent. Mrs. Weyward found them still
meditative when she joined their company.
She was very happy. Her picture and the
story of her play at bridge were to appear

38 —



in the morning Pioneer Press. Her presence
woke them up to the immediate things of
life. It was time for dinner. Tommy leaped
up from his chair.

'T must get home,” he said. ‘TVe been
hanging about here all day. Mother will be
having the guards drag the lake for me.

I’ll be seeing you, Jane. Say about nine?
Let’s sail to Wildwood tonight. Pick up
some friends for the ride. Good-by, doctor.
Thank you very much for the interesting
discussion.” Tommy was gone in a moment.
“Great fellow, Jane. Clever. Got a good

start in life and all that. I’d keep an eye
upon him if I were you. Well, I think I’ll
be looking myself up a bit of an appetizer.”

Jane stood by the window. The wind
was still steady. But she was not thinking
of the sail to the dance at Wildwood.

39





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JANUARY 15 , 1933

THE BEST BEST-SELLER
THE CALL OF CHRIST
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THE CHURCH UNCONQUERABLE
CHRIST THE MODERN

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MY FAITH AND I
MY FRIEND THE PASTOR

A NOVENA TO THE LITTLE FLOWER
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THE RULING PASSION
SHALL I BE A NUN?

SHALL MY DAUGHTER BE A NUN?
A SHORT LIFE IN THE SADDLE
SPEAKING OF BIRTH CONTROL

THESE TERRIBLE JESUITS
THEY'RE MARRIED
TRUTH'S THE THING

WHEN MARY WALKED THE EARTH
WHEN SORROW COMES

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WHY LEAVE HOME?

WHOSE COUNTRY IS THIS?
YOU CAN'T LIVE THAT WAY

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PEANUT
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