A Few Words About the Devil, and Other Biographical Sketches and EssaysBradlaugh, Charles
Religion
A Few Words About the Devil, and Other Biographical Sketches and Essays
Bradlaugh, Charles
Free thought
After this he directed Simon to put out into the deep and let down
the nets. Simon answered, "Master, we have toiled all night and taken
nothing; nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net." No sooner
was this done than the net was filled to breaking, and Simon's partners,
the two sons of Zebedee, came to help, when, at the call of Jesus, they
brought their ships to land, and followed him. From these accounts the
unbeliever may learn that when Jesus called Peter, either both Jesus and
Peter were on the land, or one was on land and the other on sea, or both
of them were at sea. He may also learn that the sons of Zebedee were
present at the time, having come to help to get in the great catch, and
were called with Peter; or that they were further on, sitting mending
nets with their father, and were called afterward; or that they were
neither present nor near at hand. He may also be assured that Simon was
in his ship when Jesus came to call him, and that Jesus was on land
when Andrew, Simon's brother, found Simon and brought him to Jesus to
be called. The unbeliever must not hesitate because of any apparent
incoherence or contradiction in the narrative. With faith it is easy to
harmonize the three narratives above quoted, especially when you know
that Jesus had visited Simon's house before the call of Simon,* but did
not go to Simon's house until after Simon had been called.** Jesus
went to Simon's house and cured his wife's mother of a fever. Robert
Taylor,*** commenting on the fever-curing miracle, says: "St. Luke tells
us that this fever had taken the woman, not that the woman had taken the
fever, and not that the fever was a very bad fever, or a yellow fever,
or a scarlet fever, but that it was a great fever--that is, I suppose,
a fever six feet high at least; a personal fever, a rational and
intelligent fever, that would yield to the power of Jesus' argument, but
would never have given way to James' powder. So we are expressly told
that Jesus rebuked the fever--that is, he gave it a good scolding; asked
it, I dare say, how it could be so unreasonable as to plague the poor
old woman so cruelly, and whether it wasn't ashamed of itself; and
said, perhaps, _Get out you naughty, wicked fever, you_; and such like
objurgatory language, which the fever, not used to being rebuked in such
a manner, and being a very sensible sort of fever, would not stand, but
immediately left the old woman in high dudgeon." This Robert Taylor,
although a clergyman of the Church of England, has been convicted of
blasphemy and imprisoned for writing in such wicked language about the
bible. Simon Peter, as a disciple, performed many miracles, some when in
company with Jesus, and more when separately by himself. These miracles,
though themselves un-vouched by any reliable testimony, and disbelieved
by the people among whom they worked, are strong evidence in favor of
the apostolic character claimed for Peter.
* Luke iv, 88.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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