In League with Israel: A Tale of the Chattanooga ConferenceJohnston, Annie F. (Annie Fellows)
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In League with Israel: A Tale of the Chattanooga Conference
Johnston, Annie F. (Annie Fellows)
Epworth League (U.S.) -- Fiction
"And I want to tell you, Mr. Herschel, that I have not only been
wishing, but praying earnestly, that in this new year you may find the
greatest happiness earth holds--the peace that comes in accepting Christ
as a Savior."
He turned from her abruptly, and, with his hands thrust in his overcoat
pockets, began pacing up and down the room with quick, excited strides.
"You, too!" he cried desperately. "I seem to be pursued. Every way I
turn, the same thing is thrust at me. For weeks I have been fighting
against it--O, longer than that--since I first talked to Lessing. Then
there was Dr. Trent's death, and that nurse's prayer, and the League
meeting Frank Marion persuaded me into attending. Cragmore has talked to
me so often, too. I can answer arguments, but I can't answer such lives
and faith as theirs. Yesterday morning I had a letter from Lee--little
Lee Trent--thanking me for a book I had sent him, and even that child
had something to say. He told me about his conversion. Last night
curiosity led me down town to hear a Russian Jew preach to a lot of
rough people in an old warehouse by the river. His text was Pilate's
question, 'What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ?' It
wasn't a sermon. There wasn't a single argument in it. It was just a
tragically-told story of the Nazarene's trial and death sentence--but he
made it such a personal matter. All last night, and all day to-day those
words have tormented me beyond endurance, 'What shall I do? What shall I
do with this Jesus called Christ!'"
He kept on restlessly pacing back and forth in silence. Then he broke
out again:
"I saw a man converted, as you call it, down there last night. He had
been a rough, blasphemous drunkard that I have seen in the police courts
many a time. I saw him fall on his knees at the altar, groaning for
mercy, and I saw him, when he stood up after a while, with a face like a
different creature's, all transformed by a great joy, crying out that he
had been pardoned for Christ's sake. I just stood and looked at him, and
wondered which of us is nearer the truth. If I am right, what a poor,
deluded fool he is! But if he is right, good God--"
He stopped abruptly.
"Mr. Herschel," said Bethany, slowly, "if you were convinced that, by
going on some certain pilgrimage, you could find Truth, but that the
finding would shatter your belief in the creed you cling to now, would
you undertake the journey? Which is stronger in you, the love for the
faith of your fathers, or an honest desire for Truth, regardless of
long-cherished opinion?"
For a moment there was no answer. Then he threw back his shoulders
resolutely.
"I would take the journey," he said, with decision. "If I am wrong I
want to know it." Bethany slipped a little Testament out of one of the
pigeon-holes, and handed it to him, opened at the place where the answer
to Thomas was heavily underscored:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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