Christian Churches and Churches of Christ; Lutz, Henry Frey, 1868-1926 -- Biography; Restoration movement (Christianity)
Unitarians used to tell me that Christ was the Son of God, but we all
are sons of God. I now saw that Christ was _the_ Son of God in the
special and peculiar sense in which he claimed, or he was a fool. When
he was on trial he was asked upon oath whether he was the Son of God or
not, and he answered "Yes" when it cost his life to do so. If he meant
that he was the son of God in the same sense in which we are, all he
would have had to do was to explain and he could have saved his life.
The proof that Christianity is from God as revealed in its effect upon
the life of individuals, communities and nations, is so apparent and
has been pointed out so often that I will give it but a passing notice.
"If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching,
whether it is of God, or whether I speak from myself," was Christ's
challenge, and millions have verified it in their own religious
experience. Nearly all the voluntary educational and philanthropic
institutions of the world are supported by Christian people, and the
nations of the earth are prosperous, enlightened and influential in the
exact proportion as their people are intelligent and consecrated
followers of the lowly Nazarene.
It was thus that I found my way back to Christ as my Lord and Saviour,
and I never before fully appreciated the words of Jesus, "Come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The
truth dawned upon me gradually, but with irresistible force. How often
have we been perplexed and in doubt on some great question of truth or
duty until finally the solution came to us as if by magic. Through what
the psychologists call subconscious cerebration our mind has been
working at the great problem even when our conscious attention was
given to other matters. I have had a number of such experiences before
and since, and, had I not examined them critically, I might easily have
been led to believe they were direct revelations from heaven.
For many months the great question had been occupying my mind by day
and by night. Finally the solution came as clear as a revelation from
God. It wakened me in the still of the night and ravished my soul with
peace and joy unspeakable. I arose and took a walk into the country to
a mountain spring and back. I shall never forget that night, and the
ecstatic joy it brought to me. My religious nature had been outraged so
long that when it was set free it returned to its Lord with a violent
bound. The fittest words I could find to express my feelings are in the
103d Psalm: "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me,
bless his holy name."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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