.. And not content therewith, instead of
humbling thyself before the Lord, and seeking pardon for the crime,
thou sayest of such a one slain in the war that "he hath earned
paradise," and thou namest him "a martyr in the ways of the
Lord!"[55]
And again, contrasting the spread of Islam, "its rattling quiver and its
glittering sword," with the silent progress of Christianity, our
apologist, after dwelling on the teaching and the miracles of the
apostles, writes:
They published their message by means of these miracles; and thus
great and powerful kings and philosophers and learned men and
judges of the earth hearkened unto them, without lash or rod, with
neither sword nor spear, nor the advantages of birth or
"Helpers;"[56] with no wisdom of this world, or eloquence or power
of language, or subtlety of reason; with no worldly inducement, nor
yet again with any relaxation of the moral law, but simply at the
voice of truth enforced by miracles beyond the power of man to
show. And so there came over to them the kings and great ones of
the earth. And the philosophers abandoned their systems, with all
their wisdom and learning, and betook them to a saintly life,
giving up the delights of this world together with their
old-established usages, and became followers of a company of poor
men, fishers and publicans, who had neither name nor rank nor any
claim other than that they were obedient to the command of the
Messiah--he that gave them power to do such wonderful works.
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