| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Ivanhoe by Walter Scott: Templar, ``and the prospects of ambition.''
``An evil recompense,'' said Rebecca, ``for the
surrender of the rights which are dearest to humanity.''
``Say not so, maiden,'' answered the Templar;
``revenge is a feast for the gods! And if they have
reserved it, as priests tell us, to themselves, it is because
they hold it an enjoyment too precious for the
possession of mere mortals.---And ambition? it is
a temptation which could disturb even the bliss of
heaven itself.''---He paused a moment, and then
added, ``Rebecca! she who could prefer death to
Ivanhoe |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Poems of Goethe, Bowring, Tr. by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: It shed all around;
A bee came thither
And sipp'd from its bell;
That they for each other
Were made, we see well.
1814.
-----
RECIPROCAL INVITATION TO THE DANCE.
THE INDIFFERENT.
COME to the dance with me, come with me, fair one!
Dances a feast-day like this may well crown.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: the performance of the Law is necessary unto salvation, they put the Law
in the place of Christ, they attribute to the Law the power to save, a power
that belongs to Christ only."
The papists quote the words of Christ: "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the
commandments." (Matt. 19:17.) With His own words they deny Christ and
abolish faith in Him. Christ is made to lose His good name, His office, and
His glory, and is demoted to the status of a law enforcer, reproving,
terrifying, and chasing poor sinners around.
The proper office of Christ is to raise the sinner, and extricate him from
his sins.
Papists and Anabaptists deride us because we so earnestly require faith.
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