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Articles
What If Christ Had Not Come?
The theme of the popular movie “Its A Wonderful Life” is the difference we all make in life, and it is demonstrated by removing every vestige of influence of Jimmy Stewart’s character, George Bailey. What if we did that with the most influential individual that has ever graced the earth...Jesus of Nazareth? Henry Rogers wrote a book entitled The Eclipse of Faith in which he imagined that very thing. What if some powerful hand had wiped the influence of Christ out of our civilization, as a hand wipes the chalk writing from a blackboard in a classroom. He imagined himself going into his library to discover that every vestige of Christ’s life and work had wholly disappeared.
He opened his law books upon the legal safeguards protecting children, the poor, and the innocent, only to find that these laws had disappeared.
He turned to his histories of art and there found that some of the world's greatest masterpieces, such as Leonardo da Vinci's “The Last Supper,” Raphael's “The Sistine Madonna,” Van Dyck’s “Christ and the Tribute Money,” Rembrandt’s “The Prodigal Son,” and hundreds of others, had vanished.
In like manner he turned to his books of literature. There he found blank pages where formerly there had been the great writings of Dante, Milton, Browning, Tennyson, Wordsworth, Longfellow, and many others. Stories like Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol were lost completely.
Next he turned to the world of music and there found that many of the finest pieces of music ever penned were no more. Works such as Handel’s “Messiah”, Isaac Watt’s “Joy to the World,” John Newton’s “Amazing Grace,” and hundreds of others were simply NOT.
Then Rogers realized that if Christ were not, then many of our best schools, hospitals, orphanages, and many other benevolent institutions might not exist, as many are Christian in origin...and some still are: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Notre Dame, and Georgetown universities…hospitals with names such as St. Elizabeth’s, St. Jude’s and Good Samaritan...are not.
Who would want to live in a world like that? One where Christ is not!? While it is true that Christ has had a tremendous impact upon our civilization in its laws, in its art, in its literature, and in its general pattern of life, it is far more important that Christ has brought to the world a conception of eternal truth which will save men’s souls. Here are a few of the things which Jesus taught us and showed us and accomplished for us...that may not have been had He not come.
1. The sacredness of every human life
2. The Value of a Soul: worth more than the whole world
3. The Nobility of Womanhood
4. The Brotherhood of Man
5. The Fatherhood of God
6. A Perfect Guidebook to Live By
7. A Perfect Example to Follow
8. The Forgiveness of Sins
9. Freedom from the Fear of Death
10. The Promise of Eternal Life
