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“What
Christians Can Learn from the Writings of G.A. Henty about the True Meaning of
Manhood.”
The inspiring
novels of G.A. Henty are some of the most historically accurate writings I have
ever read. G.A. Henty fuses good
and true characters with the gruesome and sometimes terrifying reality of the
bloody conflicts in the history of English arms. G.A. Henty, besides being very well versed in the art of war,
was a good judge of manly character. During
his life he saw many different men and qualities worth remembering in them.
He recorded these and can thus truly give an erudite evaluation of the
characteristics of manhood. If a survey
were taken of a major metropolitan area, and asking what three traits define
true manhood, what would the survey show? Using excerpts of language and content
found in the music and conversation of our modern culture, what three attributes
would be most acclaimed. Being rich
never hurt anyone did it? If one
has the most possessions and worldly items they are definitely getting closer.
If one is sexually immoral and has slept with many different women, they
can be called manly. I sincerely
believe that God has a different analysis of the matter.
In Titus 1 Paul writes to Titus in order to tell him how a deacon or a
true man of God should act. He
says, “Since an overseer [deacon or man of God] is entrusted with
God’s work, he must be blameless-not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not
given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.
Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is
self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.
He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so
that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose
it.” Titus 1:7-9. Being
rich is not forbidden but flaunting your wealth is, just like boasting or
bragging, both of which are a sin. Worldly
items can be stolen or rusted and God commands that we store up treasure in
heaven, not on earth. Being immoral
is strictly forbidden in I Timothy 3:2. “Now
the overseer [man of god] must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife .
. .” In this essay I will address some of the attributes in these
passages. In Henty’s
novels war is a prevalent theme. His
books are, after all, about the history of the English arms.
In battle, being clear headed is a key factor.
A soldier has to think about what the enemy is contemplating before an
attack. If a soldier is given to sudden impulses and quick-tempered
bursts he will not be very successful. Quick
temperedness is something that is to be abhorred, in battle, as well as during
times of peace. Being quick
tempered makes friends much harder to make. In Bonnie Prince Charlie Ronald Leslie is
forced into a duel with the Duc de Chateaurouge.
The duke was reputedly the most proficient swordsman in France, yet in
his quick-tempered anger he rushed upon Ronald who easily killed him.
If the duke had been clear headed, or not quick-tempered, the whole
contest might have gone differently or been avoided entirely.
In God’s laws
it says that one must love their neighbor more than themselves.
This requires being hospitable. Sometimes
being hospitable is hard, other times it’s easy.
If by harboring a person there is the risk of sufficient loss, it may be
only natural to turn them away. If
one might get handsomely rewarded for his benevolent act, he is more prone to
take the person in. In At
Agincourt the Italian nobleman harbored Lady Margaret and hid her from
the mob. He would have been killed
if his deed had been ascertained. He
risked everything to be kind to this person who was hounded by the afflictions
of a cruel oppressor. This type of
hospitality is exercised in several situations.
The person being hidden might be someone one loves or their dear friend.
It also might be a leader whose cause one vehemently supports.
God commands us to be hospitable to all, even our most detestable
enemies. When we have achieved this
lofty aspiration, we can consider ourselves as having begun the road to true
manhood. To love what is
evil is a sin for it is said that when something goes in it also comes out.
Therefore it is must be corroborated that if a person loves good then
good will become manifest in the life and deeds of the individual.
It is imperative in a person seeking true manhood that he must be able to
see the good in all situations. To
do this you must be able to recognize and love what is good. If Gervaise Tresham, in Knight of the White Cross,
had lost hope during his spell as prisoner and not been able to see the good in
his situation, he would never have been able to escape.
It is necessary to practice seeing the good so that in life situations
one can make the best decision. This
is the next foothold on the momentous climb towards true manhood. To be upright
is another of the moral traits that accrue true manhood. To be upright in God’s eyes is just like being holy.
To be perfectly holy you can obviously never commit a sin.
God knows that one will never be perfect but He does want us to strive
toward acting like Christ. God
commands his children to show the world what being a Christian really means.
True manhood cannot be achieved without being a Christian.
In the Christian walk one must want to strive towards being a true Man of
God. This requires being
reminiscent of Jesus the Saviour. Being
upright and holy is not always easy. Today’s
culture doesn’t recognize these upright and Godly traits that are necessary
for true manhood. They think that
if you are “cool” in your peer group you will be a true man. But that’s
not what makes you a true man. To
be “cool” you have to do some pretty ugly things.
But God tells us that being a true Man of God is contingent upon being as
holy and upright as possible. It
doesn’t matter whether you have the newest toy or the best car.
When you can understand this and be upright and holy, you have reached
the next step on the journey to true manhood. The word
discipline has many different meanings. To
a child it might mean punishment. To
a soldier it means following orders. A
philosopher might tell you it is the instilment of values.
To God discipline is a combination of all of these things.
A soldier has to have discipline because it is necessary in battle.
God’s discipline is spiritually necessary in our lives.
When being disciplined the temptation might exist to be resentful of the
rebuke. But in Hebrews 12:5-6 God
tells us the we shouldn’t lose heart when we are disciplined because, “The
Lord disciplines those he loves, and punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”
Discipline is the standard and it is also the measure of punishment.
God only disciplines those he loves but doesn’t try to sway the
fool’s heart. Essentially, God disciplines those whom he loves and those
that aren’t fools. When you can
recognize discipline as God’s tool to bring you closer to Him, you have
successfully accomplished this part of our ultimate climb to true manhood. We have almost
reached the pinnacle in our climb to true manhood. To reach our next handhold we must have a sense of duty.
Our sense of duty shouldn’t be contingent on self-want or
self-livelihood. It should be a
trait that cannot be swayed by circumstances. In “At Agincourt” the Italian nobleman’s daughter
Katarina is being taken away by the mob. Guy’s
sense of duty calls him to save her because her father was hiding his mistress
from the same mob. He risked his
livelihood to rescue her. Our sense
of duty should also be extended to our enemies, as well as our friends and
companions. God says that we are to
love our enemy so if someone we hate is being robbed or hurt without good reason
we should rush to rescue them. We
need this wisdom to know when we are being called upon to a merciful act of duty
even though our emotional and carnal responses urge us to turn aside and not
help. God wants us to be put on a
pinnacle and show that we have a sense of duty that extends beyond our mutual
interests and even beyond our own life. This
is a very hard thing to master but we must in order to succeed in our next
precarious jump up to the spire of true manhood. We have finally reached the pinnacle of true manhood. We have all the traits that are needed and we have joined the elite at the top of the mountain. But in order to stay in this elite group we must have one more thing. We must be God-fearing. If we are prideful we will be thrown back down the face of the escarpment. To be God-fearing one must be able to let God rule their life and to subject themselves to His everlasting judgment. Once you can admit that God is the key to all earthly successes and can give Him the glory due to His name, then, and only then, can one safely assume they have accomplished the goals. They have aspired to success and have achieved true manhood. “What the Gettysburg Address Means to Me”
During the four years of conflict our country was afloat in a sea of
blood. Brother fighting brother.
Sons against their fathers. Our
country was divided by the issue of slavery and states rights. The very cornerstone of our nation was being rocked.
When President Lincoln came to the Gettysburg Battlefield he knew that
his country needed to be unified once more.
This problem of national division has existed since the fall of man and
will continue to plague nations so long as human nature seeks for
self-fulfilling gratification. Instead
of a Civil War however, we are fighting political battles.
Republicans fighting Democrats. Gay
rights activists rise against proponents for the sanctity of marriage.
The implications from Lincoln’s address are applicable in these issues
today. Soren Kreider
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