Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 53:209 (Jan 1896)
Article: An Appeal From A Verdict Of History
Author: William Eleazar Barton

BSac 53:209 (Jan 1896) p. 100

An Appeal From A Verdict Of History

Rev. William E. Barton

No incident connected with the crucifixion is more familiar, and few have served as a theme for more discourses, than that of the so-called penitent thief. Turning to Jesus in the last hours of his life, praying while his companion mocked, and receiving the promise of an immediate meeting with the Saviour in Paradise, his repentance has been the standing example, as his acceptance by the Saviour has been the assurance, of forgiveness for the worst of crimes in the last moments of life. It is possible, however, that this use of the passage has been overdone, and it may be that the almost universal association of this incident with the tardy repentance of desperate sinners not only has been unjustified, but has prevented our seeing some of the important lessons connected with it.

It is worth while to devote some attention to a consideration of the character of this man and his petition. The prayer is one of the most remarkable in the sacred volume, and the character of the man who offered it is worthy of a more careful examination than has usually been accorded him. It has been assumed almost without question that he was one of the worst of sinners, and the homiletic imagination has dilated upon his supposed crimes. As a matter of fact, we know nothing against him excepting that he was condemned as a malefactor by a very unjust tribunal; while there are some facts which, if they do not prove him an innocent or worthy man, may at least be held to establish a

BSac 53:209 (Jan 1896) p. 101

reasonable doubt of his having been a vicious criminal. The world has often been hasty in the judgment of the lives of men of whom it has known little. A good deal of our historical research has resulted in reversing the opinions of the past. The verdict of history concerning Cromwell has changed within the last twenty years; many of the best scholars now hold an opinion concerning the heretic Montanus in direct opposition to the almost undisputed verdict of the ages. Huss and Bruno and Savonarola are considered very different men than the world at one time regarded them. Not always is the voice of the people the voice of God. Let us bring up the case of this alleged thief for a new trial. Let us take an appeal from the verdict of history to a later and fairer generation than that which condemned him, and whose hasty and unjust verdict the world has repeated and approved. Let us not receive the proposition to reconsider his case as though it were visionary and fruitless, but, sitting as an impartial jury, dismissing from our minds all preconceived opinions, consider this case as though we had heard of it for the first time. Let us not, as a jury, be influenced by what the world has thought of this man. T...