The Presbyterian of the South : [combining the] Southwestern Presbyterian, Central Presbyterian, Southern Presbyterian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1909-1931, January 27, 1909, Page 5, Image 5

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January 27, 1909. THE PRESBYTERI the evangelist's work. Governor Swanson spoke with thrilling effect for the extension of a religious revival throughout the commonwealth, as bringing the largest and happieit result in the welfare of the people, in obedience to law, and in that righteousness which exalteth a people. At Union Theological Seminary, on Friday morning, Dr. Chapman made a most effective and moving appeal to the students and all ministers for an evangelistic minis try. He spoke plainly and forcibly of the need for the full and faithful preparation for the ministry afforded by the seminary courses in every department, in Bible study, in systematic theology, and in church history. An evangelistic ministry will consist first and chiefly in having an evangelistic spirit, loving souls for Christ's sake, and in fellowship with Christ, in always speaking the plan of salvation, pointing to Christ on the Cross, in praying through the sermon, preaching it first to himself, and in having the presence of Christ at the side in all our preaching. At the close of the address, the whole body of students arose and came forward in a new dedication of themselves. The hour will never be forgotten by these young preachers of God's message, and will bear fruit for many years HO come. No one can tell what the results are and what they will be of this well-organized, well-supported, and well-worked campaign to extend the kingdom of God in this city and throughout the state. Certainly there are awakened churches, an encouraged and quickened ministry, a new reliance upon essential gospel truth, centering in Christ and him crucified, and all Christian effort will go for wiia new zeai ana power. The sincere and public harmony of the denominations and the unity of all Christian ministers is a rich blessing in itself, and a strong appeal to the world. Some are brought to Christ now, ihe greater number at first being those who come from church-going families, and out of Sunday schools and B.ble classes. For months to come the churches will be gathering some into the kingdom. Some will become earnest workers for Christ, and some young men will come to the Christian ministry. MU/J. JtlUDS OF STUDY. The advocates of recently devised methods of Bible study, especially those called "the inductive," "the literary and scientific," and "the new pedagogical," have much ridiculed some of the older methods. Especially have they made light of the old-fashioned, old-time direct reading, memorization, and catechetical method. But is the sum total of Biblical knowledge among young people any greater today, for all these new schemes, than a generation or so ago? Has the new pedagogy, for instance, given anything better to the world than the old-fashioned familv instrnrtinn rm Sabbath afternoons spent in singing and reading and helpful conversation, and mothers' reciting to the little ones the stories of the Bible? It may be that these simpler methods did not bring out sharply the literary excellence of the book nor its wonderful unity of design and purpose, but they did something better: they brought out the book itself and let it make, as it always did, its own impression of unity and power. AN OF THE SOUTH. 5 A PECULIAR TERMINOLOGY. Religiousness is of the outward life, religion, of the heart. Religiousness is of act, religion, of principle. Religiousness is form, religion is life. The Athenians had plenty of religiousness, but no religion. Altars to all the gods express religiousness, one altar alone, on which the fire of love is burning, expresses religion. In Roman Catholic communities the term "religion" has a very poor meaning. It is most commonly used to designate ordinary denominational connection. "Changing one's religion" is equivalent to changing one's membership from one church to another. "Giv ing up one's religion" is often used to express a change from the Romanist to the Protestant faith. "I follow the Catholic religion" means that one is a member of the Romanist church. It means nothing as to the inner life of the professor. It was a hard speech, to those who are not familiar with the meaning of the language which is most common in New Orleans, when a certain young woman who greatly admires and looks up to one of our own pastors in that city, remarked to some friends, "Well, I have made up my mind that if I ever give up my religion I shall certainly join Dr. 's church." THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH, The New York Post remarks that "the idea of an 'ecclesia docens' is fast disappearing from the Protestant world, giving place to a very bustling, small talking, social organization known as the 'institutional church,' which is really a very complex business enterprise. Its minister must be a man capable of doing almost everything but preach. The church is all machinery, and the main question is how to get up steam enough to make it go. Everybody is working at something, and for an outsider it Is difficult to discover what it is all about." There's food for thought in this criticism. It re-' fleets the world's judgment in the case. It shows how 1 Jf * - - * * - - * wuriuiy wise people regard the church as having departed from her proper mission when she devotes herself to the ends of a social organization. And having conceived of her as forgetting her mission, is it any wonder that the world ceases to listen to her? As long as she is engaged in her legitimate work of proclaiming Christ, calling men to repentance and faith, ludis-uig iici services a matter 01 worsnip and not ot pleasure or aestheticism, holding up the Word of God as the rule of faith and duty, preaching the doctrine of a sin-atoning sacrifice and of the need of the regeneration of the natural heart, men will listen to her. When she devotes herself to a competitive struggle in the way of entertainment, or to an effort to be humanitarian first and to worship God and proclaim his truth afterwards, she is not only repudiated by the world, but entirely "outclassed" by her rivals. No wonder that outsiders find it "difficult to discover what it is all about." If the church ceases to be a witnessing body, and the instructor of her people and the world in righteousness, her reason for being has passed. She has no place in the world. ^ %r