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March 3, 1909. THE PRESBYTERI/
of the possibility of the supernatural is but a fitting
companion for all the rest of their so-called doctrines,
based as they arc, not upon the Scriptures as the word
of God, but upon what they are pleased to label "science."
Every principle that is fundamental to the
Christian faith has been set aside, God Himself has
been degraded and no knees are any longer to bow at
the name of Jesus, nor tongues confess that he is Lord.
Dr. Bcttex, one of the devout scholars of Germany,
has summed up the whole situation in the following
language: "Is there, according to this radical criticism,
any inspiration.'' ,\one! Any Trinity? None! Any
fall into sin? None! Any devil or angel? None! Any
miracles? None! Any law from Mount Sinai? None!
Any wrath of God? None! Any prophecy? None!
Is Christ God? No! Is the death of Christ vicarious?
No! Did Christ rise from the dead? No! Has there
been any outpouring of the Holy Ghost? No! Will
there be any resurrection of all the dead, or a final
judgment? No!"
. Although we are not here to utter prophecies, but
rather to study conditions, yet we may venture to express
the humble opinion that the day is not far distant
when this New Theology will follow into oblivion those
systems which have gone before it, in antagonism to
the truth of God. This does not mean that there will
not be left some who are willing to believe it and risk
their all upon it. I have often thought that it was
through such means that God is moving for the separation
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this world. But no Christian will ever be moved with
fear lest the Word of God shall fall to the ground and
come to naught. All of these movements are but instruments
in the hands of God for the accomplishment
of His wise purpose. God is still God, and His truth is
still held in the Hand that is omnipotent.
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HOCUS-PO-COSITY.
With the new cult that is given the high sounding
name of "Psychotherapy," the writer wishes to couple
a word of his own coining?HOCUS-PO-COSITY.
. The Presbyterians are not given to new-fangled notions?and
but few of them pretend to be "wise above
what is written," so it is a matter of surprise that one
of our religious teachers, should claim two functions
that have not either been claimed or exercised by any
evangelical sect or denomination, since the days of the
apostolic church.
That any man should claim in tln>c?
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power "to heal the mind diseased," except as physicians
do, by "using remedies that act upon the physical organs?is
an assumption of divine power, that we do
not believe God is granting to men in the present stage
of this dispensation.
That any man should claim l>y his-own dictum?to
speak for God and "forgive sins," is an assumption of
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auuuuic neionging to deity alone.
That a faithful minister of the word may say to a
poor repentant sinner: "Believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ with all thine heart, and thou shalt he saved,"
is but saying, what Jesus has revealed to man as a
condition of salvation; but no power rests with any
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OF THE SOUTH. n
man, be he Pope or Prelate?to forgive sin. And no
Protestant who believes in the alone sovereignty of
God can tolerate such an assumption on the part of any
man.
I am ready to believe that as Christ's kingdom grows
in power and influence, and the kingdoms of this world
come more under the influence of the gospel, we are
to sec bestowed "wonderful gifts unto men," and great
things will be done in his name." But at no stage in
the Dispensation of Grace will God surrender to man,
any part of his sovereignty.
Let us catalogue this new cult aright and call it
HOCUS-PO-COSITY.
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>\ i>i. LAL KIJi HILL.
Floral Manse, N. C., Feb. 18, 1909.
A TRIBUTE TO PRESBYTER1ANISM.
The Kentucky Court of Appeals, in its recent decision
in the well known Cumberland case before it, gave
its opinion in a most elaborate document of more than
fifty typewritten pages. The "opinion" was prepared by
Justice Barker, of that Court, a man who is not a Presbyterian
but a member of the Disciples' Church. The
tribute to Presbyterianism which it contains is for this
reason all the more remarkable. Its closing words are
as follows:
"The history of the Presbyterian Church is the history
of a very large part of what we know and enjoy of
civil and religious liberty. The teachings of her faith
arc such as have always attracted to her the most lofty
minds and the boldest spirits; in following her path
through the pages of history, whether her votaries be
called Lutherans, as in Germany, Huguenots, as in
France, Covenanters, as in Scotland, or Puritans, as in
England, they will always be found to be among the
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. ....v, wji. .TA.5 a religious organization, it
had no compromise along the lines of conscience to make
with power, and it could he deflected from the path of
rectitude neither by the frown of authority, nor the blandishments
of corruption. With the same indomitable courap-p
it rnnfrrtnfo/1 ?
_0_, .. ?me Malignly princes ci tlie House of
Tudor, and the crowned weaklings of the House of
Stuart?with the same words of scornful condemnation
it rebuked the sins of MessaHna on the throne and the
wanton in the street. Her path has led her oftencr into
exile than into favor with the great?oftener to the dungeon
and the stake than to the pleasures of king's houses,
or the friendship of courtiers. But under her searching
gaze the shackles have fallen from the human mind, and
the divine right of kings has shrunk to the mean thing
it now appears. Wherever a battle was to be fought for
human liberty,?whenever a forlorn hope was to he led,
or a mine braved for conscience' sake,?whenever the
blood of a martyr was needed as a testimony to truth,?
her answer was always that of the prophet of old, 'Here
am I; send me.' "
It is always a mistake to plan a single detail of another's
life; the more entirely one avoids this, the safer
is the relationship.?Edward Howard Griggs.