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March 24, 1909. T1 work of advancing the Kingdom, until the "earth shall be full of the knowledge of the glory of .the Lord." It may be said that the Kingdom of God is "within you"; as in Luke 17: 21. But the passage undoubtedly means, also, that while .the Pharisees were asking for.a visible kingdopi, it had already begun, in the little group of disciples, "among you," but whom they despised as ignorant and unlearned men. Again, it is true that preaching the gospel is "heralding the glad tidings" that the Kingdom of God is at hand. It is attempted to restrict this proclamation to the exposition and defense of a system of theology which rests partly on Aris tone, partly on tne early ratners, and partly on "proof texts" of Scripture. This system is called "the gospel," and it is taken for granted that the Church has only to call upon individuals to accept it for themselves, and to disseminate it. It seems to be manifest from the apostolic commission, that our, L<ord intended his kingdom to be eternal and universal. He did not intend to limit it to one age. or one people, one race, or one set of theological opinions. He came that men might have life and thai they might have it more abundantly. This kingdom of God has not yet come in all Its fullness and power. Great as has been its progress, "there remainetli yet very much land to be possessed. "The principles of the kingdom are to be woven into the texture of society, each individual believer is to labor, not alone, but in concert with others; and eacli group of believers is lo co-operate so far as possible, with every other group. Yet the so-called Christian world is flecked with dark spots of ignorance, vice and injustice. We have around us evils, social, civic, legal, economic, educational; and much of this evil is contrary to the plain and simple principles of Christian morality. The observance of the Lord's Day, divorce, child-labor, oppression of the poor, temperance, the abolition of war, the establishment of universal peace, are all great moral questions which affect the very life and welfare of Christian soc'ety. It is true that the pulpit is not the place to discuss or to settle these questions. It may be true that church courts can not handle or settle them. But that grave evils shall exist, about which Christian people as Christians are not to open their mouths, that the intelligence, the wealth, the social power of Christianity may never be evoked to put an end to righteousness, that there i3 an iron wall built up to shut out Christian workers from the "world," seems to be a proposition too narrow to be discussed. Now a program may bring 'before the mass of Christian people, causes which they can influence in the mass. The literature of the world is hill of such discussions, may not the literature of the church at least discuss thorn upon Christian principles? Surely this is not to "bind the church to the chariot wheels of Caesar," or to degrade the church by mixing her influence with Politics. When all professing Christians carry Christian principle into their business, their politics, their society, their leisure, their amusements, the Mngdom of God will have made a KE PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOU great stride in advance. At least we may face these problems with hope and courage. "All things are yours, whether the world or life or death." "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." "If ye know these things, happy are ye, if ye do them." W. S. Bean. Clinton, S. C. ELECT INFANTS. The mere believing of a thing does not make that thing true; many theve are in the grasp of a belief that is utterly false. Desiring a thing to be true is not an infallible proof of its nitHfiilnnnr. 41 1 * uuiuiuiucos, nui uut-s ilie assertion 01 a. thing make it true. In the things of the Spirit we must have a "thus saith the Lord." We notice that some of the good brethren seem to think and to asse>-? that the nature of the love and mere/ of God is such as to afford a presumptive or necessary ground, to hold that all infants dying in infancy are saved. Do not we as Calviuists believe, that all men are born under the law? That is to sav that all men am " > penalty of the law, under the obligation of the broken law. This penalty we believe to be separation from God which when it reaches its logical and necessary end results in absolute forsakenness. The Christ said on the cross, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" We believe it was because he was then paying the penalty of sin in its fullness. For a man to be utterly God forsaken is hell. Do we not also believe that all remain under this penalty, separation from God, unless he sees fit to reunite man to himself in Christ by the Holy Spirit? Now, because a man is growrf to maturity does not make him any ntore able to save himself, more capable to accept Christ, than when he was an infant. Is he not still an Incapable? A man has no more power to accept tho Christ than an infant; then can not we Just as well charge God with being unmerciful In not saving a nonelect man as he would be in not saving a nonelect infant, when one is just as unable to save himself as the other? If I were one of the nonelect, with my present vision, I believe that God would be showing me vastly more mercy to let me pass out in my infancy than to permit me to grow to manhood and add to my already heavy burden of sin. The Confession of Faith, to say the least of it, in our humble judgment, goes as far as the word will permit us to go in a declarative statement. H. P. THE GRAYBILL MEMORIAL 8CHOOL. At the meeting of the Executive Committee of Foreign Missions in March it was decided to make the boys' school in Mexico the special object for the contributions of Children's Day this year. It is also the purpose of the Committee to call this school the Grayblll Memo* " TH. 17 rial School in honor of the beloved and lamented founder of our Mexico Mission. Let us build him a memorial worthy of the noble life which he lived and the splendid work he did for the people of Mexico. Children's day this year will be held on the 23rd, day of May. The literature for the observance of the day, including programs and mite boxes, is now being prepared and we hope to have it ready for distribution before the middle of April. Supplies will be sent to each pastor, the number of programs and mite boxes being equal to threefourths of the Sunday school enrollment as published in the minutes of the General Assembly. Anyone desiring a larger number than this can write to us and we will try to "All the orders as sent. Address: Executive Committee Foreign Missions, Chamber of Commerce Building, Nashville, Tenn. S. H. Chester, Secretary. "ELECT INFANTS." The question before our Presbyteries is: Shall there be any change in our Confession of Faith on the "elect infant" clause? The General Assembly of 1902 took the following action on this subject: "We are persuaded that the Holy Scriptures, when fairly interpreted, deeply warrant us in believinp' that ??ii ?1 - ? a an illiaillO W HO die in infancy are included in the election of grace and are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit" (Minutes of 1902, page 265). Now this action of the General Assembly has never been rescinded, amended or changed, and no protest has been entered against it, but it stands on our official records today as the accepted doctrine and belief of our Church on this subject. Then why should we not put it into our Confession in the place of the objectionable clause, "Elect Infants," etc.? What is a CnnfaocUa m %/vutvooivn ui I' ell ill : IN UC "dogmatic statements," as intimated by some, but a simple expression of our honest belief. Why do we publish a Confession of Faith? Not merely that we ourselves may know what we believe, and that theologians who have studied may understand it, but that the world may know it; then it should be in language that the world can understand. Make it plain, that he may run that readeth it. Now this clause as it stands in our Confession of Faith, is injuring our Church, and especially so since the union between the Northern and Cumberland Presbyterians. To some of our people this whole matter may be a question merely of theory or sentiment, but to some of us it is a serious reality. There are people today waitine and ready to Join our Church as soon as this objectionable clause is changed. No amount of "foot notes" or explanations will suffice. Nothing but an actual change in the language of the Confession of Faith, will remedy the evil. E. M. Munroe. MUford, Texas.