Newspaper Page Text
THE PRESBYTERI
VOL. I. ATLANTA, QA
This Weekpage
The Country Church 4
Comparative Religion 4
The Ministers Citizenship 5
The Redeemer's Care For His Church 5
Liberal Idea of Religion 6
The Outlook of Religion in France 7
Jerusalem 8
Altar to the Unknown God 8
Ye Shall Be Witnesses Unto Me 9
Southern Student Conference 16
Concerning the Assembly's Question 16
A Vacation Worth While 17
Dr. Patton at University of North Carolina 20
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| Editorial Notes
T ie last issue of the "Christian Advocate," of Nashvill>
, the "connectional organ" of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, has on its front page a fine picture of
Dr. 3uyler, the Presbyterian minister who recently died.
The recognition by one denomination of the men and
vvoi c of another is a beautiful manifestation of the unity
of ( od's people.
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thelhead when it says: "The original idea of a conve?ion
was a gathering where men or women could
intely interchange opinions, and where there should be
m/ich discussion and a little percussion. The present
uiea of a convention seems to be a gathering in which
siveral noted speakers shall harangue the body for two
or three days, after which it shall adjourn."
Complaint is heard, every now and then, that the
church lacks leaders these days, that there are no special
figures who stand at the front and are looked up to
j as the guiding minds of the church. It is well that it is
1 so. Far better is it that there should be a democracy
in our religious associations. The work of the church
is done by the many, rather than by the few, and the distribution
of the honor and reward instead of fixing
them upon single men here and there tends to separate
the work from ' ?-? - * 1 -
duu iu ^ivc tne giory to Liocl.
At a mission meeting one preacher said to another:
"Where have you been lately? I haven't seen you or
heard of you, nor have I once seen your name in the
papers." "No," was the reply, "I've been working the
corners the past year." "What do you mean?" "Well,
I found there were plenty of preachers in the city and
towns, but the outlying districts where they were most
-- -
..tcucu were almost without them. So I left the city
work and have been going from house to house, gathering
people in little groups in farmhouses and schoolhouses,
preaching to them and teaching them there.
There seemed to be nobody to do that work so I took
it up. I call that working the corners, and I guess my
name hasn't been in the papers for a year."
1
AN OF THE SOUTH
APRIL 14, 1909. NO. 15.
One of our* exchanges discusses the question of funeral
services, very rightly objecting to eulogies of the
xleceased. Such addresses should be excluded. The
nobler the man who lies in the coffin, the more he would
object to fulsome laudation.
Long funeral addresses are no less out out of place.
Along with some selections of Scripture, a brief message
of comfort to the bereaved (or in some cases of
exhortation to be ready) is all that is needed. Brevity
is gofden.
On the other hand, it is possible to handle the Scriptures
at a funeral service in such a way as to leave
little comfort and little stimulation in piety. We have
sometimes seen the pastor read from a book of texts,
picked up here and there, from different parts of the
t? : i-1 - : .4-1 a ^ ? ? % * t-?* i ?
oiuie, wnnoui connection ana wiinout; conerence: ana
at the end of the service not one of them had left any
special impression upon the hearer. Should not the
pastor always aim in such a service to impress some one
helpful thought?
Some vears atro. while snendintr a week in a town in
Indiana, we took occasion to worship with each of its
three churches. In not one of them did we hear a confession
of sin or an expression of penitence. In one
case the sermon involved the question of how to be
saved: but in it there was no suggestion of the guilt of
sin or the need of repentance. We found no explanation
; we simply were painfully aware of the fearful
omission.
In som,e of our contemporary journals, week by week,
there is printed a form of prayer for use by its readers.
The plan is a good one. But alas! many of these prayerforms
omit all confession of sin. They contain no pe
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liliuii iui iui gi vcuc^s, ctiivi iiu appeal lci dluuill^ uluuu.
Over and over has this omission recurred till it becpmes
conspicuous. Why?
King Edward has issued ar. order that there shall be
no more public entertainments in theatres, music halls
and the like throughout England on Sunday, Christmas
Day or Good Friday. Mayor McClellan, of New York
City, on the day before Christmas, revoked the licenses
of some five hundred moving picture shows as a result
of an investigation by himself and others which had disclosed
a general disregard of the fire laws and the frequent
exhibition of immoral and demoralizing pictures.
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lVlcLgiail dlCb WUU die IdlLllllll LU UUly dliu UllSC1113llijr
courageous can secure obedience to law, and do much
for the welfare of the community, economically, socially
and morally. The fact is that brave and outspoken
protest against evils by citizens of character
a'nd standing will drive out the men who for gain are
willing to debase the morals of the people, destroy the
Sabbath and sweep the youth down to destruction.
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