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May 12, 1909. THE PRESBYTERIAN
As to spiritualism itself, we suppose there is no
doctrine or scheme that is covered by such a cloud of
fraud and deception. Its leading and most successful
I promoters and exhibitors in this country and abroad
have been thoroughly exposed as frauds, and have
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.^v.i ?.<-mii|jcucu 10 coniess tnat tney were humbugs
and fakirs of the basest kind.
An unanswerable objection is in the fact that in no
case has any communication been received that has
been of any value to mankind. Nothing has been
learned whatever of the life beyond. The so-called
communications have been sometimes false, usually
empty and absurd, and always of a kind within the
intelligence of the professed medium.
It makes death but the more to be dreaded if there
is l iic pro Da di my tnat in another world one will become
so absurdly weak, so pitifully occupied with the
smallest things that concern us here, liable to foolish
blunders and falsehoods.
The possibility of communication with spirits disembodied
may not be denied. Rut undoubtedly the
tenor of the Scripture is a warning against our seeking
such communication. And the history of spiritualism
through the ages, and especially in modern
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nines, iiraciics us 10 snun any contact with it. It has betrayed
many into unbelief and the rejection of the
supernatural altogether. It has probably led more
into mental disorder and carried them to the asylum.
It should be enough for us to bide God's time, to be
satisfied with his word, and to wait patiently for the
great day of revelation in the world where nothing is
^ false and "we shall know even as we are known."
THE SOLUTION OF MORAL PROBLEMS.
The prevalence of immorality, or perhaps the public.ty
given to multiform unrighteousness, has occasioned
very general and urgent inquiry as to the source
of public disorder and the remedies to be applied. The
answer that we usually find in literary magazines, in
daily papers and in many religious periodicals, is "education,"?the
teaching of practical ethics in the public
scnoois, in charitable and reformatory institutions, as
well as in the homes of our lan^l. This summer, lecturers
at conventions and institutes all over the land
will ring the changes on teaching truthfulness, honesty,
industry, temperance, and the whole list of moral precepts
to the young, as the adequate remedy for political,
economic and social corruption.
It is the old fallacy of applying lotions and plasters
to cure organic disease. Assuredly qtoral precepts are
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lnuispensaDie. i nere must be a clear understanding of
the dangers and penalties of wrong-doing. The beauty
of right conduct is to be exhibited and the value of a .
strong, pure character to be impressed.
' But, after all, this preceptive training is only preliminary
and almost incidental. Society will never be
transformed by books and lectures on right conduct.
Societies for ethical culture might be multiplied indefinitely.
and our prisons and safety vaults and police
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uuiiiu .-mi uc uccasa. i ne worst criminal understands
the revolting monstrosity of his crime quite as well as
the most upright citizen. The drunkard knows the
shame and tyranny of strong drink. The murderer
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OF THE SOUTH. 5
knows the fiendish passion that masters him, as noother
man can know it. Corporation extortioners are
experts on the criminality of their profession. Grafters
in public office are not the innocent victims of circum
stance nor are they blind to the moral deformity of
their crimes. The unchaste in high social life, as well
as in the slums, are fully aware that their characters
are reeking in moral filth. They have been taught these
elementary truths in childhood, and have been drilled
in them by daily contact with the world. They have
moral intuitions that have never failed to pronounce a
just judgment against their crimes, and conscience,
however outraged, is yet a faithful sentinel. There are
those whose consciences are seared. There are those
wno, not liking to retain the knowledge of God,
are given over to believe a lie, but these are scarcely
appreciable in the great mass of lawbreakers and corruptionists.
The world at large is not expected to appreciate,
much less to apply, the radical and effective remedy
for evil. Moreover it is outside of the province of the
State. It is, however, high time that educators should
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uc teaming mat saives and plasters will not drive
poison from the blood. "For when for the time ye
ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you
again which be the first principles of the oracles of
(lod."
The stupendous task before the Church is to inculcate
reverence for God's authority, a sincere belief of
his Word, an acceotance of Christ k tVio
sin, the constraining power of his love and sanctifying
agency of his Spirit' and the assured hope of immortality
through his redeeming blood and abounding
grace. The souls of the multitudes niust be brought
under the power of Omnipotence, their lives illumined
with a more than earthly light, and their hearts purified
by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the
Holy Ghost.
SPIRITUAL CULTURE IN COLLEGE.
t )ne of the most significant events of recent times
in the realm of education was the convention of the
Religious Education Association held in Chicago. In
its personnel it was broad church as might he expected,
including Jew and Gentile, Unitarian and Trinitarian
with many intermediate types. But herein we find a
chief value of the convention, for with one voice these
men sounded warnings against the present danger of a
purely secularized education and declared in favor of
moral and spiritual culture as of primary importance in
all grades of institutions of learning. They believed
that character should be* put first in educational processes
and protested that the spiritual element must
not be ignored in university education. It was agreed
that not only the welfare of the church but the perma
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yi /liiikiadii iiistiimiunb is uepenaent on religious
education.
The figures show that to every ordained American missionary
there was an average of forty-one members added
to the Church abroad last year. The increase in membership
in the foreign mission fields was twelve per
cent against one and one-half per cent at home.