The Presbyterian of the South : [combining the] Southwestern Presbyterian, Central Presbyterian, Southern Presbyterian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1909-1931, October 06, 1909, Page 8, Image 8

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8 THE PRESBYTERI/ the Bread of Life. The Bible possesses such power with the Korean Christian that one new-born disciple and a Bible have furnished a whole village of believers for the missionary to instruct and organize when he arrives. ' As a student of the work and a participant in fellowship with many of the leading1 native Christians 1 came to recognize, at least, five characteristics of the Korean believers. They believe in prayer, they practice prayer, they honor the Lord with their simple confidence in the promises and their petitions are answered. They believe and study the LJible. The Korean carries his Bible and hymn book everywhere. He studies the Book in private and in the great annual meetings tor the study of the Word. He, as the head of the family, has family prayer and teaches his children the Scriptures. I have never elsewhere seen so nearly fulfilled the command of Dent. 6:6, "And these words, which i command thee this day shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children, and shall talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." The Korean church is self-propagating. The individual Christian "findeth first his own brother," and the village church feels its responsibility for the next village. This, in a large measure, accounts for the rapid growth of the Gospel in Korea. Self-support is another decided characteristic of the Korean Christian. They build their own churches and village schools, and pay man}' of the native evangelists + IX 71-II- i 1- - ? t anu itmucis. w uiic tne cnurcn is not aitogetner seltsupporting, it is as nearly so as the self-sacrificing contributions of the members can make it. The missionary spirit of the church is inspiring. When the first men were ordained they at once sent one of the strongest of the seven to Quelpart. the large island in the south, as a missionary. There are other missionaries, Korean missionaries, successfully preaching the Gospel in Manchuria, etc. The praying, Bible loving, self-supporting, self-propagating missionary church in Korea, composed of a people recently redeemed from darkest heathenism and poor in worldly possessions, is a worthy pattern for the long established wealthy church at home. Nashville, Tenn. Rob the world of the Bible- and you have robbed it of its chart, robbed it of its compass, robbed it of its Magna Charta?the bulwark of its liberties?robbed it of that which has produced the noblest manhood and the purest womanhood; robbed it of that which has worked out its highest civilization, robbed it of that which has made the Christian nations the most enlightened, the most progressive, the most humane, .the wealthiest, the most powerful people on the face of the earth.?Henry B. Williams. Kindly words, sympathizing attentions, watchfulness against wounding men's sensitiveness?these cost very little, but they are priceless in their value. Are they not almost the staple of our daily happiness? From hour to hour, from moment to moment we are supported, blessed by small kindnesses.?F W. Robertson. iN OF THE SOUTH. October 6, 1909. Devotional and Selections HEART'S DESIRE. Have you worked for gold 'till your coffers are full, Forgetting 'twill leave you at death's dark brink? Have you tasted of pleasure and quaffed so deep , That now there is left but the dregs to drink? Have you struggled and struggled to capture fame, To fflnHrlon v/miv ?1 . ~ juui ucni i, niiu ;uui ui uw 10 auurn, Only to find 'neath the laurel leaves The sting of envy, and many a thorn? Have you toiled in the "sweat of your brow for bread," Planting the seed and tilling the sod? 'Till, like Adam, you ate the forbidden fruit, And from Eden were thrust by an angry God? Have you tried everything that this world can gave? And seek for a prize that is lasting and higher? Than gold or pleasure, or fame or bread?? 'Tis found in Jesus, the heart's desire ?John Richard Moreland. HOW THE BIBLE HAS AIDED THE WORLD'S GREAT AUTHORS. At the University of Virginia, Dr. C. Alphonso Smith delivered an address in the University chapel Sunday night, September 19, to the student body on "The Enduring Influence of the Bible." In his endeavor to impress his hearers with the inralrnlahlp vallip anri far.rMct-ii?-irr n.. ~' _ .M.MV 4Ut VUV.IIillg lltVlttl J lllilU^ll^C UI the Bible, he spoke as follows: "The Bible is a part of world literature. With the exception of the novel and the editorial, both of which arose in the eighteenth century, there is hardly a type of modern literature or form of modern discourse that may not be found in the Bible. I yield to no one in my admiration of the classical literature, of the modern literature, and of the more technical literature of scientific achievement. But in vividness and intensity, in elevation of appeal, in the extent of her literary empire, and in the duration of her sovereignty, the Bible takes easy and secure precedence. The most advanced nations of the world are the children of her fireside; the centuries themselves have been but handmaidens in her service. There is no modern literature worthy the name that has not felt ner influence; tnere is no regnant people whose striving she has not shepherded. "Not only is the Bible a literature in itself, but it is a literature that has peculiarly influenced the literature of which our own is a part. From Caedmon to Kipling, English literature is permeated by Bible thought and Bible diction. The first coherent words of English speech that have come down to us are Caedmon's hymn, a hymn which is not only Biblical in its phraseology, but which is itself a paraphrase of the^ first verse of Genesis. "Of Shakespeare's use of the Bible, Bishop Charles Wordsworth says: 'Take the entire range of English literature, put together our best authors who have written upon subjects not professedly religious or theological, and we shall not find, I believe, in them all united, so much evidence of the Bible having been reatf