Newspaper Page Text
June 26, 1912] THE;
jays. Hell believed that he could transmit the
human voice by electricity, and the telephone is
the result; Edison believed lie could get light
Hum au electric current, and the incandescent
light is the result; the Wright brothers believed
that they could navigate the air in a machine
Heavier man air, unu uiu aeroplane is cue result.
Had tliey not been men of faith they never would
have succeeded. It was their faith that made
them persist till all obstacles were overcome and'
success was theirs. Marconi believed that he
could send a wireless message across the ocean,
ami beeause he was a man of l'aith he succeeded.
K is a mistake to suppose that faith is something
peculiar to religion. If one is to succeed in life,
iu any business or profession, that success will
he in proportion to one's faith. Faith is the
same act of the soul. It dill'ers in religion only
a> to the Object. Rockefeller believed in oil, Carncirit
believed in steel, and t.hov eluill liavn thoii
u 7 ~?7 "*IWI ullvii
reward; the Christian believes in Christ and
verily he shall have his reward. Faith precedes
achievement in all the walks of life. Faith is
the power that stirs up men to their grandest
achievements. Columbus had faith that the
earth was round, and he discovered America.
Morse had faith that a message could be sent by
electricity, and we have the telegraph. Moses
had faith that a great nation could be made of
a race of slaves, and we have the Mosaic legislation.
Jesus Christ had faith that sinners could
Ir* saved and made into sons of God, and we have
the plan of redemption and the Church of the
living God. Faith first, and then achievement.
That is God's plan.
A LINE 0^ CLEAVAGE.
The destructive criticism has been on trial long
enough for its fruits to ripen and they are found
to be bitter and rank. Conservative and devout
ScllolarshiD is SP.n.nrH inrrlv ronmniiiw a^.^1 ?
jp. ? iviiuu mg aiiu icauniuiug
its devotion to the things that cannot be
moved, the imperishable principles of truth, the
Word of the Lord Which abideth forever. Two
distinct camps have formed and the members of
each are becoming distinctly marked. The lJresbytitian,
of Philadelphia, presents this view of
the situation:
"The careful observer may notice in the religious
world, and even within part of it which
? caned Christian, u line of cleavage whidh is
looming more and more distinct. On the one
side of this line are those who rest back upon
the religious nature of man, and whose chief
purpose is the development of this nature into a
strong humanitarianisiii and philanthropy. This
nulled naturalism. On the other side of this
line are those who, while cognizant of the triple
nature of man?physical, mental and spiritual?
yet understand that the whole man requires to be
saved from sin and death, and that until such
salvation is secured, the powers of man only
hasten hini on t*o destruction. The only power
that can save is the Almighty God, the only
Saviour. This means to this salvation is that
whidh man has counted foolishness, but which
<l(>d has named as the wisdom of salvation; that
1> iU - n - - ?
-I i'io vfrospel of Jesus Christ. This Gospel is the
^ord of God; the Scripture of the Old and New
Testaments. The duty of the Ohurch is to proe'&im
this Gospel, and the promise of the Iloly
Spirit is that He will use this Goepel for the
r<?ciu' of men through regeneration and the upbuilding
of them in 'holiness through sanctifical'?n.
This is evangelism. For some time evanK'iwm
has been quiescent, somewhat retired, and
aPparently amazed at the boldness of naturalism.
Naturalism has been most persistent and determined
upon the destraction of evangelism, and
uplifting of man by sociological process. But
I'Mlay, everywhere may be recognized the
aw?kening of evangelism, the arousing of the
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE 8 6
loices of the Church, the spirit of renewed
fidelity and an increased confidence in the Gospel
of Christ as the l'ower of God and the Wisdom
of God unto salvation. Such awakening is manifested
in the resistance of naturalism, as seen
iu various religious conventions, among Sabbath
school workeru, in evangelistic institutes, and in
the recent meeting of the General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Church of U. IS. A. There is
uo great demonstration. There is no personal
oontention. It seems to express itself in resolute
and determined testimony. Men who once appeared
indifferent, or undecided, speak with conviction,
clear, positive and full of hope. Those
schools which have been imbued with the spirit
of naturalism are making ^ome noted changes in
their curriculum. Once eager in the pursuit of
destructive criticism, they gave much time to the
study of the ancient languages as a means to
this end, but this destructive criticism has lost
its power. The Bible has risen like a phoenix
from the Uame, and has come forth like the cap
live cuiiaien wunoux tne smeii ox nre upon its
garments. It has escaped, like Daniel from the
lion's den. It lias passed through the floods, dry
shod. Interest in the study of the languages
once thought to be the great destructive instrument,
has passed, and Greek and Hebrew are
being retired too rapidly. The art of preaching
is Wlittled. Much emphasis is given to the
study of social conditions as clinics in the pursuit
and development of humanitarian ism. If
tills tendency continues, these schools will become
simply centers of philanthropy and sociology.
The evangelical schools still continue the
study of the languages in which the Word of
God was originally written, in order that they
may obtain more fully and accurately the mind
of the Spirit a* it is revealed in the Holy Scriptures.
The dealings of God witth His Church
through the ages is more earnestly pursued, in
order that the plan of God and His gracious
purpose in saving men may be more fully realized.
The heart being fixed, the intelligence of
man becomes the more eager and earnest to arlange
the great certainties in those forms in
which the human mind more fully and more
strongly 'lays hold of them. And so theology continues
to be honored and studied. The second
part of Christ's commission is not forgotten. The
sick are healed, the poor are fed, and devils are
east out. If the present evangelical awakening
is continued we may look for such a revival of
Christian life and labor as has been rarely experienced
in the Church's history. It is a good
time for all true believers in Jesus Christ to grow
in grace, increase in faith, enlarge in hope, and
become strong in the active service of God in the
Gospel. The days are full of promise."
Men are accustomed to name some callings
iii life menial. They intend by that designation
to imply that there is something degrading
in it. But it is not the calling itself that is
menial or honorable. It is the man himself
who either dignifies or degrades his calling.
A king is not degraded by doing a humble task,
but he rather dignifies the duty bv his willingness
to do it. If your calling makes you mean,
it is menial; but if it makes you a man, it is
honorable.
"Nc sutor ultra crepidam." "Let the shoemaker
stick to his last." A better illustration
of the Latin-English proverb could hardly be
given than in the foolish mistakes which some
religious papers malfe in dealing with the "initiative,"
"referendum." and "recall" problems
of the politicians. Hardly worse are the errors
which the secular papers make when they try
to handle or sometimes even to report ecclesiastical
matters.
U1H (687) 11
SOME PERTINENT QUESTIONS.
BY E. C. QOKDON, D. D.
Extracts from "Editorial Fragments" in the
Presbyterian Standard for June 5th, 1912, p. 2:
"Panhandle Presbytery sent an overture asking
the Assembly to appoint a committee to write
a new Confession of Faith. The reading of this
overture was greeted with an outburst of derisive
laughter. This brought a young commissioner
of that Presbytery to its defence. 'His defence
consisted in a frank avowal that he knew
nothing about the Confession of Faith, had not
been taught it in the Seminary, and had not
studied it since having the Seminary. He was
not, therefore, prepared to defend it against
the frequent and fierce assaults that were made
on it in the region where he labored. He made
the impression that his brethren in Panhandle
Presbytery were in the same state of ignorance
and helplessness. * This pathetic speech
created no little sympathy."
Taken at their face value as correct, these fragments
suggest some pertinent questions.
1. How comes it to pass that Presbyterian
ministers and elders can formally and solemnly
assert that they "sincerely receive and adopt the,
Confession of Faith and the Catechisms of this
Church, as containing the system of doctrine
lai ght in the Holy Scriptures," when they have
never studied these documents and know nothing
about them '
2. How can these ministers, who know nothing
about the doctrines of the Gospel, as these are
formally confessed by their Church, "be zealous
and faithful in maintaining the truths of the
Gospel and the purity and peace of the Church,"
according to their ordination promises?
3. How can ministers and elders, confessedly
igmorant of thpir Church's fYmtVccinn
have any sufficient, not to say any intelligent,
reason for wishing to cast it aside? Is the unbelieving
world, ignorant of God's word and of
our Church's interpretation of that Word, to
constrain us to modify our interpretation to suit
their whims and notions as to what the Word of
God means?
4. Shall the men who are ignorant of the Confession,
and who, notwithstanding that ignorance,
are dissatisfied with it, control the action of
those who know it and are satisfied with it?
5. Will the members of Panhandle Presbytery
and nthpCK wtin at thnir nn J ?l?" ??
-? , iiivn uiuuiug auu (jica,
ed in a few minutes from an attitude of decision
to one of sympathetic .surrender," rise to
answer?
St. Louis, Mo.
"Breadth" which is at the expense of the
"depth" is a very sorry state. It means thinness,
weakness, flatness. The wider it be, if it
has not a corresponding depth, the less there is
in it. AV< one has well written, in religions
vie^vs instead of being a virtue, as many claim
it to be, it usually represents little but intellectual
and spiritual indolence, a putting of all
ideals practically on a level, and a tolerance
which Is no true tolerance at all but only an indifference
undisturbed by conviction.
TP ?l,? -111 ?
ii, ni tut; uue ui eniier proranuy or slang, one
would pause a moment and see how either of
these evils shows paucity of thought and inability
of expression, we feel sure that the ex il
would be less prevalent. One does not like to
he regarded as intellectually small and too dull
to he capable of expressing himself in good language.
Still less will one find pleasure in himself
drawing attention to this fact and advertising \t.