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VOL. IV. RICHMONI
TU* ^
J. ll^ UU
The "business men have put the salvation
of the soul on a business basis and reduced it
tD a science" recently declared a "business"
man in a talk at a men's meeting. An influential
religious paper, editorially, says: "The
men may not be at the church services; they
do not stress the church services, since they
regard religion from a business point of view,
and believe in doinc thincrn " in womAii. v,
0 vmm.qW. au ? ui ivuo uiiicr
periodicals one finds such expressions as these:
"The business man in Religion;" "Religion
on a Business Basis;" the "Minister who is a
Thoroughgoing Business Man;" the "Preacher
Who Can Push Business Methods and Secure
Results."
Now these expressions appear to the Christian
thinker as rather novel and singular and
irrelevant. Do they mean that a business
course will thus better qualify and equip one
to preach the Gospel and promote the cause
of Christ than a course in language and literature,
science and philosophy, history, theology
and the Bible! Statements of this kind make
and foster this impression.
The writer does not wish to say anything
disnnrnrrinc?lir oi+Vi/>? ''' -?? "
v/ituci uj. ulisiiitjss xxi religion^
or of the "business man in religion
gion is the chief concern of fix! '(55* *?B5jgg
low." It is the supreme cone
of men. And the "business m^nj?
is indeed a great cause for rejcXeitig, provided
the authority of genuine religious ideas permeate
Hiul inflate the "religion of the business
man." Christianity is pre-eminently a system
of ideas; ideas the greatest, because spiritual;
ideas the mightiest, because born of the Spirit
I Of Qnrl T+ io o ?^
? Ja a njfficiii Ui JUC1W OI UO(l 811(1
Christ, His person and work; of sin and salvation,
the plan of which is unchangeable; of the
Kingdom of God and Christian service; of the
church, with its government and sacraments,
its officers and modes of administration. Just
who the "business man" is, one cannot readily
ascertain. But history plainly delineates the
^vereignty of the man of ideas, as contrasted
with the man of methods. Alexander the
f,r?at conquered the world by sheer force, and,
the student knows that he built up the Mace(Ionian
Empire in the most business-like manner;
hut while the world was resounding with
his exnloitia *?*? --1?
t ^* jutuncj iiin tutui^ WiW KllWltlV
achieving a mightier conquest of the human
mind. The Macedonian Empire was soon dismembered
and - extinct; but the mental empire
of the thinker has continued vigorous to
"icse many centuries. Napoleon exhibited ex"ordinary
skill in controlling men and markbusiness
sagacity in the management of his
1^sources and superior generalship in conductln&
his campaigns ; but time has proved, as ha..
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D. NEW ORLEANS. ATLANTA. AUGl
vereignty
By REV. R. L. BENN
himself foretold, that his laws would be remembered
and continue to attract attention
when his victories were forgotten. By the soverign
power of ideas Peter the 'Hermit stirred
all Europe. And the Gospel is the most sovereign
power know to human experience, be
cause it is the sovereign power of spiritual
ideas. It sets up a throne or chair of state in
the human spirit or soul, and Ghxl designs to sit
in this throne and wield His sceptre over it.
Disappoirrtment
"He performeth the thing that is appointed for
me."?Job. 13:14.
"Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot
pass."?Job 14:6
"Disappointment?His appointment."
Change one letter, then I see
That the thwarting of my purpose
Is God's better choice for me.
His appointment must bring blessing
Thnnch it mnv r*f\rr\a 4r? H lomdoo
For the end from the beginning,
Open to his wisdom lies.
, "Disappointment?His appointment."
\ Whose? The Lord's, who loves me best,
\ Understands and knows me fully,
Who my faith and love would test;
For like lovmg earthly parent,
He rejoices when he knows
That HiB child accepts unquestioned,
All that from His wisdom flows.
"Disappointment?-His appointment."
"No good thing will He withhold."
From denials oft we gather
Treasures of his love untold.
weu Me Knows, each broken purpose
I^eads to fuller, deeper trust.
And the end of all His dealings
Proves our God is wise and just.
"Disappointment?His appointment."
Lord, 1 take them, then, as such,
Like the clay in hands of potter,
Yielding wholly to Thy touch.
All ray life's plan is Thy molding.
Not one single choice be mine;
Let me answer unrepining.
"Father, 'not my will, but Thine.'"
?Christian.
It arrested the descent and decay of the Roman
Rmniro whnn it? ruin uonmiwl inouWoKU Tf
rescued Great Britain from barbarism. It has
literally transformed New Zealahd and Fijii
and the New Hebridas. It explains the power
of Paul in superstitious Ephcsus, in debauched
Corinth, in obdurate Rome. It is the explanation
of the power of a Raikes, a Howard, a
Brainerd, an Edwards.
Now, the present age is seriously encumber
western pressyter/am
ml Presbyter/an <r*~
therm Presbyterian
JST 7, 1912. NO. 32.
of Ideas
ed by many difficult problems. There is the
problem relative to capital and labor; the various
sociological problems; and numerous
other equally intricate problems. "Who will
solve these problems? It is quite obvious that
the "business man" will not solve them. If
_ they are solved at all, it will be by the thinker,
by the student. The writer once saw the members
of the Supreme Court of the United States,
each clad in Oxford gowns and caps, with his
parchment under his arm n?aa mitotic
-? j 2'auu Uii"
ostentatiously along the street and file into the
court chamber. Instantly the thought occurred
to him that there go the men who solve
given problems in given spheres of life. And
the Christian minister, the man who communes
with God and who knows God's word is the
providential instrument for the eventual and
effectual solution of multitudes of other problenis
in life. It is the thinker, the student, the
man of ideas, who solves problems.
Travel back two thousand years in imagination
and 'behold that immense concourse of people
from Jerusalem and Judea and the neighboring
regions gathered on the banks of the
Jordan. Why do the merchants and traders
and soldiers and teaphprs
???V4 ?u?i;uu ca^Cl 1J
hasten to hear John? He was not a "business
man," strictly speaking. He was a rude
man of the wilderness. Why do they ask,
"What shall we do?" It was because he communed
with God and knew the will of God
and had something which they did not have.
No one ever touches John that he does not receive
a blessing.
Go back a few years and stand in Wall
Street at noon and see that crowd of business
men hurrying to hear Phillips Brooks. Why do
they sit spell-bound for an hour listening to
him? He was a man of culture, but a very
nnAr Knoinnoo *v> rt 1 * ~
, . uuo.iivw man, aaya ins uiograpner. tie
was a man of ideas. He communed with God
and knew the word of God and had something
which they did not have. He touched their
inmost vital soul.
The world needs such men. The "business"
men need such men. The churches need
such men in all their pulpits. Away, therefore,
with notions which belittle a great thing
like religion and which cheapen her institutions
and minietrir on/1 4
j uuu act iiccs, momer expressed
great sorrow because her. son, who
had grown up with the intention of entering
the ministry, had turned from it and gone into
the banking business. \ She questioned him
ahout it, and he said, "Why, mother, I am
going to he a business man during the week
and preach on Sundays." "Ah, my dear son,"
replied the disappointed mother, "You must
live with God and God's word if you would