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August 28, 1912 ]
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il have just read Rev. R. -L. McNalr's
reply to my former article on "The
leaven." There are two questions Involved,
one of the proof or evidence
that I have that a -majority of our ministers
regard leaven as meaning evrl in
this parable, and the other whether the
Holy Spirit intends it to mean evil
here.
He takes up the -latter question first.
I think I can satisfactorily show that
in both Lev. 23:17 and Lev. 7:13 leaven
typifies evil. 'If however he will secure
a copy 01 uie oconera tteierence Bible,
so widely advertised by our Comimdttee
of Publication and read the foot notes on
the passages named, he will have iny
answer put In perhaps a better way
than I can put It. Also If one will look
in the same edition of the Bible under
the thirteenth chapter of Matthew, bo
will find much more that Is convincing
on this same subject.
Now as to the first question, If any
one supposed that I had written evidence
from a majority of our ministers
that they believed that the leaven meant
evil, I am deeply sorry that H gave this
idea. I intended to convey the Impression
that it is my belief, founded on
good evidence, that a majority of o:ir
ministers, including missionaries, hold
that the leaven does not mean the gospel,
which will convert the world wholly
in this age. I herewith submit my evidence.
About seven years ago the Holy
Spirit made it clear to me from the
Bible that the coming of our Lord might
occur at any moment; that when study
of the Scriptures made it clear to me
that there was no predicted event which
men could see, such as Cor example, a
converted world, that was to intervene
before Christ came again. 1 was
at Union Seminary for three yearB and
neither in nor out of the class room did
a single professor discuss the subject in
my presence. Hence 'I studied the matter
for myself and with the guidance of
the Spirit reached my own conclusions.
In the course of this study Matt. J?
came up for' consideration. I had both
read and heard that the leaven in the
parable meant the gospel, and tha: just
QO thn VMAAI W?
??u iuo iuic?4 nao wtuvrii j lvavvucu ujr luc
leaven, so the gospel would permeate
the world until it was wholly converted.
This would be accomplished In this age.
Mr. Mcffair shows that he holds this
view by his question, "What encouragement
to labor for the hastening of
Christ's coming?" Evidently from this
question he does not erpect Christ to
tome at any moment, but only after the
gospel has permeated all mankind. In
the same connection, he says that if the
visible churoh Is to 'beoome apostate
then the prospect is gloomy indeed. It
certainly would be if that were net
Cod's plan, that among other elements
of wickedness when Christ comes,
would be an apostate professing
Churoh.
It did not take me Ions: to see that 1
could not accept the teaching of the
imminent coming of Christ and hold
that leaven meant the gospel in the parable.
So I set about -to see if another
meaning could be given to leaven, and
I found that if ft meant evil as elsewhere
In the New Testament certainly,
and as I think in the Old Testament as
well, then the parable oould be interpreted
in consistency with the Immanence
of Christ's coming. If the world
was to be converted before Christ came.
1 had no reason to expect him daily.
Rut he commands me to watch. Hence
' reconstructed my notion of the parable
from this point of view and find it
consistent with the context and the rest
?f Scripture to regard leaven here as
elsewhere'' a symbol of evil.
THE PBI8B YTtKl,
the Leaven
I began at once to preach this "blessed
hope" of the imminent personal coming
of our Lord to raiBe those fallen
asleep in Jesus and translate living believers.
The truth had a wonderful
effect. It changed my Washington
church from one giving a bare pittance
to missions to one averaging over five
dollars per member as the Assembly's
Minutes will show.
It was such a practical doctrine that
much worldliness was abandoned. I received
invitations to preach this special
truth elsewhere. I found the people
hungry for it. It has proved especially
comforting to many who have lost dear
ones. It has purified many lives and
manv hnmoo !Tr> oil T V. 1?j
? ?.?v.. .u ?*?'i x nave yruttuuea
It in twenty-five Southern Presbyterian
pulpits, and in no one has a word of adverse
criticism been heard by me from
those who listened, but on the contrary
all, but especially the old Bible
readers, rejoiced in It.
With such a precious truth as this
used with such results, I began to
ask all my brethren as I met them
whether they believed the Lord was
coming before the world was converted
or after the world was oonverted. It
they believed the world must be converted
first, then they would consistently
hold that the leaven meant the gospel.
T C -?> .? * ~ *
ii uii me ouier nana tney believed that
Christ might come at any moment, that
is. before the world was converted, then
they could not hold that the leaven
meant the gospel. For seven years 1
have not lost an opportunity to make
this inquiry of our ministers, including
our missionaries, and the result has
been that the majority of whom II asked
the question declared their belief to be
that the Lord would come before the
world was converted. I was quite particular
in asking missionaries their own
convictions and their knowledge of the
convictions of other missionaries. As
the result of this inquiry, T am yet to
find a missionary who expects the world
to be converted before Christ comes. T
do not say there are none, but I did not
happen to discover them in my search.
Further I have been a member of two
Presbyteries in these seven years and in
both a majority of those questioned expect
the coming of Christ before the
world is converted. I suppose that these
two were a fair sample of the rest,
though this may not be. With this evl
dence therefore, namely the persistent
Inquiry In the Synods of Virginia and
South Carolina, and of many missionaries.
I reached the conclusion that a
majority of our ministers believe that
the Bible teaches that Christ's coming
may occur at any moment and not after
the world is converted, In short that
these parables In Matt. 13, which explain
the course of this age, which began
at Pentecost and ends with the first
resurrection of those asleep in Jesus
and the translation of living believers,
do not In general teach a converted
world when the age ends with Chrlsfs
coming, and this parable of the leaven
in particular does not teach that the
world is to 'be wholly converted by the
nreaoh'ne of the goapel of the grace of
God before Christ caanes.
|I have submitted In full the evidence
on which I based my statement. I -wish
now that I had kept the names of all
whom I asked. Of course T can give
the names of many, but by no means a
-riajorlty. (In fact very far from the
9755 necessary to constitute a majority.
T trust, however, that this full
statement will lead many to study the
B'ble Itself on the subject of prophecy,
and that the blessed hope of the Imminent
coming of Christ will become a
real, practical, purifying belief to others
that It has been to me, and that ft will
* * ?
AN OF Til lllll
fire others with missionary zeal to tell
the story to all men, not to convert the
world, nor with the expectation of that,
but to gather out of the Gentiles a people
for his name (Acts 15:14), in short
to complete the -body of Christ, which
being completed will be the signal for
Christ to come 'FOR his saints, an event
to be followed by hds coming WITH 'his
saints in power and great glory.
Abbeville, S. C. H. W. Pratt.
THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEX.
Bjr Rev. ?. C. Gordon, D. D.
I am not concerned about 4be question
respecting the number of preachers
and others who side with or against
the Earnest Worker in ite interpretation
of the parable of the leaven. Tbe
important thing is the correct interpretation
of the parable.
The interpretation of the Earnest
Worker is in general that of the poetmiilennarians.
The interpretation of
our brother, the Rev. H. W. Pratt, is
that of the pre-millennarians. Both interpretations
bring the parable into direct
contradiction to our Lord's teaching
in the parables of the Wheat and Tares,
and the Drag-Net.
The post-millennarlan takes the
leaven in a good sense, and teaches
"that the gospel will continue to spread
until the whole of mankind is leavened."
See Earnest Worker for July', p. 387.
The pre-millennarian takes the leaven
in a bad sense, and teaches that it will
permeate not only the world generally
but also "the visible Church until it is
wholly apostate." See our brother
Pratt's article of July 17th in The Pres
byterian of the South and In the Christian
Observer, in direct opposition to
both of these teachings, our L<ord tells
us that both the good seed and the bad.
the children of the kingdom and the
children of the Devil, will grow together
until the harvest, which is to
be at the end1 of this age. when he will
return in person to the earth and make
a final separation between the two. This
is true also of the visible Church, which
is to gather out of the sea of the world
both good and bad, to be completely and
forever separated when he comes.
Out brother, the Rev. R. L. MCNalr, in
his illuminating article of July Jlst in
The Presbyterian of the South, has conclusively
shown that we are not constrained
always to take leaven in a bad
sense. There is no good reason why we
should take the "three measures of
meal" of our paraible as meaning all
mankind. Our Tx>rd neither says nor
*ir<plles that It is thus to be taken. The
implication is otherwise. The three
measures are taken out of the whole
mass of the flour at the woman's dts
posal. They represent the true invisible
Church taken out of the mass of mankind.
the "elect remnant" within the
visible Church. This "elect remnant."
the true invisible Ohuroh. is to be saved,
all of it. Originally spiritually dead
and inert, it is to be made spirituallv
alive and active by the pervasive power
of Christ's Word and Spirit imparted
to it by Cod's sovereign grace.
This interpretation is strictly in accord
with our Lord's personal teaching
with the uniform teaching of the Scriptures
from Genesis to Revelation: and.
iT mav add for the benefit of those who
nave not stuaieo our stanaarns. mar
this Interpretation 1b 1n strict accord
with the confessional position of our
Church.
S*t. Tx>ui?, Mo.
Tvife Is ? burden imnosed imon von
by God. Whflt you make of It. that H
will be to vou. TWher a millstone
around vour neck or a dtedem on your
brow. Take It on bravelv. hear 1+ on
tovfnilv. lav ft down triumphantly.?
G?11 Hamilton.
(999) 17
WHY MONUMENTAL CHURCH 18
EPISCOPALIAN.
The valuable historical discourse of
the pastor of the First church, Richmond,
Va., published in a recent number,
brings to mind stories and tra- *
ditions a former generation told of the
one before, of Presbyterlanlsan centered
in Pine Apple churdh, located in
Rockette. the lower part of the city and
snockoe "Hill church, named from its
location. These reminiscences told of
great carnal and spiritual conflict; there
being no line in the mind of the narrator
distinctly separating the two. The
happenings were during the days of
Aaron Burr, bia trial 'being held in
Richmond before John Marshall, whose
home at that time still stands on the
corner of Ninth Street and the one bearing
his name.
Especially relished were anecdotes of
Mister Buchanan, the Episcopal minister
and Parson Blair, the Presbyterian,
men whose Influence was great
while they lived and whose memories
are redolent to this day. The latter,
doubtless, thundered on the '^Perils of
Prelacy," and the "Disastrous Diocesan,"
and the former on the "Errors of
Eldership" and "Presbyterian Platititudes"
and congregations were aghast;
one seeing "the child of Papacy" left
XgrlfHrMtA o 1 Anc 1A
xavMVtrw a 1^6 IV OUOHU VII, VLlXtJI
"the creature of John Calvin's brain and
John Knox's zeal" tumble, realized the
impossibility of any ahuroh not In line
of the 'bishop's laying on of hands. Bach
thanked God and took courage. The
next day the two fulminato rs would resume
the apostolic oult. one saying, "I
go a fishing," the other, "I also will go
with thee." Mister Buchanan being a
bachelor, made that an excuse for transferring
his marriage fees to Parson
Blair, whose descendants are valued
citizens of the city where he labored.
The two were brothers Indeed. Parson
Blair reciprocated courtesies and to this
we may attribute the fact that Monumental
church 1b Episcopalian and not
Presbyterian. For it was built by the
city of Richmond as a monument to
those whose names are inscribed on the
urn in its portico and who perished in
the flames of the burning theater once
standing where the church now invites
to hear the Word and offer worship.
On the night after Christmas in 1811
Richmond theater was burned to the
ground and a large number of the spectators
perished. Protestants declared
the event inscrutable and Catholics
seeing the play was "The Bleeding
Nun," and they held a libel upon their
faith, said, "It was the Judgment of
God." There was fasting and mourning
by the city. A mass meeting was
called and seeing the Governor of the
State, George W. Smith, and other
prominent persons had perished, some
indeed burned to ashes, it determined
a monument should 'be erected on the
site and take what seemed to those assembled,
the most fitting form, a house
of worship.
The building erected conforms to
the type of the more modern form.
There is no steeple or tower which was
then the common characteristic of a
church. Perhaps the thought of monument
controlled the design, a vast tomb.
It is circular without, the roof Bloplng
from a wide and low lantern In the cen
ter. On either side Is a small porch
shading a door. In front Is a large portico.
Che ascent to which 1s by steps on
three sides from a platform. Between
two pi Bars, as you stand on the street,
you see the urn. Tt Is of white marble
and on It are cut the names that were
obtainable of those who perished. Within,
the hulldlng 1s octagonal, having
galleries all around, except over the
attar. Hectors of Monumental church
have been elevated to the bishopric. It
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