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September 11, 1912 ]
Christianity's ,
(By HEV. /. S. A
One of She most interesting and stimulating
and suggestive books read during
my recent" outing was written with
the above title by the Rev. Charles
Stelzle, superintendent of the department
of Church Labor for the Home
Mission Board of the Presbyterian
Church U. S. A.
Perhaps no thoughtful reader will
agree with the author in all that he
has written in this book, but the book
is readable and reliable and helpful
and timely and ought to have a large
circulation.
No one will question the claim that
the storm center, or at least one of the
Btorm centers, of Christianity iB the
modern city, and particularly In America,
but the fullness of the truth of
this admission is realized by only a
small proportion of our people; perhaps
even of our Church leaders. For
this reason among othere 1 ?ra now
writing to call the attention of your
readers to this book, so admirable In
spirit and written by one so peculiarly
qualified for his task. From experience
and study and the help of the
Holy Spirit he knows the Church and
the working man as these are known
to few. He was horn in a city tenement
and brought up in the family and
surroundings of a working man, and
then born again by the Spirit of all
grace, and educated and trained fcr
the ministry of the gospel in the Pres
uyierian unurcn.
He Is a leader In labor councils and
a ruler in Church courts; a regular
correspondent for labor periodicals and
also for religious papers and magaRincs.
A mutual friend whose life mission
it Is to help the Church to understand
the working man and the working
man to understand the Church.
His book is not the profoundest or
most exhaustive treatment to be found
on those great economic problems that
are now challenging the attention of
all leaders and lovers of the Church,
hut it is decidedly the most encouraging
and sanely optimistic book on this
Bubject that I have read.
It is an excellent antidote for the
evil influence of those present day
writers who are trying to make the
impression and sometimes complacently
claim that the Church is fast losing
her place of supremacy among the controlling
forces of our civilization; that
she is losing her hold on the masses
and especially on the men; that the
orking folks are antagonistic and the
leaders of thought in all departments
are increasingly Indifferent and neglectful
of attendance on the preaching
of the gospel.
Under the caption, "Some Challenging
Forces," we rea3, "But the great
strength of the Church lies in the fact
that Christianity is the result of God
seeking man, while all other religions
are the result of man seeking God,"
"And so the Church has come down
the ages with increasing power and in
a.,.?-.. ? . ...
.ciive.-- "nrven ner enemies nave been
formipellod to admit that the Church has
done more for the common cause of
humanity than all other agencies combined."
"it is not likely that any force
In the city's life will ever gain supremacY
over the Church," but a combination
of forces rflay possibly cripple her
"Refulness aJid power.
After a clear and concise setting
forth of these forces the author presents
the conditions favoring the
f'hurch. He deals with facts, not theories.
>
First, working men honor Jesus
1 hrist and most of them believe in his
deity.
Second, working men are naturally
THE PRE8BYTERIJ
Storm Center
IcELROY. T>. T>.
religious and infidelity scarcely exists
among them.
on. i -J *-?
mud, woraing men recognize the
social question as a religious problem
which must ultimately be settled by
a right application of the teachings
of the Bible to the relations of human
life.
Fourth, working men are responsive
to the appeal of the Church, many of
their leaders are Church officers and
no part of the public press is more cordial
with the Church than is the labor
press of today. The tendency to find
in labor unions a substitute for the
Church is decidedly on the decline. The
working man is learning fast that there
can be no adequate substitute for the
Church, and no lasting service of man
outside ".le service of Ccd, and no true
brotherhood of man without the fatherhood
of God.
These facts suggest the hope, the
f>nnArtnn Iftr ^
-rl J auu mo vruusailUII D( Xne
Church. The/ s'po commend the author's
answer to hi6 own question'
"What should te '.he attitude of the
Church toward so?;.iIisrn? First, If
must recogui'/.e t.i? right of every man
to be a socialist if he is convinced that
socialism is morally and economically
sound. Second, it must recognize the
fact that there are some good things
in socialism for which socialism should
be given credit. Third, working men
should be informed that the Church
does not endorse the present social
system. It accepts only so much of
the present system as is in accordance
with the principles laid down by Jesus
Christ. It insists that these principles
shall be applied to society in all its
ramifications, but it also believes that
others besides Socialists have both the
brain and the heart to interpret these
principles. Fourth, working men should
be convinced tbat the Church is not
offering them the gospel as a mere
sop nor because it is afraid that some
day they will bring on a revolution: and
that it is offering the same gospel with
all Its privileges, as well as its obligations,
to their employers."
It is not expedient nor proper fcr
the Church to preach social theories,
but it is very Important that our
preachers and Church leaders should
make themselves familiar with the
forces that are now at work In our
social centers and that are so distinctly
challenging the supremacy of the
Church and at the same time offering
the Church a splendid opportunity for
TulflllVng her divinely appointed mlss
on in the world. For this end this
hock will be found helpful.
THE USE OF MEANS.
Means in relation to ends and ends
in dependence upon means are as mucv
an ordinance of God and as obligatorsupon
us as prayer itself. If God shut*us
up in a situation where no means
are possible, we have a right to pray
for what we want In tfhe absence o*
all means, and God 1s perfectly able to
give It to ns without means, if It seem?
wisest and best to himself. But i*"
every case In which means are available
to us their use Is commanded and th*
poor fanatic who neglects them an''
netnlantly cries for what he wants dishonors
God, grieves rational Christians
and gives occasion to the devil and hi'friends
to triumph.?A. A. Hodge.
Christ did not tell his disciples to
nray for a harvest, but that God would
send forth laborers into his harvest.
Tf we furnish the laborers he will furnish
the harvest. And the harvest wll'
always be equal to the quality and
quantity of the laborers.
i M OF TK1 SOUTH
HUMBUGS!
By Kev. M. B. LanibdJn.
Once upon a time, so the story runs,
a lot of college boys attempted a "sell"
at the expense of their Professor of
Entomology. Taking the head of one
'vind of bug, the wings of another, tbe
attennae of that, and so on, they skillfully
fabricated what looked to be a
new variety of the genus bug.
Thinking that they had a dead sure
thing on the unsuspecting butt of their
joke, and with pent up laughter ready
to explode in loud guffaws when the
exposure oame. they handed it to him
with the seemingly innocent remark.
Professor, here's a new species of a
bug that we have found. What would
you call It?
Giving It a pretended critical examination,
imagine their chagrin when he
handed it back with the quick reply,?
'1l'd call it a humbug."
The college 'boys' humbug was one
kind; there are others of another kind.
In a haphazard sort of a way let us
pen-point a few specimens that you can
net any fair day, and without going
very far afield either in the effort.
Here is one in the silly pated notion
that?
Brassy self-conceit is a sufficient substitute
for the gold pf genuine worth.
An old-time negro in Washington
City was accustomed to shave Daniel
One day a pompous individual dropped
into the tonsorial chair.
As he was about to begin operations,
the barber said, "You is sittin in the
very same cha'r, sah, that has been
occupied by the great Daniel Webster."
"Indeed? Glad to hear it."
"Yes, Bah, and youse remind me of
him, sah.,r
Flattered by the remark, the unsuspecting
patron replied, "Thank you for
the compliment; and wherein do I remind
you of Webster?"
"In your bref, sah."
There are not a few individuals, pompous
or otherwise, whose resemblance
to greatness consists mainly in' the
"bref."
The "bref" of the imitation or posQOfffii'An
y-vf frollHoo ?? J "
uvuu.vu vi buv itauvico anu ?>vca vi uic
famous: or the "bref" of fictitious
claims to ability and worth. They are
like the petty tradesman who displays
the most part of his diminutive stock
in the show window front, with but
little within to fill the empty shelves.
The world owes me a living is another
assertive humbug. W.hen did the world
ever happen to be a debtor to any man?
From the first day that it bung out
its sign at the corenr stand of the centuries
it has been doing a strictly
puid nro puo business. Its one single
rnl? for the conduct of its affairs is:
Pav in; take out. Nothing received
from you: nothing due you. Not a
single i o u note Tor a single penny
has It ever Issued to a single person.
The man Who goes upon the theory
that the world owes him something,
without the formality of working for
it. or naylng in something in return
value for it. isn't usually scrupulous
as to how he attempts to make his
collections.
This is the root principle of graft,
the penal Institutions of the land
are crowded with victims of this humhug
claim.
Xothlne Is so successful as success.
TVked out in its gav and gaudy coliV.I
?VI.
m,?. ?uu i nuiivot ncnc?c iiifli lUJH
nrovprh'ml bn?* was the genuine thine.
Process! What a "nwienetic word!
Written in letters ble everywhere.
Ovp? the eateway of the arena of
clitics; above the desk of the mernn<i
financier: on the wails of
'eyisiatlon and law.
(1047) 17
Its terse and crisp keynote is, "To
get there; and to get there at any
cost." W*hat matters it how we get
there, and how we get it? The end
justifies the means. "With all thy get
ting get success," shout its deluded
votaries.
Success crowns with glory the victor.
Failure shackles with shame the van
quished.
Truth and righteousness, honor and
nobility count for naught.
Youth is the time to sow one's wild I
oats.
The devil is kept so busy working
overtime to fill rush orders for this
fraudulent bug, that he can hardly keep 1
pace with the ever increasing demand. 1
And it is the thinnest kind of humbug,
too.
'No farmer, though absolutely daft, 1
would believe for one second that he 1
could harvest a crop of wheat from the
sowing of wild oats. "Whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he also reap."
Sowing the wild oats of a sinful 1
youth means, further on, the reaping 1
of the wild harvest of a blasted charac- |
ici, a aiscreaited reputation, brokenhearted
parents, apoplectic friends, an
accusing conscience, a hopeless death.
'ThiB Is a terrible ending of a misspent
life," was the tragic sentence in
a brief note written by a young man,
just a few minutes before be committed i
suicide, as reported in the daily papers
recently, under the headline, Washington,
D. C., August 6. !
It doesn't matter what kind of a religion
one beileTes in, provided he Is
sincere in his belief.
Just as rational a position for a man
to take as to believe that he will step
off his Pullman at the Grand Union
Station, New York, at the end of his
journey, while all the time his train
is heading at forty miles an hour day
and night for Mexico City.
What a successful business, too, one
pftnlH nrtti/liiA* - 1?u-* ' * "
wuuuki. iu >uc oenet tnai i times
7 makes 77, and 9 times 9 makes 99.
the multiplication table to the contrary
notwithstanding.
If sincerity constitutes the essential
thing In order So our soul's salvation,
then the exclusive claim of the gospel
that "there is none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we
must be saved," than the name of the
crucified Son of God, becomes sterilized
into a meaningless phrase.
And the stupendous asseveration of
Jesus Christ, "I am the way, the truth,
the life; no man cometh unto the Father
but by me," is nothing more than
an outburst of empty declamation and
oratorical froth.
And what shall we more say as to
the Religious freaks and fads galore,
with which our times are prolific and
afflicted?
Humbugs, every one of them. And
it is passing strange, too. that swarms
of persons are gulled by the arrogant
and specious claims of Mormonism.
Spiritualism, Dowielsm, Mary Bddyism,
Russellism. Blavatskyism, and the like.
Some of these pretentious and occult
cults digged out of the discarded and
effete philosophical rubbish piles of India,
China and Persia.
The hotch-potch religious humbugs
would be humorous and laughable, were
not the moral and spiritual consequences
so serious and deadly. For
false doctrines lead to a false life, and
me ?iia or inese tnings la death."
The question is asked repeatedly:
"Why do so many people, some of them
apparently educated and cultivated, too,
permit themselves to be deceived by
these doctrines, humbugs and religious
charlatans?
One answer may be found in the natural
gullibility of the average person.
(Continued on Page 2t.)