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January 29, 1913 ] THE P
Editorial 1
The older people amongst us recall with a
smile the philippics which were once hurled from
the pulpit against jewelry and head-gear, b>
the ministers of some of our lister churches. And
inose were noi Daa days, eitner. it is a pity
that a little more of the Puritan spirit does not
prevail nowadays. The distinction may well be
made between puritanism and puritanicalism.
Some object to the "Talent Money Piau''
which our Executive Committee of Foreign Missions
is advocating as a means of seeking to raise
the money needed to pay off the Foreign Mission
debt- We arc not asked for advice in the matter,
but we give it, nevertheless. It is this. If
the plan proposed does not strike you favorable,
by all means decline to adopt it, but be sure that
you adopt some other in its place! Find a sub
. stitute for it. something downright good and
effective and biblical, and all that, and "WORK
IT!
Si
The Thornwell Centensnial Addresses, delivered
before the Synod of South Carolina and pub
hshed by the order of the Synod, appear in a
neat pamphlet. They should be read by all our
ministers -and church officers, and all members of
our beloved Church who desire to be informed
about the great leaders, the prominent events
and the outworking of the great principles for
which the fathers contended; principles which
we trust will be ever maintained by those who
are the inheritors of their faith. It may be
safely said that among those who under God
have given character and direction to the
Church no name stands higher or wears more
enduring lustre than that of James Henley
Thorn well. The addresses were delivered by
three of our most capable ministers, Dr. Thos. IT.
Law, Dr. A. M- Fraser and Dr. Thornton Whaling.
These men received their theological training
at Columbia Seminary where Dr. Thorn
well's greatest work wan done and where the
force of his great intellect is still felt and the
fragrance lof his spiritual influence yet remains.
Substantially bound copies may be
cflrtli vwt /I a f ^ Da a a aL am ??i vx a r\ am r? f 0*\a an aL V\ i r
orvuivu ni n'l:. until ur jii [;npui aw ratn, uy
addressing Dr. Tlics. H. Law, Spartanburg,
S. C.
A few weeks ago much was made, in the
Associated Press,# of a new "Baptist Bible"
which had just appeared, an edition in which
all sorts of things were done for the purpdse
of supporting the immersionist contention especially.
It was a case of much ado about
nothing. The reporters did not know .that
similar efforts have been made before, and especially
the notable instance of the "Bible
Union's" immersionist Bible of a few decades
ago. Such efforts have always fallen flat, as
will this latest one. No one need be greatly
concerned about the matter. All attempts to
issue Bibles that are manifestly based upon
purely sectarian grounds and that will reflect
the distinctive views of their publishers have
proved abortive, as they should, in all the
history of versions and translations. The chief
reason for the rejection by all careful readers
of the Douay-Rheims version is that it was
ma/?n * I. ~ ? - c 1'
jiui. tuc cAprcss purpose 01 supporting
the Roman Catholic contentions as to many of
their man-devised doctrines and practices.
January nineteenth was observed throughout
the greater part of the South as a holiday in
honor of General Robert E. Lee. In Virginia
the commemoration included the name of General
Stonewall Jackson. It jjp evident that the
RESBYTERIAN OF THE 80
Votes and
names and achievements of these two immortals
loom larger and become more sacred as the years
pass. Not only in the South, but in foreign lands
the record of their lives pnd services is regarded
with profound admiration. Not simply their
military genius is extolled, but the masterly
force and (splendid symmetery of their characters.
as well. In each case, to the natural endowment
of marvelous genius was added the
richer endowment of devout Christian character.
In the .soul of each glowed the flame of an un
dying faith, and the life was made sublime by
an unfaltering moral courage. It was Lee who
said, *4Duty is the noblest word in the language."
It is not impossible that the conviction
was wrought into his mind by the unflinching
naenty or .jacKson, tne man whom he called hn
"right arm." The names of Lee and Jackson
will illumine the pages of history as long as men
love righteousness, applaud courage and glorify
lives consecrated to their country's cause.
As far as we arc able to discover the sentiment
of the evangelical thinkers and workers
of our day, there w a growing conviction in favor
of gospel meetings in halls and chapels located in
the midst of the masses. The messages of salvation
and holy living must he carried to the
people wherever they are. They will not come
to our temples erected at great cost and in which
a limited 1 umber of individuals or families lio1. 1
?x)me kind of proprietary ownership. The gospel
must be brought out into the open. Our Lord
and his disciples taught and labored that way.
They did not i" ore the synagogues, but so far
as we can tell the greater part of their toil
and testimony were on the outside. Street
preaching must no longer be a novelty and our
well-to-do people must sustain it. They will do
so ir properly jnrormed and encouraged. Abundant
evidence of its effectiveness is provided.
Writing on this topic a correrpondent of an exchange
says: "We are often rebuked by the Salvation
Army workers who come into a town, and,
on an afternoon or evening, speak to more than
all the pastors address in the churches in a
month. If they, with their oftentime limited
training, can do what they have, can not welltrained
men do still moreT Men like Dr. .Towett
and Dr. Thomas, who spoke at Winona Lake,
cnirl fVin Pll 11 l*rtVi In A merino mno4 /inmA f a nt
I Iiv v?i*?? If* 4IIIIVI II n limnt uwilic U? ni I UUt
preaching as they have in England and that we
shall also have to learn what they learned there
hv sad experience, namely, the neeecnity of the
ablest men going ont to preach to the masses."
OVER-ORGANIZATION.
The Church is the body of believers, together
with their children. A body must needs he organized,
both for its own mnintenanee and for
the nocotnpbshment of the ends for whieh it exists.
A certain amount of organization is indispensable.
But both the nature and the amount
of that organization must be determined by the
nature and ends of the body. It is the body
that makes the organization, not the organization
that makes the body. Just enough, and no
more, just the right kind, and nothing extraneous
or incongruous, must be the governing principles
as to the organization. These principles
apply not only to the Church, but to all bodies.
The Church's "constitution" is the \Vrtrft
God. That Word clearly indicates a specific organization
and the rules nnder which the body
is to live and do its work. It provides for
definite officers and a definite line of work. It
details the duties of those officers and the means
for the carrying on of that work. The epistles
written by Paul, the great church organizer,
iUTH (81) 9
Comment
clearly set these forth. They are not only complete
but they are also thoroughly in accord with
the nature of the tydy. They furniuh an organization
which, reason says, ought to accomplish
lul v the ends of the Church.
The Church, however, has not been content
with this divine organization of her life and
work, and the effort is mnrp #nd mnro mo<io ? ?
add to what God lias given, or to set it aside, by
Ihe multiplication of other agencies for doing
his work, or by the substitution of human inventions
for the God-given plan. The least that can
be said of this effort is that it is over-organizatdon.
The result of it is not encouraging, but
the experimenters, not wise enough to see the
true cause of the unsatisfactory results, try to
remedy the matter by devising still more machinery,
instead of getting back to the simple
and plain methods of the Bible. None of the
forms or devices of men are likely to produce
any better results. Those who have embarked
upon a course of invention will simply have to
build an endless chain of that kind, and directly
the chain will become so heavy that it will break
of its own weight.
Over-organization is a practical declaration
that the Itible is not a sufficient guide and that
its plan is not adequate to the end in view. It
is equivalent to saying that the Divine llead of
the Church did not know or properly provide for
the needs of his own Church or of men who are
to be saved, or that he was unfamiliar with
modern or changing conditions. It is eitheT repudiation
or depreciation of the Spirit of God
who in.-pired men to deliver to us the holy oracles
which would contain sufficient and adequate
principles, rules, and methods of the faith.
Over-organization is an unwarranted overestimate
of the relation of means to ends. Tt
breaks the proportions by laying improper emphasis
upon the means. It does not properly distinguish
between method and power. It draws
the mind and heart more and more away from
the agency of the Spirit, and makes of the
Church a mere machine- Its transfer of tho
emphasis here quickly produces spiritual deterioration.
This last effect of over-orcnnizntinn to oanooioi
Iv noticeable in the increase of a spirit of ma
tcrialism amongst God's people. The machine
makes material products rather than spiritual,
and in proportion as it is seemingly successful
develops a dependence upon the things which one
can feel and measure and weigh, as well as an
interest in that which is external and visible.
It is difficult to prevent such a condition arising
under such circumstances.
There is also in over-production another evil
which is not i.egligible in either extent or power.
It is the drift, when machinery is set up as a
means of accomplishing given ends, tnwnrls n
condition of irresponsibility. The duty of the
inlividual is transferred to the group, whether it
be committee or society or band. The sense of
personal duty is lust when it is merged into the
obligations or functions of the mnss. It is just
here that the wisdom of the Bible plan is most
clearly seen. The plan has so little of machinery
and grouping that one is not in danger
of forgetting one's own obligation, but rather
finds it emphasized and impressed.
THE HOPE or THE CHURCH.
The future lies in the hand of the ycung. The
State has rightly had great concern about the
i surroundings and training of the young. Comi
pulaory education is in the air. It has already.
come in some sections. Sanitation and food?