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March 12, 1913] T H ? 1
ahalt be a witness for hrm unto ail men" (not
simply in "judicial cases"). Paul says the
Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit."
So passages might be quoted indefinitely, from
the Old Testament and the New, in which writ
noss-bearing liaa no reference to "judicial
cases."
Supposing the author's method of interpretation
in this ease were correct, why not apply it
to other commandments, tlie fourth, or tilth, or
sixth, or seventh? How the code of moral obligation
would dwindle and what sanction would
be given for the most tiagrant violation of1 every
commandment of the decalogue.
'Phdm ntnrlon.t 1?? --*1 n
muiC aJgllillCUUCe 1X1 XTeSldent
Faust's statement than lies upon the surface.
Hie accuracy and credibility of Old Testament
history and doctrine are to a large extent
dependent, as to their human element, on
the veracity of the men who kept the records
and preserved the traditions of events as they
occurred. If "the virtue of veracity is a late
arrival iu human history," and "was not a
prominent virtue in uncient Israel," the "higher
critic" is furnished a weapon for working
havoc with the inspired texts to his heart's content.
When his authority is challenged for re
pudiuting any part of that record, he need only
reply, "The virtue of veracity is a late arrival
ill human history." Indeed it is manifest that
the much vaunted superior scholarship of the
devotee of the new theology, consists in saying,
"The virtue of veracity was omitted from the
moral makeup of the writers of Old Testament
history, and it is left to the modern specialists
to separate the wheat of truth from the chaff of
a traditionalism whose origin was so remote
that the virtue of veracity had not yet been born
and the duty of truth-tell inc. exeent. in
eases, was not included in its code of morals.
What are the facts in the case! Do the noted
instances of falsehood in the case of two of the
patriarchs prove or even suggest that a whole
nation, and indeed the race was destitute of the
virtue of veracity. Scarcely so. If we would
learn patiently and impressively the lesson of
fidelity to truth in the face of danger and death
we must gather some of its most illustrious examples
from the lives of prophets and patriarchs,
including Abraham, the "father of the
j y --5 ^ * - ----- ?
i.iiLUj ui ana uie mend of liod." For our
part, we must avow frankly and with all deference,
as between the modern critic and the
patriarchs, including Abraham and Jacob, and
not omitting Moses entrusted with "the Hebrew
Decalogue," we must decline the new because
the old is better. M.
"When God said, "I do set my bow in the
cloud," he showed that there could be no bow
ucrpi. in uie cioua. Neither could there be a
bow without the sun to shine upon the cloud.
Thus the bow, bom of both cloud and sun, tells
of both. "Were there no sorrow we would not
see much of the glory of God. His promise
would mean nothing. The invited step in the
development of grace would be lost, and with
its loss the development would stop. It was
for this reason that Paul declared that he gloried
in tribulations also, because they introduced him
to a whole procession of the richest experiences
_ r
oj uoa s grace.
An old Spanish proverb says: "He who lives
with wolves will soon learn to howl." Spend
your time beating others, criticizing their faults,
showing their evil, and see how long it will be
until you develop some of the same traits or
worse. The mote inspecting habit is easing the
quickest beam producing procedure.
P&E8B y 72E1AN OF THE 80
NOTES IN PASSING.
BY BEBT.
The great gathering at Memphis
The Laymen's marked an epoch in our church
Convention. m life. When the first convention
of lavmen was r*n 11+.-w -in
Birmingham in the interest of foreign missions
there was no small questioning in many minds
as to whether such a gathering, unprovided for
in our constitution, would prove a success. Many
feared the attendance would he small, and the
results meagre. But because of the masterly
way in whieh everything had been arranged and
because of the striking information handed out
things were done there that could seareeely have
been dreamed of. The second convention at
Cliattanooga in some respects was even more remarkable
than the tirst.
But there is a romance and glamor about
foreixrn missinna ond ?;;~ ??:? " '
imaoiujjaiiea uiai is
altogether wanting in the needy work at home.
AVhy should we look at the struggles of our
brethren amongst the unchurched masses at
home as prosaic, commonplace, lacking in all
elements of heroism, when many of them are
working amongst the very same people the
foreign missionary deals with, and when they
have abandoned as much out of love for the work,
and when they are as meagrely supported!
Now, this convention has moved things up a
little. Without taking anything from the praise
1? 1 '
uguiiy uue uic work aucl workers abroad, it has
brought the home missionary before the minds of
the Christian people as deserving the most earnest
sympathy and support of the whole church.
It has emphasized in a way new to many the
fundamental character of the home mission work,
lying as it does at the very base of supply for
all our mission forces both of men and means.
And it has pointed out the faultiness of any
mission system which would close its eyes to the
needs of the stranger within our Kates while
currying abundant supplies to the gates of the
stranger. It has shown in a striking and notr
to-be-forgotten way that missions is one. That
will be still more emphasized when our church
takes another step and instead of two executive
committees of home and foreign missions it will
amalgamate them into a single executive department
with proper subdivisions. The time ought
not to be far off when oach synod will be represented
on the executive agencies of the church,
and these agencies brought into closer relation
4l *1
mcxi wiejr are now.
If any criticism could be made
A Possible upon the Memphis convention it
Criticism would probably be that there was
too much of it. Some of us
never knew before how big a thing Home Missions
was. There was tremendous massing of
forces and a vast amount of information imparted.
There was exhortation, inspiration, yes and
there was determination by many to do the
things they were informed about and exhorted
10 ao. ijut there were probably too many addresses,
for some were too short to impress the
hearera as they might have done with a little
more time, as a result things were somewhat
jumbled in the minds of the hearers at times,
though at other times impressions clear cut and
particular were made.
On the whole it was a great success, and it
shows our church is doing something more than
simnlv mnrkintr tSma "VV-?. * * * ' *
rv e c unc a great aeOtolO
the men who have so faithfully labored to provide
our laymen with a task or series of tasks
i?ig enough for them. To Mr. Chas. A. Rowland
and his associates we owe a debt too big to
ever pay.
We should be orthodox in morals and manners
as well as in doctrine. A man should be
the more a gentleman because he holds the truth.
U T d (227) 11
CONNECTION AND CONNECTIONAL.
Our ^lethodist bretheru. usually wise and always
zealous and suceeaaluJ, make much use ol*
the words 'connection" aud *'connectional."
Mv tllese thev dlRtinCllish mun mid linoc
of work whose province is the larger things of
'.he Church from those which are local in their
nature, fhey have, for instance, conucctionai
otlicers, as the bishops, editors, and secretaries
of the Church at iaige, connecti'inai papers, as
therr Kcview,, The Christian Advocate, bunday
behoof Magazine, separate and distinct from
conference or local "Advocates." And in addit.on
to them, and practically they, have, if the
courts and some vigorous opponents will let
them, a connections! university and theological
sonooi, in auuitiou to Uieir splendid array oi
more local institutions such as \V otford, i^mory,
Trinity, and the like.
Ail these, the ''oonnectioual'' men aud enterprises,
form a huge element in the solidarity
of that great Church. They express its unity.
They bind together the most distant sections
and people. They express more shurply than
ihe words "the Church at large," which we use,
the fact that all the separate congregations are
but parts of the great whole. They emphasize
^4? 4.U- I 1 h i
i iic uxii ij ui me ii'juy wmie we emphasize the
local church. The system might, 0110 would
think, give undue importance to thai which is
connectaonai, but this is careiully and constantly
guarded against mid nothing savoring of the
prclalie has ever yet been developed. The chief
.safeguard lies in the quadrennial election of all
the eouiieetional oliicers except the bishops, who,
however, must have their "characters" passed
by the quadrennial General Conference. And
these bishops, again, every one will tell you,
are but superintendents, a higher company, not
order, oi presiding elders.
The Aleihodist Church swings this great "connectionai"
power to the advantage oi all its
enterprises. By its means remarkable loyalty
is created. Barge measures are adopted and
large enterprises undertaken. The connectionai
publications are oi special valui? in producing
these results. They instinct the people along
common lines and in common undertakings.
They help men to think alike and see alike and
yet do not seem to lessen independency in
thought and action.
The study oi the methods oi others may prove
very useful to us. Each denomination possesses
6jme special feature which, added to the excellent
ones of others might produce richer lesnlts;
and each may correct itself and guard itself by
the careful investigation of the errors of others.
Some tliuiii that there is excessive militarism in
our sisier Church whose methods we have been
considering, if there is. and if their conncctional
system fosters it, we might inquire if there
:s not almost too much congregational indepen
ucucj amougsi us, anu ii a utile borrowing from
our neighbors would noi be helpiul.
Complaint is sometimes made that there is too
much doctrine in the pulpit. There is an easy
way to correct the trouble. Put more of the
Shorter Catechism in the pews. The people who
have fed on that meat and the children who
have been taught its phrases and meaning will
not find any doctrine in the pulpit, if it be ac
inraing to uod's word, too strong for easy and
wholesome digestion.
Make the best of yourself, and you will easily
make the best of others. Run down others, disparage
them, speak sneeringly of them, devote
your attention to displaying their faults, and it
will take but little time to make such a display
of your own that some day when the mirror is
turned, you will be amazed at the sight of your?*
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