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ent scholarship of the Chinese race. ? ? ? * *
We call upon the students in schools and col
leges to see the glory of Biblical scholarship
and to offer their lives to its thorough study,
preparing themselves by the gracc of God to
be adequate interpreters and expositors of the
Word of God in our noble Chinese tongue, so
that the people shall share in full measure
with the people of the West the splendor and
joy of the Truth. We believe that since the
Bible is the Word of God, the truth of God
fears 110 test. It can stand any investigation
of a reverent heart. We wish to make known
that we fear no application of any genuine
scientific method to the study of the Holy
Scriptures. But we wish to make it clear that
the study of the Holy Scriptures should not
merely be for its literary or intellectual inter
est but should mainly and primarily be for the
guidance of actual living.
"We hereby lay emphasis upon the value of
the whole Bible and call upon all Christians in
their religious education in the home, in
schools and colleges, in the Church and its
seminaries, to make the Bible and the whole
Bible central in their teaching. We firmly be
lieve that the Bible is God's message to every
individual, irrespective of educational attain
ments. So it is our aim that the Bible should
be read by every citizen of the Republic."
? ?????
"We take this occasion to state in most em
phatic terms our realization of the tragic re
ality of sin, its hideousness and all pervasive
ness, and to testify to the saving grace of
Jesus Christ, through whose death we are re
conciled to the holy and righteous God. * * ? *
We confess our failure to meet adequately the
social needs of the Chinese people thus far.
We are further conscious of the ever increas
ing and crying need of social regeneration in
China today.. We recognize that a thorough
going application of Christian social teachings
is of primary importance. * * ? * We hereby
eall upon the Church to mobilize all her forces
to work for the regeneration of home, of eco
nomic conditions, of political standards, of ed
ucational, industrial and commercial life. ? ? ?
"We hereby call upon all the followers of
Jesus Christ to go forth with renewed zeal and
consecrated hearts, with persistent efforts and
through united and definite programs to evan
gelize every part of China. We hereby de
clare that in our evangelistic efforts we stand
solidly on the evangelical faith of the Chris
tian Church, the faith whieh has given us our
genuine religious experience and which has led
us into intimate relationship with God our
Father through Jesus Christ our Lord. We
also emphasize that the evangelical faith which
we proclaim is also the faith of an abundant
life which actually manifests God's love as re
vealed through Jesus Christ and which is be
ing continually revealed and witnessed in our
hearts by the Holy Spirit."
The Conference closed with the following
appropriate message "To Christians of other
lands:" "An overpowering sense of the joy
and strength of fellowship in Christ has come
to us who are gathered in a national confer
ence representing more than one hundred and
thirty Christian bodies in China. It has been
given to us to catch the vision of a wonderful
united Chinese Church bound together in the
service of the Master in this great land wher9
the laborers are all too few and the harvest
so ent eons. Yet we find that now this de
sire of our hearts, as always the work of our
hands, is hindered by the tragedy of division
among the Christians of the world. While
standing for the principle of indigenous Chris
tianity, we do not seek isolation and separa
tion from the Mother Churches, but we ask
that they shall strive for unity among them
selves so that we in China may be able also to
unite and bear undivided witness to the mighty
works of God. Surely the salvation of the
human race calls for nothing less than a world
program and is a task which in itself points to
the danger and sin of longer perpetuating the
spirit of division among the children of a com
mon Lord. We ask, therefore, that our breth
ren in every land shall strive for that perfect
unity for which Christ prayed when He said,
'that they all may be one as Thou, Father, art
in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one
in us, that the world may believe that Thou
hast sent me.' "
Mission Court, Richmond, Va.
PEREGRINE PAPERS
XXIV.
By Rev. W. H. T. Squires, D. D.
THE DESCENDER.
The deepest scar nature has made on the
bosom of the earth is that narrow gorge
tli rough which the Jordan flows. "Jordan"
means "descender," and a rapid descender it
is. It rises on the steep sides of Mount Her
mon. Three magnificent springs of clear and
limpid water feed the nascent river at its
birth. These are supplied, in turn, from the
diadem of snow that forever falls and forever
melts on the triple summit of the lofty moun
tain.
Fords of the Jordan.
At sea level this stripling of a river rests for
a moment in the little lake known in Scripture
as the Waters of Merom. It is mentioned only
once, but that oecasion is forever memorable.
When the sword of Joshua had mightily won
the southern and central sections of the land
the king of the Canaanite town of Hazor, a
few miles west and above the little lake, gath
ered a tremendous army to crush Joshua.
Recruits came by thousands from Galilee, from
the eastern highlands and even from the Hit
tite kingdoms of the north. The lake side
seems to have been their rendezvous, perhaps
because the land is level, the place central and
sequestered. The Canaanites did not expect
to fight there. They were not ready for bat
tle. Joshua surprised them and fell upon them
with fury. He won an easy and speedy vic
tory in a single day. He pursued the'fugitives
far to the north and west, even to the gat.?s of
the great seaport, Sidon, beyond the Lebanons.
An excellent description of the lake is given
in few words by the great expositor and trav
eler, George Adam Smith: "The open water
of Merom is thiekly surrounded by swamps
and jungles of papyrus reed. From the lower
end of the lake the Jordan enters the great
rift below the level of the sea. It descends a
narrow gorge in one almost continuous cas
cade, falling 680 feet in less than nine miles,
and then through a delta of its own deposits
glides quietly into the Lake of Galilee. Six
miles above the lake the river is crossed by the
Bridge of the Daughters of Jacob, on the high
road between Damascus and Galilee."
After sleeping again in the bosom of the ex
quisitely beautiful Sea of Galilee Jordan is
ready for its last, long plunge.
For 185 miles the Jordan twists and turns
like a serpent.. Its rapid current tears at the
rocks and frets the bluffs,, washing away banks
of mud and clay. The once clear water is sadly
soiled.
It comes forth at. slower gait upon the drear
iest, lonesomest and most plague-smitten spot
on earth. It wanders amid deposits of slime
and the mud of former floods and finds a
wretched end at last in the Sea of Death. This
the only river in Palestine, reminds one of a
disappointed life. The young man starts forth
fair and full of promise. But, alas, how void
he is of fulfillment. He leaves his mountain
home, clean, honest, innocent, but with lofty
purposes and high ideals. Like Lot he looks not
up but down. He descends into the abodes
of men. Each turn, each change, brings him
to a lower level. He hits the average of use
fulness and morality; but, like the Jordan, he
still descends. He pauses for a bit here and
there, but sinks ever lower until at last he is
lost on the dreary sea of death, without a
friend to mourn him, nor a flower to brighten
the gloom of his accursed end.
The Jordan is forever associated with the
Baptism of John. And, naturally, for the min
istry of the Fore-runner seems, queerlj
enough, to have been confined to this river.
Three places are mentioned espeeinlly. He
preached at Beth-abnra, where the Valley of
Esdraelon unites with the vale of Jordan.
Here all Galilee came to Him. He also preaehed
at Enon in the mid-courc of Jordan, a locality
forever memorable. Here, or near h.^re, Elijah
Avas fed by the ravens. He preaehed at the
Fords of Jordan, where, to this day (especially
at Easter) great crowds of people, especially
the Greek Church followers, come to be bap
tized in Jordan.
Naaman the Syrian humbled himself to be
healed in the Jordan. To look at Jordan is to
understand Naaman better. Consider the in
tense bitterness with which the Syrians hate
the Jews. View the beautiful rivers of Da
mascus, so pure, fresh and limpid, and then
look upon the tawny, muddy waters of Jor
dan! Remember that Naaman was a haughty