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??til scholarship of the Chinese race. * * * * *
Wo eall upon the students in schools ami col
leges to see the glory of Hiblical scholarship
and to offer their 1 i \ to its thorough study,
I rcparing themselves hy the grace of (Sod to
lie adequate interpreters and expositors of '.lie
Word i ? f (Sod in our nohle Chinese tongue, so
t hiit the people shall share iu l'ull measure
with the people of the West the splendor ami
joy of the Truth. We believe that since the
Hihlc is I he Word of (lod, the truth id* (Sod
fears no 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. Hut, we wish to make it clear that
the study of the Holy Scriptures should not
merely be for its literary or intellectual inter
est hut should mainly and primarily be for the
guidance of actual living.
"We hereby lay emphasis upon the value of
llo- whole Uible and call upon all Christians in
their religions education iu the home, in
schools a lit I colleges, in the Church and its
seminaries, to make the Hihlc and the whole
Hihlc central in their (caching. We lirinly be
lieve that the Hihlc is (Sod's message 1o every
individual, irrespective of educational attain
ments. So it is our aim that the Hihlc 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 hidcousness and all pervasive
ness, and to testify to the saving grace of
?I esiis Christ, through whose death we are re
conciled to the holy and righteous (Sod. * * * *
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
<hina today. We recognize that a thorough
going application of Christian social teachings
is of primary importance. * * * * We hereby
call 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
?lesus 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 which has given us our
genuine religions experience and which has led
us into intimate relationship with (Sod our
Katlier tU rough Jesus Christ our Lord. We
also emphasize that the evangelical faith w'.icli
we proclaim is also the faith of au abundant
life which actually manifests (Jod'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 ns 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 logether in the
service of the Master in this great land wli-T!
the laborers are all too few and the harvest
so jllenteoiis. Yet we lind 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 scpara
tion from tin* Mother ('hurchcs, but wo ask
that they shall strive for unity among them
selves so that we in China may he ahle ;?!-<?? to
unit*- and hear undivided witness to the mighty
works of (!od. Surely the salvation of the
human race calls for nothing less than a world
program and is a task which in itself points t<?
tin' danger and sin of longer perpetuating tin
spirit of division among the children of a com
nioii lii>r<l. We ask, therefore, that our lireili
ren in every land shall strive for that perfect
unity for wliieh ('litis) prayed when lie said,
'that they all may he < * 1 1 ?* as Tliou, Father, art
in Me and I in Thee, tlial they also may lie one
in ns, lliat the world may helieve that Tlum
hast sent me.' "
Mission Court, Kiehmond. Va.
PEREGRINE PAPERS
XXIV.
By Rev. \V. II. T. Squires, I). D.
THE DESCENDER.
Thf decpesl scar nature lias made on tin'
bosom of 1lu? <>ii rlli is tliat narrow gorge
through \\ li it-It thf .Ionian Hows. ".Ionian"
means "descender," ami a rapid descender it
is. It rises on tilt' steep sides of Mount I
mnn. Three 1 1 1 a ir n i I i < - 1 * 1 1 1 springs of dear ami
I i in I >i? 1 water feed the nascent river at its
birth. These an* supplied, in turn, from tlu>
diadem of snow that forever falls ami forever
melts on the triple summit of the lol'ly moun
tain.
Fords of the Jordan.
At sra level this s1ripling of a river rests for
a momi'iit in t lit* little lake known in Scripture
as the Waters of Mcrom. It is mentioned only
once, hut that occasion is forever memorable.
When the swonl of Joshua luul might ily won
the southern ami rent nil seetions of tin- laml
1 lie l<in?; of the Canaanite town of llazor, a
few miles west ami ahove the little lake. gath
ered a treiiiemlous army to crush Joshua.
Recruits came hy thousamls from (ialilee, from
the eastern highlands ami even from the 1 1 it
tit o kingdoms of the north. The lake side
seems to have been their rendezvous, perhaps
because the land is level, tin* place central and
sequestered. The ('nnaanites did not expect
to light there. They were not ready for hat
tle. Joshua surprised them and fell upon thein
with fury, lie won an easy ami speedy vic
tory in a single day. lie pursued tlie'fugit ives
far 1 < > the north ami west, even to the gates of
the great seaport, Sitlon, beyond the Ijchanons.
Ail excellent description of the lake is given
in IVw words by 1 li ?? great expositor and trav
eler, (it'oi'<;t' At lii in S i ii i 1 1 ! : * * Tin* open water
ol" M 'Coin is thickly surrounded by swamps
and .jungles of papyrus reed. From tin* lower
?*iit I ol' tin* lake tin* 'Ionian enters tin' grca I
rill In-low tin' level of tin* sra. It descends a
narrow gorge in one almost continuous cas
cade, lalliii^ UNO feet in less than niin* miles,
and then through a delta ol' its own deposits
glides quietly into tin' Lake ?|" (ialilee. Six
miles above the lake the river is erossed by the
Bridge of the Daughters of Jacob, on the high
road bet ween Damascus ami (ialilee."
After sleeping again in the bosom of the ex
quisitely beautiful Sea of (ialilee .Ionian is
ready for its last, long plunge.
For 1 S.~? miles the .Ionian twists and turns
like a serpent. Its rapid enrrent tears at the
rocks and frets the hlulTs. washing away hanks
of 111ml ami clay. The once clear water is sadly
soiled.
It comes forth at slower gait upon the drear
iest, lonesomest ami most plague-smitten spot
<>n earth. It wanders amid deposits of slime
ami the mud of former floods and limls a
w retched end at I :i -I in the Sea ? > t Death. Iln
the only river in Palestine, reminds one of a
disappointed life. The young man starts forth
fair ami full of promise. Hut, alas, how void
he is of fulfillment, lie leaves his mountain
home, clean, honest, innocent, but with lofty
purposes and high ideals. Like Lot lie looks not
up hut down. lie descends into the abodes
of men. Kmc 1 1 turn, each change, brings him
to ;i lower level. II.' hits the average of use
fulness and morality; but, 'ike the .Ionian, lie
still descends. lie pauses for a bit here ami
there, bill sinks ever lower until at last lie is
lost on the dreary sea of death, without a
friend to mourn him, nor a Slower to brighten
Ihe gloom of his accursed end.
The .Ionian is forever associated with the
Baptism of .lolui. And, naturally, lot- tin- niin
istry of the Fore-runner seems, qiiccrlv
enough, to have been confined to this river.
Three places are mentioned especially. lie
preached at I Jet h -ahara. win-re the Valley of
Ksdraelou unites with lie vale of .Ionian.
Here all (ialilee came to iliin. lie also preached
at Fnon in the mid-coure of .Ionian, a loeali-y
forever memorable. Here, or near h re. FJi.jah
was fed by the ravens, lie preached at the
Fords of .Ionian, where, to this day (especially
at Faster) great crowds of people, especially
the ( i reek Church lollowcrs, come to be hap
fixed in Jordan.
Xaaniau the Syrian humbled himself to !>?'
healed in the Jordan. To look at .Ionian is |o
understand N'aaman belter. Consider the in
tense bitterness with which the Syrians hate
the .lews. View the beautiful rivers of Da
mascus, so pure, fresh ami limpid, ami then
look iipnii the tawny, muddy waters ol Jor
dan! Remember that Naaman was a haughty