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"THE UNFINISHABLE TASK."
One of our secretaries has written a re
markable book, entitled "The Unfinished
Task of Our Cliureh." Every line of it throbs
with a fresh interest on a subject that arouses
every lover of his country. It is well that
the 100,000 women of our Church are study
ing it. It is time the men as well as women
were giving more attention to the great de
mands of the Kingdom of God in our home
land as well as abroad.
The Church has been milling around in a
circle without any definite aim. There is
knowledge enough and study till the flesh is
weary, but to most people it does not get us
anywhere that we can see, because it is not
tied up to some high and definite goal.
We are tempted to coin a new word at the
head of this article and think of our task as
unfinishable. This by no means discourages
us. We do not want to think of a task done
t hat lifts us to a level of supine idleness and
furnishes no incentive to higher living.
1
"Life is not as idle ore, but iron digged from
central gloom,
And bathed in baths of blinding tears,
And battered with the shocks oP doom,
To shape and use."
\
Then life as far as we know will always
have its difficulties, its problems and its dis
appointments. It is unfinishable. Its very na
ture creates, out of our dead selves conquered,
living stones to higher things.
Men say, we are constantly being called on,
for money and service. Surely no business
can stand still. It begins to decay at once.
The very success of one mission station, de
mands enlargement of the same or replanting
at other places. The training of the present
generation, does not do away with the train
ing of the coming generation, nor make it
much easier.
By strenuous efforts the men of today heave
the heavy world upward, and then the com
ing generation, laying hands to the load, lifts
it an inch or so higher. This has some splen
did results. We need never fear that we are
the people and we will do it all, or even have
it all to do. There is a plenty right at hand
to keep us busy. We need not stint our ef
forts for fear material will run out and our
last days be spent in compulsory idleness.
Science is teaching us that the worn-out
fields are rich in untold possibilities, but new
methods and fresh applications must be made.
The deserts shall blossom like the rose garden
and there is much land still to bo possessed
So in the spiritual realm of life there is enough
for all and then our task will be unfinished.
Neither need we worry ourselves about the
probelm of tomorrow. The generation that
comes will take care of that. Our task is today,
and well-done, leaves enough for others.
We need hold back no modicum of energy
or prayer. The task of today is ours.
The question will not be have we finished
the task, but have we tried our best to accom
plish it? When we can say we have; then our
reward is sure. What a task it is to carry the
message of life to near an hundred million
souls and that in this generation. It might
well appal, but God helping us we can do our
part and we will do it well.
A. A. L.
Contributed
MODERNISM IN CHINA AS DISCUSSED IN
THE CHARLESTON ASSEMBLY.
By Rev. A. M. Fraser, D. D.
In a recent article in the church papers. Dr.
Donald Richardson, of our Missionary forcc
in China, gives a strong and interesting ac
count of " Modernism in China. In the course
of that article, he mentions the debate on that
subject which was held in the Charleston As
sembly. He refers, with strong disapproval,
to a cable read to the Assembly which one of
its members had received from a missionary
in China. If any blame is to be attached to
any one for the reading of that cable, the
reader of it was more to be blamed than the
sender, because the man who sent it did not
address it to the Assembly but to his per
sonal friend. I wish to say, therefore, that it
was I who received and read the cable, and I
assume the entire responsibility for the read
ing. I do regret, however, that I read the
cable instead of stating its contents, because
the language in which the cable was couched
diverted the attention of the Assembly from
the point which was under discussion at that
time, to the expression "railroaded through,"
which occurred in the cable. The state of the
question was this : The Standing Commit
tee on Foreign Missions had brought in a re
commendation that the Assembly direct its
Executive Committee not to. contribute money
to the support of the National Christian Council
in China. Dr. Richardson opposed this recom
mendation, and one ground of his opposition
was that the Assembly had no information
that such a council had been formed in China.
I had in my possession a cable from a mission
ary in China informing me that it had been
formed and I read it to the Assembly. That,
of course, settled the question of fact raised
by Dr. Richardson as to whether such a coun
cil was actually in existence. But when I read
the cable, at once the debate turned to the
expression "railroaded through" which occur
red in the cable. It had no connection with
the point at issue. The point raised by Dr.
Richardson was not as to the method by which
the council had been formed, but as to whether
it had been formed at all. As to whether or
not the expression "railroaded through" cor
rectly described what happened in China, I
would prefer to get the testimony of those on
the ground rather than the testimony of those
who were in America. Since the adjournment
of the Assembly our North Kiangsu Mission
in China has passed a paper touching the Na
tional Christian Council substantially the same
as the recommendation which the Standing
Committee offered in the Assembly. This shows
that the advocates of that recommendation in
the Assembly were not as ill informed on the
subject as Dr. Richardson imagined.
T will go further and assume the responsi
bility not only for the reading of the cable,
but also for the sending of it to me. Modern
ism exists in China, Dr. Richardson says so.
A great deal has been written about it in the
religious periodicals, and it has been freely dis
cussed in other Assemblies besides our own.
Am I wrong in being concerned about it, or
in feeling that it is my duty to *e concerned
about it? Is not every watchman upon the
walls responsible for being alert to this insid
ious danger? I happen to have several friends
amongst the missionaries in China. They are
men whose scholarship, orthodoxy, good jndg
merit and piety 1 trust as much as i trust any
brethren at home or abroad. May I not ask
them to write me fully what they see* May
they not write me freely without having their
letters censored by any agency of the Church,
or any self-appointed individual? Does any
human authority exist that can forbid my us
ing the information acquired in that way? 1
did not ask any one to send me a cable, bat
I did ask my friends to keep me informed.
One friend chose to comply with my request
by using the cable. If anybody was guilty ot"
impropriety, I am chiefly responsible. "Let the
righteous smite me."
It is unfortunate, that when the National
Christian Conference in China liad an oppor
tunity to say in its "wonderfully thrilling state
ment" that the "Holy Scriptures are the only
infallible rule of faith and practice," it should
merely have said that tho Holy Scriptures are
"the supreme guide," a formula that errorists
might easily accept.
It is also to be regretted that one whom
we all esteem as highly as we do Dr. Richard
son, and one who is charged with the train
ing of our young Chinese ministers in theology,
and in the spirit of Christ, should have used
such expressions as "mental delusions," "bug
house" and "paranoiac" in his references to a
fellow minister. Does not that come danger
ously near to saying to him, "Thou fool?"
Staunton, Va., November 1, 1922.
"THERE REMAINETH YET VERY MUCH
LAND TO BE POSSESSED."
Joshua 13:1.
Rev. J. M. Wells, D. D., President, Columbia
Theological Seminary, Columbia, S. C.
God had promised His people a fair and
godly land. He had in a wondrous way led
them to that land. By the right ^arm of His
power He had given them much of that land.
But they had failed to occupy all of the land.
They had failed to avail themselves of the
infinite power of the Almighty. And now
many years had passed; and still there re
mained yet very much land to be possessed.
I have taken this as a fitting example of the
situation of our Presbyterian Church in this,
our own land. God has prepared us here a
goodly land as the heritage of His people. It
is a land of rare fertility and beauty. It is a
land underlaid with iron and coal and all those
minerals that enrich and strengthen a nation.
It is a l^fid in that temperate zone in which all
the great nations of history have developed.
Wondrously He led our Church forefathers
here, guiding them as truly as ever the pillar
of cloud and fire guided Israel. Hither He
brought the freedom-loving Scotch-Irish from
Ulster. Hither He brought the stalwart
Scotch, men of catechism and covenant.
Hither He led the brilliant Huguenots, after
bloody St. Bartholomew's day. Hither He
guided the finest strain of Presbyterian Puri
tans from old England. Hither He brought the
sturdy burghers from behind the dikes of Hol
land. Hither He guided the finest of the
Germans from the Palatinate. Hither He
brought Swiss Reformed and Welsh Dissented.
And out of all these sturdy strains of Presby
terian stock, He made our great Church, fey
the right arm of His power He gave them pos
session of much of the land. When the Revo
lutionary War closed, we, as a Church, were
in possession of much of the land. And there
has never been a time since our forefathers
entered in, tHkt the power of God Almighty
has not been available for the further conquest
of the land. But more than one hundred and