Newspaper Page Text
SOUTH-WESTERN BAPTIST, ' ' \ THECHRISTIAN HERALD,
- • °* Alabama ~ of Tennessee.
ESTABLISHED I 811.
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX
BY JAS. T. HARRISON & CO.
Subscription, per year 82-60
Table of Contents.
First Page—Alabama Department: The
Lord’ll Supper—No. IL ; Innocence and
Righteousness; Ordination ; Rev. S. A.
Goodwin ; Tne Religious Press.
Second Page Correspondence : Parting
Words to the Baptists of Georgia—S Land
rum; Rev. W. B. Bennett; Popery; O.di
nation, and Thoughts on Missions ; Pen
Dropping; Ordination; Huxley on the
Bible; Old Truths; Missionary Departs
ment.
Third Page—Children’s Corner: Bible Ex
plorations; The Sunday school—for 1882
—All in the Gospel of Mark.
Fourth Page-Editorials: Prayiifc in Public;
A Sermon Spoiled ; Glimpses and Hints ;
Georgia Baptist N jws.
Fifth Page—Secular Editorials: Our Wealth
in Wood; Literary Notes and Comments ;
A Memorable Day ; Georgia News.
Sixth Page—The Household : The Gathering
Place poetry ; Watch Your Words—
poetry.
Seventh Page—Farmers’ Index : The Expo
sition ; Nitrogen as Manure; Useless Ani
mals ; Rye as a Winter Grass ; Improve
ment of Poor Land.
Eighth Page—F.orida Department: Alachua
. i Baptist Association ; The Florida, Atlantic
k. \ and Gulf Ship Canal, etc.
F Alabama Department.
UY SAMUEL HENDERSON.
THE LORD'S SUPPER.—No. 11.
All men must see that the inspired
Apostles of our Lord would more likely
understand the laws of his kingdom
than those who live nearly two thous
and years after His ascension. May we
not claim that their construction of
these laws, as detailed in the “ Acts of
the Apostles,” and in their epistolary
correspondence, possesses all the au
thority of inspiration? No man can
doubt this, who believes the New Tes
tament belongs to the sacred canon
Acting under this conviction, we have
but to open the New Testameni where
they first commenced to carry out the
. great commission, “Go ye into all the
k world and preach the gospel to every
■ creature,” etc. The second chapter of
W Acts contains this first account; on
f which let us premise that it was but
“ about ten days after their last inter
view with the Lord —that they had
spent those ten days “ in prayer and sup
plication” —and that on the day of Pen
ticost, “ they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost.” And let us premise fur
ther, that the application of the laws of
the kingdom of Christ to the occasion
was to be the precedent for all coming
time. According to our first principle,
to-wit: That New Testament example
is equivalent to New Testament com
mand, it gives to the ecclesiastical order
of the day of Pentecost, all the authori
ty of divine law.
The first thing done by the Apostles
on the descent of the Spirit was, to
preach. Peter, acting for the others,
delivered the first gospel sermon after
the ascension. That gospel came with
power, for the people were “ cut to the
heart,” and cried out, “ men and breth
ren what shall we do?” “Repent,” rings
out in commanding tones from inspir
ed lips. “Be baptized every one of you
in the name of the Lord Jesus, for the
remission of sins,” follows in quick suc
cession. Then follows the divine re
cord, in which the commission is car
ried ou in letter and spirit:—“Then
they that gladly received his word were
baptized; and the same day there were
added to them about three thousand
souls. And they continued steadfastly
in the apostles’ doctrine and fellow
ship, and in breaking of bread and in
prayer,” etc. Acts II: 37—42. To con
dense all into a sentence, the apostles
preached the gospel; the people repent
ed and believed; on the goodly confes
sion, they were baptized; alter they
were baptized and added to the church,
they “ continued stedfastly in ... .
breaking bread,” etc. Who then may
undertake to annul this divinely con
stituted order of things ? Who will
dare invert a single dnty in this chain
of obligations ? As Baptists, we claim
to stand upon impregnable ground
when we say that believing must pre
cede baptism, and that those who in
vert this order by making the commis
sion to read, practically at least, “ He
that is baptized in infnncy, and be
lieves in his maturity, shall be saved,”
renders the ordinance null and void,
even though it is performed by immer
sion. The most solemn sincerity never
can convert an error into truth. A
duty performed in obedience to that er
ror never can be accepted as the equiv
alent of Christian obedience. This
is just what we say of those who would
wrench the Lord’s Supper from the po
sition assigned it in the New Testa
ment. Christ and his apostles placed
it where it is, there to remain “ till He
comes.” Fidelity to Him demands that
we shall “ keep the ordinances as they
were delivered to us.” No considera
tions of mere expediency—no appeals to
our Christian charity—no ban of popu
lar odium—should have the weight of
a straw in swerving us from that line of
duty prescribed by our glorified Re
deemer. We should and must be proof
alike against the smiles of mistaken
friends and the fires of persecution.
What adversity could not extort from
us in the ages past, we must hold sa
cred in our days of prosperity. The
time has been when our ancient breth
ren, remanded to the dens and caves of
the earth, if they had offered themselves
as communicants at the tables of their
persecutors, would have been driv
en from the very precincts of their
churches like so many wild beasts; and
shall we sacrifice this integrity to the
Master, tested fn the fiery furnace, to
embraces of real or simulated friend
ships ? So the whole matter resolves
itself into this—shall fidelity to Christ,
or the demands even of good men, take
precedence ? Shall we sacrifice prin
ciple to policy ? Shall truth and ex
pediency exchange places ? Let these
questions be seriously pondered by all.
But, say our Pedobaptist friends, we
have been baptized, and are therefore
entitled to sacramental communion at
ycur hands ? This places the whole
question where it belongs; that is, it is
close baptism, and not “ close commu
nion,” that separates us from others,
and we propose in our next to glance
at this aspect of the subject. Accord
ing to the almost universally accepted
principle, that baptism mnst precede
communion at the Lord’s table, the
whole thing, so far as this part of the
argument is concerned, hinges upon
“ what is baptism ?” It will take but
little space to answer this question,
with no book but the New Testament
as onr guide.
INNOCENCE AND RIGHTEOUS
NESS.
We generally understand innocence
to mean, not knowing evil, whereas
we suppose righteousness to consist in
knowing both good and evil, with a
disposition to choose the good. Inno
cence is, therefore, a purely negative
virtue, while righteousness is a positive
forth-putting of our moral convic
tions. Innocence may exist in refer
ence to any given crime, without any
praiseworthiness, since not to know of
the existence of such a crime implies
nothing praiseworthy in not commit
ting it. One of the great lawgivers of
Greece was once asked why he did
not make a law against parricide, (the
killing of one’s parents,) and he re
plied that no such crime was known
to his countrymen, and that the way
to introduce a crime was to make a
law against it. It is plain, therefore,
that righteousness is more than inno
cence, as a positive virtue is more than
a merely negative virtue. If we sup
pose that a new-born babe comes into
the world perfectly innocent, we can
not attach to its innocence the same
moral value, so to express it, that we
would twenty or thirty years hence, as
we saw that same child grown up to
manhood, contending successfully
with its own corruptions, and the cor
ruptions that are in the world, thus ex
emplifying every moral excellence.
We always measure the value of moral
qualities by the obstacles they over
come. The stronger a man’s depraved
desires, yet if his conscience is stronger,
we give him the more credit when he
overcomes them.
In.a New Testament sense, we often
use innocence and righteousness, or
justification, as synonymous terms. In
one respect this is true. Justification,
considered as declaring one innocent,
is preceded by pardon. It is the ac
ceptance of what Christ Las done and
suffered for us, instead of what the law
of God demands of us. So that while
we are,as the phrase is,de facto, sinners,
we are, de jure, justified. That is, the
work of Christ for us is accepted by the
Great Lawgiver as done by us, so soon
as we believe in His Son. We are
thenceforth treated as if we had con
formed to every jot and tittle of the
law, that is, as if we were innocent.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1881.
We are still in fact sinners, but we are
inlaw pardoned and justified, Christ
having cancelled the sentence against
us.
But then, in considering those quali
ties as moral virtues only, not as Chris
tian graces, the distinction is obvious.
The distinction between the standard
by which character is measured by this
world and the standard by which God
measures candidates for heaven is al
together different. Nothing short of
perfection can meet the demands of
God’s standard. This perfection is
only found in Christ. Hence, Paul
labored to “present every man perfect
in Christ Jesus.” What we mean to
say is, that all the boasted innocence
of the world, combined with the best
righteousness it can attain, can never
rise higher than the emotions that in
spire them. Those virtues only are
acceptable to God which are rooted and
grounded in Christ. Those virtues
may grow, as all other virtues grow.
“We learn to speak by speaking; to
run by running; to study by studying;
just so we learn to love God by loving.”
This habit exercises our minds to dis
cern good and evil.
At the call of the Baptist church in
Talladega, a presbytery composed of
J. C. Wright, John B, Mynatt, E. T.
Smyth, S. Henderson, and the pastor,
J. J. D. Renfroe, met on the fourth
Lord’s day in November, for the
purpose of ordaining our young breth
ren McGaha and Browning, both of
whom being members of the Talladega
Baptist Church. The ordination ser
mon was preached at 11 o’clock by S.
Henderson, from 2 Timothy 2:15,
“Study.” J. B. Mynatt was requested
to act as secretary. Dr. Renfroe, the
pastor, conducted the examination,
which was quitq rigid, especially on
the inspiration of the Scriptures and
some of the more prominent points of
our faith and practice; the ordaining
prayer was made by E. T. Smyth, fol
lowed by the laying on of hands ; the
charge was delivered by J. C. Wright,
terse, practical and comprehensive;
presentation of the Bible, with appro
priate remarks by the pastor, Dr. Ren
froe, there having been two splendidly
bound, large family Bibles provided for
the occasion by the generosity of
friends; the right hand of fellowship
concluded the service. A noteworthy
act in the ordination service was, that
the pastor had the credentials of those
brethren written out ready for the signa
tures of the presbytery, and they were
signed in the presence of the audience
and delivered to the candidates at the
conclusion of the charge by Brother
Wright; the benediction was pro
nounced by Bro. McGaha.
We have all great hope that these
brethren will make able ministers of
the New Testament. Bro. McGaha
graduated at Howard college at the
last commencement, standing among
the highest for scholarship and deport
ment. Bro. Browning had taken a
pretty extensive course at the Oxford
College, and enters the ministry under
fine auspices. So that they each have
a substantial foundation on which to
begin, upd by study and industry, will
answer the expectation of their friends
and be blessings to the world. Bro.
McGaha has already been called to
Jacksonville and Mt. Zion, in Calhoun
county where an inviting field awaits
him. We also understand that Bro.
Browning has been, or is likely to be
called to the church at Childersburg, a
place which if he accepts it, will be
creditable to him to fill. To the affec
tions and confidence of ou rbrethren
and to the good will of all, we commend
those young minsters. May the “good
wili of Him that dwelt in the Bush,’
ever attend them.
REV. S. A. GOODWIN, D. d''.
The following resolutions were adop
ted by the Union Springs Baptist
church, on accepting the resignation of
their pastor, Dr. 8. A. Goodwin :
Your committee present the follow
ing :
Dr. S. A. Goodwin having been our
pastor for about two years, we feel that
we have a right to say that we know
him. In the intimate relation which
we have sustained to him, we have had
much to do with him, and we have
closely studied his motives and actions,
and have weighed well his actions. In
the light of faithful inspection on our
part, we have found him faithful and
honest as a citizen, just and generous
as a friend, and orderly and upright as
a Christian. His labors of love among
us have been abundant; his counsels
have been faithful and wise; his in
structions, as to Christian relationship,
and its duties to man and God, have
been clear and full, and his thoughts,
manner and power in the pulpit, he
may be said to be grandly inimitable,
chaste in his language, elegant in his
style; majestic in his voice,and Christ
like in his spirit, when expounding the
Master’s will to man. We do not feel
that we speak the language of fulsome
praise when we accord to him grandeur
of peerless solitude. Add to these
statements the fact that his wife, sister
M. H. Goodwin, is a highly cultivated
lady, of remarkable gentleness of na
ture, and of a truly lowly Christian
character—at once the embodiment
and exponent of grace and goodness.
And we may well be esteemed as speak
ing the language of honesty and truth
in the following resolutions:
1. That we deeply deplore the ne
cessity that severed our relationship to
Dr. Goodwin as pastor, and in strong
and abiding confidence and love, we
give him up with sad hearts.
2. That we warmly commend him
to the church and community at Dan
ville, Virginia, and to the world, as an
able and faithful minister of the Gospel
of Christ —making plain and powerful
the doctrines of grace in his preaching
and of godliness in his life. Exercising
the feeling of gratitude for the comforts
and spiritual strength he has imparted
to us, as our guide, we lift our voice to
Heaven in prayer for his richest bless
ings upon him and his charge in all
future ages.
3. That copies of this report be for
warded to the Alabama Baptist, The
Christian Index and the Religious
Herald, requesting publication, and
that the same be tendered to Dr. Good
win. John 0. Hixson, Ch’n Com.
The Religious Press.
Let us not forget that our alms to the
poor are only half rendered when they
are bestowed simply upon the body. The
souls of the poor and sick also need our
charity.— Christian Advocate.
Very good,but just reverse the propo
sition and it is equally true. Remem
ber that your benefactions to the poor
are only half rendered when they are
bestowed simply on the soul. “If a
brother or sister be naked and destitute
of daily food, and one of you say unto
them, depart in peace, be ye warmed
and filled, notwithstanding ye give
them not those things which be needful
for the body, what doth it profit?”
A long sermon and a short one both
combined in one, is the following one
from Toplady; just see how short it is
and yet how long!
Holiness is not the way to Christ, but
Christ is the way to holiness.
And here is a pretty scrap from the
Morning Star:
The truth.—Stick to the truth under
all circumstances; but do not adhere to it
in such away as to make it odious or
offensive. When you presentit, do so in
as attractive a form and pleasing a man
ner as possible. It is a picture —a beau
tiful picture like apples of gold in a
frame-work of silver and precious stones.
Who can behold its beauty and not be
enamoured of it ? God did not design to
make his truth hideous or repulsive,and
we should not. It is based on the
greatest love, human sympathy, self
abnegation and sacrifice, well adapted
to wend its way to the human heart,and
we should help it and not hinder it.
We have some brethren who preach
the truth, but they do it in such away
as to make it both odious and offen
sive.
The New York Methodist, in its no
tice of a Presbyterian tract, “How was
Jesus Baptized?” says:
Its purpose is to show that the New
Testament gives no certain proof that
our Lord’s baptism was by immersion.
The whole matter seems to be, to the
last degree, trivial and without import
ance. To answer that question by
“Don’t know, and don’t care,” might
seem irreverent; it certainly would not
be impertinent. The form of such a ser
vice is not its substance; and as our Lord
ate the last Passover without the pre
scribed forms, so, were it certainly de
termined what was the form of baptism
in the earliest times, that would not
bind the church of to-day to that form.
Os course, when men feel (1) that
they are able to choose for themselves
a better way than Christ chose for
himself, or (2) that they are at liberty
to reject the way Christ chose for him
self and adopt for themselves a worse
way, the question becomes “to the last
degree trivial.” But if “trivial to the
last degree,” why not give the whole
matter up, and have no way about it
tt all? Strange that Christ should
command what is “without import
ance!” Strange that men’ should see
no importance in ascertaining what
Christ’s commandment on any subject
really was!
A contributor to the Watchman has
the following sensible words, on a sub
ject which has been made the occasion
of much thought, of late:
What is inspiration ? I understand it
to be such an influence that those in
spired were preserved from error in
what they spoke or wrote. It they were
• writing history, then from the mass of
matter before them, they were able to
select the true from the false, and that
which was most important from that
which was of less consequence, or not so
pertinent to the circumstancesand occa
sion of their writing. Were they stating
facts that came within their knowledge,
then inspiration preserved them from
mistakes, and also aided them in select
ing matters for record. Were they
speaking or writing of things nnknown
to men, then they spoke or wrote as the
Holy Spirit suggested directly to them,
an 1 in these cases, things which they
themselves might or might not under
stand when thus made known to them.
Some of our young people will yield to
the short-lived amusements of Christmas
times and in a day commit indiscretions
for which a year’s sorrow and a lifetime
of suffeiing will not atone. We beg
them to do nothing which will yield
them less next year than it yields now.
We echo and would like to emphasize
this word in season from the Central
Baptist. Christmas times, in some
localities and some circles, are Satan’s
great annual Feast of Ingathering;
many of the ordinary restraints upon
personal indulgences are removed for
a season, and by the snare of broader
license in questionable amusements,
souls are “taken captive by him at his
will.” We have known more than one
person in our day, to whom an hour
of “merry Christmas” has brought
clouds that darkened a character and
wounds that embittered a life.
The Independent is informed that the
Rev. Mr. Simpson, who so recently re
nounced infant baptism and resigned his
ministry in the Presbyterian church, on
the 13. n ult., it being communion Sun
day in the church to which he had been
ministering, and the people desiring him
to administer the ordinance, was obliged
to decline on account of the violent ob
jections of some members of the presby
tery. Another minister was sent for the
purpose. That is a trifle narrower than
Baptist “close-communion,” or than the
Episcopalian doctrine as to “orders.” It
is admitted in the highest quarters that
Bishop Cummins, though he renounced
his office in the Episcopal Church, was
still a priest and a bishop, and capable
of conferring valid orders. But Mr.
Simpson’s resignation of the'ministry of
the Presbyterian church seems to be
accounted a demission of the Christian
ministry; and men who are anxious to
remove all barriers to communion with
Baptists refuse a minister, whose only
offence is that he agrees with the Bap
tists touching infant baptism, the privi
lege of breaking bread for Presbyterians.
Watchman.
If our Presbyterian brethren wince
under this criticism, they may accept
it as, at least, an illustration of the
ease with which plausible charges of
narrowness and bigotry can be gotten
up. Nor would it be amiss for them
to question whether something of their
own work in that line of things against
Baptists, may not rank with the fair
minded as what the Watchman has
said ranks with themselves.
Rev. W. A. Jarrell, of Weatherford,
claims to have discovered “within the
last year,” that there “are not a few
Baptist preachers, evangelists, and pas
tors and churches, that receive persons
for baptism, when they know they make
no profession of conversion.’’ Elder Jar
rell denounces such ministers as thieves
and robbers, who would steal the purity
of the churches to make a name for
themselves, and warns the churches.
So writes a correspondent of the
Texas Baptist Herald, who questions
the truth of this grave charge. We
hope that the charge will prove to be
groundless: things are in a sufficiently
bad state among us, even on the sup
position that there is nothing worse
at work than a want of sufficient care
and spiritual insight and dispassionate
judgment, in the reception of mem
bers. We would grieve to think that, in
addition, the divine law of a regenerate
membership is knowingly and wickedly
trampled down for personal ends.
A correspondent of the Presbyterian
sharply rebukes those who are con
stantly asking “What can the church
do to make her services more attract
ive?” We quote:
Does not the canon of attractiveness
demand that all the hard bones of hard
uncompromising doctrinal truth shall be
VOL. 59.— NO. 49.
removed, and leave the soft, pulpy mass
of mere sentiment and poetical fervor?
Have poetry!—that pleases the senti
ment. Have rhetoric !—that excites the
emotion. Have well-rounded and high
sounding words!—they tickle the ear.
Have propriety and grace! in manner
and gesture!—these delight the eye
Preach against otherchurches or “sects’’
you may—for that, by indirection, flat
ters your own congregation. Aisail the
sins of the ancients and the Pharisees,
for the lightning that strikes on the
other age or continent produces no alarm
here.
A writer in the Lutheran Standard
says:
The Scriptures show that in our natu
ral condition we are not fit for God’s
kingdom; for they declare that flesh and
blood slnll not inherit the kingdom of
God. Now, God’s appointed way. in
which we are to be b >rn again and tuns
fitted for His kingdom, is baptism.
He says also:
That children ought to be baptized is
evident from the fact that they are in
like condemnation with adults, being
born of the flesh and therefore unfit for
God’s kingdom. It is even more im
portant for them than for adults,because
it is the only means of grace applicable
to them, whereas adults have also the
audible Word by which they may be
brought to faith.
Can we innocently withhold our pro
test against Pedobaptism, while doc
trines so subversive of Christianity
are avowed as its corner-stone?
If is evident, from even a brief study
of the statistics of the Presbyterian
Church as officially given out by the
General Assembly, that infant baptism
is not practiced in that denomination to
a sufficiently great extent to cause much
discomfort, even to those who most
earnestly disapprove of it. A glance at
the record will astonish many even of
the most pronounced Presbyterians. In
the Rev. Dr. Hall’s magnificent church,
in Fifth avenue, with its membership of
1,730, there were 21 babes baptized last
year. In Dr. Crosby’s, which numbers
1,384 members, there were only 17. Dr.
Bevan’s Brick Church, has 1,100 mem
bers, but only 23 infants to dedicate in
baptism. In Dr. Robinson’s Memorial
Church 570 members could show only 8
baptized infants. Across the East River
the showing is no better. Talmage has
the largest membership in the denomina
tion,numbering 2,471; yet among all this
army there were only 49 infants bap
tized in the Tabernacle. Dr. Cuyler
baptized 31 infants in a membership of
1,761. Dr. Ludlow, with 378 members,
reports 6 infant baptisms. Dr. Van
Dyke, with 571, and brother Crosby,
with 336, report no infants baptized.
The church at Sag Harbor, which is one
of the most prosperous on Long Island
outside of Brooklyn and has 357 mem
bers, has had no infants to baptize. The
First church at Buffalo, the Bound
Brook (N. J.) church and the First at
Princeton, N. J., are similarily lacking
in infantile additions to the flock. So
with the West Arch street, in Philadel
phia, with a membership of 309, and a
building which cost $250,000. All this is
a strange comment on the zeal of that
people for one of their nominally
cherished ordinances.
These statements from the New
York Sun would surprise us, if we did
not recognize the power of scriptural
truth to make its way among an in
telligent Christian people, even where
creed-barriers and custom-barriers seek
to keep it out. Years ago, Rev. Flavel
S. Mimes called Presbyterians, “Semi-
Baptists ;” and there seems to be some
reason for the name.
The New York Methodist has a word
to say in behalf of its co-religionists at
the South, who have been upbraided
for not having “established so much
as one school for the colored race.”
We quote a few sentences, which
Northern Baptists ought to recognize
as true of their own Southern brethren:
In point of fact, Southern white
Methodists contribute much more than
Northern Methodists to the education of
colored people. It is true that they do
this mainly for public schools, and it is
not altogether unfair to claim that in
snpporting such schools they only do
what N orthern Methodists do at home.
There is. however, this great difference:
the Southern public education for blacks
is new and mostly paid for by whites.
There is also the fact that no Northern
community has so vast a mass of poor
to provide with public education.
“Science is the foundation upon which
the church of the future must and will
rest.”
So says one M. Cora Bland a female
M. D. If this be the case, the founda
tion will be rather shaky. We are
happy in the assurance that the church
past, present and to come, is founded
on Jesus Christ, qs its chief corner
stone.
"Oa Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sanl.”
The 58,218 white Baptists of South
Carolina contributed last year for relig
ious purposes $124,595 —an average of
$2.14 1-5 cents per member,