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Many good and strong things were said in be half of MISSIONS During the Session of the Southern Baptist Convention. Subscribe to and read the Christian Ind 1 if you would keep informed. .ESTABLISHED 1821. ©he Christian Published Every Thursday at 57% S. Broad Street. Atlanta, Ga. j. c. McMichael, proprietor. Organ of the Baptist Denomination in t Georgia. Subscription Price ; One copy, one year - 8 2 00 One copy, six months- l oo One copy, three months 60 Obituaries. —One hundred words free of charge. For each extra word, one cent per WwiLcash with copy. . . To Correspondents.—Do not use abrevia tions; bo extra careful in writing proper names; Write with ink, on one side or paper; Do nqt Write copy intended for the editor andbusi ness items on same sheet. Leave off personal- Write all names, and post offices indicates the time your subscription expires. If you do not wish it continued, order it stop ped a week before. We consider each sub scriber permanent, until he orders his paper discontmuea. When you order it stopped pay Up to date. , Bkmtttjlmcbs by check preferred; or regls terod letter, money order, postal note. It takes all sorts of preachers to preach the many-sided Gospel, and yet the woman preacher is not filling h “long felt want.” There is no place for her. She’s a fad. The organization craze is upon us. But it will pass. Meantime, the lo cal church, which is always sufficient for all religious work, will abide. The oraze for new things is also up 'on us. That too will pass. The old Gospel will likewise abide. T - Instances are continually occurr ing which illustrate the marvelous reach and power of human love. What will not a woman do for the man she loves ? How fully repaid is the hardest worked man by the love of his wife and children ! And yet our love, though it endure all things, is infinitesimal in comparison with the divine love. The saying “The king can do no wrong” has its variations down the whole gamut of the social relations. The lower one is in the social scale, the easier it is to belive him capable •of villiany, and vice versa. This both proves and illustrates the falsi ty of the dictum. The king is as bad, sometimes, as the worst of his subjects, and the poorest may have an exalted sense of personal integri ty which would do honor to the highest rank. The bane of efficiency in the work is restlessness. No can do his best while looking for and wishing for a change of fields. Perhaps the uncertain ten ure of the pastorate and the inade quate compensation of the pastor have much to do with the inactivity of many of our churches. The churoh that makes liberal promise for its pastor’s comfort and regards him as a fixture and not as a jour neyman preacher, is not likely to be afflicted with the dry rot. Dear brethren of the ministry, the Index is a co-worker and co-preach fcr of the Gospel with you. The paper stands ready to aid and Strengthen the pastors in any way and at all times. The Index de fiiree five thousand new subscribers this winter. If the ministers of our denomination will give us their ac tive support in their field, we will go Llong way toward getting the num •r we ask. We have four active tvorkers now doing nothing else, ex cept to build up our circulation. Let •very Baptist reader send us one tiew name. You can do it, if you srill make the effort. In the Kansas Exhibit at the World’s Fair, the salt industries of the State will be illustrated with “a model of the figure of Lot's wife in •alt" This can hardly be accepted ba sufficient proof of a special ten dency to scriptural topics of thought funong the authorities of the State. But let us hope that when the model Is put in place, it may convey saluta ry impressions to more than one •oul, in Connection with our Sa vior’s words : “Remember Lot’s Uife.” And if any of us are in pe culiar need of impressions of that class, Why may we not suffer divine grace stamp them on the heart even through this passing reference to the subject ? Many of us have thought that “Joe Monday” ho called himself, fol. {owing the evangelist Jones and Small in one form of that personal •elf-disrespect which is also and Chiefly (Jbrespect for the public) was violfttty slone to his death several years ago in Baltimore. But he Was in Adgusta on a recent Sabbath m ®mstian 3 niter. afternoon, lecturing in the Masonic Hall to men only, as “The Reformed Actor and Playwriter.” He was a Baptist minister when he left Geor gia ; but “in the whirligig of change” he returns to it a member of the Methodist Church, travelling as a lay evangelist. The announce ment that no one under sixteen years of age would be admitted in to the audiences seems to justify the fear that the lecture is such as the boys certainly should not hear, nor the men either, nor anybody else. To our mind, “lectures to men only” belong to a class of “suspects,”! if that word may apply as well to things as to persons. On the whole, we think, the church and the world could afford to do without them. The Apostle declared that covet ousness is idolatry. He who sets his heart on money-getting may be guilty of an idolatry not less dis honoring to God than the worship of an image. And so it may turn out that the modern missionary enter prise is to be not only the salvation of the heathen but the salvation of christendom. It strikes at the heart of that idolatry which the apos tle admonished the Colossians to put to death. In giving our money to preach the Gospel to others, we are slaying our own worst foe. The first blessing of missionary effort comes to ourselves who make it. The question, whether we can be saved if wo refuse to give the Gos pel to the heathen is full of solemn meaning. So far as now appears nothing can save us from that love of money, which is the root of every kind of evil and which, like a canker, would eat the fibre out of our reli gion, but an earnest effort to fill the whole world with the Gospel of sal vation. Written for The Index. “Faith is the substance of things honed for, the evidence of things not seen.’’ Heb. 11:1. This is a most remarkable declara tion, it stands without any qualifica tions or limitations, and from the context none are implied. Faith is the voluntary assent to a proposition sustained by sufficient authority. Substance signifies essence, mate rial part, the thing itself, as used In contradistinction to the metaphys eal. This question would seem to rise at once, how can faith continue, when the thing hoped for is realized ? The office of faith intervenes be tween the birth of hope in the soul and the realization of the thing hoped for ; at least in the ordinary affairs of men ; and that faith in the ology has a technical meaning. The Greek words, impostasis and elegkos, fairly signifies substance and evidence. Dr. George Campbell translates pupostasis “confidence,” Dr. Clark translates it “subsistency,” neither of which is specially to be favored. The fact, is, faith in reli gious experience is the equivalent of actual realization. It is the fee sim. pie title, with the warrantee of Al mighty God to the thing hoped for. The illustrations of the Apostle in the succeeding verses of the chapter are argumentative and culminate in this declaration. Seeing the things afar, off embraced them. Happiness is the prime object in view of all intelligence, of men here and hereafter. It may be fearful to investigate the errors of men on this line ; that these errors and mistakes are many and serious are readily ad mitted. If faith is the substance of things hoped for, it must follow therefore, that faith happifies in the same measure, that realization does, we can therefore understand something of the happiness arising from faith, as well as in actual realization. The happiest moment, that Stephen over realized on earth was the reve. lations of bis faith while being ston ed by his merciless persecutors. The Apostles were happy in the midst of persecutions, actually sing ing praises in dungeons and in chains, under the realizing power of faith. The soldier is victorious in tri umph, and is happy in the realiza tion of his efforts in the struggle of battle, when bis enemies are at his feet suing for peace. The Christian soldeir is happy in the realizations of the triumphs of his faith. “This is the victory, that overcometh the world even our faith.” 1 John 5 :4. Faith is victory, and victory is ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 15, 1892. happpiness, and happiness is the at tainment of desire and effort. Thank God for the embracing power of faith. J. G. McCall. Quitman, Ga., Sept. 4th 1892, [The following article appeared in The Standard, the Baptist weekly of Chicago. In his “editorial sum mary,” the distinguished editor of that paper thus refers to it: “Some time since requests were sent us for a discussion of the subject of the Christian Lord’s day, and its relation to the Judaic Sabbath. We are glad that this week wo are able to meet this request and in away to be so satisfactory. * * * Dr. Dobbs’ argument for the Christian Lord’s day, and his exposition of its charac ter and significance, are both alike masterly.” The article is reproduced at the request of many readers of the Index.] THE LORD’S DAY A DIVINE IN STITUTION. BY KEV. C. E. W. DOBBB, D. D. From much of the ground assumed by those insisting that the gates of the World’s Fair be closed on Sun day, many are compelled to dissent, even while agreeing with the main object in view. The current discus sion of “Sabbath reform” has devel oped wide difference of opinion. There are not a few who find them selves unable to accept the ordinary argument for the sanctity of the first day of the week. I refer not to the seventh-day advocates, who insist that the seventh day is the Sabbath ordained by God for universal ob servance. The argument relied on by most of those who object to this view, is that the fourth command ment “contemplated merely the sanctification of one-seventh of time,” and that “the specific day was changed by the authority of Christ and the apostles.” It is still argued that Christians are under the origi nal Sabbath law, but {hat Sunday is the “Christian Sabbath.’' Unques tionably this is the popular view among American Protestants. A large and constantly increasing num ber of scholarly interpreters ot God’s word are constrained to dissent from the argument. There are two gen eral classes who dissent. First, there are those who regard “the hal lowing of particular days as part of the Jewish code that was abrogated with the establishment of the gospel.” They think that no day is peculiarly sacred under the Christian dispensa tion. They say that “the insistence on one particular day makes it Juda izing” and that such insistence “puts one under the bondage of the letter of the commandment.” All days are equally holy to them. On the other hand there are those who, while de nying the permanent and universal authority of the decalogtie Sabbath law, yet insist that by divine authori ty the first day of the week has been constituted the Lord’s day. They regard that day as holy, though no appeal is made to the fourth com mandment as sanctifying it, requir ing its observance. Granting, then, that the Sabbath was among the positive institutions of the Jewish code ; and that Paul regarded it as belonging to the “shadows” which vanished when Christianity displaced the “ministra tion of death written and engraved on stones,” the question arises as to tne ground on which we sanctify the Lord’s day as a gospel institution. Docs it rest solely upon “ecclesiasti cal sanctioh,” along with the saints days and other holy days? If there be no higher authority for the in stitution than that of the church, then we shall be compelled to place it upon the common level of those days. Let it be emphasized again that there is no scripture authority for the transfer of the Sabbath obligation fropx the “seventh day” to the “first day.” Os such “change of day,’’not only the New Testament, but the Christian literature of the early cen turies is as silent as the grave. It was many hundred years after the apostles before the Sabbath and the Lord’s day began to be identified and the decalogue adduced in sup port of the latter. This is a sugges tive, to say the least. We must look to the New Testament, as inter preted in the teaching and practice of the churches immediately follow ing the apostolic age, to find the true authorization of the Lords day. With practical unanimity exegeti cal scholars and commentators are agreed that Jesus was buried before sunset on the Friday of the passover week, and that he arose “very early in the morning the first day of the week.” The few who except to this view do so on grounds that are dis missed as untenable by the mass of competent interpreters. On the even ing of that resurrection Sunday, and also on the following Sunday, he ap peared to his disciples as they were assemeled. It cannot bo urged that these appearances of Jesus to his disciples of themselves prove hie au thorization of the “first day” the me morial of his resurrection. The must that oan be claimed is that they suggestively harmonize with such an authorization, supposing it to be oth erwise probable. Now, Jesus re mained on earth forty days after his resurection, “speaking the things con cerning the kingdom.” The record is silent concerning the nature of most of those post-resurrection inter views. What he may have taught his disciples concerning the Lord’s day is not, perhaps, a matter of legit imate assumption. Yet it is difficult to believe that so important an insti tution was wholly ignored in his in structions. The practice of the apostles and the'primitive churches, as intimated in incidental scripture references, would seem to afford at least presumptive evidence of some definite directions in relation thereto. Whatever may be concluded as to the reasonableness of this suggestion, it is certain that Jesus comiuissoned his appostles to teach the churches, promising his Holy Spirit to guide them into all the truth. What they delivered to the churches in the ex ercise of that apostleship, has the sanction of divine prescription. The principle is generally recognized that apostolic precedent is equally binding with apostolic precept—that example is tantamount to command. Few will question that, if one of the aptostles had in one of his epistles an explicit direction to the early Christians to observe the first day of the week, his direction would have been decis ive of the matter. But if by exam ple, and we may fairly presume, by verbal precept, the apostles encourag ed the observance of the first day of the week as the Christian day of workship, on what grounds shall we pronounce their example less de cisive than their written words would have been ? Have we such example ? In the New Testament there are intimations quite clear that the apos tles thus honored the day in com memoration of their Lord’s resurrec tion. True, these are neither as numerous nor as definite as we might wish them to be; yet, when they are considered in the light shed upon their meaning from the testimony and practice of the writers and churches immediately succeed ing the apostles, they are amply suf ficieut to justify the significance ac corded them in Christian interpreta tion. Even if Jesus had given no in timation of his will in the matter, it is reasonable to suppose the apostles would set apart as ,s,acred the day which brought tbof.beloved Master from the tomb. The baptism in the Holy Spirit prepared those apostles to be the infallible teachers of the churches. That wonderful baptism came ou the day of Pentecost, which, in that year, occurred on the! hrst day of the week. Hessey asks, “Was it by accident that on that day they were all together in one place ?” We may reasonably suppose the gather ing on that Sunday morning to be in accord with their already established custom. Many years after that Pentecost, the inspired history brings Paul to Troas,by which time Christianity had assumed a comparatively fixed form. There Paul andjiis companions “tar ried seven days, and upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached.” Passing by the many ir relevant matters which have been forced into the discussion of this pas sage, certainly we have here just such a record as one should nat urally expect to read upon the sup position that the first day of the week was then the recognized day of Chris tian assembling. The matter-of course way in which the circum stances are introduced seems to in dicate an established order. There is a similar unstudied reference in 1 Cor. xvi. 1,2, where Paul seems to allude to this day as one (recognized for the of religious ser vice. The weekly assembling of the church on the first day of the week would prove convenient for the stor ing of their gifts. It was not till late in the century— not till John wrote the Revelation (in A. D. 90, or as some say, A. D. 66-69) that we meet the name Lord’s day. By that time it had become usual by that august term to desig nate its divine origin and institution. There is no good reason for objecting to the application of the term to the first day of the week. It is so understood by the earliest Christian writers. In the Greek Le vant Sunday is yet called Kuriake— the Lord’s-day, just as in most Os the continental languages of Europe it is known by similar terms, while “Sab bath” is used to denote Saturday, the seventh day. This argument is confirmed by an appeal to the interpretation of those apostolic precedents by the earliest Christian writer. They who immedi ately succeeded the New Testament age, while not infallible teachers, cer tainly are entitled to regard as wit nesses to the established order deliv ered by the apostles to the churches they founded. Barry, in Smith’s •‘Christian Antiquities,” summing up tho testimony, assures us that “patris tic usage from Ignatius downwards establishes the regular and technical use of the Lord’s-day for the first day of the week.” Ignatius was a disciple of the apostle John. This “father,” and Barnabas, Justin Mar tyr, Irenteus, and others, can be cited as testifying to the fixed custom of worship on this holy day. With one voice they speak of the Lord’s-day, just as they speak of baptism and the supper, and other matters of church order, which they received from the inspired founders of our re ligion. Calmly surveying this whole field so hastily reviewed, the argument seems conclusive. We rest content upon so convincing proof of the di vine origin of this gospel institution. We would not place the Lord’s-day upon the low plane of the Sabbath, nor would we lessen its gospel sig nificance by seeking authority and prescription for its observance in the abrogated Sinaio code. Rather would we take our stand reverently by the open tomb that could not hold the Prince of Life in bond, and rejoice in the day which our Lord hath made. Cartersville, Ga. IMPORTANT QUESTION. What will become of all the new converts that are being reported as the results of the great meetings all through the country this summer? This is a momentous question. If an intelligent answer could now be given there are troups of questions connected with the work of the churches that would have an imme mediate solution. Our experiences would suggest memories that are two painful to repeat. Our observations lead us to fearful expectations. Some one who is doubtful of the good of protracted meetings anyhow thinks that scores of these professsions are spurious and the results will be as it so often has been in the past, that in a few months the vast number may be de creased by a right large proportion. It may be true that some have pro fessed faith in Jesus who are still strange to any experience of grace, but the proof of this fact does not lie where it is commonly supposed that it is found. We often have much to say about the unconverted element in tho churches, the spurious converts, etc., that we might save ourselves by a little attention to the young who are brought into the churches during our protracted meet ing seasons. If we are up with our progressive age we will at once organize a so ciety to be known as the S. N. C. (Society of the New Converts) and set them at developing themseves in to church workers and thus useful Christians. Would it not be better to keep them in company with some who have worked in these things and can possibly assist them by a little ex perience. Would it not be better to acquaint them as early as possible with the organization they are being trained for. Why teach a boy smith ing in a carpenter shop if there is a black-smith shop at hand. After all, the painful fact will not be ignored that our question is not how shall we train them, but, shall we train them. First of all, it is next to impossi ble to develop, as it should be done, these young Christians who belong to the churches which have only monthly preaching. The best that can be done is unsatisfactory if not discouraging. And yet it may be done with some degree of suc cess. Let the churches prosecute vigor ously their Sunday-school work and inaugurate settlement prayer-meet ings and such other religious meet ings as will bring these new converts often into religious contact with the members. At these meetings let kind talks be made that will encour age habits of reading and prayer. Thus it is possible to interest and develope young Christians, even rapidly, where the church has meet ing only once a month. Beware of making tho almost fa tal mistake of supposing that a new member is being developed when he can bo induced to get up and talk or lead a public prayer. Some of them possibly ought to begin speak ing in prayer-meeting very soon af ter conversion. Very rarely there is ono who ought to lead in public prayer immediately after ho joins the church. There are so many people who do not know that to learn of Jesus is tho first groat duty, it has come to be common to have tho talks and prayers at a religious meeting by the very greenest mem bers who will allow themselves brought forward, and when one con sents to take a leading part at a. public meeting he is said to be grow ing. Tho best way to begin tho growth of newly converted people is to be gin teaching them the great doctrine underlying the hopes of Christian life. Our brethren anciently held all new converts under the name and in the place of “Catechumen” until they were thoroughly acquainted with the truth before they were regarded members of the church. Teach the young convert to be able to give a reason for the faith that is in him and let him grow into the work of public exercises and personal effort for the advancement of the Master’s Kingdom. Let any one try on the line here suggested any lot of our average converts and he will not have cause to fear so much that professions are spurious. We shall never know how many of God’s dear little ones have gone stumbling and starving through the world for lack of attention. These are babes born into the family of the dear Redeemer. They need food suitable to their new natures, and they need training that their feet may go new paths. Brother, before you condemn the protracted meeting and its converts, go do your full duty to them or else condemn yourself. Under the circumstances surround ing many when they join the chnrch and in view of the encouragement that is given them, it is surprising how few backslide. The wonder is that all do not. As was said above, it is a painful re collection to most Christians that they had a terrible wilderness expe rience after they joined the church. The experince is so nearly universal that it is often spoken of as it were a necessity. This need not be. Every one will have temptations sore and numer ous but surely His grace is sufficient if the child of God can only know how to avail himself of it. The fact is, Christians never are lead astray by temptations. They never go as tray till neglect of duties and privi leges has separated them from the ardent love of Christ. When, therefore, you provide a course for a young Christian that will increase his ardor and quicken his love for the Saviour and his cause, you have insured him against 1 falling into habits of sinfulness that will afterwards grieve him. F .C. McConnell. THOUGHTS ABOUT GOD. Ist. Some writers speak of God as the “Absolute One.” To con struct to our own minds a definite conception of what this title means, is very difficult, if not impossible. Hence some learned men think that, if there is a God, —the Absolute One, —it is impossible for us to know Him. Again other writers speak of God as the “Unconditioned One.” There is another title whose mean ing lies beyond the reach of human conception. Both these titles, no doubt, indicate facts concerning God which are of the most exalted value, but they lift the Being to whom they belong above our comprehension. If therefore we ever come to know God, it must be through terms more intelligible to us than “The Abso lute,” or “The Unconditioned.” 2. In striking contrast with the philosophers, alluded to above, the Bible speaks of God in the more or dinary terms of human speech. The Bible says : “In tho beginning God created the Heavens and tho Earth.” Here we have God given to us as a Creator. This term may indeed in clude some things above our compre hension ; but a part of its meaning is perfectly simple, and easily under stood even by the unlearned. For we have in our common speech the word “maker” which is tho central idea of the term “Creator.” Hence Creator simply denotes tho highest order of makers. As Creator; there fore, we can form a rational, and intelligible conception of God ; for wo all know what a maker is. A watch, a house, a plow, all had ma kers. So a correct Philosophy tells us that tho Universe had a maker, and tho Bible, 8000 years in ad vance of Paley and a modern sci ence, had put it on record, that God was the Creator of tho Universe. There is something about God which we can, in some good degree, under stand. And it brings Him to our knowledge as our Creator. How in tirnato and close is this relation ! He not only made Sirius, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, the Earth, the Sun, etc., but he made me I Ho is my Brother Minister, Working Layman, Zealous Sister, Wo are striving to make Tho Index the best of its kind. Help us by securing a new subscriber. VOL. 69.—N0. 37. Creator, the Author of my being ! So He is yours, dear reader. Should wo not love, reverence, and adore Him ? Think, for a moment, what a Being He must be. Consider the vast extent of the universe, the num ber and variety of its component parts, and the wonderful interwork ings of all these parts upon one an other so as to embrace the whole Universe in the unity of ono vast system. What wisdom in its design I What power in its accomplishment I 3. Again the Bible speaks of God as a Law Giver. Here is another term of human speech which all can understand. He is revealed as a law . giver in these words i “And God said nnto the man, of all the trees ! of the garden thou mayest freely] eat, but of the tree of knowledge of ‘ good and evil, thou shalt not eat of ) it; for in the day thou eatest there- f of, thou shalt surely die.” Here we / have “a rule of action” prescribed by the Almighty, for His creature. It is as perfect an example of a law, i as can be found in the statute books of any nation. It fulfils completely, Judge Blackstone’s definition of a law, viz, “A law is a rule of action prescribed by some superior, which the inferior is bound to obey.” Now God is not only the infinite superior of all His creatures ; but, by virtue of His relation to them as their Cre ator, He has an infinite right to rulfo them according to His will. And., of course, every creature is bound by ( a corresponding obligation, to obey i that will, just as soon as it is, in any ; way, made known to him. In the , light of these facts we discover also the infinite soveignty of God. Now , these terms, sovereignty, law-maker, i government, are all familiar to us. They are illustrated for us in the things around us. When therefore the Bible reveals God as exercising these functions we can form some clear conception of Him. 4. Once more, tho Bible speaks of God as a Judge. And all men recognize judgment as one of the highest, if not the very highest func- ; tion of sovereignty. It is a beauti- ’ ul and significant fiction in the Com mon Law of England, that the Sov ereign is present in the person of the Judge, as his representative in every conrt-room throughout his empire. The meaning of this fiction Is that the whole power of the sovereign is ready to enforce the rulings of every court, to the extent of its oppointed jurisdiction. In earthly courts, this übiquity of the sovereign is of course physically impossible. But not so with the Almighty. By virtue of His omnipresence, He is able actually 1 to represent His own Person, in ev ery case of judgment that may occur, anywhere in His vast Domain. And, the Bible gives many signal instan ces illustrating His judicial authori ty over men. As a judge it is His function to vindicate the sovereignty of the Divine government against alp transgressors. That sovereignty must be upheld against all opposi tion. As a judge, therefore, He may well be called, “the great and dreadful God for “justice and judgment are the habitation of His throne.” As a Law-giver and a Judge He cannot look upon sin with allowance, —He can in no wise clear the guilty. But in the next place, the Bible speaks of God as the Redeemer. A redeemer is one who pays a certain price for the ransom of some one whom he loves, from captivity. In this sense, the word was well under stood among the ancients. Now we read that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him might have eternal life.” The case was this : The sinner was under con demnation by the Law. God as a Law-givor and a judge could not de liver him without subverting Ilia own moral government. Henpo in His infinite love He placed Himself in a new relation to His creature man, He became his Redeemer and tho price paid for his ransom waa tho precious blood of His well be loved son so that He might “bo just and yet tho justifier of him who be liovoth in Jesus.” It is interesting, as well as wonderful, how often thiß title, Redeemer, is applied to the Supremo Being in the Scriptures, It is often repeated in the Old Tes tament, and redemption is the cen tral truth in the plan of salvation aa developed in tho Gospel; and thij revelation of God as our redeemer