Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

ESTABLISHED 1821. She ffihvistiun index TubJished Every Thursday at 16 East Mitchel btreet. Atlanta. Ga. j. c. McMichael, pbofbibtok. Organ of the Baptist Denomination in Georgia. Subscription Pricb: Onecopy, one year 2.00 One copy, six months 1-00 Obitvarixs.—One hundred words free of charge. For each extra word, one cent per w ord, cash with copy. To Correspondents.—Do not use abrevia tions ;be extra careful in writingproper names; write with ink, on one side of paper; Do not write copy intended for the editor and busi ness items on same sheet Leas e off personal ities; condense. Business.—Write all names, and post offices distinctly. In ordering a change give the old as well as the new address. The date of label indicates the time your subscription expires. If you do not wish it continued, order it stop ped a w eek before. We consider each sub scriber permanent, until he orders his paper discontinued. When you order It stopped pay upto date. Remittances by check preferred; or regia ered letter, money order, postal note, The Philadelphia “Presbyterian” ex presses the belief that “the interest felt in the Higher Criticism is plainly wan ing. Os course. The interest of novel ty abates, and there is no interest of truth to replace it. Edmund Gosse, in the June “Century,’’ expresses the opinion that “as a religious poet of our time, Christina Rosetta has no rival but Cardinal Newman.” It is the quality of the work, not the quantity which determines an author's rank: but still there may be an occasional nugget which comes from a quarry not a mine. The Jews were allowed to eat no bread not even “parched grain,” nor yet “green ears”—from the harvest of the year, until the sheaf of the wave-offer ing had first been presented to the Lord. They could use nothing of it as their own, before they had made solemn con fession that it was not theirs but His. God is between us and everything that we enjoy here; and there can be no rightful enjoyment of anything unless we have first found and acknowledged him as its owner and giver—finding Him and finding it in Him. In his recent “Biography of John Ruskin,” Collingwood finds “the essence of Ruskin’s work—throughout a life of intense application in art criticism, po litical economy, ethics and teaching, and burdened by frequent physical infirmity —summed in one word, sincerity.” And Sir Frederick Leighton, in his address to younger artists at the late banquet of the Royal Academy, “I would beg them to keep ever before their eyes the vital truth that sincerity is the well-spring of all lasting achievement, and that no good thing ever took root in untruth or in self-deception.” Nowhere does this twofold testimony more need to be laid ♦o heart than Vhere men recognize thera fseGes as artinis who build a character /and build a life “under the Great Task amaster’s eye.” No such life, no such Character, is built acceptably, without, /from first to last, sincerity. The Church Review says: “So far from believing that Agnosticism is a logical substitute for belief, as spreading we blieve, from every evidence that reaches us that it has seen its meridian. Within a few years it will give place to a new mode of denial.” It has already reached its high-water mark, and what threatened to be a flood has begun to subside. The unbelief of human nature may not relinquish its warfare against divine truth, but it will find itself con strained to abandon this form and this weapon of warfare for some other. It will see for itself that its carnal enmity toward the gospel can not find valid ex pression in the principles and phrases (or the phrases without principles) of Agnosticism. Agnostics will sigp their own death warrant, and reappear under some new style and type of “death in life,” to open afresh the old battle be tween right and wrong and truth and falsehood—the confession of their de feat in the present and the prophecy of a defeat no less decisive in the future. In the “Nation” for May, (Berlin,) M. Kronenburg points out the dawning re action among cultured classes against the scientific teaching that the field of possible human knowledge is limited to things apprehended of the five senses. That teaching is falsely called scientific, and has had only a partial and tempo rary acceptance. There has always been a large and influential body of thinkers, for whom no pall of scepticism has dar kened the problem of man's spiritual nature and destiny: and those who for a season had drawn that pall over their eyes, are now measurably putting it aside for a clearer vision than they knew be fore their years of doubt. Spirit is not really giving place to matter, and the universe is not really crowding God out of sight. So long as man is conscious of a mind that knows matter, he knows himself as spirit; and to know himself as spirit is to know the other and divine Spirit, the God whois at once in the universe and above it. Higher than the five senses, and more real, must ever be the sense of the supernatural, the eternal and the divine, and of our supreme relation to that. This, in due season, every science worthy of the name must be constrained to own—must own not of constraint but willingly. The “Christian Leader," a Lutheran paper of Cincinnati, pronounces “Ro manism a composite of Judaism, Pagan ism and Christianity, Paganism predom inating.” It confesses also, “humiliating as the confession may be, that the Pro testant churches are still more or less impregnated with Paganism and Judaism Christianity predominating." Whether these things are or are not too severe to be said, they are misleading. All the errors anywhere prevailing among Chris tians, may be traced and should be traced, and Archbishop Whately traces the errors of Romanism, to “their origin in human nature." We have no need to go abroad to other countries, or races, or ages, in quest of the Judaist, or the Pa gan, who may bear, byway of vicarious reproach, the blame and the burden of the false beliefs incorporated into the religion of the New Testament as our creeds and ecclesiasticisms embody it. No: our nature, the sin of our nature— that is the Pagan, that is the Judaist. Right here at home, and in our own bosom, and hy ourselves, is the work of alloying and debasing the pure truth carried forward Not Judaists and Pa -Bans, but Romanists, are answerable for io wrings of Romanism; and for the THE CHRISTI AN INDEX. wrongs of Protestantism, not Pagans and J udaists but Protestants are answerable. It is only after the great and vital truth is fully recognized, that we may turn for a secondary and illustrative light to the page of history, and hope to see our own errors the more clearly for seeing them in those who went before us. MATTHEW V. 14- “YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. A FRAG MENT FROM SOME SHEETS NOT HITHERTO EDITED BY IGNOTUS. BY REV. F. C. JOHNSON. The words immediately following are, “A city situate upon a moun tain cannot be hid, neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel-measure (so that its light is obscured) but on a candlestick, and it shines (so placed) to or for all that are in the house. So let your light shine, that men may see your good deeds, and glorify your father in heaven." These disciples, to whom it is said “ye are the light of the world," are immediately called by implication a city, not situated in some sequestered deeply shaded valley, so that one could pass quite near, without being aware of the ex istence of a city in his vicinity; but a city built on the top of some moun tain, which lifts its head above the surrounding plain, and is and must be visible from afar. The very ob ject of their being made light, is that they may be seen. A light we see not, is to us no light. But a light is seen not for its own sake, it is seen, not merely to be seen, that is, that itself be seen, but that it may show something else—may show the way to something else. When, then, the disciples are called by im plication, a city built on some high mountain, top, which by its very lo cation, is conspicuous from afar, at tracting the eyes of all who enter and traverse the surrounding plain, he points out one thing in disciple ship, which has sometimes been for gotten viz. that in its very essence and nature, it is to be seen, looked at, gazed at. And since he had said “ye are the light of the world,” he means that those who look at, see, gaze at, and have their eyes fixed upon these disciples ; these onlookers, I say, these examiners, these atten tive viewers are the world of man kind, all races, tongues, people and languages under the w-hole heaven. Therefore, if thou, a brother sayest I will be a disciple, but not known as a disciple,’ surely, in this case, thou art foolisn tor to be a disciple of the Christ, is to be a part at least of a city that is situated upon the top of a high mountain, so that it cannot be hid from the dwellers of the low-lying plain which is at the foot, and around the mountain. To be a disciple of the Christ, and not to be known as such, viewed looked at, examined as such by the world. This is impossible. The Christ is the mountain, high, very high, yea, highest. Men of the world are the plain, wherein that mountain tower’s heavenward. The character of the Christ is an elevation. The char acter of the world is not elevated. It is a plain—very low. To be in the Christ, is to have an elevation of sentiment, a loftiness of aim, a purity of heart, and fixedness of holy pur pose, a stainlessness of truth, a zeal of love, a steady and full habit of forgiveness, a firmness of endurance, a longsufferingand unyieldingness of perseverance, a sleepless vigilance, a ceaseless frequency of prayer, and tirelessness of effort, an unquench ableness of desire and deathlessness of hope, that place you far above the world, that necessarily make you observed watched, wondered at, gazed upon. So then, brother dear, cease to murmur and complain, as if a wrong was done thee, when thou art watched, examined, scrutinized and censured in this world, by men of the world. For thou wast put upon the mountain for this very pur pose. 1. Pet. iv;6 “For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the Spirit." Cease then to complain of that for which the gospel was preached unto you, and rather be solicitous, that when looked at by the world, you do not cause the way of truth to be evil spoken of, that you do not awaken disgust in the be holder. Be careful that your dis graceful nakedness appear not. Butlsaythe light is not only to be seen, but so seen that something else be discovered to the seer, that the way he should walk in be made clear to him. And so it is added “Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a can dlestick, and it shines for the benefit of all in the bouse.” So let your light shine that men may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.” The shining of your light has two contemplated results, the one of which is valuable and to be desired only as a mean to the other, which is the great and final end of your shining. Ist result that men may see your good works. This is the first result which serves as mean to the second and all im portant one. Now take notice, disciple of the Lord, that the shining of thy light means this, and this only, the doing of good deeds. ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY. JULY 20,1893. Hast thou no good works ? Is thy life not a doing of good deeds ? How then knowest thou, that thou art a disciple of him who went about doing good ? How shall the world know it? Yea more how shall God know it? Doth God know a star that shines not? Were it only a light ning bug, does it not shine ? Be it no more than a tallow dip, yet it gives out light. Thou art a disciple and yet thou doest no good. Then thou art a star that shines not. I remember that somewhere I did read of “stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness” I think the author called them “wandering stars.” “For me ” saith an ancient wriier, “To live is Christ.” Now the Christ is heaven’s messenger, and earth’s benefactor He went about doing good. When then that ancient writer did say, “For me to live is Christ" he said “my life is a doing of good, it is a message from heaven, it is a benefaction to earth—-it is light.” But now the candle put on the candle-stick, shineth not for itself, but for those in the house. It shines not, that you may see it and say, “that is a beautiful light,” but it shines that you may see the owner of the house, the builder of the house, that you may see the furniture and know how to conduct in that house and how to go about in it. The candle lights you to seek and find and use what is in the house, in a way answerable to the kind intent of the householder who invited thee there to be sheltered from the storm howling outside, and to enjoy what his hand put there for thy use. Not that thou shouldst say “this is a lovely candle,” nor even, “this is a fine house richly furnished for me,” but that thou shouldst bless his benefi cience, and glorify him who built and stored and lighted the house, and has invited thee to come in and be happy. So thy good works are not, that men should say, “oh 1 what a good man” or even make them bestow one thought on thee. But they are for this end, that the world through thy good deeds, should be led to know God, “the father of lights, from whom cometh down every good and perfect gift” and to love and praise and thank and serve Him for ever and ever. Not for thy own sake art thou a disciple, not for thy own glory, not even for thy own Salvation, as any final end ; but “for the praise of his grace, who made thee accepted in the Beloved.” One in a certain place speaketh on this wise concerning the disciples of the Christ. “But you are a select kin dred, a royal priesthood, a consecra ted nation, a people for a peculiar property, that ye might show forth the virtues of him who called you out of darkness into his admirable light.” That last thing in the description of disciples, “a people for a peculiar property,” needs some fuller explan ation. In Greek it is “la-os eis per ipoiesin,” which itself is the transla tion of the Hebrew “am sgulah.” In 135 Ps. 4th v. “The Lord, i. e. Jehovah hath chosen Jacob for him self, and Israel for his peculiar treas ure.' Now peculiar treasure in He brew is this very word “Sgulah.” In Ecclesiastes 2 chap. 8 verse. “I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and provinces.” Here again pecu liar treasure is “sgulah.” Again in Ist Chronicles 29 chap. 3 verse. “And further because of my delight in the house of my God, I have given over and above all that I have pre pared tor the holy house, a peculiar treasure which I have.” In the verse preceding he had said, what he had prepared, and then in this 3rd verse he adds, that in ad dition to this large preparative, he had a private treasure, which his de light in God’s house moved him to contribute and then in the 4th verse he tells us what that private treas ure was. It was 3000 talents of gold of ophir, the supposed purest gold, and 7000 talents of refined silver. This was a treasure, that belonged not to David the King, but to David the son of Jesse, the man David—when, where or how acquired we are not told, but as our version expresses it, it was “his own proper good”—“sgulah". In Deut. vii: 5. Moses says, “For a people art thou consecrated to Jehovah thy God; Jehovah thy God hath selected thee out of all nations which are upon the face of the earth, a people as a treasure, or perhaps the sense may be better expressed in English, has selected thee from all earth’s; population, to be a people who are his peculiar possession and treasure.” I am sure this is the meaning. A people who belong to him, not like all other nations, by right of his being “Elohim” who in the beginning created the heavens and the earth, not simply as the Creator, who said “Let us make man in our imago and likeness,” not merely as preserver of all mankind But in his character of Jehovah the” God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, having acquired a peculiar and as it were, private property in them, by reason of having done for them what He never did for any other nation of people on this earth ; Even as Moses saith Deut. iv : 32 :• 39. “For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? Did ever peo ple hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live ? Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by won ders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Jehovah your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? Uuto thee it was showed that thou mighti est know that Jehovah is God; there is none else beside him. Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he showed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his w ords out of the midst of the fire. And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight, with his mighty power out of Egypt; To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheri tance, as it is this day. So that these people, the type of disciples of the Christ, are his, as no others are, and they were so acquired, that they misfit show forth his vir tues. They are lights, not to be admired for what they are now, or were formerly, not for what they have done, are doing, or ever will do, not fbr what they have given to them, or ever will have given to them, but that they may exhibit to others, the virtues of him, who called them out of darkness into his ad mirable light. The virtues of Jeho vah! and what are they? Mercy pity, long suffering, slowness to anger, readiness to forgive, abun dance of grace and truth—pardoning iniquity, transgression and sin, keep, ing mercy unto the thousandth gen eration of them that love him and keep his Commandments—but one who will not leave the guilty unpun ished, visiting the iniquity of fathers upon children, and children’s chil dren unto the third and fourth gen eration. But now in the Christ what an exhibition of those virtues to believers! “God so loved the world, that he gave 1 is only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him, should not perish, but have eter nal life.” , In Ephesians v‘: 8. Tis said, “though ye were formerly darkness, yet now are ye light in the Lord : walk (i. e. behave, or conduct your selves) as children of light; for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and justice and truth, searching for, (and when found approving) what is acceptable to the Lord : and have no share in the fruitless doings of the darkness, but rather put them to shame (by shewing throngh your good and just and truthful conduct, that they are shameful), for it is dis graceful even to say the things done by them in secret. Now whatsoever is put to shame is manifested (or made apparent) by the light; for all that manifests itself is light.” Light is its own evidence, where it is said “ye were formerly darkness," that means people living in ignorance of the truth, which the Son of God has revealed. The lives of those people, did not show the way of life, but mislead even unto death those who imitated their depraved doings. “Light in the Lord,” is men who in consequence of their union with the Lord, are good and just and true. They are beneficent, in all their transactions just, true to their word. They put to shame and demonstrate the utter wrongness of unbelievers’ unkind unjust and false doings, by their own deeds of mercy, justice and truthfulness. It is these good deeds that make them light, shewing the way of life, and not darkness lead ing from God, and ending in death. Light is the first of created things. At the command of God, it shone out of darkness. “Let there be light,” this is the first of all divine words, and “light was," the condi tion Sine qua ijon, to every subse quent creative act. Light is co-ex tensive with life, vegetable, animal, human, on earth or in heaven. Light is heaven’s sweet messenger. From out the darkness, shrouded chaos, leading forth the resplendent cos mos. Giving and guiding life,clothing with beauty, and inspiring joy. It is the opposite of darkness and the enemy of death. But darkness does not hide light; yea rather darkness is the chosen field, whereon Light wins its triumphs and manifests its glory. Light can only bo hidden by light that excels. Thus the light of the moon, stars and lamps, is hidden by the light of the sun, which is Lord 'of the day. To such light as that of moons, meteors, stars, lamps, light ning bugs, and glow worms. Night is assigned. They are visible only in the night. When one sees them he knows it is night. They reveal the realm of night, and proclaim the absence of the sun. | The day is the sun’s creation and empire. The sun’s place is in heav en* There, hath the Creator set his | tent, (“our citizenship is in heaven.” Philippians. iii: 20.) From his tent issuing, as a bridegroom from the nuptial chamber, in splendor clad and marching forth like a hero con fident in his prowess he maketh the circuit of the heavens, and naught in the low underlying earth is hid from his penetrating and quickening heat. All earths’ beauty and life and joy are droppings from his heav enly ways. It is day to us or the sun’s reign, what time he is riding in state upon the heavens, in his bene ficent and splendid progress from the East to the West. And all the bloom of flowers, all the greenness of growing grass, and ripening of luscious fruits, and singing of sweet songsters, and life in the waters and on the land, this all belongs to the day, the kingdom of the sun, which has his throne in the heavens. He that saith to the disciples “ye are the light of the world” saith of himself “I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” Jesus in the flesh, bearing our sins, and living on earth is the light of the world, (physically the light of the world is the sun.) Jesus ascended to heaven, is in the disci ples and shining through them, the light of the world. Christ in them makes them the moral sun that lightens mankind. THE PASTOR’S STUDY OF THE BI BLE IN THE ORIGINAL TONGUES. BY REV. HENRY G. WESTON, D .D. I see that Homiletical Journals and Minister’s meetings are discuss ing “Greek and Hebrew after gradu ation.” The question is a practical one. The arguments for neglect are at hand, and present their claims with earnestness. The pressure of daily duties, the inexorable occupa tion of every hour, the impossibility of attaining such expertness in these languages as to warrant a dissent from the masters; —there is cogen cy in these and other reasons. But, —to say nothing now of the great advantages arising from knowledge of other tongues than a man’s own, —if one wishes to preach just the truth which the Bible contains, he must keep up his acquaintance with the languages in which the Script ures were written. Aside from dis puted questions, the ordinary student will find a great deal of light in the perusal of the original which he can gain by no other method. He will absorb the meaning in the same way in which he learned the idioms of his mother tongue, ‘not from diction aries and lexicons, but from the con nection in which the word or phrase occurs. There are not a few terms in the New Testament which have no English equivalent. The well-known words, both of which must be trans lated “love,” are an example. Not long since, I saw a notice of a ser mon setting forth the forgiving nature of Christ shown by bis address ing Judas, at the time of betrayal, as “friend.” The word thus trans lated conveys no idea of affection or approval, but the reverse. I once heard in New York City, a sermon one-third of which insisted on the close alliance of the human and di vine, because a particular word in the text was applied both to God and man. The preacher was much mortified when he afterwards dis covered that he had been deceived by the English translation ;the word in question not being applied to man in a single instance. There are words which ought always to be dis criminated, which no translation dis tinguishes. “Work” and “labor" are examples. Work is divine; labor came in with the curse; it is the re sult of sin. God works, but ho does not labor. When the Christian dies, he rests from his labors, but his works go with him. Love both works and labors; it often attempts what it cannot accomplish; it toils under difficulties; it is hindered and frustrated. Faith works, it never labors. Often times the English word conveys an entirely inadequate meaning. Last Sunday, I heard the 40th Psalm read in church : “I waited patiently for the Lord.” How many persons in the congrega tion got the idea of “waiting patient ly?” The original is intense an<f emphatic. Who ever attains to the idea of the paraclete from the trans lations “Comforter, Advocate ? ” Every one is aware bow much meaning is brought out of a sentence by an accomplished reader. Em phasis and inflection are better than a commentary. Men constantly tell me, “I would rather hear So-and-so read a chapter in the Bible than to have an exposition of it.” In En glish tho voice is generally necessary to denote the emphasis. On the printed page, capitals and italics are a sorry substitute. The order and formation of an English sentence are fixed by mechanical considerations largely regardless oi the sense. These principles harden into rules which rarely admit of variation. In Greek, on the contrary, the arrange ment and position of tho words are determined by the sense intended to be conveyed; the article, tho adject ive, the pronoun is inserted or omit ted, and if inserted, is placed so as to give Um ) of meaning in tho mind of the writer. Our treaties on Rhetoric and Elocution give phrases in which as many meanings as there are words can be expressed by the inflection of the voice, the order of the words begin unchangeable. In Greek, the collocation changes with every changing meaning. In En glish, we say, “a MAN’S hat” or “a man’s HAT,’’according as we wish to emphasize the hat or the wearer. In the classical tongues this would be expressed by the order of the words. “Longa via” means one thing,“via longa,” another. Our linguistic rules forbid alike the plastic order of the ancient tongues, and their liberty of employment or non-employment of terms whose use or disuse felicitous ly conveys the thought of the writer. No English translation indicates, as does the Greek original, that when Paul says, “Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not made alive, unless it die,” the latter “thou” is emphatic, and is the reason for the epithet “fool.” He does not see what he is himself doing. There is scarcely anything connected with Bible trans lation which evokes the regret of the trauslator so much as the impossibil ty of transferring the emphasis of the original. Even if a commenta tor should undertake to give the shades of meaning evident in the construction of a sentence, he would be compelled to refrain on account of intolerable prolixity. The reader of the original perceives at a glance what it would take a para graph to explain. There is not a chapter in the New Testament in which the careful reading of the original does not give light not merely to the erudite scholar, but to any observant student. A knowledge of scriptural usage is indispensable to correct interpre tation. How many times I have heard and read discussions of the meaning of our lord’s direction to Mary,—“Touch me not, for I have not yet decended to my father”— in which every argument was em ployed except that arising from the New Testament use of the word “Touch.” It is found thirty-six times, and always with the sense of transmission, either of receiving or imparting. It is always a momenta ry touch, and always gives or re ceives. Mary, with that wonderful spiritual prescience with which she was endowed, manifested in anoint ing the Lord for his burial, now ex ultjng in his resurrection, wishes to receive the great blessing which Christ had predicted as the conse quence of his departure and return. To gain this, she touches Christ. But not yet is it possible for Christ to bestow; he must first return to his Father ; his ascension is indispen sable to the receptiou of promised spirit. Much light is shed on great doc trines of Christianity by the study of the expressions of the Gospels and Epistles. Sometimes the article is used in connection with the Holy Spirit, sometimes, not. There is a prineicle here which is important in determining the relations of the third person of the Blessed Trinity. It will be asked, where can |the busy pastor find time for such study. The writer of this article may be excused for saying he has had a pretty experience in ministerial life. He has known what it is to be pastor of several churches at once, scattered over an area fifty miles square, (with no railroads), his study being the shady side of a hay stack; he was fop years pastor of a very large church in our largest city,) where every night he had the conviction that a hard day’s work had been done, but two day’s work had been untouched ; for years there were in cumbent on him between Sunday’s duties enpugh for any two men ; but he has always found time for a half hour of regular and systematic study of tho scriptures, irrespective of the next sermon, as his mornings first work. He believes that he is justi fied in saying to his younger breth ren in the ministry, there is no life so busy, done with demands so in exorable, as to forbid this privilege to the lover of the word of God. BREAD FOR MISSIONARIES. BY J. G. GIBSON, COR. SEc’y. Dear Brethren and Sisters : I regret that tfie necessity is so fre quently upon me to appeal for money, but your work cannnot pro ceed without it. Our state mission aries must have bread. Many of them have performed two months labor during this convention al year. Their salaries are due and unpaid. Very little money in deed has come in for state mission work since tho meeting of the con vention in April. I suppose many of our churches are waiting to send their funds to the association. In the meantime our missionaries are greatly embarrassed. Brethren, why wait for the association meeting? | A check, postal note, money order or registered letter will be thank fully received and your remittance [at once will meet a pressing want. But if you prefer to send funds to the Association let mo suggest that | these gatherings will soon be upon ■ us. Every church should make it its ' business to get contributions from all its members. VOL. 70—NO. 28. “Honor the Lord with thy sub stance and the first fruits of all thine increase.” These are God’s words. Can we longer afford to ignore them? Our Savior says “Go” and “Low I am with you.” He does not say “Stay” and “I am with you” How many churches are dying, inch by inch or dragging out a miserable, worthless existence simply because they insist on staying, and begging the Lord to stay with them and bless them in a do-nothing state. He has not promised to do any such thing and He will not do it. Do His bid ding, then ask His favor and it will come. The oat crop was fine. The wheat crop was good. Fruit is a bundant. The corn crop was never more promising* Now how are we showing onr appreciation of these blessings ? Are we doing more, giv ing more, loving more, praising more, or are we simply hording more ? May the good Lord have mercy on us, and bring us into loving harmony with his great purpose to enthrone His Son and our Saviour over the nations of the world. Dear reader, ponder these things in your own heart. If you desire sweet com munion with your Heavenly Father and spiritual growth, you will find it along this line as you will find it no where else. If it is the duty of one to obey God it is the duty of all to obey to the extent of their ability. There can be no excuse for failure at this point. “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” AN INTERESTING CHINESE DOCTOR- BY REV. C. W. PRUITT. Some things in this coun try strike one as the densest ignorance, but then I remember that with all of us there are limitations to our knowl edge. That my Chinese doctor’s knowledge is limited is to be expect ed. I Ijave recently rented a house on a busy street in Hwang Hien in which to preach the gospel daily to all comers. My next door neighbor on the west is a talkative, self-opin ionated doctor. While I was doing a little work in the way oi brighten ing up my house he would often come in and chat. He was very fond of letting it be known that he had read some booka on western science He therefore) declared it his confirmed opinion that the earth was round contrary to all Chinese convictions on the subject. But he immediately after startled me by a statement which I had never heard before and which impressed me as being very amusing. According to his theory the moon’s light is re ceived by reflection from the earth. This light is reflected only from the oceans which act as mirrors, the land reflecting nothing much. The moon is light therefore only when it is in position to receive the light from the oceans. The “man in the moon” is the obscurity produced by islands in the oceans. This story is at once an illustra tion of the way in which some of our teachings are received and of the way in which most absurd addi tions are often made to them. No Chinaman will accept an idea from the outside until it is forced upon him. The conviction must be over whelming. He then proceeds at once to re-establish his self-respect by building on the idea other ideas from his own imagination. He in variably tries to persuade himself that his embellishments are more im portant than the original idea. In other words John is in his own land a very self-respecting being what ever he may be in America. This same doctor was to pie on another occasion an illustration of the persistence of Chinese theories. The whole nation seems to have ac cepted vaccination as a useful insti tution and its practice has become | all but universal. This has been true for years. And yet this doctor laughed in my face when I told him that by this means smallpox,had been entirely driven out of large portions of country in the western world. To have smallpox is “ natural.” It is sent by “heaven." That men can drive it out is preposterous. It would contravene the will of deity himself. In his mind that is the truth, and the utility of vaccination is a little mysterious. And what ever its explanation it must not de stroy that well-rounded theory. The same thing precisely takes place when we preach to them. When a fact in the religious world comes with over-mastering power they admit it and hold it along with their old theories which are quite inconsistent with it. Or else it is warped or given a now setting and made to do duty to establish the old belief. When I see this trail so plainly in tho heathen, I am made to wonder that so many Chinese become Chris tians, and such true and emancipated Christians. There are men with whom I walk daily who accept Christ as purely as I do, Tho ex planation is that it is the sovereign ty of God. His grace can raise the dead. Hwangbien, China, P. O. Chefoo, May 12th, 1893.