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W Christian Index
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For the Index.
Sunday School Lesson for May 3,
1896 Luke 17:5-19,
BY S. G. HILLYER.
This lesson presents to us three
interesting topics for our consid
eration. First, it treats of faith;
second, of works; and third, it
records a notable miracle. Let
us notice these topics in their
order. And first I will speak of
FAITH.
“And the Apostles said unto
the Lord: Increase our faith.”
This was a remarkable re
quest. Jesus had given to his
disciples again and again the
most convincing proofs of his
Messiahship and of his divine
power. And yet here they were
virtually confessing that they
scarcely believed. Ought they
not to have been ashamed of
themselves? But let us not con
demn them too hastily. They
betrayed their weakness, it is
true; but it was a weakness that
may be found all along the line
of religious experience down to
the present hour. Where is the
s’aint who does not long for a
stronger faith?
It does not appear that Jesus
granted their request .at once.
/ This reply was s'ucb as only to
intensify their desire. He pre
sents to them faith as a mighty
power: “If ye had faith as a
grain of mustard seed, ye might
say unto this sycamine tree, be
thou plucked up by the root, and
be thou planted in the sea; and
it should obey you.” These
words were well calculated to
make the disciples crave still
more ardently an increase of
faith. They ought to produce
the same effect in us. They re
veal to us faith as a mighty work
ing force. (See the eleventh chap
ter of Hebrews.)
The power of faith is seen even
in worldly matters. In every
department of human business,it
is faith that impels to effort and
achieves success. It is the power
by which have been accomplished
all the material improvements
which have so signally advanced
the civilization of the nations.
But it is in the domain of man’s
spiritual interests, that faith ex
erts its most sublime efficiency.
It is here that faith “works by
love,” because it enables us to
* find the author of our being, the
father of our spirits, and our
great and merciful Redeemer,
“who gave himself for us, that
he might redeem us from all in
iquity, and purify unto himself a
people for his own possession,
zealous of good works.” With
such an object of faith, as these
words present to us, no wonder
that it works by love; and be
cause it works by love, it purifies
the heart, and gives us the “vic
tory that overcomes the world.”
No'wonder that such a people are
zealous of
GOOD WORKS.
Faith and good w’orks are in
the relation of cause and effect.
Faith is the cause, works are the
effects.
Now there is a glamor about
good works that is sometimes de
ceptive and hurtful. How many
people are exceedingly active ap
patently in serving the Master,
who are working for vain glory
and personal advancement? This
was the sin of the Pharisees.
Well, the Pharisees are not all
dead. This vain-glorious work
er is found to-day in our churches
and even in our pulpits.
The Savior knew the weakness
of human nature. So, as soon as
he had set before his disciples
the mighty deeds which they
could accomplish by faith, he felt
it necessary to let them know
wherein consisted the true value
of works To this end he takes
the case of a poor slave to be the
analogue of his disciple. The
slave had toiled all day for his
master. At evening he comes
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX.
home weary and hungry. But
he must still serve his Lord till
he “has eaten and drunk.” Then,
after the master is satisfied, he
also may eat and drink. He re
ceived mo thanks for his labor.
Having presented this case he
applied it to his disciples thus:
“So likewise ye, when ye shall
have done all those things which
are commanded you, say, we lire
unprofitable servants; we have
done that which was our duty to
do.” These words, in connection
with the three previous verses,
plainly teach, that no human
works, however grand or far
reaching they may be, can ever
rise one hair’s breadth, in value,
above one s sacred duty to his
heavenly ‘Master.
Does all this seem hard to you,
my brother? Do you feel humil
iated by being put on a level with
a poor bond slave? Away with
such thoughts,my brother. Why,
the Savior’s words are full of
comfort. They teach us that the
value of works is not measured
by their magnitude nor their
splendor; but by the degree in
which tve have done our duty. When
we have done our duty, accord
ing to our condition in life and
our opportunity, then we have
done what we could. And when
the time of “bringing in the
sheaves” shall come, that poor
sister who is able to bring but
one head of wheat shall be rank
ed with those who bring in a
thousand sheaves, simply be
cause “she did what she could.”
All do this who fill up the full
measure of their duty. And all that
they do is the outcome of their
faith, which works by love and
overcomes the world, whether it
be employed in lemoving moun
tains and sycamine trees, or in
wiping a teardrop from the
sufferer’s eyes, or in casting a
couple of mites into the treasury
of the Master.
Dear reader, are you doing
your w’hole duty to your loving
Lord ? The task is not a hard
one, if you have a willing mind.
Our Master is not a tyrant. He
does not draw upon you one par
ticle beyond your ability and your
opportunity. But to that extent
he does draw upon you. Are you
honoring his drafts? To speak
plainly, are you filling i/ow place
in the house of God according to
your ability and opportunity?
Your intelligence, your fluency
of speech, and your social influ
ence ■-■may qualify you to
“strengthen your brethren.” Are
you exercising these gifts in
your families, and in the assem
blies of God’s people when they
have met for social worship?
And are you giving of your sub
stance, according to your means,
to support the gospel and to meet
the claims of charity at home and
abroad? May God give to us a
willing mind to do our whole
duty.
The last topic in the lesson I can
only touch. Ten lepers were heal
ed. Only one returned to give
glory to God. The “nine” ren
dered no thanksgiving. The un
grateful ones were no worse than
thousands of men and women all
around us to-day. They are daily
receiving the richest blessings
from God; but no gratitude swells
their hearts and no praise opens
their lips. We see in them neith
er faith nor works. They live
only for themselves, and seek
only the present world.
563 South Pryor st., Atlanta.
For the Index.
Reason and Revelation.
BY REV. T. W. YOUNG.
Reason and revelation are of
ten contrasted as though they
excluded each other, as if a man
who follows reason had no need
of a revelation, or if he follows
revelation he does violence to
reason. We shall first inquire
what is meant by reason. There
is scarcely a more ambiguous
word in our language. It is a
sort of a scape goat to bear away
the ignorance of man. In the
mouth of some speculative minds
it often means the nous of Plato,
the intellectus ipse of Leibnitz, the
common sense of the Scottish
philosophers, or the fundamental
laws of thought of Kant. But
with the mass of people it means
the collective energy of the
whole soul of man. And by rev
elation some may understand one
method of God’s disclosure of
himself, and some another, but
people generally mean by reve
lation the Bible itself. Now rea
son and revelation do not exclude
each other, but demand and are
mutually dependent upon each
other, as a little thoughtful
reflection will show.
Reason must not be unduly de
preciated. It is as much a gift
of God as the Bible, and has its
proper place in the discovery of
truth. It is not a universal de
ceiver. A common mistake of
many religionists is to put upon
the human mind a most unjusti
fiable restraint in all religious
<
PTION, Pm Yia», -..»2.00. I
iTd MINISTERS, 1.00.1
matters. In the pursuit of wealth,
or the knowledge of arts and let
ters, or scientific truth, reason is
allowed unbridled reign and per
mitted to carry liberty of thought
to reckless speculations, but as
soon as we come to the border
land of religion we are command
ed “to fold the wings of thought
and fall down, and deny the right
of reason to judge, and are au
thoritatively bidden to accept as
absolutely true the doctrines of
a church which has nothing to
urge except temporal and eternal
pains.” This unjustifiable re
straint upon reason has tilled the
world with superstition, fanati
cism, clogged the wheels of in
tellectual and material progress,
and even, with many, discounted
true religion Whatever may be
said of the follies of the human
mind,the Creator intended that it
should be the umpire of what is
and what is not true. In reli
gious matters it is the office of
reason to decide what is, and
what is not, God’s revelation or
man’s tradition. The Bible, the
Zendavesta, the Koran, the Book
of Mormon, all come with claims
of inspiration. Reason must de
cide upon the merits or demerits
of their claims. In the decision
it is a mistake to follow only the
cold and rigid rules of logic. The
whole energy of the soul of man
—his intellectual, emotional and
voluntary powers must have a
voice.
But reason is often unduly ex
alted. When it presumes to go
beyond its appointed office, it
generally goes astray. God gave
human reason the right to search,
to investigate, to weigh evidence,
to look at a thing on all sides,
under it, over it, around it and
through it—then, and not till
then, to decide whether true or
false. To reject religious truths
contained in the Bible upon a
priori grounds is an unjustifiable
exaltation of human reason. This
was the mistake of the English
deists, the German rationalists,
and of many religious sectaries,
pious partisans, infidels and ag
nostics among us to-day. The
human reason has no right to re
ject what God offers for human
faith till all, the evidence of its
truthfulness is thoroughly exam
ined. If a man be guilty of this
intellectual rashness it will be
because he is too lazy to study,
or incapable of connected think
ing, or loves darkness rather
than light. Christianity invites
investigation. A wholesome and
healthy rationalism is always
welcomed.
One common fault with many
speculative minds which are dis
posed to reject at once all things
that point to the supernatural, is
they forget that things above
reason must not be confounded
with things contrary to reason.
There are many things true
which are above human reason,
but not contrary to it. This
must be true because, as Kant
has demonstrated, the human
mind can never be the measure
of the world. Most of the estab
lished facts of physical science
to-day, were once resisted as con
trary to human reason, when
they were only above the reason
of the opponents. The history
of human progress should teach
us that we are to believe no more
in the infallibility of the human
reason than in that of the Pope.
The stock of our knowledge
grows with the amount of study,
observation and extent of expe
rience. These are limited, but
as the range is lengthened many
things will come to be reasona
ble, which before seemed unrea
sonable. It has been said by
some observant writer, “Nature
may have her truths which stand
face to face like forbidding
rocky headlands,separated by an
impassable chasm of darkness;
but the Bible we are told must be
a level plain. It must never rise
grandly into the heavens, send
ing its peaks through the dim
boundary which limits the sotil’s
intellectual eye. The earth’s
oceans may swell and roll on
ward, and the mountains tower
upward long after they have
faded from our view; but we are
told the oceans and mountains of
divine truth must not reach one
inch beyond our power to follow
them. These mountains man
wants to weigh in his own tiny
scales, and these oceans he must
hold in the hollow of his own
hands.” How unreasonable! Let
us not forget that many things
are true that are beyond our ex
perience, and will appear reason
able when the range of our expe
rience embraces them.
Human history and experience
alike declare that reason de
mands a revelation, for without
reason there could be no revela
tion, and without revelation rea
son is imperfect, inconclusive,
and often deceptive. Schlegel
tells us in his lectures on “The
Philosophy of Life,” “11l would
it fare with the knowledge of
God and of divine things, if
they were left to be discovered,
and as it were, first established
ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, APRIL 20,1896.
by human reason. Even though
in each case the intellectual edi
fice were never so well built and
compact, still as it had originally
issued out of man’s thoughts, it
would be ever shaking before
the doubt, whether it were any
thing better than an idea, or had
any reality out of the human
mind.” If there is any nation,or
kindred, or tribe, or people who
arrived at a true knowledge of
God without a divine revelation
we have never been shown in
what country, or age, or longi
tude, or latitude they lived. For
men to know God, and worship
him in spirit and in truth, it be
comes necessary for him in some
way to reveal himself, and to
make known his will.
Those people in Christian lands
who reject God’s revelation, and
deny the need of it, wilfully for
get that they have been born,
brought up, and educated in a
society created by the Bible
truth, and having been helped to
a lofty height whence they can
see what they ought to do and
to believe, they now turn and
spurn from their feet the ladder
on which they have climbed, and
fancy they have soared to this
lofty height on the wings of rea
son. Well and truly did Mr.
Lowell say of such unbelievers
and infidels, that “living in ease
and luxury, indulging themselves
in the amusement of going with
out a religion, may be thankful
that they live in lands where the
gospel they neglect has tamed
the beastliness and sere city of
the men, who but for Christian
ity might long ago have eaten
their carcasses like the South Sea
Islanders, or cut off their heads
and tanned their hides, like the
monsters of the French revolu
tion.”
Ann Arbor, Mich
For the index.
A Splendid Opportunity.
BY “A BAPTIST.”
If within the next twelve
months the Baptists of Georgia
do not accomplish a great deal,
they will not be able to plead in
extenuation of their failure, the
lack of proper conditions under
which to work, nor a want of ad
equate facilities.
MERCER UNIVERSITY.
Never in its has this
beloved Institution had an abler
faculty. The men are young,
active, energetic, well fitted for
their work, each having had
special training for the work as
signed to him. And not the
least of all which goes into mak
ing them competent teachers, is
their great love for their work.
Macon, the home of the Uni
versity, is a city refined, cul
tured, healthy and happy, tak
ing great interest in the cause of
Christian education, for the
blind, as well as those who can
see. During those months
which are included in a College
term, a more delightful climate
cannot be found than that of Ma
con. And Mercer, situated on an
elevated plateau in one of the
most beautiful and healthful
parts of this beautiful and
healthful city, furnishes an ideal
home for the student. The
buildings are large, convenient,
attractive.
In the magnificent chapel of
the University, the Tatnall
Square church worships, pre
sided over by Dr. A. B. Camp
bell. Dr. Campbel] is loyal to
the truth, and few men are clear
er, more concise, and convincing
than he in presenting it.
THE INDEX,
Always good, and strong, was
never better, and it is daily ad
ding to its strength. The edi
tors, though strangers to the
great mass of its readers, are
rapidly winning their way into
hearts and gaining the confi
dence of the brethren from the
mountains io the sea. What has
been said of the qualifications of
Mercer’s faculty may be said
with equal truth of Drs. Bell and
Van Ness as editors of a reli
gious journal. Dr. Bell, having
traveled for several years in the
interest of Foreign missions, and
having necessarily to study all
related questions to the great
commission of our divine Lord,
and during this time, and by
means of this study, having
learned human nature, as other
wise he could not have learned
it, is peculiarly fitted for the ed
itorship of a great religious
newspaper. And the recent is
sues of the paper give unmistak
able evidence that the editor,
Van Ness, is among the very
best.
MONEY.
It is not intended here and
now to be personal, but it is fair
to state that some of our Baptist
folk in this State have a good
deal of money. The statement
has been made in public, and by
one who was in position to
know, that the Baptists of Geor-
gia paid something over fifty per
cent of the taxes of the State.
But whether that statement be
correct or not, this statement is
correct, the Baptists of Georgia
have and control a great deal of
money, and the Lord has so dis
tributed it among them as to
bring back to his cause the larg
est possible results, if they are
mindful of it.
INTELLIGENCE.
There w r as a time when it was
to the discredit of a man of real
culture and learning that he was
numbered among the Baptists.
Not so now. Among them are
to be found men of the highest
order of mind, and broadest cul
ture. God’s care of them is
marvelous. What mean all these
blessings? Remember that it is
the Lord who gives power to get
wealth. Remember that that
book in the Bible, in which the
name of God does not occur, is a
lesson on God’s providences, de
signed to teach that it is he who
gives us favors, and obtains fet
us successes, as he did for the
Jews through the beautiful
queen Esther.
UNITY AND FRATERNITY.
The Baptists of the State are
united on all questions of vital
interest- We have no contending
factions led by men ambitious to
be regarded as chief among the
brethren. We have no strifes,
nor suspicions of a character and
importance sufficient to retard
our growth and prosperity. In
this respect we are blessed, as
we pray that all our sister States
may be blessed.
In addition to this, the brethen of
the city and the country are be
coming to know each other bet
ter and better, and as their
knowledge increases, the love
each for the other increases.
Whatever of envy and prejudice
existed, is giving way under the
touch and salutation of the spirit
of Christ.
FOOD AND RAIMENT.
In common with other peoples,
the corn crib and smoke-house
of the Baptists are stored with
bread and meat. We are a peo
ple blessed of God. We ought
to be a useful and happy people.
And using these blessings for
the uplifting and salvation of our
fellowmen, is of all the ways pos
sible, the very best way to make
us useful, and to brrng to our
hearts and homes abiding peace
and happiness.
CAUTION.
This is the year the politi
cal demagogue will, by ways
that are dark, and tricks that are
mean, catch and corrupt the un
wary. Do let us be watchful and
prayerful. Remember that he
only wants your vote, and that
all his protestations of friend
ship" mean nothing more than
he wants your help to enlarge
himself. I would that the eyes
of all our preachers were so
opened to the great destitution
that they could not be drawn
aside into politics. Brethren of
the ministry, keep out of politics.
You cannot help hurting, to a
greater or less extent, your influ
ence. Besides, if God has called
you into the ministry, he w-ants
all your time and talent. Paul
left an influential, well paying
political position, to preach
Christ to dying men; and he
never dreampt of going back,
though often he suffered from
hunger and cold.
A FINAL WORD.
Do any of the brethren con
template providing for Mercer in
their wills? We thank God for
that. But cannot some of you
who have money, give now while
you are in life?
Have any of our pastors failed
to instruct their churches along
the line of systematic giving?
Begin .now. You may be opposed
by some who love their money
more than they do the Word of
the Lord; let not this deter you.
Do your duty in this respect and
begin noiv.
Have any of the churches gone
on in a careless, hap-hazard, slip
shod way in doing the w-ork
which they ought to do? O!
churches of the living God, re
pent, cut off the dead branches,
prune the vine, that the ‘Master
may receive the fruit that he has
a right to expect. Dropping the
figure, and speaking in the lan
guage of fact: Systematize your
work. Read the instruction on
this subject in the letters which
the Apostle wrote to the Corinth
ians. Our churches are woefully
behind in the grace of liberality.
God’s command is, “Honor the
Lord with thy substance.”
We have now the conditions of
large success. Let us go for
ward; and may the God of Israel
lead us.
The. Baptist Record : The Sun
day School Board has duly and
formally declined the proposition
of the American Baptist Publi
cation Society to print its publi
cations.
The Guests ot God.
Why should we wear black for the guests
of God ?—Ruskin.
From the dust of the weary high-way,
From the smart of sorrow’s rod,
Into the royal presence.
They are bidden ns guests of God,
The veil from their eyes Is taker ;
Sweet mysteries they are shown,
Their doub s and fears are over;
For they know as they are k nown."
For them there should be rejoicing,
And festival array,
As for the bride in her beauty
Whom love hath taken away—
Sweet hours of peaceful waiting
TUI the path that we have trod
Shall eml at the Father’s gateway,
And we are the guests of God.
Principles and Tests of Legitimate
Pleasures.
It was conceded at the begin
ning of these discussions that,
if existing forms of amusement
are to be excluded from the cat
alogue of legitimate pleasures,
other forms of amusement, not
open to the same, or equal, or
greater objections, should be
provided or designated. We were
careful to say desirable, and not
to say necessary. We do not ad
mit an obligation; we merely
recognize a desideratum.
It is sometimes assumed, how
ever, that if the church would
throw disfavor upon these or any
forms of amusement, it thereby
involves itself in the obligation
to supply substitutes for what
ever it interdicts. There would
be ground for this assumption if
the amusements arraigned were
of a character to be described as
“innocent,” “harmless,” or if
they were interdicted without
cause, but if, instead, they are—
as they now exist morally
harmful, in fact and in influence,
and if they are interdicted for
this cause, then the church is re
lieved from all obligation to pro
vide substitutes. If they are—
as they exist to day—essentially
evil, then there is only one course
open to the Christian church, and
that is to antagonize and throw
disfavor upon them. The church
of Christ can never sanction
nor make a truce with evil; nor
can it meet the approbation of
its risen Lord by a mere passive
attitude toward existing evils.
The church is bound, in the
nature of its mission, to protest
against the forces which stand
in the path of its progress. The
church is the eternal and un
changing antagonist of every
form of evil, if true to its divine
mission. It was the recognition
of this relation to existing or to
enthroned evil that prompted our
Lord to say, “Think not that I
am come to send peace on earth;
lam come not to send peace,
but a sword.” In these words he
states a universal principle—the
truth’s antagonism to all evil
rather than a specific or concrete
fact. The fact that an evil can
not be easily or immediately
abolished, or cannot be abolished
at all, is no reason for not antag
onizing it, no argument for its
continued and perpetual tolera
tion. It is too much, therefore,
to ask of the church that it re
place or provide an equivalent or
substitute for that which it is
bound to antagonize, and which,
if it were not to antagonize—
but always with the means
or weapons which the Mas
ter has enjoined—it would break
its trust with the risen Lord.
We claim the divine right
to antagonize any and all forms
of evil; it is more than a right,
it is an obligation to do so. We
quote a sentence from Mr. Beech
er’s lecture on Popular Amuse
ments: “Every parent has a
right every citizen and every
minister has the same right, to
expose traps, which men have to
set them; the same right to pre
vent mischief, which men have
to plot it; the same right to at
tack vice, which vice has to at
tack virtue; a better right to
save our sons and brothers and
companions, than artful men
have to destroy them.”
But while we emphatically re
pudiate an obligation to provide
a substitute for interdicted evils,
we do recognize and concede it
to be desirable that other forms
of amusement if there are such
against which no objection can
reasonably be urged on moral or
religious grounds, should be in
dicated.
Ministers are continually being
asked, “Where are the young to
go, or what are they to do by
way of recreation if the dance,the
card-table, and the theatre are
interdicted? What amusement
is left us, if these are given up? ”
All that we have said thus far in
these discussicns, has been said
in issue with that conception of
the pleasures of life which would
limit or circumscribe the field of
amusement to a half-dozen spe
citic forms, or, in reality, to three
or four forms of pleasure —the
dance, the card-table, the theatre,
and billiards—mainly to the three
forms we have discussed.
Before proceeding to the con
sideration of the present topic
we wish to call attention to the
astounding assumption which is
contained in the question just re
ferred to. The assumption that
the dance, the card-table, and the
VOL. 76--NO. 18
theatrqWpbnstitute the Alpha and
the Omega of pleasures for po
lite society, in this closing de
cade of the Nineteenth century,
U. almost too glaring to be be
lieved, were we not every w-here
in society confronted with its
evidences. For people are every
where heard exclaiming, as if in
horror, when any hint or ques
tion concerning the moral pro
priety or legitimacy of these
forms of amusement arises : “If
these amusements are denied us,
what can we do? If these pleas
ures are surrendered, what is
there left for us?” How many
people—and among them Chris
tian people feel that the inter
diction of these amusements
leaves them as orphaned children
in’a world of dull monotony and
sober uniformity, and that their
condition is like that of exiled
Israel at Babylon, and who mur
mur, in anticipation, “All our
pleasant things are laid waste! ”
Listen to this sordid, slavish
plea for selfish pleasure: “Must
I give up the intoxicating cup?
What then shall I drink? ” asks
the inebriate. Surely, what!
“Must I abandon my sumptuous
suppers ! What then shall I
eat? ” asks the dyspeptic epicure.
Surely, what! “And if I may
not attend balls, play ‘progress
ive euchre,’ and patronize the
immoral theater, what can I do?”
asks the worldly Christian. To
be sure, what! The assumption
set forth in the plea for these
specific amusements ought to in
cline those who make it to hang
their heads in very disgust for
themselves, as if cthe realm of
pleasure were circumscribed to
such narrow bounds.
Virtually, this plea proclaims
that all God's vast, unbounded
universe is a barren, dead Saha
ra, with here and there and
yonder just three little oases,
where one may rest and refresh
himself, and all besides is a
desert waste! Instead, God’s
universe isone vast, rich pasture
land, with sparkling lakes and
gushing fountains, with flowing
streams and fertile valleys, with
smiling meadows and shady
groves, with waving fields and
fruited orchards, where the flock
of God—which his children is—
may rove and feast and fatten,
and ’where they may roam at will
and lie down in safety, fullness,
and content nent.
Is it asked “What is left for
us if we surrender these favored
pleasures? ” Why, there is very
much in this world that is pleas
urable besides these. There are
more than three “ salt licks ” for
the human species. “What is
left us?” Physically, the whole
field of varied and healthful
amusement is left to us. Social
ly, the whole realm of intellect
ual and beneficial recreation is
left to us. And morally, the
whole province of pure and ele
vating enjoyment is left to us,
even after surrendering these
against which the issue has been
taken, and which are admitted to
be “questionable.” In reality
there is little occasion to preach
“self denial” in connection with
this theme, but self-enrichment,
rather. We are not disinherited
by the surrender of these forms
of amusement, rather it is made
possible for us to enter upon our
real and true heirship thereby.
The best of all literature,
science, and art remains for us.
The whole realm of music is ours.
To us belong the inspiring
hymns, the tender melodies, and
the sublime choruses. The Eli
jahs, the Messiahs, the Creations
are ours. The all but infinite
range of instrumental harmonies
is ours. There is left for our
enjoyment, after w T e have sur
rendered cards, enough of in
door and table games, such as
backgammon, checkers, chess,
etc., to at least furnish healthful
diversion in the home and among
children. For the social life of
the community, there are read
ings, conversazioni, lectures, con
certs, character delineations, dra
matic interpretations, and a vari
ety of receptions— dinners, teas,
suppers—all these open up al
most unlimited possibilities for
the social life of the community.
Besides all these specific oppor
tunities for elevating enjoyment,
there is that co-operation which
the Christian church, as an insti
tution set in the world “as a city
on an hill,” is bound to supply in
lifting up human society to a
higher plane and to a diviner
ideal. We are not half alert to
utilize for the public good the
advantages of travel, special
study, and the varied talents
with which almost any com
munity is endowed. All special
endowments and opportunities
could and ought to be made to
serve the sociai life of the com
munity. — Popular Amusements and
the Christian Life —Sinks.
The disciples needed to be
“ constrained ” to go away from
Jesus. In our case, alas, the
constraint is often necessary
that we may come to him.