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ESTABLISHED 1821. The Christian Index Published Every Thursday By BELL Jt VAN N ESS Address Christian Index, Atlanta, G a Organ of the Baptist Denomination in Georgia. Subscription Price: One copy, one year 18.00 One copy, six months I.o* About Our advertisers.—We propose hereafter to very carefully Investigate our advertisers. We shall exercise every care to allow only reliable parties to use our col umns. Obituaries.—One hundred words free of eharge. For each extra word, one cent per word, cash with copy. To Correspondents—Do not use abbrevi ations; be extra careful In writing proper names; write with Ink,on one side of paper. Do not write copy Intended for the editor and business Items on same sheet. Leave Off personalities, condense. Business.—Write all names, and post OOces distinctly. In ordering a change give the old as well as the new address. The date Os label Indicates the time your subscription Olplres. If you do not wish It continued, or der It stopped a week before. We consider aaob subscriber permanent until he orders his paper discontinued. When you order It (topped pay up to date. Bemittances by registered letter, money order, postal note “If ” ‘•lf vou were me. and I were you, And all the world was twisted, too, What do you think that you would do If you were me and 1 were you ?” “ If 1 were you and you were me, l'd be as good as good could be; I’d never fret, nor tease, you see. If I were you and you were me." “ if vou w ere me and 1 were you You think that you'd be go d and true? Well. It’s as easy a thing to do W hen 1 am I, and j ou are you.” “Since I’m not you and you’re not me, Suppose we try. each day, to be So good that nobody can see Which I Is you, and which Is me.” —Pansy. The Bible a Historical Book. It has long ago been settled in the consciousness of Christen dom that the Bible is, in the tru est and most proper use of the word, one book Its very title, by which it has come to be uni versally known, and which has been given to it in this conscious ness, indicates the recognition of it not only as a book, but, with unique emphasis, as the Book. Very deafly, however, its unity,so recognized,is something different from that which we commonly have in mind when we speak of a book. It is not a con tinuous and logically connected discussion of one topic; it is not one as a treatise, a drama, a poem, or a history; it is not one in either the subject matter or the style of its composition; it is not the work of one author, not the product of one age, not originally issued in one country, or written in ore language—in fact, the Bible is, as we all know when we give it thought, a Book of many original books, sixty-six in all, thirty -nine of the Old Tes tament and twenty-seven of the New. And these books were written by almost as many dif ferent authors, in differentcoun tries —countries as far apart from each other and as different in the characteristics of their civilization as Egypt and Arabia, Chaldea, Assyria, Judea, and Rome; in different ages, ages of history extending over a period of more than a thousand years. In the critical investigation of historical documents, which is one of the characteristic special ties of modern scholarship, the real historical origin of the sev eral parts of the Bible has re ceived and is receiving such scru tiny as it never had or could have had before; and laying great stress on this diversity of author ship, the inference is drawn that the Bible can no longer be re garded as essentially different from other books, at least not from such as treat especially of religious history and dcctrine. But there is one point of essen tial difference between the Bible and all other books or class of books with which it may be prop ir’y compared, which is strange ]y overlooked and left entirely out of-account by those who are disposed to rest in this conclu sion. Suppose we should collect and bind up in one volume the literature —the books accredited as the classics —of an equal num ber of countries in other parts of the world for an equally long pe riod; or, to make the case more exactly parallel, suppose it were possible to trace the history of any other ancient race of men scattered through as many suc cessive ages among other peo ples in as many different parts of the world, and so far identified with each of these nations as to participate in the diversified characteristics of their various civilizations; and suppose such tracing to be made through doc umentary evidences written at different periods in one country and another; and then that all these documents should be collect ed and bound up in one volume — what a heterogeneous book we should have ! What diversity, without possible reconciliation, in its contents ! What utterly ir reconcilable differences of THE CHRISTIAN INDEX. ( SUBSCRIPTION, Pee Yiab.---52.00. I ITO MINISTERS, 1.00.1 thought and feeling! How unlike and altogether out of harmony with each other the views of life, the representations of its habitual ways and works, the theories of its purpose and desti ny would be presented by the dif ferent authors, representing each his own time, people, and age ! How many different and disagree ing religions would thus be rep resented '. how many and vary ing ceremonies and modes of worship! how many gods as the objects of worship, with attrib uted characters as multiplied and conflicting as their numerous names ! No one with any knowl edge of history would expect for a moment the possibility of any more harmonious result if he should attempt to bring together such a collection of the documen tary representatives of the dis ferent stages of ancient civiliza tion for so long a period as fifteen centuries in any part of the world. But when we turn from this imagined collection to that which we actually have in the Bible, what do we find? Marvellous, and except on one explanation utterly unaccountable, the fact that from beginning to end, throughout all its seventy sep arable books, with their original diversities of language, scope, purpose, and style, there, is a sub stantial agreement, an accordant harmony, and in some important par ticulars an absolute identity of both practical and doctrinal teaching. 1. First of all, and most im portant, there is this identity of doctrine with respect to the Supreme Being, the Author and Sustainer of the created universe, unto whom all religious worship and service are due and to be rendered 11 Hear, 0 Israel, the Lord our ,God is one Lord.” This is the fundamental proclamation which is accepted and held with faith that is absolutely identical by every writer of every book, and never lost sight of or departed from on any page or in any word of the Bible, from beginning to end. The Bible is emphatically, as its unique distinction, the Book of Goo. ,’lts one purpose is to tell of him; his being, na ture, and will. In the conscious ness of every reader this pur pose differentiates it, and makes it stand apart from all other books; and no matter what the special object of any one of its particular books, its one dom inating purpose is ever felt to be the revelation of God and of his supreme dominion in the world and throughout the universe. 2 Then, not less remarkable, is the entire agreement of all its writers in declaring God to be per fectly righteous, holy, and good. From Moses to Isaiah and the last of the prophets there is unanimous agreement that there can be no shade of evil in God, that from everlasting to ever lasting he is absolutely perfect in goodness as in power. “The Lord, the Lt rd, a God full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy and truth; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guil ty.” “Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eterni ty, whose name is holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spir it of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” “I will come near to you to judg ment; and I will be a swift wit ness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. For I the Lord change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed ” It is not possible to exaggerate the contrast between the revela tion of God, which is given in such passages (and they are but specimens of the unanimous teaching of the Bible throughout in both Testaments), and the con ceptions of the character of su pernatural beings, whether of the Supreme Deity or of his su bordinate divinities, which is found in the primitive records and legends of all other ancient peoples. We need not take for this purpose the grotesque and monstrous viciousness which filled the classic Pantheon with unutterable defilement. We may go back to the “cleanest and pur est record of theological belief in all antiquity” outside of the Bible, that which is still to be read on the monumental stone of the Moabites, and the funda mental difference in conception and feeling relating to the super natural, as Professor Sandy, whose learning and candor are alike unimpeachable, observes, is none the less apparent.— The Inspiration of History—Mulchahey. For the Christian Index. Free Research and Firm Faith. BY JOHN R. SAMPEY,’ D. D. Several years ago Pi of. Basil Manly, Jr., was invited to de liver an address at the commence ment of Newton Theological In stitution. He chose for his sub ject the caption of this article. While preparing the address my honored teacher and colleague talked a good deal with me upon the subject, so that I became fa miliar with the main purpose he had in view. He aimed to es tablish the proposition that free research and firm faith are not enemies, one of the other, but fast friends. He held that free dom of research is liable to run into license, unless accompanied and tempered by genuine faith in God. On the other hand, faith is in danger of falling into mani fold errors, unless enlightened and clarified by patient and un trammelled investigation. To possess one, while wanting the other, is to be one -sided. To unite the two in holy wedlock in one’s life is to be an ideal Chris tian scholar. The beloved teacher has gone from us, but the central thought of this ad dress has been of immense ser vice to me, and I have thought that, in view of certain questions now agitating the Southern Bap tists, it might be profitable for us to call attention to Dr. Manly’s theme. For the sake of brevity we may be allowed to limit our view to those who teach in our schools and colleges, upon whom special and weighty responsibilities rest. How does our subject apply to teachers? 1. Possibly all will agree that every teacher in a Baptistschool ought to be an avowed believer in Christianity. It seems a pity that skeptics should ever find positions in our denominational colleges. Most of us would probably agree that our teachers ought also to be thorough-going Bap tists. Certainly this is essential in our« theological seminaries. Here at least we must require every instructor to be sound in doctrine and in 1 ife. The learned German critic Wellhausen, who has done much to overthrow com servative views as to the Bible, is not at all suited to a professor ship in a Baptist Seminary, be' cause his faith is not firm. Our people would have just ground of complaint against any board of trustees that might seek his services. But if the learned Ger man could conscientiously sub scribe the Philadelphia confes sion of faith, his stores of knowl edge would be of great service to our denomination. The founders of the Southern Baptist Theolog ical Seminary were wise in re quiring every professor in the institution to sign certain articles of faith. It is interesting in this connection to remember that it was Dr. Manly’s hand that drew up this masterly compend of Baptist belief. So clear and comprehensive is this confession that it seems incredible that any Baptist should wish to add new tests of orthodoxy. No man that believes a creed like this can be a foe to the Baptist denomina tion. Thinking people will not be surprised to know that there are differences of opinion in the faculty as to many minor mat ters of interpretation, while on the Seminary creed there is per fect unanimity. 2. But no man is qualified to be a teacher in college or semi nary who could for a moment consent to surrender his right to investigate and to think for him sfif. To give up freedom of re search is to stultify oneself. If indolence keeps a teacher from the prosecution of investigation in his department, the trustees ought to relieve the students of the incubus. If fear of the heresy hunter makes a man shut his eyes to facts merely because they are difficult to explain, such timidity breeds more doubts in the minds of wide awake pupils than fearless research. To be sure, earnest inquirers after truth sometimes lose their way, but the world would be greatly the loser if this should lead to the curtailment of freedom. We may well rejoice that the Pope’s censor can no longer light the fires of the Inquisition. Our de nomination can never as a whole take any delight in the public castigation of one of their trusted leaders for having the courage to publish the results of his re search, even though his conclu sions trench upon our pride of ancestry. To stop the mouth of such a man for proclaiming an unwelcome truth is but to pub lish abroad our intolerance. But some one is ready to ask how it is possible to combine deep faith with absolute freedom of investigation. Suppose one’s studies should cause him to call in question some cardinal doc ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 10. 1896. trine of the Christian faith, what ought he to do? Leaving the question of the struggle going on in the bosom of such a teacher, one may remark that such a con test, if prolonged, would greatly weaken the instructor’s power and usefulness, potior would require him to resign, if he could not conscientiously teach the en tire creed he had promised to support. After a full and free conference with one of his colleagues, the gifted Toy, in 1870, presented his resignation to the Board of Trus tees, and they accepted it, be cause his views of the doctrine of inspiration had departed from the Seminary article upon that subject. The faculty were a unit in the opinion that Dr. Toy’s resignation should be accepted. How does this discussion ap ply to the war on Dr. Whitsitt? If the president of our Seminary is to be denied the right to go to the bottom of Baptist history, our freedom of research is gone. Our great institution of learning is discredited in the eyes of the scholarly world. Every profes sor will be afraid to read Baptist history, lest he discover facts that may cost him his position. Research would be stifled. His tory would come to be evolved from one’s inner consciousness in accordance with one’s dog malic position. Nay, verily,, 'J&ptists have not forgotten the vast difference between oppression : nd liberty. After sober reflection when they find out the true inwardness of this attack, they. will say to the president of the Stmi iary: Pur sue your studies diligently and give us the facts j list as they oc curred. Do not cover up any thing, but speak tl e whole truth, and be sure you s'peak nothing but the truth. There is not a professor in the Seminary who thinks that Dr. Whitsitt ought to resign. Not one of us thinks there is any suf ficient ground for calling a spe cial meeting of Board of Trustees. If onecf-iour colleagues were to commdLe teaching heresy, the K- not be slow to take liri in hand. Broadus and Boyde loved Toy with genuine affection, and were proud of his scholarly attain ments, but they did not hesitate for a moment when they learned of his change of vviews. Let no loyal Baptist far removed from us in Louisville 1 fear that per sonal affection for our associate would make us unfaithful to the trust committed to our hands. Dr. Whitsitt as w< know him is an orthodox theologian, a most informing and inspiring teacher of church history, andanadmira ble presiding officer. His indus try is phenomenal his courtesy unfailing. He seems to us worthy to hold the seat of his great teachers, Boyce and Broadus. For the Index. Leaving ome ' BY REV. C. W. PRUITT. Abraham was called upon to practice a series of self-denials partly as tests of his faith, not the least of which was the one conveyed by the order, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy fath er’s house.” Now perhaps no man ever heard this order but with pain. The great majority of the human race settle down quietly in their native surroundings feeling sure that taken upon the whole they occupy just about the most favor ed spot on the globe. This com fort at home is God sent and heaven blessed. We must stay at home and cultivate the spot God has given us. But there are exceptions. We must not all stay at home, and we must not stay all at home. Some times the man of faith must leave his father’s house and sometimes the rest of the folks must go with him in their sympathy, their faith and their contribu tions. My subject, leaving home, has more in it than at first appears. For instance, I often see men out here in Ciiina who are to all in tents and purposes still in Geor gia or Kentucky, in Maine or in Great Britain. Anything differ ent from the home method is es sentially ludicrous and to be cor rected as soon as possible. Such persons undertake too much. They spend much valuable time trying to accustom the Chinese to strange foreign manners which are really no better than the Chinese, since no principle is involved. Such persons have only left home in body. Their souls have never left home. The leaving home required of God involves a breadth of imagi nation and sympathy. Indi viduals have individual souls, and races have race souls. The conflict of races is perpetual. The Missionary is as prone to it as the stayer at home. It is easy enough to love individual Chinese whose lives are modified by grace, but the race! Ah, there’s the rub! It is not easy to travel far enough from home for that. Now the great trouble is want of understanding, of sym pathy. We haven’t taken pains to get the point of view of our Celestial neighbor. We neither know nor care whether his hid den motive is worthy of admira tion. Perhaps the rude awaken ing comes, if it ever comes at all, by our learning that John re turns the compliment in full measure. His race prejudice is just as strong as ours. We find that we have neither left home nor been received abroad. Now the very essence of love is to understand. That love that persists in misunderstanding its object is a mere pretense. Neither can love be forced. A forced relation is unnatural and unprofitable to both sides. We must love the Chinese and we must do it from reason. We must leave home. We must get near enough the Chinese race soul to see there the image of our Father however defaced. We must cleave to them in spite of their imperfections as being the very elect of God. Only then can we give our lives for them with relish. This other is true, too. You cannot send your money to China while you yourself remain at home and hope that it will do any good. God is no pauper that he needs such stingy gifts. The very reason for wanting your gifts is that you too may go along with your gi fts. There is a sense in which you too must leave home and get close to your Chinese brother. We want no sympathy with his sins and superstitions, but we do want sympathy with the man. An earnest and able Missionary said to me during the late war with Japan that the thing he most de plored was the loss of sympathy the continued Chinese defeats would occasion at home. The civilized world did China a great wrong. China’s defeat was ine vitable. Primitive rudeness is no match for modern science. The great race soul here had never gone abroad, hence the defeat. God has now issued the command. China will obey. Her eyes will be more and more turned to the west. Will you, my brother, meet her at least halfway? Jesus, you know, came all the way to save you. The plea of this article is that the brethren of our churches at home study China in her strength and her needs sympathetically, discriminatingly and patiently. Mere gifts of money is not all that is needed. Hwanghien, Chefoo, China. Preachers In Politics. BY OBSERVER. That a minister of the Gospel has the right to vote and to ex press his convictions upon the political issues of the day, no one can deny; but even in doing this it becomes him to be exceedingly cautious; for he may be the pas tor of people who belong to dif ferent parties, and he cannot af ford to become a partisan. It may be admitted that a preacher has the right to enter the political arena, but I seriously doubt if it is expedient for him to do so. I have never known a preacher to do it, no matter what excuses he might assign, who did not lose caste. These reflections have been suggested by reading the decla ration of Dr. R. C. Burleson, of Texas, to the committee who in formed him that he had been nominated for Governor upon the Prohibition ticket. Dr. Burleson said, “Fifty years ago I conse crated my life to preaching the gospel and tolChristian education, and all the honors and gold mines on earth could not swerve me from that great life purpose,since I am profoundly convinced that in this way I can best promote the glory of God and the welfare of my beloved Texas.” These are strong words, and I am in deed glad that Dr. Burleson has set this noble example before our preachers. I have not a single doubt but that he is correct in feeling that by continuing in the ministry he can best promote the glory of God and the welfare of Texas. And 1 feel sure that any preacher can do more to help ev ery good cause by keeping out of politics, and saying, “This one thing I do.” An observation of twenty years has taught me that the preachers who become politicians are not influenced so much by the great cause which they pretend to es pouse, and for which they are al most ready to suffer martyrdom, as they are by personal ambition and a consuming desire for the honors and emoluments of the world. This is the real ruling power, and the power is held up as an excuse fordoing that which they know all good men will con demn. But no amount of personal explanation, and no condition by which we may be confronted,will cause people to justify a minister of the Gospel in leaving the high est calling in this world, and coming down to the stench and tilth of politics. In this instance, at least, I believe in the voice of the people. In conclusion let me commend the following words from the Texas Baptist and Her aid: “A preacher that goes into politics niakesa sad and pitiable confession. He makes a double confession; first, that there is no one among his fellow citizens so suitable for the position he seeks as himself.- and second, that there are oth ers more suitable to preach the Gospel than himself This naturally leads him to love politics more than religion. A minister may legitimately make tents.as did Paul, practice medicine, as did Luke, plow corn, chop wood, practice law, preside in courts, go on missions of mercy, justice or truth, but to go into politics and leave his calling of a Gospel minister, when there are hundreds of good men that are willing to accept the trials and tribulations of a political life, is a spectacle to make the angels weep. ” Daniel Marshall s Grave. A. B. SEALS. Since reading Dr. Hillyer’s rem iniscences on Daniel Marshall, I am impressed to call attention to some facts in reference to the grave of this pioneer saint, whose life and labors ought to be appreciated by our great host of Baptists in Georgia While assisting a brother in a protracted meeting in Columbia county last week, 1 went to Ap pling courthouse and visited the grave of the man who planted the Baptist banner in our State. I blushed to see it in such fearful neglect. It is almost in the public road,near the public square in Appling. It is unfortunate that Daniel Marshall does not sleep in the cemetery at Kiokee, the mother church of the State and founded by him. This solitary grave is inclosed by a crumbling and badly dilap idated rock wall grown full of wild shrubbery, with no slab or inscription to identify the place. Brethren, this ought not so to be. My own love for the name and the cause he loved makes me want to help to fix up his resting place in respectable condition. Please allow me to call attention of those who may be interested, and let’s see if some one will not speak out and start a movement that will bring the required re sults. We love to honor our pa triotic heroes in the state; why should we neglect our grand he roes in the churches ? Can there not be formed a small association for the purpose of raising funds for putting a small monument over the grave of Daniel Mar shall? The practical problem, then, is how to counteract the allure ments of the metropolis, how to broaden and liberalize existence in the smaller towns, how to sup plement the advantages of near ness to nature by the added in terests of art and intellect. Some towns in the Eastern States have already effectually solved this problem by the establishment of libraries, lecture courses and lit erary circles, by generous co operation for intellectual ad vancement. But in general lit tle has been done. Very often sectarian jealousies bar the way, a spirit that must first be over come to make true reform possi ble. It is here that ministers and teachers have a duty and a great promise. By the establishment of a general literary society, open to all of literary tastes, in which the social element is not neglected, the way will be led to courses of lectures, intellectual contests, and exhibition of home talent, to the founding of a library. In every way inter est in matters intellectual may thus te simulated. The lect ures provided by many of our universities,in University Exten sion, can also be turned into a potent agency for bringing the country town in touch with the world’s best thought. The ma terial is at hand, the unjaded in tellect of country people, not surfeited with excitement, not blunted with sensationalism, is appreciative of the truly great in art and life; leadership and or ganization are all that is needed for a development of real cult ure and intelligent study in the rural towns, so that residence there may no longer be consid ered mental starvation. Some fostering of local patriotism, some endeavor to make the home town not merely a place of habi tation but a union for higher life, some enthusiasm, some little self-sacrifice on the part of a person able to read, and our country towns will indeed par ticipate in all that is good and noble in civilization while free from the disfiguring taints of larger cities.— The Independent. VOL. 76-NO. b7 Kor the Jndbx Reminiscences of Georgia Baptists. BY S. G. HILLYER, D.D. V. .REV. JESSE MERCER, D.D. My recollections of Dr. Mercer reach back to my early boyhood. His name was a household word in our home, and he was well ac quainted with my parents long before I was capable of knowing his worth or appreciating his character. Nevertheless, the way in which I heard him spoken of by the older people impressed me very deeply—l thought of him as somehow su perior to the common order of men. I can distinctly remember my feelings the first time I heard him preach. I was still a young boy, but old enough to know that I had no religion, and my carnal heart made me really somewhat afraid to hear Mr. Mercer preach. So I quietly concluded that I would not attend his ap pointment. But when the day came and the other members of the family were getting ready to start to the meeting, my mother said to me, as if she suspected my intention, “Granby, I want you to go with us to hear Mr. Mercer to day.” I replied that I preferred not to go to day. She seemed a little perplexed, and giving me a searching look, as if she would read my thoughts, she said “ I know the reason you do not wish to go—you are afraid you will be converted.” It was a home thrust. Lparried it as well as I could, rather awk wardly I confess; but in compli ance with her wishes, 1 w’ent with the family to hear Mr. Mer cer —the man whom I had al most dreaded. Well, I heard the sermon, but I was not converted, for my foolish heart was dark ened. His sermon, I suppose, was what his pious auditors ex pected it to be, but my state of mind rendered me incapable of appreciating it. Little did I then think that the time would come when I should sit without fear or dread and listen to him with delight as he expounded the riches of Divine grace through the crucified Redeemer. Thanks be to God, through that grace, such a time did come. Dr. Mercer’s preaching w r as sometimes expository, some times argumentative, but al ways instructive. His style was remarkably simple, but clear and forcible. His thoughts were rich and glowing, so that they seemed to lift his simple diction up to the realm of sublimity, evinced by the wrapt attention of his hearers and the abiding effect of his discourses. I witnessed a scene that would illustrate the sketch just given if I could only describe it. It was in 1836, in the town of For syth. There had gathered a large number of Baptist minis ters, for the purpose of trying to bring about a better feeling be tween the missionary and anti missionary Baptists. Brother Mercer was the moderator of that meeting. In order to convince the anti-brethren that they mis understood the views of mis sionary Baptists, a free discus sion of the doctrines of grace, especially the doctrine of elec tion, was allowed. Several speakers took part in the discus sion. The interest in it was ex treme. At length Dr. Mercer was called on to give his views. Leav ing the moderator’s chair he walked down the aisle a few steps, that he might be in the midst of and began to talk. His theme was God’s electing love. I was then but a stripling in the ministry. My theology was in its formative state. I had quietly accepted the doctrine of election, because it seemed to be taught in the Scriptures, but it had given me some trouble. I therefore gave profound atten tion. I cannot, at this late day, give an analysis of his discourse, but his argument developed this conclusion: That the human heart being as it is—at enmity with God and dead in trespasses and in sins—without electing grace, no sinner would ever ac cept the Gospel. As he reached this conclusion the venerable speaker was deeply affected. Ljoking up for a moment he said with deep emotion: “Thisis all my hope” and burst into tears. Tne effect was electrical, people were wiping their eyes all about the house. The effect upon myself was wonderful. All my trouble about the doctrine of election was re lieved. Not that I was able to comprehend it in all its depths, but I was able to see that, human nature being as it is, electing love must be, if any were saved, an essential element in the great scheme of human salvation. True, in the application of this electing grace are mysteries