Religious Notes | AdventAI

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · May 25, 1882

Religious Notes.

-It is said that the Moravians, who number only 20,000 at home, have been the means of Christianizing 73,000 heathen.

-The Episcopal Church, in convocation, has agreed upon a special form of prayer for use during the present trouble in Ireland.

-A few years ago Portland, Oregon, was a mission station. It now has a Baptist Church of 300 members, and is contributing $1,000 annually for gospel work in other fields.

-During Bishop Bowman's visit at Foochoo, China, a Chinese merchant presented him with a sealed envelope which was found to contain three checks, two for $3,000, and one for $4,000, his contribution to the Anglo-Chinese College at Foochoo. And this man was not a Christian, but a "heathen Chinee."

-One of the most noticeable features about churches in missionary lands is their liberality. A report from the Madura mission, Southern India, says that most of the 2,501 church members earn but ten cents a day as laborers, yet nearly every one gives something, if it is but a handful of rice from their scanty store.

-In 1851 there were 91,092 Protestant Christians in India; in 1881 the number had increased to 340,623. We are glad to record accessions to Christianity in heathen lands, for we believe that, as a rule, a given number of converts represent more real piety than the same number in a so-called Christian land.

-A man in Texas, by the name of Joe E. Marsh, who is certainly blasphemous, and probably insane, claims to be the "prophet like unto Moses." He claims that the prophecy of Isa. 53: 12, "He was numbered with the transgressors," is fulfilled in him, because he has two brothers-in-law who are murderers.

-In the recent Baptist Convention in San Francisco, Rev. W. T. Fleenor preached from the text, "Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I," and said that the opportunities in Christianity were unlimited, and that those desirous of advancing to higher planes of Christianity could do so if they only would, but that those who occupied somewhat advanced positions in the Christian world were too prone to think they had gone far enough, and sought no further advancement.

-It is unfortunate that those who profess the greatest degree of holiness, are often the most irreverent, sometimes almost blasphemous in their language. The Salvation Army in Philadelphia, a few Sundays ago, announced "A Real Hallelujah Spree," led by "Shouting Annie, from Baltimore; Captain Pilgrim Charlie, the Salvation Wonder; Captain Joe, the Hallelujah Carpenter; and Glory Milt, the Hallelujah Drummer." There was also announced "A Knee Drill" by the "Blood and Fire Brigade," and "Sharpshooting by the Soldiers of the Lord."

-Six years ago a young theological student began to memorize the entire Bible, applying himself assiduously to his task during nearly the whole of that period, for fifteen hours a day. When he had nearly finished his task, his mind gave way, and he is now in an insane asylum. Some people imagine that because many good men and ministers are very familiar with the Bible, the way to be religious and gain an understanding of the Bible is to get it all in their head. They mistake, and go to work backward. Get the Bible into the heart, and then remember the exact wording of as much as you can.

-The Roman Catholic Society of Foreign Missions, of Paris, claims to have under its care nearly 800,000 Catholics in China, India, and Japan. In these fields it reports 26 bishops, 574 missionaries, 394 native priests, 1,680 catechists, 2,500 churches and chapels, 30 seminaries, and 1,683 schools and orphanages. In 1880 there went out from the Seminary in Paris 37 new missionaries. For the same year, the Society reports 246 conversions of heretics, the baptism of 18,969 Pagan adults, of 256,387 children of Pagans, and of 27,919 children of Christians. It is stated that the Pagan children "are baptized at the point of death, and generally die at once," so the society can "claim to have added a quarter of a million to the inhabitants of Heaven the past year."