p. 2 | Note and Comment

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 2, 1915

Note and Comment

Spiritual Declension

VIEWING with deep concern the attacks which are being made upon the Christian faith and the elements of disintegration which are gaining influence in his own church, V. W. Wallace in the Christian Standard for May 29, makes the following call for a halt:—

Can you not understand that by forsaking the old paths you are driving a wedge through the body of your brethren, and robbing us of the only reason for our existence as a separate religious body? Out of the throes and convulsions of religious strife and dissension, we, as a people, were born, with a peculiar vision in our minds, a peculiar longing in our hearts, a peculiar plea upon our lips,—the plea for the restoration of apostolic Christianity, in the unity of God's people upon the Bible, and the Bible alone. Brethren, what are you seeking for, or what are you trying to do? Has that plea proved insufficient?

In concluding his appeal he draws the following comparison relative to the changes which may occur in the methods and plans of the church and the unchanging character of the gospel which has been committed to the church militant.

The church changes; the church grows. It is not complete and will not be completed until the last sermon is preached and the last tongue has confessed that Jesus is the Christ. The policy of the church changes to meet changing conditions. Its methods change, and are becoming, I trust, more effective. Its organization is being perfected as the years go by. But the message of the church never changes. As long as the world stands, its ministry must speak the same things. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away.” The “Word,” together with its great Author, is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Let all men be liars, and God be true. Let us take heed to ourselves, for he is coming to take “vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ;” for, said Jesus, “The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

A recent number of the Congregationalist publishes these views regarding religious work in the State universities of the United States:—

“In the majority of State institutions the chapel service has been declining in influence as a religious force during the last few years. Sixteen have no chapel, and fourteen have one chapel assembly each week. The timidity of the average faculty in dealing with religious questions in public is largely due to uncertainty as to what is the prevailing sentiment of the State. Little or no advance has been made in the instruction given by the State in Biblical subjects. Of fifty-one State universities examined, twenty-five offer no such courses. Four have departments for teaching the Biblical languages and literature, but in none of them are there as many as one hundred enrolled in the classes.

The remaining twenty-two offer courses in some Biblical subject taught in another department.”