Division Rather than Unity
ONE Nicholas Zamoro, a Methodist preacher in the Philippines, has set up an independent Methodist Church in those islands. He is a convert from the Catholic Church, a wonderfully effective speaker, and a leader among his people. Dr. Rader says of him, “He is a man of remarkable pulpit ability, being the only man we have ever heard who could hold our attention for an hour or more when we were unable to understand a word he said.” Whether his attempt to organize an independent church will be successful or not can not be stated. The organization of the Methodist Church in Japan has spread a general feeling of independence and disintegration among the churches in the Orient. Dr. Rader remarks, “We shall be agreeably surprised if a like movement is not inaugurated within the next few years by our membership in China and India.” Such a movement is already on in South Africa, where the native Wesleyan Church wants independence. The California Christian Advocate concludes: “England taught history to the natives of India, and immediately the natives began to assert their primary rights. It is a penalty, a price of knowledge and inspiration, that civilization, Christianity, must pay.” But is it true of Christianity? Should not the Gospel of Christ bring unity in the fullest sense of the word? The Author of this Gospel prayed: “Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they may be in Us; . . . I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected into one.”