Men and Things by Dudley Marvin Canright

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 29, 1872

Men and Things.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

HEATHENS AT HOME.

The following from the highest ecclesiastical authority, the Archbishop of Canterbury, England, reveals the terrible state of things in that so-called Christian land. He says that heathenism is rapidly encroaching upon Christianity, in the very place where it is supposed to be the strongest. While the church is making nominal Christians of a few of these simple heathens, heathenism is getting possession of many influential and leading minds in Christian lands. What will be the end of this? The Christian Union says:—

“Perhaps a more sudden, unexpected, and widespread sensation has never arisen than that caused by a short incidental speech recently made before a missionary society, by the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was not a labored effort, but an appeal for greater liberality and earnestness in the work of converting the heathen. Among other things, he said that it was not necessary now to go to foreign lands to find them and to know what they are, for they are in England in great numbers, of all classes, from the best to the worst. He pointed out those parts of London where they congregate for trade, and the schools of the Temple and Lincoln’s Inn where they study law, and the ambassadors and visitors of high rank often seen in England. He expressed, also, fear of the influence of their philosophy upon English students, and suggested his apprehension that if they did not convert the heathen, the heathen would convert them. He adverted also to the fact that the philosophical and religious errors of the heathen are regarded with less repulsion and increasing tolerance, which he considered as a dangerous symptom.”

MODERN CAMP-MEETINGS.

“The Springfield Republican says of camp-meetings, that they ‘have become less occasions of religious revival and instruction, and more of social reunion and summer recreation in pleasant camps in the country. There is less of ostensible religion, less of accompanying vice, and more of comfort and pleasure.’”

What a manifest fulfillment this is of Paul’s description of a fallen church in the last days. 2 Tim. 3:1-5: “Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” Formerly, these camp-meetings were a mighty power, where the Holy Ghost was poured out, and sinners fell before its influence; but now they are simply occasions of social intercourse and pleasure-seeking. It shows where the religious world is drifting. May God save his true people from following this terrible example.

HOW TO SPEND MONEY.

The following article from the Christian Union, I here give for the benefit of stingy people, for those who are saving, keeping, and hoarding up all they have, and giving little or nothing for the cause of Christ. You, my brother, who are worth from two to four thousand dollars, and are in good circumstances generally, and yet are giving not more than twenty-five or thirty dollars a year for benevolent purposes, you are the man who ought to read this two or three times over, and then lay it to heart. If you do not change your course, you will soon be as poor as the poorest, you will have nothing in this world, nor the world to come. Wake up, reform, and bestir yourself while there is still opportunity:—

“An old friend of ours was bewailing, the other day, some pecuniary losses, when his wiser half interposed to remind him of certain expenditures he had made which might have been avoided. ‘Nonsense,’ he replied; ‘what I spend is the only money I am sure of!’ Though liable to abuse in its practical application, there is a profound philosophy in this thought. He that hoards his wealth, when losses come, is poor indeed; while he that expends it judiciously can never lose the fruits thereof that he has received into his own soul. But of consecrated expenditure this is doubly true. The man who spends his life in amassing wealth, is said, in common parlance, to ‘die rich.’ Nay, rather, he must die miserably poor. The liberal soul, as it passes away from all earthly possessions, may well exclaim, ‘What I have given away is now all that I am sure of!’ This, we apprehend, is the divine philosophy that resides in that golden saying of the wise man: ‘There is that scattereth and yet increaseth, and that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.’”

TO OUR PREACHERS.

Dear brethren, as I read the following words in the Christian Union, they struck me as being worthy of a very careful perusal by every one of us. I hope they may do me good; and I ask your prayerful attention to them. What is the fruit of our labors? What kind of Christians are we making? What kind of men and women does our preaching develop? What kind of characters are formed under our influence? Are they mere theorists, self-sufficient, cold debaters? or are they warm-hearted, self-denying, peaceable, God-fearing men—men who will glorify God, and be saved in his kingdom? Read the following words, and may the Spirit of God set them home to every heart:—

“The main question for every church to ask is: What are the results of our teachings and our labors in the characters of the men and women of our congregation and our neighborhood? How many are we reaching with our influence, and what are we doing for them? Are the people to whom our gospel goes, enriched by it in their affections, enlightened by it in their understandings, restrained by it from wrong, urged by it to righteousness? Is it proving itself the savor of life unto life unto many? Is the truth as we have learned it, as we preach it, as we talk it, as we live it, the power of God unto the salvation of men from selfishness, from lust, from low cunning, from wrath and uncharitableness? Are the men who sit in our pews, and pray in our prayer-meetings, and teach in our Sunday-schools, known everywhere as true, brave, honest men? Do they carry their religion into Broad street? Does it keep them from cheating in trade? Does it hold them back, in these hot days of political strife, from misjudging and slandering their opponents, and from retailing the lies of the campaign on the stump or in the newspapers? Do they leave the Golden Rule in a gilt frame upon the parlor wall at home, or do they take it with them into the world as the measure of all their conduct? Are they surrounded with an atmosphere of cheerfulness, and does the Spirit of Him who came bringing peace to earth, and good-will to men, shine from their faces and breathe like a sweet fragrance from their garments as they walk? What sort of a society is it which these Christians of ours, men and women, are building up? Is it a society in which simple tastes, generous aims, helpfulness and beneficence abound? Do the mean deceits and the shallow frivolities of the time flourish or decline among them?

“Men and brethren! this is the main question. There are many ways of putting it, but it means only this: What is the effect of this religion of ours upon the men and women to whom it is preached? By their lives, the world judges our religion. If we are helping them to a better manhood and womanhood, we shall need no other arguments to prove its truth. If we are not, all the evidences of Christianity that have been written will make no impression upon the minds of doubters. Would it not be well for the brethren who have risen to various points of order to withdraw them for a little while, and let us all discuss the main question?”

D. M. CANRIGHT.