Pledges Will Not Give Life
The power of the liquor element is so strong that many Protestant churches are organizing temperance societies and circulating temperance pledges among their flocks. But what ails the church? Ought not the church of Christ to be in and of itself the best temperance society which could be formed? And if it is not, can a temperance society subordinate to the church existing within a church, be an improvement? Or if the temperance society is superior to the church, of what need is the church at all? A church which was composed of converted men and women, as designed by Christ, would need no temperance pledge, no social purity pledge, nor any other reform pledge. And a church that is not dominantly composed of converted men and women cannot be helped by any number of pledges. Pledges will not give life.