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Review and Herald, Vol. 80, No. 29.

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Review and Herald

Jul 21, 1903

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 21, 1903

Publishers' Page

Conducted by the Department of Circulation of the Review and Herald Publishing Company
The Department of Circulation of the Review and Herald Publishing Company can supply any book Published by Seventh-day Adventists, or any trade book issued by any other publishing house in any country.

Education

A NEW BOOK BY MRS. E. G. WHITE

A VALUABLE volume on education in its entirety, covering all its phases, especially prepared for parents, teachers, and students; excellent for all classes. The great principles of Christian education are clearly set forth, and invaluable counsel for the education of the youth is placed within the reach of all.
321 pages, beautifully bound, three-color cover design; price, $1.25.
Order of the State Tract Societies, or of the Review and Herald Publishing Company, Battle Creek, Mich.

Special Offer

Mental Arithmetic for Twenty-five Cents

For a short time we offer to our church-school patrons, Prof. E. A. Sutherland's “Mental Arithmetic,” for 25 cents, postpaid. This offer will afford all a favorable opportunity to secure this book for the fall and winter schools.
The great majority of the readers of the REVIEW are familiar with this book, and a detailed description is not necessary in this notice of the reduction of price. It is an excellent text-book for our church schools, and at the price we now offer it, it is easily within the reach of all.
The objectionable features found in other arithmetics that contain problems dealing in liquor, tobacco, drugs, tea, coffee, candies, false weights and measures, which have a tendency to poison the youthful mind, are eliminated, and the book presents the principles of mathematics to the pupils from an entirely new, original, and practical standpoint, yet in harmony with sound arithmetical principles.

Living Fountains or Broken Cisterns

WE have a few more “Living Fountains,” which we offer at 65 cents a copy.
This book gives the history of the two systems of education, Christian and pagan. It reveals the cause of the failure and apostasy of Israel, of the early church, the reformers, and modern Protestants, and also the weakness of the remnant church can be traced to no other source, or accounted for on no other ground, than pagan methods and wrong principles of education instilled into the minds and hearts of children and youth of the past and present generations.
President Harper, of the Chicago University, says: “It is difficult to prophesy what the result of our present method of education will be in fifty years. We are training the mind in our public schools, and yet the moral side of the child's nature is almost entirely neglected. The Roman Catholic Church insists on remedying this manifest evil, but our Protestant churches seem to ignore it completely. They expect the Sunday-school [and we the Sabbath-school] to make good what our public schools leave undone.”
This excellent book contains 428 pages. Substantially bound in cloth, and originally sold for $1.25; present price, 65 cents, postpaid.

Mothers' and Teachers' Manual

BY PROF. C. C. LEWIS
THIS book is especially designed to assist in the home and the church-school work. It contains suggestions from our best educators for mothers and teachers. To all those interested in the education of the youth, and to mothers, this is indispensable. We have a few copies remaining, which we will sell at the following reduced prices: paper covers, 25 cents; cloth, 35 cents.
Order of the Review and Herald.

Patriarchs and Prophets

As the International Sunday-school Lessons for the last half of 1903 will be upon Old Testament subjects specially treated in “Patriarchs and Prophets,” the present time is very favorable for the sale of this book to thousands of Sunday-school attendants, teachers, and workers.
“Patriarchs and Prophets” contains the foundation principles of the message, and interweaves them in the biographies of the leaders of Israel mentioned in the coming Sunday-school lessons, in a manner that will guide those studying these lessons into the full gospel for this time. While the circumstances are favorable, a special effort should be made to give the people this “meat in due season.”
Send to the Review and Herald for free copies of “Helpful Hints,” which contains the topics of the International Sunday-school lessons, and the pages in “Patriarchs and Prophets” where these lesson topics are mentioned.
“Patriarchs and Prophets” is an elegant book in every particular. It is published in the English, Danish-Norwegian, Swedish, German, and Holland languages, and substantially bound in all the popular styles of binding. It contains 760 large pages; prices, $2.25 to $4.50.
Order of the State Tract Societies, or of the Review and Herald Publishing Company, Battle Creek, Mich.

New Edition of Hymns and Tunes

WE are just printing a new edition of this hymnal, and have decided to throw out the levant, limp cover binding, carrying in stock only the following four styles of binding: muslin, leather back, marbled edges; Russia, marbled edges; Turkey morocco, gilt edges; levant, flexible, gilt edges, round corners, kid lined.
For those who may not want the music, a book of words only is issued, which contains all the hymns of the large book, with the same number of selections, which enables both books to be used simultaneously without any confusion. These small books are bound in Russia, plain edges; calf, gilt edges; morocco, gilt edges.
The full book is published in the English, German, Danish, and Holland languages.
Order of State Tract Societies, or of the Review and Herald Publishing Company, Battle Creek, Mich.

The Place of the Bible in Education

BY A. T. JONES
248 pages, in paper and cloth bindings, 25 and 75 cents, postpaid.
ONE of the new books just out. An excellent volume to study in connection with “Education.” Its chapter divisions are as follows:—Christian Education; The World's Education; The Essentials of Knowledge; The Secret of the Great Apostasy; The Greek or “Scientific Method” To-day; The Separation of Christianity and the State; The Bible's Right to Supreme Place in Christian Education; The Education of Daniel; What Was Taught in the Schools of the Prophets; The Study of Wisdom; The Study of Knowledge; The Study of Science; The Study of Mental Science; The Study of Physical Science; The Study of Physical Science—Anatomy; The Study of Physical Science—Healing; The Study of Physical Science—Physical Culture; Literature, History, Law, Logic; The Failures of Popular Education.
Order of the State Tract Societies, or of the Review and Herald Publishing Company, Battle Creek, Mich.

Friend in the Kitchen

A PRACTICAL vegetarian cook-book. It contains over 400 palatable and wholesome recipes free from flesh foods, also many suggestions on foods and their combinations, and miscellaneous instruction of practical value and importance to every housekeeper. Bound in two substantial bindings: oilcloth and oil-paper; prices, 50 cents and 25 cents, postpaid. Kept by all tract societies and publishing houses.

Days of Violence

By Editor

Editorial

Days of Violence

THE description of the condition of the world just before it was destroyed by water in the days of Noah will serve as the description of the condition of the world just before it is finally destroyed by fire. “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” The same contempt for God and his law brings men to the same disregard of all restraint, and thus now, as then, the earth is “filled with violence.” Who can doubt it who observes the daily record of evil? Among all classes of people—the rich as well as the poor, the educated and the uneducated—there is revealed that same lack of self-restraint or self-government which shows plainly that the law of God is not written in the heart, and that Satan is carrying a large part of the human family captive at his will. When professed ministers of the gospel of peace incite the mob spirit among the people, and demand that lynching shall be legalized, what other result can be reasonably expected than that these outbreaks of violence shall become more and more frequent? At the present rate of progress it will not be long before all respect for the forms of law and order will be set aside, there will be no such thing as “due process of law,” and every man's hand will be against every other man. Thus the real nature of sin will be revealed before it is destroyed out of the earth, and the redeemed will be prepared to sing, “Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the ages. Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art “the holy.” We are in the perils of the last days. Only as we hide in God are we safe. O that souls would realize the danger and turn unto the Lord! O that those to whom has been committed the warning message would awake more fully to their responsibility, and bend every energy to the work of preparing a people to stand through the days of violence, and to be ready for the return of our Lord! Sudden destruction in this generation awaits those who do not make God their refuge.

Spiritual Enthusiasm

LUKEWARMNESS in spiritual things is a characteristic of the time. “Neither hot nor cold,” is the Laodicean state of the church. A wave of spiritual enthusiasm ought to sweep through the church. Spiritual enthusiasm is not fanaticism. It is not religious sentimentality. Spiritual enthusiasm means complete submission to the will of God. Spiritual enthusiasm means unreserved consecration to the service of God. Spiritual enthusiasm means unswerving devotion to right principle. Spiritual enthusiasm means the sacrifice of life together with all lesser things to the faithful performance of duty. All this was seen in the life of the apostle Paul, the spiritual enthusiast. “I hold not my life of any account as dear unto myself, so that I may accomplish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” “Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death.” “I take pleasure in weakness, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake.” We are suffering to-day from spiritual languor. It seems difficult to arouse a genuine and lasting enthusiasm for the kingdom of God in the earth. The primary interest seems to be in the farm, or in the shop, or in some worldly enterprise which promises a good return for the investment. Men will grow enthusiastic over these things, and will heartily devote their energies to them, but their interest lags when the work of God is presented to them. Surely those who believe in the soon coming of the Saviour ought to be filled with spiritual enthusiasm. With glad anticipation they can look forward to the consummation of all their hopes at the return of their Lord. They know that what is done for the salvation of souls must be done quickly, for soon the end will come. “Let the churches awake before it is everlastingly too late. Let every member take up his individual work, and vindicate the name of the Lord by which he is called. Let sound faith and earnest piety take the place of slothfulness and unbelief.” Let there be more spiritual enthusiasm.

A Wily Foe

DECEIT is the devil’s stock in trade. “The serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness.” “The woman being deceived was in the transgression.” Satan is declared to be “the deceiver of the whole world.” It is by “the deceitfulness of sin” that we are hardened. And centuries of experience have increased our adversary’s power in deceiving the unwary and leading them astray to their own destruction. Only those who are enlightened by the wisdom which is from above can say, with the apostle Paul, “We are not ignorant of his devices.” It seems very evident that Satan is preparing the way for the final deception when he will appear upon the earth and will personate Christ. By his perversion of the truth as it is in Jesus he has largely shut out Christ from his true place in the church, substituting the appearance for the reality and the form for the power, using sweet and beautiful words about religion, but leaving out its very essence, until in many cases a profession of religion has been the cloak under which the principles of Satan could be the more successfully introduced into the higher circles of society. Thus he has in effect turned aside to himself the service which belongs to God in Christ. Soon he who “fashioneth himself into an angel of light” will manifest himself as the Light of the world, and will demonstrate his claim by many wonderful works. No mere theory of the truth will preserve us from this overmastering deception. A personal experience in the power of the truth and a daily fellowship with Christ and his indwelling presence are our only safety. We should daily pray, “Deliver us from the evil one.”

Some Simple Truths

AMONG the axioms which lie at the foundation of all dealing with quantityare the following: “The whole is equal to the sum of all its parts.” “The whole is greater than any one of its parts.” These axiomatic truths are equally applicable to this message. The message as a whole is composed of, and is equal to, the sum of all its different parts or divisions. The message as a whole is greater than any one of its parts or divisions. The educational work, as the distinctive work of schools and colleges, did not create the message, but was created by the message. The medical work, as a distinctive department of work, did not create the message, but was created by the message. The publishing work, as a distinctive department of work, did not create the message, but was created by it. There is danger that some who become absorbed in their special department of effort, shall overlook these simple facts, and begin to think and to teach that a part is equal to the whole, or that a part has in some way become the whole. This message can never be given simply as an educational work in the ordinary meaning of that expression. This message can never be given as a medical missionary work in the ordinary meaning of that term. This message can never be given as a publishing work in the ordinary meaning of that term. The whole can never be made equal to one of its parts only. The educational work, and the medical work, and the publishing work have their place as facilities in the giving of this message, and in their place they can be a blessing in the advancement of this work, but in the attempt to get out of their place and to become the message itself they can become a hindrance instead of a blessing. It is time that these simple truths should be recognized.

Early and Later Experiences

By Editor

It is plain that we are being called to return to the first principles of this advent message. There was a simplicity and directness of faith, and a positiveness of statement concerning the truth in those days, which carried conviction to the hearts of those who heard the message. Without elaborate facilities, without the complete system of organization which has since been perfected, and without large institutions, the early pioneers in this movement went forth to the people with the simple truth of the coming of the Lord and the preparation needed to meet him in peace. They warned and entreated with tears, under a sense of the solemnity of the time and the value of souls, and God gave them much fruit of their labors. Under these labors there were persons converted to this message who have been loyal to the work for nearly half a century.
Later years have brought a somewhat different experience. A new generation of preachers of the Word has entered the field. The simplicity of the early times has to a considerable degree been discarded. Much more money is spent in institutions and other material facilities, and these things have to some extent been depended upon for success, instead of remembering that it is only by the power of the Spirit that any real success is attained. It is evident that the time has fully come for a reform in some of our plans and methods, and that we must recognize in the message itself a power greater than in all merely human facilities.
It will be an unfortunate time for this movement when the early days of the message are forgotten, and to prevent this it will be well to rehearse frequently the experiences of those who under God established this work. We are sure that the following extracts from one of Sister White's personal letters will be interesting and profitable, as bearing strongly upon this very question:—
We must study to find out the best way in which to take up the review of our experiences from the beginning of our work, when we separated from the churches, and went forward step by step in the light that God gave us. We then took the position that the Bible, and the Bible only, was to be our guide; and we are never to depart from this position. We were given wonderful manifestations of the power of God. Miracles were wrought. Again and again, when we were brought into strait places, the power of God was displayed in our behalf. At such times, souls were convicted, and amidst the scorn and derision of the opposing churches, they bore testimony in favor of the truth. “So mightily grew the word of God, and prevailed.” Under the preaching of the truth, men were converted, and were “instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord.”
I was then very young, but I believed the message, and the Spirit of the Lord was upon me. I was guided by the Spirit to act an important part in the work of the Lord for this time.
I have lost none of my faith in the message. After the passing of the time in 1844, we were a disappointed people, few in numbers. We sought the Lord most earnestly, and read and re-read his commandments. We saw wherein we had been working and walking contrary to them, and then we thanked the Lord for our disappointment. The fourteenth chapter of Revelation was most diligently studied, and we discerned the meaning of the words, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Light was given us on the claims of the law of God. We were convicted that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, and we began to observe it as holy unto him.
The world has accepted a false rest-day, and has dishonored the Creator of heaven and earth. The false is reverenced in the place of the true. God's Sabbath is trampled under the feet of men. What excuse can those who do this give for placing the first day of the week where the seventh should be, and for making laws compelling its observance? God's condemnation will rest upon all who have thus disregarded his commands.
Seventh-day Adventists need to search the Scriptures, that they may know the reasons of their faith. Christ says, “Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” We are living in the close of this earth's history. Let no one say in his heart, “My Lord delayeth his coming.” Prophecy is fulfilling. Soon Christ will come with power and great glory. We have no time to lose. Let the message sound forth in earnest words of warning.
We must persuade men everywhere to repent and flee from the wrath to come. They have souls to save or to lose. Let there be no indifference in this matter. The Lord calls for workers who are filled with an earnest, decided purpose. Tell the people to be instant in season and out of season. With the words of life upon your lips go forth to tell men and women that the end of all things is at hand.
Let us keep our souls in the love of God. The note of warning must be given. The truth must not languish upon our lips. We must rouse people to immediate preparation; for we little know what is before us. My faith is as strong as ever that we are living in the last remnant of time. Let every teacher present an open door before all who will come to Jesus, repenting of their sins. We are not only to watch; we are to pray and work and wait.
It is refreshing and encouraging to read these words of personal experience and earnest exhortation from one who has been connected with this work from its rise, and who knows so well the experiences of the present time. The early believers laid hold upon fundamental principles with such a fullness of consecration that they can say, after more than five decades of self-sacrificing toil, “I have lost none of my faith in the message.” Some of the later adherents to this truth, after an apparent delay in the realization of their hopes, begin to say, “My Lord delayeth his coming,” and they are becoming absorbed with the cares and pleasures of this life. Those whose experiences are still fresh and strong must raise a mighty cry, announcing with a quickening power that the Lord is near, even at the doors. The advent faith and hope must be revived, and the message of warning must be quickly carried to every land. For this work let us gird ourselves anew.

How to Discern the Truth

By W. A. S.

PAUL wrote his second letter to Timothy in a time of stress and confusion. Persecution was breaking upon the early believers, wave after wave. But more trying than all, teachers were arising, bringing in speculative theories and fine-spun philosophies, overthrowing the faith of many. By the preaching of the simple gospelmessage, a mighty work has been built up. Now men who had stood as teachers were turning to the world, or were busily engaged within the church, propagating their own notions, and tearing down that which had been built up. The faith of many was being overthrown. Then Paul wrote:—
“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
That is the rule. If we would be able to discern truth from error in times of confusion, let us put away iniquity. Keep your sins forgiven. A clean heart is a truer guide than a clever head. The cleansed heart is essential to the clear mind in spiritual things.
This race is not to the swift, nor this battle to the strong. The self-confident, the keenly speculative, unconsciously fascinated by their own intellectual gifts, will be snared and confused where simple, loving souls will be able to pass along the highway of truth without swerving.
Put away sin, humble the heart before God, keep close to a personal Saviour. “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness.” We study too little with the heart. Our experience in this blessed message must be a heart experience. That alone can hold us upon the foundation that standeth sure. Every wind of doctrine is blowing. The perilous times of the last days are come, and error is masquerading in the cloak of truth. “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
W. A. S.

An Effort to Romanize England

By L. A. S.

Religious persecution of a very real character is being experienced by English nonconformists under the education law which was recently enacted by Parliament. The enactment of this law is unquestionably an important step in the papal scheme to turn England back to the Catholic Church. England is to be papalized through the teaching given to the rising generation. The new education law puts the primary schools very largely under the influence of Rome, and Rome is improving her opportunity to the utmost. The English established church, it is true, is not nominally papal; yet it is so Romanized in its practices and teaching, and so much in sympathy with Rome, that the difference between the two, so far as the schools are concerned, is merely nominal. Many nonconformists, it is said, would even prefer openly papal schools to those to which their children are now sent.
Education of children is compulsory in England, and English nonconformists are obliged to send their children to the public or “board” schools, there to be put under Romanizing teaching, and are compelled to contribute for the maintenance of these schools. Their little children are being taught to regard them as heretics, and fathers and mothers are compelled to pay the ones who are doing it. It is a great triumph for Rome, and for Jesuit intrigue in the English church. We present some extracts on the subject from an article contributed to The Outlook by Rev. Silvester Horne, chairman of the London Congregational Union, who writes of the “Passive Resistance” movement which has sprung up among the nonconformists as an expression of their sentiment toward the new law. Mr. Horne says:—
An organization known as the Passive Resistance League has sprung into existence, with an executive composed of well-known leaders of the English Free churches. Eminent counsel have given it as their opinion that this organized resistance to the act brings the members of the league within the law relating to conspiracy, and exposes them to criminal prosecution. It has made no difference. Branches of the league have been formed in all parts of the country; at the present time over two hundred are in existence, and the work of enrollment is going on quietly but rapidly.
The situation is a strange one. A generation has passed since English nonconformity had to fight for its own in this fashion. The last use made of the weapon of “passive resistance” by Free Churchmen was when they allowed their goods to be spoiled rather than pay a rate to support the established Episcopal churches. In those days it used to be urged that the church rate was for the purpose of maintaining the church fabric, and that, as the parish churches belonged to all the parishioners, no injustice was done. Nevertheless, the stalwart nonconformists retorted that it was a rate in support of a denominational institution from which they conscientiously dissented. Some of them were sent to prison; thousands had their goods distrained upon. The battle lasted for many years, and ended in the complete victory of the nonconformists.
American readers should understand that in eight thousand parishes in England and Wales there is only one public elementary school available in each parish, and that that school is under Church of England auspices, and that all children in the parish are by law compelled to attend it. The nonconformist therefore asserts that the new education rate is worse than the old church rate. The old church rate went to keep up the parish church, but at least the nonconformist was not compelled to attend the parish church. The new education rate goes to support a sectarian school, and nonconformist children are compelled to attend this school.
To understand the intensity of the Free Church opposition to this new system, something must be known of the social and religious conditions which prevail to-day in many parts of England. The power of the established church in thousands of parishes is almost absolute. The squire of the parish, who probably owns most of the land, expects his tenant to be loyal to the Church of England; and multitudes of laborers and small shopkeepers are given to understand that their very livelihood depends on their conformity to the will of the squire and the parson. The latter is very usually, nowadays, what is known as High Church. The old priestly notion of the ministry has been revived with great success. He repudiates the name Protestant. He regards the nonconformist as a schismatic and a heretic, and the children of nonconformists as proper subjects for his priestly influence. Even the Pilot, which is an Anglican weekly paper of conspicuous moderation and great influence due to its statesman-like opinions, declares that if the Church of England is to be re-Protestantized, ten thousand clergymen must be turned out.
These men are interested in the movement for reunion with Rome, and their teaching is hardly distinguishable from that of Rome. The schools which these men manage are the most valuable instrumentality they possess for proselytizing young England. Backed up, therefore, by the social influence of the squirearchy, they are able to make the position of the independent nonconformist almost intolerable. He may be strong enough to take his own line so far as worshiping at a nonconformist chapel is concerned, but when he sees his own children’s minds set against him and the faith he holds most dear, he is driven to the verge of rebellion. So that when now he is required not only to expose his children to this peril, but to pay his rate that they may be seduced from their principles, he is astonishing the government by asserting flatly that he will not pay, but will suffer loss of goods or even imprisonment.
The grievance is further greatly aggravated by the fact that in these church schools which are now to be entirely supported by public funds no nonconformist can be a head teacher. To the power of the clergy is to be added the sectarian influence of the principal teacher. Thus a further difficulty is placed in the way of the nonconformist who desires to be loyal to the law of the land and at the same time to his own principles. We never expected to see, in any period of reaction, the reimposition of religious tests in any branch of the civil service. The payment of a rate that our children may be proselytized at the expense of their parents, and schools supported from the principal teacherships in which all people holding our convictions are expressly excluded, is to thousands of nonconformists a moral impossibility.
No section of the community has been more law-abiding than Free Churchmen. But it has come to this, that they can see no hope for England or for Protestantism in England save in the policy of passive resistance to the new education act.
L. A. S.

New Periodicals in the West Indies

By W. A. S.

It is encouraging to note the success that is attending the efforts of our workers in various fields to reach larger masses of the people by periodicals, without laying extra burden upon the Mission treasury. Two new papers are circulating in the West Indies, and no appeal has been made for financial assistance in launching them. At the organization of the two West Indian conferences it was agreed to start the Caribbean Watchman, as a monthly organ.and the believers pledged themselves to push its sale among the islands. Of the second number Brother George F. Enoch writes from Trinidad:—
“We have printed five thousand copies of the July number, and to-day, the first of July, they are all gone, and orders are in hand for more; so you can see that our brethren and sisters have taken hold with a will. We have orders for seven thousand copies of the August number. I can assure you that there is a loyal body of believers in the West Indies who believe that Jesus is coming soon, and we intend to let all the people within our borders know why we believe it. We are more than paying for our cover through advertisements. In fact, we have a credit on our July issue.”
This periodical campaign is bound to greatly increase the effectiveness of our work in the islands.
The little band of workers in Porto Rico, only three, all told, are issuing a trim little monthly in Spanish, El Centinela de la Verdad (Sentinel of Truth), which they propose to finance in the field.
Our missionaries the world over are straining every nerve to press forward this campaign. As the literature is scattered, the cry for more laborers to gather the harvest will ring louder and louder.
W. A. S.

The Lack of Power in the Pulpit

By Editor

THERE is a certain class of optimists who profess to believe that the world is steadily growing better, and that Christianity is constantly growing in power and influence. There are other men, however, who have a clearer insight into the real situation, and who plainly perceive that with all the outward show and the great expenditure of time and money and effort in Christian activities, there is yet an evident lack of the old-time power in the ministry of the gospel. In the July number of The Missionary Review of the World this question is considered at some length, and two principal reasons are given for the recognized decline in pulpit power:—
FIRST.—There is not the proper place given to the Bible that there should be. The text-book of all preaching is neglected. Sociology and a score of studies, supposed to concern the “new gospel” of the twentieth century, absorb many modern preachers. The newspaper and the novel are often more the inspiration of the pulpit than the Word of God and the secret place of prayer. The methods of modern criticism are irreverent and destructive, faith in the inspired Scripture is impaired, and its hold on conviction and conscience is weakened. Nothing but a thorough knowledge of God and love can make a preacher. Nothing so expands mind and enriches heart and dignifies utterance as the habitual holding of one’s self under the full blaze of the Shekinah glory. The great preacher burns and glows and sparkles with God’s fire. . . . If our theological schools are not fountains of Biblical learning and prayer, how can they turn out truly powerful and prayerful preachers?
SECONDLY.—We add, with some hesitation, that we fear the modern ministry is too much looked on as a profession and not enough a vocation. One sign of this is the new standard of compensation adopted. It is held that the church is like any other market-place, and preaching is like any other commodity, to be regulated by the common law of demand and supply. Preaching talent is on sale, and the highest bidder gets the goods. In principles of commercial equity, this is correct: Intellectual and oratorical ability is a costly product, and may command the highest price. And so we find men not hesitating to take, or congregations hesitating to offer, any salary that can be secured. . . .
The more money obtains prominence in pulpit and pastoral work, the more the pulpit loses its dynamic. Avarice is one of the subtlest foes to spirituality. Moreover a man is prone to degenerate into a hireling, and consciously or unconsciously shape his utterances to please his auditors, and so the pulpit comes into bondage. A century ago the bulk of the preachers in New England had small stipends, lived in humble parsonages, with a small plot of ground, which they cultivated, and which yielded vegetables for food, and pasture for horse and cow. They lived on a level with the people, economically and frugally, and depended partly on their own labor for a subsistence. Many of them could not spend all their time in studying sermons, but they knew the people and visited in the families; revivals were frequent, and the churches were healthy in growth. Now in many of these New England villages the churches are deserted, and the buildings empty. There are a few splendid buildings with very attractive preachers, but even they are not full, while the smaller, feebler churches fall hopelessly in the rear in this unequal strife for popularity.
Other causes may and do contribute, but we content ourselves with emphasizing these two, believing that if a more Scriptural training were secured in the training-schools, and a more self-denying service in the actual work of the ministry, we should have a more efficient class of preachers. The pulpit demands as its feeders pure springs of sacred learning salted with much prayer, and it needs for its constant guard from the secular and avaricious spirit a principle of self-denial that identifies the minister of Christ with the common people rather than the aristocratic class.
These are not, perhaps, palatable truths, but are they not truths? How fast would all power vanish from our missionary band if the element of self-sacrifice were lost! Who can not see that if missionaries degenerate into sociologists, or even philanthropists; if the Word of God loses its dynamic force, and especially if large money compensation becomes an object, we might almost as well abandon missions altogether? The church of God needs to keep on her knees; the devil is alive and abroad. The martyr spirit is the only mission spirit.
These are the words of truth and soberness. And it may be profitable for us to weigh them in their bearing upon our own work and experiences. We greatly fear that the ministry of this demonstration is suffering from the lack of prayerful Bible study. And while we can not truthfully be said to pay high salaries to preachers, yet we have sometimes thought that the very certainty of a support from the tithe militated against that spirit of sturdy work which characterized the pioneers in this movement. And further there has been manifest a distinct tendency on the part of some of our workers to become professional reformers and philanthropists, rather than to be preachers of the definite message for this time. When shall we learn that our strength and our hope of success lie in faithfully adhering to the instruction to preach the Word? There may not be preachers of great worldly reputation in this message, but there should be preachers of great power, who should be successful in winning many souls for the kingdom of God. The prayerful study of the Bible and the spirit of self-denying labor are great factors in the solution of this problem.
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