THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
702
ITS UP TO YOU Ladies and Gentlemen. The opinion has been widely expressed th a t when a m inister could no longer preach th e doctrines he took his vows to defend when ordained, he should voluntarily w ithdraw . Now we have an answer to th is from th e rank s of th e critics themselves, and you will understand why they con tinu e to preach infidelity while draw ing th e ir pay from churches dedicated to the foundation tru th s of th e Bible. P rof Charles P. Pagnam of Union Theological) Seminary, w rites as follows in “Christian W ork” :—
“ I t is a sad commentary upon th e m ental processes of the average man th a t th is insistence upon th e severance by th e offender of his connection w ith his church should be generally looked upon as th e honorable and proper and only thing for him to do, even by those who may have sympathy w ith his views. "Now a little reflection ought to show th a t an honorable man, a loyal man, one who really cares for th e church, instead of re signing and w ithdraw ing and shirking responsibility, is conscien tiously bound to rem ain in and to bring as many of his b reth ren as possible around to his way of thinking. “Yes, it is his bounden duty to stand his ground and proclaim th e tru th ’ as he sees it. He must stanchly refuse to w ithdraw of his own accord, no m a tte r1how much averse he may person ally feel to mere notoriety and strife and contention. “H is attitud e, if he is sincere and solicitous for w hat he be lieves to be th e tru th , must needs be th a t of Paul, who* when urged "to come fo rth and go in peace,” replied, “They have beaten us publicly uncondemned, men th a t are Romans, and have cast us into prison, and do they now cast us out privily? Nay, verily, bu t let them come themselves and bring us ou t.” The responsibility
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker