THE KING’S BUSINESS
246
I n the newest number of the Constructive Quarterly Professor Obbink, of Holland, writing on “Personal Faith,’’ sets down these incontestable affirmations: “One cannot acknowledge the Scripture as the word of God before having heard out of the Scripture the voice of God. speaking to him. One cannot believe the supernatural birth of Christ before having felt all the all-controlling power oi His personality. One cannot consent to the biblical doctrine before having seen that it is a doctrine of salvation for his own soul.” What a blessing it would be if orthodoxy could always hold its sequences of faith in that order. If these first things could be kept first and these second things left to come second, the Church would never have occasion to classify either theology or theo logians in the “dryasdust” category. If the Dutch professor is thought radical, remember he is not original. Paul said it all before him: “No man can say that Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit.”— The Continent. I heard , Mr. Nathan, a converted Jew, in the St. Louis Y. M. C. A., tell this expe rience. He said that when he found Christ and hurried home to tell his father the latter was horrified and said: “Get out of my house, and never darken that door again until you retract those words.” He then wrote to his mother, telling her of the joy that had .come to his heart, and he received this reply: “You are no longer a son of mine. I have cast you out of my heart with a curse.” He met his sister on the street, and she turned her face from him. His brother reported him dead. Then said Nathan: “I prayed and said, ‘O my Father! I’ll have to give it all up. Father has driven me from his house, mother has cast, me out of her heart, sister turns her face from me, and brother reports me dead.’ Then this promise flashed through my mind, ‘When thy father and thy mother forsake thee, the Lord will take thee up,’ and 1 clung to that promise for dear life, until I saw my father, mother and' sister con-
b a rra c k life, It w as im pressive. W e w en t in to actio n th e n e x t day, an d on th e follow ing n ig h t th irty of th e m en w ho h ad su n g th e hym ns w ere buried. A n officer w ho read th e service w as q u ite u p se t.”—Rec. of C h ristian W ork. T h e C o n tin en t calls attention to a circu lar letter addressed to “newspaper editors and circulation managers,” offering Rus sell’s sermons for weekly publication, with the following inducements: “T h e publishing of th is serm on, even once, w ill b rin g you m ore ap p reciativ e response an d p ro sp ect of building u p y o u r circulation, th a n an y o th er one item th a t you ever p u b lished. If you doubt it, w e su g g est you te le g rap h th e C in cin n ati E n q u ire r.” “Bodied o u t in d istin ctly in th e shadow of th a t rem ark , sta n d s th e sm o o th est p ro p a g an d a id ea ever in v en ted in th e U nited S tates. I t m ean s th a t th e R ussellite follow ing is tra in e d as p erfectly as a G erm an m ili ta ry m ach in e to w rite a n d com plim ent any editor w ho p rin ts R u ssell’s serm ons. T he u n so p h isticated n ew sp ap er p ro p rieto r w ho is persu ad ed to p rin t th e R ussell m aterial, is certain to th in k , w h en he looks a t h is pile of m ail n e x t m orning, th a t he h as ‘struck the p o pular chord’ w ith such a b an g a s he never dream ed of before. B u t som e n ew s p ap er m en are ‘n e x t’ to th e tric k . I t w as from one w ho w ouldn’t ‘fall fo r it th a t th e C o n tin en t g o t th is copy of R u ssell’s in g ra tia tin g proposition.” S ecretary K ennedy of Calcutta gives this argument for hostel work : “In a Christian hostel a- group of students are placed in superior living conditions, given opportun ity for sports and games, brought under wise guidance and control, shielded from temptation, and exposed to the ennobling influences of a Christian home. Here the long continued friendly relationship be tween missionary and student necessary for winning these men -to Christ finds its op portunity. Missionary experience in India has shown that as yet there is no mass movement among the educated toward Christianity. Converts are largely won by personal influence under favorable condi tions. T.he Christian hostel provides one of the best means by which the Christian message can be brought to bear upon the life of the Indian student.”
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker