Biblical Ignorance What do college students know about the basic principles o f the Chris tian religion? To answer this, Prof. R. Frederick West o f the Texas Chris tian Union questioned 2,000 students in both church and non-church col leges. He reported that most o f these x were pitifully ignorant. In a typical group o f 83 in a non-church college, all but three had a religious back ground. Only 4 o f 83 could list all Ten Commandments; 70 could not name the four gospels, 74 could not describe what Jesus stressed as the two greatest commandments. Professor West concludes that while the average college student knows lit tle about spiritual things, he does have a thirst for righteousness. When he has a chance to read the Bible under Christian guidance, he is fascinated by it. One ray of hope in this dark picture is the constant growth of such college organizations as the Inter- Varsity Christian Fellowship. In Ten Years—26,000 & In a recent report published by The Living Church, an unofficial Episcopal Church Weekly, it is stated that a total o f 26,242 adult Roman Catholics have been received into that church in the United States during the past ten years. The compilers o f this report state that these statistics are conserv ative. They did not include Roman Catholic children, or adults taken into the Episcopal church by the rite of confirmation. They estimate that the inclusion o f such persons would more than double the total. This is one an swer to Roman Catholic propaganda which constantly endeavors to prove an exodus from the Protestant Church to the Roman Catholic fold. Signs in the Skies A report from London describes a strange blue sun followed by a freak blue moon in the skies over Western Europe. While astronomers debated on the cause o f this phenomena, some Danish old folks descended upon the banks, demanding their deposits for fear o f a possible Dooms’ Day. Others laid the cause to the filtering effect o f a far-flung smoke from vast forest fires or a peculiar high cloud forma tion. Bible students are aware that one o f the signs o f the last days is stellar wonders. Violent Earthquakes Recently one o f the most devastat ing earthquakes in all recorded his tory occurred in Northeast India and neighboring lands. The reports tell o f vanishing mountains, o f rivers dried
WiHiam W . Orr, D.D.
cient Holy Land, according to the Scriptures! Dogma Proclaimed Shortly the Pope will proclaim the doctrine o f the Assumption o f the Virgin Mary as a Catholic Church dogma. This means that no Catholic may disagree with the teaching that the Virgin Mary was taken bodily into heaven at her death without go ing through death. Actually the proc lamation o f this dogma has been un der consideration since 1946, when the Pope sent a circular letter to his bish ops asking their advice. The letter was overwhelmingly in favor o f such a proclamation. For enlightened Scrip- turally-minded Protestants, such dog ma seems both childish and sinful—• childish, because very little is gained by such ado; and sinful, because it is another barrier between the heart o f the Roman Catholic church member and the Person o f Christ. Lessening Virtue •** A sort o f a Kinsey Report from overseas states that more than 80% o f all French and Belgian women con sider virginity unimportant. Answers to a series o f questionnaires sent out by Belgian psychologist, Dr. Marc Lanval, to 600 women, revealed that 82.6% think it is all right for girls to have premarital experiences. Other startling percentages o f immoral views on life were disclosed. Along with this, nearly 60% o f all o f the women ques-' tioned considered religion superfluous. When reading such figures, one is reminded o f the judgment o f God de scribed in the first chapter o f Romans because o f the breakdown in the moral character o f the women o f the ancient world. Surely this is one o f the signs o f the times.
up and turned off their course; o f gaping fissures, uprooted forests and new lakes. It is reliably estimated that millions o f people have been affected by the quakes and the flood which fol lowed. At this date only scattered in formation is available. Earthquakes and their increasing intensity consti tute another sign of the near approach o f the end o f the age. Lots of Blood In a recent report, three Univer sity o f Chicago doctors published their estimates as to the amount o f blood that would be needed for trans fusion purposes in the event o f an atomic attack on a large city. If two atomic bombs were dropped on a city the size o f Chicago, 500,000 would be injured. Of these, each victim would need a pint o f blood every other day fo r a month, totalling 7,500,000 pints. This figure was about half as much as was collected in the entire United States throughout World War II. Where to find the facilities to keep the blood refrigerated and how to ap ply it in due time were problems not discussed. Disputed Land Occupied An Israeli army spokesman report ed that his country had taken control o f certain disputed territory along the Jordan River at the north boundary between the Hoshemite kingdom and Jordan and what was formerly Pal estine. The Jews have begun to plow up land in that area. Arabian coun tries claim that the Israeli army has invaded the land, but Israel contends that this territory was granted to Israel under the terms o f the Arabian- Jewish Armistice. It is to be expected that by one means or another the Israeli government will come into full possession o f the borders o f the an
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